Welcome to the Royal Caribbean blog podcast, a weekly look into the world of Royal Caribbean cruising.

I'm your host, Matt Hodgeberg, and this is episode number 153.

One of the biggest surprises Royal Caribbean has announced over the years was the fact that

explorer the seas was begin offering cruises to Alaska in 2016.

The prospect of a Voyager-class ship heading to the last frontier got a lot of us intrigued and excited.

And so this week, we have a firsthand review of what it's like to take a Royal Caribbean cruise to Alaska on Explorer of the Seas.

We'll discuss what Explorer of the Seas offers, how its size impacts the it itinerary, and so much more.

Here we go.

Cruising to Alaska has always been a favorite destination for a lot of Royal Caribbean fans over the years.

I mean, Alaska is of itself an amazing destination.

In fact, we just talked about Alaska a couple weeks ago about how much fun and all the great things you can do there.

And now Roll Caribbean has, well,

made it even better by adding a brand new ship, not just a new ship, but a new class of ships that's never visited Alaska. And quite frankly, a lot of people didn't think it would ever

happen. Explorer of the Seas, a Voyager class ship offering cruises to Alaska. This is the first

year it's happened. And we're lucky enough to be joined by someone

who just went on, not only explore the seas,

but also someone who is well-versed in Alaska cruises,

and I can also consider her a very good friend of mine.

It is Becky Mencken of MEI Travel.

Becky, welcome back to Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast.

Thank you so much for having me back on.

Get to talk about one of my very favorite cruises and itineraries and cruise lines. So I'm really

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