oaktreerb

We have been sailing on the Koningsdam (Mexico, Hawaii, Pac Coast) and HAL allows smoking in the casino. No non-smoking nights that I am aware of. I think the K probably offers free and special rates for casino patrons. Got to keep those ships full!

The ship usually arrives early and is tied up at the dock at the arrival time posted. Your excursion instructions will tell you where to meet as CCJack indicated above. Just be there at the meeting time which may be 15 minutes before your excursion time.

We do our best to avoid the casino area because of the smoke.

@cccole The casinos are run by another company. HAL benefits from onboard spending of the gamblers in the shops, bars, upscale dining venues. The best * benefit is 4*, free laundry on every cruise for 4* cruisers….a goal worth achieving for many!

Nice close-up of the Princess ship.

Too bad the Eurodam was assigned to the AJ dock today. It’s further to walk but I’m pretty sure there will be a bus to get everybody to the center of activity and the shops!

Hubbard is a huge glacier. Glacier Bay is a national park where you will see more than one glacier. Some HAL ships sail into College Fjord which is beautiful. A lot depends on the weather. If the weather is nice, Kenai Fjords is amazing. You could probably skip Prince William Sound. You could visit the Wildlife Conservation Center in Portage, Exit Glacier, Seavy’s sled dog tours, drive up to Girdwood (Alyeska Resort tram). There’s not a lot to do in Whittier but you’ll see plenty of glaciers from the ship. There is also Portage Glacier tour in that general area.

HAL provides a lot of glacier viewing opportunities: Glacier Bay, Hubbard Glacier, College Fjord, and Tracy/Endicott Arm. With all the cruise lines competing for the Alaska market, glacier viewing is something HAL does well. It’s marketing. Some HAL ships provide multiple glacier viewing. You are guaranteed one. Not all cruise lines in Alaska provide a glacier viewing experience.

Good question. The program is new this year. Maybe @Crew News who is currently in Alaska can provide the answer.

Thanks for your report. I hope HAL will get this Alaska season going with some good entertainment in the showroom. I would guess that “The Origin Story”, Holland America through the years, was shown in the main showroom. There should have been some musical productions. Sitka and Ketchikan are good ports because they have plenty of places to visit around the port. Juneau is a good place for getting out of town to go whale watching!

Another beautiful day in Juneau!

Snow City Cafe is close to the Captain Cook for breakfast or lunch and very popular (you may have to wait). Glacier Brewhouse is also nearby. You can make reservations for a table or walk in if you are ok eating at the bar. Check out places to eat on Trip Advisor. There are lots of places within walking distance. We loved staying at the Captain Cook!

Those Mariner points for land tours helped us to get to 5*. If you are in a suite (double points) on the cruise portion you get double points for the entire cruise tour!

Great camera views. Interesting how the ships enter the Franklin dock stern first and swing the aft in. So far the weather in April has been pretty nice for the early arriving ships.

Do you remember the name of your rail car? Did you have a guide and a bar tender and a dining car? That does not sound like our experience unless for some reason you were not on a HAL rail car. Maybe the rail car was an older Princess rail car. HAL and Princess work together in Alaska and some of the older Princess rail cars are not very nice. We were in one between Anchorage and Seward a few years ago. I would not have wanted to travel to Denali in that rail car!