shuyak

Only had time in Anchorage to do the trolley tour. It was quite entertaining with some information. Would recommend. Saw this house 3 stories below ground with 2 skylight provid sunlight. Cruisetrain direct to Whittier port is a breeze. As soon as on board, staff checked our passport, vaccine card and negative test result, then issued security check slip and (ship) boarding pass. Our verifly check may have saved us one minute at best. Some nice view along the way. Sunset from our aft balcony. Finally can relax.

Not sure why my last post was not published. Finally got good cell signal at Juneau. Try to catch up. 9 out of 30 did not make to the cruise. Even if testing is no longer required prior debarkation, please use your judgement to best protect self and others.

Train ride to Anchorage was relaxing and provided us to rejuvenating our energy. Saw a mother moose with baby on shuttle from hotel to the train depot. Later saw another while on train. Mask and covid testing We all were tested the day before we started the land tour. A few of us informed our tour director on the first day that we will be tested for our return cruise and expressed our wish to have the mask mandate enforced. Since then everyone wears mask most of the time even off bus. Our collective hope is everyone can make it to the ship. In contrast, almost no one in other groups (Princess and HAL) we met or cross passing along the way wears mask consequently increased our potential exposure. Today, we were tested at Westmark Anchorage. Already heard a few tested positive. Clearly the small bubble we created is not sufficient to protect against the big environment. Sad!

Sorry, not sure why the last (repeated) picture is there.

After a nap, we headed out for Denali Flightseeing and Glacier Landing with Fly Denali. My cell phone camera have processed the pictures heavily. Think below as near true paintings vs near true pictures. Mt. Denali closeup A small flight was training near where we landed. It's multiple landing and taking off caused a small avalanche. A few more

The gold dredge was actually educational and fun, kind like a field trip. Learned oil pipeline, dredging history, and nervous/excited panning - we all are a few dollar worth of gold richer. The cookies tasted pretty good also. Went back to the Culture and Visitor Center to fill in what we missed the day before. The satue at Golden Heart Plaza is quite impressive. Bus ride to Denali was not as scenery. When we arrived, bags were in room already. Speaking of bus, we rode Princess's bus from Fairbanks Airport and to/from river boat excursion. HAL's buses seem to have more seat cushion that rides more comfortably. Mckinley Chalet is a huge complex, took the frequent on property shuttle to explore the area. Our wildness tundra tour departs at 5:45 am in the morning. Another short night sleep. Thought we need to take hotel shuttle to the park, then board the park bus for tour. Was surprised to see the park bus actually came to Chalet to pick up us. Our bus supposed to a newer one that has sliding vs top/down window. Think the sliding ones provided better viewing. Only see a few animals, but had the opportunity to see Mt Denali from distance. Checked out the park visitor center, good maps and info. The two movies are very good. Too bad the Science center was hosting special event and not open to the public until later. Hopped on the Chalet shuttle back to hotel, then on property shuttle back to room. Had both yesterday's dinner and this lunch at karstens public house. Both wedge salad (fresh. Crispy) and fish (cod, moist and nicely fried) sandwitch. Did find dinner has better service and flavor though.

The 1 hr Air North 737 flight to Fairbanks is a real treat! With beverage service and snack bars. Leg Room! And this! Gained 1 hr arriving Fairbanks. Immediately signed up the optional Riverboat excursion (thanks to @Alphen). Had about 2 hr free time, walked ~11 min to the Morris Thompson Culture and Visitor Center. Strongly recommend to learn the native Alaska's culture and history. Wish we had more time. Antler's Arch is next to it. Though not as grand as Jackson Hole WY, it is nice. Riveryboat tour. Due to big groups today, it is the first time in 2 years they are running both Discovery II and Discovery III at the same time. I will add two pic's to complement @Alphenhad already provided. Bush plane demo, and observed the color difference where two rivers meet. All Westmark seem to have same price for breakfast. Fyi Fairbank may be the HAL tours coveraging and diverging location. Very busy all the time. Found The Donut Shoppe near hotel with really good soft and fluffy donuts. Went for 2nd's even for this savory liking person.

Luggage out at 7, check-in for flight at 7, bus leave at 8, flight to Fairbanks is at 9. Hotel bkfst started at 6:30. No time to have a relaxed breakfast. Sun is about out.

Thank you! Yesterday, we went through rainy, foggy, cloudy, sunny, back to rainy,... need using poncho to shield at one point. Actually, since we arrived Vancouver, the forecast has been constantly changing at all locations, most days had high % of rain forecasted even the day before yet the actual weather had been quite nice. We were told to be lucky. Yesterday was National Indigines Day and summer solstice, many places and restaurant had modified schedule. Went to Riverwest for breakfast on way to the Yukon info center. Seemed to be a local frequent place. Constant incoming flow yet moving fast. Cheechakos is closed this year. Visitor center has lots info and offers various tours. The 1.5 hr walking tour is popular (only 6:30 pm remaining). Picked up map and made own way along the Yukon River bank, through various historical sites, up to the Jack London square. There are First Nation celebrations. (Feel the sun?) Took the free 7 min 24/7 ferry ride to west Dawson when the rain got heavier. Gental reminder in the ferry. Saw this in a tiny "museum". Signed up the top of dome tour last min as the sun peeked out. Drizzling on way, the sun is trying up there. Lots mosquitos!

Forgot to mention that the toilet seat at both Whitehorse and Dawson City hotel rooms are low that some may find challenging.

Dawson dollars: paper voucher can be redeemed in hotel restaurants or hotel managed excursions. Very limited excursions offered, and will not cancel if rains. (And the rain will continue tomorrow) Beakfast in hotel: has more extensive menu then in Skagway, and is available for viewing. Full buffet 23 CAD, Continental 17(?), etc.

Luggage out by 6:15 and bus leaving at 7:45. Tim Horton it is for breakfast. The meal's contains a hot item (wrap, bagel snadwarch, etc), a sweet item (muffin, donut, etc), and a medium coffee for ~8.5 - 9.5 CAD. Not as scenery, but very educational. The pbs Klondike Gold Rush is a very nice compliment to the movie shown in Skagway national park info center. Had a glimp of a bear crossing highway ahead. Mosquito: lots of them at each stop. Especially the 1st stop at a roadhouse historic site. They will follow people into bus! We all become mosquito exterminators! The champion lost count after got over a dozen. Road work made it a 10 hr trip. Rain started early PM and continue. Road at Dawson City is muddy silt. Rain jacket and hiker are in use. The driver told us Yukon had 200% above usual snow, all rivers are either approaching or at flood stage. Yes, we witnessed it. Guess high water level is why Klondike Spirit's can not build dock hence excursion is cancelled. As reported in another post, we called all hotels along our trip, Westmark Anchorage is the only one does not have laundry facility. Fyi T-Mobile's partner in Canada is Telus, it has been providing good coverage in Canada.

Thanks to @Alphen, we went to Fortune House for dinner. Shrimps are good size, plump and crunchy, vegi's are fresh, portions are BIG, and prices are more than reasonable.

Breakfast at Skagway Both places (outside Westmark) offering breakfast that we are aware are closed on Sunday. It was some experience for us without the breakfast voucher from the meal plan. Go up the host stand, host searched around looking for the menu (a small plastic stand listing options), guests look at the menu host held to your face and decide on the spot your choice, then, next in line. The options are (as we recall): Dine in: Full buffet (hot and cold) @$20.99 Continental buffet (cold) @$16.99 Take out - two choices: A kind of Burrito and something else, around $13-15? Coffee/drinks are ordered separately. It started to rain as the bus leaves Skagway. Brighten up before the boarder. Arrivecan is not required for this entering, we were told the one submitted for embarkation served the purpose. Stopped at Carcross and a few others on way to Whitehorse. Emerland lake is impressive! On a different note, while walking across from Tim Horton on 2nd st in Whitehorse, someone rode a bike approached us. After brief greeting, he asked for spare changes and intended to follow us back to the hotel to get cash. Just fyi

Today, we started the land tour. Received the debarkation instruction yesterday that contains conflicting info such as when to leave luggage out and when to meet tour director in the morning. A visit to guest service was in order. Met our first timer cruise director today. The poor young fellow does not know nor suspect the itinerary he has is different from ours' even after many of us asked based on bus drive's comments. Anyway, tomorrow AM's White Pass Summit train ride is moved to this afternoon (luckily we did not book any excursion). Tomorrow afternoon's bus ride to Whitehorse will start in AM and with stop at Carcross and likely others that we could not poke out of him. He won't give us the trip package until tomorrow after we board the bus. Will see. Today, weather is beautiful as is the train ride. None of our group was offered with tour meal plan. Saw some restaurants and stores with sign stated not opening this season.

Yesterday we received $35 credit each for the included but cancelled Klondike Spirit's excursion at Dawson City. Not sure if HAL voluntarily provided it or because we asked our TA and requested for credit before we left home. AT&T has the strongest signal here, Verizon also has strong signal. Fyi

It is beautiful in Juneau today! Juneau Tours Whale Watch and Glacier: We were not as lucky as some, only saw a few whales doing the show from distance. Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Fall are very nice to visit. Only 3 ships today, including a mega one. The tour seems a not yet well oiled but ok operation. Guess it will be tested on our return cruise when many more cruisers will arrive. Saw quite a few bald eagles in town.

Ship laundry fyi.

We find the curtain separate closets/bathroom from the rest is good. Also, a light at bottom of a closet with motion sensor makes sense.

Correct. This 6/15/22 Zuiderdam Vancouver roundtrip, mask is recommended only. See Navigator screenshot beliw:

Bring CAD cash or not? Like other posters said, near all places in Vancouver will take credit card with provision to add tip. We only used CAD cash for tour guide tips, porter tip, and change to coins for using hotel's laundry facility.

We made sure the taxi had credit card machine before we got on.

Missing btb cruise in Navigator: Like another cruiser said, our missing 2nd leg of the btb shows up in Navigator after we are on board. Just thought any of the 7 HAL customer service agents we called/chatted could have told us. T-mobile signal remains strong (4 -5 bars) along Vancouver coast.

At check-in, they checked boarding pass, verifly, and arrivecan. With all those ready, we moved along and were waiting to board in ~15 min - but no one was allowed to board until after ~11:30. Heard HAL port staff mentioned this Zuiderdam has 1,136 passengers, @ 50% capacity as we googled. Mask is only "recommended" for this cruise, but we observed a good % of cruisers wearing mask. Lots of confusions and long line in guest services: our cabin got changed w/o notice, then the new cabin key cards do not work. Others do not have room key cards, or cards do not work, or some other issues. Saw the sign at guest services that there is no free upgrade. Wonder what was the covid case count in the previous trip.

Issuers. (Auto-correct!) Power Pedal tours: We choose this over offered by the big company for this essentially is a private e-bike tour for Patrick only takes 2 clients at a time. Since I just started to re-gain the control of riding bike after the stroke in late January and never rode e-bike before, Patrick patiently coached me. After two falls and 30 min of practicing, we are on the road. The tour was modified to fit my conditions, but with him providing audio narrative along the way, this provides a great first introduction to city of Vancouver. Gastown, Seawall, part of Stanley Park, English bay, ferry to Grainville market, (lunch provided), Olympic village, Science museum(?), Chinatown. We made it without any incident! The full loop would go around Stanley Park. Strongly recommend if this is to your interest. Landsea tours and adventures to North shore Capiano suspension bridge and Grouse Mountain. Another Strongly recommended tour. They use a separate buses to pick up guests to minimize wait time. Tour guide is very attentive and efficient. For someone new to the city with limited time, tour might be the better way vs taking the free shuttle buses.