maryandmarge

Here is the land tour part.....

Vancouver 8/17/14. We had the full day to see Vancouver and since we had already done the City Tour in 2008 we decided we wanted to do something fun outside the city. We were booked at the Pan Pacific Hotel which is upstairs from the cruise ship terminal. We met with the Holland Representative and she gave us our travel packets for the rest of the trip. We were no longer traveling with Holland - we were now part of the Brewster Vacation tour. After checking into the hotel and dropping our luggage we went downstairs and talked to the visitor center. We decided on a trip out to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park which is in North Vancouver. Tickets are $37 (you will save $3 if you buy your tickets there). The free shuttle picks you up in front of the hotel and comes by every 15 minutes or so. It was worth every penny of it. Not only do they have the 450’ long suspension bridge they also have the treetop adventure where you are walking on bridges from tree to tree and also the cliff walk which hangs out over the cliff. It was so much fun. We had extra time in Vancouver after eating at a pub and decided to check out the Fly over Canada. I will say that the flying part which makes you feel like you are soaring over Canada with the mist and everything was fun...the movie in the beginning was a complete waste of time. So in the end I would say it was not worth the $18 charge. In walking around we found the underground food court and decided that to save money we would have our breakfast down there the next day. We had choices but we choose McD’s because we are happy with what they offer.

Vancouver 8/18/14 We got up in the morning and had to cross the street to the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel. That is where we were to meet the Brewster Representative. After waiting about ½ hour someone comes in and asks us if we were ready…..turns out it was only the 4 of us on the tour from Vancouver to Kelowna and then the next day on to Banff. We were in a 40+ person bus and the 4 of us sat in the front seats. It was like a private tour. We could move around to take pictures….it was great. We asked the driver why she didn’t bring a smaller bus but she said there wasn’t one available and they needed the big buses once we got to Banff. So for 2 days it was just the 4 of us and the driver. I have to say that the country side was just gorgeous. I forgot to mention in my pre post about Alaska part of the trip that I had never seen such beautiful flowers and Canada had the same. We stopped along the way for breaks and pictures on this whole tour of Canada (except the bus from Banff to Calgary). On the first day we stopped at Ft Langley for about an hour to do a self guided tour…..had lunch (included in the tour) in Harrison Hot Springs (Morgan’s Bistro), and then stopped at Little Straw vineyards for a short tour and wine tasting. We stayed at the Delta Grand Okanagan Resort in Kelowna and is on the water. It was gorgeous. Food was expensive in the hotel so we chose to try the food at the casino which was attached to the hotel. I had read somewhere that the food was reasonable and good. I have to say that 3 of us had the liver and onions and it was very good. Contrary to what I had also read on the internet about the casino being boring and not paying out …. we played on the penny slots for a couple hours and came away with some of their money. We had picked up a tourist book earlier in the day and there was a coupon for the casino if you signed up for the players club they would give you $5 free money to play. So we signed up and they gave us each $10 free money and also a $10 coupon each for food. Since we had already had supper we used this coupon before we went back to the room to pick up $10 each in snacks for the rest of the trip. So I have nothing bad to say about this casino…..and our stay in Kelowna.

Kelowna 8/19/14 We boarded the bus after a buffet breakfast at the hotel (included) and headed on the road to Revelstoke. We made a stop at a market place - the size of the fresh blackberries was amazing. This place had everything from fresh vegetables, an instore bakery, and I bought 2 used paperback books for $2. We also stopped at Craigellachie which is where the last spike was driven in the Canadian Pacific RR. While there the Rocky Mountaineer train when thru with all the tourist headed on to Banff. Later that evening at our hotel we were on the elevator with a family that had been on that train from Vancouver to Banff and we were talking to them about how long it takes because the freight trains have the right of way and the tourist train has to wait each time the freight trains go thru and their teenage son said they didn’t care how long it took - what a great way to see Canada. Although the mother also said she couldn’t believe how much of the time the train followed along the road with the cars and that was disappointing to her for what they paid for the train…Next stop was in Revelstoke for lunch (included) at the Coast Hillcrest Resort Hotel...Food was very good - I had grilled salmon with a blueberry sauce on it. ..We came thru Roger’s Pass (Glacier National Park) and stopped at the Spiral Tunnels. This was interesting but disappointed that there weren’t any trains going thru at the time we were there to get a real understanding of how the tunnels worked. We stopped at Lake Louise to take a quick break and some photos of the lake (which was a good thing because when we stopped there the next day - it was rainy and foggy). Bus dropped us at Fairmont Banff Springs hotel for 2 nights. This place is gorgeous…...just amazing…..you can’t even take one picture of the whole place it’s so huge. We were on our own for food so we ate in the lounge area and had a wonderful view of the grounds and flowers. Food was good - and it wasn’t too expensive. You really do not get the time to enjoy the hotels as leave early in the morning on the tour and get back early in the evening.

Banff 8/20/14 This is where we no longer have the bus to ourselves. We are now travelling with full bus loads. They picked us up early Wed. morning and we headed towards the Columbia Icefields. We stopped at Lake Louise and a few other places to pick up more people and headed up to Athabasca Glacier. We had a buffet lunch (included) before going across to the glacier and being picked up by one of the Ice Explorers. These are really cool vehicles that travel on the ice. We got to walk on the glacier and some were drinking the glacier water. I have bad knees and didn’t want to take the chance on reaching over to get to the water and slipping on the ice. From here we drove another short distance and walked out on the Glacier Skywalk. This is amazing as they have built this out off the cliff and the floor is all glass so you can see below you. The view is breathtaking and was a really cool stop. If I’m not mistaken I think that Brewster owns both of these attactions….I’m not sure what the charge was for either of these because it was included in our tour. It’s funny because this Skywalk is just like the Cliffwalk in Capilano only about 100 times bigger….. Both were fun experiences. On the way back to Banff we saw goats, eagles, Mama Black bear and baby and also got a site of an elk. Not alot of wildlife but at least we saw some. As I said we had rain most of the week. We had the driver drop us in town after the tour so we could do some shopping. Picked up a few items at the Safeway Grocery store for breakfast and walked in and out of some shops. We took a bus back to the hotel (I think it was only $1) and a lot better than walking all the way.

Banff 8/21/14. Today we had to pack up everything to take with us on the morning tour. Problem is we changed buses three times today at their bus terminal in Banff. My big complaint about Brewster is that they do not have help for their drivers when they get to the terminal. He has to move all the luggage himself. This is so time consuming. Our travelling friend twice took it upon himself to crawl into one of the luggage containers and pull out luggage for people to help out. He told the driver what he thought and the driver just shrugged his shoulders…..I don’t think he even thanked him for helping. All it would take would be a couple of extra workers at the terminal so when a bus comes in with a load they could run out and help load and unload the luggage. We did have some good drivers that were very entertaining…Colin especially was fun. The driver on the last leg of our trip from Banff to Calgary never spoke at all. Before going to Calgary we finished up our tour of the Banff area...Tunnel Mountain Drive, the Hoodoos, Bow Falls, Lake Minnewanka and also we did the Banff Gondola (included). Unfortunately for us - it was raining again and so foggy but since it was included we took the gondola to the top….couldn’t see much while we were up there and decided not to venture out on the boardwalks at the top since we wouldn’t be able to see anything anyway once we got to the end. I’m sure it was very beautiful had it been a clear day. We arrived in Calgary in early evening so we really didn’t have any time to explore the area. We stayed at the Fairmont Palliser so we were close to Stephens Avenue Walkway where there are tons of places to eat. We settled on a small sports bar that was downstairs and I had wings with blueberry/BBQ sauce which were really tasty. Of course my fingertips were blue when we left there. We had walked by the Mc’D’s across the street from where we had supper so we knew where to go to get breakfast in the morning. (On a side note the buffet breakfast at the hotel was $30 - Yikes!!) We were able to print our boarding passes to return home the next day and going thru customs was a breeze.

Another note of interest. If you are staying at a Fairmont hotel (we stayed at the Banff Springs 2 nights and the Palliser 1 night) make sure you have them sign you up for their free rewards program. By signing up you get the wifi free in your room which normally costs $14.95/a night which I think is outrageous after paying so much for the room you would think the wifi would be free.

The land tour was great. All of the hotels were first class - very nicely done. The places we ate at that were included in the price were very good and we had no complaints. So other than lack of help with the luggage at the terminal I would say that Brewster Vacation did a good job. It’s too bad the weather didn’t cooperate….but it could have been worse….I saw on the news where Calgary got blasted this week with snow…..and it’s only September…..

Thanks to all the cruise critic members that help people like me make good choices when we travel......

I hope this helps people decide whether this would be a choice or not for them and if I can answer any other questions - I’ll be glad to try.

Happy cruising to all and safe travels...

Well I’m finally back as promised - a little late but ready to write a short review. We did a Holland cruise tour on 8/10/14 Seward to Vancouver on the Oosterdam. We did an overnite in Vancouver at the Pan Pacific and then our tour continued north east thru Canada into Banff National Park. We ended up in Calgary and flew home on 8/22/14.

Just basic info on the trip… I book our flights myself. Holland was only offering late night flights into Anchorage and I felt you lost a whole day travelling. Since we were flying in a day early and I knew that there were later connecting flights to Anchorage out of Chicago I made all our arrangements. We flew United Cleveland to Anchorange and return Calgary to Cleveland - $950 total.

We were in Anchorage around 1pm and had the whole day to explore.

Left early in the AM on a bus to Seward...we dropped some people off that were doing the Kenai Fijords tour (we had done that the last time - it was included in our price then and now Holland charges extra for it) ….got there too early to get on ship so the driver took us on a 40 minute tour of Seward and surrounding area. We got to the ship at 11 and in 10 minutes time we were on the ship.

The Oosterdam…..I’ve read some not so nice reviews but we really did not have any issues at all. Most of the staff are friendly and the waiters were very nice. Two days before we left the house our Travel Agent emailed me and asked if we were interested in an upgrade from our oceanview Room 1002 to Balcony for only $99 a person. I had her check and she came back with the 4 rooms that they had offered. We took 8134 which is on the aft of the ship...has a balcony twice the size of most of the rooms. We loved that room. By changing to this room we also had a shower/tub combo which made that much nicer also. We contacted our friends from Wisconsin and they were able to upgrade also and were about 15 rooms down the hall from us. It was great. We met our room steward Adi in the afternoon and saw him at least once a day or more. He was very good. If we asked for something extra he took care of it right away. We always leave an envelope every evening with $10 in it on the bed for our steward….I feel that he deserves the extra cash without having to share it with someone that we might not have any contact with. I don’t know if this makes a difference but in our 4 cruises we have always had excellent service. We ate at the Lido for breakfast and lunch if we were on the ship and ate at the Vista for dinner. I can’t remember any food that we did not enjoy. We also ate one day at the Dive-In and the hot dog was tasty. Most of the entertainment was enjoyable...although they should replace the magician. We tried to get a couple things in every night - and the programs they did at the Culinary arts / Queens Lounge were fun. Dancing with the Stars was entertaining except for the night when they had a young crowd that wouldn’t pay attention to the teacher and I felt sorry for her. Since we were staying in Vancouver to continue our land tour we didn’t have to be off the ship until 9:30 and it went very smoothly. All in all - yes the ship could use some updating...but when you have that many people cruising and no down time between the cruises...I think they did a good job.

Excursions - Since we had done this cruise 6 years ago and at that time did the helicopter landing on glacier, float plane, etc….this year we picked one Holland excursion per port and I have to say we were not disappointed in any of them.

Haines: Glacier Point Wilderness Safari

Juneau: Best of Juneau / Whale Watching Quest, Mendenhall Glacier and Orca point Lodge for buffet lunch

Ketchikan: Bering Sea Crab Fisherman’s Tour

I forgot to mention that from the first day in Anchorage to the last day in Calgary we had rain every single day…...Maybe just a quick sprinkle ….sometimes a long downpour….but rain everyday. We decided that we would not let it stop us from having fun and it didn’t.

I will continue on in my next post with our land tour section…..

Sorry no pictures - I’m just not that computer smart…...

It's funny because you never know when they will offer something, We were on the Oosterdam in Alaska on Aug 10th - 2 days before we left home (Aug 7th) our travel agent sent me an email because Holland had offered us an upgrade from Oceanview 1002 to a balcony room for only $99 per person. I was worried we would get a balcony with the solid panels where you can't see anything sitting down so I called our travel agent and she got us the 4 room numbers that they were offering....I was thrilled to be moved to 8134 which was an aft room with a huge balcony. It was awesome. I can't say we spent a lot of time of the balcony but we were out there every day .... what really made it nice was the fact that now our room had a tub which makes the shower so much larger than a room with just a shower. It worked out great because we were meeting friends from Wisconsin on this trip and we notified them and they were also able to upgrade to a balcony room. So we were very pleased with Holland......and hope to cruise with them again.

Thanks Ashland - that's what makes cruise critic such a great website with everyone's input and great resources......

We had a day in Vancouver after our cruise on the Oosterdam in August. Since we had been to Vancouver in 2008 and had done the city tour at that time we looked for something different and fun to do. On the bottom floor of our hotel (Pan Pacific) there was a visitor center - we decided to go to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park in Northern Vancouver. Cost is $37 (you save $3 if you buy your tickets there)....a free shuttle stops out in front of the Pan Pacific going to the park....takes about 1/2 hour to get there....we had a blast. There is a 450' suspension bridge, a rainforest with suspension bridges from tree to tree, and a cliffwalk that extends out over the river. It was awesome and one of the highlights of our trip.

I'm sure you will find something that will meet your needs in everyones responses. Enjoy!!!

This is just an updated followup to anyone thinking of bringing beer home from their trip. I bought the wine diapers ($17 for 3 re-usable ones) on Amazon before I left home and also went to Walmart and bought a 12 pack of Hefty 2 1/2 gallon ziploc baggies ($2.78). We were able to board the ship Oosterdam as soon as they allowed people on ship - it took us 10 minutes most from check in to being on the ship....so we grabbed a quick lunch on the Lido and then went back on shore and boarded the free bus that takes you around Seward. We rode thru the whole town to see where we might want to get off and finally got off in the middle of the town and went to some of the stores. We walked over to the Safeway store and bought 3 20oz diet pop to put in our refrigerator on the ship...at the same time we went into Safeway's liquor store and I bought 2 bottles of dark Alaskan brand beer (22oz each). When we got back on the ship I passed them to the security guy to hold on to until the last night when they deliver it back to your room. During the week they had Lumberjack night at the Lido Buffet and there I bought a bottle of warm unopened Alaskan Brewery Hydrothermia beer. When I packed them in my suitcase - first in the padded wine diapers and then just for safe measures I put each one in the oversized ziplock baggies. So in the end I brought home 3 beers to surprise my son for Christmas and had no issues with doing this. I can't wait to see his face when he opens the present....he has no idea.

I'm really going to try for a fly-in trip to Katmai next year (even though, generally speaking, you could not PAY me to get on a little plane :eek: ). So far, the plan is take a northbound cruise, spend an overnight in Anchorage then go to Katmai (probably only a one-night trip) then back to Anchorage and take a southbound cruise back to Vancouver.

 

Does anyone have a "budget" :rolleyes: hotel suggestion? I just want clean and safe. With a shower. An in-room coffee maker would be wonderful!

I noticed that you are interested in the Katmai National Park and wondered if you knew about the wonderful live webcams they have on the river so you can check out the bears during the day. I noticed it's been slow today but about a week ago there were 9 bears in the river catching the salmon going up stream. It's really fun to watch. They also occasionally do a live feed from the rangers as they did the other night where they answered questions off the chat that goes along with the web. Hope you enjoy Attached is the website below....

http://explore.org/live-cams/player/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls

Thanks for the websites and updates on the McD's address in Calgary. All this info really helps. I probably over-research when we go away...but don't want to go home and wish we'd done something that we knew nothing about until it was too late. As for the post trip review - I plan to come back on this website when we get back and tell everyone what the highlights were....as for pictures....I'm not sure how people manage to do that....I can't even figure out how to get the posting off the bottom of my chats that show we cruised back in 2010 to on NCL. I've looked all over and couldn't find a place to take it off....then again when we went to Quebec in 2012 and I wanted to add that on our signature - couldn't figure out how to do that. Let's just say I'm computer challenged...can just do enough to get me in trouble....

To StrawberryShake - this is our second trip to Alaska - both on Holland so I'm hoping that this ship is as nice as the Zaandam when we took it back in 2008. I have to say that when I read some of the different ships reviews and realize that stuff that is an issue to someone else - we don't even see. I always say when we travel to different places - if our hotel room is clean and the showers works great...the bed is comfortable....then I'm happy. And I am thankful that I have a job that allows me to save money to go and see the countryside. I hope you have some fun excursions planned in the ports and that you enjoy your trip as much as we hope to...

We were surprised that more people aren't aware of this option..especially for travelers like us that have done the Fairbanks to Seward land tour already....it just seemed like something different.

to cruz chic - if it snows I'll feel like I'm back in Ohio and it's already winter...we are packing for layers since you never know what kind of weather we'll have. When we did the Alaska trip in June of 2008 - I actually wore shorts and t shirt a couple days. We were just amazed by how nice it was. But we were also happy to have our 180's and gloves and warmer clothes when we took the helicopter ride and landed on the glacier....

In my searches for information I found information on Nestors Grocery store near the Banff Springs Hotel that we can walk to - it said pick up deli sandwiches and walk down to Bow River to eat. If we have plenty of time (and energy after a day of sightseeing) we might opt to do something like this. We had also saw an advertisement for Spirit of Christmas Store about a mile from the same hotel that said it was the largest Xmas store in Canada. That might be a good place to pick up ornaments to remind us of this trip. Maybe one of you has been to the store and can tell me if it is worth our walk.

In my search I also saw that Calgary has 39 McDonalds so maybe one close to the Fairmont Palliser where we are staying. I hate to pay a ton for breakfast if I can get it at McD's.

Thanks again for everyone's input....that's what cruise critic is all about....

Thanks for the info about eating at the hotel where we are staying....I'm hoping to talk to locals and thinking they can point us in the right direction for a reasonable meal. I know that vacation to some is the fancy sit down meals and being waited on....but for me I'd rather take that extra time and spend seeing whatever sights I might see. I hope you can keep that nice weather there until the 22nd of August when we fly home. Lots of people worry about the weather on vacation....we feel - it is what it is and we will do whatever we have to and make the best of it because who knows if we'll ever get the chance to return to that location.

That was a great video - thanks for taking the time to do this and sharing with us. We are on the Oosterdam (Holland Cruise Ship) in August and are really looking forward to seeing some of the things that you have posted in your video

This is the response I was looking for - someone that knows the area. I know we are making stops around Lake Louise but are not staying in that area. Funny thing about this being wine country - neither my sister or I are wine drinkers......we're more the down home country "beer" drinker. I looked up our trip notes and see included in our trip is the Glacier Skywalk so I'm really looking forward to this. We've been to the Grand Canyon but not to the part of the park that had the new glass walkway. One of the things we enjoyed most on our vacations is the scenery and all the wildlife......Moose has been my favorite animal for years and I hate to admit it but I collected moose items for a while now and probably had at one time over 500 stuffed moose. Lots from garage sales and some from destinations where we were travelling. We grew up on a farm in Ohio so wildlife has always been part of our lives. Last year on a trip out to Yellowstone we were driving down one side of the road and the buffalo were walking down the other side. It was awesome.

As far a Calgary - not sure what time we will arrive there on our last day - I know that it says we are on our own until the next morning when our flight leaves. We are staying at the Fairmont Palliser Hotel. We are hoping to find reasonable places to eat as we try to keep our meals on a limited budget to have money to spend on the destinations. We think that we should be able to find plenty of places to eat within walking distance of our hotel.

To make this trip even more memorable....when we did our 1st Holland Alaska Cruisetour of 13 days back in June of 2008 - we did the land tour first. We were lucky enough to meet some great people - 2 couples that we have kept in touch with since then. The one couple we've actually been able to connect with on 2 different times and have become great friends. This couple lives in Wisconsin and are also going to meet us in Anchorage and do the whole tour with us. When you do this trip with more than just your family I think it makes it even more enjoyable. Doing the landtour first I've read is the best since it's more intense where as the cruise ship seems to be more laid back and you can relax more the second week.....to me the landtour also gives you more opportunity to meet other people and get to know them before you do the cruise.

Thanks everyone for listening and giving your insights on this......I hope all that are travelling enjoy and have safe trips.....

It must not be a big seller because they do not advertise it. We found it listed on page 65 of Holland Alaska Yukon Land and Sea book. Looking at my paperwork now I see that is is 5 days. It is by motor coach and leaves from Vancouver and first night is spent in Kelowna after sightseeing along the way. You spend time at Banff National Park - Lake Louise. Two nights are spent at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel - which if you look it up on the internet looks absolutely gorgeous (especially for us who are used to staying in Super 8's and hotels like that). We are going up thru the Icefields Parkway to Columbia Icefields located in Jasper. Included is a trip on an Ice Explorer in the Athabasca Glacier. Also included in this trip is the Tunnel Mountain Drive to Bow Falls, the Hoodoos, and Lake Minnewanka. We will also get a ride on the Banff Gondola. Trip ends in Calgary and we fly home the next day from there. It was an added $1999 to our cruise but with all the sightseeing we decided it was worth the extra expense. Plus we get to see another part of Canada that we've never traveled to. I will come back on here and post my views on this part of the trip when we get back. With trying to keep costs down I won't be on the internet while we are gone. Hope this answers some of your questions....

We are sailing out of Seward on the Oosterdam for the first week - after docking in Vancouver we are booked on a 6 day Canadian Rockies tour with Holland. Has anyone else done this package? Would love to hear how your trip was in the Rockies and is there anything special we should watch for. This will be our second time in Alaska - 6 years ago we did a week on land starting in Fairbanks and then the cruise from Seward to Vancouver on the Zaandam and loved the whole trip so we were looking for something different for this trip. I'd love to hear any comments from past cruisers as we know - the more informed you are - the better the trip and not getting home and thinking I wished I'd done this or that. Thanks in advance to any responses.

Good to know about the $49 unlimited laundry...it sure would help if I had mostly clean clothes when we got off the ship before we headed into our 6 day tour of the Canadian Rockies. This should make packing a lot easier. I was going to buy 2 gallon ziploc baggies to take along in my suitcase just in case I decided to buy beer. I checked on Amazon and read a few of the reviews and someone had mentioned buying them at Walmart so today I stopped at Walmart and I'm glad I did. I got 12 Hefty bags in a box that are 2 1/2 gallon and it only cost me $2.78. I figured that was a good deal since I can use this for other packing items. So I'll get 3 wine diapers and if I do buy beer to bring home - I can protect them in the wine diaper and double protect by putting it also in a ziploc baggie. I would recommend to anyone packing to pick up some of these big baggies.....they have so many uses.... Happy a safe travel to everyone.....Only 6 weeks until we leave...

I looked up these products on Amazon and think I will get 3 of the Wine Diapers $17.97. My friend has free shipping on 2 day delivery so I'll order them and pack them in my suitcase just in case....you never know - they can be used for other things also. These are re-usable where the Wine Skins are one use only. I'm glad you reminded me about the 2 gallon ziploc baggies because I've added them to my grocery list. That's a great idea and they don't weigh anything to put a handful in your suitcase. I'm trying to fit all my things in one big suitcase to check on the way there and put an extra lightweight bag in my carry on (which is at the max size for a carry on with United). On the way home I'll switch this over to a second checked bag which will leave me room for anything I would purchase on this trip including the beer. But it's hard deciding what not to take when we are going to be gone 14 days.....Too bad the Oosterdam doesn't have self serve laundry. Thanks for everyone's imput.....

He likes the stout and porter dark beers ..... they always like to pull out a bottle of something different at a party and share as a treat. He's not into any of the light beers...so I'm thinking maybe buy a pack of 3 wine diapers on Amazon to take with me just in case I do find something that I want to bring home. My only question now is .... will I have any issues with it in my suitcase when we get to Canada (Vancouver) and when we leave Canada by way of Calgary airport and are going thru customs. I'd hate to go thru all that trouble and then have them take my beer. If I do this do I have to tell them that it's in my suitcase when we go thru customs? Any input will help.

Thanks for more ideas.....unless something changes I'm going to try and find out where I can purchase in Michigan since we are about 2 hours from the border and if it's somewhere convenient I'll try and pick some up on our yearly trip to Frankenmuth at Thanksgiving....I might also see if I could purchase on line something that he would like.

The wine diapers sound like a good idea if I decided to pick up a couple and fit them into my luggage but then I wonder if I would get stopped coming back into the US in customs at Calgary airport. Don't know what the restrictions are - so I think I'll just try and order some after I get home and have them shipped to the house. Someone asked if we have a BevMo in our area but we don't and when I went on line it says they won't ship to Ohio. Thanks everyone for your responses. Happy and safe travels to all....

Thanks to everyone for their responses.....guess I'll have to find another great Christmas present. We make a trip up to Frankenmuth Michigan every year at Thanksgiving time....maybe I can find a place close to there that carries the Alaska beer. I knew that if this was possible someone one cruise critic would know.....I've gotten so many good ideas over the years just by reading up on places we were heading.....thanks again

We are doing a Holland cruise/tour - 8/10 on the Oosterdam from Seward to Vancouver and then 6 days in the Canadian Rockies. We have excursions planned for all ports - but will have time to hit some shops while in each stop. We live in Ohio and my son is big into trying different beers and I thought it would be cool to get some different Alaskan beers to give him as a Christmas present. I would have to buy and have them shipped home. I have too much luggage to worry about packing and getting it home myself. Are there stores that do this? Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

I also was thrilled yesterday when we hit the 99 day mark. Looks like you are a week behind us. I see you are doing the Canadian Rockies which is what we are doing. Are you doing it on Holland or another cruise ship. We are cruising out of Seward on August 10th into Vancouver and then doing the 6 day trip thru the Rockies. We are excited. We are spending 2 nights at the Fairmont Springs Hotel in Banff - I've never seen such a big hotel. We're country bumpkins from Ohio so this will be awesome. We are used to much smaller and economical places when we travel. For us - it's always been give me a comfortable bed and a clean bathroom because we don't spend anytime in the rooms when we are travelling..we always figured the money we saved by not splurging on expensive hotels we used for sight seeing. Hope you have a great trip and enjoy this countdown. What's funny is I have a clock at work that is actually counting down backwards - we got it as a countdown while awaiting a grandbaby in the family and I decided to use it for this trip...

Thanks for the quick response - I'll make sure we have enough time. I'd rather go thru customs there than Ohare since we have to make a connecting flight. Have a great day.

We are doing a land tour of the Canadian Rockies after our cruise with Holland America and will be flying home from Calgary Airport to Ohare to Cleveland Hopkins. Can someone tell me where we will be going thru customs when we fly home? Want to make sure we have enough time allocated at the correct airport. Thanks in advance for any help on this.

My question is to anyone who has been on the Dawn and had a oceanview room - prefer one that isn't just a porthole.....do they have 2 beds in these rooms and a couch that will sleep a 3rd person or do all those rooms have 2 beds and drop down bunks for the extra people in a room? I really don't feel the need to spring for a balcony for our trip to Canada/New England in Oct 2012 because it will be too cold to spend time out there - but since there are 3 of us that are staying together in a room and we are all 60 + I can't see one of us having to sleep in a bunk. Any info you can send over will surely be appreciated. I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go along with the planning...