oaktreerb

I’m happy to see HAL coming up with some unique itineraries for the Pacific Northwest! If I lived in Seattle I’d be booking this, too. We sailed the southern part of this itinerary on a Canadian Ferry, from Prince Rupert to Nanaimo. Loved sailing past Bella Bella and between the scenic islands in the inside passage. Your cruise will be much more leisurely. Twice we have looked for bears in the Great Bear Rainforest, once we were successful. Enjoy the journey!

I take 2 pair of shoes that I can hike in on a rainy hike (good traction). One pair may not dry out in one day. I have a light weight rain proof jacket and rain pants that I can roll up and carry with me for rainy and windy conditions. Wool socks are recommended. Bring clothes that coordinate and layer. Hat to keep your ears warm, gloves to keep your hands warm if you will be viewing glaciers from your ship.

I have enjoyed the Holland America cruise tours. I have taken tours to Denali and to the Yukon over the years. They are very well organized. However, for a family I agree with @AKStafford that for a family with teens you would do better to plan your own trip. You can decide what your family wants to do and experience. Plan ahead, though, since the tour groups will have hotel rooms and excursions booked for their passengers well in advance. You can use the cruisetour itineraries as a guide. If you go HAL or Princess you may want to take the cruise train transfer to Anchorage, if possible, and rent your car there in town. The airport rentals are more expensive.

Totem Bight State Historical Park would be a good source of cultural information. Go online to the Ketchikan Visitor Center. There are hikes out by Ward Cove. You can take the public bus to totem bight and Ward Cove. If you are on NCL your ship will dock near Ward Cove.

Icy Strait Point is a created port. The Alaska native village of Hoonah is down the road from there. Skagway is a National Park with Gold Rush history and plenty of thing to do and experience. Pick up a hiking guide at the visitor’s center for some great scenic hikes if you like to hike.

If this is a one and done you should include Glacier Bay, the inside passage out of Vancouver, Skagway or Sitka, and Anchorage to Denali drive or train. The daylight hours are long so you will have scenic viewing, lectures are optional, you can focus on culture, scenic viewing, adventure, and enjoy it all. Of your options #3 has the best itinerary.

I really like the Noordam but it’s been a long time since I was on it. It is cozy and unique. Does it still have the Oak Room?

@SightCRR Nice video!

We did the Taku Glacier Seaplane excursion with the Salmon Lunch. Two take offs and landings on the water. You still get the narrated glacier fly over but the landing and walking up to the secluded lodge for lunch was really special. I chose this excursion for the two take offs and landings. It was my favorite excursion. The seaplanes take off just in front of the docks in Juneau. Walking on a glacier is interesting (and not easy) but for two hours (?). Be sure to wear sturdy shoes. The tour probably supplies crampons. Helicopters scare me but I would take a helicopter to see bears in the wild! Helicopter excursions are more likely to be cancelled for bad weather.

Hopefully your ship will have a shuttle bus into town. From there Kodiak is easily walkable.

Choose a stateroom with staterooms above and below. Don’t choose a connecting stateroom. Stay far away from music and gambling venues and the showroom. Yes, you can hear people talking in the hallway as they pass by. I travel with a portable white sound machine which helps me sleep onboard.

Alaska experiences will vary depending on the month of your visit. When did you visit Haines?

Could you use OBC to purchase a card?

I go to an online travel website and print a simple itinerary from there.

You can see the brochure for the Legendary Voyages on the Hal website. Go to the site map and click on brochures.

If you were able to book him and put yourself on the waitlist for the same excursion you are probably high on the list. Watch your e-mail and your junk mail. Be sure to confirm the booking as soon as you receive the notice that it is available.

Mid ship is a good choice for less motion. Port or Starboard both provide scenic viewing. In Glacier Bay the Captain will turn the ship for viewing on both sides or you can go to the outside decks, the bow, or Crow’s Nest. You have to be outside to hear the sound of the glacier calving. Aft veranda staterooms offer a view on both sides and are somewhat protected from the wind but the aft of the ship also has more movement in rough waters. The bed will be two twins or two twin beds put together which seems wider than a Queen. The Neptune Suites will have a true King size bed. The Captain will adhere to the itinerary unless weather or other factors come into play. Most Captains communicate daily with the passengers and if a change is necessary an announcement will be made. I would not book online. You may have questions when you book or before you cruise. If you book through a TA they will answer your questions and handle any issues. You can call HAL’s reservations line or you can ask for a Personal Cruise Consultant to book your cruise. Generally the quietest staterooms have staterooms above and below. You can see the layout of the ship online. The dining room is at the aft. (quieter most of the time). The showroom and music venues are closer to the front of the ship (noisier). Under the pool or the Lido can be noisy. Alaska is amazing!

Round trip Vancouver with the inside passage and Glacier Bay is a good choice. Of the two Holland America I would choose the Koningsdam which is a newer ship and offers more entertainment and dining venues. Both HAL ships show the service call at Tracy Arm. You have to sign up early for the excursion. Those who choose the excursion will transfer directly from the cruise ship to a smaller boat which will take you into the Tracy Arm fjord for a close-up view of the glacier and the shoreline. The cruise ship will go on to Juneau and the boat will take you to the ship in Juneau at the end of the excursion. It’s worth the cost. I agree that the Princess ship looks like the inside passage one way and the less scenic, rougher open ocean the other.

Holland America has offered the Tracy Arm small ship excursion in the past on some of its ships. It shows as a 30 minute “service call”. You transfer from your cruise ship to a smaller boat to go into Tracy Arm fjord and at the end of the excursion you meet your ship in Juneau. I recall recently that someone was comparing prices and HAL was cheaper. Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm are in the same area and ships who can’t access one will sometimes sail into the other.

We spent a week on Vancouver Island a few years ago. It was amazing, so much to see and do. Check the visitor information site online.

There is a dining car on the train. The food is very good. You can pay with your credit card. Almost everybody choses to go to the dining car. You don’t need to take the plan. You can still eat at any venue. There are plenty of places to eat at Denali. We prefer to eat in the bar at the Fairbanks Westmark. It’s easy to eat at the breakfast buffets at the hotels in the morning. Denali has the buffet at Karstens, you can choose the full buffet or the cheaper Continental. No need to get the meal plan. It is more expensive than pay as you go. HAL can give you the prices.

If you look online at your booking you will see excursions that you can book for your free time at Denali. There will be no excursions offered at the time set aside for the TWT. If you are taking the train to Denali you will be invited to the dining car for breakfast or lunch. You can pay for that meal with your credit card or a voucher (if you have one). There are several options for dining at the Denali Chalets or across the highway or the nearby Princess Lodge. The vouchers are only good at the Chalets. In the past some tours included the bus to Denali, instead of the train, in that case a stop was made along the way for an included lunch. The HAL properties we have stayed at all seem to have a breakfast buffet so that they can feed a lot of people before their activities begin. The food is generally very good. At Karstens in Denali you will have a choice of a full breakfast or a less expensive continental breakfast which includes oatmeal, fruit, etc. You will receive a more complete itinerary when you begin your land tour in Anchorage. You will be assigned to a tour group for your journey.

Will you be sharing your stateroom?

Sail out of Vancouver for best views. Nieuw Amsterdam is a good choice for Alaaka. Lots of outside and inside viewing areas.

I would not expect Princess to offer cruise tours to Denali when so few activities were available. We did the Natural History Tour on our first visit to Denali (August). It was raining pretty hard but we did see two moose and some Ptarmigan along the road. We were off the bus when the moose walked by. We got some good pictures. Maybe some activities will open up at the Lodge. Glitter Gulch is across the highway but those stores will just be getting ready for the season. There is a science center in a separate building from the visitor center at Denali. The sled dogs work in the park all winter but it sounds like visitor’s are only welcome on the weekends. (?)