SirTomster

Well we are back from our Southbound Cruise on the Noordam. To revisit the question and my answer. And the answer is that I would consider skipping Glacier Bay. Our first time, we got close enough to hear the ice crack. It was an experience I will treasure. The ship was so quiet and we just sat and watched. I now know that our experience was not the norm and This time, we were further out I heard nothing. The glacier was cool and I was able to catch one calving but we were pretty far away. So I was somewhat bummed out. I heard from someone on a B2B that the week before the ship only got close enough to see the right side of the glacier. So that would have been worse. But I really enjoyed my Southbound cruise. Hubbard was cool even if we were not very close. Also, being able to do some things in Alaska pre cruise was awesome. Kenai Fjords was a treasure and I hope to do it again and again. So, I would consider Alaska without it. But to be honest, my cruise choice would be Southbound to be able to do items before getting on the ship. So I will still have Glacier Bay.

Just got back from the HAL Noordam on as Southbound cruise. It was great. Hubbard was a long way away though. So we did not get close. Still cool. Next time I would pay the $300 pp for the tour to be closer as they got a lot closer. But I do enjoy the Southbound. Though next time, I will likely make sure there is enough time to so the Phillips 26 glacier cruise to do College Fjord. I did not do it this time. But will next. Southbound also lets you do inside passage during the day, which was cool. The 14 day both ways would get you both options for the extra charge. The next time we do Alasak. And there will be a next time. I would do Southbound again as we were able to fly in early and do our own tour. I would just make it longer. Kenai Fjords via Seward was awesome. Will do that again.

Thanks. We will be on the next Southbound trip on the Noordam in 8 days. Cannot wait. Great to see some pictures of what is available.

Check out this thread. It is of someone who started in March of 2023 for their May 2024 cruise that they just finished. Has lots of discussions on options and excursions.

I chose this option for our cruise in 2 weeks. My thought process was that the odds of seeing animals is better earlier than later. So with a bus on the way up, if we saw something, they could stop. Not able to stop the train. Plus the Train leaves around 7:30. Let me wake up and get some food before rushing off the ship. Not sure if my logic is sound, but that is why I did bus first.

And they took a vacation from work, and flew to Florida, and paid for a night stay before the cruise, and had a meal or two. To just show up after being told that they will have a room, and then being told that they lied to him. Yeah, this should be a PR nightmare for Norwegian. Any time a cruise line does that to anyone, they deserve to be roasted so that the cruise line will NEVER do it again. I can see overbookings, you read about it. Weeks before the cruise, people are offered refunds and FCC to move to another date. Cruise lines can add up the number of people and the rooms needed vs the rooms they have and determine if they have too many people vs rooms and do something. But they chose to lie and inform him that they will have a room until the last second. Yeah, this needs to be spread far and wide to ensure cruise lines understand the consequences.

If this turns out to be fake, let me know and I will delete. I am paranoid on these things because I have a cruise in 3 weeks with HAL and have a GTY cabin. So when I saw this, figured I should post here to let others know. I also could not find a post here about it so decided to post.

I was on Reddit and saw a post in r/cruise from someone who was to be on the Breakaway yesterday. But was denied boarding due to being oversold. He has a GTY Inside cabin and was not assigned a room. Flew to Florida after confirming he would have a room. He arrived at the port and was told there was no room. 100% refund and 100% Future Cruise Credit. No mention of the flights and hotel. I do not know the person, I just saw the post and thought I should post here as an FYI. Post here I cannot say if the post is legit or not. Someone else who knows NCL can check out the letter posted.

I will be following. On the Noordam for a Southbound cruise on 6/16. Have a blast!

Ask me in July. In June doing a Southbound and will be visiting Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay. Also, before the cruise, we will be going to Portage Glacier and doing the Kenai Fjords Northwestern Tour which will include glaciers from a much smaller boat. So maybe after visiting those, Glacier Bay will not be that awesome. But I have only been to Alaska once and luckily was able to include Glacier Bay and it was a fantastic event. The highlight of the cruise in my opinion. I can still hear the glacier crackling from that trip 12 years ago. So if you ask me today, I would not do a cruise that did not include Glacier Bay. But maybe after my Glacier overload next month, I might answer differently.

How was Hubbard? My wife and I will be there in less than 30 days.

So that is a Southbound cruise. You will have 2 days in the Gulf of Alaska before you enter protected waters when you get to Juneau/Skagway/Icy Straight Point. The rest should be pretty calm as you will have islands outside of you to protect you from the Pacific.

Back in 2012, my wife and I did a round trip cruise from Seattle to Alaska. It was in September. The sea day (day 2) to get up to Alaska hit rough weather. The ship was moving significantly. Luckily, my wife and I were fine and we went up to the Crows Nest (HAL Westerdam) and had a blast with the ship pitching up and down. We stayed up there so long that the MDR and Lido had closed for dinner before we scrounged something to eat. It was also fun walking about as the ship did have a lot of motion. The joke was that the only people walking straight were those that were very drunk. While everyone not drunk could not walk a straight line to save them with the ship's motion. We luckily did great and had a blast. It helped make our 1st cruise a blast. A large percentage of the passengers were in their rooms or in their room's bathrooms because they did not enjoy the motion. The crew also were affected. So Yes, but as stated above, it does depend on the route. RT Vancouver has the most protected path to Alaska and likely has very little or no sea action affecting the ship. I also believe larger cruise ships leaving Vancouver go outside the inside passage. RT Seattle goes outside Vancouver Island and can be affected. Then the one-way (northbound or southbound) will do the Gulf of Alaska and will also be affected.

I booked the Steller Inn. I will not know how nice it is until after our trip next month though. It looked nice and the price was good.

31 days out and I will be checking every day. Multiple times a day. Nothing better to do 🙂

We are doing almost this. We are renting a car and driving to Seward for 2 nights. Doing the Kenai Fjords cruise and then back to Anchorage for a ride to Whittier. But the cruise ship will be the HAL Noordam. I have heard so many good things about Kenai Fjords. Recommend Princess too for Glacier Bay.

Going on the Noordam next month and noticed a new item under the pay-for-dining options. Alaskan Seafood Boil. It is available one night in the Lido Market. Now I am not a seafood person but my wife is. I am wondering if I booked it for her, if I could also sit with her but just get my food from the normal Lido Market? The description makes me think they will set up a special area for those who pay for the Seafood Boil and therefore, I feel I would not be able to eat with her. Has anyone done this and what was their experience?

When I was researching what to do, I found one piece of information that sold me on Seward. That was a comment by someone who said the Kenai Fjords Cruise was the highlight of their Alaskan cruise. But that is not on the cruise! So I hope I can say the same thing in 40 days.

I am going to post my itinerary to give you some ideas. Note, this is my 2nd Alaskan Cruise and the 1st was 12 years ago. So I am NOT experienced. So take this with a grain of salt. Cruising Holland America MS Noordam Southbound Whitter to Vancouver 6/13 Fly into Anchorage and stay the night. Actually flying in at 1:45 AM on 6/14 and sleeping a few hours. 6/14 Go back to the Airport for a car rental for 2 days 6/14 Driving to Seward. Stopping at multiple stops on the way including Sightseeing on Turnagain Arm, Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Portage Glacier Cruise, and other various points to stop and gawk. I like to take pictures so will be stopping a lot :). 6/14 Hotel in Seward for 2 nights 6/15 Kenai Fjords cruise. Taking the 8-hour Northwestern Fjord cruise 6/16 Drive back to Anchorage and drop off the car 6/16 Get on a tour that will end up at the cruise docks. Stops include the same spots on Turnagain Arm, Lunch in Ayleska including a tram ride to the top. Another stop at the Wildlife Conservation Center, and then on to Whittier to get on the ship 6/17 Cruise by Hubbard Glacier 6/18 Cruise Glacier Bay (I loved it 12 years ago and consider this a must for any Alaskan cruise) 6/19 Skagway: Taking a bus/train trip all the way into the Yukon and back 6/20 Juneau: Whale Watching and then walking around town 6/21 Ketchikan: Walking around town 6/22 Sea Day 6/23 Arrive in Vancouver. Hop on a bus to Seattle because flights out of Vancouver are insane. Or I am just cheap. 6/23 Stay the night in Seattle and maybe go down to the waterfront in the evening. 6/24 Fly Home. So I have a do it yourself land portion that I am really excited about. I have read reports that the Kenai Fjords is an awesome time and a highlight of a cruise when it isn't even on the cruise. Also, if you have the time read this thread if you have not. Lots of great discussions.

The board here have highly praised both of them. (Harv and Marv and Jayleen) I do not think you will do wrong with either. The big thing I would look for is the time on water. Both groups above have you on the water for 3 hours. I think there are some others out there that have less. Watch out for that.

49 days until we fly to Anchorage to start our Vacation. I am almost to the "printing out everything stage". I got the folders. Next week starts the "ordering the misc cruise items" I have on my wish list. I keep reviewing items to look for any updates I want to make. We are still just winging it in Ketchikan at this point. But Skagway and Juneau are set. Let the adventure begin! I want it to be tomorrow but then also do not want it to be over either.

Look into the Kenai Fjords and the tours available. Out of Seward. My wife and I are flying in 2 days early to go to Seward to do this tour before we return to Anchorage to take a ride to Whittier for our cruise. I have read some great things about Kenai Fjords.

If this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip. I do recommend looking into a land portion. Which might be taking a one-way cruise. My wife and I are flying into Anchorage a few days before the trip to drive to Seward and do a one-day cruise to the Kenai Fjords. As part of the drive, we will hit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Portage Glacier, and other various stops on the way. I feel doing this will greatly enhance the trip. Even if it is adding a few thousand to the trip due to the items we are doing. If Denali was more open you could consider that, but that likely will not be for another year. There are other options around Anchorage as well. Matanuska Glacier where you can walk on the glacier without having to pay an arm and a leg for a helicopter. The one way will also generally get you more time in the ports to explore. Another bonus.

First, you need to see what times you are in the ports. Not all ships stay in the ports the same amount of time. This will impact what you can do. Since you are hitting Victoria, I assume you are doing a round trip from Seattle. Definitely pay attention to the port times. Juneau is a popular spot for Whale Watching. Harv and Marv or Jayleen are often mentioned. The boats are small so only a few people better than the larger boats with a lot of people. Skagway has the Train. You can book directly with the company. But there are many options. My wife and I are doing an 8 hour bus/train. Taking a bus all the way into the Yukon to Emerald lake then back to a spot to get on the Train back to Skagway. Chilkoot Charters. They also have shorter options. We are in port 14 hours so can do the 8 hour option. Ketchikan. I am looking into the rainforest hike. But last time we just walked around town. Could be the best spot for biking. But I do not know. Victoria. Check the time in the port. It is required for the "1 foreign port" rule, and you might only have a few hours there. Not sure if it is worth it. Also, many times it is in the evening.

This is weird. I have a HAL cruise in June. We are arriving 2 days before to do some exploring before the cruise. None of which is through the HAL. But when I log in I can book an Airport Transfer. Anchorage to Whittier. It was under Flights and Planning, but it was there. But it is $69.00 pp. Shoot. ACT Bus is cheaper by $20 pp. If you just want a transfer.