14 day great alaskan explorer

Having already sailed to Alaska, for a second trip we would like to see more than the usual stops taken by all the major cruise lines. This itinerary has peaked my interest for several years now. This could be the year i pull the trigger on this sailing.

Looking for some feedback from anybody having taken this sailing with Hollands America. The idea of sailing right into Anchorage really appeals to me.

Thank you all for your thoughts and input.

My DH and I have done this cruise twice on HAL - we love visiting Anchorage, Homer and Kodiak. Icy Strait Point (Hoonah) is wonderful, not spoiled with commercial jewelry stores, but still controlled by the native Tlinkit tribe. In fact, we've done 2 seven day Alaska cruises, 2 14-day Alaska cruises, and just booked one on the Maasdam in May-June 2019 that's 21 days....more different places to visit!!

Definitely a great cruise - I wouldn't hesitate to book it again. Enjoy!

Laura

Done it twice and looking forward to doing it again.

My DH and I have done this cruise twice on HAL - we love visiting Anchorage, Homer and Kodiak. Icy Strait Point (Hoonah) is wonderful, not spoiled with commercial jewelry stores, but still controlled by the native Tlinkit tribe. In fact, we've done 2 seven day Alaska cruises, 2 14-day Alaska cruises, and just booked one on the Maasdam in May-June 2019 that's 21 days....more different places to visit!!

 

Definitely a great cruise - I wouldn't hesitate to book it again. Enjoy!

 

Laura

Thanks for the report. We are signed up for the late May 14 day trip and wondered about cancelling it, since we want to also take the later and longer transpacific to Japan that duplicates some of the same Alaska stops in Sept.

Think we will just do both, and enjoy this area now doubly.

We have also done this cruise twice. Both times were on the Amsterdam.

Loved it!!

I'm not sure I've ever seen anything negative about that cruise written on this board (and a lot has been written about it). It is much loved by past passengers including myself. We took it on Maasdam in 2016 first two weeks of June. Weather was awesome, great ports, great ship for this itinerary (Amsterdam and Zaandam carry a few more pax than Maasdam). I too have signed up for the three week version in 2019 on Maasdam and I can't wait.

I have done this itinary twice, once on the Amsterdam and once on the Maasdam.

It is an awesome trip! It never gets old.

Yes, our interest was "piqued" when we booked Amsterdam for 2017. It was my best Alaska cruise!!

You get to some ports where others aren't able to go. Homer was a blast!

BOOK IT!

Jim

We did this in 2012 and loved it. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

We have taken this cruise 3 times and will probably do it again! We have friends in Anchorage who are amazed that we come to visit them! The Hubbard Glacier is the best. I wear my Homer Salty Dawg hoodie to the gym every day and think of the great times we had in Homer.

You won't regret going. Although we love verandahs we have always booked a lower prom obstructed under the MDR for this itinerary and loved the location and $$$ saved..

Karen

Docks in anchorage? Or Seward?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

Docks in anchorage? Or Seward?

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

Yes, it docks in Anchorage at the freight terminal near the train station.

We've done this itinerary 4 times and have signed up for another one this year. I guess we don't like it.;)

We are excited about the Alaska itinerary as well. We have sailed Princess to Alaska but the 21 day Alaska in June 2019 peaked our interest. We considered the Japan extension but not sure we could handle the long flight home from Japan.

So many new ports that we have never visited. We are hoping to take a bear viewing tour in or out of Kodiak.

::D

We did this cruise in 2014 on the Amsterdam and are doing it again this summer on the Zaandam. We loved it so much the first time we knew we would be doing it again. We also loved the 7 day Alaska cruise but there is so much more to see on this extended cruise. I vividly remember the beautiful scenery on the sea day between Kodiak and Hubbard Glacier. The 21 day out of San Francisco has peaked my interest too but don’t want to wait until 2019.

Utahtea

Sent from my iPad using Forums

For those who have taken this cruise, which if any ports are tender ports?

We've done this itinerary 4 times and none of the ports are tender ports anymore. Icy Strait Point and Sitka used to be but now both have docking facilities. Icy Strait Point involves a bit of a walk and at Sitka they bus you to town. The system works well and is very efficient. It's a wonderful itinerary and we'll probably book it again in 2019!

Karen

We also did this before, and will be doing it again "the end of August this year. Carol

Love getting all this positive feedback. Our hard decisions was picking the time to do it - early, late, middle of summer - each had pros and cons. We finally picked late May - before the black flies, before the summer crowds, less chance of rain, but also before most wildlife and summer greenery, still cold - may be even limited port access still due to ice.

How have others picked their "best time" to do this itinerary.

Love getting all this positive feedback. Our hard decisions was picking the time to do it - early, late, middle of summer - each had pros and cons. We finally picked late May - before the black flies, before the summer crowds, less chance of rain, but also before most wildlife and summer greenery, still cold - may be even limited port access still due to ice.

 

How have others picked their "best time" to do this itinerary.

We keep going back for more, LOL! :D We have done three of these 14-day Alaska itineraries, two on Amsterdam, and one on Maasdam, travelling in May, August, and September. We have also done numerous 7-day Alaska itineraries, from May through August. (We live near Seattle, and it's easy and relatively cost-effective to do an Alaska cruise from Seattle, or even Vancouver, B.C., so we do a lot of them). In our experience, our preferred time to cruise to Alaska is any time from late May to early July.

I'll add to what others have already stated: HAL's 14-day itineraries to Alaska are wonderful, in our opinion. Maasdam's longer 21-day Alaska itineraries from San Francisco in 2019 look great, too.

Having already sailed to Alaska, for a second trip we would like to see more than the usual stops taken by all the major cruise lines. This itinerary has peaked my interest for several years now. This could be the year i pull the trigger on this sailing.

Looking for some feedback from anybody having taken this sailing with Hollands America. The idea of sailing right into Anchorage really appeals to me.

Thank you all for your thoughts and input.

We did the very first one in May 2010. Awesome experience.

We did the very first one in May 2010. Awesome experience.

Did you have to miss any ports due to ice in early May - and if so, what did they substitute for them?

Following this thread, as we are signed up for the June 3 2019 sailing on Amsterdam.

For those who have taken this cruise, which if any ports are tender ports?

Icy Strait Point and Sitka according to my booking for May 21.

Icy Strait Point and Sitka according to my booking for May 21.

Icy Strait has their own dock for one vessel. I wonder if there is going to be another ship in port when you arrive.

I sailed this itinerary on the Amsterdam last July and it is my favorite Alaskan cruise. I don't recall any ports requiring tenders and all ports on the itinerary were visited with no substitution. We visited Hubbard Glacier on a magnificent weather day. Having just returned from the Zaandam's South America/Antarctica cruise, Hubbard Glacier is better than any of the glaciers I saw in the Chilean Fjords. (My opinion; others may disagree.)

The Zaandam will be sailing this itinerary in 2018 and her crew are excited about doing so.