Westerdam Alaska Land & Sea Logistical Questions from a HAL and cruising Newbie

Hi there. A few questions from a newbie to HAL, Alaska and cruising in general. We are doing the Westerdam Landand Sea trip arriving in Fairbanks on Wednesday. There are 6 of us on a multi-generational family trip, my mom and her SO, me and my husband and our 2 daughters, 18 and15 (kind of a graduation trip for the 18yo).

So the questions:

• Will the welcome package that we get in Fairbanks have everything for our whole trip, or just the land portion?
  
• I've already determined that there is a Wal-Mart 7 minutes from the hotel to stock up on some snacks and drinks for the Denali portion of our trip. Am I going to want to take an Uber or a taxi to get there - are Ubers easy to get?
  
• We are booked at the Grande Denali Lodge not the McKinley Chalet. Are we going to be further removed from everything in Denali? It sounds like everything is really "happening" by the chalet and there are more restaurants to choose from for dinner near the chalet. Should I be concerned?
  
• How far is the railroad depot from the hotel when we arrive in Anchorage? Trying to figure out dinner reservations - any recommendations?
  
• We booked the Kenai Fjords Cruise in Seward prior to embarkation. How does our luggage and how do we get to the ship for embarkation later that day? Will we be boarding on the late side?
  
• How is the temperature on the ship? Will we want to wear shorts? Is the MDR cold during dinner?
  
• We have 2 days in Vancouver/Victoria at the end of our cruise. The package includes a stop at Butchart gardens, but it looks like its limited to 2hrs. Does anyone know our entry tickets will permit us to go back if we wanted to?
  

Thank you in advance for your input everyone. I'm sure I'll have more questions as we start packing, but this board has been a plethora of info!

Regarding Fairbanks, I live here so can tell you that Uber is still just getting started. I would recommend Eagle/Yellow taxi at 907-455-5555.

My last cruise was on the Westerdam (Transatlantic last October) and I did not find the dining room cold. In fact, I often felt quite warm - But I'm an Alaskan! :D I wore shorts around the ship most days.

Have a wonderful cruise and I truly hope you enjoy your visit!

Be sure to read the Kenai fjords cruise description carefully. We booked a post cruise tour in Seward, and it was more wildlife viewing than Cruising the Kenai fjords. We only saw Kenai fjords national park from afar. Ours was on Royal Caribbean.

Check your paperwork. On radiance of the seas, we had a late embarkation in Seward. Our cruise was actually the second leg of aback to back. So we can’t help with the luggage.

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