Alaska Cruisetour 10 on Volendam: 13-day Yukon & Denali SB starting 6/24/11 - Help?

[kcsmom2]

Please accept my apology; I have perused the boards for three hours now, but haven't been able to find much about cruisetours with a 4-day cruise. If you can help me, I would be forever grateful!

 

This will be our first HAL cruise (and first time in Alaska). Traveling with me is my DH, DDs (ages 12 and 14), my mom and my best friend. Our land tours stops are: Anchorage, Denali, Fairbanks, Beaver Creek, Whitehorse then Skagway (where we board the Volendam for four days of cruising).

 

Any and all comments/suggestions/"don't miss or don't do" are welcome...but here are my specific questions:

 

1) It states that soft-sided tote bags or backpacks are recommended, because wheeled carry-on cases (fine on airlines) are "too large and are not suitable as hand-carried luggage on motor coaches and trains." Is this truly the case; will they not be allowed, or are they simply "recommending" we take something softer? We all have wheeled carry-ons we were planning to use, and would hate to have to spend money on something new just for this one trip.

 

2) It states that one piece of luggage will be delivered to our Denali room, and the remaining luggage will be delivered to our Fairbanks hotel. Is this one piece of luggage per person, or per "room" (in our case, for our family of four)?

 

3) Other than the Hilton in Anchorage, all of our other hotel stays are in a Westmark...do they provide shampoo/conditioner/lotions in those rooms? Or should I plan to bring our own toiletries (again, I have two teenage daughters with long hair, as well as myself!!)? Also, do any of these hotels have a pool/hot tub, do you know?

 

4) Do you recommend booking excursions ahead of time, or wait until we arrive to see what the weather is like? Is there anything we absolutely should NOT miss; with the caveat that we can't afford any of the helicopter/planes, etc. excursions that I'm certain are amazing but cost-prohibitive for us?

 

5) If we bring water-repellent jackets, sweatshirts and a couple long-sleeve shirts (plus hat and gloves), will that be sufficient for "layering" as everyone recommends? Again, packing for four people, I am trying very hard to minimize what we bring.

 

6) I notice that on the ship, they have a club for kids through age 12, then another for teenagers. My youngest will turn 13 a month after our cruise...will they allow her to be with her sister and the "older" kids, or will she be forced to remain with the younger kids because of her age (on RCCL, they stick to the "actual" ages regardless of how close the child's birthday would be)?

 

Again, I truly appreciate any advice you can provide!! We are excited about leaving in less than four weeks for our trip...but it's a little overwhelming right now because of all my unanswered questions.

[kcsmom2]

Can no one help answer our questions? I continue to search the boards but haven't found much (other than a few questions about the carry-on baggage, but even that isn't completely clear).

 

Thank you, in advance!!

[PandasRUs]

We did a similar tour last year and loved it.

1 - Our carry-on for the bus was a back pack. These buses are really comfortable. There was a hook where I hung my back pack and we were quite comfortable with that. I am not sure if the luggage you mentioned is forbidden, but I don't think I saw anyone with that. They would probably be awkward and in the way on the bus and train.

2 - I am pretty sure it is one piece of luggage per person, but my husband and I were able to use one between us for such a short time. It made me a bit nervous, but our other luggage was there when we arrived.

3 - I think all of the Westmarks had what we needed. I am not sure about pools however, since I didn't use any. I did call and email to ask questions and they were very helpful. There is also an internet site.

4 - We did book all of our excursions ahead of time because we had never done this before. We loved the dog sled tour in Skagway. The bus tour in Denali that is included was a long 7-8 hours.

5 - Our tour was in July last year and we were never cold nor did we encounter mosquitos, but I guess it doesn't hurt to have some warm clothes and insect repellant just in case.

6 - Sorry I can't help with this one.

 

There was a rain storm that wiped out some roads and necessitated our tour being rerouted (aka plane ride to our connection). We felt HAL handled things very well. We would certainly do it all again

Hope you enjoy your trip as much as we enjoyed ours!

[epixx]

We had a 12 year old last year on HAL's 14 day MS Amsterdam Alaska cruise. We also had a teen. The 12 year old was required to stay with the younger kids. As a result, she almost never participated in the activities for her age group. She did find a few friends around the ship and did socialize with them, but not in the kids' club.

[the2ofus]

Have you checked the CC Port of Call boards? There's quite a bit of info about Alaska, though from pax on all the cruiselines, not just HAL.