A young family's alaskan trip review

[Gymjenn14]

sorry this is so old but i haven't had time til now. Myself (33, special education teacher), my boyfriend (32, government contractor working overseas), and my daughter (7, animal and outdoor lover) went on Holland America's Zaandam out of Vancouver and did a three day land tour to Denali, plus an extra day in Vancouver and Anchorage. Overall it was an outstanding trip and my daughter cried because she never wanted to leave Alaska. Truly a trip of a lifetime

 

6/9-travel day,

left at 6 am and arrived in Vancouver at 3pm. checked into the hotel (Hampton Inn Downtown-nice!) and waited for my boyfriend to arrive. We then took the hotel shuttle to Stanley Park and just walked around, my daughter played in the sand and, then we ate at the Fish House (very good, a little pricy) then we took a cab and called it a night

 

6/10-Vancouver

ate the complimentary breakfast at the hotel (very good) then took the shuttle to the pier at about 10am. We checked our luggage and took a free shuttle to Capilano. This was wonderful. We loved the trees, the bridges, and the way you are totally immersed in the forest. My daughter did the junior scientist program they have (free). We got there around 11:30 and left around 1pm. We then took the shuttle back and got off at one of the hotels and went to the store to pick up some monster,water and pop. Got a cab to the pier and got into line for the Zaandam. It took about 45mins to get processed and we were in our room by 3pm. We explored the ship, my daughter swam, we checked out the kids club, and had dinner in the dining room. We had the flexible dining plan and never had to wait for a seat and we arrived early, late, and right in the middle of service through out the cruise. During dinner Orcas were spotted and my daughter was excited for her first animal sighting.

 

Review Of the Zaandam - room was fine, we had a standard with window. view was nice. fit was tight for the three of us.house keeping was standard. Outside decks were lovely.Public areas were quite nice. One of our favorite rooms was the "relaxing room" aka library.Ship showed some age but generally was in good condition and served its purpose as a floating hotel for our trip. I had one spa service and it was very good but the up sell at the end kind of ruined the experience a bit. My daughter loved the covered pool and swam daily.

 

We were thrilled with the kids club. my daughter participated every sea day and every evening we were on the ship.Every night except the first and the second formal night she chose to eat in the lido buffet and go to kids club instead of dining in the main dining room with us. about seven kids were in her group regularly although there were 99 kids between 1-18 on the ship.

 

Food was fair. We got room service each morning, it was ok, lido buffet was well stocked and service in the main dining room was good. Pastas and deserts were quite poor. We saw one show and it was pretty good, casino was fun, drinks were fine. overall a C+

 

Ports-our goal was to get away from the masses and see some wildlife and do some fun things we wouldnt get to do back home. For the most part we succeeded! all tours were booked privately and were wonderful

 

6/11-seaday,

did family photo scavenger hunt (lots of fun and we got 2nd!) spa time for me, relaxing, lazy day

 

6/12- Ketchikan 7am-3pm

Kayaking in the am with Ketchikan Kayak Company. Beautiful day, tons of sun and pretty warm. Kayaking was awesome. Saw jelly fish, held star fish, saw eagles nests and lots of eagles, saw a seal. water was calm, views were spectacular. we then walked to the Alaskan Discovery Center, started junior ranger packet, saw exhibits (very nice!) then walked to creek street. Ate fish and chips over looking the river (outstanding fish!) and did some shopping and browsing. no salmon yet, so no bears. Back on ship about 2pm in time for swimming, dinner, and kids club.

 

6/13-Juneau 9am-10pm (we got a late start, on port at 10 )

Whale watching with Orca at 11. It was raining at the port. we did some window shopping on the way to Orca's offices, then took shuttle to the whale boat. Rain stopped, sky cleared, beautiful but chilly. Tour was outstanding. Saw and followed a pod of orca. tons of moms and babies, then watched lots and lots of humpbacks. Great company. Headed back to port. Went on the ship to grab a bite to eat then (in the pouring rain) got the blue van to mendenhall. no rain at the glacier. watched movie and completed jr. ranger program. saw some mountain goats. hiked to the water fall. we stayed later than the shuttle allowed so we took a cab back to the port (lots of cabs in the parking lot) considered dinner at Tracey's but didn't want to eat in the rain so we ate on the ship

 

6/14-Skagway 7am-9pm

 

super windy! off ship around 9am walked to the NPS visitors center and then decided to walk out to the cemetery (kinda a mistake since the bulk of this is a walk through the actual town of skagway but we made it) hiked to the falls (breathtaking!) and checked out the cemetery. Walked back to town. stopped at second NPS visitor center (got jr. ranger pin) and candy/udge shop. browsed the stores and then headed back to the ship for lunch. 2 pm tour with TEMSCO/AIE to denver glacier/dog camp. Helicopter ride was amazing! views were unreal. dog camp was fun. they had 5 day old puppies and dogs galore. my daughter was in heaven. we all got to "drive" the team. great experience. after return flight we got a ride back to the ship, swan, dinner, kids club

 

6/15-glacier bay

 

my daughter spent most of the day in kids club (another jr. ranger badge earned) beautiful day. cold and kinda wet. got really close to the glaciers. saw tons of sea otters, sea lions, eagles, and seals. rangers were very nice and informative. spent most of day outside at front of the ship. also saw beautiful views of two humpbacks. overall a relaxing and enjoyable day. show that evening and a couple slot machines

 

6/16 sea day

swimming, food, laundry, casino, and packing. kids club and a family kinnex dance party

 

6/17

left ship, got on tour bus to denali. we stopped about every 90 min (a bit too much for my taste) but trip was enjoyable. lunch was in Wasilla and was fine. outside the restaurant there was a sled dog team fund raising for the Yukon Quest so more puppies to play with. we saw Denali at the southern entrance. got pictures, took a little hike for better views. arrived at the McKinley lodge around 6 pm (very nice). got to rooms around 7pm.looked into renting bikes but no kids bikes available so decided to walk on bike path then took trail to WAC and back. went to pizza place for dinner (much better than on the ship. had reindeer sausage pizza!) went to bed around 11:30 and it was still bright out

 

6/18 Denali to Anchorage

up and out of hotel around 8:30. took shuttle to visitor's center. checked bags and got on savage river shuttle. took shuttle to savage river. got out and hiked a bit around the river. then we spotted a ranger looking at what appeared to be a large dog. upon closer look it was confirmed to be an alpha wolf. my daughter was thrilled. we followed the wolf a bit then started walking along the road back towards the way we came in. again spotted rangers looking and discovered a grizzly digging for food along the river. we then were lead to look up in the mountains and spotted a few a Dall sheep. shortly after we flagged down the camper bus and got a ride back to the visitor's center. checked out the science center and my daughter got another jr. ranger badge. we grabbed some food for lunch, got our bags, and headed to the train at about 12:15. On the train a moose walking across the street was spotted. Train ride was nice, food for dinner was good. overall pleasant ride despite problems with the air conditioner and a less than knowledgeable guide. arrived at hotel Westmark in anchorage (decent) and hit the sack.

 

6/19 Seward Highway

Boyfriend got up early (7:30) and took cab to airport to get rental car. When he returned we headed out to get breakfast and drive the Seward highway. We stopped at numerous scenic points (tide was low) and went to the Conservation Center. Really enjoyed it, super cute baby moose and musk ox. spent about two hours there then continued south to Seward. Ate lunch/dinner at restaurant in town. Great burgers, onion rings, and fried fish but a bit pricey. Went to Exit Glacier. Another junior ranger badge for my daughter. There had been lots of bear sightings that day so my boyfriend got excited. We first hiked to the glacier then decided to hike towards the ice fields. We made it to the cliffs and then turned around. No bears but it was a great hike. we all loved it but there was a decent amount of snow and we were only in standard hiking boots. exited the trail around 10pm and started the drive back to Anchorage. Tide was in when we got to Buluga point. the difference in the view and amount of water was unreal, no belugas spotted but so glad we got to see the area at both low and high tide. checked into hotel- executive suites (kinda nasty but we made due) at 11:30 pm. boyfriend had a 5 am flight so he packed and headed to airport to return car and check in around 3am. daughter and I flew out the next day at 3pm so we were lazy in the morning, packed, then checked bags at front desk and she played at McDonalds befoere took the shuttle to the airport

 

Overall it was a near perfect vacation. we did a lot, but never felt rushed and were able to relax and enjoy ourselves. weather was fantastic, we wore jeans and tee shirts with fleece jackets most days, stripped down t tees usually during activities. did wear capris some days.all the planning paid off and it was one of the most stress free vacations i have had

[cellyml12]

Fun review, thanks for sharing!!

[Keith1010]

Thanks for taking the time to post and share your review and I am glad that overall you had a great time.

 

Keith

[erewhon]

Thank you for your review, pleased that you had a great holiday.

 

Maybe one day you will return to Alaska.

[Coral]

Thanks for sharing! So glad your daughter had the time of of her life! She will definitely have different stories to tell when she returns to school compared to the normal "disney vacation".

 

I hope you are able to return sometime when she is older as it sounds like Alaska is her type of vacation!

[alaskawdw12]

Thanks for the review! Sounds like you guys had a great trip!!

 

took shuttle to visitor's center. checked bags and got on savage river shuttle. took

 

There's a place where you can check your bags at the visitors center? I've been trying to find out about checking bags at the entrance of the park so that we can spend the morning in the park like you did, and not have to go back to the hotel to get our luggage and then go back to the park to get on the train.

[Gymjenn14]

there is a little kiosk type place across the street from the train station that you can check your bags at. the staff at the visitor's center pointed it out to us when we asked if there were lockers available (no lockers at the visitor's center, only at WAC)

[mapleleaves]

Thanks for the review! Sounds like you guys had a great trip!!

There's a place where you can check your bags at the visitors center? quote]

 

 

 

On the Park's web site there is info about Luggage Storage, and a map of the Denali Visitor Center area:

http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/the-denali-visitor-center.htm#CP_JUMP_229589

[alaskawdw12]

Thanks so much! That's great! You both just saved us a lot of time and stress :)

[tee_harbor]

Overall it was an outstanding trip and my daughter cried because she never wanted to leave Alaska.

 

We're always looking for more teachers. :D Not the job insecurity there is in the Lower 48.

 

Mendenhall Glacier:

we stayed later than the shuttle allowed so we took a cab back to the port (lots of cabs in the parking lot)

 

A couple of years ago, they got rid of the waiting cabs, so folks on this board have been told to take a cab company phone number with them. Obviously then, the wait for a cab to arrive can cut into your time at the glacier. But the couple of times I've been out there, I've noticed a separate parking area with a lot of cabs waiting. I assumed it was those with tours waiting for their charges to finish looking around. But were you able to just get a ride from one of them? That would be a great convenience.

 

6/14-Skagway 7am-9pm

 

super windy!

 

I've heard an anecdote that Skagway was called The Place of Evil Wind in the Tlingit language, but that may be a story to salve our sore ears. I blame my lifetime hatred of wind on being born there.

[Gymjenn14]

When we arrived Mendenhall we knew we would miss the final shuttle at 545 so we got a cab number from the visitor center staff but we never had to use it because we just hopped in one of the cabs in the lot without a problem

[SweetpeaOne]

Very nice review. Thanks for sharing.

[ttnc4me]

Thanks for the review. Not too many including kids on this intinerary so it was a nice insight.

[Hikini]

Thanks for the interesting review.