Review of our 2013 cruise/land tour with Holland America (Zaandam)

[cactusflower]

When we arrived in Fairbanks, we took a bus to the Westmark Hotel (you guessed it – it is owned by Holland America). This hotel was a little bit nicer than its sister property in Anchorage. However, it had the loudest flushing toilet that I’ve ever heard! (Is that TMI?)

 

Awaiting us in our rooms were our daily suitcases, as well as the luggage that we had sent on ahead to our final destination. That evening we just stayed in and reorganized our luggage for the trip home the next day.

 

In Fairbanks we got to truly experience the land of the midnight sun. When we went to bed around 11:30 pm, it was still light outside. I got up around 2:30 am and took a peek out the window. While it was not as bright, it was still light. The sun was sitting on the horizon like a sunset or sunrise.

 

I haven’t said that much about Rachel, our Holland America tour guide who was with us for the entire land portion. She was very friendly and energetic and did a great job taking care of all the logistics along the way. When we arrived at the hotel in Fairbanks, she gave us all a hug and said goodbye – this was where she parted ways with us.

 

This photo was taken from our hotel room at 11:30 at night:

 

[shrimpboat123]

You still have followers.

 

My wife and I did the Y4T HAL Cruisetour from June 26th to July 14th on the Statendam. We did the land tour first.

 

It seems we were all in Denali on the same day - July 3rd and 4th. We arrived around 12:30PM on the 3rd. We left on July 6th.

 

Our TWT trip was also on Jul 4th, however, we were the first tour out. We left the main lodge at 5:50AM (I see you were on TWT #4). Because we were the first tour out that morning and we could see Mt. McKinley from the first vantage point, our driver was able to make the decision for our bus and the buses to follow, to go the extra 9 miles to mile 62. We first saw Mt. Mckinley at 8:10 AM and there was a little bit of cloud cover, but we could see the summit. At 9:19AM, we also saw Mt. Mckinley from mile 62. There was still a little bit of cloud but we could see the peak.

 

I did kind of a report of our trip and posted it on the HAL board. In case you didn't see it, here is the link. It's not as detailed as yours. Good job by the way and I like your photos. Brings back memories.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1897694

[cactusflower]

Thanks so much Shrimpboat123 for your comment! It really helps to know that someone is reading. :D

 

That is cool that we were in Denali at the same time. Thanks for leading the charge to milepost 62! :) You are lucky that you got to see the summit. Apparently the cloud coverage can change rapidly since we were there at close to the same times, but didn't see the peak.

 

I took a look at your review and enjoyed it. It was nice to see the areas that you went to that we didn't. Thanks for sharing the link.

 

Which was scarier - Top of the World Highway or Polychrome Pass?

[Shmoo here]

I'm still reading. We did the Y4T (like shrimpboat123) last year (May/June). I have many pictures similar to yours.

[shrimpboat123]

Thanks so much Shrimpboat123 for your comment! It really helps to know that someone is reading. :D

 

That is cool that we were in Denali at the same time. Thanks for leading the charge to milepost 62! :) You are lucky that you got to see the summit. Apparently the cloud coverage can change rapidly since we were there at close to the same times, but didn't see the peak.

 

I took a look at your review and enjoyed it. It was nice to see the areas that you went to that we didn't. Thanks for sharing the link.

 

Which was scarier - Top of the World Highway or Polychrome Pass?

 

I think Polychrome Pass was a little scarier. My wife would certainly agree since she was on the side of the bus that was looking over the steep edges. That road was literally carved out of the side of the mountain. I wouldn't want to travel on the park road through that area after it had been raining for any period of time. I'd be afraid of the road giving away on some of those sharp turns.

[Shmoo here]

[quote name='shrimpboat123']I think Polychrome Pass was a little scarier. My wife would certainly agree since she was on the side of the bus that was looking over the steep edges. That road was literally carved out of the side of the mountain. I wouldn't want to travel on the park road through that area after it had been raining for any period of time. I'd be afraid of the road giving away on some of those sharp turns.[/quote]

This was the day we did the TWT, rain, snow, grey skies:

[IMG]http://i44.tinypic.com/2ptqjja.jpg[/IMG]

One of our rest stops (everyone helped out with this):

[IMG]http://i40.tinypic.com/qsqo80.jpg[/IMG]

And this was our view of Denali:

[IMG]http://i44.tinypic.com/14tosnd.jpg[/IMG]

[jrose529]

[SIZE=4]I'm still here too and enjoying your trip report very much! Thank you![/SIZE]
[SIZE=4][/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]I'm getting worried about our 2 night stay in Anchorage which I'm sure will be at the Westmark. We are flying in a day early and requested an extra night at whatever hotel HAL is using for the cruisetour. I'm rethinking that now! [/SIZE]
[SIZE=4][/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]Judy[/SIZE]

[lake_wannabees]

I'm following but loosely. We're just starting a B2B2B 3/4/3 day cruise. I'll have to catch up after we return.

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[cactusflower]

Thanks so much for the comments!!! :D

lake_wannabees - have a great time on your trip!

jrose529 - That is a tough call. If I were taking an independent trip to Anchorage, I would not choose to stay at the Westmark. However, in your situation, for the sake of expediency, I would probably stay there both nights, rather than having to deal with changing hotels midstream.

Shmoo here - thanks for sharing your pictures. I'm sorry that you had such poor weather for your TWT. :(

shrimpboat123 - on the way into the park, I was sitting on the side of the bus closest to the edge and on the way out, I was sitting on the side farthest from the edge. I actually found the latter to me more nerve wracking. I think it was because I could still see that it was a long way down, but I couldn't see where we were in relation to the edge of the road.

I hope to get another installment posted this evening.

[Shmoo here]

[quote name='cactusflower']Thanks so much for the comments!!! :D

lake_wannabees - have a great time on your trip!

jrose529 - That is a tough call. If I were taking an independent trip to Anchorage, I would not choose to stay at the Westmark. However, in your situation, for the sake of expediency, I would probably stay there both nights, rather than having to deal with changing hotels midstream.

Shmoo here - thanks for sharing your pictures. I'm sorry that you had such poor weather for your TWT. :(

shrimpboat123 - on the way into the park, I was sitting on the side of the bus closest to the edge and on the way out, I was sitting on the side farthest from the edge. I actually found the latter to me more nerve wracking. I think it was because I could still see that it was a long way down, but I couldn't see where we were in relation to the edge of the road.

I hope to get another installment posted this evening.[/quote]

No problem with the weather. The rain/snow was hit and miss most of the day. We had lots of animal sightings (everything but a wolf). And the next day, on the train from Denali to Anchorage, we had some great shots of the mountain from the train:
[IMG]http://i40.tinypic.com/2yy5row.jpg[/IMG]

[cactusflower]

[SIZE=3]Shmoo - glad to hear it - you ended up seeing more than we did![/SIZE]



[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]Fairbanks[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]Today was our last day in Alaska. Our plane was set to leave around 5 pm that evening. I had reserved a car with Hertz, to be picked up at the airport. Unfortunately, the Westmark does not offer a free shuttle to the airport, so we had to take a taxi.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]We had heard that there were forest fires burning outside of Fairbanks and that morning we could really smell the smoke and see the haze in the air. I was a little worried about how this would affect the enjoyment of our day (the smoke smell was pretty strong). However, our taxi driver assured us that as the day went on, the smoke would rise and not be a problem. Well, he was right! That day in Fairbanks turned out to be our nicest weather day of the whole trip. It was warm (in the ‘70’s) and sunny and beautiful. It made it that much harder to leave.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]One interesting thing that we learned – in Alaska, they just let the forest fires keep burning (unless, of course they are threatening a town). There is so much unpopulated forest land that they just let it burn until winter comes and puts it out naturally.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Calibri]We took the taxi to the airport and picked up our rental car. At this point we had all of our luggage with us, but we were able to put it all in the trunk of the rental car. Today was a fun day. It was nice to be on our own again and I felt like we were road-tripping. [/FONT][FONT=Wingdings][FONT=Wingdings]J[/FONT][/FONT][/SIZE]

[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]We had two stops planned that day. The first was the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska. [/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri][IMG]http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj571/cleogrande/Alaska/P1000954.jpg[/IMG][/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]We really enjoyed this museum and would have liked to spend more time there – we weren’t able to see it all. In the Alaska Gallery, there are exhibits covering the five different geographical regions of Alaska and their history, animals, people, etc. They have a little theater where they show 3 different movies. We saw one of them, which talked about what it is like to live in Fairbanks in the winter. That was enlightening. We didn’t have time to see the other films or any of the art exhibits because we had one more place to go. We grabbed a sandwich in the museum café as we headed out to our next destination.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]Our next stop was the Fountainhead Antique Museum. I had read about this place prior to our trip and new that I wanted to take my husband to see it because he loves classic cars. Well, he was totally blown away by this museum. It is fabulous! They have a large collection of antique cars in mint condition. Some of them have even won awards in national car shows. They are laid out in chronological order and range from approximately 1870 to 1930. In addition to the cars, the museum also has women’s clothing from the same time period as the car that it is displayed next to. The clothes are beautiful. There is also a section of the museum with cars that are specifically related to Alaska’s history. Additionally, there are several film clips playing on monitors throughout the museum that show examples of early car travel. One in particular that was fascinating was taken from the front of a cable car in San Francisco. It is amazing to see what a free-for-all the streets were. There are horse drawn buggies, cars, cable cars, street cars and pedestrians all zig-zagging across the road. It was filmed just 4 days before the 1906 earthquake. Even if you are not a car fanatic, I think that you would enjoy this museum.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]We would have liked more time to spend at this museum as well, but had to leave to go catch our flight. I highly recommend both of these museums to anyone that finds themselves in Fairbanks.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[IMG]http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj571/cleogrande/Alaska/P1000966.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj571/cleogrande/Alaska/P1000968.jpg[/IMG]



[IMG]http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj571/cleogrande/Alaska/P1000972.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj571/cleogrande/Alaska/P1000973.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj571/cleogrande/Alaska/P1000976.jpg[/IMG]

[cactusflower]

[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]We drove back to the airport, turned in our rental car and checked in for our overnight flight home (with a layover in Seattle). As our plane flew away from the Fairbanks airport, we could see the smoke from the nearby wildfires.[/SIZE][/FONT]



[FONT=Calibri][IMG]http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj571/cleogrande/Alaska/P1000982.jpg[/IMG][/FONT]

[IMG]http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj571/cleogrande/Alaska/P1000981.jpg[/IMG]

[cactusflower]

[SIZE=3]Well, that is the end of our journey. I do plan to post some final thoughts, but I may not get to them until next week due to a busy schedule. Thanks everyone for following along![/SIZE]

[BrusselsGirl07]

Great review, thank you! I can't wait to get there next year. Yvette

[newcruiser48]

I am just considering the idea of an Alaskan cruise/tour for next summer. I don't like cold weather, but my fiancé has been a good sport taking most vacations in the heat. He's been mentioning Alaska for a while, I hesitate to pack winter clothes on a cruise. Your review is very informative and entertaining. thanks

[Shmoo here]

[quote name='newcruiser48']I am just considering the idea of an Alaskan cruise/tour for next summer. I don't like cold weather, but my fiancé has been a good sport taking most vacations in the heat. He's been mentioning Alaska for a while, I hesitate to pack winter clothes on a cruise. Your review is very informative and entertaining. thanks[/quote]

That is me. I don't do cold. Period. But I wanted to do the Alaska cruise. So we booked a 7 night roundtrip out of Vancouver. It included both Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay, as I felt that would be the only trip I would be taking.

I'm the one wearing my down parka (mid-thigh length) in every picture on that trip. And I would duck inside whenever I got too cold.

Before the trip was half done, we knew we were coming back. Went back for a 19 night cruise/tour that included the Yukon and Denali. And, as always, it didn't really matter what clothes I took along, as the only thing I seemed to be wearing in all the photos is my bright blue down parka.

Yes, we will be returning.

[newcruiser48]

[quote name='Shmoo here']That is me. I don't do cold. Period. But I wanted to do the Alaska cruise. So we booked a 7 night roundtrip out of Vancouver. It included both Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay, as I felt that would be the only trip I would be taking.

I'm the one wearing my down parka (mid-thigh length) in every picture on that trip. And I would duck inside whenever I got too cold.

Before the trip was half done, we knew we were coming back. Went back for a 19 night cruise/tour that included the Yukon and Denali. And, as always, it didn't really matter what clothes I took along, as the only thing I seemed to be wearing in all the photos is my bright blue down parka.

Yes, we will be returning.[/quote]

Thanks for your thoughts. I showed him the beautiful pics on this thread so now he's more excited. I ordered the Alaska travel guide to get some ideas also.

[GA Sharon]

Thank you so much for this review. I read and enjoyed every word. I will be boarding the Grand Princess in San Francisco on September 7 (2013) for a ten day trip through the Inside Passage. We wanted to do the cruise tour as well but just could not manage to get that much time off. I know that one day we will do the land tour. Thanks, again for taking the time to let us enjoy your total vacation through your words and delightful pictures.

[CTDesign11]

I just found your post and completely enjoyed your posts. It was a nice opportunity to remember my trip from 2012. I'm so glad you continued to post despite a lack of comments along the way.

[cactusflower]

I haven't had a chance to write my wrap-up yet, but I just wanted to say THANK YOU to those that have been commenting. I so appreciate it! :D

newcruiser48 - I understand your hesitancy. At times when I was planning this I wondered if i was crazy to be planning a cold weather trip. I hate being cold (and for me, that pretty much means anything below 80 :p). However, Alaska is so beautiful, that it is worth the cold. I definitely recommend it!

Shmoo here - Thanks for sharing your experience!

GA Sharon - How exciting - enjoy your cruise! We saw the Grand Princess in port with us at least once. (In fact, I think that is her in post 206)

CTDesign11 - Thank you - I'm glad it brought back fond memories!

BrusselsGirl07 - Thank you - you are going to love it! Edited September 3, 2013 by cactusflower

[t60]

Thank you for posting this review. I initially started to read it as we are cruising on Zaandam in Sth America next year, then got carried away reading all about your holiday. as we had considered Alaska before. We´ve always sailed with Princess before and this will be our first time with HAL

Sandy in Spain

[VermeulT]

Thank you. Great thorough review & wonderful pictures.
I am going next year on the 14 day itinerary on the Amsterdam. I forgot some HAL ships have self serve laundry. Thanks for the reminder.
Only a few port overlap with my itinerary but it was still a great read.
I have made notes about the sweets shops :)

Thanks again!


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[PetNanny]

Thanks for a great review and beautiful photos.

[marysb]

Great photos. Thanks so much for taking the time to do the review. Definitely got us in the mood for our cruise next July.

[ride4806]

We are just beginning to plan our second trip to Alaska-this one will include a land tour-I appreciate all the information you shared and pictures!!