Review of the Oosterdam to Alaska July 20 2014

[brookeinmn]

Thank you for sharing - great photos!

 

Thanks! I really enjoyed reading your blog before I left.

[brookeinmn]

Day Four: Juneau Conclusion

 

After watching the amazing group of whales we headed off to get our obligatory shot of the sea lions on the buoy. :D

 

 

We circled back around to the big group of whales and watched for just a few minutes more before returning to the dock. We ended up eating our sandwiches on the ride back, which worked out well.

 

The Harv and Marv van took the group to Mendenhall Glacier after the whale watching. We opted to spend more time there and get our own ride back. After walking to Nugget Falls and back and spending time enjoying the scenery, we called for a taxi to pick us up.

 

 

We headed back to the dock where my husband and youngest son took the tram and my oldest son and I went out shopping. The evening was spent like most others...happy hour, dinner, balcony with wine.

 

What a fun day.

[brookeinmn]

Day Five: Skagway

 

As we were headed out of Juneau, the Captain made the disturbing announcement about the derailment of the White Pass & Yukon RR train. All rail excursions for Skagway were cancelled. The ship, to its credit, added activities both on and off the ship due to the cancellation.

 

We had planned to split up our group of 6 and have just 3 take the train at once, so we could do the drive from Fraser to Emerald Lake on our own. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since we could now use the minivan for the whole trip to the Yukon.

 

As we headed out of town and were visiting the old cemetary in Skagway, we saw a White Pass train go by carrying a few damaged rail cars. We can only assume that these cars were involved in the incident the day before.

 

 

The car in front has a broken window, damage to the exterior, and is really twisted on its base. The rear car also has exterior damage. I feel so bad for the families that were on the train at the time and hope the experience wasn't too traumatic.

 

We continued on and took the road to Dyea. We went all the way to the abandoned townsite, where giant mosquitos swarmed the van. My brave DH jumped out to see if there was anything interesting to see...and there was not. While the drive was pretty, it did take a lot of extra time on the gravel road. I would recommend just going to the scenic overlook, where you can get a nice shot of the ships, and turning around.

 

 

Our drive into the Yukon was gorgeous. The mountains and scenery are really different from other mountainous regions we have visited. We even had a black bear walk right across the road in front of us.

 

 

 

We continued on North and had a nice lunch in Carcross at the Chilkoot Bakery. They have hot soups and pre-prepared sandwiches. We walked around Carcross a bit and explored before leaving to see the world's smallest desert and Emerald Lake.

 

 

Pretty colors at Emerald Lake.

 

We turned around at Emerald Lake and headed back to Skagway. This was probably the least favorite day for the kids considering there wasn't much to it but looking at scenery. The train ride would have made the day a lot more fun. We will just have to visit Skagway and try again next time.

 

On the way back my husband dropped me off at the quilt store in town. If you are a quilter do not miss out on this gem of a shop. They have lots of kits and patterns from local designers as well as some really pretty Alaska themed batik fabrics and more.

 

Tonight we all went to see the magician, James Cielen. Everyone really enjoyed the show. I highly recommend his show if you have kids with you. They will love the tricks he does with his dogs. So, despite having a disruption to our plans, we still had a very good day.

[HappyAmma]

Wonderful pictures and review. Thank you so much. You have cute kids! Is this their first cruise?

[retiring soon]

HI all!

 

brookeinmn ~ thanks for posting this great review.:D Your pictures are amazing! You sure lucked out on your whale watching, sure hope we have an experience like that with Harv & Marv. You're making me even more excited for my cruise 3 weeks from tomorrow.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[brookeinmn]

Wonderful pictures and review. Thank you so much. You have cute kids! Is this their first cruise?

 

Aww..thanks. Yes, it was their first cruise. My oldest son is hooked! He's already planning the next one.

 

... You sure lucked out on your whale watching, sure hope we have an experience like that with Harv & Marv. You're making me even more excited for my cruise 3 weeks from tomorrow.

 

Thanks Jo. Yes, we lucked out both with the whales and the weather. The whales could stop the bubble net feeding at any time, but regardless, you will have a great day out with the Harv and Marv team.

[Himself]

Thanks Oosterdam FEW HOURS BEFORE YOU GOT ON THE SHIP. Glad you enjoyed the cruise as much as I enjoyed the Oosterdam. Captain Bos is outstanding in Alaska.

[erewhon]

Thank you for continuing your review, and sharing your wonderful photography.

[kazu]

Really enjoying your review.

 

Thanks so much for taking time to share with us:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful review.

My favorite picture is the Eagle.

[brookeinmn]

Day Six: Glacier Bay

 

I hopped out of bed early on Friday in anticipation of an awesome day of glacier viewing and this is what I saw:

 

 

Hmm...ok. We've been blessed with great weather this whole trip maybe things will improve later.

 

We took the kids to Club Hal at 10:00am so they could meet the Huna tribe member and promised to pick them up early if the weather improved.

 

Here was my view of the first glacier:

 

 

As we made our way slowly through Glacier Bay my husband and I moved about the ship to see if the views were better from a particular side. No luck. I picked the boys up from Club Hal and we made our lunch plans. I hadn't eaten lunch in the MDR yet, so my oldest son and I decided to give it a try. Hubby and the 6 yr old opted for the Lido.

 

We were seated all the way aft and had a great view of fog soup all around us. I knew we were due to reach Margerie right at the lunch hour, so I kept a close eye out all the windows. We really enjoyed our lunch (although the food was a bit slow coming out) and our dining steward, Gred was great.

 

I knew Margerie should be in view by now, but we saw nothing. So we headed quickly to the bow of the ship. My son was in front of me and stepped over the threshold first. As he did he exclaimed loudly, "woah, mama!" I swear I could hear people laughing on the bow. Right in front of us was the stunning sight of a crystal clear Margerie Glacier. WOW. After all the fog and low clouds it was quite an amazing sight. The captain started to turn the ship so the starboard side would face the glacier. We decided to quickly walk (because running was #1 on my list of things to never do on a cruse ship ;) ) to our starboard side cabin.

 

When we arrived out on the balcony this was our view of the glacier:

 

 

Oh no! Who put that low cloud/fog right in front of the glacier? While we waited for a clear view, the seagulls kept us entertained.

 

 

Finally, we had a great view of the glacier!

 

[brookeinmn]

Using some different settings on my camera for this picture:

 

 

 

 

 

As we sailed back out of Glacier Bay the thick cloudy soup made for a mysterious setting.

 

 

We took the kids back to Club Hal for the Junior Ranger program at 1:30. They really enjoyed the program and had a great time there that afternoon. Tonight was the 2nd formal night and the last night we would all eat as a group. We opted for our usual routine of Happy Hour, dinner, balcony.

[KMB2014]

Can you tell me more about Harv and Marv? Did you book them through the cruise line? They sound great and your pictures have been amazing!

[brookeinmn]

We booked them directly. Since they don't normally allow children we chartered a whole boat for 8 for around $1250. It was so nice to have our own space and plenty of room for everyone to take pictures from the bow or stern. I highly recommend them!

Edited August 3, 2014 by brookeinmn

[marysb]

Thanks so much for your review. It is bringing back great memories.

 

Your pictures are fabulous! Thanks Again!

[brookeinmn]

So glad people are enjoying the review. More to come tomorrow!

[travgurl]

I am thoroughly enjoying your review. We will be on the Oosterdam southbound next summer. You are doing exactly what we will be doing. I have Harv and Marv booked already and in Skagway we will be going up to the Yukon with Trails of 98, a private van tour. I am so excited. In Ketchikan we plan to explore the town. I booked both tours on my own very easily just by emailing them and calling them. On past cruises I have booked excursions on my own, they turned out to be great. I choose the companies based on past reviews. Without a doubt, I know I have chosen well for next summer. Look forward to the rest of your review.

[nana51]

I just got off this same cruise. Your pictures are better than mine though. I do have great glacier ones though. My ONLY complaint n t was the food. Too many weird dishes nd the steak and chicken were always tough and dry. Just a personal opinion. The brisket and beef short ribs were to die for. I will do a full review soon. My phone is just too small to type on. I'm in the airport now, waiting to go home.

[Himself]

[quote name='nana51']I just got off this same cruise. Your pictures are better than mine though. I do have great glacier ones though. My ONLY complaint n t was the food. Too many weird dishes nd the steak and chicken were always tough and dry. Just a personal opinion. The brisket and beef short ribs were to die for. I will do a full review soon. My phone is just too small to type on. I'm in the airport now, waiting to go home.[/QUOTE]



Did you try the braised short ribs?

[brookeinmn]

I had the braised short ribs and they were my least favorite dish. The meat was just too fatty and tough for my tastes. Maybe I just had a bad plate. I ate a lot of beef at dinner and found every other beef/steak dish very good. One night we ordered loin steak AND chile rellenos. Those were my favorites of the whole cruise!

I haven't talked much about food since it is so subjective. I will say that overall we were quite pleased. I had eggs benedict or an omelet every morning. We either brought food down from the lido or used room service. Just write in what you want and they will bring it.

Lunches were the most disappointing. I was underwhelmed by the choices in the lido. I did like the taco bar though. The chicken fajita meat and guacamole were great. If you have time, the MDR lunch menu beats the lido by a mile.

The 3 bites of food I had in the Pinnacle Grill were great. Too bad that's all I got. More on that tomorrow.

Again, everyone in our group was pleased with the food. Were we raving about it? No. But we all found things we really enjoyed and tried a lot of dishes we don't eat very often.

Edited to add: The smiling, helpful dedicated crew in the Lido and MDR made everything taste better. :) Edited August 4, 2014 by brookeinmn

[brookeinmn]

[B]Day Seven: At Sea[/B]

I can't deny that I woke up in a very melancholy mood on Saturday morning. Our last full day on the ship had snuck up on us. I decided I would try to do some things I hadn't gotten around to yet. After breakfast, the kids headed to Club Hal and hubby and I agreed to meet for lunch. I explored new areas, went to trivia, shopping, etc. We had an enjoyable day and repacking went much faster than I expected. We were looking forward to our date night. Finally..dinner for just the two of us. Since I already wrote about this before in my live from thread..I will just do a cut and paste.

[QUOTE]... The kids went to the MDR with the extended family, then to club Hal. We had 7:00 reservations for Pinnacle. Unfortunately something was wrong in the kitchen and an hour and 20 minutes later we had only been served an amuse-bouche and an appetizer. We just got up and left. The service was terrible. They brought out a shrimp cocktail, that we had not ordered, to make up for the slow service. I said I dont eat shrimp and the waiter just shrugged. The wonderful staff of the MDR saved the day. A quick visit to the front desk assured us we would not be charged. They also had a bottle of wine waiting in the piano bar for us. [/QUOTE]

We really did a good job of just laughing it off and not letting it ruin our evening. After some time at the piano bar, we spent the rest of the evening enjoying the fabulous sunset. What a wonderful way to end the cruise.

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Disembarkation was very simple. Since we were spending two days in Seward, we were one of the last groups off the ship. We had a big room service breakfast and just relaxed.

I had spent so much time planning the cruise and excursions, I realized I hadn't effectively talked to the MIL about my plans for Seward. We had all decided to do the Kenai Fjords cruise on Monday. On Sunday, there was a bit of confusion and aggravation. My DH's other brother and girlfriend were waiting for us in Seward. MIL wanted everyone to pow-wow together...but my children were begging to go to the aquarium.

So, the kids got their way and the 3 of us visited the Sea Life Aquarium. What a fun place. I reallly recommend it if you have kids with you, but even adults are likely to enjoy it. Part of the difficulty was not being able to check into our cabins till 3:00pm. We also only had 1 car for 8 people and all that luggage. So, needless to say, my poor husband played taxi most of the day. We had 2 cabins booked at Alaska Creekside Cabins and they were nice enough to let us drop our bags wo we could explore town. Edited August 6, 2014 by brookeinmn

[Himself]

As I mentioned earlier you got on the Oosterdam a few hours I got off. I was the Chaplain for two weeks.
when we got to Seward it was raining. The weather cleared in the afternoon and I also went the Sea Life place and I enjoyed it. I am in my mid seventies. What you missed on the way back was the lovely little town of Haines which replaced Skagway.

[Himself]

I enjoyed your review of the Oosterdam very much. I hope you had a good time in Seward and a great flight home. Thank you for sharing you adventures and your pictures with the people who read and frequent these boards. I hope to meet you and your family on another DAM ship sometime

[brookeinmn]

It's a shame I didn't book the week earlier. It would have been fun meeting you. And yes, I would love to do a back to back in Alaska next time.

I still have more to post!! I hope to wrap things up this afternoon. Still to come: our Kenai Fjords Tour, Ididaride, and the train to Anchorage.

[brookeinmn]

[B]Seward Alaska: Kenai Fjords Cruise- Northwestern Fjord[/B]

So on Monday we decided to split up again. My family of 4 chose to go on the 9 hr Northwestern Fjord tour and in-laws and newly arrived brother decided to just do the 6 hr. We chose the Kenai Fjords tour company. Overall, I'd say we were happy with their service, but not blown away. I might try a different company next time.

The good: The boat was a good size with plenty of room for people to spread out in the main cabins.

The itinerary was really amazing. The glacier action, the animals, etc. were really great.

The bad: Moving around outside the boat was really difficult. People would crowd around the rails and the space to move behind them and down the "corridor" was minimal. Some people chose to sit down on the benches on the bow and then complain when you stood at the rail in front of them take pictures. Really? If you are able-bodied enough to get to the bow, you can probably stand as well. Most people were polite in giving people a chance to get a shot, or a look, but some were downright rude. This, of course, could happen on any tour operator. But overall it felt very crowded on the outside decks and moving about wasn't very easy. Another reason why is because the captain did not give a heads up that he was about to leave an area and speed up. There were numerous times I would worry about the grannies on board navigating the stairs down to the main interior cabin on an accelerating boat.

Nevertheless, these were overall minor annoyances. The captain did a good (not great) job of making sure every side of the boat got a good shot or view of an area. So as long as you can handle some elbows, jostling, and a suddenly accelerating boat, I'd say you will be ok. The scenery was more than worth it!!!

Headed out from Seward. Another gorgeous start to the day:

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First wildlife..this cute little otter enjoying the morning sunshine.

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The tide was low. Perfect for finding starfish.

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