holland cruise tours in alaska

[creel5857]

Thanks for everyone's help on this board and for answering what might seem silly questions to some. We went on a princess cruise tour several years back and greatly appreciated the seamless type of travel that they offered. Then we went on an independent land tour so we know the benefits of that as well. We are now planning a tour with 8-10 senior citizens who do not want to drive and want to take a pre-arranged land tour where their luggage is handled and they are dropped off at the right places without figuring all the details out. My question: is the Holland American land tours in Alaska set up like Princess where they technically handle all the details and greet you at destinations so you know where to go etc..... Thanks for any help and comments

[Budget Queen]

Yes, same service. I find HAL cruisetours far better itineraries compared to Princess- who has too many marathon trips, and the holding tank of McKinley Lodge.

 

I will always suggest going for as long as you can afford. With you already have been there, I'm sure you remember the distances and the advantages of having time at destinations. :)

[creel5857]

thanks BQ....appreciate you always being willing to comment and not being distressed with some of us who are less traveled .......again, thanks!

[Quinte Girl]

Hi.....I'm just starting to plan our cruise tour to Alaska next July.....just wondering about your comment "holding tank of McKinley Lodge". Would you be kind enough to elaborate? I would really like your opinion.....I have to make some decisions rather quickly and would love to hear your thoughts. You have such a wealth of info.....thanks so much.

QG

[mapleleaves]

thanks BQ....appreciate you always being willing to comment and not being distressed with some of us who are less traveled .......again, thanks!

 

There is a wealth of information in the trip reports; many photojournals with lots of detailed information.

The first line generally indicates the date, ship, cruisetour/DIY, and who travelled. I think I posted a Princess photojournal for you previously. There aren't as many cruisetours reports so it won't take you long to look thru the list.

Here's another good one but from RCI:

http://lclavette1.blogspot.com/2014/05/vancouver.html

 

There are also books specific to Alaska cruises ... Ann Vipond has Alaska by cruiseship and Fodor has Alaska Ports of Call. Perhaps your library has them. They will help you learn about the ports; the sights & activities available at each one.

[Budget Queen]

Hi.....I'm just starting to plan our cruise tour to Alaska next July.....just wondering about your comment "holding tank of McKinley Lodge". Would you be kind enough to elaborate? I would really like your opinion.....I have to make some decisions rather quickly and would love to hear your thoughts. You have such a wealth of info.....thanks so much.

QG

 

I strongly, suggest, people know EVERY detail of cruisetours- actually takes more work than independent in some cases. :) The other point, I try to make- is make SURE, that the places you go are the places you want to be. Cruisetours- already are short journeys into Alaska, don't waste a minute. With Princess, to not having to contract with Anchorage lodging, most of their cruise tours, includes their McKinley Princess. Problem is- many people, do NOTHING here, everytime I've been there, I'm passing hordes of people, sitting in the lobby. This location- is sometimes assumed to be near Denali Park, it is, but the STATE park. There are no activities at this lodge except for a tame trail, that can be done on an 1 hour rest stop (in my case :) ) It is a 2 hour round trip to Talkeetna, where most activities leave from, plus where the train station is. I find, this location- is a poor choice, at the expense of the Denali Princess, which has loads of activities. Especially poor choices are the 2 nights at the McKinley Princess, with only a single night at the Denali Princess. Worse yet- a lot of Princess tours, only include the worthless Natural History tour. I always will ask- would- you, make trip plans for going to Disneyland, with only seeing Main St. That is the equivalent of what you are purchasing with the NHT, or some of RCI, Celebrity tours, only going a little farther. Alternatively= would you spend 10 hours in transit getting to a destination- in the same case, and NOT get into the park? Plenty of cruisetours that do just that.

 

Princess, has, in the past, fully refunded the Denali Park tours. A great option- which I always suggest. My minimum recommendation into Denali is Eielson, which neither the NHT or TWT include. Many benefits to making the effort getting there.

 

the highlight of many cruise tours is Denali Park. Understand- fully the details. http://www.nps.gov/dena With Fairbanks itineraries- I always recommend adding more days and getting a rental car. Cruise tours see very little of the area otherwise.

 

go for as long as you can afford. 5 day cruisetours- are a rush, and barely allow any time for some extras. I never recommend any shorter, overall, poor choices.

 

Reading trip reports can offer plenty of great information, but, they usually have missed something, that they aren't even aware of. Overall, going with a cruisetour, is going to to see and be able to do less, compared to independent in the same about of days.

 

Just be certain, to do your homework (broken record, sorry) educate yourself, so you KNOW what you are looking at. (the most common mistake with wrong assumptions.

[oaktreerb]

I have taken several HAL cruise tours and they do an excellent job. You may be able to pick up a brochure for the Alaska cruise tours from a local auto TA or ask HAL to send you one. You can also look online but it's harder to compare without being able to see the whole picture.

 

First decide how many days you have. The best HAL tours will be the longer ones as you will have two to three nights to enjoy each location. You will travel on the bus or on a train and your room keys will be given to you as you arrive at each location. I don't think HAL uses journey hosts for the Alaska tours anymore but they run smoothly as HAL has lots of trained staff at each location. The hotels are owned by HAL or contracted by HAL.

 

Plan your transfers with HAL and you will be met at the airport and you will be in HAL's hands from that point on. All you have to do is follow the itinerary and someone is always around to help if you have questions.

 

If you want to see as much as possible in Alaska look at the D4 which is 15 days and gives you 2 nights at Fairbanks, Denali and one night at Talkeetna, Anchorage, and Alyeska (Girdwood). I would suggest you cruise first but the tour first are sometimes cheaper. My next choice would be D5 which is 12 days and would give your group the train from Denali to Anchorage and also Anchorage to Seward the following day. Another choice would be D3 which is 14 days. This one will give you an overnight in Seward and a chance to do the Kenai Fjords Tour. D1 has three nights in Denali which may be more than you want unless you have people who want to do rafting or flight seeing.

 

Personally the Direct to Denali would be too much of a long bus ride from the ship to Denali. HAL does have a comfort stop every two hours on all bus trips and a toilet on the bus which we all hope no one will want to use!

 

This year we took the Y2 Yukon journey and it was wonderful if people are interested in the Gold Rush. There you would want to do land first and you will have a four day cruise back to Vancouver from Skagway. If you can manage a 20 day cruise go for the Y1 which includes the Yukon and a 7 day cruise.

 

Another wonderful Hal cruise is the 14 day itinerary sailing on the Maasdam next year. It's not technically a cruise tour but you unpack once and the ship will take you from Seattle to all of the standard ports and Homer, Kodiak, Icy Strait, Sitka and Anchorage. You will miss Glacier Bay but have a chance to see Hubbard Glacier and Tracy Arm.

 

No I am not a TA but I really love the HAL experience in Alaska for those of us who don't want to drive.

[creel5857]

Thanks so very much oaktreerb and others. May I also ask the following:

 

1. If we purchase the cruiseline transfers to have them meet us at airport in anchorage or Fairbanks, approximately how much do they usually costs??

 

2. If we find that cruiseline airfare is almost as good as what we can do independently does it provide any extra level of support if by chance the flight is delayed?? I remember when we did airfare with Princess several years ago some in our large group were delayed and the Princess staff still picked them up at airport and got them on to their destination the next day because they had purchased both air and transfers through Princess......Just wondering

 

Thanks for helping

[Budget Queen]

Thanks so very much oaktreerb and others. May I also ask the following:

 

1. If we purchase the cruiseline transfers to have them meet us at airport in anchorage or Fairbanks, approximately how much do they usually costs??

 

2. If we find that cruiseline airfare is almost as good as what we can do independently does it provide any extra level of support if by chance the flight is delayed?? I remember when we did airfare with Princess several years ago some in our large group were delayed and the Princess staff still picked them up at airport and got them on to their destination the next day because they had purchased both air and transfers through Princess......Just wondering

 

Thanks for helping

 

In my opinion, there is no need to purchase any cruise line transfers. Many times they are the most costly and there are excellent independent options available.

 

As for cruise air- head over to the cruise air board, and read the sticky at the top. That board has some of the most experienced experts. With cruise air- the cruiseline is a booking agent. They are not running, nor have any control over any flights- With Anchorage and Fairbanks- you don't have 10 flights per airline coming in, every day, like you to/from Miami. Some airlines only have ONE flight a day. IF you miss that one- no guarantee you are going to get there. I fly non rev- so as an example- I have access to loads- last year, I could not get out of Anchorage for a week- every flight oversold with the stand by list getting longer and longer. This is common for Alaska.

[creel5857]

thanks again BQ!!!

[oma&opa]

There is a wealth of information in the trip reports; many photojournals with lots of detailed information.

The first line generally indicates the date, ship, cruisetour/DIY, and who travelled. I think I posted a Princess photojournal for you previously. There aren't as many cruisetours reports so it won't take you long to look thru the list.

Here's another good one but from RCI:

http://lclavette1.blogspot.com/2014/05/vancouver.html

 

There are also books specific to Alaska cruises ... Ann Vipond has Alaska by cruiseship and Fodor has Alaska Ports of Call. Perhaps your library has them. They will help you learn about the ports; the sights & activities available at each one.

 

Please, how do I find the section "Trip Reports" ? Is that in Cruise Critic? I am looking for details of the 3 day part of 14 day land first cruise on HAL.

Thank you

[oaktreerb]

Thanks so very much oaktreerb and others. May I also ask the following:

 

1. If we purchase the cruiseline transfers to have them meet us at airport in anchorage or Fairbanks, approximately how much do they usually costs??

 

2. If we find that cruiseline airfare is almost as good as what we can do independently does it provide any extra level of support if by chance the flight is delayed?? I remember when we did airfare with Princess several years ago some in our large group were delayed and the Princess staff still picked them up at airport and got them on to their destination the next day because they had purchased both air and transfers through Princess......Just wondering

 

Thanks for helping

 

I can't tell you what the transfer will cost as there are options to just get to and from the airport and there are options that will handle your luggage all the way to the airport at the conclusion of your trip. It sounds like you have a group that is not a family so that each person is responsible for their travel and luggage. Most recently we used a big box TA and they included the transfers automatically. I was thinking of your luggage remark and in Anchorage or Fairbanks the HAL reps are there at the airport luggage collection area and will put your luggage on the cart and deliver it with you to your hotel. Couldn't be easier. Actually HAL and Princess work together at the airport. We made our own airline reservations. You just tell HAL which flight and airline you are on and they will tell their airport people. The reps will have a clipboard with a list of people coming in with transfers.

 

Be sure that each person gets travel insurance. Very important. The travel insurance should include travel delays, etc. If you do HAL air I think they will be responsible for any delays. Read the fine print but be sure to get travel insurance .

 

You can call the HAL reps and they can give you the price of the transfers. For individuals I have not found the price to be that high considering the convenience. It's easy to get to the airport or hotel in Anchorage and Fairbanks...a bit more complicated in Seattle and Vancouver.

[bonvoyagie]

Recently HAL ventured into the Yukon with an array of cruise tours that last between 11 and 20 days. The 20 day one is Vancouver to Vancouver no matter which way you do it (cruise first or land first). These tours take you into the wild and wooly YT :D where you see Dawson City and Whitehorse.

 

All include two days in Denali some offer three.

 

Here is a link to the HAL web site for more details

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-destinations/alaska-yukon#

 

As with any cruise tour, you need to read the fine print and make sure you are getting what you think you are getting. Go beyond the overview section and look at the day by day detail. Esp around Denali. The few that I looked at used at least one of the Denali days to get there and you left sometime on the last day. It is probably fair to say that the Double and Triple refer to the number of nights and not days spent there.

 

Also remember that HAL owns Grey Lines of Alaska

Edited August 16, 2015 by bonvoyagie

[travgurl]

We recently just did the cruise tour with Holland from Fairbanks to Vancouver. And without a doubt I would go again with them tomorrow. Everything from start to finish was completely done well. I never touched my luggage until I got off the ship. Before we went into each of our destination hotels, even the ship we were given an envelop with all our information and room keys. They could not have made it any easier. The accommodations were great, food and service could not have been better. I highly recommend Holland. If I get the chance to return to Alaska or any other cruise tour I would use Holland again!

[creel5857]

Travugurl......thanks for your response. By chance did you let Holland do your airfare and did they take you from airport to the first hotel in Fairbanks?? it has been several years since we did a trip to Alaska so I am a little out of the loop. Thanks again

[rostbp]

Starting the 15 day Yukon Denali this Wednesday from Anchorage. Here in Anchorage now. Looking forward to our trip but weather has been really bad and forecasts the same. Oh well, chance you take in Alaska. Glad to hear all the praises for HAL.

[Carmic]

travugurl.........how did you handle tipping on the land portion of your tour for the driver and guide? Were you given envelopes to hand them or did you just hand them cash at the end of the tour?

 

Carol

[Carmic]

rsotbp.......have a great tour. Hope the weather turns out OK for you. Will pass you in Skagway........you will be getting on the ship and we will be getting off.

 

Carol

[kathy306]

I have taken a cruise only and a land cruise tour. We enjoyed the land cruise tour so much, we are going again. Holland America does a wonderful job.

[agabbymama]

travugurl.........how did you handle tipping on the land portion of your tour for the driver and guide? Were you given envelopes to hand them or did you just hand them cash at the end of the tour?

 

Carol

 

No envelopes on our cruisetour. The tour guide was with us for the whole 8 days, but the bus driver only went half way, so we tipped her before she left us in Dawson City. Just handed her the cash as we departed the coach.

 

The when we left Dawson City we went on the Yukon Riverboat up to Eagle Alaska where we had a new driver for the remainder of the trip. So we tipped both the driver and tour guide the last night when we arrived into Anchorage, just handed them the cash as we departed the coach.

 

There should be guidance somewhere in your paperwork that gives you an idea of what to tip them. It's been 6 years since we went, so I'm sure the amount has risen.