Alaska Sea-Land cruise 6-29-16 Review—Y2C

[rajkr74]

FANTASTIC pictures and review.

 

Love the dogs :)

 

Thanks so VERY much.

 

Thanks Jacqui, the dog sled demo was real fun and the dogs were great.

[rajkr74]

Food and dining arrangements

 

HAL had a meal voucher one could purchase for $1,300 per couple for this 14 day cruise which gave you breakfast and dinner. If you purchased the vouchers you ate at the on-site restaurants at the WestMark hotels that we stayed at. We talked to one couple in our group that did buy the vouchers who said you were allowed to order one appetizer, soup or salad, one entrée and one desert. They said that there seemed to be no exclusions on what they could order and they did order crag legs at one restaurant. They said it was plenty of food and they thought they ate more on the land portion than they had on the ship. They then skipped most lunches since they had good breakfasts. They were happy with the arrangement and the food but missed the chance to eat at other establishments in the towns we visited but thought if they did it again they would not use the meal vouchers.

 

We brought some packages of trail mix and jerky to snack on for the long bus trips and other times. We also brought instant oatmeal, granola bars and peanut butter for breakfast if we did not want to go out or we slept in. We brought along Mini-Moo’s cream packets for the oatmeal. We found trying to locate a breakfast spot that opened early enough and not be rushed to get something before we needed to leave on the bus was very limited. Each room had a small coffee maker in the room that allowed you to also make hot water. At different towns that we visited we went to the stores and bought fruit for lunches and breakfasts.

 

We did eat out at restaurants also and here are some of the places we used.

 

Skagway

Dinners: Skagway Brewing company. Good food, typical “Bar & Grill”. Wild Alaska Catch, kind of a food cart with covered seating and good fish & chips.

Breakfasts: Bites on Broadway. Got breakfast sandwiches, very good. They also have other pastries & sandwiches. Breakfast & lunch facility.

 

Whitehorse

Dinner: Subway…….we were tired and not real hungry

 

Dawson

Dinner: Klondike Kate’s—The food was very good, service was not great when joyce’s dinner was not what she ordered. That took a long time to get her correct order. Sourdough Joe’s, food was OK.

Lunch: Cheechakos on front street near Sourdough Joe’s. Very good sandwiches and bakery items at decent prices. It’s a breakfast lunch facility.

 

Fairbanks

Dinner: All you Can Eat Salmon, prime rib and cod fish dinner in Pioneer Park. Very good and we got plenty of good food on a nice warm evening. Opens at 5:00pm.

Denali

Dinner: Music of Denali at The Golden Nugget Saloon at Denali Square. All you can eat Salmon-chicken dinner. Good dinner with a follies show afterwards. It was a HAL excursion.

Lynx Pizza on the Princess property. If you are staying in the Canyon Lodge take the Clinic Rd (service rd.), next to the lodge, up the hill to the restaurant, easy walk. Very good pizza, but should have ordered a small instead of a medium pizza, had pizza for breakfast the next morning.

 

Anchorage

Dinner: The Lucky Wishbone. MSN listed it as the best milkshakes in the state. About 15 blocks on same street as the hotel that can be walked or you take the bus there for $1.00 for seniors like we did. Great hamburgers, fried chicken and milk shakes like we had before shakes that come out of a machine from pre-packaged mixes, they were very good. It’s been there since 1955 and we would recommend eating there.

 

We did some research on eating establishments in each town on TripAdvisor prior to our cruise so we had some idea of where we might go in each town. Of course we did not use all of the 5-10 places on our list.

[ron1946]

Thanks again Rick for the restaurant guide. It will be a big help in choosing our meals! 23 days and counting!

[rajkr74]

Hotels and rooms

All of our hotel stops were at Westmark Hotels owned by Holland America. All the rooms met our needs, were clean with reasonable signs of wear or tear on furnishings. Anchorage shows a little wear to its facility than the others and was the largest and busiest hotel of them all. Only Whitehorse, Fairbanks and Anchorage had small frigs in the room. Wish they all did. In Whitehorse we got lucky and got a kitchenette room and am not sure if other rooms had frigs like ours. We did not have air-conditioning in all of the units, not that it mattered. All hotels had free WIFI service, most of which you had to access the internet in the main lobby. Fairbanks and Anchorage had WIFI in the rooms. In Denali there was WIFI outside at Denali Square which is also the smoking area and it was hard to avoid the smoke. Every time we sat down we got chased away when smokers showed up. There was no wifi access in the lobby of Canyon Lodge (McKinley Chalet) were we stayed. I added this lack of Canyon Lodge WIFI as an item on the HAL survey that comes by email at the end of the cruise They should add it in the lobby there also. The only choice, rather than walk to Denali Square, was to catch a shuttle up hill to the Main McKinley lodge lobby.

 

There were on-site coin operated laundries at Whitehorse, Fairbanks, Dawson and McKinley Chalet (Canyon Lodge) in Denali. In addition, the Volendam also has a coin operated self-service laundromat on the Lower Promenade deck.

 

We thoroughly loved this cruise and all the sights we got to see. It amazes us that with 26 Land-Sea options HAL offers that they kept things organized with staff, shuttles, buses and hosts. It looks like a logistical nightmare keeping track of all the personnel and buses and making sure they are at their assigned spots on time. We did not have any glaring problems or glitches during the whole 14 days which shows HAL has its game all organized. It sure is nice to have our host Ben with us the whole time and he was most helpful and personable. Denali was marvelous and I still recommend taking one of HALs cruises that stops at Denali for at least minimum of 2 days but 3 days is better, any less and you miss out on many things that were fun and make that Nat’l Park special.

 

Skagway Westmark hotel and our room

 

Whitehorse Westmark hotel and our room

 

Dawson Westmark hotel and our room

[rajkr74]

 

Hotels and rooms--continued

 

Fairbanks WestMark hotel and our room

 

Canyon Lodge of McKinley Chalet and our room

 

Anchorage WestMark, our room. Sorry did not get a photo of the outside of the building.

Edited July 27, 2016 by rajkr74

[oaktreerb]

Thanks for your great review and the amazing pictures. As someone who has taken a number of HAL cruise tours (including the ever-changing Yukon tours) I really appreciate the professionalism of their tourist network.

 

I am looking forward to seeing the new gathering place at the Chalets. It had never occurred to me that it would become a convenient outdoor smoking area. Hopefully, if HAL gets enough feedback from nonsmokers, they can set aside a smoking area like they have established on their ships. This is definitely something that HAL needs to address so that the area can be enjoyed by all!

[rafinmd]

Are those towel animals in the Canyon Lodge? I can't remember ever seeing that in a hotel.

 

Roy

[alwaysfrantic]

The HAL hotels look better than I had expected. Good to see

[rajkr74]

Are those towel animals in the Canyon Lodge? I can't remember ever seeing that in a hotel.

 

Roy

Yes, they were on our bed in McKinley Chalet, Canyon Lodge because when we go on the Volendam at the start of our cruise, 6-29-16, we were celebrating our 42nd Anniversary. HAL must have notified McKinley Chalet so we got the towel animals and a card wishing us a happy Anniversary....pretty nice touch!

[rajkr74]

Thanks for your great review and the amazing pictures. As someone who has taken a number of HAL cruise tours (including the ever-changing Yukon tours) I really appreciate the professionalism of their tourist network.

 

I am looking forward to seeing the new gathering place at the Chalets. It had never occurred to me that it would become a convenient outdoor smoking area. Hopefully, if HAL gets enough feedback from nonsmokers, they can set aside a smoking area like they have established on their ships. This is definitely something that HAL needs to address so that the area can be enjoyed by all!

 

Yes, Denali Square is a nice meeting-gathering area with both wood fire pits and gas fire pits. We were forced to move a number of times when smokers sat right next to us, so like you I am hoping HAL designates some section of Denali Square as smoking and others as no smoking like they do on ship on the stern Lido area. We did add this suggestion to our survey after the cruise was over.

 

How many of HAL Land/Sea cruises have you done and over what time frame? This was our first and we truly enjoyed it.

[utahtea]

Yes, they were on our bed in McKinley Chalet, Canyon Lodge because when we go on the Volendam at the start of our cruise, 6-29-16, we were celebrating our 42nd Anniversary. HAL must have notified McKinley Chalet so we got the towel animals and a card wishing us a happy Anniversary....pretty nice touch!

 

Rick,

 

How did you notify HAL about your anniversary? We will be celebrating our anniversary on our upcoming cruise too.

 

Utahtea

[luvteaching]

Hi Utahtea!

 

We celebrated our anniversary on HAL this year as well. Our travel agent notified HAL for us. The anniversary was acknowledged the first formal night. We got a cake (it was very good and we took it back to the room as we were all full at our table), the waiters sang, etc. Next year will be our 40th so looking forward to celebrating on the Amsterdam!

 

Karen

 

PS: Our anniversary is actually in April but you have a 3-month window to have the celebration. Since we spent our anniversary/my birthday this year in the ER and hubby hospitalized then rehab for 3 weeks due to his COPD, it was nice to celebrate it again!

[utahtea]

Hi Utahtea!

 

We celebrated our anniversary on HAL this year as well. Our travel agent notified HAL for us. The anniversary was acknowledged the first formal night. We got a cake (it was very good and we took it back to the room as we were all full at our table), the waiters sang, etc. Next year will be our 40th so looking forward to celebrating on the Amsterdam!

 

Karen

 

PS: Our anniversary is actually in April but you have a 3-month window to have the celebration. Since we spent our anniversary/my birthday this year in the ER and hubby hospitalized then rehab for 3 weeks due to his COPD, it was nice to celebrate it again!

 

Hi Karen!

 

I remember you and your DH from our 14 Alaska cruise in 2014 along with Rick, Joyce, my DH and myself! DH and I are thinking about doing the 14 day Alaska cruise again in 2017!

 

So sorry to hear about the health issues but good to hear you were back cruising!

 

We don't have a TA so I'll just contact our HAL personal cruise consultant and let her know our anniversary date. That's good to know about the 3 month window for future cruises. We will be on our upcoming cruise when we celebrate our 44th Anniversary this October. We are usually traveling around somewhere in Utah when we celebrate our anniversaries...so the scenery will be very different this year!

 

Utahtea

 

PS: Rick thanks for the use of your thread...now back to the regularly scheduled program. :D

[oaktreerb]

Yes, Denali Square is a nice meeting-gathering area with both wood fire pits and gas fire pits. We were forced to move a number of times when smokers sat right next to us, so like you I am hoping HAL designates some section of Denali Square as smoking and others as no smoking like they do on ship on the stern Lido area. We did add this suggestion to our survey after the cruise was over.

 

How many of HAL Land/Sea cruises have you done and over what time frame? This was our first and we truly enjoyed it.

 

We took our first in 2005 when we retired. In 10 days we cruised, spent a night in Anchorage, a night in Denali, and a night in Fairbanks. Two years later we decided to do the Yukon and I realized that we needed more than one night in each location and a four day cruise was sufficient. In those days we went through Tok, Chicken, and Eagle and down the Yukon River on the Yukon Queen, and Lake Bennett was included. The next time three years later (after a real destructive breakup of ice on the Yukon River that damaged the Yukon Queen and destroyed part of Eagle) Eagle and the Yukon Queen were no longer included. Then last year Tok and Chicken and Lake Bennett were gone but we could fly to Dawson City and miss the long, long days on the bus. I keep hoping they will bring the Lake Bennett part of the trip back as part of the adventure from Whitehorse to Skagway.

 

Actually we have gone to Alaska almost every year. Twice we have combined a cruise with a Road Scholar land trip (Vancouver island and the Canadian Rockies)

and this year we will be on the Maasdam 14 day cruise that includes Homer and Kodiak which we enjoyed on the Amsterdam in 2010.

 

Another year we took a cruise and planned a two night stay at Alyeska Resort and two nights in Kantishna as well as a night at the park entrance and one in Anchorage. We rented a car in Seward, drove to Alyeska where we took day to go to Whittier and do the Prince William Sound tour, left the car at the airport in Anchorage and took the train to Denali.

 

We really enjoy that part of the country. We finish one trip and start thinking about where we want to go next. The possibilities are endless, as they say!

People encourage renting a car and driving but we have learned a lot from the people who run the HAL tours and we have met some delightful people!

[rajkr74]

-63

Hi Karen!

 

I remember you and your DH from our 14 Alaska cruise in 2014 along with Rick, Joyce, my DH and myself! DH and I are thinking about doing the 14 day Alaska cruise again in 2017!

 

So sorry to hear about the health issues but good to hear you were back cruising!

 

We don't have a TA so I'll just contact our HAL personal cruise consultant and let her know our anniversary date. That's good to know about the 3 month window for future cruises. We will be on our upcoming cruise when we celebrate our 44th Anniversary this October. We are usually traveling around somewhere in Utah when we celebrate our anniversaries...so the scenery will be very different this year!

 

Utahtea

 

PS: Rick thanks for the use of your thread...now back to the regularly scheduled program. :D

 

Karen had the right answer. We let our TA know and they told HAL. We went to the Pinnacle the first night the 29th which was our actual anniversary day. But we did not want HAL to celebrate it that day based on the amount of good food at the Pinnacle and the Volcano Cake we had for dessert. So we celebrated the next night in the MDR where we got a nice cheesecake with Happy Anniversary on it along with a song from our waiters.

[SightCRR]

It seems like this is a June 2014 Ak 14 day reunion as we were on it also.

 

Your review and photos from you both are just outstanding. I haven't seen many reviews or tips for the land part. Glad you got to see the mountain and the wildlife of Denali.

Take Care

Sightcrr

[cruisinjudy]

Wow thanks so much for this review. We have booked the reverse of this one for next June. Your pictures are great as is all your information.

[rajkr74]

Wow thanks so much for this review. We have booked the reverse of this one for next June. Your pictures are great as is all your information.

 

Good to see another Oregonian taking this cruise. Hope our review helps you on your cruise next year. You should enjoy it like we did. :)

[seashell]

enjoyed the review. Going next June and can't wait to see it. The pictures really added. Thanks for the notes on the hotels and dining. That is something our group will be talking about. the cruise tours are barely noted on here so it's nice to see a review.

 

My parents did a 10 day tour in the late nineties. I don't have them to answer any questions but I do remember they loved that trip. The rail ride into Denali was one of their favorites.

 

michelle

[serendipity1499]

Thank you so much for this input! Very helpful. :)

 

aamum, just want to mention something about our Alaska trip in 2008..I had always wanted to go to Alaska but DH honestly did not want to go..

 

In late March,2008 I was ushering at DH's chorus show & fell down a step in the dark theater..:eek: Had not one but two badly sprained ankles, was carried out & taken to the hospital by my Friend... Both ankles looked so bad (thank goodness no breaks) that they actually put me in casts & I was to stay in bed for several weeks & then have physical therapy..

 

While recuperating, DH who never wanted to go to Alaska found a brochure which I had left on a counter at home.. It happened to be a National tour operator's brochure & the land/sea portion was on the Veendam.. DH realized that I was working very hard to be able to walk again.. He actually felt so sorry for me that one day while I was still in bed, handed me the brochure & said "Book it" :D:D:D Was I thrilled!

 

I immediately called the tour operator & booked the August 8th departure even before getting clearance from my Doctor.. When I was better, my Dr. cleared me to go...I still would have gone even if he hadn't said it was OK, but he smiled & said to me "You will know when it's time to rest"

 

On Aug 8 we flew from Ft. Myers to Atlanta had a layover in Atlanta then flew on to Anchorage.. I admit we were both exhausted by the time we got to Anchorage, but a wonderful HAL Rep met us at the flight took care of our luggage & put us on the bus to our hotel.. All we had to do was find a place for dinner since we did not take the meal plan.. We had a wonderful HAL Bus driver pick us up the next day & we were on our way for a 7 day land tour of Alaska which included Namenda, Fairbanks & Denali.. The school bus ride in Denali, was a bit uncomfortable but I would not have wanted to miss that wonderful morning... HAL took care of our Hotels & our luggage..We only used two carry-ons for the land portion... Our fantastic HAL driver/guide (Richard) was there to transport us & show us the sights.. Only thing we had to do was find a place for dinner since we did not take the meal plan but many times we ate in the Hotel restaurant or one close by..Our luggage was always picked up outside of our rooms & deposited in our new hotel room..The luggage usually went into another truck...

 

W stayed in Denali for two nights & our HAL driver/guide picked us up at our hotel in Denali & took us to the train station...The train ride from Denali back to Anchorage was fantastic.. When we got back to Anchorage there was Richard our driver meeting our train to take us to the HAL hotel.. Next morning he met us again to take us to the ship..

 

This was one of the best trips we ever had & I would not hesitate to do it again.. BTW I use a cane now, since I had a hip operation several years ago..

 

If your Friends Dr. cleared them to go, I don't think that the rest of you should worry too much but you might suggest they might take a cane with them.. As another poster mentioned they can always stay on the bus if the walk is too much for them.. HAL does a fantastic job of taking care of the handicapped Psgr. too..

 

Sorry this post is so long, but hope you all have a wonderful time in Alaska..

Edited July 30, 2016 by serendipity1499

[serendipity1499]

Dear RAJKR...Please forgive the long post above..I'm reliving our HAL trip to Alaska through you.. Thanks so much! Your photo's a gorgeous.. Would love to go back to Alaska & see more of it..:D:D

Edited July 30, 2016 by serendipity1499

[serendipity1499]

aamum.. I forgot to mention that I'm now using a cane & find it difficult to stand in one place for any length of time.. We're taking a cruise with Friends in October..

 

Have been looking at cane seats..Amazon has many of them..I'm ordering this one only because I'm just 5 ft. tall & this is adjustable..

 

https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Medical-Folding-Lightweight-Adjustable/dp/B005JIMORU/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1469837601&sr=8-1&keywords=medical+folding+canes

 

Maybe your Friends could use something similar..

[rajkr74]

Dear RAJKR...Please forgive the long post above..I'm reliving our HAL trip to Alaska through you.. Thanks so much! Your photo's a gorgeous.. Would love to go back to Alaska & see more of it..:D:D

 

No problems about your long post, I loved and enjoyed your story. :) We wanted to do a review on this Sea-Land cruise since we have not seen any reviews for these cruises. It was not a physically demanding cruise since Hal took care of all the luggage hauling for us. Glad you enjoyed the photos.

Rick

[serendipity1499]

Rick: Pictures are fantastic! Showed my wife, Flo, pic of your meal in the Pinnacle and she said she now knows what she will order!

 

We will not be stopping in Juneau, but pick up the ship in Skagway and go to Glacier Bay and Ketchikan before returning Vancouver.

 

Was there a salmon cookout on the Lido Deck Pool area while you were onboard. I am not sure HAL even does that any more.

 

Keep 'em coming, Brother!:D

 

Ron if you & your wife happen to like dogs as much as I do, & decide to spend some time in Skagway, take a bus tour up to the summit & the White Pass RR back down from Carcross..

 

We booked a private tour out of Skagway..They met us at the ship & took us up by bus stopping at Emerald Lake & Carcross for lunch & then up to the dog sled camp at the summit.. The scenery was awesome.. The puppies which were born in May or June were getting big in Aug., but I spent a glorious hour playing with them.. DH took a picture of me holding one of the puppies while he/she was kissing me.. I was in my glory & really did not want to leave them.. At that time you could also book a ride in a dog sled.. Don't know if they still do that..

 

BTW if anyone is looking for the town of Namenda in Alaska, forget about it - :o:o There is no such place :o:o- I was trying to cook awhile I was writing my post & did not look up the correct name of the town which is Nenana not Namenda.. Have no idea where I got that from.. Used to be able to do two things at once.. Now that I'm older it's getting harder..Sorry

 

Rick I can't get over how beautiful your Pics are..Sent another hour looking at them all..You must have a wonderful camera..Especially enjoyed Mama Bear & Cubs..You spent a lot more days in Denali than we did..It must have been exciting..We saw only one Grizzly with a couple of cubs standing up but they were very far away..Had a Fox come up to our Bus..The driver stopped the bus & he came right up to the door to inspect it.. That too was exciting.. Now John my DH & I want to go back to Alaska again..

 

Thanks to you & Joyce for spending so much time on your wonderful review of Alaska..You might also want to pull out take all your posts & put it in the review section on Cruise Critic.. They stay there for a long time..

 

/SIZE]

Edited July 30, 2016 by serendipity1499

[rajkr74]

Rick I can't get over how beautiful your Pics are..Sent another hour looking at them all..You must have a wonderful camera..Especially enjoyed Mama Bear & Cubs..You spent a lot more days in Denali than we did..It must have been exciting..We saw only one Grizzly with a couple of cubs standing up but they were very far away..Had a Fox come up to our Bus..The driver stopped the bus & he came right up to the door to inspect it.. That too was exciting.. Now John my DH & I want to go back to Alaska again..

 

Thanks to you & Joyce for spending so much time on your wonderful review of Alaska..You might also want to pull out take all your posts & put it in the review section on Cruise Critic.. They stay there for a long time..

 

/SIZE]

 

Thanks, we shoot a lot of photos to get a few that are real good. If you like them here is a link to our Alaska Sea-Land album on Microsoft Onedrive with about 152 photos. Just click the first photo and it will start the slide show.

 

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AsptL998yK8Hga1vAG3LkXsBVx164Q

 

Rick