HAL 14 day great land explorer

[rostbp]

Has anyone taken this itinerary? We have taken the 15 day triple Denali and Yukon itinerary before and absolutely loved it. Dawson City is our favorite! I like the 14 day itinerary because it includes ports like Kodiak, Homer, etc which you don't get on those basic 7 day cruises. Do we give up those views of Denali and the quirks of Dawson City to see some new ports? Glaciers are not a high priority for us.

[donaldsc]

Has anyone taken this itinerary? We have taken the 15 day triple Denali and Yukon itinerary before and absolutely loved it. Dawson City is our favorite! I like the 14 day itinerary because it includes ports like Kodiak, Homer, etc which you don't get on those basic 7 day cruises. Do we give up those views of Denali and the quirks of Dawson City to see some new ports? Glaciers are not a high priority for us.

 

We did a similar cruise maybe 5 or 6 years ago. It was great. Not many ships get to Kodiak.

 

DON

[TheCalicoCat]

We have the 14 night cruise planned (purchased) for 2017 in July. & we are excited about the length of the cruise & all of the different stops.

 

We figure that we will probably do Denai (& other spots) on an RV trip - eventually. ;)

[JimAOk1945]

Has anyone taken this itinerary? We have taken the 15 day triple Denali and Yukon itinerary before and absolutely loved it. Dawson City is our favorite! I like the 14 day itinerary because it includes ports like Kodiak, Homer, etc which you don't get on those basic 7 day cruises. Do we give up those views of Denali and the quirks of Dawson City to see some new ports? Glaciers are not a high priority for us.

 

We took this cruise last month, August 1-15, on the Holland America Maasdam. What an amazing cruise and fantastic itinerary! We had done two seven day cruises previously, but nothing comes close to this unique choice of ports.

 

Maybe seeing pictures will help you decide. My wife has a website that features photo journals of our cruises and land vacations. You can see pictures of this specific cruise at the link below.

 

HAL 14 Day Great Land Explorer Alaska Cruise

 

Alaska is amazing!

[rostbp]

Thanks so much for the link to your photos. Beautiful!

[gem1017]

My husband and I took this cruise last July and were a little disappointed because two of the ports we were looking forward to were cancelled...anchorage and icy straight due to ship problems so we are booked again and leave Monday to try it again! We loved the itinerary and would encourage anyone to go if they could!

 

 

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[TheCalicoCat]

 

We took this cruise last month, August 1-15, on the Holland America Maasdam. What an amazing cruise and fantastic itinerary! We had done two seven day cruises previously, but nothing comes close to this unique choice of ports.

 

Maybe seeing pictures will help you decide. My wife has a website that features photo journals of our cruises and land vacations. You can see pictures of this specific cruise at the link below.

 

HAL 14 Day Great Land Explorer Alaska Cruise

 

Alaska is amazing!

 

Thanks for sharing. Were the Orcas guaranteed in Victoria? Would you have been satisfied with the excursion if you had not seen any orcas?

[Budget Queen]

Thanks for sharing. Were the Orcas guaranteed in Victoria? Would you have been satisfied with the excursion if you had not seen any orcas?

 

 

Orcas are never guaranteed. They have hundreds of miles of range, and absolutely tours run with the vendors, knowing there will be no sightings. There is a whole network of spotters who report who's seen, and where they are, several times per day.

[rostbp]

Gem1017

Have a great time. Hope you get to all of the ports this time!

[JimAOk1945]

Thanks for sharing. Were the Orcas guaranteed in Victoria? Would you have been satisfied with the excursion if you had not seen any orcas?

 

I'm glad you enjoyed viewing my wife's pictures. The excursion we did in Victoria is called Orca Whale Watching by Day. We booked it directly through Holland America's website. Below is a synopsis of the excursion copied directly from their website at the following link http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-destinations/ExcursionDetails.action?excursionCode=3105&portCode=YYJ&voyageCode=A740&requestSource=cruiseDetailsPort

 

Tour Victoria’s Inner Harbour and surrounding coastline in an enclosed, high-speed boat; then head for open water to observe the abundant local wildlife. Although sightings can’t be guaranteed, this excursion boast a 90% success rate of seeing seals, sea lions, porpoises and numerous species of sea birds, as well as the killer (orca) whales that make their home in these waters. The high-speed expedition catamaran is the best platform for viewing whales and offers comfort second-to-none. See the unique habitat that is also a haven for a myriad of bird life combined with the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

 

Notes:

 

Infants up to and including the day prior to their second birthday can be considered a lap child at no cost. If you are traveling with an infant, please notify the shore excursions staff once on board the ship.

 

Happy Cruising!

[TheCalicoCat]

I'm glad you enjoyed viewing my wife's pictures. The excursion we did in Victoria is called Orca Whale Watching by Day. We booked it directly through Holland America's website. Below is a synopsis of the excursion copied directly from their website at the following link http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-destinations/ExcursionDetails.action?excursionCode=3105&portCode=YYJ&voyageCode=A740&requestSource=cruiseDetailsPort

 

Tour Victoria’s Inner Harbour and surrounding coastline in an enclosed, high-speed boat; then head for open water to observe the abundant local wildlife. Although sightings can’t be guaranteed, this excursion boast a 90% success rate of seeing seals, sea lions, porpoises and numerous species of sea birds, as well as the killer (orca) whales that make their home in these waters. The high-speed expedition catamaran is the best platform for viewing whales and offers comfort second-to-none. See the unique habitat that is also a haven for a myriad of bird life combined with the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

 

Notes:

 

Infants up to and including the day prior to their second birthday can be considered a lap child at no cost. If you are traveling with an infant, please notify the shore excursions staff once on board the ship.

 

Happy Cruising!

 

Thanks for responding. 90% is pretty good...

[4774Papa]

HAL may do a good tour and cruise, but don't like the smoking policy. It seems to attract smokers. We just returned from our Alaska cruise and tour. Did the cruise with NCL and tour with Alaska Tours and Travel. We had many HAL cruisers on our same Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour as well as bus tour back to Anchorage (train was cancelled due to rockslide). We could smell the cigarette smoke on several of the HAL cruisers.

[JimAOk1945]

We are not smokers and were very reluctant to book a HAL cruise for that reason. However, the unique itinerary was very appealing to both of us. Since it was our anniversary, I booked a Neptune suite which has a huge balcony. We used the balcony every day regardless of the weather. I'm happy to say we didn't smell any smoke during the entire 14 days!

 

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Edited September 17, 2016 by JimAOk1945

[mapleleaves]

Thanks for sharing. Were the Orcas guaranteed in Victoria? Would you have been satisfied with the excursion if you had not seen any orcas?

 

If you have an extra day in Seattle, look into a whale watching trip out of Anacortes, which is 90 minutes north of Seattle. My preference for orca viewing is north Vancouver Island, but if I'm short on time, Anacortes is a great alternative. I've had great luck with Island Adventures. It's a 5 hr tour for about $100. It's a lovely outing in itself ... beautiful scenery as you pass by ferries, lighthouse, the San Juan Islands, and you observe other sealife, usually minke whales.

There are 3 resident pods that frequent the waters between the Washington coast and the Victoria area .... as with most whale watching trips the captain is in touch with other captains and fishing boats to locate the pods. Look thru the 'whale report' for your specific travel period to see what kind of success they had that day.

http://www.island-adventures.com/