Has HAL ever had a 10 day Alaska cruise?

[Skoogs]

Just wondering if HAL has had a 10 or 11 day cruise in Alaska. It just seems like 7 days is to short and 14 days to long for some people. Or even a 9 day cruise? We are doing a 7 day cruise next week out of Vancouver, we have additional family members that can’t take more than a week to 10 days. I personally would have liked to take the 21 day cruise on the Maasdam this year. Not complaining, just wondering why not. It happens in the Caribbean every season. 

[terrydtx]

The only way to do a 10 or 11 day Alaska cruise vacation with HAL, is to add a land portion to the 7 day cruise. That is what we are doing in July, we have a 4 night double Denali extension to our 7 day cruise. A couple of the premium or luxury cruise lines like Viking and Seabourn offer 10 day cruises.

Edited May 16, 2019 by terrydtx

[3rdGenCunarder]

I'm doing a 10-day cruise on Cunard this year, so there definitely are options between 7 and 14 days. I agree that 7 days is too short. I avoid 7 day cruises on HAL because large groups tend to book 7-day cruises rather than the longer ones.

 

I've done HAL's 14-day cruise in Alaska and it's a wonderful itinerary.

 

[Roz]

10 hours ago, Skoogs said:

Just wondering if HAL has had a 10 or 11 day cruise in Alaska. It just seems like 7 days is to short and 14 days to long for some people. Or even a 9 day cruise? We are doing a 7 day cruise next week out of Vancouver, we have additional family members that can’t take more than a week to 10 days. I personally would have liked to take the 21 day cruise on the Maasdam this year. Not complaining, just wondering why not. It happens in the Caribbean every season. 

Not exactly Alaska, but I just did a 6-day Pacific Coastal from San Diego to Vancouver and then a 7-day round-trip Alaska out of Vancouver.  13 days total on the Nieuw Amsterdam.

 

Roz

[3rdGenCunarder]

6 minutes ago, Roz said:

Not exactly Alaska, but I just did a 6-day Pacific Coastal from San Diego to Vancouver and then a 7-day round-trip Alaska out of Vancouver.  13 days total on the Nieuw Amsterdam.

 

Roz

 

I thought I had done 10 days to Alaska on HAL, but your post reminded me that my first Alaska cruise WAS 7 days. I made it 10 by adding the coastal to San Francisco. That's the nice thing about first and last cruises of the season. You can extend them.

 

[Double D Cruisers]

Yes and no.  They have several cruises that are 10 days but they always seem to include a land trip to Denali National Park and then a flight home.  Time at sea is still about 7 days on these cruises.  As you mention there is a 14 day Great Alaskan Explorer on the Amsterdam in June from Seattle to Seattle that includes no land journey... all sailing.  It includes Homer and Kodiak (which other cruises rarely get to) before returning home.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

I would love to see HAL offer a 10 & 11 night rotation from Vancouver with all departures offering Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier and also offering them as 5 or 6 night segments beginning/ending in Skagway as a part of longer Yukon/Denali Cruisetours.  Perhaps something like I created below.  This would allow them to fill a smaller S/R class ship more easily and I think would command fairly good yields.

 

We can all dream, right? 

 

Edited May 16, 2019 by AtlantaCruiser72

[rkacruiser]

HAL seems to have an aversion sailing Alaska cruises from San Francisco.  Doing so would provide a nice itinerary that is less than 14 days yet more than 7 days.  My guess:  by sailing such an itinerary would be in competition with Princess Cruises.  Princess seems to be quite successful with their sailings from The City By The Bay.  

 

Would I enjoy such a HAL sailing?  Yes!  Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge is just a bit more special than sailing under the Lion's Gate Bridge in Vancouver.  (Dear Canadian CC friends:  Please don't interpret this comment as a negative about the sailaways from Vancouver.  It's just I have had the opportunity for so many more sailings from the wonderful city of Vancouver than I have had from San Francisco.  When I sail on Westerdam in July, I will again enjoy the sailaway from Canada Place and under the Lion's Gate Bridge.) 

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

HAL seems to have an aversion sailing Alaska cruises from San Francisco.  Doing so would provide a nice itinerary that is less than 14 days yet more than 7 days.  My guess:  by sailing such an itinerary would be in competition with Princess Cruises.  Princess seems to be quite successful with their sailings from The City By The Bay.  

 

Would I enjoy such a HAL sailing?  Yes!  Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge is just a bit more special than sailing under the Lion's Gate Bridge in Vancouver.  (Dear Canadian CC friends:  Please don't interpret this comment as a negative about the sailaways from Vancouver.  It's just I have had the opportunity for so many more sailings from the wonderful city of Vancouver than I have had from San Francisco.  When I sail on Westerdam in July, I will again enjoy the sailaway from Canada Place and under the Lion's Gate Bridge.) 

 

Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge is special because there are fewer chances to do it. That's why we tacked the 3-day coastal onto the last Alaska cruise of the season. 

 

I think HAL doesn't do that more often because of the extra sea days and the fuel required. Also, a lot of people (not me) don't like sea days. They perceive sea days as days with "nothing to do," even on ships with active sea-day programs. 

 

[kevingastreich]

19 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge is special because there are fewer chances to do it. That's why we tacked the 3-day coastal onto the last Alaska cruise of the season. 

 

I think HAL doesn't do that more often because of the extra sea days and the fuel required. Also, a lot of people (not me) don't like sea days. They perceive sea days as days with "nothing to do," even on ships with active sea-day programs. 

 

I like sea days.

 

[crystalspin]

57 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

Also, a lot of people (not me) don't like sea days. They perceive sea days as days with "nothing to do," even on ships with active sea-day programs. 

 

Wonderful, glorious: nothing-to-do!

Edited May 17, 2019 by crystalspin

[Sharon in AZ]

50 minutes ago, kevingastreich said:

I like sea days.

 

Me too!!!!!  Plenty enough to do onboard and relax at the same time.

[Skoogs]

7 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

I would love to see HAL offer a 10 & 11 night rotation from Vancouver with all departures offering Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier and also offering them as 5 or 6 night segments beginning/ending in Skagway as a part of longer Yukon/Denali Cruisetours.  Perhaps something like I created below.  This would allow them to fill a smaller S/R class ship more easily and I think would command fairly good yields.

 

We can all dream, right? 

 

I really like your cruise schedule, maybe you could get a job at HAL! 😉

[Skoogs]

I am always amazed by the people on CC, what great ideas, insights and information. 

Thank you so much, it has given me food for thought when planning our next Alaska cruise.