redraider1966 Posted January 25 #1 Share Posted January 25 This inquiring mind would sure like to know and whether other HAL Alaska cruises' itineraries are also affected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highfields Posted January 25 #2 Share Posted January 25 (edited) Cruuse Mapper shows the only Holland America ship visiting Homer in 2024 is the Westerdam on June 28th. Edited January 25 by highfields Correct the year 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Crazy For Cats Posted January 25 #3 Share Posted January 25 I received notice overnight that Homer was dropped from our May 2025 NA itinerary. It was replaced with Sitka. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted January 25 #4 Share Posted January 25 1 hour ago, redraider1966 said: This inquiring mind would sure like to know and whether other HAL Alaska cruises' itineraries are also affected. Not many cruise ships stop at Homer. So, it sounds like 2 out of 3 HAL stops for 2024 have been dropped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthC Posted January 25 #5 Share Posted January 25 That's a shame. Homer was on the itinerary on my first Alaska cruise, and I have been back several times since. It's been one of my favorite Alaska ports since that first cruise there. Perhaps some other year? The museum in town is definitely worth a visit, and there is loads of fun to be had out on the Spit. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRLD Posted January 26 #6 Share Posted January 26 (edited) 1 hour ago, RuthC said: That's a shame. Homer was on the itinerary on my first Alaska cruise, and I have been back several times since. It's been one of my favorite Alaska ports since that first cruise there. Perhaps some other year? The museum in town is definitely worth a visit, and there is loads of fun to be had out on the Spit. Homer is a wonderful town Great scenery, excellent fishing. Have been there several times. My wife's brother and sister in law run a b&b there in the summer. Not sure what excursions they would come up with there other than the museum. Maybe an excursion to seldovia? Edited January 26 by TRLD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Vict0riann Posted January 26 #7 Share Posted January 26 It’s been dropped from ours as well. I do like Sitka! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthC Posted January 26 #8 Share Posted January 26 7 minutes ago, TRLD said: Not sure what excursions they would come up with there other than the museum. Maybe an excursion to seldovia? I did that excursion out of there once. We spent quite a bit of time in a boat visiting many islands near Homer itself, then headed up to Seldovia for a while, before heading back. It was a very pretty day, and a lovely day to go boating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne123 Posted January 26 #9 Share Posted January 26 On ours in 2025 they did drop Homer, but they added Glacier Bay in addition to Sitka. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clueless2 Posted January 26 #10 Share Posted January 26 The old Statendam in Homer in 2015. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syesmar Posted January 26 #11 Share Posted January 26 We had such a nice time in Homer! I would return in a heartbeat. I will never forget seeing the area from a distance as we sailed, several days before visiting the port. Oh, my, the sky was simply perfect and the snow-covered mountains were majestic. I can remember being in such awe of the scenery. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlsSalt Posted January 26 #12 Share Posted January 26 9 hours ago, redraider1966 said: This inquiring mind would sure like to know and whether other HAL Alaska cruises' itineraries are also affected. Sept Majestic Japan on the Westerdam just had Kodiak Island and Anchorage pulled off the Sept 2024 itinerary, and only one port added - Haines. Could these smaller Alaska ports be also saying no to cruise ships. Or could it be possible are other cruise lines putting the squeeze on these smaller Alaska ports, and demanding they take their mega-franchise cruise industry shops in their little towns, or else they won't bring their ships into any Alaska ports? (Speculation only, but reasonable after seeing what Diamonds International, Del Sol etc did to the other major Alaska cruise ports, chasing out all the local Made in Alaska industry and losing the special uniqueness of an Alaska cruise almost entirely.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottishMaid Posted January 26 #13 Share Posted January 26 We did the 14 day Statendam cruise including Homer in 2015. That cruise was running all summer and we did a 14 day cruise in 2017, I believe on the Amsterdam. From Cruise Mapper I see Oceania, Seabourn and Hanseatic have small ships going a few times. I think there are very few possible shore excursions and that would greatly annoy guests and give negative feedback. The bigger Westerdam has a 28 day cruise and so will have more guests used to doing their own thing in the many ports on that cruise. Homer is a very pretty town if the weather is good but there would be little to do if a windy or very rainy day, especially given the very exposed pier and Spit area. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luv2travel06 Posted April 29 #14 Share Posted April 29 On 1/26/2024 at 12:42 AM, ScottishMaid said: We did the 14 day Statendam cruise including Homer in 2015. That cruise was running all summer and we did a 14 day cruise in 2017, I believe on the Amsterdam. From Cruise Mapper I see Oceania, Seabourn and Hanseatic have small ships going a few times. I think there are very few possible shore excursions and that would greatly annoy guests and give negative feedback. The bigger Westerdam has a 28 day cruise and so will have more guests used to doing their own thing in the many ports on that cruise. Homer is a very pretty town if the weather is good but there would be little to do if a windy or very rainy day, especially given the very exposed pier and Spit area. We docked in Homer on our 14 day cruise on the Amsterdam in 2018 and enjoyed it so much we were looking forward to going again in September when my sister joins us for her first ever cruise, but then they changed the itinerary. Nevertheless, we are still planning to have a great cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnyD-JJ Posted July 21 #15 Share Posted July 21 Two days ago we were notified that Homer & Seward was dropped from our 28-day Alaska summer solstice cruise June 8, 2025 to July 6, 2025 there were no replacement ports only additional sea days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRLD Posted July 21 #16 Share Posted July 21 (edited) 1 hour ago, DonnyD-JJ said: Two days ago we were notified that Homer & Seward was dropped from our 28-day Alaska summer solstice cruise June 8, 2025 to July 6, 2025 there were no replacement ports only additional sea days! Homer has very limited ship capacity. The Westerdam stopped there in June and was a test case for the city council. According to an article in the local paper it was only able to call because the local large ship fishing fleet was out to sea. Apparently there were 4 calls scheduled for ships of that size (too large to dock there so tendering required), 3 were turned away due to lack of space according to the article. Only the Westerdam made port. Edited July 21 by TRLD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnyD-JJ Posted July 21 #17 Share Posted July 21 @TRLD. Thank you for that information. It makes me feel better about losing the port. I just wish HAL would explain better their decisions regards, Donna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2WI Posted July 21 #18 Share Posted July 21 I noticed that on our May 2025 cruise there will be 4 large ships docked at Sitka in one day. I’m not sure it can handle that many folks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRLD Posted July 21 #19 Share Posted July 21 2 hours ago, 2WI said: I noticed that on our May 2025 cruise there will be 4 large ships docked at Sitka in one day. I’m not sure it can handle that many folks. In the case of Homer it was 4 ships of that size for the season. Most ships that have called at Homer have been smaller than the Westerdam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SightCRR Posted July 25 #20 Share Posted July 25 On our Jun-Jul 2024 cruise we got to stop in Homer but it was a tender port. One of three other tender ports that were not on itinerary as tender ports. (Sitka, Kodiak, & Valdez) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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