28-day Westerdam Arctic Summer Solstice Live from the ship June 9-July 7

[DonnyD-JJ]

I thank everyone for their honest opinion on tendering. It’s not that I’m afraid of tendering or the process. I don’t mind waiting my turn. I just asked the question so I would know what time I should schedule an independent tour. I would not want to miss a tour for us or the people going along with me. 

[The-Inside-Cabin]

19 minutes ago, TableGirl said:

I apologize but my pictures are blank when I upload them.

That sometimes happens with the iphone - I take a screen shot of the picture - then crop to size and upload again.   Not sure is there is a way to avoid this.   Any Iphone experts ?

[LAFFNVEGAS]

3 minutes ago, DonnyD-JJ said:

I thank everyone for their honest opinion on tendering. It’s not that I’m afraid of tendering or the process. I don’t mind waiting my turn. I just asked the question so I would know what time I should schedule an independent tour. I would not want to miss a tour for us or the people going along with me. 

This is just my opinion l but I would not book a private excursion in a port I knew was for sure a tender port.I tend to lean toward being very cautious.There is just too high of a percentage of problems and time constraints, let along getting back on time to the ship especially when tendering is involved. Sitka in most cases is no longer a tender port except for rare occasions such as this for Westerdam.

[DonnyD-JJ]

@LAFFNVEGAS  I totally agree with you as I am that type of person also. My main concern is the Port of Homer. HAL offers no tours so I booked an independent tour. 

[Seasick Sailor]

3 minutes ago, DonnyD-JJ said:

@LAFFNVEGAS  I totally agree with you as I am that type of person also. My main concern is the Port of Homer. HAL offers no tours so I booked an independent tour. 

 

We've been on over a dozen Alaska cruises and Homer is a favorite.

Take the free bus over to the spit and have an amazing lunch at Captain Patties.The fried halibut cheeks are out of this world. The shops are fun to browse and you gotta poke in to the Salty Dawg Saloon!!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

11 minutes ago, DonnyD-JJ said:

@LAFFNVEGAS  I totally agree with you as I am that type of person also. My main concern is the Port of Homer. HAL offers no tours so I booked an independent tour. 

Are you sailing this 28 day itinerary for next year? I would definitely give HAL a few months, often times these excursions are not always available early like others. Tour Excursion companies have to provide bond and insurance and sign a new contract with HAL. This is why often you do not see excursions available in all ports right away. I would give it some time. If it is for a cruise later this year I would do what @Seasick Sailor suggested.

[DonnyD-JJ]

I am on the 2025 version of your cruise and yes I will keep watching until sailing time to see if they offer anything for Homer. In the meanwhile I will have a back up plan including Some of @Seasick Sailor suggestions. 

[Seasick Sailor]

We are sailing on the Westerdam Sept 1st. Taking the 53 day Majestic Japan Cruise. We sail from Seattle north to Canada and Alaska first. We were hoping to get to Homer, but alas, we were given Inside Passage to Sitka, Skagway, Hubbard Glacier enroute to Dutch Harbor and beyond. 

 

We were 15 points short of 5 Star this past year. 50+ days on the beautiful Rotterdam. 

 

We were on the Westerdam in 2013, before these latest refurbished areas. Looking forward to seeing her again.

 

Thanks to all sharing pictures and wisdom. 

 

Blessings!

Joy

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, TableGirl said:

If the picture was taken on your iPhone with the "Live" option turned on, the information at post #121 from this below thread might help solve your issue.

 

 

[AbbyCruiser45]

6 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If the picture was taken on your iPhone with the "Live" option turned on, the information at post #121 from this below thread might help solve your issue.

 

 

This fix actually doesn’t matter if it’s Live or with an iPhone! It’s the size of the picture/file that’s an issue. Typically, Live Photos are larger but it could happen even with live turned off or with a non iPhone. 

[jljcruise]

On 6/13/2024 at 7:58 AM, edmonton2 said:

Actually, tendering wasn’t so smooth for those that were not on an excursion! We got to the Ocean Bar to get a ticket and were number 15. They announced that tendering was delayed and by the time we got off the ship it was at least 2 hours later. Still had a great time in Sitka but my advice is to go straight to the Ocean Bar and get a tender ticket as soon as you can if you don’t have an excursion planned.

I have to agree with this. We waited over 2 hours for a tender in Sitka, too. 

Edited June 14 by jljcruise

[jljcruise]

Today we are in Valdez (pronounced Val-deez) and it's a glorious sunny day. At 4:00 pm right now it's 70 degrees. Lovely! And the scenery from the ship alone is spectacular in all directions. So, for the independents ... We tendered in  and it was much smoother and faster than at Sitka. We tendered into the marina where we were given good city maps by the tourism office as we got off the tender. 

We walked a few blocks to the Valdez Museum ($12 adults, $9 seniors, includes both museum sites), first to the section by the water which covers the 1964 (9.2) earthquake that destroyed the old Town. It was very interesting. The town is now 4 miles from the original site. We then walked 4 blocks in towards town to the other part of the museum which covers the other history of the area. The town is pretty flat, so it was easy to do.

The marina has a nice boardwalk along it with informative signboards along the way.

There is another museum (by donation) at the college, but we didn't go to it. There is also a brewery, several restaurants and souvenir shops. 

[scluvsrain]

We took a private (non HAL) tour out to Thompson Pass and Worthington Glacier. Saw several large waterfalls en route, stopped at two on the way back, and a glacier lake complete with floating icebergs. Glorious weather!

[RetiredMustang]

The mornings are getting earlier.  Here is what I saw a few minutes ago as we make our way to the entrance to College Fjord:

 

 

I hope the weather holds for today's scenic cruising.

 

Dave

Edited June 15 by RetiredMustang

[Cruising-along]

9 hours ago, scluvsrain said:

We took a private (non HAL) tour out to Thompson Pass and Worthington Glacier.

Great photos! You certainly have had good weather.

Could you let us know the names of the private tour companies you've used?

Thanks!

[TableGirl]

We were on a HAL tour in Valdez yesterday.  The Columbia Glacier Cruise.  It is heartbreaking to learn how much of the glacier has receded in the past 10-20 years.

 

The boat they used held 150 passengers but we were only 138.  It was a beautiful boat.  Double decker with comfortable seats and tables - booth style.  Clean bathrooms.  About 45 minutes in they served a light lunch of clam chowder, a toasted bagel and a pack of 4 Oreos.  The substitute for clam chowder was a vegetarian chili which was excellent.  My friends had the clam chowder and they liked it.  Water and lemonade and coffee were free and other beverages were available for a small charge along with snacks.  
 

It was a 6.5 hour excursion and by the end of it we were ready to get off the boat.  The Captain- Amanda was very knowledgeable and she provided excellent narration. When other wildlife was spotted en route to the glacier she veered off course for us to see.  We saw otters or sea lions and puffins and someone spotted a whale but it didn’t resurface.

 

Once we got back to to the dock 2 of us walked around town.  It is a very small town and there were tons of RVs in several camping lots.  
 

We didn’t leave until around 11:30pm and it was still very much daylight outside.

[RetiredMustang]

This has been a spectacular morning, as we sailed up College Fjord to view the glaciers.   The fjord is called that because explorers named the glaciers for colleges, three on the northwest for womens colleges, and the three on the southeast for mens colleges.  More detail at:  College Fjord - Wikipedia

 

Here are several photos I took, and I hope I got the names of the glaciers correct.  First, the bow was opened at 7:30 a.m., and I went to get a photo.  At that point, there were not many people at the bow:

 

 

At about 8 a.m., I took this shot from deck 2 portside, showing four of the glaciers; from left to right Vassar, Bryn Mawr. Smith and Harvard:

 

 

 

As we approached closer, I took this photo at about 9 a.m. of Yale Glacier from our starboard-side balcony:

 

 

Then, at about 9:15 we went back to the bow, which was more crowded:

 

 

We were able to see Harvard Glacier, and got very close to it.  We could hear the glacial thunder, and saw several small calvings (although I was not able to get a photo of that).  Here is Harvard Glacier, and a closer shot of the face:

 

 

 

And, finally, here is a photo of a sign I saw on the way to the bow.  I don't know whose it is or how/where they got it ... but I want one.

 

 

Dave

 

 

 

Edited June 15 by RetiredMustang

[DonnyD-JJ]

@TableGirl  Your excursion sounds great,  So glad you have had great weather on this cruise so far,  May the wind and sea keep your sailings sunny & smooth!!!

Was this the Columbia Glacier Cruise provided by HAL and run by Stan Stephens Tours?  I sure hope so because I have booked that tour.

[oaktreerb]

Valdez:  We took a HAL 3 hour tour that began at 7:30 p.m. on a lovely warm day.  The description said to bring our warm rain gear and gloves and described the boat as a day boat.  I wanted to check the weather forecast before I booked it at $99 pp.   It was a narrated Stan Stephens two decker tour boat with inside and outside seating.  We grabbed seats on the back deck.  We cruised into some secluded, amazingly beautiful areas, with waterfalls and large trees with eagles watching us from above, then back in to town and a sail by of the Alaska pipeline area.  It did get cold toward the end of our tour so those who brought warm coverings put them on, the others went inside out of the wind.  We were last tenders back and HAL announced that the Lido was open for late night snack!

[SUESEABE]

@RetiredMustang We bought them for our family cruise this past March.

https://www.amazon.com/Caution-Magnetic-Decorations-Carnival-Stateroom/dp/B0BHWNXG6J/ref=asc_df_B0BHWNXG6J/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693711673666&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5593131947467352392&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9005894&hvtargid=pla-1969837971520&psc=1&mcid=3d8d0cd99812331ab157510ea7e69a97&gad_source=1

[TableGirl]

20 hours ago, DonnyD-JJ said:

Stan Stephens Tours?

Yes that’s the one - it was a really nice boat!

[TableGirl]

Note: Seward is a secure harbor but it is a big terminal so I’m wondering if they would let taxis in or not.  They are running shuttles into town.

Edited June 16 by TableGirl
Edit info

[TableGirl]

22 hours ago, DonnyD-JJ said:

Stan 

Edited June 16 by TableGirl
Delete duplicate

[TableGirl]

We were due to be on a small group (6 people) whale watching excursion with Northern Latitudes here in Seward.  We were waiting on the last couple and the fog got thicker and thicker with visibility diminishing as the minutes ticked by.  They made the difficult decision to cancel.  They refunded my credit card immediately.  
 

They had a cute little souvenir shop as well and I wanted a couple of postcards.  He insisted on giving them to me.  They felt so bad for canceling but given the fog it was the right thing to do - not only for safety reasons but we couldn’t have seen anything.  
 

It might clear up enough later today to go but we’re only in port until 2:30 today.

[TableGirl]

22 hours ago, DonnyD-JJ said:

@TableGirl  Your excursion sounds great,  So glad you have had great weather on this cruise so far,  May the wind and sea keep your sailings sunny & smooth!!!

Was this the Columbia Glacier Cruise provided by HAL and run by Stan Stephens Tours?  I sure hope so because I have booked that tour.

It is astonishing to learn how much the Columbia Glacier has receded in the past 10-15 years.