~Cruise Critic Group Cruise To Alaska ~ Amsterdam May 2010~

[LEtue]

My husband and I are going to consider the cruise too!!! We are leaning towards a 14 day cruise now instead of a seven day cruise with a land tour afterwards. We like to do things on our own pace. My only concern will be the weather. Since we are retired we can go anytime during the summer. Hopefully the prices for the late may departure will be enticing.

 

My cabinmate and I are currently booked on a 7 day sailing but when we saw this 14 day itinerary we decided we had to switch! Weather in June is usually the warmest and driest time of the season and we get the benefit of the long days ;)

 

May 31 departure could work for Mrs Banjo & myself. We are planning a return trip to Alaska in 2010, (for our 30th anniversay). The end of May / early June is when we travel most. Keep us up to date.

 

Great, we would love to have you join us! Sailing on May 31 really makes this a June sailing and a perfect time to sail to Alaska :D

[LEtue]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I have updated my signature to include my email address. So feel free to use it if you have any questions.

 

Have a great day!

[LEtue]

Wow, I have been checking out the bear watching tour options and there are some awesome choices out there :D

 

Can you tell I'm ready to get this cruise booked?????

[lstrong]

Re bear watching tours - which ports offer them?? Thanks Laurie

[pspercy]

Re bear watching tours - which ports offer them?? Thanks Laurie

 

Ketchikan; there may be others, haven't dug that deep yet:D

[LEtue]

Re bear watching tours - which ports offer them?? Thanks Laurie

 

I'm actually looking at a trip out of Kodiak. My cabinmate and I have been wanting to get to this part of Alaska and we're going to take full advantage - even though the port time is limited :D

[LEtue]

Ketchikan; there may be others, haven't dug that deep yet:D

 

Definitely Ketchikan too! There are so many excellent ports on this itinerary it is hard to pick what things to do where :)

 

Not such a bad problem to have is it?

[LEtue]

Happy Friday!

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and I can't wait for news from Laura next week!

[pspercy]

Kodiak Isl. info:

http://www.kodiak.org/

[LEtue]

Kodiak Isl. info:

http://www.kodiak.org/

 

Thanks for the link. Isn't that a beautiful picture on their home page? It is going to be very scenic sailing that area on a cruise ship!!! :D

[Assateague Island Princes]

Hi all!

 

We've already booked this cruise for May 31st, so won't officially be part of your CC group:(, but we're feeling a kinship with you, despite that! To really get your excursion juices flowing, check out the excursions link on the HAL website. Obviously they don't have 2010 excursions listed yet (our wonderful TA says HAL told her they will be going up around August/Sept.), BUT if you click on Alaska, it gives you a drop down of all the Alaskan ports - click on the cities of Anchorage, Kodiak or Homer and it will show HAL excursions to those cities. At the bottom of each separate excursion, there is a link to click on to see which ship/sailing goes to those ports - and the Amsterdam 14 day for 2010 is on each and every one of them. Of course, the "normal" ports of Sitka, Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Victoria, BC have their port excursions listed already - for 2009. Those haven't changed much - maybe one or two have been added since we first sailed to AK in 2006 and then again last year. Still, its fun to check out what we might be doing in those three "new" ports. So have at it - I have a feeling HAL's website will be buzzing all weekend!:p

[LEtue]

I saw all the excursions! Couldn't believe all of the info was loaded already and it really got me excited all over again!

 

There are so many great ports on this itinerary and I made contact with a few independent operators already. And some on board activities are in the works too so this is going to be a great trip!

 

Once we're official my friend and cabinmate Margie and I will start working hard on pre-cruise hotel group rates too. So stay tuned everyone :D

[LADYLAYLA]

Would love to book this -- but the 31st is not doable-- it would have to be the 17th sailing. <sigh>

 

This trip looks amazing though and will be keeping an eye on it and the pricing for it over the next 6 months or so

[LEtue]

Would love to book this -- but the 31st is not doable-- it would have to be the 17th sailing. <sigh>

 

This trip looks amazing though and will be keeping an eye on it and the pricing for it over the next 6 months or so

 

Bummer.... :(

 

I really think the May 31 date is going to be the one that we go with. Maybe things will change later and you can join us :)

[ncgolferette]

I talked to an HAL representative and he indicated that there will be more excursions coming for this cruise. There will be an excursion from Anchorage north that would include Mt. Mckinley viewing weather permitting.

[LEtue]

I talked to an HAL representative and he indicated that there will be more excursions coming for this cruise. There will be an excursion from Anchorage north that would include Mt. Mckinley viewing weather permitting.

 

Wow, that is great news! On our last trip we weren't flying home until 9pm so we rented a car when we got to Anchorage and drove to Talkeetna. Denali was clearly visible :D

 

Our plan is to rent a car again and drive to Girdwood this time. If anyone has been there we would love to hear about it!

 

Here is a picture of Denali from the road leading to Talkeetna

 

[hmstins]

Hi, everyone. This is Margie, Linda's friend and cabinmate coming to you from Houston, Texas. So Linda lives in Florida, I live in Texas, and our favorite vacation destination is Alaska! I absolutely LOVE the 14-day itinerary and can't wait to get on board. I have never seen Kodiak, Homer, Sitka or Victoria BC so I am very happy to have the new ports to look forward to. This will be my fourth (but not the last!) cruise to Alaska and they just keep getting better.

 

Hope to see lots of you signing up when we get legal here. We also hope to get some good deals to choose from in Seattle and some onboard activities. This is my end of the deal while Linda handles the group. So see, you will be getting a two'fer when you book with us!

[LEtue]

Kodiak and Homer are new ports for me too and I haven't sailed Tracy Arm Fjord before either! So lots of planning is ahead to make this a great cruise.

 

I guess we had better start working on a name for this group too so start posting your ideas :D

[RuthC]

BUT if you click on Alaska, it gives you a drop down of all the Alaskan ports - click on the cities of Anchorage, Kodiak or Homer and it will show HAL excursions to those cities.

Thanks for that lead! I went over to the HAL site, followed your instructions, and got excited about this itinerary all over again. I'm salivating at the thought!

I'm almost (almost, but not quite) hoping my grandgirl changes her mind about wanting me to take her to Europe---I want to go back to Homer and Anchorage! I want to go to Kodiak Island! :D

[LEtue]

Thanks for that lead! I went over to the HAL site, followed your instructions, and got excited about this itinerary all over again. I'm salivating at the thought!

 

I'm almost (almost, but not quite) hoping my grandgirl changes her mind about wanting me to take her to Europe---I want to go back to Homer and Anchorage! I want to go to Kodiak Island! :D

 

It is so easy to excited over this itinerary :D

 

Give us some tips on Homer! Would love to hear about your experience there....

[farkle]

My husband and I are interested in joining in with your group. Looking forward to finding out more details. We have loved our prior Alaska cruises. Thanks for any info!!

[RuthC]

Give us some tips on Homer! Would love to hear about your experience there....

Oh, it's been so long, I have to wonder if it's the same.

Anyway, there's a long spit of land that goes on for a long way---it reminds me of Cape Cod (except for the mountains). There were RVs parked all along the spit, as people come here for the summer to fish for a living. Very interesting to look at.

I went to the museum; I thought it was world class. Just excellent.

I was told on that cruise that "As you drink your way around the world ..." there are places you must stop at. The Salty Dog is one of them. It's at the end of the spit.

 

I was there on a picture-perfect day---sun was shining, and it was warm. Under less desirable weather conditions all bets are off! :p

[BldLvr]

This just keeps getting better and better! I sure hope this works out for DH and me. I am looking forward to cruising up the Cook Inlet, would it be daylight? And I think we would might be able to see that volcano! Marian

[TravelinGrandma]

I plan to let my husband in on this once the details are set - sounds great! We are really enjoying Hal and I think I would love to go to Kodiak on a Hal cruise itinerary. Let's hope it all works out! Can I do an FCC on our Sept. HAL cruise for this?

[LEtue]

My husband and I are interested in joining in with your group. Looking forward to finding out more details. We have loved our prior Alaska cruises. Thanks for any info!!

 

Great! I will definitely post the details as soon as I have them and I hope you join us!

 

This just keeps getting better and better! I sure hope this works out for DH and me. I am looking forward to cruising up the Cook Inlet, would it be daylight? And I think we would might be able to see that volcano! Marian

 

It does...doesn't it. I hope it works out for the two of you too.

 

When I heard that we would be cruising up Cook Inlet I got so excited! At the time of year we are sailing it will be fairly light even at midnight. Not bright daylight but light enough to see. Our port time in Anchorage is 7am to 11pm and since it is light out at around 4am we should have scenic sailing time before we arrive. When we leave at 11pm it will probably be a bit darker. However, since we are only going a short distance to Homer for a 10am port time I'm guessing we will be crusing around in Cook Inlet all night and early morning - before we arrive. The scenery is going to be spectacular :D