disneyochem

We have four HAL cruises in the next couple of months—Noordam, Westerdam.  Each one of our specialty dining meals show that it will be delivered in the dining room.  I’m pretty confident that we’ll be eating in the appropriate space!

Here’s a screen shot of our upcoming Westerdam cruise—

13 minutes ago, DonnyD-JJ said:

@disneyochem  Which Kenai Fjords tour would be your first pick: Major Marine Tours (cheaper but more people 150-180) or Seward Ocean Excursions (more money but only 6-8 people)?

My first pick (and if you have the time) would be to go on a nine-hour Northwestern Fjord Tour.  The longer you’re on the water = the more opportunities to see wildlife!  The scenery is just fantastic!

If time is an issue, I would still look for the longest tour with a smaller boat.

A smaller boat will get you closer to the glaciers, wildlife and the coast.  The tour is also more ‘customizable’—you’ll go/stay more easily.  That personalized touch is hard to beat!

That being said, the larger boats are better if any one is prone to motion sickness.  The catamarans used are warmer, have more comfortable seating and restroom facilities!

We’ve taken the evening train to Vancouver many times after flying into Seattle.  
 

I like to use DoorDash before getting on the train,  Usually we’re pretty tired after our morning travels so it’s nice just to have your food delivered.  We may eat the food before but most of the time we eat on the train.  We’ll buy wine or a beer on board.  It’s nice to have food especially since you arrive late (after 11 pm).

But, when we do go to a restaurant, we really like 13 Coins as well.

4 hours ago, DonnyD-JJ said:

I have booked the Kenai Fjords Natinal Park tour for my Westerdam 2025 cruise and it also says Chicken Burrito

"One of Alaska's most popular wildlife and glacier cruises delivers abundant wildlife, mountains and tidewater glaciers.  Departing from Seward, this boat cruise glides past seals, whales, and puffins as you explore the rain forest coastline and tidewater glaciers and view remote Alaskan islands. Experienced and engaging captains narrate the trip, so you walk away knowing so much more about Kenai Fjords National Park and its wonders. A hot lunch is served with a southwest-style chicken burrito and tortilla chips."

 

I am thinking about checking into private Vendo also

 

Donna

Sounds like it might be Kenai Fjords Tours.  I’ve been on two of their tours—both times was served a chicken Cesar wrap/burrito.  Food wasn’t bad but the tours were still good.

I prefer Major Marine Tours though—just a better experience overall:  staff, Captain, food.  I’ve been on four tours with them—food is a deli sandwich, chips, fruit with freshly baked cookies on the way back to port.  Their boats are about the same size as Kenai Tours so if you want a small group tour you might try Seward Ocean Adventures (https://sewardoceanexcursions.com/).  Their boats hold six passengers.  Great tour and company!

1 hour ago, MtnSeaGirl said:

We have not decided yet.  Considering The Windsong.  

We’ve stayed at the Windsong before.  A bit out of town and inconvenient if you don’t have a car.  They do have a free shuttle into Seward as well as a paid shuttle to Exit Glacier (I think it was $20 pp?).  The on site restaurant was pretty good and the staff was excellent.

Overall we really liked the hotel—try to get one of the rooms with a balcony.  Nice to just sit on it and relax with a glass of wine!  

You might find this website helpful:  https://www.aleutians.org/tours

We’re going on a driving tour during our port stop this June.

5 minutes ago, SirTomster said:

 

We are doing almost this. We are renting a car and driving to Seward for 2 nights.  Doing the Kenai Fjords cruise and then back to Anchorage for a ride to Whittier.

 

But the cruise ship will be the HAL Noordam.

 

I have heard so many good things about Kenai Fjords.   

 

Recommend Princess too for Glacier Bay.   

Nice!  A Kenai Fjord cruise is always a must for us when we’re in Seward.  Going on one in June.

We’re on the Noordam a few times this summer.  We like to take the northbound to Whittier and then catch a southbound after some DIY activities.

Enjoy your summer!

Fly in a couple of days early, take the train to Seward, go on a Kenai Fjord wildlife cruise, take the train back to Anchorage (if you have time stay one night in Seward), and then depart from Whittier on a Princess cruise.  Princess goes to Glacier Bay and has a better Alaskan enrichment program onboard.

You can also book a transfer from someone other than Princess.  I’ve used Alaska Cruise Transfer (the Big Bus) a few times.  They’ll pick you up at port and take you directly to the airport.  You can also book tours with them that will stop at the Alaska Wildlife Center, Girdwood, and/or other spots.  Generally cheaper than a Princess transfer…

https://alaskacruisetransfer.com/

There are lots of wildlife/glacier tours out of Whittier—we like the shorter Glacier Discovery cruise from Phillips.  Lazy Otter Charters has a number of wildlife cruises as well as guided kayak tours.

Do you like to hike?  You can hike the Portage Trail (trailhead is close to the port).  Kayak?  Jet ski?  
 

We’ve done the back to back a number of times and have always found something to do in Whittier.  Last year we kayaked and took a wildlife cruise.  This year we’re hiking.  And, we always eat at Swiftwater Seafood Cafe.  Great fresh seafood!

1 hour ago, MtnSeaGirl said:

Loving all this advice!  So, another question:  Denali - Natural History Tour or Tundra Wilderness Tour?  I think I have heard Tundra Wilderness is the way to go????

The longer and further you go into the park, the greater the possibility of seeing wildlife!

Yes, try to get on the Tundra Wilderness—there are rest stops about every 90 minutes, narration, snack box (but you can bring a lunch), monitors on board for wildlife viewing (driver will use a scope and show it to the bus).  

On 4/25/2024 at 11:42 PM, donaldsc said:

 

I doubt that it is going to be so cold that you need the chemical hand warmers.  If you get cold hands just take a pair of gloves.  I am sure that you have checked the long range weather forecasts for the posts you will be visiting at least once,  If not there are many good sites that have long range forecasts.

 

DON

I still bring hand (and foot) warmers on every Alaskan trip!  I recently bought rechargeable hand warmers that I will be bringing instead.

And, yes I bring gloves but I’ve found putting those foot warmers in my shoes and using hand warmers allows me to stay out on deck longer on glacier viewing days!

(I embarrass my family when I use had warmers—born and raised in the Colorado Rockies!  But have lived snow free for many years in California.)

1 hour ago, MtnSeaGirl said:

So, the Kenai Fjord Tours. I have read some reviews ( not on this site ) that the water can get rather rough considering the much smaller boat and many get sick that are not normally sick on cruise ships . Yet, I really am intritgued by the longer tour with Fox Island. Anyone have experience on this tour?  Looking at June.  As always, weather can occur at any time.  

My recommendation is to take Major Marine’s 8.5 hour Northwestern Fjord Tour.  The longer you are on the water = more wildlife sightings!  And the scenery is fantastic—fjords, glaciers!  Yes, it can be a bit choppy—I experienced that as well as one where the seas were very calm!

I have actually stayed a few nights on Fox Island.  Had friends who were on the Fox Island Dinner/Cruise combo with Kenai Fjords Tours so we walked over to meet them during dinner.  Not impressed—it’s a buffet.  Food was meh.  After dinner, folks then just hung around the gift store and the pier until it was time to leave.  You do not have much access to Fox Island.  There’s a “gate” (a rope between two wood posts) and staff stops people from going to the lodge/beach.

40 minutes ago, lidodeck03 said:

Thank you! That was one that we had thought about trying!

I hope you do try it!  It's pretty good!  Hubby loves getting an appetizer portion of the cheese wheel pasta.  There's a pretty good bar menu as well.

Enjoy.

Our favorite restaurant in Little Italy is Bencotto:  https://www.lovebencotto.com/

It's just a 15-20 minute walk from the cruise port.

2 hours ago, MtnSeaGirl said:

Green eyed jealous...I mean genuniely happy for you.  Talk about memory making!  Jusy looking at some of the DIY, I have become increasingly convinced this will not be a one and done trip for us (God willing).  I do admit, I also want to spend some time in the coming years on cruises in Greece, Italy, Spain,  Land trip to Ireland/Scotland.  Would love to see Austria as well.  I wish I had not spent the number of cruises in the Carib but they seemed good at the time...and still do...just wish I had been a little wiser.  Thinking about cancelling our 8 day in the Carib next March and utilizing that $ for one of my other bucket list trips.  

Living on the West Coast, Alaska is like our Caribbean!  Easy to get to!  And, never gets old.

I teach at a university so am limited to when I have time off.  Getting close to retirement so most of my professional duties are being picked up by new non-tenured faculty!  Starting to cruise more further afield —next summer is Northern Europe in addition to Alaska.

Alaska is huge and so diverse—one can and does spend years exploring and experiencing the state!

Salmon Berry Tours has a number of tours out of Anchorage if you don’t want to rent a car.  We have taken the Matanuska Glacier Trek and the Hatch Pass/Independence Mine tour from them.  I highly recommend this company.

https://www.salmonberrytours.com/alaska-tours/summer-tours/

I’ve been on many Alaskan cruises (Disney, NCL, Princess and HAL) and land trips over the past ten years.  Our favorite cruise lines for Alaska are Princess and HAL.  I think their enrichment programs are much better than other cruise lines.  Here’s a link to HAL’s 2024 Alaskan Experience:  https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/news/2024/April/news-041724-holland-america-line-set-to-debut-new-glacier-day-alaska-experiences.  This should give you an idea of what HAL offers; Princess offers similar programs.

If you can spare the time, I would look into a DIY trip in Alaska.  Take a northbound or southbound cruise.  As mentioned earlier by Coral, focusing on the Kenai peninsula would be a great option.  Seward is wonderful and there are a lot of things to experience.  I think a rental car is a must if you’re heading to Denali for a DIY but you can get by without a car in Seward.  

This summer we’re spending 11 weeks in Alaska—8 weeks cruising and 3 weeks of DIY land trips in Alaska/Yukon.  Cruising only on HAL and Princess.  Our Alaskan obsession started with a 7 day cruise!

Enjoy your planning.  You have plenty of time to research and see what’s important to you and yours.  For us, on our first trip to Alaska in 2012, it was sled dogs (our girls were 8 and 10! 🤣).

Yes, we’ve started to book more cruises with HAL based on their package.  Booking HIA Early Bonus gives us upgraded drink package, WiFi, crew gratuities, shore excursion credits (varies based on cruise length) and specialty dining.  Add to that, we also get loyalty OBC, shareholders OBC, AARP OBC and Educator OBC.  Compare that to the Plus /Premier package on Princess.  Don’t want or need the desserts, exercise classes or the casual dining meals.  Also didn’t like that Princess didn’t grandfather in those of us who had already purchased a package prior to the roll out of the new and improved Princess Plus.

We love Princess (elite) and will continue to sail with them, but we’ve found better values with HAL.

This is what showed up in my cruise personalizer this morning!

Uh, thanks?

I also prefer Totem Bight park.  If you are docked in downtown Ketchikan, it’s easy to catch the city bus.  It’s been a couple of years since I’ve done it, but I do believe it was $2 pp each way.  Go out first thing to visit the park before the tour buses arrive!  Much nicer!

11 hours ago, Shippy said:

I think my original point has been lost.

I was trying to stress how wonderful the offers have become....

I completely agree!  I’m a casual gambler (budget $250/cruise) and have gotten some great offers recently —booked Panama Canal and Hawaiian cruises for 2025.  
 

Of course, as my hubby (who has NEVER gambled) likes to point out these cruises are not free!  We upgrade room categories (OV to veranda) and add HIA.  Still, it’s nice to save a few dollars!

Not sure what vendor Celebrity uses but I highly recommend the Northwestern Kenai Fjord tour.  I’ve been a couple of times with Major Marine.  It is a fantastic cruise—wildlife (whales, orcas, dolphins, puffins, seals), glacier viewing and fjords.   Personally feel that the longer you are out on the water, the more opportunities for wildlife sightings.  The ships are comfortable—you will have an assigned inside seat for warmth and lunch.  Lunches are good but the main attraction is Kenai Fjords!  You’ll get up close to glaciers and perhaps see some calving.  It is a long tour but it doesn’t feel like 9 hours and it is very different than the glacier viewing on board your large cruise ship.

Here’s a link to the cruise I’ve taken:  https://majormarine.com/tour/8-5-hour-northwestern-fjord-cruise/

Kenai Fjords Tours is another recommended vendor—they were good but I like Major Marine more.  https://www.alaskacollection.com/day-tours/kenai-fjords-tours/northwestern-fjord-tour/

1 hour ago, TRLD said:

Of course the land portion of your cruise tour was in Canada not in Alaska. Totally different situation.

😐

I’m guessing you didn’t read/process my post.  I talked about Alaskan land tours (actually in Alaska interior) and why we won’t go on them.  

Have nice day

We did an Alaskan cruise tour last summer (our first) and it was fabulous!  It was the Heart of the Rockies--all land accommodations were in Fairmont Hotels (Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, Vancouver).  Some hotels were more posh than others but we loved the first class accommodations on the tour.  There were only about 26 folks on the land portion part--dedicated bus and tour guide--and we never traveled more by two hours by bus without a stop.  Ended the land portion by taking the Rocky Mountaineer to Vancouver and then boarded the Majestic for a northbound cruise (we did a B2B).  Only complaint we had (and it was minor) is that the only train accommodation available was Silver Leaf. (This year's tour includes the option for Gold Leaf service.)

So my point is that all Alaskan cruise tours (or any Princess cruise tour) are not the same--one needs to the research to see what is included and if it works with your group.  I think it is a mistake that many make--not researching what is included/not included in the cruise tour portion.  That is why a number of folks encourage asking questions on this site and TripAdvisor.  We have not and will not take a cruise tour in Alaska (Denali, McKinley,etc) just because we know we would not enjoy the bus portions nor the stay at the lodges.  Princess does a nice job of posting what to expect at each transfer. As soon as we read that there was a ten-hour bus trip from the Kenali Wilderness Lodge to Copper River, we were done. We have done a number of DIY tours in the interior of the state which is our preferred method of traveling.  We are back this year again but on a 10-day DIY visit (rental car, train).