CleverEuphemism

12 hours ago, erdoran said:

You were on one of the last cruises for quite some time.  Treasure your memories, who knows what future cruising will be like....glad you enjoyed!

Definitely, we were very fortunate to be able to go and complete our trip.  We picked this date by chance--when we booked long ago, it happened to be less expensive by a few hundred dollars or so.  Had we picked next week it would have been a different story.  I feel for all those who were not so fortunate.

The Corona Effect:

So I am sure some of you are probably wondering about the effect of the top topic of the day.  

Check in was...interesting.  I had read that check in was normally a breeze.  Yeah, not this week. They took our temperature, no problem, we breezed through.  Then we filled out a health form. All sharing pens, mind you. No problem. Then all of the passengers got in a huge line.  We got there around 2 pm and waited in line for 2 hours to board. We did not use our passports, just our driver licenses so there was no history for them to check.  I’m not sure what the delay was but it was ridiculous. They did not ask me any health or travel questions when I got up there besides what was on my travel form.  

Once we were on the ship, hand sanitizer and washy-washy sprayers were everywhere.  This is fine, I understand it is for our own protection. I also noticed bathroom doors were propped open.  

We left Wed before the cruise, and it was interesting to see the change in the week and half--the timing was amazing.  I saw the great TP panic of 2020 unfold on Facebook before my eyes. Around Tues or Wed the Captain came on and said they were going to enhanced sanitation procedures (I assume it is called Defcon 5 Washy Washy in the NCL Handbook) out of an “abundance of caution.”  They roped off the drink stations, you could no longer get your own coffee or water and plates and silverware were handed to you. No self serve at the buffet for anything. Menus at the MDR were on a piece of paper that was thrown away after you read them. It was fine with us, I know they were trying to protect us and the staff so we rolled with it.  I did not want to end up like the Princess ship. We did not see anyone ill, although we were two hours late docking in Kauai due to having to make an emergency stop in the middle of the night to disembark a very ill passenger in Honolulu. No word on why or what that passenger’s fate was. I hope she/he was okay.  

Final Thoughts:  I don’t mean to sound harsh, we had a great time on the cruise, I think this is an amazing way to see Hawaii, especially for the first time.  We packed so much into a week and still got to relax at night. And to do it all in a week and not have to waste time sailing back and forth from Seattle or LA is great.  I think I had high expectations because I was excited to sail NCL and thought they were so tailored to a younger crowd. I think I will give the Jade or Pearl a try, we do enjoy mid-size ships and I know the Pride is a little different than most ships.  

That about sums it up, I think--any questions, please feel free to ask!

Pride of America/NCL General Thoughts

This was my first cruise with NCL, I have cruised with Royal Carribean and Holland America previously.  I have to say, I was quite excited to try NCL, I like cruising and thought this would be my future cruise line.  The commercials make it seem young and hip (as young and hip as cruising can be, ha ha).  

First, the bad--my biggest disappointment was with the food.  I get the feeling NCL is really pushing the specialty restaurants.  The MDR food was not great, and I am not expecting that much--just Olive Garden level quality.  There was no shrimp cocktail--at all. Not once. None of the dishes had shrimp (my favorite, which is why I noticed).  For some reason, all the fish options were ruby trout--did NCL buy a ruby trout farm? No mahi mahi? Hardly anything Hawaiian inspired on the menu either.  We ate the buffet most mornings and that was pretty good, no complaints there. And East Meets West was good. We did not get to the Cadillac Diner, I wish we had.  

Second, the tv channels--terrible selection!  Holland American had a nice on demand section and quite a few channels.  In this day and age what NCL is offering is just not acceptable. We should at least get a hotel level of channel selection.  People need to relax at night/while getting ready and all we could watch is bridge cam of the industrial port or CORONA VIRUS CORONA VIRUS CORONA VIRUS on the news channels.  Or the Stars Wars movie they were playing for the hundredth time.  

Finally, I found the layout of the ship confusing.  We ate in the Skyline for three nights until I finally found the fancy dining room.  My husband was getting annoyed with me, he kept hissing at me, “Why am I in pants and a polo that guy is in shorts and flip flops!”  Then we asked (I know, I should have asked earlier!) and it was explained to us about the two dining rooms. But the elevators where only one side goes to deck 3, the dining room where you can only access via one elevator at the back of the ship, it is just really confusing.  We finally got the hang of it but then it was time to leave! Isn’t that how it always is.

The good--I thought the staff were great--we met some amazing people and they work their tails off to ensure you have a great time.  I also really enjoyed the drink package--this was the first cruise we had one and it was nice not having to worry about getting another lava flow.  I know it wasn’t “free” but i liked having to not worry about it. Wifi was pretty good, we got a free 100 minutes but since were in port so much we only used it at night when we were out at sea.  

DAY TWO MAUI: We kept this as a low key beach day.  We went to Kaanapali beach. Tried to park in Sheraton’s free spots, no luck, ended up paying at Whaler’s Village.  Had a relaxing day on the beach. Afterwards went back to the ship to relax and watch sail away.  

DAY THREE: HILO: Here we booked a tour with Rob K via ToursbyLocals.  (Thanks to Beachiekeen for the recommendation). We loved it so much, it was so much better than getting on those huge tour busses.  He picked us up right from the pier in a Mercedes van and drink and snacks were included. We saw Volcano National Park and lots of other sights.  It was really great. And more economical than the ship tours. I will definitely be using ToursbyLocals again. While we really loved Rob, I am sure there are great options in lots of ports, I would definitely recommend checking them out--you can read reviews to ensure you are getting a good guide.

DAY FOUR: KONA: Rob was so kind to gave us a recommendation of an activity for this day as we did not have much planned.  We went to a National Park and saw sea turtles. We also walked around Kona and ate at Holy Donuts.  Tendering was kind of a mess getting off the ship--we got in line at 7:20 (tickets were not required until 7:45) and had to wait about 30 minutes.  Maybe this is normal but it was hot as heck and not a pleasant experience.  We got back on before noon with no problems.  I really enjoyed Hilo's weather and wished we could have spent more time there.

DAY FIVE: KAUAI:  Another ToursbyLocals with Noah this time.  He was excellent as well, driving us to several almost private lookout spots at Waimea Canyon.  Finally he said, now this spot is usually the only spot the tour buses stop at--and when we pulled in, holy cow, there were a million people there.  Made it so worthwhile to book with him. He even played a ukulele while we walked and told us historical Hawaiian storied while we drove.  I would really encourage your to consider it as an option--once again, we were picked up right at the pier and dropped off with plenty of time.  We could also skip things that did not interest us and add things that did--we picked our lunch place, a cool little microbrewery, and saw a little chocolate shop across the street and stopped over there for a quick treat on a whim.

DAY SIX: KAUAI:  We did the Kauai river tubing--amazing, awesome, loved it.   Thanks to those on the board who recommended it.  

DAY SEVEN: DISEMBARK:  Got off at 9 am with no problems. 

I’ll do a review of each port then of POA and NCL overall because that is how my mind works.  For background info, we are forty something experienced travelers, traveling in a small group.

Flight out--EWR to HNL

Not much worth noting except just sharing that United has nonstop service from Newark to HNL.  A nice alternative to Hawaiian, especially if you have status with United.

We stayed at the Sheraton for a few days pre cruise, we had an ocean view room which was great, we enjoyed the infinity pool.  We mainly booked the Sheraton for the pool and view, we also received a daily credit which sounded great until we got there and learned it could only be used at like three places.  It was fine, we spent it on mai tais, the location of the Sheraton is great, right next to the Royal Hawaiian. Also had dinner at House without a Key, spendy but worth it for a big trip like this.

We used Johnny Cab for all our transfers based on the board’s recommendation.  Everything went smoothly. For some reason they did not pick us up from the cruise terminal to take us to the airport, but sent another company who called us to let us know and met us there promptly and knew my name so it was not a big deal.  I figured they got held up or something but it was a little weird.  

DAY ONE MAUI--we rented a car from Avis at the Airport.  Got off the ship, and wandered around a little confused about what line to get in for the shuttle--nothing was marked--until we asked and were told by the security guard to wait in line 7.  We saw several people turned away who did not rent from Avis (and the other company who provides the shuttle, I can’t remember who) so make sure you double check). They said they would check for either a rental agreement or car keys to get on the shuttle but didn’t always.  Driver was helpful and told us the best roads to take and when last shuttles back to ship were.  

We got our car with no problems and were off to Lahaina.  After viewing the banyan tree and wandering around for a bit, we had a whale watch with Captain Steve.  We enjoyed it, although we didn’t see a lot of whales. I think they were a little quiet that day from what the guide and captain were saying, but we did see some whales and babies and the scenery was beautiful.  Still very enjoyable and loved the smaller boat.

Next, we went and saw the sun set on Haleakala.  This was amazing, I don’t know why more people don’t do it.  We stopped for shaved ice first at Ululani’s, which in hindsight set us back and we barely made the sunset with minutes to spare.  But still worth it. We missed the last shuttle and had to take a dodgy cab back to the ship for about $15.  

Great review and pictures, thank you for sharing!   We will be on the POA in early March and I have started packing this weekend. 

Two questions for you: I know the dress code for this cruise is more relaxed, but am I correct in assuming that for the main dining room, polo shirts and khaki pants are acceptable but jeans and/or nice khaki shorts (not cargos) are not?  (For our first cruise on RCI I made my husband wear a jacket and tie to the main dining room because I thought he had to and he was not happy!) Whoops.  Also, how close to sailing did you bid for your cabin upgrade?  We never received any offer to bid but we are first time NCL customers so perhaps that is why.

We are in the northern Philly suburbs and are flying out of Newark, NJ (ugh, I know), but just wanted to let you know United has a non stop flight to Honolulu from Newark that you may want to check out if you travel to Hawaii again.  It's about 9 hours there and 11 hours back--long but much better than one with connections.  

Just wanted to say thank you for a great informative review!  I really enjoyed your pictures.  We are traveling in March on POA with a group of five and all the information was really helpful. 

I wanted to ask, since you enjoyed your smaller private tours with Mauka Makai, did you consider them for other ports?  I hate the big tours too, but it is a lot of work to keep renting minivans at each port and having someone drive the whole time (which will either be me or my husband).  

On 10/3/2019 at 10:48 PM, Silver Sweethearts said:

 

Don't know exactly how close you mean when you say "relaxing near the ship", but do know that there isn't anything to do in Kahului.  You have to get away from that area to find visitor activities.

Thank you, that is good to know--I think we will be renting a car and going with Captain Steve's.  I appreciate the advice!

9 hours ago, Silver Sweethearts said:

There are no tour boats at Kahului Harbor.  Whale-watching tours run out of Ma'alaea and Lahaina.  Google Ma'alaea Harbor to find out all of your options and pretty much answer all of your questions, as it is too much to go into here.  Whale-watching is big business on Maui, and excursions out of Ma'alaea are not something that is done because it "is just on the way to the snorkel location".  

 

That was specific to the Pride of Maui, I had read in several reviews on Tripadvisor that their whale watch/snorkel excursion was focused more on the snorkeling aspect.

Thank you all for the feedback.  Perhaps we will rent a car, as we have an overnight in Maui.  It seems like Lahaina is where a lot of the action is at so I guess we would end up there anyway.  I had hoped to split up the days, one more relaxing near the ship with just whale watching and one with more active exploring but we will go with the flow.  I'll keep researching.

We will be on Pride of America in early March, docking in Kahului and would like to do a whale watching excursion, hopefully based in Kahului.  I have searched the boards and most of the whale watching operators recommended on here such as Captain Steve's or Trilogy leave from Lahaina, which Google tells me is about an hour away from where the ship will be.  I am not sure if we will rent a car, and even if we do I don't know if we want to drive two hours for the excursion.  It seems there is a bus as an option but that worries me if it is crowded and no room, frequency of bus to return, etc.   Do any of these places offer pick up for cruise passengers?  Or is the really good whale watching out of Lahaina and we just need to accept it (and the ride out there)?

I did find Pride of Maui tour operators that leave out of Maalea, which is 30 minutes away and they offer pick up for $30, but their whale watching excursion combines with snorkeling and reviews seem to indicate the whale watching is just on the way to the snorkel location.  I would prefer a smaller boat than a huge tour but we are open to suggestions.

We are doing the 11 day land/cruise on Westerdam in a couple weeks. We looked into the meal plan for the land portion. $559 for 2 people included 2 dinners, 2 lunches and 3 breakfasts. Seemed a little high to me as neither of us eats a big breakfast ever

Sorry, I just saw this and wanted to reply--that comes out to about $39 a meal and I think gratuities are included. Which actually is not that bad of a value, the breakfast buffets are about $20-25 per person if I remember correctly. For dinners I believe the meal plan includes an appetizer, entree and dessert of your choice. If you eat at the steakhouse and get an appetizer, steak entree, and dessert, you can easily creep towards $75 to $100 per person including gratuity. Now, if you don't order that much food on vacation this is obviously not a good value for you. But if you do like indulge then I wanted people to look into these an option because it provides the sort of all inclusive feel you get with cruise. Most of the time, in Seward and Denali especially, there are not many meal options so you are captive at the hotel without many meal options.

Like everything else, it may not be a good fit for all, people will have to look into and determine this on their own.

Thank you for the info! We are going on the Double Denali tour Sept 6th. Can you tell me if there were many electrical outlets in the cabin? Do they furnish hair dryers in the cabin, or can you request one from your room steward?

If you mean the ship cabin, no. The only outlets in our inside cabin were two--as in for two plugs, not a set of two outlets for four plug--in by the mirror/desk and the enigmatic shaver outlet above the bathroom mirror that fits nothing but a an electric shaver--who uses those anyway? There were other international plug options, so I guess if you had converters you could make that work.

There is a hair dryer, ours was in an angled side cabinet of the desk in the cabin in a little cloth bag, not in the bathroom. I did not use it (brought my own min travel dryer as I have long hair I straighten, it's a Revlon, love it) but another person in group used it and liked it. All of the hotel rooms had travel dryers, so if you are not picky about your hair dryer you don't have to bring one.

We are doing a similar package starting July 19 in Fairbanks and I am really having a hard time finding info about the land portion, so here goes...

1. What do you suggest doing in Fairbanks? We arrive late on 7/19 and will have until the coach leaves at 9:30 am on 7/21.

2. Once we get to Denali at 1:00, are there things to see/do on our own, or do you suggest booking an excursion?

3. How does one get more info about land dining packages? This is the first I've heard of those?

4. Can you tell more about the coach from Denali to Seward? Is is scenic, exhausting, food choices, etc.

(We kind of booked this on the spur-of-the-moment, and now I am realizing how little I know about what we signed up for!!!)

1) We did the Alaska Pipeline Visitor Center--you get something similar as part of your dredge tour, skip it. I really enjoyed the Ice Museum, it's in downtown Fairbanks, it is cheesy but it is really fun and great picture taking opportunities. Going down the ice slide is once in a lifetime opportunity. Takes about 90 minutes. Fairbanks Auto Museum is air-conditioned and fun if you like antique cars, we spent about two hours there. We stopped by the Antler Arch for pictures, walked around the town square, tried to adjust to the jet lag. I wanted to do the Reindeer Ranch, but it is expensive and a little out of town, so we had to skip it this time, but it looked really fun.

2) This will be a big free day for you, definitely plan to do an excursion or explore the park. They run shuttle buses to the Park every 30 minutes, so you can hop on a shuttle and go to the park for a quick hike, explore the visitor center, catch the shuttle bus to Eilson, etc. Or book an excursion. You will only had ridden a bus for two hours that day so you won't be tired. The next day you will be up an ungodly hour for your TWT (ours left at 6 am) and while you may be back at 1 or 2 pm, you probably won't want to go hiking. We did hiking on day one (horseshoe loop trail) and a little more hiking on day two plus the Husky Homestead tour. There is a free dog sled demo at the park at 2 pm, I believe. Not as detailed as the husky homestead and no puppy holding but it's free.

3) You can call HAL or chat with them online. I saw it on their web page. They seem expensive but we spent quite a bit on food. My husband also really likes steak, dessert, and breakfast buffets on vacation, so that doesn't help keep costs down! I can't begrudge him, we work hard all year and it is our chance to unwind. I know the plans aren't for everyone but they would have been a good value for us, that is why I think more people should at least look into them.

4) From Denali you take the train to Anchorage. It is really nice, you have an assigned seat which is comfortable and spacious, they will bring you drinks and light snacks and there is breakfast and lunch served in the dining car below. There is a bathroom on the train as well as an outside viewing platform for fresh air and pictures. It is about eight hours and very scenic. You stay over in Anchorage and drive to Seward the next day via bus, it is about two and half hours. Then you get to Seward right before dinner time and stay in the Windsong Lodge.

You will have a great time!

I am so glad I found your post!! We are booked for the HAL Triple Denali cruise tour starting in Fairbanks on August 21 and I have a bunch of questions. The HAL website is abysmal so finding details is quite a challenge. I have so many questions, but I will start with this one...

 

We have purchased a 2 night specialty dining package, however we want to make sure we don't book them on a Gala Night. Which night(s) were the Gala Nights on your cruise? Did you eat in the MDR on the Gala Nights, and if so, did they serve any lobster? Just want to make sure we don't miss out!! :D:D

 

Looking forward to reading more about your experiences!

 

Linda & Ron

San Diego, CA

We ate in the MDR every night, the Gala nights were the 2nd and the 2nd to last night, I believe. One of the Gala nights was a port day which surprised me. They only had filet and lobster on the second gala night. The first gala night had no lobster, menu seemed rather ordinary to me.

Also, do not order the add on crab trio--they really push it, you get crab bisque, crab legs, and crab cakes for $24 in the MDR. We ordered it one night to share and it was gross. I have sent back food probably less than five times in my entire life and this was one of them. The maitre d' apologized said they cooked the crab legs in fish stock. They smelled really off. They took it off our bill but it was disappointing. It also came at the end of our meal, after we finished our entrees.

Otherwise dinner service was fine, we ate in a group of five most nights and were seated together with no reservations and no wait.

We just returned from a cruisetour with HAL and the land was my favorite part. I would recommend getting on land if you can to see Denali and maybe Anchorage. Seeing the wildlife and Denali/Mt McKinley in person is amazing. Alaska RR offers land tours that may be of interest and go right to Denali.

My running joke from the Riverboat Discovery Tour is the pitch for canned salmon during the last 30 minutes of the experience. Randomly I tell my DW or DD about needing canned salmon incase guests stop by. I think I have twenty or thirty more years left on that joke.

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Also, a few other things:

Also, I mentioned this in another thread, but we spent a fortune on food. I would recommend looking into a dining plan, unless you typically eat a light breakfast/dinner. You often leave very early in the mornings, so running out to McDonald's isn't an option. The breakfast buffets at the Westmarks are about $25 per person after tax/tip/coffee, and you can easily spend $75 on a three course dinner. There often was not time at the end of long day to go offsite, and most of the meals we had on site were great. So if you enjoy hearty eating on vacation and don't think you will go offsite exploring I would suggest you look into the cost and compare it to menu prices to see if it's a good fit. If you are a bagel and coffee in the AM person, most of the hotels had a coffee shop where you could get a light breakfast for less money.

I would also suggest prepacking to send a luggage item ahead to the ship. I used packing cubes and did a suitcase for my husband and me, so we did not do that, but it would have been easier had I planned for that. Also, your luggage gets really beat up on this trip with all the moving, the equivalent of probably a dozen flights. Something to keep in mind if you have an old suitcase that is barely hanging on or if you have a brand new $$$ piece of luggage. It will be scratched, dented, dirtied, etc.

Thanks for a great report. We are doing a similar tour in August that begins in Skagway (Skagway, Whitehorse, Dawson City) that eventually continues to Fairbanks, Denali and Anchorage. The part about the option of sending ahead a bag to the ship sounds great, to lighten our load for the long land tour. The thing that I question is where on our tour this option might be available? We sail Volendam from Vancouver to Skagway first, do the land tour, and then return to Vancouver (from Seward) on Westerdam. It would be great to not have to lug an extra bag between cruises during the land portion.

 

On the day we go from Fairbanks to Denali we are considering leaving the tour (bus) and instead taking the Alaska Railroad. Do you think missing the tours and bus ride on this part of the trip would be worth missing in favor of taking the train? We would of course do so with the express understanding that we are responsible to get ourselves to the hotel in Denali, where we would then rejoin the group.

It is usually in the beginning, after the first night. You get different tags in your packet (and more are available at the front desk) that say "join me tonight" or "join me on the ship." And then you place that and the location tag with you info (name/booking number/etc) filled out. We also added our ship tags in clear luggage tags. So I would say after your first night on land (or it may be when you leave the ship if you do land second).

If you can take the railroad, do it! It was a great experience, on of my favorites of the whole trip.

Seward: Off to Seward via bus, with a rest stop at Portage Glacier. Again, a crappy rest stop at Portage Glacier Cafe. Two bathroom stalls in the women's bathroom (which was carpeted and smelled like pee). And there blah soup and sandwiches and some snack items for purchase (and good ice cream). Multiple tour buses stopped here at once, and the bathroom line was ridiculous. They tried to offer port-a-potties to the women that were out back. I was like, you have got to be kidding. There have to be better options than that place or it needs to make some improvements if it keeps getting all the HAL/Princess business. They had four coaches come and drop some serious $ in there in the space of 30 minutes. Anyway, on to Seward, a very scenic drive, otherwise enjoyable with beautiful scenery. Seward lodge was really nice, spread out buildings named after flowers and a coffee shop in the main lodge with a restaurant on site with a beautiful view. The restaurant (Resurrection Roadhouse, I believe) was great. Excellent food with great views, we had dinner and buffet breakfast there. We took the Kenai Fjords tour with dinner at Fox Island. In hindsight I would have rather just took a shorter tour without fox island, we got on the ship late and the dinner at fox island wasn't that great. There wasn't any time to go to our room prior to the muster drill. The rest of the Kenai Fjords tour was nice, we saw lots of animals and the scenery was beautiful.

Summary: Overall I really enjoyed the land portion, more than the cruise and I am so glad we did it. We saw so much more of Alaska than you do with the cruise. HAL runs a tight ship, we always knew where were going, where we had to be and when. The HAL reps are saints for what they deal with. For example, we caught a ride back from dropping off our rental car on a bus full of people who just arrived to the Fairbanks airport, and the HAL rep on the bus said, "If you want to do so, you can send a piece of luggage straight to the ship with the send me to the ship tag." A hand shot up on the bus and a woman said, "Do we have to do that?" The HAL rep said no, you do not, and the voice replied, "Oh good, I would only have one outfit" with a laugh. Now the rep clearly said "if you want to" and I am sure this woman just wanted to make her not so clever joke in front of everyone, but jeez, people have been on planes for 12 hours and just want to get to the hotel, so stop it with the stupid questions. We saw this ignoramus behavior often, you just have to laugh and move on but I feel so bad for these poor HAL reps that have to deal with it all summer.

Also, be prepared for tipping--everyone asks for tips, bus drivers, people who give tours at attractions, guides, etc. At first we didn't have enough small bills but we got some change. The tour season is short and the people work hard but we were not prepared for bus drivers/ etc asking for gratuities. Especially for those coming from outside the US without a tipping culture, it can be unexpected. Once we understood the system we were happy to tip for good service.

We were also graced with beautiful weather, no rain at all during the land portion and the weather was quite warm, even in Fairbanks. Sunny and mid 60 degrees F. We could not have asked for better weather. No problems with mosquitoes, they must not have been out yet.

Will continue with cruise portion and post pictures in a bit.

Denali:

Up early and off to Denali via bus. Typically your luggage must be outside the door a few hours before you depart. We got used to it but it was tiring. I can see why people recommend the land before the cruise, I am glad we did it this way, the land is tiring with the all the packing and moving, but there is really not much choice in the matter. On our way to Denali we stopped at a little rest stop that really kind of sucked, not enough bathrooms and there were multiple buses there from Princess and Holland. There was a gift shop but not really any snack options--we opted for a Costco brand granola bar and a candy bar. I understand rest stop options are limited and I am all for supporting the local economy but HAL really needs to reevaluate their rest stops or ask the rest stops to improve facilities. We barely had time to use the restroom with the line and snag a snack before we had to get on the bus, I had no idea how people had time to shop to really support the owners of the rest stop. Drive was only a few hours.

Once arriving at Denali, the Princess Rep handed out packets with room keys and our itineraries and tickets if you booked an excursion (we did Husky Homestead). The Denali resort was nice but it is built on a huge hill and divided in two areas--uphill with rooms and main lodge and Canyon Steakhouse/Starbucks/Gift shop and downhill with Karsten's/the fire pits you see online and more rooms. It sort of divides the resort in half and we didn't even get to Karsten's until the end of our stay.

Our party had three rooms, one was in the newer building downhill, one was a nice new room, and we received a really crappy room. I mean, the worst Motel 6 on the Vegas strip would outshine this room. It had a full and twin bed with a squeaky, cheap mattress you could feel the springs, the room smelled musty, and the fan in the bathroom sounded like a jet taking off. My husband was beyond annoyed and stormed off to the main desk, where they did move us, to a room with the same layout/squeaky beds but it didn't smell and the fan was quieter. They gave us $100 Denali dollars (after first offering $50) to make up for it. It was nice but we would have rather just had a nice room. It was only for two days so whatever, we moved on and didn't let it bother us, but we found out later another couple in our group that had a Neptune suite had the same room type! So obviously rooms are randomly assigned. And that HAL still has this quality of room in the resort after spending all the money on Karstens and the fancy fire pits is disappointing.

TWT was great, we saw bears and moose and eagles and really enjoyed it, Matt was our driver. Just a warning, bathrooms are latrines at the rest stops, prepare yourselves. Consider it a taste of Alaska life. The Park Service must work hard to keep them clean. Husky Homestead excursion was great, we held the puppies and Jeff King is great story teller. We also went hiking for two short trips in Denali. There is a shuttle bus from the lodge every thirty minutes to the park. There is also a shuttle around the whole HAL resort and shuttle and walking path between Princess/HAL resorts. Besides the "Glitter Gulch" across the way, there is really nothing out there, so renting a car is not really needed, you can get shuttles to wherever you need.

Anchorage: We took the train to Anchorage, this was really fun and we got to see Denali/Mt. Mckinley! It came out in all its glory, I will post pics soon. We saw the whole range and were very fortunate to do so. The train served breakfast and lunch, we had cuban sandwiches that were good. You had an assigned train car (they are named) and seat and there was drink service to your seat, but you are allowed to get up and explore, go the viewing platforms at the end of the cars, etc.. We walked all the way to the caboose/last car (before the Princess people got on at Talkeetna from their resort) and it was a great view.

Anchorage Westmark was really nice, wifi was spotty but free. We had dinner at the Brewhouse across the street and enjoyed it, took a carriage ride around Anchorage and explored a little bit in the morning, did not have too much time here. The Brewhouse had a long wait, so if you want to eat there, call and make a reservation as soon as you arrive in Anchorage for that night. It is very popular and most people head over there.

We went on the D3L Land Tour with Holland America, traveling from Fairbanks to Denali to Anchorage to Seward, then sailing from Seward to Glacier Bay to Haines to Juneau to Ketchikan to Vancouver. I will try to sum up each stop and provide details about the land tour especially, since I know the cruises are typically well reviewed with lots of info. Any questions feel free to ask.

Fairbanks/Arrival:

We arrived a day early to explore. We stayed at the Westmark, booked the extra night on on our own and asked to link reservations so we didn't have to switch rooms and this was done with no problem, We rented a car to explore on our own, which is needed unless you want to stick to town. There is a HAL and Princess desk at the airport, they will normally bus you to the Westmark and give you your info packet. This contains your hotel keys, room assignment, tickets for excursions you may have booked, luggage tags, and itinerary. You have to place your luggage outside the hotel door every morning (like 6 am) and you have the option of sending a piece of luggage straight to the ship if you want. There is also a HAL desk in the Westmark that is staffed from 6 am to 11 pm to handle questions. They were helpful when we asked about shuttles.

We went to the car museum (great, thanks for recommendation Don in SC), Alaska Pipeline display (nice but you get something very similar at the Gold Dredge tour so not a necessary stop) and the Ice Museum in downtown Fairbanks (cheesy but lots of fun). We also explored downtown Fairbanks a bit. We gave up a day in Denali to go to Fairbanks by choosing this tour and I was happy with the choice, I really loved Fairbanks, it was a cool town and I'm glad I got to experience it. We had dinner at the Pump House (good food but a little pricey). The next day, we did the Riverboat Discovery Tour and the Gold Dredge. I much preferred the Gold Dredge, I liked the history of it and thought the Riverboat was a little cheesy and the lunch there kind of sucked. There was not enough food and the servers did not refill the serving dishes or drink pitchers very fast when something ran out. But we enjoyed the boat ride and visit to native village on the riverboat. HAL takes you everywhere via tour bus. And you know when you are getting picked up, etc.

The Westmark Fairbanks was nice, wifi was free and decent, there was a breakfast buffet every morning for about $20 but you could go out and explore other options on your own if you wanted. They move a lot of people through and it is efficient and fast. We did not eat dinner there but it seemed nice. One thing that was odd--we traveled with a small group and one party received a fancy Caribou suite, even though we all had inside cabins, which was a source of much joking about VIP treatment for that party, who seemed to be blessed with nice rooms for the rest of the trip. It seems the type of room you have on the ship does not dictate what you receive at the hotel--we saw this again at Denali.

Thanks- that is all super helpful! I just looked at the weather and saw that we will be getting rain. We expected some, but it looks like a lot of days, so I don’t know how that will affect things.

Still- adventure of a lifetime, right? If the hubs has any questions I may ask again. Thanks again!

dt

Aww, I hope it clears up but either way you will have a great time. The weather seems to change all the time there. I wore jeans and hoodies and my two light jackets (both waterproof North Face, one lined with fleece/one unlined) more than I thought I would, so pack some warmer clothes! I also wish I brought gloves and beanie hat, so I suggest you pack those. They take up no space and are nice to have.

We are doing the 11 day land/cruise on Westerdam in a couple weeks. We looked into the meal plan for the land portion. $559 for 2 people included 2 dinners, 2 lunches and 3 breakfasts. Seemed a little high to me as neither of us eats a big breakfast ever

I think it comes down to convenience and your eating style. All of the hotels have a buffet breakfast that will run you about $50 total for two people after tax, tip, coffee/juices, etc. I believe the dinners in the plan include an appetizer, entree and dessert, if you eat at the steakhouse in Denali, for example, that will easily run you about $75-$100 per person for a three course meal. Food in Alaska is expensive. Many of the hotels, like the ones in Denali and Seward, do not have many options within walking distance so unless you want a coffee and bagel from the coffee shop you are going to be spending quite a bit. Of course, if you are satisfied with a light breakfast and perhaps only order an entree at dinner then obviously a meal plan may not be the best option. But I would suggest for those who are considering it, look at menu prices via trip review photos/Google and meal plan options and see what works for you.

We did not purchase a plan because we thought we would eat outside the hotel more often, but you have to leave so early and after the day's excursion you are often tired it just didn't happen that much. Also in the middle of nowhere without a car there often are not a lot of options. It was fine and we enjoyed our meals but in hindsight I think we should have gotten the plan. I know many people discourage meal plans on the boards from my research, but perhaps because we are from PA and like to eat like piggies on vacation, I think it might not have been a bad deal for us.

Hi/

About to depart on D5 something- so glad to hear your details. Since you do kindly offered-questions!

-were there any reasonably priced options you found in Denali that you liked? We are definitely bringing some stuff from home- trail mix, power bats etc to supplement, is there anything else you’d recommend?

-I’m not quite getting if you did the train from Anchorage to Seward on sailing day or if your experience was different- but that’s what our itinerary has in store. It looks geographically possible to get to a store to buy some wine to take on the boat in Seward- will it be possible time wise if our train leaves Anchorage at 1:00pm?

-Any named entertainers on the ship?

- any ship secrets to share? Better breakfast here- that sort of thing.

THANK YOU

-dt

Denali: We did not venture over to "Glitter Gulch," aka the shops on the other side of the highway with cheaper options for food, but on the Denali resort there is a Starbucks with breakfast sandwiches (microwaved and kind of meh) and a buffet at Karstens that is around $20 per person that is good (eggs, pancakes, sausage, oatmeal, etc). At some buffets they had a continental only option (cereal oatmeal etc for a little less). I think the Canyon steakhouse has a sit down breakfast. That is all your dining options. You can venture over to Princess's lodge, we did not have time as we had an early departure for the TWT. We ate at the buffet and it was good, filled you up and we usually just had a snack in the afternoon to tide us over until dinner.

Train/Seward: We took the train from Denali to Anchorage (which was awesome, btw) and were bussed from Anchorage to Seward. Seward is very small town and the cruise port is a small warehouse so it should be walkable. The train takes about the same time or longer than the bus, so you will probably be getting there around 5 pm, right before departure. They will probably bus you right to the port. I would suggest getting booze in Anchorage if possible. It's big and very walkable.

Magician was James Cielen (he was pretty good for a cruise ship) and comedian was Mike Siegel (also pretty good). You can skip the Saturday show with the magician, he promotes it heavily during his show but he is just trying to sell a magic kit. He does do a few extra tricks but they are all in the magic kit he is trying to sell for $129.

Tips:

We usually got room service for breakfast via the hang tag on the door the night before or most mornings we went to the Lido. One thing about smaller ships is there are not a lot of food options. We found the MDR had the same food as the Lido but took forever (albeit with a more relaxed atmosphere). We enjoyed eating on the Lido pool deck, they have tables and silverware set up there for you take your plates from Lido out there, it is quieter and you have a nice view. Most nights we ate in the Main Dining Room, did not try the specialty restaurants but heard mixed reviews--rants and raves so who knows. Typically we ate lunch in the Lido on sea days because it had more options. There is a taco bar and burger bar on Deck 9 by the pool but it is only open until 5. Lido has coffee, tea, and water all day.

A few other things--if you like to party and mingle, we loved the mixology classes, beer tasting, and pub crawl. You get a lot of booze for the money, they are fun and all ages attend them. The bartender who hosts them, Michael, is really fun, too. The trivia games are fun, too. Pools are heated and fine to swim in right now.

We also thought the aft pool deck was a great place to view Glacier Bay. Everyone was crowded on the bow in the wind but there was lots of space on the aft pool deck (Deck 9), with access to shelter from wind, a bar, snacks from Lido and bathrooms. Also the gallery bar does not have a view but lots of comfy couches and is usually not very crowded. We liked the Ocean Bar as well (and of course Crow's Nest).

Thanks for quick answer... seems like I read either " ship rusting, service lacking, but great food or beautiful ship terrible food and service" so much on the different ships and lines kinda scares one in finding the overall best pick. I realize that you go to Alaska to SEE ALASKA but lines are similar in ports, land seems closely matched from what I read.

Thank You again,

Wayne

Glad to help. We had a great time, the food wasn't wonderful on the ship (except for gala nights and dinners in the main dining room were good) but we did not go hungry by any means. We noticed a few odd smells here and there on the ship, but it was perfectly fine and we did not let small things ruin the trip for us. HAL runs a tight ship on the land portion, as does Princess, you will be in good hands with them. I would focus on what you want out of the land portion, and if you like to eat, consider a dining plan.