smokesmom

Saturday,June 17, 2017

Bags were out by 7:15. Decided to go over to the main lobby at 8:00 to get coffee and relax until 8:45 when the busses should arrive to go to the Train Depot. Extremely busy this morning. Then a young man comes in at 8:15 holding a sign saying “Bus to RR Depot.” Since my husband was still in line for coffee, I asked if more busses were coming since our paperwork said 8:45. He assured me more would arrive.There were 4 busses in total. As we drove over, a bull moose ran across the road. I was not quick enough to get a picture. He was very large.

We were assigned the last train car "Kobuk" and had assigned seats near the front. The seats were very comfortable and I liked the domed top and large windows. We had a snacks/drink attendant who was very efficient and a narrator who was very informative. There was a step-down from your chairs to the aisle if you needed to move around so you didn't want to forget and twist an ankle.

We opted to have breakfast on the train. The restaurant and restrooms are on the lower level of the train using a winding narrow staircase - one person at a time going up or down.You could purchase breakfast, lunch, both or neither. I had the breakfast burrito and my husband had the skillet scramble. We both had coffee and juice. Please remember that the McKinley Explorer is cashless. The food was good but the service was slow. I think in retrospect I would have just opted for a snack and stayed on the upper level.

During the ride it rained but not enough to keep us from enjoying the scenery. We saw another moose, two black bears, some trumpeter swans, and caribou. Moving too fast forpictures.

We arrived at the Anchorage station about 5:30. It was later than normal as we had to stop 5 different times to let other trains go by in the opposite direction. Not sure who decides which train has to stop.

We were directed to busses and it seemed that there was confusion on which busses people should get on. Most people on our bus were dropped off at Captain Cook’s hotel first. We went on to Westmark Anchorage. Our envelope had our keys and our Anchorage paperwork. The paperwork has really been efficient during this land portion. It has been great that the luggage has always been in our room waiting for us.

There was a festival near the hotel with streets blocked off so it was harder for the busses to maneuver to the hotel. By now, it is close to 7:00. I needed a drugstore but there wasn’t one within walking distance. I had to call a taxi since Uber was not yet up and running in Anchorage. After getting back, we wanted to go to Humpy’s for dinner but it was so crowded and you had to find your own table, so we opted for McGinley’s Pub around the corner which was quiet and the food was good. By the time we were finished, there wasn't really any time to look around as we had an early day tomorrow for the Kenai Fjords Tour.

The WestmarkAnchorage needs updating. The room was on the shabby side but the bed was comfortable. From our room, you could hear a lot of traffic noise or maybe I was just so much more aware of it after the quiet of Denali. Our room was kind of a mini-suite and there was a balcony but it overlooked the street.

A couple of pictures from the visitor center and dog sled demonstration:

Friday, June16, 2017

Slept in until 5:45 a.m. Took our time getting dressed and then walked to Karsten’s for breakfast. I had the regular breakfast of eggs, bacon, biscuit, and potatoes. My husband tried the caribou patty, reindeer sausage, fried egg over cheese grits, smothered with gravy. I thought it looked awful but he said it was good.

Took the shuttle bus over to the Horseshoe Lake Trailhead. The shuttle busses run from the Chalet to the Wilderness Access Center, to the Horseshoe Lake Trailhead,and then to the Visitor Center and back to Chalet. They are complimentary.

I looked at this hike as an opportunity to get some exercise and breathe some fresh air. I was so very excited to come across a moose and her two calves. She was getting a drink from the lake while the calves stayed ashore. Everyone who came upon them was very quiet and respectful. It wasn’t long before 2 park rangers came to make sure everyone stayed that way. The moose looked our way but never got upset that we were around. We watched for the warning signs. After a while,they walked on very sedately. I didn’t get pictures of the moose yesterday so I was so happy to get pictures today. We made our way down to look at the beaverdams which formed the lake. We saw a muskrat eating his breakfast of tall weeds. Saw a number of birds I could not identify and we heard a woodpecker. We watched some of the river rafters which looked like fun. The walk down to the lake was very nice but the walk back up had us huffing and puffing.

We then took the next shuttle to the Visitor Center. Very informative. We enjoyed the movie “Heartbeat of Denali” and all of the displays. We saw a snowshoe rabbit runningup one of the trails around the Center. I didn’t know they got that big. His feet were still white but the rest was grayish and he was too fast for me to get a picture.

We then queued up for the shuttle ride to the 2:00 dog sledding demonstration. They let us pet some of the dogs and then we got to see them pulling the summer training sled. They are very well trained dogs but dogs will be dogs – a squirrel ran near the pens and they all went crazy – barking and leaping at the squirrel who seemed to enjoy all the attention just staying right out of their reach and circling the tree waving his tail at them. These dogs were much bigger than the dogs who pull the Iditarod sled – the racing dogs that we saw on the Riverboat tour. These dogs are used to haul supplies, scientific equipment, and even clear debris so they have to be very muscular. They don’t have to be really fast.

The weather was fickle today. There was evidence of a very heavy rainfall last night that I slept through but the sun was out during our hike and it was warm. Then at the visitor center it clouded up and even thundered in the distance. Rained some. Stopped raining at the dog sled demonstration but it was now very windy and felt cool. We always kept our slickers in the backpack for just this occasion.

After returningto the Chalet, we had drinks at Karstons and then walked across the street to the Denali Park Salmon Bake restaurant in Glitter Gulch. I had the King Crab grilled cheese sandwich with a small cup of chowder. Excellent. Highly recommend.

For Saturday,we had to be up early to get ready and put the bags out by 7:30. Then we meet at the Chalet main lobby to catch the shuttle to the Train Depot (at the Visitor Center) by 8:45. I have really enjoyed my time at Denali and was so glad we opted for the 3 days. Now on to Anchorage.

Thursday,June 15, 2017

Up early again for the Tundra Wilderness Tour which was included with the tour package. We had the 8:10 departure - Tour 12. Picked up our pre-ordered lunch with no problem. As we were waiting in the main lobby of the Chalet for the bus, I noticed on the activity board that Tour 12 was not listed. It went from Tour 11 to Tour 13. Uh oh. I asked one of the women manning the desk and when she looked at my paperwork she said she had to call someone. Turns out that Tour 12 and Tour 13 had been combined but nobody notified the people at the front tour desk. I was glad for my paperwork.

The driver was on time and so were all the passengers. As soon as we got to the park entrance, we saw a moose with her two calves. It started out as a sunny blue sky day.

The scenery was stunning. We did see parts of Denali though if the driver hadn’t told us it was Denali I would have thought it was just a bunch of clouds, it was so white. I was glad she told us where to look to take pictures.

We were blessed with a number of different animal sightings. In addition to the Moose, we saw a wolf eating on a carcass of a caribou, a grizzly bear foraging for food with her two cubs, a male grizzly grazing, caribou lounging around, Dall sheep grazing on a mountain top, and a wolverine being chased and dive bombed by a magpie. At the turnaround and mile 63, we had sleet. Lots of clouds and so much colder than it had started that day. I kept taking my coat off and putting it back on all during the day. Cold outside and warm in the bus.

Please be aware if you don’t know already that the transportation is a school bus. There is little room between you and the row in front of you. The last people to board the bus are going to end up with seats that have wheel well humps. Seat belts are available and they ask that you wear them but if you do, you can’t jump up to see the animals when they are on the side of the bus that you are not sitting.

Very bumpy and dusty roads. Couldn't put the windows down much. Hard to use the binoculars or camera while the bus is in motion. The bus has a long range camera to get close up videos and pictures of the animals. If animals are spotted, if you are seated in a row that has a monitor, you are asked to pull the monitor down and turn it on so everyone can get a close up of the animal(s). Sometimes it is the only way people can see if the animals are on the right side of the bus and you are on the left or vice versa. Please, if you are in a row that has the monitor, don’t hog it by keeping your camera or cell phone in front of it taking pictures of the footage so nobody behind you can get a decent picture. Very annoying.

Since I didn't get pictures of all the animals, I do plan to buy the DVD which has general information about Denali but also has the footage of our tour today.

We had several bathroom stops both coming and going. We were given enough time to look at the information centers and the gift shops.

The snack boxes had a variety of snacks – popcorn chips, sunflower seeds, salted caramel cookies, beef stick, etc. and a bottle of water. We shared one snack box and our lunch box and drank the 3 bottles of water. Plenty for us. We brought the other snack box back to the room.

Got back at 4:00 – an 8 hour day. Got cleaned up in the room, answered a few emails. Then walked to Glitter Gulch for pizza and beer at Prospector’s Pizza. It was very good. Got back to the Cottonwoods and walked the nature trail along the river behind the cabins and then called it an evening. Planned to hike the Horseshoe Lake trail near the Wilderness Access Center and go see the Visitor’s Center tomorrow. Not setting an alarm for the first time on this leg of the cruisetour. Heaven.

Few more pictures of the McKinley Chalet area-

Wednesday,June 14, 2017 - part 2

Back on the bus, we continued our trip and arrived at the Chalet at 4:30 just in time forit to start raining. Glad it didn’t last long. They distributed our Welcome envelopes on the bus. We were assigned the Cottonwoods which is by the river. Either a 10 – 15 minute walk to the main lobby (uphill) or take one of the hotel shuttles that do a continuous loop around the property. I didn't think I would like being so far away but ended up being glad that it was so quiet and peaceful.

I liked the little patio outside of our room. The room was nice. There was no iron or ironing board which I thought was strange. We didn’t get a King bed for this facility. I’m not sure there is air conditioning as the air never came on even though there is a thermostat but there is a ceiling fan and a small fan in the closet if we needed it. We got our backpacks and our Denali dollar certificates which were part of HAL's Alaska celebration this year.

We walked across the street over to Glitter Gulch and just looked at the shops and restaurants all the way up until they ended across from the Princess hotel. There are a number of restaurants and there are two or three grocery stores in case you need anything. Lots of vendors for independent tours like ATV riding, river rafting,and zip lining.

We came back to the main lobby and pre-ordered our lunch for the Tundra Wilderness tour tomorrow. We each get a snack box but we are not sure that there will be enough food since we don’t plan to eat the buffet breakfast so we bought one boxed lunch to split. Turkey sandwich, chips, apple, a cookie and a bottle of water. They also provided a vegetarian box.

We went the Denali square and listened to the singer. He was very good. We ate dinner at Karston’s and used our Denali dollars. We used both vouchers for the meal but they gave us cash back in change which I thought was unusual. I figured we get a credit to keep using at the property until the certificates were used up.

Our tour is at 8:10 in the morning and we have to pick up our boxed lunch at the Grizzly Grindcoffee shop at 7:40 so it was another early morning for us.

Backpacks all zipped up

Wednesday,June 14, 2017 - part 1

Two of our bags were tagged with “Meet me Tonight” and “Chalet” tags. One bag was tagged with a ship’s tag and a “See You on Board” tag. They had to be out in the hallway by 6:30 this morning. Up early so we could get ready and get the bags out. Opted out of the buffet breakfast since we are supposed to get a large lunch after the Riverboat Discovery tour. Just coffee and a granola bar. I’m trying not to overeat. We went for another walk in the opposite direction from yesterday. Saw some interesting buildings and neighborhoods. Another beautiful day – 45 degrees and sunny already. Got back and the line for breakfast was snaking out into the lobby. My husband bought a large coffee at the Starbucks shop within the gift shop. I bought my first Christmas ornament souvenir.

Had to be in the lobby by 7:45 to be ready to get on the bus for the Riverboat tour. The bus was on time and everyone on our bus was on time. We had a great driver named Jason. He and his wife come up to Alaska each summer to work. He is a university student. He was very knowledgeable and had a lot of interesting facts and stories (some corny) and made the time go by very fast. The bus was comfortable. Our first stop was the Riverboat Discovery cruise. It seats 750 and I think there were that many people give or take a few. There were a variety of cruise tour people who all converged for this 9:00 excursion. What a madhouse.

They need to take a lesson from Disney on how to get people in a line. We all merged together like cattle to get on the boat. Everyone wanted to be on the port side as that is where the activities take place. We ended up on the top deck but couldn’t get a seat at the railing. It was OK as we were able to see everything. We saw the float plane demonstration. I loved the dog sled demonstration. I enjoyed the salmon curing demonstration. Then we got off for the Village presentations. The young ladies did an excellent job explaining their native culture. Got to wander around taking pictures until the whistle blew. That morning they served blueberry donuts and coffee on the boat and then on the way back they served a salmon and cream cheese dip on crackers. The dip was for sale also – around $35 for 3 cans.

Next stop, lunch at the Riverboat Landing. Again, “moooo” as we all herded in from all directions. There were people directing you to the correct tables. The tables are long with bench seating so if you have trouble getting your legs over the benches, you may want to sit on the ends. The place settings are already there.The lunch is served family style with people passing the food back and forth. It was a beef stew, steamed vegetables, rolls, a walnut, cranberry, apple salad and a very rich chocolate brownie. The servers ran around filling up the empty containers of stew, salad, etc. and keeping the water and tea glasses filled.

Once we finished, we went into the huge gift shop (you can’t get out without walkingthrough it). We didn’t take the 40 below experience but I did see a long line of people waiting to see how it felt at 40 below. I don’t like 40 degrees, so -40 was out of the question.

Our next stop was Nenana for a bathroom break and to look around. There is a small visitor center and a small gift shop/bakery. It smells wonderful with the pastries and the varieties of popcorn. Some people made a beeline for the dog sled ride and to hold puppies. My husband and I shared a delicious cinnamon bun (so much for trying not to overeat). Lots of people opted for the popcorn. Caramel flavor was the most popular.

Tuesday,June 13, 2017

The traffic noise was steady so I was glad to have my earplugs and the light came throughthe curtain liner at the crack so I was glad I had brought a couple of clips.Still on Georgia time I guess, I woke up at 3:00 Seattle time. Hope I can get over that issue. Shower had nice pressure. The restaurant on-site served breakfast. It was $40 with tax but it was a lot of food and very good. Guess we could have walked down to McDonald’s or eaten at one of the fast food places at the airport but it will be breakfast/lunch for us. Fast shuttle to the airport.

We were dropped off in the shuttle pick-up area. We had to cross left and go up the elevator (there is an escalator but my bag was too big to go up the escalator) to the skybridge. Then we had to walk over to another set of elevators and go up to ticketing. Delta was to the right and we got in the baggage drop-off lane.Checked our 2 bags and then through security. Again, I was glad for Pre-check as the lines were long but we were to the airport a lot earlier than I thought we would be so I was not panicky. Our gate was “S” so we had to take the underground shuttle train to the gate. Our gate 5 was all the way at the end. It was 53 and windy this morning so I got out my fleece jacket. I used the wifi at the airport to do some quick emails and was finally able to see our Zaandam room number on the HAL site. I spent a few minutes writing in the room number on the baggage tags that I had already printed.

The flight was uneventful but crowded. We arrived in Fairbanks 30 minutes early according to the pilot. We set our clocks back another hour. The time difference was still getting to me. HAL was waiting for us with our Welcome to Fairbanks information. We tagged our bags and waited for the bus. Our room keys were already in the packet so we went directly to our room upon arrival at the Westmark. We were in our room for about 10 minutes and the electricity went out. We decided to stretch our legs so we went walking. Gorgeous day in Fairbanks – sunny and 60 degrees. Walked around downtown and to the Chena Riverpark. Stopped for a beer at the Big I bar. Definitely a local bar and the building is on the National Registry. Talked to some very nice people. By 6:00 local time, we were really hungry since we hadn’t eaten a meal since breakfastthat morning.

Went to Soapy Smith’s and we each had the clam chowder. I thoughtit was good but not as good as Wally’s chowder. Came with a salad and warm bread. I was really winding down by then. Walked back to the Westmark. Glad the electricity was back on. The room was kind of small but the king bed was very comfortable. The shower had good pressure. Had to get the curtains closed tight so the room would cool down. Again, glad I had the clips for the curtains. We were asleep by 8:30. Definitely party animals.

Monday, June12, 2017

Very restful night. Good Hampton free breakfast and a fast shuttle to the airport. Was glad we had TSA pre-check as the security lines at Hartsfield-Jackson were long.Flight was on time and after a couple of movies we arrived in Seattle. Aftergetting the luggage, my husband spotted the HAL representative. She wasactually waiting for 2 other guests. Our names were on her list but she said there was incorrect flight information for us so she was glad we found her. I don’t know how that happened as I entered the flight in the check-in process.She was great. Took us to the hotel shuttle pick-up area, called the SheratonFour Points which is actually in Des Moines, Washington, and stayed with us until the shuttle picked us up.

At the hotel,we were given a letter that told us that we needed to get to the airport tomorrow at least 2 hours before the flight and gave us a couple of HAL numbersto call if there is a problem. We will ride the hotel shuttle back to the airport.

The room is nice. I had called ahead a few weeks ago and asked for a King bed if available.I was happy to see that they were able to accommodate us. I couldn’t get Starwoodpoints since HAL was paying for the room as part of the cruise/tour package.You have to use your keycard for the lights. Once you take the key out of the slot by the door, the lights will all go off in about 3 minutes.

From some of the descriptions I had read about this hotel, I thought the hotel was going to be very isolated from anything. They are actually located on a busy street and there is a McDonalds and a Walgreens within a short walking distance. Little farther out but still walkable, was a shopping center with a variety of shops and a Subway and a Burger King. They even have a casino attached to the hotel.Seems that the big game is Baccarat. Several tables had people playing. We decided to save our $$ for the HAL casino.

The time change from Atlanta to Seattle really messed with me. Typically, I go to bed very early since I have to get up early for work and I got up early this morning to get ready for the flight. Eating dinner at the time I usually go to bed was difficult.

However, we ate at Wally’s Chowder House and it was very good. I was glad we got there at 5:30 as we only had a 30 minute wait. When we left, it was an hour wait. We had the cod, fries, and clam chowder. All were very good – especially the clam chowder.I wish I had just gotten it. The fish was hot and the batter was light and flaky. Fast service. Place has a full bar. We took an Uber to the restaurantand back - $6 to go there and $7 to get back. It is about 2 miles and seemed to be a good sidewalk access all the way there so in theory you could walk it. But, the wind was blowing and it had gotten considerably colder from theafternoon, at least it felt much colder to this Georgia girl so I was glad to have a ride. Back to the hotel by 7:30. Of course, back at the house, it is10:30 so I was dragging.

Seattle Airport

Sheraton lobby

Sunday, June11 finally arrived

We took Groome’s transportation to the Atlanta airport, leaving our car at their facility. So much nicer to let someone else do the driving and battle Atlanta traffic, especially with a Braves game that afternoon. This roundtrip for 2 was about the same price as many of the off-site airline parking for 12 days. Using Hilton points, I booked the Hampton Inn CampCreek Parkway. Called them from the hotel transfer area and they came quickly which I was glad because it was very hot and humid. Was a very nice hotel about 15 minutes from the airport. Just across the street from several restaurants and fast food places. The hotel shuttle took us to a restaurant and then we walked back.

We have just returned from HAL’s June 12 cruise/tour, R1L - roundtrip flight from Seattle,one way flight to Fairbanks, 3 days in Denali, and then a 7 day southbound toVancouver, and spent one and a half days touring in Seattle before flying home.I wanted to share my thoughts and experiences because I appreciated all theresearch information I received from the HAL board and the Alaska board. Myhusband and I are in our mid-50’s and have been on cruises before but never toAlaska. I have not written a trip report for anyone except my relatives so bear with me. I will also try to post some photos along the way. I tried to write some of it while I was experiencing it and some I wrote when I got home. If you have questions, I will do my best to answer.

I’ve thought about an Alaska cruise/tour for a few years now. It was going to be my retirement trip. I booked the trip with HAL in March 2016 when we were on a southern Caribbean cruise because I thought I would be retired in April 2017. After speaking with the retirement office personnel, they suggested it would be more advantageous for me to wait until December 2017. But, I hated the thought of cancelling the trip after finally booking so I just decided to take thevacation time. I’ve never been away from work for 3 weeks in a row. Wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

Typically, we drive to Florida for our cruises so it has been easy to pack – sundresses,swimsuits, etc. and no weight restrictions as long as my husband could haul them. This was our first cruise that we had to fly. I have stressed over what to wear more than anything because of the weather and the luggage restrictions.We each ended up with one checked bag and one backpack. I also had a small carry-on that held my gala clothes to be sent to the ship from Fairbanks.

I had read on the boards that you could go to the Steakhouse and sit at their bar for wine, drinks, etc. without eating there. I didn't believe it but we tried on the second night. We told the hostess what we wanted to do and she lead the way. The bartender was so nice. We would spend 30 - 45 minutes drinking wine and talking with her when she wasn't filling orders and then go to dinner in the MDR. Had excellent wines that she recommended. We wore whatever we were going to wear in the MDR that night and never felt uncomfortable. Will do it again next cruise so I hope we have the same good experience. We had the Cheers package.

We were told about it when we booked our 5 cabins for our group. Did you book directly with Holland, through a TA or with a PCC? That might make a difference but I don't really know.

We booked this land tour/cruise while on board a HAL cruise in March 2016 and have a HAL PCC. Maybe it's a promo for new bookings.

How did you hear about the Dollars? We are also on a June 2017 Land/Tour package and I have not received any information about it.

If you book a flight through HAL's Flight Ease, do the ticket prices count toward your mariner points?

Happened to my husband. Same ship. We had Cheers and then he also happened to qualify for "Drinks on Us" at the Casino. One late evening he was told he was getting close to the 15 limit. Was told that when he reached it he couldn't use the Casino voucher, Cheers, or buy one after that. He's never gotten to the 15 limit on any other ship when we purchased Cheers so we don't know what would have happened.

I noticed on the debarkation handout that it stated that liquor purchases would be delivered to the stateroom the night before. Is Carnival no longer making people pick up their purchased bottles the morning of debarkation?

I hope so. I used to purchase some bottles onboard until they changed the procedure and it was just too much to deal with on the last morning.

Thanks for another great review.

Westerdam - February 19, 2018 - 18 day circle Hawaii - celebrating 25th wedding anniversary - very excited

Thanks for posting your experience. I think I'm just going to prepay for cheers and forget about it. Going to have my first drink as soon as I board.

 

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Ditto. I'll use the credit card to pre-pay and will just be happy with its cash back points. Can't stand starting a vacation with a hassle.

Wow! I just went to the same exact spot to look again and now it's gone! I took a screenshot of it, I swear it was there earlier! Weird...hopefully at the very least this means it might be coming soon?

I hope so. Verizon has gift cards available now (not sure for how long) but I don't want to purchase a lot of $$ in gift cards if I have to turn around and put Cheers on the CC anyway.

If you go to the Carnival site and go to the screen where you would pre-purchase Cheers - you will see before you add it to your cart it now says in red on that screen, "Please call 1-800-845-2599 if you would like to use a Carnival Gift Card to purchase this package." Awesome news!

I went on the website and the "Please call ...." sentence is not there or at least I can't find it.

Zaandam - Alaska (R1L) - 18 - June 2017

Thank you. So very excited. Never sailed on the Maasdam and many of the stops are new to us.

We were on the Legend after its drydock for some 2.0 upgrades. Long, long wait for embarkation because there were not enough customs agents to process all the workers leaving. Green Thunder and Sushi place not finished and didn't open until last sea day. Noticed that the ship seemed dirtier than the previous time we had sailed on her. We will try to avoid a cruise after drydock in the future.

We always waited to board to pay for Cheers with gift cards because you could not use gift cards to pre-purchase online. Does anyone know if we can use gift cards online now that there is a price difference in Cheers when purchasing?