HAL Denali Land Tour luggage question

Hi-- I have been told to keep the size of our packed luggage to "airline carry-on size" for the portion that accompanies us on the land has of our cruise tour. Apparently this smaller bag travels with us on the Fairbanks--Denali--Anchorage--Seward transit to the ship, and will be in a truck or van and not accessible to us until each of these stops. We are to have a smaller (?) carry bag with our valuables etc. that is in our possession while in transit. My question is-- What are the size limits of this carry bag, and is there room for it to fit under the seat or in an overhead compartment on both the buses and the train? Also, what happens to this bag on the day we travel from our Anchorage hotel to the ship in Seward, especially if we have signed up to take the optional cruise/tour that day of Kenai Fjords National Park? carry it with us? Thanks a bunch for any light to be shed on this issue!

The land portion of our Alaska cruise is 10 days. My cruise documents say the luggage can weigh up to 50 pounds, but doesn't mention sizes. There is no way I could pack 10 days of clothing and essentials in a carry on.

Following. I haven't read that yet, but need to research as we leave June 9!

Following. I haven't read that yet, but need to research as we leave June 9!

We went on the Y2L Alaska-Yukon-cruise trip last summer, and our trip docs (p17; boarding pass is the first page) says to check HAL's Tour Tips (and gives a link). The one for 2018 is here: https://www.hollandamerica.com/assets/cruise-destinations/Tour_Tips.pdf On pages 5 and 6, there's a lot of info. Basically, there are four luggage categories:

1. Hand Carry Tote/Backpack. Soft sided tote bags or backpacks no larger than 17”x14”x4” with a zippered enclosure are recommended.

2. “Join Me Tonight” luggage program. This bag will be waiting in your room at the end of the day. No size info (unless you're flying into the Yukon).

3. “Join Me Onboard” luggage program for guests who cruise AFTER their overland journey. All luggage is delivered to your first itinerary destination. Upon departure from that city, any “Join Me Onboard” tagged bag(s) will be securely stored and inaccessible until they are delivered to your onboard stateroom. No size info.

4. (Only for those who cruise before going to Fairbanks or Anchorage.)

Except for the hand carry luggage, I don't see anything about size or weight, so your choice of airline will probably determine that. We'll be on Maasdam this weekend, and found, to our surprise, that Southwest Airlines (our ourbound flight) accepts 24" carry-ons, while JetBlue (our return flight) only takes 22" bags, We had to buy a 22" bag (from Costco), since our older bags ar about an inch too big.

Good luck, happy travels!

-bruce

The bag for your valuables and medicines should be a backpack size, or something like a small duffle. You will have to keep up with it if you get off the bus or train at a stop....the back pack worked well in this regard. On the train and bus I believe it went above us on a rack and on the train from Seward to Anchorage I just had to put it under the table....so in that regard do go small. If you have a table mate with a big carryon you can guess everyone is losing out on foot space there.

The carry on size bag from hotel to hotel will not be accessible during the day.

Dear "always frantic'--Thanks for this reply, it is exactly the type of info I was looking for. i had hoped to also hear back from someone who has taken the Kenai Fjords cruise from Seward prior to departure on a HAL cruise, as I'm curious what to do with the small pack or duffle we carry with us during the bus & train excursions. I suppose we could always carry it with us on this 6 hour cruise.