Back from Alaska With Westerdam

We booked a Travel With Alan Package on the Westerdam and had an incredible voyage & land package from Vancouver and flew back to home to Nanaimo, BC, and just returned. We took a choper from Nanaimo to Vancouver and overnighted before boarding the next day. We got there early, around 10 am and the embarking was very easy & fast and once aboard we went to our Cabin where our bags where already onboard. We proceed to the Lido Buffet to have lunch, and went there for all our meals, which we really enjoyed, great food. We purchased the Signature Beverage Package for 44.95 US $ per person per day and found it to be the best option with 15 drinks per day per person which included all drinks, alcoholic, soda, water and specialty drinks. There are a number of bars aboard where one can relax but we spent most of our time on the Lido deck as well as our balcony....the balcony was worth the extra cost, even though the weather can change in a few minutes. It was nice to get some fresh air. The cabin steward kept our room very clean and put towel animals on our beds every night. The bartenders were awesome, knowing our names and what drinks we were having. We did not attend any shows but just relaxed in various places on board and enjoyed the crows nest. We saw lots of whales and the best part was visiting the glaciers in Glacier Bay where we spent several hours. Weather could change in a minute so we were prepared with layers. The ports were great and with our Travel With Alan package, all tours were included. We took the bus from Seward to Denali National Park where we stayed for 2 nights with all meals included as well as the incredible 10 hour Tundra Tour into the Denali National Park, which was also included in our package. We saw several different animals, including a grizzly, moose, swans, cariboo, hawks, etc. The Mckinley Chalet Resort was very nice, so very large and we had great food there, all included as mentioned. The 9 hour train back to our hotel in Anchorage, which was also included, was great as we had reserved dome seats and had a great white table meal aboard and when in the dome car, we had our own private bartender, who came by to take our order...a real great service. Upon entering Anchorage, our coach was waiting for us, as it was in Denali and took us to our hotel, with no check in as we were presented with our key aboard the coach and our bags were in our room. The final day saw us being picked up by coach and we had a tour of the city before heading to the airport to our flight to Nanaimo. The tour was so well organized, as we did not have to make any reservations, or worry about our bags being delivered to our room or airport, and highly recommend this tour as all meals and tours in each port where included. Any questions will be answered...Jim

Thanks for the report :)

Sounds like you had a great time, indeed.

Glad you enjoyed it and welcome home.

Sounds like a great cruise/tour. Thanks for sharing.

Welcome home.

Thank you for your review.

Glad you had a wonderful Alaskan adventure.

Welcome back! It sounds like you had a lovely time. Thanks for your report! :)

Thanks for your review!

Thanks for your review. We will be on the Westerdam to Alaska next June.

Thanks for the great review. We’ll be on the same TWA itinerary on the Noordam in late August. Hoping to see some fall colors in Denali.

Thank you for your report.

Sounds like you had a great holiday.

Thanks for the report. We are going on the same cruise tour in August from Vancouver as well.We had been waiting for an offer like this! When did you book your train seats? The tour is offered on the train or just the bus?

Thanks for the report. We are going on the same cruise tour in August from Vancouver as well.We had been waiting for an offer like this! When did you book your train seats? The tour is offered on the train or just the bus?

This is the D6C offered by HAL and arranged through a travel group. The travel group added the meals and excursions to the cruisetour. If you are taking a HAL cruisetour the seats on the bus are usually filled as people file on to the bus. The train from Denali to Anchorage is part of the cruisetour and usually seats would be preassigned by HAL as part of their tour.

Post 11, thanks for the reply to post 10. We have subscribed to the weekly newsletter, Travel With Alan, for years and this was the first time we booked with this Seattle travel agent. I recommend them as they come out with fantastic deals and all our ports had complimentary tours including the bus from Seward to Denali and dome car back to Anchorage. All of our bags arrived before we went to our rooms and we did not have to check in, as we were presented with keys and our room number when leaving the bus. They even booked our flight to home, Nanaimo, BC. We stayed in Denali for 2 nights and meals were included as well as the 60 mile, 9 hour bus into Denali National Park

jimlouisesophie: you are welcome. We are very familiar with HAL cruisetours and have enjoyed Alan’s tours also so I thought I might be able provide some information. So glad you enjoyed the adventure!

Post 11, thanks for the reply to post 10. We have subscribed to the weekly newsletter, Travel With Alan, for years and this was the first time we booked with this Seattle travel agent. I recommend them as they come out with fantastic deals and all our ports had complimentary tours including the bus from Seward to Denali and dome car back to Anchorage. All of our bags arrived before we went to our rooms and we did not have to check in, as we were presented with keys and our room number when leaving the bus. They even booked our flight to home, Nanaimo, BC. We stayed in Denali for 2 nights and meals were included as well as the 60 mile, 9 hour bus into Denali National Park

Was this the D6C

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Thanks for the review -- we'll be boarding the Westerdam on September 30 for the North Pacific cruise -- Alaska and Japan -- with Travel With Alan as well :-)