Just off Noordam Alaska with kids— Any questions?

Just got off of the Noordam southbound Alaska cruise (Seward-Glacier Bay-Haines-Juneau-Ketchikan-Vancouver) with a family with kids, also did a cruisetour. Happy to answer any questions since there isn’t much out here about HAL with families :)

Were you offered the choice of booking a HAL operated transfer from the port of Vancouver to the Vancouver airport that bypassed customs and immigration? (In other words, were you given to option of going to the US side of the airport and thus not technically entering Canada at the pier and then reentering the USA at the airport, but legally staying in the USA the full time.)

Not that I have anything against Canada, but given the option of going through customs and immigration twice in one day, or not at all, I would likely choose not at all.

Welcome Home

Hope you do a full review of your Alaskan tour and cruise.

What were the ages you traveled with? Did they use Club HAL? If so what were their/your thoughts?

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We are doing that cruise in 3 weeks. What were your general impressions? I’ve heard so much negative about the condition of the ship, I’m a little concerned!

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We are doing that cruise in 3 weeks. What were your general impressions? I’ve heard so much negative about the condition of the ship, I’m a little concerned!

 

 

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Where have you been still reading these reports. Sorry that reports here to the contrary not yet convinced you that you don't need to be worried.

Where have you been still reading these reports. Sorry that reports here to the contrary not yet convinced you that you don't need to be worried.

I’ve read them here on cruise critic. People in a tither that the refurb was cancelled. Personally, I don’t care if bathroom tiles are 80’s style and TV’s aren’t latest model-but I’m enough of a worrier to want some reassurance! I need to let it go! I’m sure it’ll be fine.

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I’ve read them here on cruise critic. People in a tither that the refurb was cancelled. Personally, I don’t care if bathroom tiles are 80’s style and TV’s aren’t latest model-but I’m enough of a worrier to want some reassurance! I need to let it go! I’m sure it’ll be fine.

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While many of us grumble often about detail and unappreciated changes, (me included), HAL is not in the business to run shoddy ships and abuse their paying customers. We too heard absolutely terrible things about our first HAL ship - the Maasdam back in 2009 before our first HAL cruise which gave me pause too - what was I getting ourselves into was all I could think.

Yet, that same ship and Holland America in general turned us into very devoted and happy customers over the subsequent years. We too quickly overlook the superficial, and at that time the Maasdam was a real train wreck of competing and clashing decors. But oh my goodness, where she took us on that cruise and the warmth of the staff and the onboard amenities more than made up for those clashing fire sale carpet designs and interior decoration mismatches.

Crystal had been our only prior cruise experience but after that first cruise with HAL we left more than satisfied us deeply, even though Crystal will always win the interior decor derby. Plus the HAL bathrooms were far superior to Crystals edgy, decorative but entirely cramped small bathrooms.

Looking forward to your report when you get back.

What were the ages you traveled with? Did they use Club HAL? If so what were their/your thoughts?

 

 

Ages were 11 and 13. So they were split up. One in club HAL and one in Loft. They both liked the activities because it was a smaller group so they got to know the other kids and counselors better (less families on board) but they are nothing compared to what Disney or NCL offers.

Were you offered the choice of booking a HAL operated transfer from the port of Vancouver to the Vancouver airport that bypassed customs and immigration? (In other words, were you given to option of going to the US side of the airport and thus not technically entering Canada at the pier and then reentering the USA at the airport, but legally staying in the USA the full time.)

 

Not that I have anything against Canada, but given the option of going through customs and immigration twice in one day, or not at all, I would likely choose not at all.

Not that I recall, clearing customs at port of Vancouver was extremely easy and painless though. Didn’t really have to do anything besides hand the guy the form. I know they have transfers for sale but I don’t know if they bypass customs

We are doing that cruise in 3 weeks. What were your general impressions? I’ve heard so much negative about the condition of the ship, I’m a little concerned!

 

 

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The ship is tired and a little beat up without a doubt. But this is because the ship is often doing “rough” itineraries (Alaska, Pacific crossings vs. 3 night Bahama cruises) and not because the crew isn’t taking care of it. The TVs are very old. The carpet is gross and coming off in places. Bathroom mirrors are rusting. The ship needs painting. Lifeboats in bad condition. A bench in the Crows nest actually fell apart when I sat down on it. However, the interior does still feel very elegant and classy and I liked the look a lot. just don’t look too close. The staterooms are generally fine. The bathrooms don’t have tile in them (at least ours didn’t) and our room was in good condition, it’s just the public areas that need attention

I’ve read them here on cruise critic. People in a tither that the refurb was cancelled. Personally, I don’t care if bathroom tiles are 80’s style and TV’s aren’t latest model-but I’m enough of a worrier to want some reassurance! I need to let it go! I’m sure it’ll be fine.

 

 

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Yeah we were under the impression when we booked that the ship had been refurbed as we generally only sail on new or newly refurbed ships, but that’s hard to come by without being stuck on the monstrosity that is the bliss :rolleyes:

Thanks for sharing the info.

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How was the land portion of your trip?

Any problems with the 4 people in a room, or did you get two rooms?

Any favorite activities in Skagway, Whitehorse, Dawson, Fairbanks, Denali for the family?

We're leaving on Wednesday and would love some 411!

Thank you!

Yes...tell us more!

Were you offered the choice of booking a HAL operated transfer from the port of Vancouver to the Vancouver airport that bypassed customs and immigration? (In other words, were you given to option of going to the US side of the airport and thus not technically entering Canada at the pier and then reentering the USA at the airport, but legally staying in the USA the full time.)

 

Not that I have anything against Canada, but given the option of going through customs and immigration twice in one day, or not at all, I would likely choose not at all.

We also just returned from the Noordam trip.

We were offered Expediated disembarkment. We filled out a form a couple days ahead. All we did at the airport was checkin, drop off luggage, go thru security, scan passports just once. Very easy!

We did the land-sea tour from Fairbanks to Seward where we boarded the Noordam to Vancouver.

I will do a full trip report once I get things settled back here at home.

This was our first cruise and while we had a great time and saw lots of Alaska, We don't think cruising is our thing. No particular reason though!

HAL was very organized and everything went smoothly thruout the whole trip. I have no other ship to compare this one to so I can't say much about that subject. It does need some updating but was fine for us.

Lots of the tips we received from this forum were helpful and some didn't apply to us at all. No need for magnet hooks in SS 8058. Nothing metal! Maybe the inside cabins?

No need for highlighters. The navigator App showed everything that was going on for the day. Just add to your itinerary and you were set for the day!

If I can answer any questions, please ask. I will try to get a report done soon! There were both pros and cons but like

I sad, it was a great trip and Alaska is amazing!

What were the ages you traveled with? Did they use Club HAL? If so what were their/your thoughts?

 

 

Ages were 11 and 13. So they were split up. One in club HAL and one in Loft. They both liked the activities because it was a smaller group so they got to know the other kids and counselors better (less families on board) but they are nothing compared to what Disney or NCL offers.

 

@Hurricane18, we'll be on the Westerdam next week, NB, with a land tour afterwards (Double Denali). How did your kids do on the longer portions of the land tour? Mine are 12 and 15, so they will be split between Club HAL and the Loft as well. I'd love to hear any info about what your kids enjoyed on the ship!

 

We were originally on the Noordam, but ended up switching to the Westerdam because of the internet plans (I need to stay connected to work, unfortunately). Westerdam is the only HAL ship that I know of that has an unlimited plan. And it's been refurbed (we almost went with Noordam, as you did, for the post-refurb cruise. When I saw that the refurb was cancelled, I was surprised).

How was the land portion of your trip?

Any problems with the 4 people in a room, or did you get two rooms?

Any favorite activities in Skagway, Whitehorse, Dawson, Fairbanks, Denali for the family?

 

We're leaving on Wednesday and would love some 411!

 

Thank you!

Hello! We did the D8L Land tour (One night Fairbanks and one night Denali with bus transfers between the two and from Denali to Seward) and there were lots of families on our land tour group. We were told by HAL and heard from other cruisers on the ship that families tend to stick to the shorter cruisetours, the 2 night option (like us) or the 3 night options. In Denali, I would reccomend Denali natural history tour. It’s a 5 Hour tour through the park and you make stops with cultural and historical presentations at each one. We only had a day there and wanted some time to enjoy the resort and the town so this is the only thing we had time to do. It is shorter than the tundra tour (5 hours vs 8 hours) and was perfect in length since our family would have gotten way too bored in the longer tour. We didn’t do a tour in Fairbanks (the town IMHO is a dump not much to see, we elected to just walk around the downtown area and get dinner). We didn’t see Dawson or Whitehorse since we wanted the quickest land option to basically just see Denali and get on the ship. We stopped in Haines instead of Skagway on our itinerary, but a lot of the excursions are the same. If you want to escape the relative hustle and bustle of Skagway, take the ferry to Haines (a charming little town) or do the glacier point wilderness trip (a hike, canoe ride, and speedboat ride through the rainforest to the face of a glacier). We loved the safari.

we had two rooms. Kids in one room and one room for us. The rooms were connected.

 

@Hurricane18, we'll be on the Westerdam next week, NB, with a land tour afterwards (Double Denali). How did your kids do on the longer portions of the land tour? Mine are 12 and 15, so they will be split between Club HAL and the Loft as well. I'd love to hear any info about what your kids enjoyed on the ship!

 

We were originally on the Noordam, but ended up switching to the Westerdam because of the internet plans (I need to stay connected to work, unfortunately). Westerdam is the only HAL ship that I know of that has an unlimited plan. And it's been refurbed (we almost went with Noordam, as you did, for the post-refurb cruise. When I saw that the refurb was cancelled, I was surprised).

 

Kids did fine on the longer portions (I am assuming you mean transfers between hotels) The scenery is nice on the bus and there is cellular data available in most of the state 😂 maybe download a few movies on tablets or phones. They liked the Denali history tour and the hotel in Denali a lot. Our tour did not include the train (we were on a Direct to Denali itinerary, so we were on a motorcoach which is actually FASTER than the train)

 

Kids liked the pool, and met kids their age at the clubs and roamed the ship with them at night and participated in some of the organized activities and went to some of the shows and trivia games. You will notice that on HAL your kids will be with you more, but that is what a family vacation is all about anyways

Welcome Home

Hope you do a full review of your Alaskan tour and cruise.

Thank you! Will work on it

If you have any daily programs you can post it would be greatly appreciated. They are a nice way to get a feel for the onboard experience. Thx!

If you have any daily programs you can post it would be greatly appreciated. They are a nice way to get a feel for the onboard experience. Thx!

Don’t have any. Very sorry!

Do you have any examples of activities that the kids might experience?

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