Statendam Alaska June 1-15, 2015 Review

The Great, The OK and the Smelly

This was our third two week Alaska cruise with HAL (first two on Amsterdam ) . Getting on and off the ship at start and end and pier side was a breeze. With tenders we went down to tender access very early and got on some of the first tenders ashore after having standing in line for early tender tickets earlier in the trip. We found most meals very good. We ate in dining room for dinners most nights. Best meals on formal nights. I never found an accurate table seating chart for Statendam and was switched from open (waitlisted for early) to early which is what we wanted and a nice table. Pre ordered the next night meal because of food allergies. CC Meet & Greet was nice (thanks Endless Traveler). The room stewards were the best we have ever had on any line. Our best HAL excursion this trip was Sitka’s Great Adventure. Only two of us and great for us. Steep walk in forest, calm lake and grizzly cub viewing on the way back in the boat ride. In Anchorage we rented a car and drove 2 hrs to Matanuska Glacier for walk on the glacier. Also great excursion. Our ship got close to both tide water glaciers we were scheduled to visit. Outside aft on deck 9 under the pool deck is a very nice place to hang out when leaving port or glacier. For glacier and outside forward access deck 9 & 11 had good viewing and bow was open often.

The Ok. The ship shows were just ok. One of our favorites was one singer sang about girlfriend Sara Lee. The ship does show some of its age but didn’t bother us to much. We prepaid laundry and had a couple minor issues and we became careful not to send some items to risk damage. We had to talk to front desk three times about billing issues but I think they finally got it correct.

Some of the areas near our room on the main deck did have a sewer smell. We had read a little about this topic before so we took baking soda boxes and room freshener so had no problems with our room. Bathroom fan ran 24/7. Four rooms near us were flooded with sewage water and people had to relocate. We avoided the area while clean-up was ongoing. We moved all of our items from under the bed to off the floor just in case.

It was a great trip and we had a very nice time.

sightcrr

Thank you for the report. We'll be on this itinerary on June 28.

Thanks for the info! We are taking the same cruise on July 13th.

Can you tell me how they worked the "early tender tickets"? My previous experience with HAL on tenders was that their excursions got the first tenders and then it was just a crazy long line up in the hallways.

Yes I'd like to know what time you went down for the tenders. I have a private tour at Icy Strait Point. Thanks.

Thanks for your review. Would you mind answering a few questions?

What laundry issues did you have? We also have the unlimited laundry package.

Also, what cabins had the plumbing issues? Our cabin is on the main deck, port side, just aft of midship.

We also have an early private tour in Icy Strait so would be interested in the tender situation.

We were on same cruise and generally agree with all said by SightCRR.

In Ketchikan with did the Bering Sea Crab Fishermans tour. IT is on a former "Deadliest Catch Boat".

It was more than just a tour it was an experience. We cannot say enough about it. Boat is modified for excursion with seating and infrared heaters, Crew is fantastic and informative. 3 semi retired Crab Boat Captains talk about their experiences. In addition they take you to an area where there are Bald Eagles. LOTS of them. Like pigeons in a big city.

In Juneau we got 'weathered out' of the helicopter to glacier and dog sled experience which was disappointing. In Anchorage we did the 26 glacier tour.

It was nice but would not do it again. It was too long (about 11 hours). Having been in Glacier bay on a previous cruise we did not feel that it was worth the time and money.

RE dining room. We had anytime seating. BUT you can reserve tables there for specific times. We did that most nights and with the same table. It was near the rear with a nice view of the wake. Our servers were excellent as was the entire crew. They were Putu and Wirta waiters; Mel the Wine steward(ess) a lovely young lady; and Pidi the headwaiter for that section who can make the reservations for you. We much prefer that option to fixed time dining. Say hi to her from "Bev and Ed" if you see her.

productions shows we felt weer just fair. Not because of the cast but the material. John Curry is a John Denver lookalike and sound just like him. We enjoyed his performances the most but other acts were good also particularly the singersongwriter "Heather ??" with had boundless energy.

First on the tenders. We tendered in Kodiak which was unexpected but worked out better for us. Landed right downtown, and we got a refund on port tax (I think that is the reason). If you are a four or five star mariner or have early HAL tour never mind as you are set to go. About two days before tender port (cruise Tracy Arm Day for ISP) they had a 4pm line up to get tender tickets. I got tickets but didn't use them. The ship was anchored well before the 7 am arrival time. Once we saw the staff tender leave we headed down to where the tenders leave (not show room) to get the next one. After tour was loaded we asked if we could go and they let us on the tender. We were on the nature trail before 8am. Same deal for Kodiak. Line up at sea day before ANC at 4pm for Kodiak. Also didn't use them. We got to Budget Rental downtown at 8 and they opened early after I called (normal opening time 9). We had HAL tour in Sitka. For Sitka it was 1pm Hubbard Glacier day. I got tickets in case our HAL tour got canceled. We went on tour and headed to tender from showroom. This worked a lot better for us than Amsterdam in the past. (We took some HAL tours just to get early tenders.) however the in port times are less. Not sure how the later tenders worked.

With the laundry I sent several nylon fishing shirts. Most came back great, one came back partly melted. Some of the whites came back and are still a little purple. We keep getting charged for the unlimited laundry (three times, and it took three trips to front desk to fix it but it did get fixed.) The laundry always came back in one day.

The flooded rooms were main deck, starboard side ocean view just fwd of aft elevators. Don't know the cause.

We have been on the Bering Sea Crab tour twice and it was great both times so totally agree with elc41 about that.

Thanks!

Thanks for the reports.

Did you arrive into Anchorage and Victoria on time?

The itinerary still shows docking in Kodiak - when did you find out it was going to be tendering?

SightCRR, thanks for your detailed response to my questions. Now I will know what to expect. We are on the same cruise on July 27th. We did it before in 2011 on the Amsterdam.

The in port times were very close in all of the ports but if not right on it was a little early. We found out about the tender in Kodiak a couple days before (I thought they made a mistake and were talking about Sitka). A container ship was tied up at the normal spot offloading later in the afternoon. If I were to guess ours was an odd occurrence and other dates will not tender in Kodiak.

I do wish that the port times were not so short in Kodiak and ISP leaving at 2 pm.

sightcrr

The in port times were very close in all of the ports but if not right on it was a little early. We found out about the tender in Kodiak a couple days before (I thought they made a mistake and were talking about Sitka). A container ship was tied up at the normal spot offloading later in the afternoon. If I were to guess ours was an odd occurrence and other dates will not tender in Kodiak.

 

I do wish that the port times were not so short in Kodiak and ISP leaving at 2 pm.

 

sightcrr

Thanks for the reply. Fingers crossed that we get to dock as we are on a non-HAL excursion to go bear-watching and as you know, we're on such a limited schedule there already so I'd hate to see it cut even shorter due to tendering. Totally in agreement about too short of port times plus I'd also like to see them extend Homer. I have to wonder if the huge tidal swings play a part in all of that, at least around the Kenai Peninsula/Cook Inlet areas.

I am on the June 29th sailing and was wondering when the formal nights were on this cruise.

Also which toiletries were provided in the bathroom?

Thank you in advance :)for answering all of our questions about this cruise.

Our formal nights were first Tuesday (At Sea day), first Sunday (At sea before ANC) and second Saturday (at sea before Victoria). Like I said earlier those were our three best meals in the main dining room. The best meal of the whole cruise was formal night before Victoria in main dining room (surf & turf) which was better than one P/G dinner that we had.

In the bathroom was sink hand soap, and shower had shampoo, conditioner, and soap dispensers. We took and mostly used our own.

For zelker there are some people we just seemed to run into ie tender lines, same deck viewing. They flew to Katmi with Andrews air from Kodiak and were very scared about flight times etc. Can't give you details of their trip except that their photos were spectacular. 12-13 grizzlies and one within 150 yds. Their group had 8 people (two planes). They had talked to some ship big shot (not sure which one) before Kodiak and all 8 were on the first two tenders. We were on the 2nd one. This is the best/all info that I can remember and may not even be 100% correct. I thought it was to early (first week of June) for us to see many bears. That and the price keep me from booking a similar trip.

Thanks for the bear viewing report and yes, early June is typically not the best time to see them on the Katmai but it's been such an usual winter and spring up there that I guess nothing surprises me. We won't know until the day we arrive whether we'll fly to the Katmai or down to the fish ladder on Kodiak but mid-July should be prime time wherever we go. This will be our 4th time to Alaska but our 1st flying out to see bears so we're really excited!

Over the last ten years we have flown to see bears twice.

Once to Brook Falls at Katmai from Anchorage.

Once to Lake Clark/Wolverine Creek from Soldotna.

Both early July.

Both Spectacular.

Neither when we were on cruise.

We went on bear viewing tour in ISP. No bears.

Saw them off whale watch boat in ISP in 2014.

Saw one off tour boat in Sitka this year.

Kodiak seems like great place to do it.

sightcrr

In early July 2012 we flew to Katmai for bears and it was spectacular! We went with Seahawk air and they too were great. Can't wait until we can take this cruise again!

We're going with Sea Hawk Air! Read nothing but great reviews for them and they were extremely nice to work with over the phone. Glad you had a great experience with them, too. :D

Our formal nights were first Tuesday (At Sea day), first Sunday (At sea before ANC) and second Saturday (at sea before Victoria). Like I said earlier those were our three best meals in the main dining room. The best meal of the whole cruise was formal night before Victoria in main dining room (surf & turf) which was better than one P/G dinner that we had.

 

In the bathroom was sink hand soap, and shower had shampoo, conditioner, and soap dispensers. We took and mostly used our own.

Greatly appreciated SightCRR! :)

Going to try to post photo collage.