My Alaska Journal and Photos: Amsterdam July 26-August 9, 2010

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

I"m posting a live journal and photos of my cruise in Alaska if anyone is interested. So far I have sailed on the Deadliest Catch boat, hiked a rain forest, completed and Otter quest, did a whale watch, took a helicoptor and landed on a glacier and I still have 11 days left of vacation!

 

 

This is a link to my journal and pics if you are interested. It's long, but this forum was so helpful to me I wanted to share in return:

 

http://www.chris-n-cheryl.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=21694

 

Alaska is Amazing!!!

 

Cheryl :)

[FurryPetMom]

I'm enjoying your blog and pictures! Thank you for posting this. We were on the Amsterdam for the May 31st sailing and your posts help me re-live our trip.

[kb996]

Loved reading your blog. Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

It has been a pleasure to share!

 

I am safely at the Hilton Seatac right now and will be flying home tomorrow. That will conclude my 28 days in Seattle/Alaska. I can honestly say that this was the best cruise I have ever been blessed with and my cruising history includes 25 plus cruises spanning nearly 25 years.

 

I have condensed the blog and added over a hundred photos. The new link is here. I promise to add the bubble feeding whale video as soon as I get home. I will also add a final review entry.

 

My review and photos can be found here if you are interested but be forwarned it's pretty long:

 

http://www.chris-n-cheryl.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=21736

 

 

Cheryl :)

[Braselton]

Loved your photos, what type of camera did you use and did you use a telephoto lense? Thanks

[Keith1010]

Thanks for allowing us to read your journal. It is very informative and extremely well written. Wonderful!

 

Keith

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

Keith: thanks for the compliments. I'm still in Seattle but I'll finish the review shortly :).

 

Braselton: No telephoto lense. Makes those whale shots all the more wild huh? I used a simple point and shoot that I purchased for the trip. A Canon SX20 with a 20times zoom. I know absolutely nothing about photography but did complete a photo tour in Seattle where I got some pointers and another photo safari in Juneau. Other than that, I just pick up the camera and hope for the best. This trip the scenery made taking a poor photo nearly impossible.

 

Cheryl :)

[Cruisenouvelle]

Hi Cheryl- thank you SO much for all the work and for sharing an excellent blog and photos! Wow. We are headed to AK in less than 4 weeks (first time!), although on a different ship/cruiseline. But some things transcend brands,ships, etc., and your photos capture that well. Thanks again.

[dcruisers]

Thanks so much for the wonderful review and the awesome pics.

What a vacation!

I am curious...how do you find out about the "secret" rooms on cruise ships and which one did you have? We have been on 15 cruises and haven't heard about this so I am interested.

We are planning an Alaskan cruise for next summer and very much appreciate all your information.

[Assateague Island Princes]

Cheryl - thanx for the shout out and the photos of our "secret" deck on 7. Loved seeing it again, and had me dreaming about how I should definitely be there in one of those loungers, gazing out to see with my binoculars! It appears you had a spectacular trip, as did we. Loved, loved, loved the Amsterdam and this fantastic itinerary!

 

dccruisers - we found our "secret" cabin on the Amsterdam from here on CC. We were in 7056 on the aft of the Navigation deck (deck 7). Wonderful cabin that we would definitely book again and again. Its the next best thing to having a balcony! Great big window looking out over the wake, and just 4 or 5 steps out to door leading to the outside "secret" deck. One flight up to the aft Lido deck for quick meals, snacks or drinks. Fantastic! I believe Cheryl was on deck 2, but as she said, also a "secret" cabin where you can get the best bang for the buck! Cabin 7055 on deck 7 is also good, but the view is a bit more obstructed, with the up staircase to the Lido sort of in front of the window. Not annoying or a deal breaker though, according to our friends who stayed in that cabin on the same cruise. The same applied about walking out your cabin door and just steps out to the aft deck.

[disneybuddie4]

Cheryl, Thank you for your review. We got back 3 weeks ago and it brought back so many great memories. Your photo's are great too. We are already thinking of booking again for next year. It will be our third cruise to Alaska and I will bet you not the last. I would love to do 14 days but this time we are taking the kids and spouses so we are limited to 8 days. Did I read that you can bring your own soda, water and booze on HAL? If so how much. Thanks again and looking forward to your final chapter and more pictures.

Karen

[Coolcruise02]

Great blog! Thanks for sharing. :)

[oaktreerb]

We were in Homer in early June and took the bus into town. We enjoyed the Alaska Islands & Ocean Visitor's Center and wandered around outside the Pratt Museum. As we were walking back to the bus from the visitor's center we came upon a Moose and her two babies eating their way through the backyards of the houses along the way. Homer was one of my favorite ports!

[Kissyfur19]

I"m posting a live journal and photos of my cruise in Alaska if anyone is interested. So far I have sailed on the Deadliest Catch boat, hiked a rain forest, completed and Otter quest, did a whale watch, took a helicoptor and landed on a glacier and I still have 11 days left of vacation!

 

 

This is a link to my journal and pics if you are interested. It's long, but this forum was so helpful to me I wanted to share in return:

 

http://www.chris-n-cheryl.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=21694

 

Alaska is Amazing!!!

 

Cheryl :)

 

Oooh - I can't wait to read it all! I'm starting with the Seattle blog and am CRACKING UP at your comment about the dog...."80 pounds of solid stupid, yet very protective"

 

I have a yellow lab that fits this EXACT description....

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

After spending 22 nights in hotels and onboard a cruise ship, it was a joy to cuddle up in my own bed with my own friends again last night. Omnivore (the 80 pounds of solid stupid referred to in the above post) was overjoyed to see me too, yet that quickly wained when her realize that I wasn't holding a pizza box.

 

To answer some of your questions:

 

dccruiser: All ship have some cabins better than others. The hump, bump, or aft on RCL Radiance class ships have significantly larger balconies. The corner afts on Princess are a gem to find. The Vista class afts both before and after the aft lift are superb. Carnival has some 'inside' cabins that actually have windows. You just need to hunt, peck, and research. As far as my cabin number, I could have sworn I had an entire paragraph in there about the cabin numbers that are prime on the Amsterdam. I'll go back in my review to look to make sure I'm not hallucinating from the 14 days of caloric intake, but the short answer is 2715.

 

Disneybuddies: You can bring unlimited soda, water, WINE AND CHAMPAIGN, but not unlimited liquor. As mentioned, I purchased a liter of absolute citron which was waiting for me in my room for $32.00. That same liter cost nearly 28 here in Michigan, so I felt it it a bargain. I carried on pomegranate martini mix and a great pomegranate martini rimmer and was set for a week. Had I ran out of pomegranate martini mix I could have easily switched to cosmopolitan martinis since they offer cranberry juice at breakfast and I'm not too proud to carry down a glass to use in my cabin later.

 

Cruisenouville: I agree, most things about Alaska transcend ship and cruise line. I was just off a 10 day Radiance of the Seas last April. YOu don't happen to be sailing on her do you? If so, I got some great photos of the Radiance sharing Ketfchikan with us.

 

Oaktreeb: I will probably do Homer again as I'll be back in Alaska next year and can't imagine not spending the whole 21 days in Alaska next trip. I can only report my personal experiences (as disclaimed in my blog) and truth be told, I didn't' fall in love with Homer. It could possibly be that I lived in Anchorage at Alaska Pacific University for 8 months where a resident moose smashed my car windows eating marigolds lol. I don't begrudge those who love Homer and openly admit that I am in the minority. I know it is silly to let one bitchy merchant color an entire town:). I think for me it was more that Homer was little town but still very 'touristy'. It reminded me of any tourist town in Northern Michigan. I did enjoy the spit harbor and watching the fishermen, it just wasn't my favorite port and I would much prefer HAL switches the short port time from Homer to Kodiak. However, that will certainly miff others because while Kodiak was my personal favorite stop, most of those I spoke with who just walked into town didn't like this port at all. I'm not thrashing Homer and am thankful for my time there, it simply wasn't my favorite port :).

 

Ok, off to write more of the review. I love the questions and am happy to relive my trip with all of you,

 

Cheryl :)

[themerle]

I absolutely loved your review and photos. You did a fantasy job! Thanks for sharing. I would love to do the 14 day cruise when my DH retires. We have been to ALaska three times, cruising and land travel. We just can't seem to get enough!

[nannylynn]

this is great. we are going the 23rd. I can not wait. I have a question that may be you can answer. I know when you are on a ship and you buy another cruise they either give you shipboard credit or a lower price. Do you know what they do as I want to take another HAL cruise in January.

[disneybuddie4]

Thanks Cheryl for the info. NCL kept the bottles that you bought until you got off the ship. Since your bottle was waiting for you in your room, did you contact HAL before you cruised or once you got on board did you purchase it? I hope I don't miss your last part of your blog. I keep returning every day to check it out! I had our kids check out your blog and they are so excited for their chance to see everything everyone is talking about. Do you have any preference for what glacier you see?

 

Karen

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

Sorry for going missing. Chris surprised me with a weekend in Northern Michigan which helped me to get over Alaska with drawls. I didn't see whales, but Northern Michigan looks very similar to Alaska and we did run into a bear crossing the road :eek:

 

Disneybuddy: I preordered the Absolute from HAL. This is something that HAL still allows. I know that RCL no longer allows you to stock a bar for your cabin. I paid $32.00 (no tax) and the bottle was waiting for me in the cabin. If you make this call, you will want to make sure that you aren't charged tax on the bottle. To avoid this, ask that the bottle is delivered as soon as you are 'at sea'. I actually forgot to make that request and still wasn't charged tax, but I think I just got lucky. HAL will take bottles of alcohol you purchase in their duty free stores or on shore and keep them until the end of the cruise. Those stores are much cheaper (2 bottles of Absolute for $30.00), but I felt that the $32.00 was well worth it for me to have a martini in the cabin anytime I wanted.

 

Nannylynn: This question has been debated on the regular HAL forum and I will default to one of the regular posters there to answer. I do believe there has been a recent policy change. I typically don't purchase until final payment is due and on this trip, the price never lowered after that.

 

Themerele: It is addicting, huh??? A good addicting :)

 

I'm going to work on the review a bit more :)

 

Cheryl :)