Observations of my 1st HAL cruise

[GORDONCHICK]

Alaska Explorer itinerary on the Oosterdam sailed out of Seattle on 5/22:

 

This was our 7th cruise. We are me (46), DH (55) & DS (10). We vacation 3-4 times per year with one of those being a cruise each year. We've only cruised in inside cabins. We've been cruising since DS was 3.5.

 

We had an inside cabin on the Main Deck (1), and we have to say, this was our favorite inside cabin ever. Great location, loved the layout and the space. DS was a little bummed that his bed wasn't a pullman but he got over it. Our stewards were very nice and attentive. They made some really fun towel animals for DS.

 

In order to stave off the norovirus, you were served in the buffet. I understood the reasoning but was very glad when the 48 hour "quarratine" was lifted. I saw very few people using hand sanitizers, which was a little disheartening. The buffet was pretty decent but this seemed to be where the rude people held their conventions. When did a walker or cane entitle someone to cut in front of a 10yo for ice cream??? I am glad to say that my 10yo had better manners than many of his & my elders.

 

The infamous teak decks - sorry for those of you who love them, but I still don't get the big deal about the decks. Maybe it's the summers I spent bleaching the decks of our solid teak wood 1959 Owens cabin cruiser growing up... Yay for those of you who love them, but to me, they were just decks to walk on.

 

We ate dinner in the MDR every night. Our servers were wonderful. We had requested a large table but instead got a table for just our family. The up side to this was was went at our own pace, which was usually faster than everyone else (we didn't always have something from each course). The food was overall pretty good, but I know DH would like less foofy food, but he dealt with it.

 

As far as attire in the MDR goes, we saw jeans (let me know if some of you need smelling salts) as very common on casual nights. I did see someone turned away from the dining room who was wearing shorts on a casual night. He was asked to go back to his cabin and put long pants on and return. The MDR staff wheeled his wife to their table while he went to change clothes. Formal nights were more like Sunday best instead of formal. In case you're wondering what we wore - we only wore jeans to the MDR on embarkation evening and our last evening (ship was docking in Victoria as we were finishing up). I wore cocktail dresses on formal nights and both DH & DS wore suits and ties.

 

For those who like to triumph Glacier Bay over Hubbard, we were underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong - glaciers are pretty incredible, but Hubbard is so massive in height and width and the amount of blue ice.

 

DS loved Club HAL and spent tons of time there. They even made pretzels from scratch.

 

We thought the overall tone of the cruise was much more sedate than we like (especially me). Not enough going on during the days though I did enjoy the culinary demos. Will we do another HAL cruise? I won't say never because we are more itinerary driven.

 

These are just my observations. Feel free to ask questions.

[Sandi3667]

I was on the same cruise. We're already planning the next one. It was the first cruise for anyone in our group, but we loved it.

 

We had noticed issues with the hand sanitizers too. We had problems with people using them in quick succession. After a while, if someone had just used it, we wouldn't even try, since they seemed to take a while to reset.

 

We too had requested a large table, but ended up at a table that sat just our group. It was fine with us - the stewards were wonderful. It was a harsh adjustment when I went out to dinner tonight, and no one laid my napkin in my lap....and we had to pay them before we left.

[erewhon]

Thank you both for the reports of your cruise.

Sometimes the hand sanitizers do take a while to reset.

I always carry my little sanitizer container with me to use after handling the menu.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the reviews.

 

We also like Hubbard Glacier better.

[kazu]

Thanks for the reviews. Interesting observations. Welcome home. Try not to go through too much cruise withdrawal;)

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review, I think Alaska tends to be a little more casual than say Europe.

 

Kirk

[room010]

Thanks for such an objective review. It pretty much sums up our HAL experience in Alaska although we weren't travelling with a young 'un! The hand sanitizer thing is a constant point of debate. Considerate people use them whenever they walk past or they don't use them at all :mad:

[hpf]

Thanks for your reviews of your Alaska cruise,I agree with the poster here in the quote below. :)

 

Thanks for such an objective review. It pretty much sums up our HAL experience in Alaska although we weren't travelling with a young 'un! The hand sanitizer thing is a constant point of debate. Considerate people use them whenever they walk past or they don't use them at all :mad:

 

I also carry a smal bottle of sanitizer with me for those times I am in the dining room after handeling the menu's or the lido if we need to touch the railing's for steadiness as we notice a lot do not use the sanitizers when going into the lido to eat.

 

Now you can start planning for another cruise and maybe we will meet sometime. Happy Cruising all.

Helen. :)

[cruz chic]

Yeah, I don't get the whole teak deck thing either. Glad it's not just me. Thanks for letting us know your observations.

[cruz chic]

Thanks for such an objective review. It pretty much sums up our HAL experience in Alaska although we weren't travelling with a young 'un! The hand sanitizer thing is a constant point of debate. Considerate people use them whenever they walk past or they don't use them at all :mad:

Washing hands is a lot more effective then the sanitizer. I use it all the time but I prefer to wash my hands if possible.

[Assateague Island Princes]

Carmen - thanx so much for your observations! I could not agree more about Hubbard vs. Glacier Bay. There is so much debate about it on the Alaska boards, and I almost feel like a rebel when I state my opinion that Hubbard is magnificent, awe-inspiring, and just plain overwhelming, as compared to Glacier Bay! Don't get me wrong, very much enjoyed our sail thru GB last year, but Hubbard just takes my breath away - every time! I'm about to visit it for the fourth time this Aug. 5th, and I'm STILL as excited as I was the first time we sailed up to its massive face.

[jmbdt]

Thanks for your review. We will be doing the same or similar itinerary on the Westerdam in June. I am so glad to hear your DS loved Club HAL. I have 2 DS's 10 and 11 going with us. Last year we did an off season Princess and they hated the kids club. The main problem I believe was that so few kids meant Princess combined all age groups together. I will be spending a fair amount of time attending a conference on board this cruise, so really hoping they enjoy Club HAL. I was initially disappointed that our itinerary does not include Glacier Bay, but after reading the boards, I am now thrilled we will be at Hubbard instead.

[Cruising-along]

Thanks for the review, we'll be taking this cruise next year.

How were the ports, and what did you do in each place?

[GORDONCHICK]

Thanks for the review, we'll be taking this cruise next year.

How were the ports, and what did you do in each place?

 

 

Juneau - we did whale watching independently, Saw lots of whales and eagles. Plenty of time in this port.

 

Sitka - very charming stop still. No DI anywhere in sight. We went to the salmon hatchery and the raptor center. Other than having to tender (on the lifeboats), there are no negatives about this port.

 

Ketchikan - NOT ENOUGH TIME IN PORT!!! Had to be back on board shortly after noon. We did the DUCK tour here.

 

Victoria - we were supposed to be docked earlier, but we couldn't get off until 7:30p or so. Had to be back on by 11:30p. It's the obligatory "foreign" stop, but we would have liked more time here. We took a shuttle into town and walked to Chinatown but because it was so late, many shops were closed. I wonder how the city tours were, because there wasn't time for much else.

[beccawes7471]

Great review. We are leaving on this itinerary this Sunday 06/05/11 and will be travelling with our ds (11) and dd(2). I am so glad to hear he enjoyed the kids club. Our only other cruise has been Disney. HAL said there are about 170 children on our cruise. Our son is very excited for the whole experience. Did you see any shows as a family? Movies? We are in an inside cabin as well, so again I appreciated your feedback. Any packing tips to share? I have gone over so many but keep taking things out and then putting them back:) Glad you had a nice time.

[sail7seas]

Thanks for your review. I read it with interest.

 

I do wonder though what sort of material you prefer decks be made of that would be superior, in your opinion, to the lovely teak?

 

Welcome Back.

 

[Cruising-along]

Juneau - we did whale watching independently, Saw lots of whales and eagles. Plenty of time in this port.

 

Sitka - very charming stop still. No DI anywhere in sight. We went to the salmon hatchery and the raptor center. Other than having to tender (on the lifeboats), there are no negatives about this port.

 

Ketchikan - NOT ENOUGH TIME IN PORT!!! Had to be back on board shortly after noon. We did the DUCK tour here.

 

Victoria - we were supposed to be docked earlier, but we couldn't get off until 7:30p or so. Had to be back on by 11:30p. It's the obligatory "foreign" stop, but we would have liked more time here. We took a shuttle into town and walked to Chinatown but because it was so late, many shops were closed. I wonder how the city tours were, because there wasn't time for much else.

 

Thank you! I have to admit I was puzzled at the list of ports, I didn't realize that there is a 7-day Explorer as well as the 14-day Explorer, that we'll be taking. And even worse, if I had looked closer at your departure date, this would have been clear to me! :o

 

I agree, that wasn't enough time in Ketchikan! Also sorry about the late docking in Victoria.

[Sandi3667]

Before we went on our cruise, I wondered what movies they ran. I have my Explorers from last week. We sailed May 22 on the Oosterdam. On Sunday, they ran "Rabbit Hole". The next day was a Kenny Chesney concert movie. On Glacier Bay day, they played the documentary "Oceans". Juneau day was "Hereafter". We were in port all day, so didn't have time to see this. Sitka day was "The Dilemma". Before dinner on Friday, I saw "Little Fockers"

 

Being first-time cruisers, most of our excursions were booked through HAL. In Juneau, we did the gold panning first. Had a great tour - we all enjoyed it..and the gold we found. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to pay off the cruise. Might be able to buy a coffee with it. I think I'll keep it as a souvenier. The driver gave us a nice tour of Juneau on the way up & back.

 

It was sunny in Juneau, so we then took the tram up to Mt. Roberts. Most of the trails were closed due to snow, so we had lunch at the restaurant, then came back down. We went on the Whale Watching Quest through Allen Marine. The bus driver gave a great tour on the way to & from the marina, and we saw lots of humpbacks, orcas, and even some seals, and a sea otter. We had time for shopping, and were back on the ship well before all aboard time.

 

In Sitka, we over-booked our excursions, and left no time for shopping. :( We took the Russian cultural tour, and really enjoyed it. The tour was running late, so our driver took us back separately so we could make the second excursion. In hindsight, we didn't need to do the Sea Otter Quest, since we saw the same animals that we saw on the Whale Watching Quest. Live & learn, but it was a great trip anyway.

 

In Ketchikan, we had to do the Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour. 3/4 of our group watches Deadliest Catch, so that was a no-brainer. Thoroughly enjoyed it, and will take it again. Since the port time was so short, we didn't have time to hit Creek Street. We're looking at doing another Alaska cruise in the future, and I'm looking at the 14-day itinerary, since it has a few more ports, and more time in the ones we've already hit.

 

In Victoria, we were late docking, and it cut down on our times. Butchart Gardens was nice, but rushed. We went to the Butterfly Gardens afterwards, but the butterflies were all asleep at 10:15 at night. We should have done just the Butchart only tour. One of the group had never seen Butchart before, so we had to take a tour that went there. The driver cut the time short at the butterflies, so we had a nice tour of Victoria on the way back to the pier. Great viewing of the Parliamentary buildings all lit up at night.

[GORDONCHICK]

I do wonder though what sort of material you prefer decks be made of that would be superior, in your opinion, to the lovely teak?

 

 

Personally, I don't really care what the deck are made of as long as they're even, clean and not slippery when wet. Again, I think I got over teak long ago in my teens, though I have seen some lovely Danish furniture made of it (it would have been beautiful in other woods but that is their prefered wood to work with).

[sail7seas]

I was interested to know what you think superior to teak or more to your liking.

I truly thought I would learn something as I've never yet seen a better material but there certainly could be something about which I am unfamiliar.

 

I can't imagine what makes a more attractive, 'better' deck. Some (many? most?) woods are not appropriate to the sea air/salt water etc

 

 

[Himself]

Thanks for the review. I happen to love the Teak Deck but realize that I am supposed to walk for a couple of miles each day and I love to walk the teak decks. Walking is good for anyone and everyone, particularly for someone with diabetes or a heart condition. I happen to have both.

[Boytjie]

Considerate people use them whenever they walk past or they don't use them at all :mad:

 

And some people do what's actually much better: thorough hand washing. :D

 

It's funny to see people take the hand sanitizer and do the once-over with their hands as if it had a chance to do what it can (which is not kill all the bugs)

[Plnrboy]

I agree with you all, not enough time in ports... if you advertise ports with short times try to hit those. We seemed to be late with al our port times. I had a great time even with the short time in some ports.

 

As far as excursions we did the whale watching in Juneau, and walked the towns in the other two ports. My favorite was Juneau mainly because i could wear shorts and it was sunny. Loved it. Loved Victoria but couldn't do much there because of the lateness. I think the Captain should not worry about hand shaking and start worring about getting his boat to port on time. :eek: