slimsunshine Posted May 11, 2012 #1 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Our First cruise...really need some help. Booked on HAL Y4T Dawson Denali cruise tour which starts the land portion in Vancouver on 6th June , fly to Whitehorse next day and eventually join the cruise at Seward to return via inside passage to Vancouver. We are a bit confused about documenation for this tour. Have trolled through the HAL website but cant find out if we will be sent anything before we arrive in Vancouver.( We have booked our own flights from the UK). Just under 4 weeks to go and we still do not know what hotels we are due to stay in. Have emailed HAL but they are a little slow in getting back to us. Keep reading on this forum about printing off emarkation 'things'. Can any one give us any idea details about what we should receive before we leave the UK. ? Should we be printing off anything ? Sorry to be so stupid.!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jemenybostons@verizon.net Posted May 11, 2012 #2 Share Posted May 11, 2012 We are doing the Y5 tour in August. We contacted HAL about hotels. They told us we should received the information about 30days before the cruise. so I would think you should receive something shortly. If not I would call them to at least find out where you are staying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irisheileen Posted May 11, 2012 #3 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Have you gone to the Alaska board yet? It is a very active board and you will get alot of tips there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimsunshine Posted May 12, 2012 Author #4 Share Posted May 12, 2012 Have you gone to the Alaska board yet? It is a very active board and you will get alot of tips there. No, I'm new to this site...I'll try Alaska board. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipity1499 Posted May 12, 2012 #5 Share Posted May 12, 2012 Have you gone to the Alaska board yet? It is a very active board and you will get alot of tips there. The Alaska Board will not be of any use to her for her documentation for a HAL Cruise Tour! The Alaska board is a general board for all cruise lines & is more about ports & sightseeing.. No, I'm new to this site...I'll try Alaska board.thanks Don't bother with the Alaska Board, but you may want to join your roll call & see if there are any others who will be on the Tour with you..You don't mention what ship you are on & the date of departure from Seward..But go into the Roll call boards... http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=86 Hit on the above link & scroll down to find your ship..Hit that link & then find the date of departure out of Seward to YVR..There might be others on the same tour who could give you some idea what you should do..If not it's best if you contact HAL or your Travel Agent to see what hotel you will be in.. Good luck & hope you have a lovely time..We took a HAL tour first & then the ship from Seward & loved it.. Cheers...Betty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oaktreerb Posted May 12, 2012 #6 Share Posted May 12, 2012 Have you printed your travel documents? Hal will want to know your flight arrangements. The HAL website shows that you will be staying at the Fairmont Airport Hotel in Vancouver and will fly with your tour group to Whitehorse the next day. Once you make contact with Holland America in Vancouver you will be part of the tour group until you arrive back in Vancouver at the end of your cruise. Do you have your booking number? Since your cruise is less than a month away your travel documents should be ready to print and any travel consultant at Holland America should be able to help you with that if you require assistance. If you don't have your booking number ask them to find it for you. We always do the on-line check in but you need the booking number. This is a wonderful tour and once you have met your tour director everything will be taken care of and you just sit back and enjoy your vacation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oaktreerb Posted May 12, 2012 #7 Share Posted May 12, 2012 HAL cruise tours stay at their own Westmark Hotels in the Yukon and Alaska and at the McKinley Chalets at Denali National Park. The hotels are clean and the food is good. These hotels reflect their communities....they are not resorts (except for the Chalets which is a national park hotel). When you arrive at each location your tour director will give you a packet of information including your room key so that you never have to check in or out. You can go to your room and your luggage will be delivered to your room. If you have purchased the meal plan you will eat at the hotel. Otherwise you can choose to dine elsewhere.... most travelers will eat at the hotel at least for the first night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmoo here Posted May 12, 2012 #8 Share Posted May 12, 2012 HAL cruise tours stay at their own Westmark Hotels in the Yukon and Alaska and at the McKinley Chalets at Denali National Park. The hotels are clean and the food is good. These hotels reflect their communities....they are not resorts (except for the Chalets which is a national park hotel). When you arrive at each location your tour director will give you a packet of information including your room key so that you never have to check in or out. You can go to your room and your luggage will be delivered to your room. If you have purchased the meal plan you will eat at the hotel. Otherwise you can choose to dine elsewhere.... most travelers will eat at the hotel at least for the first night. Do we tip the maids? :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oaktreerb Posted May 12, 2012 #9 Share Posted May 12, 2012 Do we tip the maids? :) Entirely up to you. You are only there to sleep one to two nights. HAL has a tip sheet to help with tipping and does not mention tipping of hotel staff but does mention drivers, tour directors, train managers, etc. It is under the "Before you Go" section I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irisheileen Posted May 12, 2012 #10 Share Posted May 12, 2012 The Alaska Board will not be of any use to her for her documentation for a HAL Cruise Tour! The Alaska board is a general board for all cruise lines & is more about ports & sightseeing.. Don't bother with the Alaska Board, but you may want to join your roll call & see if there are any others who will be on the Tour with you..You don't mention what ship you are on & the date of departure from Seward..But go into the Roll call boards... http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=86 Hit on the above link & scroll down to find your ship..Hit that link & then find the date of departure out of Seward to YVR..There might be others on the same tour who could give you some idea what you should do..If not it's best if you contact HAL or your Travel Agent to see what hotel you will be in.. Good luck & hope you have a lovely time..We took a HAL tour first & then the ship from Seward & loved it.. Cheers...Betty The OP is NEW to CC and is taking an Alaskan Cruise....so....I directed him to check out the Alaska board for more TIPS FOR HIS FIRST CRUISE. When I was new to CC I was very happy to find the Alaska board where I researched for 1 year ahead. It saved me alot of time and $$$ in the ports. I stand by my suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimsunshine Posted May 13, 2012 Author #11 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Have you printed your travel documents? Hal will want to know your flight arrangements. The HAL website shows that you will be staying at the Fairmont Airport Hotel in Vancouver and will fly with your tour group to Whitehorse the next day. Once you make contact with Holland America in Vancouver you will be part of the tour group until you arrive back in Vancouver at the end of your cruise. Do you have your booking number? Since your cruise is less than a month away your travel documents should be ready to print and any travel consultant at Holland America should be able to help you with that if you require assistance. If you don't have your booking number ask them to find it for you. We always do the on-line check in but you need the booking number. This is a wonderful tour and once you have met your tour director everything will be taken care of and you just sit back and enjoy your vacation. I have the booking numbeer of the cruise tour, so I think my best bet is to book in on line...and then see where we go from there. This appears to be quite strange to me, normally everything is confirmed by post or email but since the original confirmation from HAL the only contact we've had has been a letter informing us of a change to the itenerary in Dawson, due to the boat not now running from Dawson to Eagle...or as they put it 'Operational reasons'! Still no reply from HAL from my email sent 3 days ago regarding hotels. Thanks for all the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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