was anyone disappointed that was on..

[Muffinis#1]

Was anyone disappointed that was on the Ooasterdam July 8-15 from Seattle to Alaska?

I was so excited to go and could not hardly wait but the trip just wasn't what I was expecting....just wanted to know if anyone else was disappointed?:cool:

[erewhon]

Please tell us what was so disappointing.

[Muffinis#1]

well the weather was great but I didn't see any sea animals and I was really upset that we didn't go closer to the glaciers in Tracy Arms, I thought there would be alot of big Iceburgs and glaciers to see.... and how do I put this.....the ship was beautiful but I felt like it was closed in more that the other cruises I have been on... the out side space was ok but not many people could be out at once. I didn't see any whales or dolpins, I just thought it would have been alot more than it was.......the cities was beautiful

[itzmered]

you have to be either out on deck or watching out a window a lot to see the whales and porpoises. You are on a huge cruise ship and they are little down in the water. Binoculars are a must on an alaskan cruise. There wasnt a day that we didnt see quite a few whales. Sorry you were disappointed.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Last I heard the whales and sea life refused to renew their performing contract around the Oosterdam, heard their agent only allowed them to perform for excursions ;). :D

[DizzyDallasDi]

Last I heard the whales and sea life refused to renew their performing contract around the Oosterdam, heard their agent only allowed them to perform for excursions ;). :D

 

Good one! :)

[rajkr74]

It's a gamble on whether you will see whales and dolphins or not. But having taken 2 Alaska cruises the more I spent out on the deck the more I saw....but that meant in the rain sometimes.

 

Our first cruise to Alaska in 2007 we had mostly rain, last year we had great weather. But any cruise is better than no cruise and I refuse to have anything disappoint us in not having fun on a cruise. Like water off a ducks back.

[PathfinderEss]

well the weather was great but I didn't see any sea animals and I was really upset that we didn't go closer to the glaciers in Tracy Arms, I thought there would be alot of big Iceburgs and glaciers to see.... and how do I put this.....the ship was beautiful but I felt like it was closed in more that the other cruises I have been on... the out side space was ok but not many people could be out at once. I didn't see any whales or dolpins, I just thought it would have been alot more than it was.......the cities was beautiful

I understand how you feel, and it does happen where you don't see much willd life from the cruise ship. Best to take a tour that does whale watching, I think you see alot more on those tours then on the ship. Did you see any bald eagle's?

[MR NW GUY]

well the weather was great but I didn't see any sea animals and I was really upset that we didn't go closer to the glaciers in Tracy Arms, I thought there would be alot of big Iceburgs and glaciers to see.... and how do I put this.....the ship was beautiful but I felt like it was closed in more that the other cruises I have been on... the out side space was ok but not many people could be out at once. I didn't see any whales or dolpins, I just thought it would have been alot more than it was.......the cities was beautiful

Hi Muffin's -

 

I understand your disapointment. I have been to Alaska on 4-different ships and the experience is generally the same as you described. To see the glaciers up close, you really need to go to Glacier Bay and not Tracy Arm. If you make it back to Alaska, you ight want to take advantage of the excursions to really explore and see nature. We were there the last week of June and experienced some great wild life, but not from the ship. We did sea kayaking in Ketchican and saw humpback whales up close along with some curious harbor seals. When in Juneau you you can take a helicopter to the glaciers or a high speed boat to Tracy Arm which is a great way to see the glacier closer. We actually saw 2 brown bears while in route to Tracy Arm on the excursion.

 

Hopefully, you can experience Alaska again some day and experience the wild life...

[kazu]

Last I heard the whales and sea life refused to renew their performing contract around the Oosterdam, heard their agent only allowed them to perform for excursions ;). :D

 

Too funny:D OP - sorry you were disappointed.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sorry that you were disappointed in your cruise.

You really should have booked excursions where you do go out to see whales and sea life. Sounds like you didin't do this.

As for Tracy Arm -- sometimes we have been able to get very close -- sometimes we haven't. The last 2 years we were lucky to get very close. Last year we couldn't get close to Hubbard Glacier -- but this year we got very close and saw some wonderful calving.

Usually you do not see a lot of whales and sea life from the ships -- ths year we did. Luck of the draw.

Don't know what other cruise ships you have been on -- but I have never felt closed in on any HAL ship.

[catl331]

Two cruises to Alaska with one land tour: no whales, dolphins, otters, bears. Did see six wolves!! Moose were sighted. Both cruises included cloudy or foggy days. Went to Hawaii in the winter and got our fill of whales. Actually were saying "oh no, another one!" We did visit Glacier Nat. Pk and were very happy. No huge bergs and no seals but fantastic. We saw Mendenhall G.in Juneau and another glacier on our first trip to Alaska.

 

Can't control the weather and the animals. We had a great time though on the Amsterdam and Statendam and never felt there wasn't enough space outside for the passengers. Always love the Crow's Nest!

[uppitycats]

I think people don't realize just how BIG cruise ships are, and how HIGH UP they are from the water. Whales are big as well, but really tiny next to one of these mega-cruise ships.

 

And all that ice you see on top of the water at a glacier? There's at least that much below the surface -- and you don't want to be on board any sort of vessel that hits it! So none of the cruise ships can go in very close.

 

As everyone said, if you really want to see wildlife, you have to go on some of the many excursions offered by the cruise lines, to do that. And even then there is no solid guarantee (some will offer your money back if you don't...but even if all you see is a tail flapping, you won't get a refund). And of course weather conditions, wave conditions, will impact what you see as well.

 

We went on a whale watching excursion in a small boat..but the waves were so high it was very difficult to see anything (not to mention, several folks got seasick) as you were never sure you were seeing a whale or simply a crashing wave. We finally near the end saw a whale breaching, but that ws after nearly 3 hours of watching.

 

It was still lovely.

 

I don't know about the particular ship you were on, OP..we were on the Amsterdam. There were plenty of windows, plenty of deck space for watching...just, from that distance and height, you really can't expect to see much.

[sapper1]

Last I heard the whales and sea life refused to renew their performing contract around the Oosterdam, heard their agent only allowed them to perform for excursions ;). :D

 

Hopefully they will be able to reach some sort of an agreement before HAL loses customers to other cruise lines that may have a more attractive wildlife sighting contract. :)

[Sage]

If it is truly whales that you want to see, go to Hawaii between December and April. We saw more whales than any trip to Alaska. The whales are mostly feeding in Alaska, whereas in Hawaii, they are mating, and put on a much bigger show. When we were there, many were spotted from the ship, and on our shore excursion to Maui, we were literally surrounded by whales.

[3rdGenCunarder]

We have yet to see a whale from a cruise ship. Even if you're in the "right" place, it's a matter of luck and timing. I agree with the posters who way that your best bet is to take a tour specifically to see whales or other wildlife. Our table companions on our Alaska cruise did a whale watch trip and saw whales and eagles. (I forget which port that was)

 

You're never going to see icebergs in Alaska waterways.The chunks that calve off the glaciers are small compared to an iceberg. We did a late Sept cruise to Alaska, and we did get very far up Tracy Arm. The naturalist on board explained that there are a lot of restrictions on cruise ships. One of those restrictions is not going to far up Tracy Arm early in the season while the young seals and their mothers are still on the ice floes.

 

I don't know if you've done other cruises, but if you do any cruises in the future, keep your expectations flexible, especially where wildlife is concerned. The photos in HAL's brochures aren't fake, but they do raise expectaions. Remember that they show what you might see, not what you will see.

[HamburgAvonLady]

Wakepatrol : BE NICE !!!!!!!!!!! (chuckle).

[kcscrapper]

What everyone else said AND Alaska requires binoculars ... at all times!

On the land tour, everyone in your party needs to have their own binocs. Our first trip in Denali, the guide would "point out" wildlife and by the time the shared binocs got to me, and I got them adjusted, and located where the guide had pointed ... nothing. The second time, all of that changed and everyone saw tons of wildlife!

Same on the cruise ... at least one pair of binocs was stationed by the balcony door.

The area in Alaska is huge, it isn't a zoo, and the wildlife is that -- wild and uncaged. They aren't there to perform.

[Boytjie]

In 2009 we were in Alaska on the Amsterdam. The times I saw whales from the ship was at 6 am as we were approaching Juneau (saw quite a few, not too many people out on deck that time of the morning) and around 5:00 am on the bow as we were approaching Sitka (I was the only passenger up-and-about it seemed) and I first heard something and only when I looked down did I see the whale really close to the ship.

 

A few years ago we were in Provincetown and decided to do an early morning whale watching excursion - the first one of the morning. The captain was doing his best to find some whales and we almost had to turn back when another excursion boat radioed that they were near whales. He sped over there and we only could stay for a short period since we had to head back for the next excursion.

 

So, it is all about timing and luck to see wild life anywhere. And in Provincetown we maybe should have taken a later excursion after the boats had figured out where the whales were hanging out.

 

On the Alaska cruise I really, really wanted to see bears but we didn't. We saw someone's pictures taken 10 minutes earlier of a bear right at Mendenhall glacier. That did not distract anything from a wondeful cruise in Alaska. We saw bald eagles and other birds, seals and a gazillion salmon. And I got to be up close - and on top - of glaciers even if we did not see any calving. And I saw totem poles. :D

[3rdGenCunarder]

In 2009 we were in Alaska on the Amsterdam. The times I saw whales from the ship was at 6 am as we were approaching Juneau (saw quite a few, not too many people out on deck that time of the morning) and around 5:00 am on the bow as we were approaching Sitka (I was the only passenger up-and-about it seemed) and I first heard something and only when I looked down did I see the whale really close to the ship.

 

A few years ago we were in Provincetown and decided to do an early morning whale watching excursion - the first one of the morning. The captain was doing his best to find some whales and we almost had to turn back when another excursion boat radioed that they were near whales. He sped over there and we only could stay for a short period since we had to head back for the next excursion.

 

So, it is all about timing and luck to see wild life anywhere. And in Provincetown we maybe should have taken a later excursion after the boats had figured out where the whales were hanging out.

 

On the Alaska cruise I really, really wanted to see bears but we didn't. We saw someone's pictures taken 10 minutes earlier of a bear right at Mendenhall glacier. That did not distract anything from a wondeful cruise in Alaska. We saw bald eagles and other birds, seals and a gazillion salmon. And I got to be up close - and on top - of glaciers even if we did not see any calving. And I saw totem poles. :D

 

When we cruised Tracy Arm, the naturalist said there was a point at a bend where a pair of bears often went to fish. The tide was in and their little mudflat was flooded, so they weren't there. I almost wish he hadn't told us about them. If I hadn't known that bend was a probable "bear spot" I'd have been none the wiser. But, like you, we focus on the good stuff we do see, and are glad of that.

[sail7seas]

I know this is not going to make you feel any better but I think it only fair to give another perspecitve of the same ship mere weeks apart. We sailed Oosterdam June 17, 2012.

 

I went to Alaska as a means to see friends and grant my DH a wish he's had for years. I had low expectations as to what I would enjoy other than 'the people' and really didn't expect to care too much about Oosterdam. Noordam is 'our' Vista ship.

 

Well, wow...... I LOVED Oosterdam, loved her crew, loved Alaska and Seattle and could not have had a better time. We saw eagles, otters, lots of seals and their baby pups and I know how lucky we were to go all the way through Tracy Arm. We knew that is always contingent upon conditions and there was a lot of ice but Captain was able to determine he could take us safely through. Having been on that ship, with that Captain, I Know for sure, if it is safe, he will take the ship to the Glaciers because he did so with us.

 

I am very sure no one would second guess a Captain as to what is safe at any given moment with the ship. That is totally left to him and whomever he may consult such as pilot etc

 

Yes, Tracy Arm is spectacular and the whole trip was worth that sight and I understand your disappointment but it wouldn't have mattered on which ship you were sailing..... if it wasn't safe, it wasn't safe and that is the whole consideration.

 

Oh yes..... DH did a wildlife tour and got the most amazing photo of a huge brown bear on the shore. He would not have seen that had he not taken that tour.

 

We also saw Mendenhall Glacier on your Juneau tour. REALLY up close and a magnificent view. We are tour usually organized ship's tour people but knew Alaska is one place you really have to put a little effort into your experience in order to get much out of it. I loved that Juneau tour with salmon bake lunch. It was wonderful!

 

As mentioned above, the whales and seals, eagles and otters do not 'come when called'. You either get lucky or not but the more you try to be in the right place, the better the chances.

 

DH and I saw whales twice from our verandah and considered ourselves amazingly lucky. We knew the chances were against it.

 

Hopefully, your next cruise will better meet your expectation.

 

[Bovaking]

You'll always see a few whales feeding in the Lido.

 

good one, wakepatrol! made me laugh out loud as I can clearly visualize that!!!

[igraf]

I disagree. We have cruised Alaska three times with HAL, twice on the Oosterdam, and saw LOTS of whales every time. One time I must have seen 50 spouts all in a long line. I have also watched a bald eagle fly right by the forward windows of the crow's nest.

 

One has has to spend time looking and training one's eye to catch the whale spouts and other signs of widllife. After you have seen a few, then it becomes easier.

 

igraf

 

 

 

...

Usually you do not see a lot of whales and sea life from the ships -- ths year we did. Luck of the draw...

[ellbelle]

I disagree. We have cruised Alaska three times with HAL, twice on the Oosterdam, and saw LOTS of whales every time. One time I must have seen 50 spouts all in a long line. I have also watched a bald eagle fly right by the forward windows of the crow's nest.

 

One has has to spend time looking and training one's eye to catch the whale spouts and other signs of widllife. After you have seen a few, then it becomes easier.

 

igraf

 

What time of year were your cruises? We've been five times and have seen very few whales, four were in June and one in September.

 

I agree that you need to train your eye to see whale spouts. You were so lucky to have experienced the long line of spouts!

[Jumbiecruiser]

It can be disappointing when things don't go as planned. Unfortunately wildlife do their own thing and don't run on a cruise schedule.:) Plan another trip to Alaska. Hope that your next cruise is better. HAL is a great line.