TRIP REPORT- Y5L Land&Sea on Zuiderdam May 28-June 7

[Kittikate]

My family of 10 embarked on the HAL Land and Sea Y5L tour Southbound from Anchorage to Vancouver on May 28. Weather was very overcast and light rain most of the time. few sunny days but it was a great experience! We had the Explore4 package, Meal plan and booked thru AAA. the one thing about our land and sea tour, we did not realize just HOW much traveling we would be doing. if u arent patient/comfortable sitting on a bus/train for 6-8 hrs a day, dont pick this tour. but alaska/yukon is huge and its the only way to see everything. i was traveling with a 2 yr old as well- most of our needs were met for him (pack and play) but i did have to ask at a few hotels to get one and it was a lot of work to keep him occupied and not bother other travelers. the ship itself didnt have much for him to do. HAL very good with transporting luggage along the way but lots of luggage tags u have to fill out and have bags out early AM before departure. pack light!

 

May 28- We arrived a "day" early in Anchorage at 12:30PM and stayed at the Hilton. We used Shuttleman for our airport transfer since HAL doesnt do transfers after midnight. Modest accomodations, good location in the city. Breakfast at Snow City Cafe was awesome. Visited Ulu Factory, did the Portage Glacier tour through Greyline Tours. excellent exursion to see Turnagain Arm, Glacier, and Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Met our Land Tour Director Amanda- absolutely sweet and amazing girl! she did a lot to help us out on the whole land portion of the trip. Had dinner at Glacier Brewhouse- amazing. make a reservation.

 

May 29- Embarked to Denali Natl Park on the McKinley Explorer Train. Very scenic, (long) nice trip. meals were a little slow on train but good.

did the Husky Homestead excursion- it was rainy but very fun to see pups. Jeff King definitely is a little full of himself.. he won the iditarod like 10 yrs ago and still glotes about it. Accomodations at McKinley chalet were nice- but not much activities to do at actual resort. rooms far and downhill from main building- shuttle comes often. food was great at chalet. also ate across the st at Prospectors pizza and the Salmon Bake restaurant closer to Princess Lodge. expensive but fresh good food.

 

May 30- Had 7am Tundra Wilderness tour in Denali. a rainy day again but we saw at least 20 grizzly bears, some even walked up to our bus. it was amazing. driver said he hadn't seen that many bear in a long time, we were lucky. he didnt drive us out to eilson center which everyone says has better views. only up to Toklat center but McKinley was completely covered in clouds anyway.

 

May 31- Took shuttle back to Denali to hike on our own until our 2pm Departure to Fairbanks. definitely take time to explore the park if u can, its beautiful. about 3 hr motorcoach to fairbanks.. it wasn't a great city and there was a power outage at the Westmark when we arrived due to high winds. staff did their best to accomodate us until it came back on. we arrived so late (dinner time) that didnt feel like doing much in fairbanks. kind of felt more like a "layover" to Dawson and wasted trip. Our meal plan started at dinner in fairbanks. food wasn't the best in hotel.

 

June 1- Flight from fairbanks to Dawson. easy flight 1 hr. Dawson very neat town to walk around. Westmark is rustic but neat. restaurant is good, large portions. had lunch at Sourdough Joes- good halibut and chips. Went to the Downtown Hotel for a Sourtoe shot at 9pm with our tour group. fun saloon.

 

June 2- motorcoach to Whitehorse. very very long ride. but plenty of stops along way. didn't feel as bad as we expected but exhausting trip. stop in Minto for chili was good. Whitehorse not much of an exciting town either. had meals in hotel- was ok food, large portions. signed up for frantic follies show so that we had something to do. very corny show but fun i guess. after traveling for almost 8 hrs earlier that day we were ready for bed early.

 

June 3- back in the motorcoach for another few hrs drive to Fraser. nice stops along the way. boarded white pass train for nice scenic ride to skagway. transition was easy but we had an excursion booked at 1:30 for Glacier Point Wilderness safari so we didnt board right away. excursion was fantastic but rainy day again. we had great boat ride to the point, boarded a school bus, met the guys that live on the isolated point, were fitted w rain gear, (barely) canoed up to glacier, walked around and came back. saw a ton of sea lions. neat exprience. def bring mosquito spray! boarded boat, had dinner in main dining room. not much of an introduction to boat- had to learn our way around. we were surprised with an upgraded to a Neptune Suite. absolutely fantastic.

 

June 4- cruised glacier bay- absolutely stunning and beautiful day finally. had the signature bev package- being able to order drinks whenever was great. we never maxed out- plenty of options.

 

June 5- stopped in Ketchikan. signed up for Halibut Hunt excursion. was early season but it was a beautiful sunny day on the water and we caught 1 halibut, 2 rockfish. fed a wild eagle one of our fish. my husband did the bering sea crabboat and loved it- they fed a whole pack of bald eagles as well- at least 50!

 

June 6- cruised inside passage. had dinner at Pinnacle Grill. absolutely amazing King Crab legs. a must visit.

 

June 7- disembarked ship and had a 1pm flight out of Vancouver. back to philadelphia :(

 

 

my personal opinion- i loved the trip, but i wish we could have picked an itinerary that saw more of the alaskan coast. we picked this one bc my father is into the gold rush/ice road truckers scene but we got into the towns so late no one wanted to do anything there. but it was neat to see the gold rush trail and untouched nature. will def be back!

[nana51]

Thanks for the review. I'm doing a kind of similar, shorter, land portion but I was interested in how the explorer train ride was and the hotel in Denali. You answered those questions. I think I've read just about everything I can on my upcoming cruise.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post a review of your land/sea cruise on the Zuiderdam. It sounds like you were so busy doing all that traveling, you could have used a week long cruise doing the inside passage.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

You were smart to do the land portion first and then the cruise so that you could rest up before the long flight home.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[mipo777]

Thanks for the good review. My family was initially interested in this trip but it sounded like too much bus time to me so I talked them into the Triple Denali & then the full 7 day cruise. Sounds like that was a good plan. When did you get the info on the Tundra tour, hotels, ect? We are assuming that our Tundra tour will be the 1st day we are in Denali & book an ATV tour & Husky Homestead for the next day. Hopefully we didn't guess incorrectly. :)

[Keith1010]

Thank you for taking the time to write and then share your trip report.

 

Keith

[pv girl]

Been waiting for some reviews on this land trip, and posted such a request a while back. Interesting that you found too little time in the towns. Makes us rethink plans, maybe doing the longer version with more time in Dawson and Fairbanks.

[oaktreerb]

I, too, have been waiting for reviews on this trip. I was wondering how the flight from Fairbanks to Dawson City was from a passenger perspective, TSA, etc. It saved you 2 days that previously were long days traveling on the bus to get from Fairbanks to Dawson City.

 

Both Dawson City and Whitehorse have opportunities for visitors but you need to have time (2 days) to experience what they have to offer. I especially enjoyed Dawson City. Did you get to sail on the Yukon River?

 

If you want to see more of the coastal area next time you might enjoy the 14 day cruise that goes to Homer and Kodiak.

 

I enjoyed your review.

[shrimpboat123]

We did the 19 day Yukon/Denali Plus (Y4T) Land & Sea tour last year. Trip report in my signature.

 

If anyone is thinking about doing a Land Tour, I recommend you book one that does at least 2 night stays in each location. I also recommend staying 3 nights in Denali.

 

As the OP has mentioned, you get into town too late to do anything and hence need another day to see any of the sites.

[agabbymama]

 

"May 29- Embarked to Denali Natl Park on the McKinley Explorer Train. Very scenic, (long) nice trip. meals were a little slow on train but good.

did the Husky Homestead excursion- it was rainy but very fun to see pups. Jeff King definitely is a little full of himself.. he won the iditarod like 10 yrs ago and still glotes about it. Accomodations at McKinley chalet were nice- but not much activities to do at actual resort. rooms far and downhill from main building- shuttle comes often. food was great at chalet. also ate across the st at Prospectors pizza and the Salmon Bake restaurant closer to Princess Lodge. expensive but fresh good food."

 

Funny your opinion of Jeff King doesn't resemble mine AT ALL! He has actually won the Iditarod 4 times in 1993, 1996, 1998 & 2006, and does still run the Iditarod race at 58 and was leading again in 2014, but had to scratch in a severe storm. I have followed the Iditarod for a number of years, and to me the guts and fortitude of the individuals (men and women) that take on this 1000 + mile race on a dog sled is totally admirable, and they have every right to be a little full of themselves. Most of us on this board aren't brave enough to even venture to Alaska in the Winter, let alone think of making a trek like they do.

 

I enjoyed Husky Homestead immensely (meeting Jeff and his wife at the time, Donna and their daughters). Seeing their home by the lake. Holding the pups. Learning a little more about the training of the dogs, and the Iditarod.

 

Not everyone is pleased with all the various excursions, thank goodness there are an assortment so we can all enjoy our visit to Alaska![/color]

Edited June 11, 2014 by agabbymama

[portofrome]

Thanks for the review.

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[wyobean]

Thanks for this review. We leave out of Vancouver on June 28 doing the cruise first. Getting excited and hoping for decent weather.

 

 

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[erewhon]

Thanks for your review.

[northernphoenix]

How did you rate the Westmark hotel accommodations? I have read some pretty dismal reviews on Trip Advisor, re: cleanliness, poor service, etc.

Marilyn

 

 

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