Alaska - HAL Westerdam - My Thoughts

[LilacCruiser]

Hi All!

 

I've just returned from a week on the Westerdam and thought I'd post my thoughts while I am still riding the high of it all! As this is the Alaska forum, I'll concentrate on the itinerary and ports, and do a more concise review of the Westerdam on the HAL forums. I will say here though that the Westerdam was tremendous, I have absolutely NO complaints and nothing but high regards for the ship and the staff, and would sail it again in a heartbeat. The ship and the line were PERFECT for Alaska. I miss it already.

 

We sailed from Seattle on Saturday 6/14. We flew into Seattle on Friday 6/13. Never travel the day of your cruise. You're absolutely crazy if you do. Way too much risk, and way too much stress. Lots of people stressing at the baggage claim in fear of missing their ships. Too much room for error and totally not worth it. Just my two cents :eek:

 

We used Shuttle Express and I absolutely do not recommend them. Horrible business, horrible disorganized experience. I don't fault the drivers, but the staff behind them. Avoid this company. Your better bet from SEATAC is a cab or hired driver. Worth the extra money. Almost no downtown hotels offer hotel shuttles, but maybe some of the outlying ones do. If you're intrepid and don't have much luggage to haul and are staying downtown, opt for the light rail. It's a short walk from SEATAC to the station, and an easy ride in to the city. Not good, however, if you're hauling a lot of luggage as essentially it is a commuter train.

 

We stayed at the Westin in downtown Seattle. Highly recommend!!! Clean, courteous, convenient, and a great night sleep. It's about an 5-10 minute walk to Pike Place Market, and right next to the monorail to the Space Needle. Lots of restaurants and conveniences close by.

 

This is an Alaska review so I won't say much about Seattle, but we did the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, the original Starbucks, a water taxi to West Seattle/Alki Beach, the Seattle Underground Tour, the waterfront during our days on the front end and back end and loved it all. We had a lovely dinner at the Steelhead Diner, pricey but phenomenal food. We picked up our wine for the cruise at DeLaurentis at the Market. Wonderful selection of PNW wines.

 

We took a cab from the Westin to Pier 91. Easy breezy. There's a cab line in front of the hotel, and a valet had one for us in less than a minute. Cost was about $20. Embarkation was quick and painless. We arrived at the terminal at about 11:30, and were on within an hour. Wonderful, helpful staff. Very organized procedures.

 

My sister is a Mariner so we were able to have lunch on the first day in the dining room. Others eat in the Lido. I'll stop for a few minutes here to focus on food. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Every meal was wonderful, and I could not complain about one thing. We had fixed early seating, fell in love with our servers and miss them already. Lots of choices on the menus from appetizers through dessert. Wine steward was there to assist as soon as we sat down and throughout each meal. She didn't miss a beat and never forgot a thing. Nor did our servers. All of this being said, I'm not a Lido fan. It was okay for breakfast and a quick lunch on some port days. But crowded and chaotic. Food not bad, but not the quality of the dining room. Good for a snack or a quick fix, but not ideal for me. Just my opinion - and certainly not universal - I'm just not a crowded buffet fan.

 

Seas from Seattle to Juneau were rough, I'm not going to lie. We talked to a lot of staff, and our day was a bit rougher than usual, but rough seas on this itinerary on this day are not unusual. I was able to keep the contents of my stomach, but by Sunday night I was in bed early trying hard not to hurl. I was not alone - lots of vomit on the ship. DON'T let this deter or scare you, just PREPARE!! My mistake was not taking my Bonine on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Take your meds, put on your wrist bands, ear patches, whatever you need to do. At least if it's rough you'll be over-prepared. None of it will hurt you. The trip was still worth every second of the nausea - just have to power through it.

 

We woke up on Monday to a sea that was like glass and bright sunshine. The sail into Juneau is beautiful. Be on deck for it. Getting off the ship was simple. We had a whale watch booked with Harv & Marv's and they were right on the dock to meet us. PHENOMENAL!!! We had Captain Steve and he was amazing. We saw tons of humpbacks and even ran into a rare pod of Orcas traveling north. It was a glorious day. Our Harv & Marv driver dropped us off at the Mendenhall Glacier and we did the two-mile round-trip hike to the Nugget Falls. Breathtaking. We were able to catch a blue bus back to town, but barely. Due to the fact that there were 4 ships in port that day, they did an extended run until 7:00, but they usually stop running at 6:00. Had we missed the bus, there were plenty of cab company numbers posted at the visitor center. We had dinner at Tracy's Crab Shack - expensive with a long wait for food, but totally worth it. Excellent! Just plan accordingly if you want to eat here. Between the whale watch, Mendenhall and Tracy's, I had absolutely no time to browse shops. The boards are very true in that you cannot do everything there is to do in just one trip. It's just not possible. Picking and choosing and going with your priorities is key.

 

Tuesday was our Glacier Bay day. It was cold and raining with a very low ceiling, which was at first disappointing, but I think in the end added to the mystical of it. I bundled up in blankets and spent the whole day on a verandah chair watching it all sail by. It was my nirvana. It was immensely beautiful, with a quiet so deep it was like sound does not exist, and with the freshest air I'll probably ever breathe. Words cannot describe. A naturalist was on board throughout the trip in and out, and very easy to hear over the speakers. Hot chocolate and pea soup were available. A polar plunge did occur at the pool on the back deck, but none of our gang was intrepid enough for it! I'm sure it was fun.

[LilacCruiser]

Early Wednesday we arrived in Sitka. This was definitely my favorite port. Very quaint, and with so few trips each week, not "touristy". It's a great little town. We took a Fortress of the Bear shuttle from the dock to the Fortress of the Bear. Wonderful people doing wonderful work. It's a "orphanage" for three sets of bear siblings whose mamas died when they were cubs. It's a wonderful place with wonderful people doing wonderful things. Several resident eagles always present with easy access to Salmon. I'd live here too if I were one of them! We stayed here for well over an hour, then our driver dropped us off at the Alaska Raptor Center. Another rehab facility that houses injured eagles, owls, and other large birds. Sitka National Historic Park is an easy walk right across from the Raptor Center, and leads you right into town. We made stops at the Russian Bishops House, several shops, St. Michael's Cathedral, Castle Hill Overlook, and the Russian Cemetery. Again, I loved all of it! Lots to do, and I do feel like we got it all in at this port. It was beautiful. It did rain off and on and was chilly, but to be expected. Always have layers and rain coverage, and peel accordingly. We carried small backpacks in each port to store all of our gear as needed. Sitka is a tender port. Tenders ran all day quickly and efficiently. No lines ever - the crew had plenty running throughout the day. Very easy to get on and off.

Edited June 22, 2014 by LilacCruiser

[LilacCruiser]

Thursday was our Ketchikan day. Pick up your coupon books at the visitor center and head out to shop and explore! We didn't do an excursion in Ketchikan - the town is an excursion itself. We did the walking tour available on any map - the salmon creek that surrounds the town and then Creek Street. We did go in Dolly's House and I found it very interesting. Lots of cute shops to explore. We took the Funicular up to the Cape Fox Lodge then walked back down to Creek Street via the Married Man's Trail. We hit Ketchikandies - don't miss it!! The fudge and chocolates are amazing! We hit Tongass Trading Company for our kitschy souvenirs. My treat to myself was a locally made piece of jewelry in each port. I got a silver whale necklace in Juneau to represent the whale watch, and a beautiful eagle bead necklace in Sitka to represent the Raptor Center. I'll treasure them. My treat in Ketchikan was an entire case of salmon shipped to myself that may last me the next five years :p We just missed the rain in Ketchikan, it came down just after we boarded. Alaska is always on and off rain. It rains for a bit and the sun comes out, it rains for a bit and the sun comes out. Our only day with NO rain, amazingly, was Juneau. It was a rare sunny and 70 degree day there. We were blessed with orcas and sun :)

[LilacCruiser]

Side Note Inserted here!!

 

For some annoying reason (and my absolutely only complaint during the whole week!) the ship did not post the on-board Salmon bake in the Daily newsletter that comes each day! It was on our Ketchikan day by the Lido Pool as we sailed out of Ketchikan, and we missed it!! I was so disappointed! I forgot to ask whey they didn't post it, but make sure you ask at the front desk when you board (if you're sailing HAL) when yours will be! I will definitely comment on this in my survey when it comes :confused: We had just finished our lunch in the dining room when we stumbled upon it - darn!!

[LilacCruiser]

Seas from Ketchikan to Victoria were rough, but not nearly as rough as the Seattle to Juneau seas. We rocked and rolled through the night, but I think my stomach may also have been a bit acclimated. I felt no pain in this area, even though it was a bit pitchy. The sea day Friday before the arrival at Victoria was a PERFECT way to decompress and spend our last day on the ship. We were lazy and loved every minute of it. It's an exhausting, port-intensive itinerary, and it was a great way to gain our vacation bearings before re-entry to reality. I did love Victoria, it's a quaint, adorable city, and I'd love to have another stop there. We splurged at the last minute and did the Buchart Gardens excursion, which I loved, and don't regret, but felt rushed at. I could have spent a whole day there, we had a quick walk-through. Still very worth it, but much to do with not enough time. We also didn't get to see much of the city except for a quick drive through. I do wish we'd had time to do both, but again, Alaska is a multiple-trip must. Way too much to do, and never enough time.

[LilacCruiser]

Disembarkation in Seattle was sad and easy. I so didn't want to leave this ship. The staff became like family. The Indonesians are a special group of people on this ship. I will miss them terribly. There's never NOT a smile on anyone's face, and they love to please and keep everyone happy.

 

Our formal nights were Sunday and Thursday. All in all, Alaska is very casual. Just about anything at least decent goes in the dining room on a daily basis. There were some formal dresses, suits, and a few tuxes broken out on the formal nights, but not what you would see in other cruise areas of the world. Alaska is dirty and rainy, and it's hard to be in the mood to "deck out" after a day experiencing all of the wet stuff nature has to offer, and almost always being borderline exhausted. Don't hate people for it, it's just the setting. On non-formal nights it was nice just to be warm in cozy in a sweater and jeans. You will be forgiven for it, and it will not be held against you. We did try to look decent and did dress nicely on formal nights, but much more casually than normal on other cruises.

 

My kids enjoyed the shows in the Vista lounge - they were a bit cheesy but lots of fun! We had a Vegas group on board on our Sitka night called Recycled Percussion - do not miss them if they come back!! They were outstanding. We also enjoyed Trivia in the Crow's Nest and Name That Tune in the Northern Lights. The piano singer in the piano lounge was Terry and he was EXCELLENT! Unfortunately, we were really tired every night, and pretty much fell into bed at 9:00 after the shows. It was a wonderful but exhausting trip. The trip of a lifetime. I'm so sad it's over.

 

I'm happy to answer any questions. If I've missed anything, I do apologize. We flew home on a red-eye last night compliments of Delta, and my brain is still a bit fuzzy! I'm jealous of all of you preparing for your trips! I researched and planned this trip for more than a year, and these boards were so helpful. I hope my information is useful to some of you. Happy travels, and EMBRACE Alaska!! I loved every second of it.

[brookeinmn]

Thanks for the review. Sounds like you had a great time! We are on the Oosterdam headed north in less than a month!

[mapleleaves]

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. A little bad weather but you certainly didn't let the rain (or rough seas) spoil the experience. :eek:

Thanks for writing the trip report; lots of helpful information. You mentioned kids so was this a family cruise? Since there are few trip reports with kids, could you mention their ages and how they did on the cruise and the excursions. (Or maybe they're adult kids, over 21 !!)

You seemed to enjoy yourself at every port but what was the highlight? or top 3? I share your joy with Butchart Gardens ... I could lose myself for a day there.

 

I'm surprised about your bad experience with Shuttle Express. What went wrong? I've been using them for the past 30 yrs; never had an issue. Then again I use their shared ride service to/from the airport, not a cruise transfer. How did you get to Seatac after the cruise?

 

Thanks again for sharing your trip with us. Guess we have another returner to Alaska!

Edited June 23, 2014 by mapleleaves

[LilacCruiser]

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. A little bad weather but you certainly didn't let the rain (or rough seas) spoil the experience. :eek:

Thanks for writing the trip report; lots of helpful information. You mentioned kids so was this a family cruise? Since there are few trip reports with kids, could you mention their ages and how they did on the cruise and the excursions. (Or maybe they're adult kids, over 21 !!)

You seemed to enjoy yourself at every port but what was the highlight? or top 3? I share your joy with Butchart Gardens ... I could lose myself for a day there.

 

I'm surprised about your bad experience with Shuttle Express. What went wrong? I've been using them for the past 30 yrs; never had an issue. Then again I use their shared ride service to/from the airport, not a cruise transfer. How did you get to Seatac after the cruise?

 

Thanks again for sharing your trip with us. Guess we have another returner to Alaska!

 

I knew going into this trip that it was most likely going to be a rainy experience, and that we would be blessed if it wasn't. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and we were both mentally and "garmently" prepared for the conditions. Rain does not detract from the Alaska experience, if anything, although pesky, it adds to it. Afterall, you're in a temperate rainforest. I would have loved a clear Glacier Bay day, but it wasn't meant to be. Cruising in, with the atmosphere of low clouds and mist, I felt like I was in a scene out of Ireland or New Zealand. It was stunning without the sun.

 

I am 45, and cruised with my sister (44), and my two boys (14 & 16). My youngest celebrated his birthday on the ship, and between a card from the Captain and being sung to in Indonesian with cake in the dining room, he was treated like a prince! Both of my boys loved Holland, but they're not the type of kids that need waterslides, climbing walls, and lots of kid activity. They didn't even use Club HAL, and I thought they would have. They enjoyed just wandering the ship - playing board games in the Crow's Nest, playing ping pong, basketball, watching movies, and partaking in the special events, not to mention EATING their way through the whole week :cool: They loved everything we did in all of the ports except stopping in any shops. As there were 4 of us, including 2 adults, we were able to split up here and there in the ports.

 

There was a wide range of ages from infant to senior on this cruise, and LOTS of families. It was a great blend.

 

I did enjoy every port - all of it. My favorite thing we did was the whale watching in Juneau. If I had to pick a favorite port, I'd have to go with Sitka. Hard to pick favorites though - it was all wonderful!

 

We may have caught Shuttle Express on a bad day, and I'm all about fairness, so if anyone reading has had good experiences with them, please do contradict me. I had reserved a shared shuttle from the airport to the Westin. When we checked in, they directed us to sit in the wrong spot, and told us to wait until they called our name. We later found out it was a spot reserved for their shuttles to outlying hotels. We realized after waiting for way too long (we should have raised our eyebrows sooner but were frazzled from traveling) that we were in the wrong spot. A very rude supervisor moved us to the downtown shuttle area. We found out there we weren't the only ones with the same experience. They added buses working overtime to get us all into the city. Apparently someone new at the check-in desk had caused a lot of the misinformation. I can't say, but maybe he was too long to be working unsupervised allowing for so much trouble.

 

We were on a red-eye post-cruise yesterday, so we had all day in Seattle. I used Luggage Direct through HAL (wonderful experience!) and we grabbed a cab at the port to the Market. We spent all of yesterday exploring different parts of Seattle with nothing but our small backpacks, then took the light rail

to the airport around 8:00. I loved the light rail, but am also a fairly intrepid urban traveler. I have an amenity for mass transit :)

 

Yes, I'd love to be an Alaskan repeat!! There's so much more there I'd love to do, and so much I'd love to do again!!

[mapleleaves]

yes, whale watching is a pretty awesome experience.:p I went on my first trip about 20 yrs ago and was hooked. I'm fortunate to live in the Pacific NW, so within an hours drive I can board an excursion to watch orcas or go further afield to Vancouver Island to watch the northern pods. It's just so remarkable to be quietly bobbing on the water, listening to them.

 

Thanks again for the report. What a nice itinerary ... Glacier Bay and Sitka. Good choice!

[LilacCruiser]

yes, whale watching is a pretty awesome experience.:p I went on my first trip about 20 yrs ago and was hooked. I'm fortunate to live in the Pacific NW, so within an hours drive I can board an excursion to watch orcas or go further afield to Vancouver Island to watch the northern pods. It's just so remarkable to be quietly bobbing on the water, listening to them.

 

Thanks again for the report. What a nice itinerary ... Glacier Bay and Sitka. Good choice!

 

We were extremely lucky on our whale watch day to catch a pod of transient Orcas traveling north through Auke Bay. According to our captain, this was a lucky find. They even put on a bit of a show for us, breaching and playing. And there was one extremely large male who was the largest Orca our captain had ever seen in the Bay. They came very close to our boat and we could even see them swimming underwater. It was a very cool experience. We saw lots of Humpbacks, which was amazing in and of itself, but the Orca experience was truly phenomenal!

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

I'm glad you had a great cruise.

[Mytime2014]

LilacCruiser - how am I possibly going to get through the next 290 hours after reading this?!!!

[LilacCruiser]

LilacCruiser - how am I possibly going to get through the next 290 hours after reading this?!!!

 

About as easily as the amount of jealousy I'll have of you in 290 hours! :D

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the detailed report!

[Taxi]

We were on that cruise with you. We were in a family group of 15, and we all had Verandah rooms, we had the Verandah doors opened, the rooms were next to each other, and we all watched the glaciers together and drank hot chocolate! It was so fun in spite of the weather. At Sitka which is my favorite port, why we went HAL, we went with Captain Davey and Captain Ryan, a wonderful experience! Some family members got queasy from the rough seas, but most of us were fine. It was a great trip for my parents 60th. Thanks for posting.

[bukismom]

We are headed to Seattle in the morning for the same trip...it sounds wonderful! We are booked with Harv and Marv's as well and sounds like we have much in common. Glad you had fun and thanks for the fantastic review!

[erewhon]

Thanks for your interesting review.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write about your ports and excursions.

We have sailed quite a few times on the Westerdam and love the ship.

[sctexan]

Unfortunately, we had a less than great experience with Shuttle Express too. We sat in the van for at least 30 minutes while they dealt with a large group of senior passengers. Come to find out that group had specially requested two vans because several members of their party were physically disabled. For some reason Shuttle Express decided to put us in one of their vans which created problems for the senior group and left us waiting for much longer than we should have. Had I not prepaid, I would have taken our luggage and used another service.

Edited July 4, 2014 by sctexan

[Marie321]

We are headed to Sitka in two weeks on the Amsterdam. Can you tell me where you caught the Fortress of the Bear shuttle and how much it costs? Thank you.

[Keith1010]

I very much enjoyed your report.

 

Keith

[LilacCruiser]

We were on that cruise with you. We were in a family group of 15, and we all had Verandah rooms, we had the Verandah doors opened, the rooms were next to each other, and we all watched the glaciers together and drank hot chocolate! It was so fun in spite of the weather. At Sitka which is my favorite port, why we went HAL, we went with Captain Davey and Captain Ryan, a wonderful experience! Some family members got queasy from the rough seas, but most of us were fine. It was a great trip for my parents 60th. Thanks for posting.

 

Taxi, I'm still in withdrawal! I want to go back! Glad you enjoyed it as much as we did! :)

[LilacCruiser]

We are headed to Sitka in two weeks on the Amsterdam. Can you tell me where you caught the Fortress of the Bear shuttle and how much it costs? Thank you.

 

Hi Marie,

 

When you get off the tender at the port in Sitka, there should be representatives from the Fortress of the Bear with a sign for the shuttle. If not, you can phone them directly to arrange for a pick up. 907-747-3550. The cost for us was $13 for adult, $8.00 for child, and included admission. The shuttle will return you to port as well. Enjoy!! Sitka was my favorite port- and Fortress of the Bear was a definite highlight!

[JimAOk1945]

I really enjoyed your review. We are thinking about taking another Alaska cruise and considering HAL since we want to visit Sitka.

 

Can you describe your accommodation on the ship? What type of cabin did you have? Did it have a tub/shower combo?

 

Thanks!