"Live" from Alaska! June 3 Volendam

[captain_hug99]

We woke up EARLY for our 6:30a.m. train to Seattle. We visited Tim Horton’s for breakfast (learned what a double double is), took a taxi to the train station. Since we were traveling to Tukwila, we couldn’t check our bags, finding space for our things was interesting. There was a problem with one of the trail road tracks so we had to stop for a little bit, but it ended up being a 5 minute delay.

 

 

I had called a taxi company for service from the station to the airport, I saw the cab as we got off the train and someone got to it before we did and stole our taxi! Grrrrr… I called again and waited for our new taxi. Thank goodness we had plenty of time before our flight. It was a simple ride to SeaTac.

 

 

This is where the fun begins. We knew we were going to have some time at the airport, but due to weather in Denver, we were delayed an additional THREE HOURS!!! We didn’t get onto the plane until 7 and got in the driveway at 1:45a.m. UGH. Denver International was a nightmare, it was worse than LaGuardia in New York.

[captain_hug99]

When I go into port, I am not looking for diamonds or other jewelry. Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan had a number of stores with sales people from other countries. I would much rather help the local economy of the ports and purchase goods made by the people of Alaska that represent the culture. Walking down the street to have sales people shouting, “come in for your free gift!” left a bad taste in my mouth. That wasn’t what I expected Alaska to be about.

 

 

A dinner companion spoke to one of the sales representatives and was told that they come up to Alaska for the summer, then go to the Caribbean for the winters. They follow the cruise ships to sell for the diamond companies and kick back money back to the cruise lines. Even if De Beers takes a loss, they get to write it off as a business expense.

 

 

HAL needs to put a fan in the bathroom! Seriously, this isn’t even about smell, it is about foggy mirrors from showers.

 

 

Our stateroom (1945). When I see many of the comments on CC, it seems many posts are from those who are in suites, I was nervous that I’d hate our room. If you are in “steerage” like we were, don’t fret! Most of the guests I met were on the Dolphin deck. The room is small, there is no way to get around it. I’ve stayed in Disney World Pop Century rooms and this room might have been a bit smaller if you can believe it. However, I think it looked and felt larger with the beds separated, plus, we slept a lot better that way. The room has a couch which Katie thought was quite comfortable, desk/vanity, a small tear drop table, two nightstands, and plenty of closet space. Our room also had a pull down bunk, but frankly, four people would have made that room incredibly tight.

 

 

The beds are extremely comfortable! The pillows are terrific. I don’t usually sleep well when I’m traveling, but I was asleep quickly every night.

There was a little bit of noise in the room, but nothing more than a level of white noise. You heard the fans running and something that made the room sound as if you were on a train, so a repetitive mechanical sound. It wasn’t distracting and never woke me up. Reed is a light sleeper and he zonked out easily, several times a day. The only time we heard a lot of noise is when there was a reversal and the whole ship shook. I don’t think any room would be immune to that noise.

 

 

Also, since we were near the end of the hallway, we didn’t hear any noise of people coming and going. In fact, it made me wonder about the third level or promenade deck, whether it would become annoying for those staying in them would get tired of others walking around, and the potential lack of privacy.

 

 

Our room had an unobstructed window. That became one of Katie’s favorite places to relax and read. She’d use the fancy pillows to make herself a little reading nook. It was amazing to watch the water go by. The only time we ever felt any lack of privacy was when we were docked on that side and others could see right into our room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bathroom was not one of the newly renovated ones. There is a high tub/shower combination. It took me a day to realize one side of the mirror is a medicine cabinet. It took me lot less to realize how to make a small yet private changing area, open the bathroom door, open the door to the closet and you have a little more room to get ready.

 

 

Food: The vast majority of the food was wonderful, there were only a few disappointments along the way. Our favorite place to eat was the main dining room for breakfast and dinner. We did have lunch there one day and didn’t like the Reuben. I found it dry. We much preferred to eat at the Dive-in. We had their burgers which were amazing, the fries are just perfect, crisp on the outside while soft on the inside. The dive-in sauce is just terrific with enough kick to make it quite tasty. We ordered the regular hamburger and the mushroom burger. The only thing missing was a place to get a milk shake (HAL are you listening???).

 

 

The taco bar near the Dive-in was very good as well. The mango salsa is to die for.

 

 

Breakfast: the yogurt parfait! My daughter is not a huge fan of yogurt, yet she looked forward to having one of these nearly every day. Eggs benedict, and the one with salmon, absolutely wonderful. In fact, any of the egg dishes we had were terrific. I had the omelet several times and it was perfect.

 

 

Lunch: lido or dive-in. Burgers and fries at the dive in were wonderful. You could request the string onion on the other burgers if you wanted. We didn’t try the hot dogs. On the last day, I did look at the menu for the MDR and thought, “damn, we should have gone there today!”

 

 

Dinner: MDR all the way! We had great steaks, soups, and the service was wonderful. Not too fast, not too slow. I could have just ordered the wrong food at the Pinnacle, but I didn’t think the options were that much more creative than what the MDR offered. I’m not sure I would have gone there if it wasn’t for the Explore 4 package.

 

 

Favorite Places: Crow’s Nest, what a great place most of the day to bring a book and read. You have a fantastic view of the ocean. However, there are games played and in the late afternoon it does get noisy with the bar traffic. HAL could put in more of the comfortable chairs and they would be taken all the time. The other chairs are OK, but not nearly as comfortable as the 5th deck club chairs near the Ocean’s Bar.

 

 

Exploration’s Café- whole area discovered on the last day. Comfortable chairs there!

 

 

Things I wish I brought: flip flops, I thought long and hard about them and decided to not bring them, I often wanted them and likely didn’t go swimming or in the hot tub because I didn’t have them.

 

 

Things I brought that I didn’t need: I brought 4 pairs of shoes, 1 hiking, 1 sneaker, 1 fancy, and 1 that can be fancy if I need it. Katie decided she really liked my “can be fancy shoes” and stole them for most of the trip. If she didn’t take them, they would have been redundant.

 

 

Lenses I brought: I have a Nikon D7000, I brought my 18-55mm kit lens, 28-75mm f2.8, 70-300mm. I only used the 27-75mm and the 70-300mm. I only time I wanted a wider lens was when we were at Totem Bight park. I used the 28-75 most of the time (as I usually do) and the 70-300mm when we went whale watching or when we were in Glacier Bay.

[DentoAlaska]

Thank you so much for this wonderful review and pictures. You saw Puffins!!! I told my husband that we have seen a lot of the same wildlife here in Colorado but that I would truly be disappointed if I didn't get see a puffin. Silly, I know.

 

Welcome home and enjoy your memories.

[joydisney]

Thank you for your report

Two questions, did you schedule a taxi from hotel to Amtrak going back to Seattle? What time did you leave hotel to go to station?

[captain_hug99]

Thank you for your report

Two questions, did you schedule a taxi from hotel to Amtrak going back to Seattle? What time did you leave hotel to go to station?

We didn't have to schedule a taxi, one was waiting. We walked to Tim Horton's and saw lots of taxis around.

 

We left the hotel at 5:45, got there at 6a.m. filled out the USA immigration form, walked up to the check in, went through USA immigration and walked onto the train. 10 minutes all told. If we were going to Seattle or another station that allowed for check in luggage, the luggage compartment was on the way to business class. All we would have had to do is hand them our bags on the way to our seats.

[js4rq]

Wow, Glacier Bay looks stunning!! :)

[VermeulT]

Thanks for the review.

I also appreciate the info on the lenses you took with. The pix were amazing.

[captain_hug99]

Thanks for the review.

I also appreciate the info on the lenses you took with. The pix were amazing.

 

You are welcome! I read a great tip in Outdoor Photography magazine before we left. If you are trying to catch action of wild animals, have your shutter speed 3 times your focal length. So, if you are at 300mm, have your shutter speed 1500. As soon as I did that, the shots came out extremely clear!

 

BTW, I grew up in CT, Danbury.

[VermeulT]

You are welcome! I read a great tip in Outdoor Photography magazine before we left. If you are trying to catch action of wild animals, have your shutter speed 3 times your focal length. So, if you are at 300mm, have your shutter speed 1500. As soon as I did that, the shots came out extremely clear!

 

BTW, I grew up in CT, Danbury.

 

Interesting. I'll have to try that.

I'm 20 min from Danbury. :) small world!!!

[garf1108]

Hi

 

How far did you drive up to as I am also going to Alaska next June and also intend driving the same road? Did you have to refuel the car before returning it?

 

Thanks

Garf1108