A Spectacular Trip to Alaska!!!

[travgurl]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Alaska trip July 2015

Here is the written version, pictures will follow. Have to work on those.

 

We just returned from our cruise tour to Alaska on the Oosterdam. We began in Fairbanks and ended in Vancouver. It was without a doubt a very memorable and fantastic trip. There were 10 adults in the group.

 

Day 1 Traveled to Fairbanks, even ran into the rest our group at the airport once we arrived. We were taken to the Westmark hotel in Fairbanks. The room was very nice! Check in is so easy! Each time you are off to a new destination you are given a packet on the bus or train that includes important information, itinerary and room keys. It is great, you just walk right in and go to your assigned room!

 

Day 2 Pre-embarkation day--after a good nights sleep were toured the Morris Thompson Cultural Center downtown (walking distance), a good introduction the Alaska and then we went to Pioneer Park. It is a very family oriented park. We enjoyed a leisurely afternoon there. If I went back I would perhaps do the Museum of the North or the hot springs. In the evening we attended a jazz concert in the downtown park given by the local Army base jazz band. Quite entertaining!

 

Day 3 Checked out. Off to the Discovery Riverboat tour and lunch. This tour and family style lunch were so good! A fun time had by all in our group. When you ride on the river boat (note--sit on the left side if possible). You get to see and learn so much from this tour. Then we enjoyed our bus ride to Denali. Our driver was great and shared a lot of information about Alaska.

We had great accommodations. We had enough time to go to the visitor center and then had dinner at the Salmon Bake restaurant. Watch the floor, it is slanted when you sit in certain sections. They were very accommodating and moved us to a level section. Food was very good.

 

Day 4 Tundra Wilderness tour--on a school bus, but comfortable seats. Had a great day. Our tour guide was so good. We got to see Mt McKinley early in the day from a distance. But once we reached the turn around point it had clouded over. We saw horned sheep, caribou, moose, bears, even a grizzly mom and her two cubs playing in the stream-what fun to see in the wild. Some of our party did the white water rafting in Denali, loved it! We ate dinner at Prospector's Pizza, great meal!

 

Day 5 Off to ride the McKinley Express to Anchorage. An all day trip. Great train excursion. You sit upstairs and go down the spiral staircase to eat in the dining cars. We even walked all the way to the end of the train. Food was good! You get an assigned seat that is stated in your paper work. It was a lot fun riding this train! Go and stand on the outside platforms, it is a lot fun. Arrived in Anchorage Westmark unfortunately for just for one night. Hotel was nice, had a great water and city view. It was raining. We met up with a family we know from home that live in Anchorage for dinner at Humpy's Ale house.

 

Day 6 Ate breakfast at the Snow City Café located at 1034 W 4th Ave, Anchorage. You can call ahead for reservations. I did that! This is a very popular restaurant. Great food and service! Then we boarded a bus to the train depot and then for the train excursion to Seward. This train is an older train and not owned by Holland. You are assigned a table. It is a very long day riding this train and gets uncomfortable sitting. Go and stand on the outside platforms, it is fun to do. You see beautiful scenery along the way.

Arrived at the ship! Yay!!! Embarkation went well! We got all registered while we on the train. This is a new method that Holland is doing. Even got our state room keys. Very nice!!!

Loved the Oosterdam!!! Once on board we went straight to dinner. Open seating for everyone. But we all ended up at our assigned table for the week.

Great food and wait staff for the entire week! Enjoy the welcome aboard show that began at 9 p.m. Muster drill was at about 7:30.

 

Day 7 Enjoyed a day of cruising on the ship. Attended some information sessions, enjoyed the food, and saw the comedy show that night (clean comedy for the family).

 

Day 8 Enjoyed cruising through Glacier Bay National Park. Beautiful sights to see! We even got to hear and see the calving of the glaciers. It was quite cool on deck. This is when I drank hot chocolate and used my gloves and hat/hood. The sun did come out later so it did warm up.

 

Day 9 Docked in Haines. Got off the boat very early catch the fast ferry to Skayway. This is a fun ride. Once we got to Skayway we were greeted by our tour guide Michele (Trails of 98 TNT tours). She drove us all the way up the Klondike highway into Canada to Carcross and Emerald Lake. We saw such beautiful and breath taking views. The trip was incredible. We got back to Skagway with no time to tour the town. So back on the ferry we went. Got back to Haines and returned to the ship.

 

Day 10 Docked in Juneau. We were greeted by our tour representative of Harv and Marv. We were off to the dock where we met Captain Jeff and naturalist Sarah. A great crew, I must say. We had an awesome time on a Whale Watch with them, we saw humpback, orcas, harbor seals and sea lions and eagles. It was amazing, loved it!!! We also got a chance to see Mendenhall Glacier! That was great to see so up close. Great walking paths and visitor center. When we got back to Juneau we had lunch at Tracy's Crab Shack. Crowded, had to look for a place to sit. Food was good. Then the rest of the time, enjoyed strolling around the town and shopping.!

 

Day 11 Docked in Ketchikan. Some of the group toured the city and the Saxmen totem pole park. They enjoyed the tour. The others in the group did a sea float plane with Island Wings over the Misty Fjords. Weather was not fully cooperative but we still were able to go up in the plane. We had an spectacular time with our pilot Michelle. She is so such a great pilot, very knowledgeable and knows the area so well. Loved seeing the beautiful sights from up above. After some strolling around the town and shopping, we returned to the ship.

 

Day 12 Day of cruising down the inside passage. Again we experienced such amazing beauty of the magnificent state!!!

 

Day 13 Disembark We did self assist. We got off the boat on our own. Very organized in getting off and coming into Vancouver. Coming through customs was very easy.

Once we were off we walked not far to the Convention Center east to meet up with our tour company Land Sea Tours. We had planned 2 post days in Vancouver. They took us on an all day tour called Sea to Sky tour. We saw water falls, rode a gondola, walked on a suspension bridge and tour a copper mine. Great day for all! Our luggage stayed with us all day and we were dropped right off at our hotel, others went on the airport. Great way to spend one day if that is all you have in Vancouver. We stayed at the Blue Horizon right downtown, a really nice hotel with fantastic city views. We were on the higher floors.

 

Day 14 Some of the group used Land Sea tours to travel to Victoria for the day. This is a very long day trip, but they loved it!!! They picked them up right at the hotel and delivered them back there. Others booked a 4 hour city tour of Vancouver with Land Sea Tours. This was a great way to see this lovely city!!! We even got to go up the Vancouver lookout. After the tour and a short rest we walked along the water front area. Such a family oriented and clean city. Loved Stanley park and Granville Island. A great city to visit!!!

 

Day 15 Traveled home. So sad to leave this beautiful and amazing state!!! I hope to return someday! The trip is certainly one that will go down in the memory book forever!!!

 

Special notes:

Weather was good, some rain.

I did wear my capris, actually I wished I had taken another pair. I wore 3/4 length sleeve tops and t shirts. Never wore long sleeves.

I used my rain jacket, fleece/hoodie, winter coat (1 day) Glacier Bay.

I wore my sneakers most of the time, when on excursions I wore a hiking type sneaker style shoe.

I did dress up for the 2 gala nights (dress or nice pants with a dress up top some wore). Men wore nice pants, dress shirt, coat and tie.

On the smart casual nights-nice pants, nice top. Men wore khaki pants with a button shirt or polo.

Shows were very entertaining--musical, comedy, dance, illusionist, dancing with the stars and newlywed game (so very funny).

We met in the sports bar each night before dinner. After the shows we enjoyed the piano bar (Jimmy, he was so good!), the Queens lounge offered different activities during the week, and the Crows nest at well. Overall, entertainment was good and enjoyable.

 

The food was very good--ate on the lido deck during the day, main dining room each night, and the Pinnacle grill (included in our package). Actually like the main dining room better. Loved our wait staff and stewards. The entire staff are so wonderful, go out of their way for everyone. Walk around on the Deck 3 (Promenade Deck) great thing to do on cruising days.

Pools/hot tubs were open-water temperature was 84.

Take advantage of the different things they have to offer some were quite fun.

Example we toured the ship kitchen, cooking classes, port informational sessions and movies.

There were a lot of children on our ship, seemed to very happy and well entertained by the clubs that they have for the different age groups.

Cabin--all of us were on deck 5 mid ship. I was in cabin 5082 mid ship. We had the lifeboats right below us but twe had a beautiful and full view straight out from our balcony. I would recommend a balcony. It was nice to sit out there, seeing the ports as we arrived and left. The cabin was very comfortable with lots of storage space. Note: you can put your suitcases under the bed for storage. Take along a power strip for extra plug sockets. I also took my own hairdryer, bath soap, shampoo and conditioner, they did provide all of these though.

I would definitely cruise on this ship again. Loved the Oosterdam!!!

[gagenie]

Thank you for your review!! We are thinking of doing a cruisetour next year! Can't wait to see your pictures!!:)

[Straymo]

Thanks for the review! I'll be on the Oosterdamn one week from today and can hardly sleep from excitement.

[alwaysfrantic]

On embarkation night there is no early or later seating....everyone just eats wherever?

[CruiserBruce]

On embarkation night there is no early or later seating....everyone just eats wherever?

 

Open seating because of the late sailing, and no "official" activities until the muster drill. Just like any other departure port, the "official activities" don't start until after the muster drill, and so eating is on a open schedule (normally for lunch on regular departure times).

Edited April 21, 2016 by CruiserBruce