Alaska Sea-Land cruise 6-29-16 Review—Y2C

[serendipity1499]

Thanks, we shoot a lot of photos to get a few that are real good. If you like them here is a link to our Alaska Sea-Land album on Microsoft Onedrive with about 152 photos. Just click the first photo and it will start the slide show.

 

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AsptL998yK8Hga1vAG3LkXsBVx164Q

 

Rick

 

Thanks so much Rick...I really want to do that..But will do it later..

 

Unfortunately, just sat down at my desk to log the auto.bills which were deducted out of our checking accounts & then have to balance them.. I'm a month behind in this job...Just stole a look at Cruise critic before I start this humdrum job that I was conned into doing almost 40 years ago..

 

When I win the lottery, going to hire a Cook & a Secretary to do our bookkeeping..;) It's a big one tonight!

[sailingdutchy]

Hi Joyce and Rick , I just got through your excellent album and wonderful description of your cruise and land tour in Alaska . Nice to see you also enjoyed the Canadian portion !:)

I think there is little chance that Martha ever would like to do this (there are no palm trees in Alaska !:D ) so for me it was that much more of a treat to see all the great pictures that knowing you guys for a large part were shot by Joyce , she has a very good eye for that and I really liked all the very detailed descriptions that you have put together of this adventure .

This should be a real help for people who have booked a cruise like this or are thinking about it !

Thank you , great to see this, and BTW I have not given up yet on the Rotterdam , there should be a good drop beginning of September I think once the Explore 4 is over .

[aamum]

Thanks so much for chiming in. Helpful suggestions and good to hear form someone who has gone through it already.

 

Thank you also rajkr74 for this great (and very timely for us!) review!

 

 

aamum.. I forgot to mention that I'm now using a cane & find it difficult to stand in one place for any length of time.. We're taking a cruise with Friends in October..

 

Have been looking at cane seats..Amazon has many of them..I'm ordering this one only because I'm just 5 ft. tall & this is adjustable..

 

https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Medical-Folding-Lightweight-Adjustable/dp/B005JIMORU/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1469837601&sr=8-1&keywords=medical+folding+canes

 

Maybe your Friends could use something similar..

[rajkr74]

Hi Joyce and Rick , I just got through your excellent album and wonderful description of your cruise and land tour in Alaska . Nice to see you also enjoyed the Canadian portion !:)

I think there is little chance that Martha ever would like to do this (there are no palm trees in Alaska !:D ) so for me it was that much more of a treat to see all the great pictures that knowing you guys for a large part were shot by Joyce , she has a very good eye for that and I really liked all the very detailed descriptions that you have put together of this adventure .

This should be a real help for people who have booked a cruise like this or are thinking about it !

Thank you , great to see this, and BTW I have not given up yet on the Rotterdam , there should be a good drop beginning of September I think once the Explore 4 is over .

 

Thanks Tony, Glad you enjoyed the reviews and the pictures. I wanted to do this review so I hope others can see the things we saw and experienced. We did not see any other reviews that covered these type of HAL cruises. Yes, joyce is still the best photographer is this house but I get an occasional photo that comes out good.

 

Sure hope that things work out so that you and Martha can join us on this cruise, that would be great. Got our fingers crossed that it works out! Say hi to Martha for us and tell her Alaska was not that cold while we were on the land portion. :p

[USERBOYD66]

Hi rajkr74 ,

I just read your review in preparation for our July land/cruise with HAL.

If you don't mind I have a few questions. How did you book the trip that included the dogs? Was it through HAL? You described it by writing, "We took the shuttle over to the visitor center then walked over to the Murie Science and Learning Center. We went back to the Transportation Center/Bus stop near the Visitor center and got in line at 1:20pm for the shuttle to the Sled Dog demonstration. This is one not to miss if you like dogs."

Also, could you take some time to tell me about the carryon that you keep with you while HAL takes care of your suitcase? Does it have to be small? We are planning to bring 21inch hard case carryon because we need the wheels for while in airport.

I thought I had another question but getting late after a long day of work and an enjoyable evening of reading your review.

Robin

[rajkr74]

Hi rajkr74 ,

I just read your review in preparation for our July land/cruise with HAL.

If you don't mind I have a few questions. How did you book the trip that included the dogs? Was it through HAL? You described it by writing, "We took the shuttle over to the visitor center then walked over to the Murie Science and Learning Center. We went back to the Transportation Center/Bus stop near the Visitor center and got in line at 1:20pm for the shuttle to the Sled Dog demonstration. This is one not to miss if you like dogs."

Also, could you take some time to tell me about the carryon that you keep with you while HAL takes care of your suitcase? Does it have to be small? We are planning to bring 21inch hard case carryon because we need the wheels for while in airport.

I thought I had another question but getting late after a long day of work and an enjoyable evening of reading your review.

Robin

The dog sled tour is not an excursion. It is part of the National Park Service and they put on two shows a day and it is free. I stated above how to get over there via free shuttles. Once at the Bus/Transportation center look for a sign for the Dog Sled Tour, just line up and wait for the bus. It was very easy, just check the times for the daily tours/show.

 

HAL delivered our suitcases to our rooms so quickly that we only carried a day pack for minor items. No need to haul around a small carry-on suitcase. Every time we got to a WestMark Hotel (HAL) our luggage was delivered within 15-20- minutes, pretty quick. We never had to haul anything.

Hope that helps.

[fraudsterbuster]

Hi rajkr74,

I really appreciate you and your wife taking the time to give such a complete and thorough review plus photos of your Alaskan vacation. My husband and I are doing the same trip next month and we can hardly wait for it to begin. We did a 7 night cruise in/out of Seattle nearly 10 years ago with my mother-in-law so we're really looking forward to doing the land portion. Many thanks again for all of the information that you provided!

[baxley]

Just wanted to thank you for your posts!! You helped me more than any other information I've seen. Exactly what I wanted and needed to know. We'll be doing it in Aug. '18.

[BlackJack2]

Thank you so much for your trip report.  This helps a lot with planning our HAL Land & Sea vacation in July.