Alaska Cruise July 4-18

[Shebba]

We recently finished our wonderful cruise to Alaska on the Maasdam, July 4-18. It was beautiful!!

 

If anyone is interested, I wrote a blog as we traveled. Pictures, too! It can be found at:

 

http://northtoalaskacruise.blogspot.com/

Edited July 20, 2016 by Shebba

[Clarea]

Very nice, thank-you!

[Keith1010]

Will check out your blog right now.

Keith

[VintageGeo]

I'm finding it very interesting. Love the pictures. Thanks for sharing.

 

George

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to do a blog and post your wonderful pictures.

[Caribbean Chris]

Thank you so much, read every work on all the pages. So nice that you had beautiful weather. We sail on this itin August 29 -thanks!

[EbayCruiser]

Thanks for your blog, I really enjoyed it.

 

We are going on the chartered APHC cruise August 15th for two weeks. We are not visiting Homer but staying overnight in Anchorage.

 

Glad you had a great time, Alaska is so beautiful!!!

[Cruiser Andi]

Looking forward to reading your blog[emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Shebba]

Thank you all for your kind comments. We had a wonderful time!

[Cruizer Bill]

Thanks for your blog! We were also on this cruise and loved it! I wrote a review and it should appear in that section in a couple of days.

[VacationCharlene]

Thank YOU for the great review. This is by far my favorite cruise and looking to go again in May 2018 :-) I have also included, to interest others, our recent review of our 14 day Alaska Explorer cruise. Enjoy

Just returned from our 14 day Alaska May 23-June 6th cruise on the Maasdam.

 

Our YouTube video...6 minutes or so

 

Started out PERFECT with our pre-arranged transportation with AJ and SEATAC Towncar Services (206) 697-5577. We used him three times this trip and he was always on time and with a smile on his face in a great and safe vehicle. Highly recommend them. Be sure to tell them Charlene says HI !

 

LOVE LOVE LOVED the Maasdam and all it had to offer. We took along with us our well seasoned cruise travelers, brother and sister-in-law of MANY cruises and they were very impressed with the ship and all it had to offer as well.

 

Embarking was super easy from Seattle and because the ship is a smaller ship we never really encountered many lines or long wait times for anything. We arrived at the port around 10:45-11:00 and on the ship for lunch 11:30-11:45. Many people on the ship had mobility issues and used walkers etc and got around just fine. Navigating the ship was pretty easy as well. Deck 6-Promenade outdoor walk-around is a place you will be able to walk off some of the delicious food as far as exercise.

 

The shows were great, the food delicious and varied, everything was terrific! For this cruise they offer Alaskan Beers that are wonderful and average $6 a beer. Lots of wine options as well.

 

We met so many great crew members that after 14 days, a few, felt like they were family. They sincerely enjoyed their jobs and us, their guests. The food in the Lido deck is dished out by crew members helping speed up the process and also less chance of cooties from all of us. If you need help getting your food back to the table they will help you there also.

 

The weather was great and the seas calm for MOST of the time. We had a couple days of stormy seas. The weather in most ports was between 55-65 degrees but hit in the 80's in Victoria where it was actually HOT. We got rain in Kodiak all day and some in Anchorage so our water proof jackets and umbrellas came in handy. I DO recommend some type of hat or beanie and some gloves to have in your day pack as well.

 

Most all of our excursions were amazing but for some reason the couple we booked with HA were either a little late getting started or had some small issues. We highly enjoyed the Glacier Winds Charters for whale watching in Icy Strait but feel you would also do well in Juneau as well. We rented a standard SUV from Avis in Downtown Anchorage for $50 for the day and went on our own (4 of us) to Byron Glacier which we walked to in the rain, and loved it, went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center for $12.50 adults or $9.00 senior and loved it. We also stopped at the Aleyski Ski Lodge in Girdwood and took the tram to the top that was beautiful!! It was a very easy and smooth ride up to the top. They offer a $32 lift/lunch ticket and get $20 food credit per person in the Bore Tide Deli in the top that had great sandwiches, basket of fries that feed four adults and drinks. Snow at the top. In Ketchikan we went on the Bering Sea Crab Excursion which is a bit pricey but really a great experience and put on by guys that love their profession....we enjoyed it a lot. I always like promoting in Sitka that it is an easy place to go around on your own and can get to the Fortress of the Bears for transportation for $10 pp and entry $10 pp for the non-profit. Sitka is now a pier port and they complimentary bus you downtown, 15 minutes away, to the old pier in town and the hub of all excursions. (I miss the old tender port) In Victoria we really enjoyed the Victoria Butterfly Gardens and Butchart Gardens that we took thru Hal. We used Memory Makers in Kodiak but it was a very rainy day and so we did not get to enjoy much of the pre-planned excursion....was a big and expensive disappointment because of the weather. Rented bikes in Homer and tired my ass out :-) but stopped at a few pubs and enjoyed the Homer Brewing Company and their tasty brews.

 

On cruising the beautiful Fjords and glaciers they open the front bow of the ship for you to enjoy being outdoors for many photo ops. We saw quite a bit of calving as well. It was PERFECT.

 

Hope this helps the rest of you planning your cruise...It really is so beautiful. Feel free to ask me questions and I hope I see them :-)