How is HAL's 14 day Alaska cruise?

[ren0312]

How is HAL's 14 day Great Land Explorer cruise? What is the best month to see glacier calving? I went on HAL's 7 day Alaska cruise on the Volendam and am thinking of booking again in 2018, how is the Amsterdam? I was on the Volendam and found it to be an OK ship despite being 16 years old, and Amsterdam is about the same age. Any affordable 4 star hotels people would recommend in Seattle?

[RuthC]

I've done the 14-day Alaska cruise on HAL three times, and would be perfectly happy to do it again.

The Amsterdam is the same size and deckplan as the Volendam, so you already know much about the ship. As a co-flagship of the fleet, though, she's just a little bit nicer.

 

The itinerary on this cruise is excellent, giving you an opportunity to see places that are still the real Alaska, and not just tourist traps. Many of the ports are not (yet) overrun with visitors. That is great.

 

I have seen great calving in July and August. I have had rain more often than sun in September. June gives you the longest days.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I have done the 14 day cruise in June and really liked the longer days. You see more of Alaska on the 14 day voyage. Even though she is older the Amsterdam has been my favorite ship because she is smaller and has less passengers. In Seattle I like the Marriott Waterfront - expensive but nice.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done that 14 day cruise twice on the Amsterdam. Loved it!!

If I could do the long flights, we would do that cruise again.

We have stayed at the Sheraton Downtown, Hilton Downtown and the Marriott Waterfront -- I put them in the order of which hotel we liked the best being first. At the end of the cruise we have stayed many times at the Hilton by the airport because of early morning flights home.

[SeaBands]

we started cruising doing the 7 day and was not impressed but doing the 2 week we saw much more of Alaska and went on more tours. This trip we saw bears and humpback whales as well as other mammals and sea life. One of our best cruises.

[towhee]

We've done the 14-day cruise 4 times (twice on Amsterdam). It is our favorite itinerary by far. Personally, I prefer the older ships - they seem to have more personality and the cruise line maintains them well.

Enjoy your cruise, you won't regret it.

[Calgon1]

The 14-Day is FANTASTIC! We're going again in July.

 

For lodging, I would submit: The Inn at the Market

http://www.innatthemarket.com/

[TiogaCruiser]

Did it and can't imagine doing only the 7 day now. Am hoping DH will say yes to it for this June. Especially if Maasdam has it, because I want him to meet an "S" class ship before they become extinct.

[durangoscots]

Agree to all of the above. I have done it twice, both times on the Amsterdam, and loved it!!! Want to do it again and soon.

 

Susan

[NMLady]

We did Hal's 14 day AK and it was fantastic!! We did it in May 2010, their first trip, and the weather was great, 13 days of sunshine. Very unusual.

The itinerary has ports you won't get on another AK cruise.

[JimAOk1945]

My wife and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in August by doing this very cruise. We had been to Alaska twice on two different 7 day cruises, and although they were wonderful, they don't even come close to this outstanding 14 day itinerary. All three of our Alaska cruises were in August and we enjoyed mostly nice weather on all three cruises. Also, it was nice to have longer daylight hours.

 

My wife took some fantastic pictures and added them to her website. I'll post a link below in case you're interested. You will see pictures of all the excursions we went on at each port of call, plus pictures of the Dawes Glacier, Hubbard Glacier, scenes around the ship, and more.

 

We were on the Maasdam. It was our first HAL cruise but won't be our last.

 

14 Day HAL Great Land Alaska Cruise

Alaska is amazing! Happy cruising!

Edited October 16, 2016 by JimAOk1945

[Loreto]

I've done the 14-day Alaska cruise on HAL three times, and would be perfectly happy to do it again.

The Amsterdam is the same size and deckplan as the Volendam, so you already know much about the ship. As a co-flagship of the fleet, though, she's just a little bit nicer.

 

The itinerary on this cruise is excellent, giving you an opportunity to see places that are still the real Alaska, and not just tourist traps. Many of the ports are not (yet) overrun with visitors. That is great.

 

I have seen great calving in July and August. I have had rain more often than sun in September. June gives you the longest days.

I agree with Ruth (as always!) We have done this itinerary 3 times. First was the inaugural (with NMLADY:) ) in May 2010 and had spectacular weather. Second time in September 2012, and again great weather. Both on the Amsterdam...a fantastic ship. 3rd time was in August 2014 Statendam not such great weather and problems with the ship (but she is gone now, along with her problems;).)

 

We would not hesitate to take this cruise again, and would never be happy with a 7 day Alaska! BTW we booked a LP obstructed view under the MDR....great value and plenty of opportunity for scenic viewing on outside decks.

 

Karen

[joekerstef]

Did this itinerary on Maasdam this June. It was wonderful, would do it again in a second. Great ports, lots of beautiful scenery. We went the first two weeks of June and had absolutely perfect weather. The only downside for going that early is that the salmon were not yet spawning, but saw plenty of that on the webcams over the summer so *shrug*. I have been on (not cruised on) Amsterdam, and she is a beautiful ship. I'd actually love to do this cruise again on her.

[JimAOk1945]

My wife is already talking about taking another 14 day Alaska cruise and we just got back in August! :D It was the best cruise we have been on so far! We have enjoyed all of our cruises, but HAL outshines them all in every respect.

Edited October 17, 2016 by JimAOk1945

[Ichiban Nekko]

Another fan of this itinerary chiming in. We love going to Alaska(five times so far!), but the 14-day is like a dream.

 

We sailed on the Amsterdam (fabulous) in September and had incredible wildlife sightings. However, Mother Nature raised her ire and we were not able to get into Homer & Kodiak on that sailing. Being a smaller vessel, we were able to go into downtown Anchorage and HAL was able to pick up a permit for Glacier Bay. We have been to Glacier Bay several times before, but this day was spectacular and will remain in the memory bank for some time.

 

In June 2016, we repeated the itinerary on the Maasdam and had post card weather throughout the sailing. Okay, perhaps it was a little overcast in Sitka, LOL. Homer & Kodiak were absolutely terrific and we are so glad we have had the opportunity to visit.

 

We love both the Amsterdam and the Maasdam, preferring a smaller ship. We choose modest inside cabins in order to have total darkness when we want to sleep. Service on both ships is outstanding.

 

We would book this itinerary again in a New York moment!

 

Hotels in Seattle are not cheap and we were able to use Hilton points for our stays. You might check out the Cruise Ports section of the boards for other views.

[StartrainDD]

FANTASTIC cruise, very interesting with not so touristy ports. Anchorage is great with so many options. One never gets tired of the views and you are always close enough to land that there is something to see.

 

Also agree on Seattle hotels. Ouch! Many summer weekends there are events going on. Easier to visit Seattle after the cruise than before, if that is your goal. A good place to use points if you have them.

 

Have stayed at the Doubletree (very nice) and waterfront Marriott (also nice but everything nearby closes by 9:00!).

 

I want to do this cruise again but either the first or second sailing of the season as we've done Alaska in late July and late August; would like to visit when there is more snow still on the mountains.

Edited October 17, 2016 by StartrainDD

[Assateague Island Princes]

Love it! Love it! Love it! Enough that I've done it three times (2010, 2011 and 2014 - all on the beautiful Amsterdam) and would not hesitate to do it again! Although I've noticed that the itinerary has been 'watered down' a bit in that port times are shorter (we had longer port times in Kodiak and Sitka in 2010 and 2011). Also on the 2010 trip, we sailed inside Vancouver Island and the views were to die for. The 2010 trip also substituted Skagway for Icy Strait and included Glacier Bay rather than Tracy Arm. I prefer Icy Strait to Skagway so wasn't disappointed when that changed, but I still like Glacier Bay over Tracy Arm (even after doing the small boat excursion into Tracy Arm on our 2014 sailing). This wonderful itinerary also gave me my first glimpse of Homer - now my 'heart home' and a place we'd like to retire to someday. We fell in love with Homer from the first time we sailed into Kachemak Bay in 2010 - enough that we've subsequently made three land only trips back to Homer where we spent up to 10 days in a rental home there. Just adore it!

[LLRS1]

I also recommend Inn at the Market. Definitely our first choice in Seattle.

[grayjay]

You whet my appetite :D with your descriptions of that cruise and I think we must do that as well - seems to be very different from the 7-day Seward-Vancouver trip we took a few years ago.

May I smuggle in a short question of my own? Is MAY too early for Alaska in regard to ice and snow (Hubbard Glacier, for example) ? We could only manage the first two cruises of the Amsterdam which are at the end of May/ beginning of June. Thank you for the extra answers!

[RuthC]

Is MAY too early for Alaska in regard to ice and snow (Hubbard Glacier, for example) ? We could only manage the first two cruises of the Amsterdam which are at the end of May/ beginning of June.

Late May/early June can be a lot better than even a couple of weeks earlier in the month, when it comes to ice blocking getting close to the glaciers. The more time you give the ice to move along, the better the chances of the ship getting close.

My memory of approaching Hubbard Glacier on a late May cruise is fog, but that could have just been that day. We did not get as close as on my previous visit, which was in mid-July.

[nw gardener]

Did this cruise this summer [1st 2 weeks of June] and LOVED the itinerary, plan on booking it again in 2018 when it becomes available, and for us, would not matter which ship it is - the ports/stops are what the cruise is all about for us. If we decide not to cruise, we will fly up to Anchorage and spend time in Homer and do our own DIY vacation instead, but prefer the pampering of cruising :).

[Caribbean Chris]

Like others, we loved this cruise, my third to Alaska. Kodiak was wonderful - we had glorious weather that day.

 

Despite the long flights from Florida, I'd love to do it again, and we probably will.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Have any of y'all done a cruise tour that could compare it to the 14nt r/t Seattle cruise? I'm considering the Triple Denali cruisetour option that has 1nt Fairbanks, 3nts Denali and 1 nt Anchorage with a Southbound cruise vs a 14 nt r/t Seattle for summer 2018

[janmcn]

Doing this in August 2017. Is there a better side of the ship to have your cabin on?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Sillyjilly]

Loved every minute of it both times I was blessed to have gone. Love the Amsterdam. Hope to do this cruise again.