10-Day Danali (D8L) Questions

[beckslash]

We're deciding between the Northbound or the Southbound version of this land/sea cruise. One leaves on 5/26 on Noordam the other 5/28 on Zaandam. Both look great but the bigger questions are about the land portion as I can find little information on this. (And I've searched!)

 

I can't find a review of this particular tour. Should I assume that at Fairbanks we just have a hotel and are left to ourselves? Then we have a day/night in Denali and then take a long bus ride to Seward? Can anyone give me a play-by-play of the land portion?

 

Also, on the Noordam we'd probably choose the VB balcony on the Observation deck. I've seen both good and bad about this. On the Zaandam, we'd have a Vista Suite. Thoughts?

 

Lastly, what about the Oak Room on the Noordam? My husband likes a cigar once in awhile but it's not a necessity. Do they allow cigarette smoking in there as well?

 

Thank you!

[J&Dhighdesert]

I would do the land tour first. We did the cruise first and where exhausted by the end of the trip. Also, take some strong insect repellent. The mosquitoes will love you. I had on heavy jeans and wool socks. They left some bites to remember. This was taken many many years ago and I still remember.

[beckslash]

Thanks, J&D! I had the same thoughts about doing land first. I would have never thought about mosquitoes. :o We'll make sure we bring some good repellent.

[RuthC]

Lastly, what about the Oak Room on the Noordam? My husband likes a cigar once in awhile but it's not a necessity. Do they allow cigarette smoking in there as well?

Yes, the Oak Room on the Noordam only is for cigar and cigarette smoking.

[CashewNuts]

Yes, the Oak Room on the Noordam only is for cigar and cigarette smoking.

 

 

Pipe smoking also is allowed in the Oak Room -

http://www.hollandamerica.com/assets/cruise-vacation-onboard/KBYG.pdf - scroll to page 17.

[rajkr74]

We're deciding between the Northbound or the Southbound version of this land/sea cruise. One leaves on 5/26 on Noordam the other 5/28 on Zaandam. Both look great but the bigger questions are about the land portion as I can find little information on this. (And I've searched!)

 

I can't find a review of this particular tour. Should I assume that at Fairbanks we just have a hotel and are left to ourselves? Then we have a day/night in Denali and then take a long bus ride to Seward? Can anyone give me a play-by-play of the land portion?

 

Also, on the Noordam we'd probably choose the VB balcony on the Observation deck. I've seen both good and bad about this. On the Zaandam, we'd have a Vista Suite. Thoughts?

 

Lastly, what about the Oak Room on the Noordam? My husband likes a cigar once in awhile but it's not a necessity. Do they allow cigarette smoking in there as well?

 

Thank you!

 

Like you, we found very little information/reviews on the board for the HAL Land-Sea cruises. There are 26 different Land Sea cruises that HAL puts out so finding one that perfectly fits with the cruise you are wanting to do is going to be tough. We did a review on CC last year for our cruise which was a Y2C cruise for 14 days from Seattle. We bused to Vancouver then got on the Volendam. I also would recommend at least 2 days in Denali but 3 days is better like we did. You just can not truly see Denali in one day.

Here is the CC review link.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2380606

We also posted pictures on OneDrive. Here is that link.

https://onedrive.live.com/?id=7AFC87CDF2F6DCA%2122255&cid=07AFC87CDF2F6DCA

CC is not bringing over a true link for the CC review. So you will have to copy & Paste the url into a browser.

[beckslash]

Rick, thank you for the review and photos! That was super helpful. Wish were doing more than one day in Denali but we made this decision pretty late. I guess that means we'll always have a reason to go back! :D

 

I was curious about the Westmark hotels so that was helpful too. And the tip about the all you can eat prime rib, salmon and fish might come in handy!

 

Thanks for the link CashewNuts.

 

I called HAL today to get some more info. Day 1 is Fairbanks and we just have the hotel and time to ourselves. Day 2 we leave for Denali at 9:30am and arrive about 1pm. Day 3 we leave in the morning for a 10-hour (?!?) coach to Seward, arriving around 5pm. I priced the cruise without the land portion and adding it only makes it approximately $200 dollars more.

[RuthC]

Pipe smoking also is allowed in the Oak Room -

In my quote, the word "only" went with the word "Noordam", as opposed to the Oak Room on the Prinsendam. It was not excluding pipe smoking, but merely addressing the two forms of smoking the poster asked about.

[beckslash]

In my quote, the word "only" went with the word "Noordam", as opposed to the Oak Room on the Prinsendam. It was not excluding pipe smoking, but merely addressing the two forms of smoking the poster asked about.

 

 

I understood that, RuthC!

[RuthC]

I understood that, RuthC!

Thanks. I wouldn't want to refer to smoking allowed in "the Oak Room" and have someone misunderstand that the Prinsendam would allow it, too. That ship does not, even though the room name is the same.

Sometimes this using the same name for different things, which HAL tends to do, can get very confusing and lead to unrealistic expectations.

[summersigh]

I also would recommend at least 2 days in Denali but 3 days is better like we did. You just can not truly see Denali in one day.

I have to agree here with the Denali time. We were there a half day, a whole day and another half day - seemed just right if you're not an "outdoorsy long hiker". The bus tour we took back into the park to see the mountain and the wildlife took 7 hours alone.

 

Know too that you can fly into the city where your tour starts a few days early if you want extra time in Fairbanks. Our tour started from Anchorage. We flew in 3 days early, rented a car and toured on our own for 3 days then joined the tour at their hotel on the start day.

[summersigh]

When I looked at your itinerary I saw you stop in Haines - we LOVE Haines and not many cruises stop there.

We did a inflatable float boat trip down the river in the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve (awesome!!). Lunch was included.

 

Then we went downtown Haines - lovely little town with an interesting local museum. We ended up at a cool local tavern down on the waterfront.

Our original plan had been to take the fast ferry to Skagway in the afternoon but canceled that idea when we heard there were 10,000 cruise ship passengers there that day. So glad we stayed in Haines.

[epixx]

I would not consider a Southbound land/sea trip in your time frame, only Northbound. Why? This is because you will not have full access to Denali Park before June 1. Preferably, you should take the shuttle to the Eielson Visitor Center, which opens June 1. Alternatively, you could take the Tundra Wilderness Tour (make SURE that this is included or possible with your cruisetour), which also starts June 1. If you arrive before June 1, you are limited to the shuttle to Toklat River or the Toklat Shoulder Season Tour, both of which are inferior to your options June 1 or later. You're taking a very long trip with long transit times. Make the most of it.

[JPH814]

We did the 11 day southbound. The land tour is very tiring. It was perfect to do it first then get on the ship to relax pampered.

 

We had two nights in anchorage. That really means one day to see the city.

 

Then the train ride to Denali. Fun (a bucket list thing for me). You arrive mid afternoon which allowed us to do an excursion ( to the iditorod Puppy Farm -also fun) before getting a late dinner

 

The second day in Denali was a long bus ride into the park. Definitely worth it- reports on the shorter trip were not very positive. We also had time for a later afternoon raft trip.

 

After a second night in Denali you leave early morning for Seward and the ship. Yes it is long. Totaled about 8 hours. Includes a stop for a decent lunch. Also stops for a couple of bathroom breaks. ( very primitive - avoid using them if you can).

 

We pulled in up to the ship about 4 pm

 

 

 

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[Assateague Island Princes]

To the OP - please pay close attention to epixx post above regarding the Denali portion of your trip. It is imperative that you get as far into the park as you can. Since the shuttles (and the Tundra Wilderness Tour) don't start running as far as the Eielson Visitor's Center until June 1st, you want to be sure you are in Denali on or after that date. Otherwise, IMHO, there really is no reason to go to DNP if you aren't truly going to get to venture far enough into the park to make it worth your while.

[beckslash]

Thanks all, for your awesome tips and information! In the end, we and the couple we're traveling with, decided to go with a 7-day RT Seattle on NCL. It was actually more expensive than the D8L but with the limited time we were going to have in Denali, the flights and the time off work, it just didn't make sense for us.

 

Someday, hopefully, we'll see Denali. This just wasn't the right time or right cruise.

 

Thanks again!