Would LOVE someone to have someone review their Y3C on here

[baxley]

So little is said about a cruise first land/sea tour...and I would love hearing from people who have done it...or are going to do it. Not so much pictures, as just telling us what they did each day. Thanks for anyone out there willing to share.

[baxley]

Sorry...don't know what happened to my title???

[sail7seas]

Want to break the code? WHAT is a y3C?

 

It is actually just fine to skip abbreviations and write out what you mean you might generate more interest if we know about what you are speaking.

[sail7seas]

Sorry...don't know what happened to my title???

 

 

Gives you a chance to write a title we can understand.

[kazu]

Y3C for those that don't know is one of the Alaska Cruise/Land tours. It's HAL's title not an abbreviation.

 

OP, I don't recall seeing a review or report from someone who did the cruise first. (But, my memory can be short)

 

the ones I recall did the land tour first and then the cruise.

 

I hope someone will share with you. I'm sure they will recognize the title.

[kwb101]

Here's an excellent, detailed review of Y2C from last year, very similar to Y3C but including a couple of days in Skagway, and a extra day in Denali. Hope it helps.

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

[sail7seas]

Thanks for clarifying.

 

 

Those land tours did ont interest us so we ;paid no attention to what they were called.

[baxley]

Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for! A great review!

[kwb101]

Glad it helped! It helped us prep for our Y3L trip last year. We met the author and his wife on our Panama Canal transit this past April and May.

Happy travels!

p.s. One thing I would mention (and you should check with HAL) is that the information in the "2018 Alaska Land+Sea Journey Tips" about luggage weights in the note in the "Join Me Tonight" section on p5 may be inaccurate. We saw this last year and were very concerned about overweight fees and all that, and our Journey Host said that, because the flight (between Fairbanks and Dawson) was a charter, HAL paid any fees. Still, since the info's still there a year later, you may want to check it out with HAL.

https://www.hollandamerica.com/assets//cruise-destinations/Tour_Tips.pdf

[Koali]

We did the alaska land/sea tour 5 years ago. We arrived in anchorage 2 days in advance of the trip so we could get acclimated to time zone difference (5hours difference for us). The first day was technically a wash since we landed at midnight and went straight to bed as we had been up for 24 hours by then. The next day we explored anchorage on our own.

 

On the first official day of the tour, we met at the hotel where they sorted our luggage- ones going with us to Denali, others directly to cruise ship. Then shuttled us on a coach bus to the train station where we got into the dome rail cars. It was a great train ride and nice views. I forget how long the train ride was but you had to eat lunch on the train. They have a food car where they bring you down when it’s your turn. I remember the food being good but expensive. Once we arrived in Denali, they took us to our lodge where our luggage had already arrived. The resort is very nice and our rooms are really cute! It was log cabin style that had a separate living room. It was afternoon or evening so we didn’t do much otherwise.

 

The next day we were scheduled to go on a side by side atv ride. It was a 4-5 hours long and one of the best excursions that we went on in Alaska. There were great views and the provided lunch was a legit meal, not just a boxed lunch.

 

The third day we went to Denali on the planned tour. It was a shortened trip because it was early in the season but we saw a lot of wildlife. It was foggy so we did not see Denali mountain.

 

There were restaurants in the resort but were very expensive. We went to one restaurant across the street that was open but I was told that there are more as it gets into peak season.

 

The fourth day we were transported back to the ship by coach bus. Our luggage went separately. Our bus driver was super friendly and slowed down for wildlife. She made a stop at a rest stop so we could get a good look at Denali since it was a clear day. We ended up getting stuck in the snow and had to wait it out for a few hours before we got going again but HAL was super accommodating. We detoured to a local Princess resort since it was lunch time and had lunch there instead of the planned box lunch that everyone else had. That resort also had amazing views of the mountain so I think we lucked out just fine! We were the last ones onto the ship and had to head straight to muster drill when we got on but they waited for us. We ended up missing dinner that night since we came in so late.

 

I won’t go into the cruise portion but I would highly recommend doing the land portion first. It was really hectic running around on those days and we needed some relaxation time on the cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bennybear]

We had booked back to back cruise and land cruise tour last year but didn't get to do the land cruise tour return due to a serious influenza outbreak which we caught on the first cruise. So I would strongly recommend land first and cruise back and relax. Our ship had just recently come from down under.

[Wings55]

So little is said about a cruise first land/sea tour...and I would love hearing from people who have done it...or are going to do it. Not so much pictures, as just telling us what they did each day. Thanks for anyone out there willing to share.

It's been ten years fro us but we cruised from Vancouver to Seward and then followed that with a three day land tour. It was our first real cruise and we had such a wonderful time on the Zaandam that I ws kind of depressed looking forward to time an buses etc. I shouldn't have been worried. We thoroughly enjoy the trip to Denali and the wonderful Wilderness Tour into the park It was a memorable experience and have recommended the cruise then tour option to friends.

 

I'm not sure about current pricing but a few years ago I noticed the north bound option was cheaper than southbound. YMMV.

 

Paul