Just off Noordam Alaska with kids— Any questions?

[Straitlover]

 

We were originally on the Noordam, but ended up switching to the Westerdam because of the internet plans (I need to stay connected to work, unfortunately). Westerdam is the only HAL ship that I know of that has an unlimited plan.

 

I was on this Noordam cruise (6/10-17). We had the internet that was priced per day, not the minute packages. Is that the unlimited, or did you pay a flat fee for the week?

[hurricane18]

Do you have any examples of activities that the kids might experience?

 

 

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Scavenger hunts, video game tournaments, group dinners at Lido, Basketball/sports competitions were among a few that I saw. They had a schedule delivered to the stateroom each night of the kids activities for different age groups

[hurricane18]

 

I was on this Noordam cruise (6/10-17). We had the internet that was priced per day, not the minute packages. Is that the unlimited, or did you pay a flat fee for the week?

 

I remember being able to purchase by the day or the whole cruise. Was not priced by the minute.

[vkelley]

We're booked on the Noordam for the land/cruise tour starting 8/30. First time with HAL but have cruised a lot. Also first time to Alaska. Not finding a lot of info on HAL's site about how the land/cruise works. We will arrive in Fairbanks in the early hours of 8/30, so I booked a room at the same hotel we will stay at with HAL. So my question is how it works going to Denali National Park. Do we go on buses? And how does the luggage work? I've read some where you just need an overnight bag for the Denali portion and the rest of your luggage goes to the ship ... is that correct? We upgraded our trip from Denali to Seward to be on the train. Has anyone done that and is it worth it? Lastly, in Denali, I did not see any excursion options. Do we have time or does HAL organize any of that?

 

I have been on about 10-12 cruises but never with Holland and never a land portion. Just unclear as to how it all works. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!

[hurricane18]

We're booked on the Noordam for the land/cruise tour starting 8/30. First time with HAL but have cruised a lot. Also first time to Alaska. Not finding a lot of info on HAL's site about how the land/cruise works. We will arrive in Fairbanks in the early hours of 8/30, so I booked a room at the same hotel we will stay at with HAL. So my question is how it works going to Denali National Park. Do we go on buses? And how does the luggage work? I've read some where you just need an overnight bag for the Denali portion and the rest of your luggage goes to the ship ... is that correct? We upgraded our trip from Denali to Seward to be on the train. Has anyone done that and is it worth it? Lastly, in Denali, I did not see any excursion options. Do we have time or does HAL organize any of that?

 

I have been on about 10-12 cruises but never with Holland and never a land portion. Just unclear as to how it all works. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!

 

what land tour are you on? that might help. We were bussed to Denali from Fairbanks

[vkelley]

what land tour are you on? that might help. We were bussed to Denali from Fairbanks

 

We are on the D7L: 11-day Denali

[hurricane18]

We are on the D7L: 11-day Denali

 

Yeah HAL doesn't do a great job explaining their land tours on their website. Per the brochure, It looks like you are going to be on a bus from Fairbanks to Denali, a train from Denali to Anchorage, and a Bus from Anchorage to Seward. you said you upgraded the last segment to train. It is not possible to take the train from Denali to Seward in one day and still make it to the ship on time, hence the night in Anchorage. We were on the bus for the entirety of the trip, and we still enjoyed it. Some have said they loved the train, others are indifferent. More of a personal preference. The Bus is faster and allows for a few impromptu photo stops, touristy trap type places, and walking breaks but people love the train also.

 

you will be given tags when you check in at Fairbanks that say "Meet me onboard" or "Meet me tonight". Pretty self explanatory-- put the tags on the bags of where you wan them to go and have them outside your hotel room door by 6 am the next morning. You won't see the MMOB tagged bags until you get on the ship in Seward. You'll see the MMT bags at the Denali hotel. I would try to send all bags to the ship and keep a small overnight bag (airplane carry on) with you to share with your party for the night in Anchorage and Denali.

 

I dont know about your time in Denali regarding excursions. We had a full day (arrived in Denali at 11:30 am, spent that night there, and left at the brink of dawn the next morning on the bus to catch the ship), so we had plenty of excursion options on the HAL exc website.

[balezantis]

:) Hi. Do you remember seeing Pickleball in the ship or listed in the daily activities?

Thanks

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing the info.

 

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[Click.Write.Post.]

We're booked on the Noordam for the land/cruise tour starting 8/30. First time with HAL but have cruised a lot. Also first time to Alaska. Not finding a lot of info on HAL's site about how the land/cruise works. We will arrive in Fairbanks in the early hours of 8/30, so I booked a room at the same hotel we will stay at with HAL. So my question is how it works going to Denali National Park. Do we go on buses? And how does the luggage work? I've read some where you just need an overnight bag for the Denali portion and the rest of your luggage goes to the ship ... is that correct? We upgraded our trip from Denali to Seward to be on the train. Has anyone done that and is it worth it? Lastly, in Denali, I did not see any excursion options. Do we have time or does HAL organize any of that?

 

I have been on about 10-12 cruises but never with Holland and never a land portion. Just unclear as to how it all works. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!

 

My husband and I did a similar land tour, D5L. We arrived in Fairbanks after midnight and took a bus transfer to our hotel.

 

The first day in Fairbanks we rented a car and drove out to North Pole. We were instructed to put our luggage outside our room that night and it would be taken on a separate transfer vehicle to our hotel in Denali.

 

The next morning was an early start, where we boarding buses to the Riverboat Tour (which we loved), lunch was provided after the riverboat tour, and then we boarded a bus to Denali.

 

We stayed two night in Denali. Nothing was planned for the first night. Again we had an early morning wake up to catch the bus into Denali provided by HAL. The Denali tour was very long and not as enjoyable as we would have hoped. They provided snack bags. That night we put our bags out again for transfer to Anchorage.

 

The next morning we took a bus to the train station where we boarded the glass domed train. Again we loved this part of the trip, probably our most favorite part. They do take breakfast orders, which we didn't know before boarding the train and would have preferred to eat on board than at our hotel. You have assign seating on the train. Each train car has a bartender and a tour guide, or just one that serves as both. You can get up and walk around the train. Lunch is served on the train, not included in the price, and we enjoyed the experience of having lunch on board. There is a dining car with white table cloths. You can order some snacks that will be delivered to your seats.

 

After a long, but enjoyable trip, we arrived in Anchorage, boarded yet another bus to our hotel. Our bus driver wanted to give us a tour of the city, but most of us were ready to get to the hotel and stretch our legs.

 

Once we were checked in to our hotel, we walked in to town and found a place for dinner. That night our luggage was to be put out again for transport to Seward. We took the train from Anchorage to Seward, which wasn't as nice as the previous train but we still enjoyed the experience. The train pulled up almost to the ship, but we did have to walk a little bit in the poring rain to get on the ship.

 

My in-laws took the bus from Anchorage to Seward and they made stops along the way, including a stop at Turnnigan Arm to see Beluga Whales! I think they also stopped at a place for snacks.

 

I found the hotel beds to be uncomfortable, and the rooms to be noisy. I was happy to have the land tour first so I could relax on the cruise. Also, the stretch between Seward and the first stop can have lots of motion in the Gulf of Alaska. I recommend medication to help control seasickness. My father-in-law didn't take anything and he had trouble through the night and the next morning. The rest of us had no troubles and enjoyed our sea day.

 

I am happy to answer any other questions. I hope this quick review helps!

[Click.Write.Post.]

We did the land-sea tour from Fairbanks to Seward where we boarded the Noordam to Vancouver.

I will do a full trip report once I get things settled back here at home.

 

This was our first cruise and while we had a great time and saw lots of Alaska, We don't think cruising is our thing. No particular reason though!

HAL was very organized and everything went smoothly thruout the whole trip. I have no other ship to compare this one to so I can't say much about that subject. It does need some updating but was fine for us.

 

Lots of the tips we received from this forum were helpful and some didn't apply to us at all. No need for magnet hooks in SS 8058. Nothing metal! Maybe the inside cabins?

No need for highlighters. The navigator App showed everything that was going on for the day. Just add to your itinerary and you were set for the day!

 

If I can answer any questions, please ask. I will try to get a report done soon! There were both pros and cons but like

I sad, it was a great trip and Alaska is amazing!

 

 

What is the Navigator App? Is it for your mobile phone?

[grsnovi]

What is the Navigator App? Is it for your mobile phone?

Yes. Download it to your phone on boarding. Then while in airplane mode, log on and check your on board account, view activities, view photos that may have been taken while boarding or during the evenings. You can do most of that on the screen in your stateroom too - but you need to register your account and they give you a username. I was skeptical at first but it turned out to be useful. You can also (apparently) use it to message others in your party but they have to go into the app to see messages (they don't pop up or appear in your message app.

[Click.Write.Post.]

Yes. Download it to your phone on boarding. Then while in airplane mode, log on and check your on board account, view activities, view photos that may have been taken while boarding or during the evenings. You can do most of that on the screen in your stateroom too - but you need to register your account and they give you a username. I was skeptical at first but it turned out to be useful. You can also (apparently) use it to message others in your party but they have to go into the app to see messages (they don't pop up or appear in your message app.

 

This is great! I can't wait to try out this new to me feature! It was available on our last cruise early last year.