HAL Inside Passage Route, Vancouver to Juneau

[Himself]

When I would travel with Captain Pieter Bos, he gave us a lot of inside cruising after we left the protection of Vancouver Island. I traveled with him on the Volendam, the Oosterdam and the Noordam. He was a great Captain.

[sppunk]

49 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

So your unprotected/open sea "first leg" is the portion of Queen Charlotte Sound, north of Vancouver Island?

I believe so - it was dark when we got out there and by the time we woke up we were basically back within the passage. 

[Hawaiidan]

On 5/28/2019 at 11:05 AM, LF23 said:

 

Good point, that’s the other unknown, what areas will be during darkness after we leave Vancouver. 

From experience leaving Vancouver  the entire inside passage will be done at night... you pass the narrows around 3 am.....     When the ship ends in Vancouver, after leaving Alaska you will either sail the outside of  Vancouver island  or the inside...  in day time

[Hawaiidan]

On 5/28/2019 at 11:05 AM, LF23 said:

 

Good point, that’s the other unknown, what areas will be during darkness after we leave Vancouver. 

the entire inside passage... you go in at sunset and come out at dawn..... don't expect to see anything but buoy lights  the forest and lack of habitation  means a very dark night

[LF23]

6 hours ago, weix said:

I do follow cruise ships on  "marine traffic.com" quite often.  google this site to day  wed. may 29 /2019 and find vancouver harbour.  you will find 3 cruise ships tied up until 5pm pacific time. one of them is the volendam.   after the ships leave harbour you can follow them all the way up to alaska. just click on the little blue triangles to find the name of the ship its destination and speed.   when you first open the site and find a light blue screen just click on the minus in the top right corner to find out where in the world you are on the screen.    i hope this helps you and others. have fun and enjoy.   weix

 

weix, this is cool!  Thank you. 

[LF23]

On 5/28/2019 at 2:21 PM, DougK said:

BTW, if you look at the itinerary maps on the HAL website, it shows the Nieuw Amsterdam going out to sea after Glacier Bay, but the Volendam going through Chatham Strait. I don't know whether that distinction plays out in reality, or whether both ships can end up going either route.

 

@DougK, check this out - just found the route map for the NA I had saved from HAL site on March 31, showing NA following Chatman Strait!  So at some point between then and May when you checked, the route shown online was changed. Wonder why... 

 

Can’t figure out how to insert the picture here.

[DougK]

1 hour ago, LF23 said:

 

@DougK, check this out - just found the route map for the NA I had saved from HAL site on March 31, showing NA following Chatman Strait!  So at some point between then and May when you checked, the route shown online was changed. Wonder why... 

 

 

For kicks, I just looked at the printed 2019 Alaska brochure, and it shows only one route map for the Inside Passage itinerary, regardless of ship, and it goes through Chatham Strait. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that the current map on the web site doesn't necessarily show where the NA will actually go.  I need to remember to check a cruise tracker on Wednesday evenings to see where the NA is...

[LF23]

15 hours ago, DougK said:

For kicks, I just looked at the printed 2019 Alaska brochure, and it shows only one route map for the Inside Passage itinerary, regardless of ship, and it goes through Chatham Strait.

 

@DougK, thank you, and wow. Mystery solved for us- we could’ve sworn we saw the exact same itinerary for NA and Volendam when we booked, and it seems we did. Still curious why the change. We’ll go along with your thought and hope it changes back in reality!  If you do find the Wednesday night position would you mind posting?  

[Hawaiidan]

On 5/28/2019 at 11:05 AM, LF23 said:

 

Good point, that’s the other unknown, what areas will be during darkness after we leave Vancouver. 

All of the inside passage.  from entry to passing the tip of Vancouver Island      The sun will be setting as you   pass Victoria  position  

[DougK]

2 hours ago, Hawaiidan said:

All of the inside passage.  from entry to passing the tip of Vancouver Island      The sun will be setting as you   pass Victoria  position  

 

I don't believe that's correct, depending of course on the time of year. First off, the Inside Passage trips from Vancouver don't go by Victoria, at least under normal circumstances. They head northwest out of Vancouver in the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the mainland, i.e., part of the Inside Passage. In June and July, there's at least 5 hours of daylight after sailaway. Yes, that's not long enough to get to Seymour Narrows, and it's a pretty wide part of the Inside Passage, but it still beats open ocean.

[Hawaiidan]

52 minutes ago, DougK said:

 

I don't believe that's correct, depending of course on the time of year. First off, the Inside Passage trips from Vancouver don't go by Victoria, at least under normal circumstances. They head northwest out of Vancouver in the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the mainland, i.e., part of the Inside Passage. In June and July, there's at least 5 hours of daylight after sailaway. Yes, that's not long enough to get to Seymour Narrows, and it's a pretty wide part of the Inside Passage, but it still beats open ocean.

I  Used  the  position on Victoria and the tip of Vancouver Isl  as a reference...I know the ship does not sail to Victoria..        There are some ships  that  on occasion sail north to south in a full daylight transit on the Passage

The tides in the passage  are horrific   that can influence a ship decision  the Narrows region  is one if the best and the region north of it.

Edited June 29, 2019 by Hawaiidan

[Himself]

On 5/28/2019 at 3:27 AM, Copper10-8 said:

 

Upon departing Vancouver inner harbor via Burrard Inlet, you will pass underneath Lions Gate Bridge and enter English Bay. The ship will then sail northbound between the Canadian mainland and Vancouver Island using the Strait of Georgia, Seymour Narrows, Discovery Passage and Johnson Strait, while passing the towns of Powell River, Campbell River and Port Hardy, and then will sail via Queen Charlotte Strait into the open (Pacific) ocean arm of Queen Charlotte Sound. The ship will use Hecate Strait to enter U.S waters at the Dixon Entrance.

 

Ships that first stop at Ketchikan will continue northbound by sailing up Tongass Narrows. After the call at Ketchikan the ship will proceed northbound Tongass Narrows, passing Ketchikan Airport, to Clarence Strait, Sumner Strait and from there will enter Chatham Strait and will then follow the same route as those ships who skipped Ketchikan (see below) until their southbound return to Vancouver, BC.

 

Ships that will go to Juneau first will enter the Pacific Ocean proper at Cape Muzon, leaving Dixon Entrance behind, and follow the west coast of Prince of Wales Island, heading back inside at Chatham Strait, where two U.S. Southeast Alaska pilots will be picked up at Frederick Sound pilot station (Kake, AK). After the pilot pickup, the ship will follow Frederick Sound which will lead to Stephens Passage, passing Five Fingers Lighthouse and The Brothers Islands, continuing northbound past Grand Island to reach Juneau via the Gastineau Channel

 

 

North of Bella Bella many Captains move into some channels between islands which keep the ship off the ocean and give some scenic cruising as they head North to Alaska. 

[VermeulT]

On 5/28/2019 at 6:30 PM, Copper10-8 said:

By the way, if you want a good guide book of the Alaska routes, one you can follow mile-by-mile, try Joe Upton's "The Alaska Cruise Handbook," lots of info and maps inside, incl. a large fold-out map

 

 

I highly recommend this book also.  Bring some small magnets and you can hang this on one wall of your stateroom (at least we could on the Statendam).  It was wonderful to follow along.

[LF23]

Thanks everybody! 

[DougK]

On 6/29/2019 at 7:12 AM, LF23 said:

@DougKIf you do find the Wednesday night position would you mind posting?  

 

I took a look last night, and the NA unfortunately was following the map: headed west from Glacier Bay and out to sea, then south past Sitka.

 

Oh, well.