Semi live review Y1L Holland America’s Alaska Land and Sea CruiseTour, June 1 – June 19, 2022

[canadianbear]

Looks like decent weather for you.  Sorry about cancellations-that is always disappointing. Is there any others you can sign up for?

[Alphen]

2 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

Looks like decent weather for you.  Sorry about cancellations-that is always disappointing. Is there any others you can sign up for?

Yeah, pretty nice weather, 23 degrees celcius or so! We have looked at other excursions, but we have a full schedule at Denali, so maybe throttle back and take some time either in the Chalet grounds, or with the shuttle to the visitor center.

[Alphen]

The Sternwheeler Hotel and Conference Center.

Some additional information on the facilities in the hotel. The rooms are good, just for one night. The in room Wi-Fi is very good, although we were warned by our journey host Will, that this is an exemption in this tour, so we will see how it works out. Pending good Wi-Fi, this report will maybe continue, otherwise there will be gaps.

Hotel room also includes fridge and coffee maker.

 

Diner

For dinner, there are loads of dining options in town and in the hotel. We stumbled upon a Chines restaurant, which usually is quick dining and we felt like it, so we went ahead and were not disappointed. Seating was spacious, we are still looking out for distancing and wear masks often.

 

 

The food was good and plenty, so no complaints there. There were many locals and a large group of Chinese that came in on our flight, so guess not the worst choice for dinner.

 

So far, nobody asked for our test results, so guess that's another CAN$ 160 down the drain. Ah well, better safe than sorry.

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by Alphen

[eggemon]

Jeroen,

 

Thanks so much for sharing your experience!

 

If I may, a clarification question about luggage... In post #22, you said that luggage was explained in Vancouver: you have all of your luggage stay with you until Fairbanks, then have the option to send a bag directly to the ship. I am assuming that, until you get to Fairbanks, you must stay within the constraints of two checked bags with a combined weight of no more 50 lbs. and one carry-on weighing no more than 13 lbs. I also assume there is no option to send a bag from Vancouver to the ship (understandable due to border crossing). Do I have all of that correct?

 

We are doing Y1L in July. We can live with the number of bags, but the weight restriction is a problem for us – I have a solution in mind, but want to make sure there is not some easier solution available through HAL.

 

Really appreciating your pictures and information! Thanks!

 

Gary

[Alphen]

3 minutes ago, eggemon said:

Jeroen,

 

Thanks so much for sharing your experience!

 

If I may, a clarification question about luggage... In post #22, you said that luggage was explained in Vancouver: you have all of your luggage stay with you until Fairbanks, then have the option to send a bag directly to the ship. I am assuming that, until you get to Fairbanks, you must stay within the constraints of two checked bags with a combined weight of no more 50 lbs. and one carry-on weighing no more than 13 lbs. I also assume there is no option to send a bag from Vancouver to the ship (understandable due to border crossing). Do I have all of that correct?

 

We are doing Y1L in July. We can live with the number of bags, but the weight restriction is a problem for us – I have a solution in mind, but want to make sure there is not some easier solution available through HAL.

 

Really appreciating your pictures and information! Thanks!

 

Gary

You are right about the luggage restrictions, which are the restrictions from Air North by the way. Only the checked luggage was weighed, not the carry on luggage. All these number are per guest, not per couple by the way. I have not heard about any other direct forwarding options, sorry about that.

Edited June 3, 2022 by Alphen

[eggemon]

2 minutes ago, Alphen said:

You are right about the luggage restrictions, which are the restrictions from Air North by the way. Only the checked luggage was weighed, not the carry on luggage. All these number are per guest, not per couple by the way. I have not heard about any other direct forwarding options, sorry about that.

Thanks for the confirmation!

[Alphen]

As a bit of help with general tourist information. Our first hotel in the Yukon, The Sernwheeler in Whitehorse, has much information about this location, but also about other stops in the Yukon, like upcomming Dawson (with usefull citymap) and other locations. We also found a brochure about Skagway in the lobby.

 

Much of these brochures can also be found in restaurants and shops and most probably also in the tourist information here in town.

[Alphen]

52 minutes ago, Alphen said:

The Sternwheeler Hotel and Conference Center.

Some additional information on the facilities in the hotel. The rooms are good, just for one night. The in room Wi-Fi is very good, although we were warned by our journey host Will, that this is an exemption in this tour, so we will see how it works out. Pending good Wi-Fi, this report will maybe continue, otherwise there will be gaps.

Hotel room also includes fridge and coffee maker.

 

 

Just to be comlete, there is also a microwave, but that was a bit in the back on a shelf 🙂

 

52 minutes ago, Alphen said:

 

 

[Sebbiesgrammy]

5 hours ago, eggemon said:

Thanks for the confirmation!

Regarding Air North luggage allowance... Your HAL boarding pass should refer you to the Air North official policy but, if not, here it is.  Hopefully, we can relax a little about the weight restrictions.  https://www.flyairnorth.com/flights/baggage-carry

[eggemon]

2 hours ago, Sebbiesgrammy said:

Regarding Air North luggage allowance... Your HAL boarding pass should refer you to the Air North official policy but, if not, here it is.  Hopefully, we can relax a little about the weight restrictions.  https://www.flyairnorth.com/flights/baggage-carry

Thanks! That is a bit less strict than what HAL states...

[Alphen]

Another sunny ☀️ start in Whitehorse. Chilly overnight around nine Celsius, but should get into the lower twenties later.

 

Breakfast was a limited buffet, but sufficient for a start of the day.

 

Luggage should be out in the hallway at 07:45, leaving at 09:10 to Carcross Yukon, to visit Caribou Trading Post to see sled dogs.

 

We are also having (included) lunch there and after that we go to the airport for a short flight to Dawson.

 

Just went outside, already a nice temperature!

 

 

The bus is from a different group, we are not the only HAL group, there is also a Y4L group.

Hotel notifications in the elevator:

Edited June 3, 2022 by Alphen

[Copper10-8]

Just a heads up; Carcross has an store known as the Matthew Watson General Store; you can't miss it because it's pink. There is some excellent ice cream to be had in there; the best in the Yukon! 😉 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alphen]

42 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

Just a heads up; Carcross has an store known as the Matthew Watson General Store; you can't miss it because it's pink. There is some excellent ice cream to be had in there; the best in the Yukon! 😉 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the heads up John, we will see if the schedule will leave us room.

 

[Alphen]

Whitehorse morning stroll.

 

After breakfast we took a stroll along the peace full Yukon, before leaving to Carcross.

 

 

 

[Alphen]

Whitehorse wildlife 

 

We had some nice wildlife sightings, at least for us, including some nice beaver shots.

 

There were at least 3 of them.

 

A little bit later, a fellow group guest indicated a family of red foxes in town.

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by Alphen

[Alphen]

Morning routine:

[rajkr74]

So sorry the river boat Klondike was not open when you were there so I'm adding some photos of the inside of the boat from when we were there in 2016.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cabin photo thru Plexiglas

 

[Alphen]

Caribou Crossing 

 

We headed out to Caribou Crossing around 9. During our 45 minutes bus ride, our journey host Will explained a bit more about the tour ahead and handed out several brochures for the rest of our tour.

 

 

We headed out over the Alaskan Highway, built around and after WWII and via the Klondike Highway.

Will also talked a bit about the Klondike Gold-rush, which apparently was the largest migration not as a result of a war.

 

Our first stop was at Emerald Lake. A beautiful lake that got its colours from corals and lime-secreting algae that are responsible for the beautiful colours, together with the difference in depth.

 

Second stop was the Caribou Crossing Trading Post. Turns out that Carcross is just short for Caribou Crossing!

At the Trading post, there was a museum dedicated to the Royal Canadian Mountain Police, an exhibition of stuffed animals (don’t know the right word) a petting zoo with horses, Alpacas, donkey’s and rescued dog
 puppies and husky puppies.

There are also many huskies that are trained as sled dogs and it is possible to take a ride in a motorised vehicle, pulled by dogs, for an extra charge.

This particular location was only visited by a HAL tour for the second time, since it is a new vendor this season.

 

After all this, there was a BBQ lunch with chicken, baked potato and coleslaw and cookies for dessert.

At 12:30 we headed back for a 50 minute drive to Whitehorse airport for our flight to Dawson.

In Dawson we will also be tested for our arrival in Fairbanks Alaska, which will be our next stop. A second (or third if you count the pre tour one), will take place in Anchorage.
 

[cccole]

Will you have the possibility of seeing the "Northern lights" in Fairbanks?  That would be amazing. There is a website aurorahunter.com that gives predictions.  Cherie

 

p.s. there are non husky looking dogs that seem to be trying to keep everything in order.  Are they also trained to pull the sleds?  

Edited June 3, 2022 by cccole

[Tracey/Thom]

On 6/1/2022 at 8:32 PM, Alphen said:

And this is our intended tour:

The McKinley Explorer is lovely! We were on it a couple/3 weeks ago. Glass roof and windows, we were able to see bald eagles flying over us and spectacular views of Denali. Each carriage has it's own dining carriage, good food, we had eggs and reindeermeat for breakfast, it's own bar, and restrooms.

[Alphen]

3 hours ago, cccole said:

Will you have the possibility of seeing the "Northern lights" in Fairbanks?  That would be amazing. There is a website aurorahunter.com that gives predictions.  Cherie

 

p.s. there are non husky looking dogs that seem to be trying to keep everything in order.  Are they also trained to pull the sleds?  

Yes, they are.

[Alphen]

Whitehorse to Dawson 

 

A very smooth check in in Whitehorse, no security whatsoever! 

 

Everything is very small in Whitehorse, so at one moment it is just “would you care to follow us to the airplane please” and walk over to the awaiting ride to Dawson!

A bit late in departure, but only a 40 minutes hop or so to Dawson.

Weather still great.

 

Our journey guide Will warned us that maybe our rooms would not be ready on arrival, apparently staff shortage is everywhere here.

Dawson 

Arriving in Dawson, it was about 20 minutes to town, where the bus showed us several highlights of the town, straight out of Bonanza it seems.

 

Our rooms were ready, again spacious, large and clean, coffee and tea maker, so no complaints. Also plenty of (USB)outlets to get things charged. There is also a mobile AC unit and a ceiling fan.

 

WiFi only at the lobby, but that is no problem.

Weather is gorgeous, warm and sunny, really lucky there.

 

We took a little walk through town, afternoon was already almost gone when we arrived, but we don’t have to be afraid that it is getting dark quickly.

 

[canadianbear]

Your photos are great!  I’ve never done this so really appreciate your detail and photos. 

[Alphen]

Internet quality and time is currently preventing a daily update, so please bear with us, if we temporarily pause this review.

[Alphen]

Dawson 

As said, nice hotel in Dawson, when you step in the room, you step back in time.

Last night we took the Top of the Dome tour, a bus to a view point 3000 feet above Dawson, with great views and guide. Pictures will follow later.

After an excellent breakfast buffet, we will get our test and later on the Tombstone Park Tour for the day. Tonight Diamond Tooth Gerties, so a full day ahead of us!