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

[Alphen]

Mckinley Explorer Denali-Anchorage 

 

From our hotel to the Denali train depot was only a short ride. Check in was easy and we were seated in our assigned seats in no time.

We departed a little after nine, with our host Martha and beverage attendant Kit.

The weather was reasonable, dry and partially cloudy, great for our tour.

Fortunately, we were on the last carriage, which meant we had an excellent viewing platform at the end of the train, with lots of room to take film and photos. 

Boy, the scenery did not disappoint. Constantly changing views made it a great train ride.

 

There are options to have breakfast and or lunch on the train. We only had lunch, after having had our breakfast in Denali.

Non of the drinks or food are included in the package, payment on the train is creditcard only.

 

I have added the lunch menu;

And the drinks menu;

We were around two in the afternoon in Talkeetna, where a group got of the train and a few got in. During our ride we had a stop on a side track for a while to let oncoming traffic pass.

 

After Talkeetna the scenery changed to more rural, with more signs of civilisation, when getting slowly closer to Anchorage.

 

When we reached Wasilla, shortly before our final destination, we got our first drops of rain since we started this tour. It lasted with occasionally a few drops until we reached Anchorage, where it cleared up again.

 

We arrived in Anchorage shortly after 17:00.
 

Edited June 11, 2022 by Alphen

[caledonmango]

Sounds like you are having a wonderful trip!  All of the information is so useful.  When you were in Denali, had you booked all of your excursions and dinner show ahead of time, or did there seem to be ample availability to book once you arrived there?  

[Alphen]

58 minutes ago, caledonmango said:

Sounds like you are having a wonderful trip!  All of the information is so useful.  When you were in Denali, had you booked all of your excursions and dinner show ahead of time, or did there seem to be ample availability to book once you arrived there?  

We had pre booked everything, so do not know last minute availability.

[Alphen]

Westmark Anchorage 

 

Obviously the oldest of the hotels we have visited, or the one least appealing.

 

Rooms spacious and again coffee maker, but WiFi hasn’t got full coverage.

 

[Sebbiesgrammy]

On 6/9/2022 at 10:06 AM, Sebbiesgrammy said:

AGREED!!  Your photos are and commentary are wonderful!  We have seen concerns over the last few months that the shortening of the Tundra Tour due to the rock slides would prevent anyone from seeing the great mountain at all and that many would forego the entire trip and wait for the entire road to be open in a year or two. Glad you have proven this to be incorrect.  With luck and good weather, it is still possible to see the great one.  Thanks.

Alphen, my husband and I are so impressed by your photos and wonder if you would tell us what camera you are using?

[Alphen]

4 hours ago, Sebbiesgrammy said:

Alphen, my husband and I are so impressed by your photos and wonder if you would tell us what camera you are using?

Well, I do all the video and photos I just take on the fly with my IPhone, only for this review.

[rajkr74]

Ahhh..you finally got a cloudy day, lol.  We really loved the train ride from Denali to Anchorage when we did it in 2016.

[0bsessed]

We are really enjoying your review.  We are doing the same itinerary in 2023 and are curious when you received your exact schedule and the excursion options for the land portion.   No rush to reply, just whenever you have a chance.  Thanks.

[TheEmerson]

The Anchorage Westmark is the oldest of the bunch but it is still okay.  Hopefully it gets a refresh in five/six years.  From your photos it is the exact same as we checked in on June 4th, 2016 after the train ride.

[Sebbiesgrammy]

6 hours ago, Alphen said:

Well, I do all the video and photos I just take on the fly with my IPhone, only for this review.

Amazing what phone cameras can do but I think the photographer deserves credit for framing the shot.  Thanks!!

[Alphen]

4 hours ago, 0bsessed said:

We are really enjoying your review.  We are doing the same itinerary in 2023 and are curious when you received your exact schedule and the excursion options for the land portion.   No rush to reply, just whenever you have a chance.  Thanks.

The excursions we got about a year out, the schedule for the land tour was about October, but not with the exact flight times, but they are all subject to change, even during the land tour. Excursions during the land portion, can sell out quickly, especially the Tundra Tour.

[Alphen]

Westmark Anchorage Breakfast

 

Breakfast buffet at the hotel had plenty of choice, uncluding a large selection of fresh fruit!

 

Edited June 11, 2022 by Alphen

[Mary229]

1 minute ago, Alphen said:

Westmark Anchorage Breakfast

 

Breakfast buffet at the hotel had plenty of choice, uncluding a large selection of fresh fruit!

 

 

I know you had the breakfast package.  Were the hotel breakfasts part of the package, paid at the counter or part of the hotel stay.  Thank you for a great review and so much information 

[Alphen]

Anchorage Trolley

 

Last night we did the Anchorage Trolley, which was a blast. An hour long, so pretty short tour through Anchorage, but the driver slash guide was hilarious. Our guide was Alice, in her adult life she was a teacher, but boy, could she tell in a funny way about life and living in Anchorage. She even sang for part of the way and we have never had a funnier tour!

 

Edited June 11, 2022 by Alphen

[Alphen]

9 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I know you had the breakfast package.  Were the hotel breakfasts part of the package, paid at the counter or part of the hotel stay.  Thank you for a great review and so much information 

 

10 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I know you had the breakfast package.  Were the hotel breakfasts part of the package, paid at the counter or part of the hotel stay.  Thank you for a great review and so much information 

We have ordered the breakfast package as extra, well before our tour started and have received vouchers, to be used in the hotels, they are not standard part of your tour, but extra.

[Alphen]

Tony Knowles Trail

 

Today we rented bikes at Pablo's Bike rentals, we were already planning this, but received a voucher for a nice 20% discount for the rental, which was in a coupon book we received with our Trolley Tour!

 

We had two standard hybrid bikes and had a fun morning, riding the beautiful Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, which is 11 miles one way, so we did 20 miles. The trail is not entirely flat, but beautiful laid out.

 

There should be a 90% change you spot a moose, but sadly, they had the day off, or were all laughing there hoofs off, hiding unspotted! We made several stops to look at birds and the scenery, but had to be cautious, getting attacked immediately when getting off our bikes, by Alaska’s State Bird!

 

 

While we did not see any moose, we did spot a Black Bear!

 

Edited June 11, 2022 by Alphen

[Alphen]

Tomorrow, our land tour will end with the cruise train from Anchorage to Wittier.

 

So far, I have relied on hotel internet, which so far, has been good to us, with the exception of Dawson (only in the lobby) and this hotel in Anchorage, which has bad coverage. Having said that, internet is not always necessary, I can live without it, but for the purpose of this review, it worked out.

For the following cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam, we will be relying on our own Wi-Fi router, see how that works out.

[indychillin]

2 hours ago, Alphen said:

Tony Knowles Trail

 

Today we rented bikes at Pablo's Bike rentals, we were already planning this, but received a voucher for a nice 20% discount for the rental, which was in a coupon book we received with our Trolley Tour!

 

We had two standard hybrid bikes and had a fun morning, riding the beautiful Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, which is 11 miles one way, so we did 20 miles. The trail is not entirely flat, but beautiful laid out.

 

There should be a 90% change you spot a moose, but sadly, they had the day off, or were all laughing there hoofs off, hiding unspotted! We made several stops to look at birds and the scenery, but had to be cautious, getting attacked immediately when getting off our bikes, by Alaska’s State Bird!

 

 

While we did not see any moose, we did spot a Black Bear!

 

Loving the photos and insight.  How long did it take you to bike the trail with stops along the way?

[Alphen]

1 hour ago, indychillin said:

Loving the photos and insight.  How long did it take you to bike the trail with stops along the way?

We had several stops along the way down to the Chalet at the end, had some lunch and then went back in about 4 hours.

[Alphen]

We both have our final negative test results, so, unless Alaska Rail strikes, we will be on Nieuw Amsterdam tomorrow. Only hick-up is a non-working Verifly from one of us, so guess this will take some extra sorting out tomorrow.

[aliaschief]

@AlphenGreat job! Thanks for sharing your cruise.

[oakridger]

I'm looking forward to "Part II", the cruise!!!

 

[Gray Lady]

Curiosity question: Do you know if there are any people who tested positive and couldn’t board the ship tomorrow? We are starting our land tour next week and our greatest fear is testing positive and not being able to do our cruise part of our trip. 

[Alphen]

10 hours ago, Gray Lady said:

Curiosity question: Do you know if there are any people who tested positive and couldn’t board the ship tomorrow? We are starting our land tour next week and our greatest fear is testing positive and not being able to do our cruise part of our trip. 

I don’t know, we only travel as a group, and our stay in Anchorage is more or less free time, so we will first meet again after the test, when we board the train around noon, together with several other groups.

[Lalof]

Can I get an idea from you about how people were dressed in the dining room for supper? Was it super casual, like blue jeans? Shorts, even? Or a little more like business casual