oakridger Posted July 31, 2023 #126 Share Posted July 31, 2023 8 minutes ago, USN59-79 said: why did you choose to take a ship out of Vancouver? Hi @USN59-79 I'm not Tim but hope you don't mind if I add my perspective here. For me to fly to Seattle is much cheaper and easier from SFO than YVR. I always choose to cruise to Alaska from Vancouver because the ship goes through the inside passage on the way north and then south again. It's so gorgeous sailing where you can see both sides of the passage as opposed to sailing from Seattle in more open ocean west of Vancouver Island. Less chance of choppy seas on the inside passage also. The bonus is that Vancouver is great to visit before and/or after the cruise!! (Seattle is too) I'm interested to hear what @Btimmer answers. ~Nancy 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Btimmer Posted July 31, 2023 Author #127 Share Posted July 31, 2023 17 minutes ago, USN59-79 said: I have very much enjoyed your report, Tim and envy you having a young grandson to share the trip with you. One question: Since you live so close to the cruise terminals in Seattle, why did you choose to take a ship out of Vancouver? We live in Kitsap County, and have done both, but only chose Vancouver when we couldn't do the same thing from Seattle. Ray I really prefer the inside passage route which leaves out of Vancouver. Plus it was the specific north bound itinerary we wanted. However I strongly prefer the southbound itinerary because we sail the inside passage in the daylight. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Btimmer Posted July 31, 2023 Author #128 Share Posted July 31, 2023 (edited) Currently we're in the Anchorage Museum and Jakob's report is: "This is really cool" in response to all of the hands on exhibits. His favorite was the bubble creator. Edited August 1, 2023 by Btimmer 12 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodinville cruisers Posted August 2, 2023 #129 Share Posted August 2, 2023 I sent you an email. Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Btimmer Posted August 2, 2023 Author #130 Share Posted August 2, 2023 We had a very nice train ride to Denali with spectacular weather. Great views of the mountain from the train. It's totally clear this year compared to last year. Tomorrow is an early start for our Tundra tour. Denali our train car (we rode on Princess train cars up IMPORTANT TIP Consider eating over at the Princess Lodge or Village. We couldn't get in any of the HAL restaurants, but got right in to Fanny Q's (just like last year). Also Princess has a kid's menu. There's a free shuttle back and forth between the properties and the TWA food vouchers are good in either location. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Btimmer Posted August 3, 2023 Author #131 Share Posted August 3, 2023 Today's Tundra trip was very nice and we had spectacular weather to sight see in. Here are a few pictures. My blog is updated with much more detail. Mt Denali Faux vintage tourist car Cuteness Sled dog team ptarmigan 12 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcummin Posted August 4, 2023 #132 Share Posted August 4, 2023 I enjoyed reading "Denali to Fairbanks" on your blog this morning, Tim. Barbara 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Haljo1935 Posted August 4, 2023 #133 Share Posted August 4, 2023 The Denali pix are beautiful - nice the weather was on your side!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Btimmer Posted August 5, 2023 Author #134 Share Posted August 5, 2023 (edited) On this last day of our sea/land cruise we did a riverboat cruise on the Chena River, a miner's lunch and an afternoon visit to the #8 dredge and a very nice dinner in the Westmark Latitude restaurant. It's been a terrific multigenerational cruise and land trip organized by TWA but using all Holland America transportation and one of their hotels (Westmark). It was nice being pampered without having to arrange pretty much anything. My brother and his multigenerational group are a week behind us on the Nieuw Amsterdam and are having a similar experience. Here are a few pictures from today. Discovery III DISCOVERY cache at Chena Village Low end of a Chena River housing High End of housing on the Chena River remains of old shipyard Gold Dredge In the control room of the dredge Along the pipeline Jakob's 'go to' meal of calamari & lettuce Angela's halibut My sirloin steak Edited August 5, 2023 by Btimmer 10 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Btimmer Posted August 7, 2023 Author #135 Share Posted August 7, 2023 (edited) We're home now and it was a great cruise and land tour. If I were to recommend such a tour, I would recommend the southbound triple Denali so that there is more time in Denali, less time in Anchorage, and a southbound daytime cruise on the Inside Passage. If you have any last questions, post them here. And be on the lookout for our upcoming big voyage of the year starting in October, 2023. Edited August 7, 2023 by Btimmer 16 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakridger Posted August 7, 2023 #136 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Thanks for this fun report. Your grandkids are lucky to be able to cruise with you and their grandmother. Where is the big voyage in October going?? I'll be watching for your report no matter where it is!! ~Nancy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Btimmer Posted August 7, 2023 Author #137 Share Posted August 7, 2023 2 minutes ago, oakridger said: Thanks for this fun report. Your grandkids are lucky to be able to cruise with you and their grandmother. Where is the big voyage in October going?? I'll be watching for your report no matter where it is!! ~Nancy I'm keeping it a mystery for now but you'll see another "Btimmer's Almost Live" thread closer to our start date on this HAL thread. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNSJ Posted August 7, 2023 #138 Share Posted August 7, 2023 A good report as always. We did a similar trip (Southbound though) last year. Always looking for bargains, I combined my first and only Casino deal (HAL Southbound Alaska to Vancouver) with a 5 Day (4 night) Princess Lodges tour from Fairbanks to Anchorage by train - we added an extra day in Fairbanks at start. As it was a tour, they provided all transfers and coordinated all the train reservations. In a few cases we were the only ones transferring, so they sent a private van. A well run organization. Luggage was moved from hotel to hotel and just showed up at the right place etc. We stayed at Princess Denali Lodge in the Denali park area - just like those on a Princess Cruise Tour. We did self-coordinate our transfer from Anchorage to Whittier, but that was easy and inexpensive. A great trip. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Btimmer Posted August 7, 2023 Author #139 Share Posted August 7, 2023 5 hours ago, CNSJ said: A good report as always. We did a similar trip (Southbound though) last year. Always looking for bargains, I combined my first and only Casino deal (HAL Southbound Alaska to Vancouver) with a 5 Day (4 night) Princess Lodges tour from Fairbanks to Anchorage by train - we added an extra day in Fairbanks at start. As it was a tour, they provided all transfers and coordinated all the train reservations. In a few cases we were the only ones transferring, so they sent a private van. A well run organization. Luggage was moved from hotel to hotel and just showed up at the right place etc. We stayed at Princess Denali Lodge in the Denali park area - just like those on a Princess Cruise Tour. We did self-coordinate our transfer from Anchorage to Whittier, but that was easy and inexpensive. A great trip. That's a nice way to do the southbound. We prefer to use the Princess facility and restaurants in Denali and we happened to use a Princess rail car going north from Anchorage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackduck59 Posted August 7, 2023 #140 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Thanks for your great posts, they are so pleasant to read. My wife and I are thinking of a land/sea tour in future. We are interested in something that includes the Yukon. I spent 7 weeks there in 1977 and my wife has wanted to go there as well. Thanks for any insight anyone can give. Again @Btimmer thanks for your excellent reports. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Btimmer Posted August 7, 2023 Author #141 Share Posted August 7, 2023 5 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said: Thanks for your great posts, they are so pleasant to read. My wife and I are thinking of a land/sea tour in future. We are interested in something that includes the Yukon. I spent 7 weeks there in 1977 and my wife has wanted to go there as well. Thanks for any insight anyone can give. Again @Btimmer thanks for your excellent reports. Thank you for your kind words. There are a number of Land/Sea options that include the Yukon. We've not done those because I've ridden my motorcycle twice to Alaska and enjoyed the Yukon that way. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oaktreerb Posted August 7, 2023 #142 Share Posted August 7, 2023 2 hours ago, Blackduck59 said: Thanks for your great posts, they are so pleasant to read. My wife and I are thinking of a land/sea tour in future. We are interested in something that includes the Yukon. I spent 7 weeks there in 1977 and my wife has wanted to go there as well. Thanks for any insight anyone can give. Again @Btimmer thanks for your excellent reports. We’ve done the Yukon 3 times through the years and highly recommend. Take the most days you can if you are doing a HAL tour. Whitehorse on some tours is just an overnight which is OK because Dawson City is the most interesting and has some wonderful Parks Canada programs. If you get some daytime hours in Whitehorse it has a lot to offer, too. The tours have been shortened through the years but they still have a journey host which adds to the fun and cohesiveness of the travel group. With one itinerary we enjoyed having an overnight in Skagway before we joined the ship. If you can arrange to get to Bennett Lake, it’s a great add on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackduck59 Posted August 7, 2023 #143 Share Posted August 7, 2023 30 minutes ago, oaktreerb said: We’ve done the Yukon 3 times through the years and highly recommend. Take the most days you can if you are doing a HAL tour. Whitehorse on some tours is just an overnight which is OK because Dawson City is the most interesting and has some wonderful Parks Canada programs. If you get some daytime hours in Whitehorse it has a lot to offer, too. The tours have been shortened through the years but they still have a journey host which adds to the fun and cohesiveness of the travel group. With one itinerary we enjoyed having an overnight in Skagway before we joined the ship. If you can arrange to get to Bennett Lake, it’s a great add on. Thanks so much for your info. I spent 7 weeks in the Yukon in 1977, I spent considerable time in Whitehorse and I'm very interested to see what has changed. I was also in Dawson City, of course I was under age so no Diamond Tooth Gerties back then. I spent 2 of those 7 weeks at a bush camp outside of Carcross so I would like to see what Carcross is is like now. I somehow think that may have to be before or after the official cruise tour. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Btimmer Posted August 9, 2023 Author #144 Share Posted August 9, 2023 A couple days after we returned from our trip I felt a bit "off". Today I self tested positive for COVID-19. I just have a slightly sore throat, congestion, and tiredness. Jakob and Angela appear to be fine. It looks like some self quarantining is in order for a bit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakridger Posted August 9, 2023 #145 Share Posted August 9, 2023 (edited) Oh dear!! 🤒 Take care of yourself and get well quickly! I'm glad Jakob and Angela are okay. ~Nancy Edited August 9, 2023 by oakridger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackduck59 Posted August 9, 2023 #146 Share Posted August 9, 2023 Sorry to hear about your positive test. Be safe, get well soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare scubacruiserx2 Posted August 9, 2023 #147 Share Posted August 9, 2023 On 8/7/2023 at 6:07 PM, Blackduck59 said: Thanks so much for your info. I spent 7 weeks in the Yukon in 1977, I spent considerable time in Whitehorse and I'm very interested to see what has changed. I was also in Dawson City, of course I was under age so no Diamond Tooth Gerties back then. I spent 2 of those 7 weeks at a bush camp outside of Carcross so I would like to see what Carcross is is like now. I somehow think that may have to be before or after the official cruise tour. We were in Carcross in September and here's some photos and a link to other areas around Carcross . They called this area the Carcross Desert The Carcross Church The Emerald Lake The rest of our trip to Alaska , and to the Panama Canal and all the way to Ft. Lauderdale 6 weeks of photos and videos on the Neiuw Amsterdam can be found if you click on the link below . Thank you @Btimmer for sharing your trip and fine photos with us . We hope that you get well soon and all the best to you , Jakob and your wife . Joe and Pat 😊🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Haljo1935 Posted August 10, 2023 #148 Share Posted August 10, 2023 Wishing you a speedy recovery. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackduck59 Posted August 10, 2023 #149 Share Posted August 10, 2023 (edited) Is that a paved road and a concrete curb in that photo of Carcross? Things have changed in the 46 years since I was there.🤔😉 Edited August 10, 2023 by Blackduck59 missed word Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lido deck main Posted August 14 #150 Share Posted August 14 @Btimmer HI Tim, sorry to ask you on this live from I remember one of your live from I think it was just after Covid and you went to Papua New Guinea, we are going there this January can you remember or can you check your statement was a visa necessary there, I was wondering if the ship charged you for a visa. Sometimes in some ports like in Epypt last year we did not need a visa nor did the ship charge us for one. but some passengers paid for a visa on their own before they left for the cruise. I was thinking of getting my own Papua New Guinea visa before the cruise. Did the ship charge you for one and how much money was it. Thanks, Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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