28-day Westerdam Arctic Summer Solstice Live from the ship June 9-July 7

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, scluvsrain said:

There were 5 ships in Juneau yesterday- Norwegian Bliss, Norwegian Encore(they came as the Bliss was leaving), the Royal Princess, the Ovation of the Seas, and the Westerdam. All docked. We were the smallest by far. We came the earliest and left the latest. 

That must have been a very crowded day in town with so many people.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

1 hour ago, DonnyD-JJ said:

SInce the 2025 cruise will probably skip Little Diomede Island do you think there is a way we can get HAL to extend the time we spend in Nome??  Especially since we are doing Nome before the Arctic Circle & Little Diomede Island.

Little Diomede is on its way to the Arctic Circle. Cancelling Little Diomede saves little time. They would have more time for Nome if they canceled the Arctic Circle.   

 

I doubt they will stop attempting the Arctic Circle—after all, it is literally the name of this cruise.

 

 

[marco2111]

16 hours ago, SJSULIBRARIAN said:

From what I learned on the peony farm tour in Homer, most grown are shipped to the lower 48 in bud, very early bud, with little color showing. There is a Homer Peony Festival on early July where some blooming peonies may be displayed. Sounds like Anchorage Botanical Gardens is best bet to see some in bloom.

We went to the botanical garden in Anchorage and it was wonderful but their peonies were still in bud. Probably need to be here here week!

[Cruising Is Bliss]

6 hours ago, terrydtx said:

The Elite drinks package is nothing new, it has been around for years, the difference is drink prices have raised while the drinks package caps have not kept up with the rising prices.

The elite package is now 15 drinks (including water & non-alcoholic) up to $15 and over that, you pay the difference.

 

(posting from the Crow’s Nest on Westerdam)

[oaktreerb]

Happy 4th of July from the Westerdam sitting somewhere in Misty Fjords while people who booked excursions enjoy their small ship excursions deeper into the not misty fjords.  Many onboard are napping, others are playing cards, and some doing their crochet/needlework.  The Captain moves the Westerdam to a slightly different location now and then.  There is a bald eagle watching us and probably more in the trees above.  The bow was open around noon and our CD Stone read commentary and Kurt our wilderness expert expanded on her information.  We have been slowly moving and drifting since then.  It’s now 3:30 and we may be here for 2 more hours.  It is very pretty.

 

Today, we started our day much to our surprise docking in a very sunny Ketchikan.  A medical disembark had been ordered and fortunately Ketchikan had a dock available.  The medical disembarkation complete we moved out headed for Misty Fjords.

 

On our original itinerary we should have been in Wrangell today and a lot of people were looking forward to visiting Wrangell but also going out on a bear watching tour (sold by HAL) to a bear watching area that doesn’t officially open until July 5th.  Poor itinerary planning on HAL’s part for offering a tour to a closed location.  Wrangell is a wonderful town but who would want so many visitors in town on a special national holiday.

 

This ship is too big for the small Alaska ports.  Alaska is amazing but even when we were the only ship in port (probably unexpectedly tendered) our passengers overtook the town (and not everybody gets off in a tendering situation).  

 

I hope people offer productive comments for the future..  Our nature commentary by Kurt has been excellent.  We need two of him.  We need speakers who don’t have to read their notes in order to lecture.  We need a Locations/Tour Director who is familiar with Alaska and can answer questions without looking it up.  The Cruise Director can’t do it all.  We need a full time Native Cultural Ambassador who can talk about Alaska native voices today and yesterday.  Have I missed anything?  I’m ready to go home.

 

And in 28 days the only Alaska literature onboard has been donated to the exchange library by other cruisers.  You would think we’re still in Japan!

Edited Friday at 12:08 AM by oaktreerb

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I remember when HAL had a Cruise Director and a Travel Guide. The Travel guide was an expert on the area visited, did presentations in conjunction with the shore excursions person, and had office hours so passengers could ask their particular questions. It worked very well IMO. Obviously by combining the two HAL is saving money but as you say the CD cannot do it all. And the maps provided are terrible as well as difficult to read for my old eyes. 

[edmonton2]

Today was a great mellow, low-key day enjoying the scenery along the way. This has been a fantastic cruise! Enjoyed the 4th of July party in the Rolling Stones Lounge (and we are Canadian!). The band is phenomenal and it’s been such a treat to listen to them each night. 
Excited for our stop in Prince Rupert tomorrow - our children were born there but we haven’t been back for over 30 years! 

[Arnie81]

Hiya!  For all of you that don't get free laundry, does HAL still have regular laundry specials like filling a bag for a fixed price?  Thanks!

 

Arnie

[TableGirl]

Misty Fjord

 

One poster has already reported on the unscheduled stop in Ketchikan to offload a medical emergency announced around 11 pm the night before.  The Captain finally mentioned it at his noon announcement.  I was surprised in the morning when the ship sounded like we dropped anchor (my room is near the front so I hear a lot) and I turned on the bow camera and thought - wow this looks like Ketchikan.  Too bad we couldn’t have had a “do over” as our stop in Ketchikan was probably the worst weather we’ve had on the entire cruise.  But yesterday was beautiful there.  

 

We were fortunate to have a gorgeous day in Misty Fjord with absolutely no “mist” or fog.  I feel like there were a lot of days with mist and fog on this trip but yesterday was gorgeous and today in Prince Rupert promises nice weather too.

 

Three of the four of my party took the excursion yesterday in Misty Fjiord.  Our mobility challenged friend was concerned about her ability to get from boat to boat and indeed it would have been difficult.  The Shore Excursion manager was moving us from the Rolling Stone Lounge when we were stopped on the stairs because someone realized the difference between the height of the tender platform and the boat we were offloading onto was fairly great.  So they did something to lessen it while we waited stuck standing on the chairs for about 10 minutes.  One woman standing next to me commented to her husband that she had never spent so much time waiting in line as she had on this cruise.  (I can’t disagree with her but then I don’t have trouble standing, but for people who do, beware.)  Coming back, we had the same issue about the height difference but the HAL guys practically lifted some us from the small boat to the tender operation.  One of our group said at dinner they didn’t offer an arm to help, they just grabbed and moved her.  I’m not sure how they handled the folks in wheelchairs.

 

There were 140 of us from HAL and not every seat was filled on the large catamaran.  The catamaran was nice enough but not as nice as the ‘Stan Stephen’s’ Catamaran used out of Valdez for the Colombia Glacier tour.   It had a bathroom reported by one of our party and it was big enough to turn around in she said.  The crew was nice - they served donut holes first, then a choice of clam chowder or vegetarian chili with a pack of oyster crackers to top it, and afterward a ritz cracker with smoked sockeye salmon.  There was free beer and wine (I don’t what kinds) and sodas, and water and coffee, tea and hot chocolate.  Our excursion was at 3:00 and our dinner reservation at the Canaletto was at 6:00 so I didn’t eat anything.  

 

The boat had traveled up 55 miles up from Ketchikan to get us.  The same 55 miles we traveled to get all they up into the fjord.

 

I don’t like to offer to negative reviews but I want to tell it like is.  So, I hate to say it but I’m sorry I wasted my money.  This tour was about $250 if I recall.  I’d have been better off just listening to Kurt’s commentary because the excursion didn’t really get go anywhere this ship didn’t pass by coming into the Fjord or leaving it.  We got a bit closer to the water’s edge.  But I believe it was billed as a nature and wildlife cruise and we saw a couple of bald eagles and the naturalist pointed out some harbor seals in the distance that I couldn’t see.  Speaking of the naturalist - there were 2, a man and a woman.  The man was FULL of bad puns/jokes.  It was a bit much.  The Captain said she was excited to take us on this trip because they got to see things they didn’t usually get to see, for example we were to go into “God’s Pocket” but then I never heard anyone tell us we were in “God’s Pocket”.  We went to one place close to the shoreline that had what she called a pictograph of a ‘sun’ with rays (described as ‘dots’) on the side of a granite wall.  It just looked like a different color pink than the rust color seen on much of the granite walls of the fjord.

 

We had to beat feet to get back to the ship - apparently we were a bit late because once when the Captain was speaking over the loudspeaker she said the ship was calling and we were already running late.  Our ship and moved from the “punch bowl” area a bit further out of the top of the fjord where we sat for a couple of hours earlier in the afternoon.

 

The tender platform was down and waiting for us when we returned and the hotel manager, who was there to see us off the ship was there to see us back onto the ship.  No security check getting back on, just a scan of the key card.

 

There are plenty of excursions on this trip I would repeat but this one isn’t one of them.

[Nodakboiler]

For those going on the 2025 cruise, the trolley tours are in nice full size coaches. Plenty of legroom and nice seats. I was on the golf excursion and they used them to transport us back-and-forth to the course.
My wife had changed from the trolley to the coach tour Around Prince Rupert, thinking that the trolleys were those little small touristy train cars that you see in some places and she regretted that. 

[lcand1923]

I did the Sights and Bites Tour in Prince Rupert.  Our group was large and, unfortunately, we could not hear the Guide since she did not have any sort of microphone.  The tour itself was nice.  We stopped at a Coffee Shop, a Seafood Restaurant and a Brewery with a bite and/or a drink at each.  Our guide pointed out various spots that we could return to if we wanted after the tour.  IF the guide had had a microphone, the tour would have been great. 

[oakridger]

9 hours ago, Arnie81 said:

Hiya!  For all of you that don't get free laundry, does HAL still have regular laundry specials like filling a bag for a fixed price?  Thanks!

 

Arnie

 

HAL offers a full cruise unlimited laundry package and a "By the Bag" price.  For the December Mexican Riviera cruise, the Unlimited package is $8.50/day. You must purchase the full cruise days for that price.  By the Bag price varies from about $25 to $35 per bag depending on cruise location.  It's a great deal!

 

~Nancy

[scluvsrain]

I only have two major complaints about the cruise-

 

1.  The cruise director is woefully unprepared and ignorant of our ports.  She annoys me to no end. She did not belong on a cruise like ours. She is better suited to do the 7-day runs.
 

2.  The salt and pepper shakers are the worst I’ve ever seen and tried to use. USELESS!!!!

 

One item above  is easily fixable. The other could be if someone in corporate is thinking with 100% of their brain. 
 

Other than that, this has been a very good cruise. I would not deter anyone from booking this for future years. It’s fun to be a pioneer of sorts. I’m glad I have had the privilege of being able to do this. 

[Arnie81]

1 hour ago, oakridger said:

 

HAL offers a full cruise unlimited laundry package and a "By the Bag" price.  For the December Mexican Riviera cruise, the Unlimited package is $8.50/day. You must purchase the full cruise days for that price.  By the Bag price varies from about $25 to $35 per bag depending on cruise location.  It's a great deal!

 

~Nancy

Any idea what the per bag costs are for the Alaskan cruise?  The unlimited laundry price is $238/cabin.

[ShipWalker]

[TableGirl]

Prince Rupert

 

What a gorgeous day in Prince Rupert.  The sun shined finally aroundlate morning, and the skies turned from cloudy to a beautiful blue.

 

Today, 3 of my party took the Cruise Specialist Trolley tour with lunch at a local restaurant called Arabisk.  

 

The mobility challenged of my group found it easy enough to get onto and off the trolley though she only got off at the restaurant not at our two other stops.

 

Prince Rupert is small and easily walkable if you want to visit the town on your own.  We docked right next to downtown which was a walk up a slight incline.  There were shipping container kiosks set up selling mostly handmade goods along the pier, some homemade snacks and some matted photographs and one guy was cooking Mexican food.  The official visitor center was a very short walk in a small group of buildings to the left of the pier where we were docked.  They had visitor maps for free in several locations - the kiosks and in the official visitors center.  

 

Our trolley tour seemed to do a loop 2 or 3 times around Prince Rupert.  We had both a driver and a guide.  Another retired teacher as a guide.  I think teachers must have this innate sense that they need to pass on every bit of information they have to their group.  She had a microphone and she was easy to hear.  I found the seats comfortable but I noticed when we stopped some folks moved to the cushion pull down seats in the back.  I think the trolley also had a lift for those in wheel chairs but I can’t be certain.  I’ll try to check that and post that in a wrap up.

 

After almost 2 hours we finally got to the restaurant.  It was a pretty restaurant and they had a raised area up 3 steps - set up for our group of probably 60-70 people.  (Not so much an ADA accessible place.) Then back down 3 steps to get to the middle eastern buffet which included a Caesar salad, a Feta Salad, some mixed vegetable (a lot of corn) salad, freshly made hummus and baba ghanoush, very thick pita bread, something akin to pizza, rice with raisins and something that I thought was a black olive (it wasn’t and I spit it out!) and some hot pasta dish as well as baklava which I also don’t eat.  The sides were decent.  They brought around skewers with meats (Brazilian style) - beef tikka, chicken shistawook, marinated (and meaty) grilled drumsticks, some other beef skewer (looked like minced beef (probably with seasonings) formed on the skewer (which I know I don’t like so didn’t try it) and of course the last thing they brought out after everyone was full was the Ribeye steak which was very tasty - but I only had a bite, literally.  The meal included wine, beer, sodas…..they greeted us with a glass of champagne (I think that’s what it was but I can’t drink alcohol in the middle of the day) when we came in.  It was all good but seemed an odd choice.  I’d have been happier having fish and chips since this is the halibut capital of the world.

 

After lunch the trolley brought us back to the pier.

 

The Fish and Chips places close by (within walking distance) that were recommended by the visitor center were Bob’s and Dolly’s - 2 different directions from the ship.

 

TBH, the trolley tour probably should have only lasted an hour or maybe an hour and 15 minutes.  

 

The Ice House was a lovely little gift ship not half way up the incline to town (where you could also walk to a Wal-Mart in the mall or the Safeway which has a Starbucks).  The Ice House may be a cooperative because there was a wide variety of nice quality items at great prices (in Canadian dollars).

 

The fourth in our party did a Grizzly Bear and Wildlife Adventure -by boat - a 7 hour private excursion and I hope someone will write about here because it sounded absolutely wonderful.  They saw bears, Orcas and humpbacks.  

[DonnyD-JJ]

Would someone please confirm that you Tendered into only 5 Ports:

     - Homer

     - Kodiak

     - Nome

     - Sitka

     - Valdez

 

I just want to be clear on this.

 

Thanks

[TableGirl]

1 hour ago, DonnyD-JJ said:

Would someone please confirm that you Tendered into only 5 Ports:

     - Homer

     - Kodiak

     - Nome

     - Sitka

     - Valdez

 

I just want to be clear on this.

 

Thanks

You are correct.  All 5 of those ports you have listed were tender ports.

[RetiredMustang]

Some photos/comments to complement Table GIrl's post about Prince Rupert.  We also took the trolley tour, sold by HAL as the "Easy Prince Rupert by Vintage Trolley" shore excursion.  We had the 8:30 time slot, but arrived early and found that the company would load up a bunch of people and leave, and another would start filling.  We actually left about 20 minutes early.

 

The trolleys are "vintage" in style, but our guide said the one he drove was made in Chicago in 2008.  It, and the other ones we saw lined up early, were equipped with wheelchair lifts.  Here is a photo taken at the second stop on the tour:

 

 

 

The seating was wooden benches with pads:

 

 

These were comfortable enough, but as a six-foot rather rotund individual, I found my knees needed perhaps a bit more room, and I noticed others my height having similar issues -- some shifted to the padded seats at the back or shifted to a bench by themselves (there were 22 people on the trolley, which could hold more, so there were empty benches).

 

 

The tour made two stops where we could get out and look at something.  The first stop was at The Summit, a high point in the city.  I never heard the name of what it was the summit of, but it had a small park at the top with an old totem pole and a nice view.  In the early morning, there were low clouds, but later the sun came out and it was a very nice day:

 

 

 

 

The second stop was at the Seal/Salt Marsh Cove.  Our driver said it was the site of the first landing of the first round-the-world flight -- on April 6, 1924, four primitive-by-our-view planes took off from Seattle.  Our guide said their first stop was Prince Rupert, apparently in dreadful, snowy weather, and that two of the planes completed the circumnavigation after 175 days. He said the site years ago was pretty much a dump site, but it has been cleaned up and turned into a recreational area with picnic tables and trails.  Here is a view out across the cove:

 

 

 

The shore excursion description said it was also to stop at the Sunken Gardens.  Our guide drove us around the gardens, but we did not stop.  He said it was dug as the foundation for the courthouse, but the powers that be decided to move the courthouse site to one about a hundred yards away.  That left a big hole already dug, which eventually the garden club planted with shrubs and flowers.  The gardens are a short walk away from the trolley loading area, so if you want a longer/closer look, it is easy to do so.

 

On the trip, our driver pointed out many murals on walls, buildings, etc. painted by an artist named Jeff King.  They are pretty amazing.  I did not get any photos from the moving trolley, but afterwards, I took a photo of one near the port -- an eagle in flight:

 

 

 

The trolley tour was an interesting introduction to Prince Rupert.  I heard that even if you didn't book it beforehand, you could sign up at the line and they would charge your room account.  The trolleys ran often.

 

 

Later, back on board ship, I took a photo of the cruise port area.  You can see the ramps up to the security building, and behind that the trolley staging area.  The street in the background has shops and restaurants.  The Safeway and Walmart were up the hill and then to the right, past the flagpoles.

 

 

 

 

Dave

 

Edited yesterday at 12:48 PM by RetiredMustang

[Arnie81]

13 hours ago, ShipWalker said:

That was exactly what I was looking for!  Thank you very much!

Arnie

[oaktreerb]

12 hours ago, DonnyD-JJ said:

Would someone please confirm that you Tendered into only 5 Ports:

     - Homer

     - Kodiak

     - Nome

     - Sitka

     - Valdez

 

I just want to be clear on this.

 

Thanks

Just to clarify.  Yes, those ports tendered us to town.

 

 Anchorage was a bussed port.  We could only be transported to and from the ship on the HAL bus and only to the Egan Center.  Our bus took the long way to the Egan Center and George Costanza’s (Seinfeld) mom gave commentary, much of it just plain wrong.  Once we finally got to the Center we were told we had to go around again as there was not a space to park the bus, so we toured again, and again were told there was not a spot for us.  This nearly caused a revolt but we were a captive audience.  The male driver of the bus took over commentary for awhile and whoever was handling transportation assigned us a parking spot.

 

Upon wanting to return to the ship we waited with all of the other passengers for a bus going back.  By the time we had accumulated two bus loads they finally picked us up.  

 

 

[Two from Virginia]

16 hours ago, scluvsrain said:

 

I only have two major complaints about the cruise-

 

1.  The cruise director is woefully unprepared and ignorant of our ports.  She annoys me to no end. She did not belong on a cruise like ours. She is better suited to do the 7-day runs.
 

2.  The salt and pepper shakers are the worst I’ve ever seen and tried to use. USELESS!!!!

 

One item above  is easily fixable. The other could be if someone in corporate is thinking with 100% of their brain. 
 

Other than that, this has been a very good cruise. I would not deter anyone from booking this for future years. It’s fun to be a pioneer of sorts. I’m glad I have had the privilege of being able to do this. 

What was her name?

[Arnie81]

As a 2025 cruise participant I would like to thank you all again for the valuable information that you posted during your cruise.  You took time to inform us, and for that I am grateful.  Lots of good info for our cruise next year.  Safe travels home!

[scluvsrain]

2 hours ago, Two from Virginia said:

What was her name?

Her name is Stone. 

[Susan Schneider]

2 hours ago, Arnie81 said:

As a 2025 cruise participant I would like to thank you all again for the valuable information that you posted during your cruise.  You took time to inform us, and for that I am grateful.  Lots of good info for our cruise next year.  Safe travels home!

All 2024 cruisers thanks 🙏 for allowing the 2025 cruisers yo start planning our trip. I’ve been taking notes so we can start planning and dreaming about our next years cruise. Each day I enjoyed reading you posts! Safe travel home.  Hope to meet you on another  cruise.