Alaska Cruisetour 2007 Questions

[MaryPoppinz]

I'm helping my parents plan their summer vacation, and they've chosen a 3-day cruise/11-day land Alaska Cruisetour on HAL. Can anyone who has done a similar trip answer some questions, primarily about the land touring portion of the trip?

 

1. Any opinions about whether to take the meal plan or to venture out locally for meals? Are there restaurants near HAL's hotels in most of the cities on the tour (ie: within walking distance)...particularly at Denali....or are you primarily limited to the hotel restaurants in most places?

 

2. I haven't been able to find the tipping guidelines for the landtour. Is there a suggested tip for guides, drivers, maids, train crew, etc. ?

 

3. Would a rainproof quilted jacket be sufficient for touring in July? Would it be sufficient for the river cruising? Scarves, gloves, hats -- are they necessary??

 

4. What kind of attire are people typically wearing on the trains and busses?

 

5. How does the transition from the ship to the land tour take place? Is luggage transferred to the hotel for you, while touring in Skagway? At what time can you go to the hotel from the ship?

 

6. They are assuming there is one formal evening on the cruise...is that a good assumption? :)

 

Thanks in advance! :)

[agabbymama]

MaryPoppinz,

 

I can't really answer your questions, but I'm anxious to see if anyone else has the answers. I have those same questions, these are my thoughts. I'm booked on HAL Cruisetour #1 in August.

 

 

1. I opted not to purchase meal plan, $300 just seemed a little steep to me. I think I can eat somewhere for less than $25 pp. per meal. Even if it's just bread and water.

2. I haven't been able to find tipping guidelines either. I emailed HAL and they responded that the only automatic tips were on the ship for the 3 days. I'm hopeful final docs will state something, otherwise they will get what they get. But if $3-4 is what your cabin attendant gets, I figured to split that between the driver and the tour director.

3. I'm taking my gloves, scarf, and warm cape as well as a rain poncho. From reading these boards, weather can be good/bad/or inbetween.

4. Not a clue. I plan to be comfortable. Not dressed up at all on the land portion.

5. Not sure about this one. I don't have an overnight in Skagway, so no hotel involved for me there. The itinerary says debark and meet your tour director, so I'm assuming they will have the coach at the dock to pick us up, or tell us where to go to get it. Again final docs should have more info.

6. I am also figuring 1 formal night on the 3 day cruise portion. We leave Vancouver the evening of the 18th, the 19th will be at sea, so I figured that would be formal night. Then on the 20th Tracey Arm and Juneau, then we leave the ship in Skagway on the 21st. No way to really tell for sure until you are on the ship. Even what others have experienced doesn't guarantee that's what will be on your ship.

 

Again, thanks for asking these great questions, and I hope someone that has done it responds.

[Juanita462]

Our cousins took a cruisetour (August) and said that they hesitated to take the food package as they thought it was pricey but did as they travelled with a handicapped person. They were glad they did as the food prices were very high - at one place the meal would have cost over $40 pp.

 

It was very rainy when they were at Denali so rain gear is a good idea. We have been in Alaska three times and it rained every time. They mentioned that the bus into Denali provided a rough bumpy ride and that they never saw any wild animals. The luck of the draw I guess.

 

It was also quite cool so a warm jacket and gloves would be good just in case. I don't think they even took any formal wear with them as the land portion is all casual.

 

Our neighbors toured Alaska and said that the mosquitoes are a real problem so I would take bug spray.

[Eicruise]

We did a cruisetour in July 2005, 3 days on the ship and 10 days on land. I hope I'm able to answer your questions.

 

We did not take the meal plan because we didn't want to be limited to those restaurants offered. We asked the tour director and the drivers for recommendations and they always suggested places we were very happy with. A few times we did eat at the hotels. It was usually for breakfast though. At the hotel in Denali there is a pricy restaurant, a cafe and a little snack type shop in the gift shop. Across the street from the hotel is a strip of shops and a few restaurants.

 

I believe the recommended tip for the drivers is $1 per day per peron and $2 per day per person for the tour director. We tipped the maids as we would in any other hotel and others as we would on a ship sponsored tour or the like.

 

I took a fleece jacket and a rain jacket. Sometimes I wore both and other times it was one or the other. It could be very cold if your parents are out on deck at a glacier but it can get much warmer inland. I was also told to bring insect repelent but never had a need to use it. Every trip is different.

 

Comfortable, casual attire is what everyone is wearing. You could find yourself on a coach or train for several hours.

 

You put your luggage outside your cabin on the last night on the ship and it will be taken directly to the hotel for you. We were taken on a tour of Skagway and were told to meet at the hotel at 3pm or so where we were given the keys to our room. The luggage is delivered to your room at each hotel and then you leave it outside your room by a certain hour the next morning for pick up.

[agabbymama]

Eicruise,

Thanks for the first hand knowledge. Not many on these boards actually have done the cruisetour. If you were to go again, would you do the cruisetour again?

 

There are quite a few posters that think independent travel in Alaska is better than a cruisetour. That you are herded like cattle, long transit times, up early, late arriving into towns, etc. What is your take seeing as you have actually done one.:confused:

[Eicruise]

First let me say that I'm not sorry I did the cruisetour. I saw many parts of the state that I would never have seen had I done a tour on my own. I would however not do it again. There were long hours on a coach getting from place to place. I didn't appreciate having to leave my luggage outside my hotel room at 6am when we weren't leaving until 8am. I solved that problem by carrying a small overnight bag with me. It contained whatever toiletries I needed in the morning and what I slept in.

 

We decided that next time we would fly into Fairbanks and rent a car. Drive down to Denali and then onto Anchorage and the surrounding areas. We would definitely cruise southbound.

 

If you haven't booked anything yet I would look into doing the land tour first and then cruising. We cruised first and the land tour was exhausting (we are in our 30's). The days can be very long since you are up very early and because it stays light so late.

 

We did see a lot of wildlife and not just in Denali. We saw bears and moose along the roads. We saw a bear and her cubs, bull moose, dahl sheep, eagles and more. They are out there but you need to look for them. A good pair of binoculars is a must.

[agabbymama]

Eicruise,

Thanks for the quick response. I already have booked HAL Yukon Wilderness Cruisetour #1. We leave Vancouver Northbound to Tracey Arm, Juneau and Skagway. We leave the ship in Skagway and head overland, Whitepass Yukon RR to Whitehorse, coach to Dawson City, Riverboat to Eagle, coach to Chicken and on to Tok, coach to Fairbanks, domed railcar to Denali, then domed railcar to Anchorage. Unfortunately I selected Northbound as it was about $400 pp cheaper than Southbound. Same reason I chose Zuiderdam opposed to Zaandam, it was about $300 cheaper pp.

 

I think the cruiselines know that Southbound and smaller ships are what most cruisers to Alaska want, so the prices are more. I'm just happy to be going again. We did the Inside Passage Southbound in '99. I didn't think my husband would go for the Cruisetour, so when he said yes, I jumped on it. Hope we survive it (we are both in our 60's). If you found it tiring and you're in your 30's, it may do us in. Ha Ha Ha:p

[MaryPoppinz]

Thanks, everyone. The answers are very helpful!!

 

They have a few more questions (and I expect more to come!)

 

8. Are there laundry facilities in the lodges and hotels? robes? toiletries?

 

9. How many people are on the land portion of the tour? One coach or....a mob??

 

10. Are there lap blankets for the balcony on HAL?

 

11. Which hotel does HAL use in Anchorage?

[Skye23]

Do they only offer the meal plan on some cruisetours? I'm asking because we just booked a 13 day Cruise Tour (6 days land, 7 days cruise) and I don't remember being given the option of a meal plan anywhere either when I researched it all online, or when my TA booked it. We're doing CruiseTour 16 in late May...

[Eicruise]

There are laundry facilities in the hotels. We personally didn't use them but they are available. There were toiletries in the rooms but no robes.

 

On our tour there were about 35 people. The coach was not full and if you wanted you could have a whole seat to yourself in the rear.

 

I know that lap blankets were available on deck. I don't think they were in the cabins but you could always bring one back to your cabin.

 

HAL uses several hotels in Anchorage. There is a Westmark, the Captain Cook and we stayed at the Hilton I believe. I guess it depends on how many guests they have on a particular day.

[agabbymama]

Do they only offer the meal plan on some cruisetours? I'm asking because we just booked a 13 day Cruise Tour (6 days land, 7 days cruise) and I don't remember being given the option of a meal plan anywhere either when I researched it all online, or when my TA booked it. We're doing CruiseTour 16 in late May...

 

If you go to the HAL website and bring up the 2007 brochure, then find your cruisetour, at the bottom of the page is where they offer the meal plan. I think it was there for all the tours, but I'm not 100% sure of that, so check it out. I may be sorry that I didn't order the meal plan, but it was like 12 meals for $300 and I thought I could surely eat for less than $25 pp per meal.

 

Juanita462 says her friends hestitated but were glad they ended up purchasing the meal plan as one place would have been $40 pp.

 

I'm still not going to get it, if I have to eat bread and soda crackers, I will. I know on the tour bus you are kind of a captive audience, as you can only go to places close to the hotel, but with the tours (with meals included) and lunches included on the cruisetour, I just decided $300 was way too much money for food.:confused:

[St. Louis Sal]

My husband and I did the land tour last summer through the Yukon and then cruised back south. We covered a lot of territory and loved every minute. It is true that you spend long hours on the motorcoach but our tour director was delightful, the bus drivers knowledgeable and funny. We loved Whitehorse and Dawson City. We did not buy the meal package; instead we ate lightly (knowing we'd be pigging out on the ship). Sometimes we used the hotel dining room, we also asked for recommendations from some of the young HAL staff we met. In Skagway we ate at the hotel bar/grill (forgotten name). At Whitehorse we ate in dining room twice and also at local pizza parlor (recommended by cute young man in HAL travel office.) In Dawson City be sure and eat at Klondike Kates, good prices and wonderful food. In Tok you will be stuck with the hotel restaurant (and it's Mexican) unless you want to walk a pretty good distance down the highway. Fairbanks and Anchorage have lots of choices to walk to. One possible suggestion if you still want to do the package (this was done by one couple on our tour at the suggestion of their TA) just take one meal package. There is usually plenty of food and the second person can just order salad or soup. Oh Denali is another place where you may want to eat in the dining room. Try the Nenana Grill? We learned to order one hamburger to share with an extra side order of coleslaw which was more than plenty. There is a Subway available as well as some little quick shops to buy some groceries. The meal package includes the train so we brought along sandwiches from the local shop. Several people who ate in the dining car said ours looked better. We did eat breakfast on the train just to have the experience of the dining car-it was okay-nothing great tastewise.

 

You will want the rain gear and something fairly warm-layering is the best. I've done the bus ride in Denali park twice. First time was lovely weather, saw the mountain, lots of animals. Second time awful weather, no mountain sighting, slight rock & mudslide, but still lots of animals. Be prepared for a very long day on that one as the bus used is more like a school bus.

 

I used a backpack on the land tour and carried snacks and bottled water as well as my other comforts. You can bring hand luggage on the motorcoach, everything else goes underneath or sent on ahead in some cases. Like on the plane make sure you have medications, glasses, passport etc.

 

Laundry facilities were available each hotel; also free internet access most places for emailing all your friends to tell them you're in Alaska or the Yukon. If you can't get to the computer in the hotel check for the local library which will probably have it (I know Dawson City and Juneau definitely do.)

 

I took bug spray and mostly needed it at Kluane park and again late evening at a park in Fairbanks. On my previous visit I never saw a single mosquito.

 

By the way there are cruisetours that don't offer meal plans. Our first one was northbound cruise, 6 day land tour and no meal plan. The only time I ever had a problem getting a meal was in Fairbanks when my sightseeing flight was delayed in coming back and all the hotel restaurants were closed. We just ordered a pizza to be delivered and ended up meeting a young man from Missouri working in Alaska for the summer.

 

I thought I had the land tour tipping guide; if I find it I will post it.

 

Good luck and I hope your parents have a great time.

 

St. Louis Sal

[MaryPoppinz]

THANK YOU ALL...so much!!!

[Skye23]

Thanks for the info, I checked and the meal plan is NOT offered on my particular CruiseTour. Only certain ones offer it apparently. But I'm glad I was able to check and make sure.