Our Alaskan Adventure- Westerdam May 25-June 1

[birder22]

Our Alaska Adventure on the Westerdam May 25-June 1. Very, very long.

Part 1.

This was my family’s first cruise so keep in mind that my report is from a novice cruiser traveling with an extended family. We booked this cruise to take my mom (in her 80’s) to Alaska on an easy trip that she could enjoy. We (myself, my husband, daughter-15 and son -12) were joined by my mother in law and sister. We generally spend our vacation time hiking, canoeing, backpacking and camping and had never considered taking a cruise before. So this was a new experience for us and we were not sure how much we would enjoy it. Well, we had a great time and would go on another cruise. I appreciate the information I found on cruise critic that proved to be so useful in planning this trip.

Boarding: We drove twelve hours to Seattle with five of us in a small car. That ensured we would enjoy the spaciousness of our cabin on the ship! My husband, kids and I went to Pike Place Market and the Seattle Aquarium Sunday morning. The aquarium opens at 10. The aquarium is a great pre cruise stop as we had a chance to look at marine life up close and get excited about what we would see in Alaska. We arrived at the pier about 11:45 and were in the Lido having lunch 20 minutes later. Long term parking is conveniently located right by the terminal. The check in process was like an airport but faster and easier (no taking off shoes). The check in staff tried very hard to get my mom into a wheel chair to get on the ship but she refused. We found the rest of our party, had lunch and then walked around the ship until about 1:30 when the cabins were ready.

Cabin: We had two adjacent VD cabins for the seven of us. I had our excellent room steward, Fadar, open the door between the balconies and there was plenty of room for all of us. We used the balcony quite a bit, for sail away, reading, chatting and watching for whales (we saw Orcas, Humpbacks, porpoises and sea lions). My daughter fell asleep reading on the balcony chair two nights. We never noticed cigarette smoke while on the balcony. We did fine with four in a cabin, which after all was larger than our tent. It was crowded when the sofa and Pullman beds were opened but our room steward usually closed them when we were at breakfast. You can fold the sofa bed up part of the way by yourself to get to the balcony but the steward has a special way to finish folding it up. We had towel animals on most nights.

Dinner: We were waitlisted for early traditional dining and were assigned to it at check in. Traveling with an extended family it was much easier to have a fixed time and place for dinner than having to decide on when to go to dinner each day. Our waiter, Su, was wonderful as was his assistant. We had a table for eight but no one was assigned to the extra place. We brought a couple of boxes and tubes of wine with us. The spout mechanism confused our wine steward at first but he figured it out and had a good sense of humor. The boxes and tubes of wine were much easier to pack than bottles. We really enjoyed our dinners in the dining room. Su and his assistant were very attentive and always seemed pleased to see us. I found the food to be good to excellent. Not as good as a very good chef preparing a few dinners at a time but much better than any banquet food I’ve had. I had a few dishes that were not great (herbed scallops, fisherman’s pot soup, chocolate cake) but they were ok. Most of the dishes were very good (mahi mahi, swordfish, bream, shrimp, crab cakes, crab legs, berry cobbler- yes I ate a lot of seafood). My son tried quite a few new dishes and enjoyed them including escargot and lobster. My daughter is a vegetarian and found one to two vegetarian appetizers, soups and entrees each night on the menu. She never needed the vegetarian menu. I found that there was enough variety on the menu to please everyone in my family (seafood lovers, vegetarian and meat lover). Su often brought us extra meals (shrimp cocktails, lobster and others), even though we had difficulty finishing what was on our plates. We found the servings to be quite generous. My son ordered a flambé desert to see them set it on fire by the table. Su’s assistant explained that they finish the deserts in the kitchen since a waiter activated the sprinkler system on the Prisendam with too vigorous a fire. So don’t expect a tableside flambé. The Yum-Yum man outside the 3rd deck entrance to the dining room was great (Ona?). He had a marvelous sense of humor and would always high five my son when he saw him at dinner or in the Lido at breakfast. Overall, we were impressed with the friendly service we received and the cleanliness of the ship.

We did run into a problem with formal nights. In a senior moment, my mom did not pack her formal clothes. We discovered this as we met in the hall to head for dinner. She did wear the nicest clothes she had with her but I was concerned that we would be sent to the Lido for dinner. It turned out not to be a problem. No one said anything and no one gave us the evil eye either. While some HAL passengers wish the Maitre D was more assertive about enforcing the dress code, in this case I was glad he was not.

[birder22]

Other meals: We ate our breakfasts and lunches in the Lido. It was too crowded in our room with all of the beds open for breakfast in our room. The Lido did get crowded during breakfast and lunch but we always found a table. This was the only part of the ship where we experienced crowds. The made to order omelets and waffles were a big hit with my family at breakfast. There was a good variety of lunch foods available with deli, salad, hot food, Italian and Asian sections. I had sushi every day for lunch. It was not made to order sushi but better than what I can get at home. The variety of food made it easy to travel with a family. We had no arguments over where or what to eat. In addition, in the Lido pool area there was a hamburger grill and taco bar. French fries were not on the room service menu but they were available all afternoon at the grill and my son enjoyed these after swimming or playing ping pong. My mom, sister, daughter and I enjoyed the afternoon teas. The Indonesian tea is quite good. Crew members in the Lido always offered to assist my mom with her tray which was nice. On the Glacier Bay day there was a BBQ around the Lido pool. The swordfish was good but apparently it ran out quite quickly so get there early if you want swordfish. My son and I were appalled at the amount of food some passengers were taking from the BBQ. Either a lot of food went to waste or people ate way more than is healthy.

 

Club Hal: My only disappointment in the ship was the kid’s club. My son was a few weeks shy of his thirteenth birthday and was in the tween (8-12 yr) group. Club Hall was short of staff and combined the 3-7 and 8-12 yr old groups. There were 20 3-7 yr olds and 30 8-12 yr olds on board. It seemed to me that it was a lot of kids to combine into one group with one counselor. It is also a very large age range. My son went the first day but left because all of the activities had to be geared to the younger kids in the group. The other kids in his age group also left. He would have enjoyed the activities but he wanted to do them with kids his age. They did acquire a second counselor (I don’t know where she came from- Ketchikan?) near the end of the week and my son enjoyed an evening at Club Hal but he did not get to know any of the kids in his age group very well. My daughter went to the opening activity of the teen group but did not connect with any of the kids. The teen group seemed to be having fun around the ship but my daughter preferred to read or find her own entertainment.

 

Activities: Even though neither of my children participated much in the kids’ activities, they still had a great time onboard. We swam in the Lido pool and soaked in the hot tubs. I did see infants in the hot tubs. The Lido pool was a wave pool on the first day at sea, it was fun to ride the sloshing. We played basketball and ping pong. There were two ping pong tables near the Lido pool. I brought a few ping pong balls with me and they came in handy when the ship’s balls were all cracked or flattened. New balls appeared in the morning but by evening they were often “dead”. We checked board games out of the Crow’s Nest/Library and rented a video there. Recent DVD releases (Sweeny Todd, Great Debate, 27 Dresses, I am Legend, National Treasure 2 for example) were shown in the Queen’s Lounge and on the tv. Cartoon Network is available on the tv. They double scheduled a movie and a flower arranging class in the Queen’s Lounge one afternoon. My daughter went to see the movie but most of the older women present thought she was there for the flower arranging. They were quite impressed that one so young was interested in flower arranging – not. My daughter and I both checked books out of the library to supplement those we brought on board. I thought the library had a good selection of books We were not very impressed with the lectures. Family members went to the park ranger lecture in Glacier Bay and said the ranger was not a very good speaker. I went to the volcano, glacier and earthquake lecture and while it was ok, it was very superficial and not given by an expert in the field. I am picky about lectures and I prefer it when the lecturer knows more than I do on the subject.

 

Evening activities: We attended several of the shows. The cruise director, Jason Venner, was very funny, actually he was funnier than either of the comedians. I thought the juggler was so- so, the magician was very good and the singers and dancers were not so good. My husband and I went dancing one evening, much to the embarrassment of our children. We walked laps on the deck after dinner most evenings and I enjoyed reading next to the window in the Explorer’s Lounge in the evening. There was a pretty good string quartet playing in the Explorer’s Lounge but they tended to play “pop” classical music.

 

Exercise: We were gerbils on a wheel, walking around and around the Promenade deck (3 laps to a mile). It was a good place to spot whales and we saw quite a few spouts and tails while walking. The Promenade deck was never crowded. My sister worked out in the gym and was satisfied with the facilities.

[birder22]

Itinerary: This is a great itinerary. Leaving from Seattle is very convenient. We spent our first sea day exploring the ship, the next day out on deck enjoying Glacier Bay and then we were ready to get off the ship. The next three days we were in Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan and then just as we were getting tired and ready to return to ship life- it was time to sail south.

Weather: We had absolutely amazing weather. The first sea day we had enough swells to rock the ship. Everyone in my family who gets motion sickness took generic Bonine as soon as they got on board and no one was ill. It was fun swimming in the wave pool, watching the waves and ship’s motion from the Crows’ Nest and feeling the ocean. By the time we got to Glacier Bay the seas were like glass and stayed that way for the rest of the trip. I had packed clothes for cold temperatures, rain and mud. Instead we were sunburned at Glacier Bay and my son changed into shorts, had a wonderful sunny day in Juneau and no rain in Alaska.

Glacier Bay: We selected this itinerary because of Glacier Bay and it was a good choice. We saw Humpbacks, seals and seabirds at the entrance to the bay. It was a beautiful day and the bright blue shone on the glaciers. We saw lots of Harbor Seals on the ice at Jaw Point. We saw dozens of calvings at Marjorie Glacier. We checked out all of the outdoor viewing areas and decided that the best viewing was from the lower levels. We spent most of the day on the bow deck (we hung out on a picnic table) and then moved to our balcony when the starboard side of the ship was facing Marjorie Glacier. I preferred the view from the lower decks because we were closer to wildlife on the water and we were not looking out over other decks.

Juneau: We took the MGT shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier (the first shuttle leaves at 8 am- $14 round trip). The visitor center and trails near the visitor center are not crowded early in the morning so it was nice to get an early start. The small pieces of ice floating on the lake are called “bergy bits”. The visitor center and film are worth seeing. It is impressive to see how far the glacier has retreated. We came across some markers along the trails with glacier limit dates on them. We hiked all the trails that are accessible from the visitor center. The East Glacier Trail is a well developed trail through oldish growth forest. This is a lovely hike. The Nugget Creek Trail takes off from the East Glacier trail and provides a delightful hike along the creek. We had lunch along the creek. I brought pre-packaged granola bars, energy bars, dried fruit and trail mix for our hiking lunch. We ended up our day on a beach along the lake. Most of us sprawled on the sand enjoying the sun while we watched the helicopters land and take off from the glacier. But my son waded into the lake and hauled out “bergy bits”. The ice is very dense and surprisingly heavy. Needless to say it was a very warm day and his pants dried quickly. We left Mendenhall Glacier about 2:30 and there was no line for the bus.

When we returned to the pier, I took the kids and we checked out the other ships and the statue of Patsy Ann- a bull dog who used to meet the ships. My husband and sister went to the Red Dog Saloon for beer and enjoyed the setting. My mom and mother in law went on the Glacier Garden and Mendenhall Glacier ship’s excursion. They loved it. They had engaging guides, thought the flowers were beautiful and enjoyed the golf cart ride through the forest. They only had a limited amount of time at Mendenhall Glacier. This may be a good option for someone with limited stamina and mobility.

[birder22]

Sitka: Another great day! Sitka is a tender port. It has remained a charming port town because they don’t have a cruise ship dock. We had a 9 am privately booked excursion and I was a bit concerned about getting there in time. They gave out tender tickets for independent travelers at 8:15 in the Queen’s Lounge. I had the six of us going ashore dressed and ready in the lounge at 8 am. It turned out to be a piece of cake. They had plenty of tender tickets for everyone in the lounge, the ride was only a few minutes long and we were at the dock with twenty five minutes to spare.

We went on a fantastic boat trip with Captain Davey and the Esther G II Sea Taxi. http://www.puffinsandwhales.com/ The boat holds six passengers and is a lovely, well maintained boat. Captain Davey is very knowledgeable about the local history and natural history. He has an excellent eye for spotting birds on the water. The best part of the trip is that he customizes it for the passengers’ interests. We wanted to see seabirds and otters and we did. We went to St. Lazaria Island National Wildlife Refuge. We saw rafts of Ancient Murrelets, Tufted Puffins, Pigeon Gullimonts, and Common Murres. Lots of Sea Otters, Steller’s Sea Lions, and Harbor Porpoises, a mom and baby harbor seal on a rock, a Whimbrel, Pacific and Double-crested Cormorants, and Glaucous-winged Gulls. It was incredible. Captain Davey was so engaging and personable and had great cookies as a snack. At the end our cruise I asked my son what were his favorite three parts of the trip. The boat trip was his top 27 parts of the trip. Then came Glacier Bay and hiking tied for 28th and 29th place. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone traveling to Sitka. Everyone in our group who is prone to motion sickness took generic Bonine before leaving the Westerdam which was good as it is easy to become ill when looking through binoculars on a small boat. Captain Davey had binoculars for passengers to use if you don’t have your own.

We had another hiking lunch at a picnic shelter near the dock and then walked over to Sitka National Park. We were there at low tide and checked out the tide pools. We brought field guides but the park staff will lend out a backpack with a bucket, a magnifying glass and field guides so you don’t need to bring your own. The tide pools were fun to explore and we found lots of crabs but they did not have large rocks with the accompanying anemones, starfish and other marine life. Sitka National Park had a native carver working on a totem pole in a shed next to the visitor center. He told us about the pole he was carving. It will take several years to complete. There is also a lovely walk through a forest grove with eleven totem poles along the way. My mom stayed on board. She spent the day having coffee and reading on the aft deck, going to a movie and a show.

Ketchikan: Ok, this was our least favorite port. The town has been taken over by tourist shops. We had planned to go to Totem Bight State Park by bus but family members were getting tired and we felt we already had our lovely walk among the totem poles in Sitka. So we walked around Ketchikan. There is a good coffee shop near the south end of Creek Street (New York Café?). My daughter found a nice skirt at the Salvation Army Thrift shop near the coffee shop which was her souvenir. The USFS has displays at the SE Alaska Discovery Center. Admission is $5. This is a fascinating center if you are interested in public land issues, as we are. I am not sure it would be fascinating if you are not. The Totem Heritage Center was also very interesting. It was cool to see the older poles and to read about some of their history. The scenery leaving Ketchikan is incredible – especially when enjoyed from a hot tub on the aft deck.

Victoria: Another great port. Early dinner was held at 5 pm this day and we were finished in time to leave the ship once it was cleared. We walked into town enjoying the flower gardens along the way. The Inner Harbor pier area was quite lively with performers playing bagpipes and bluegrass music and a mime painted as a copper statue. We walked through the Empress Hotel and down Government Street to Chinatown. Both of my children were ready to move to Victoria. There are quite a few interesting shops including a funky tee shirt shop along Government St and an Irish pub.

Return to Seattle: Disembarkation was “silent”. Our assigned time to leave was 9:00-9:15. At 9:00 we went to the gangway, walked off the ship, walked through customs and immigration (I don’t think they even glanced at our passports) and into the luggage area. We found our luggage and were on our way in minutes. It was all very easy. My sister’s duffle bag was taken by another passenger who did not realize they had collected more duffle bags than they brought on the ship until they were in their hotel room. She had to go back on Tuesday to pick up her duffle bag.

After leaving the ship we went to the Experience Music Project at the Seattle Center. It was great fun. They had a JImi Hendrix exhibit that my husband stayed at the entire time we were there. We played in a rock band to a virtual audience, jammed on instruments, saw lots of cool guitars, learned about the Seattle rock scene and enjoyed the adjoining science fiction collection- geeks gone wild. This place is definitely worth a visit. Then it was back in the car for the long ride home.

What we liked: Captain Davey’s boat trip, hiking at Mendenhall Glacier, Glacier Bay, watching the ocean, marine mammal sightings, reading on the balcony, friendly service, tasty food and time spent together as a family.

What we did not like: grouping the 3-12 year olds together at Club Hal and Ketchikan.

Overall impression: This was a nice way for an extended family to travel together. The ship was very accessible for family members with limited stamina and mobility. There was enough variety of food offerings that all family members could find something they liked. The ship was large enough and offered enough activities that we did not have to spend all of our time together. I think we would go again.

Thanks to everyone's advice and information.

[Ruggled]

Thank you so much for posting your trip report. It has been very helpful!

 

I have a son who will be 3 weeks shy of his 13th birthday when we travel in August. According to HAL, there are about 100 kids under the age of 12 on the ship, and about 100 between 13 and 17. They thought it was possible that the ships counselor might let my son move up to the 13 year old group--but also noted he might find that, depending on the age of other kids onboard, he would prefer the younger group.

 

Were you offered that possiblity onboard?

 

My son is an only child, so he's looking forward to meeting other kids his age. I'm a bit concerned because he is certainly "between" groups.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome Home.

 

Glad you all had a wonderful FIRST cruise.

[CSTX Mom]

Thank you so much for the report. We are leaving in 2 weeks. I am sorry to hear about the problems with Club Hal; my 9 year old really likes to play with other kids her age, so hopefully they will have more counselors. We are also booked with Captain Davey. How long did it take you to hike the East Glacier Trail?

[arzz]

Welcome home and thank you for sharing your experiences on the Amsterdam. I am so glad that you enjoyed going out with Captain Davey -- we have been out with him twice on two separate trips to Alaska (the last time was May 21) and as you said, he really does a super job of finding what ever is out there that you wish to see!

 

Thanks again for sharing.

[NancyIL]

Thanks for your review, and I'm glad you had a great cruise.

 

We're on the Veendam in July with a 7 a.m. arrival in Sitka and an 8 a.m. tour with Captain Davey. I'm glad that you had no problem getting an early tender ticket as an independent traveler. I also plan to be ready to go as soon as our ship arrives.

[Pokeynose]

Thank you for your review. We will be cruising in two weeks along with CSTX MOM, I hope to meet her and her family once aboard. We won't be taking too many shore trips, DH cannot walk too far due to health problems but we'll do what we can. Thanks again. Barb

[birder22]

I was concerned about lines for tender tickets but it turned out not to be a problem. There were about a dozen people in the Queen's Lounge when the assistant cruise director began giving out tickets. The tender was not full. I don't know if this was unusual or not. The trip with Captain Davey was fantastic.

 

We never asked for my son to participate in the teen club activities. My daughter was in that age group and I thought it best if they had the opportunity to make their own friends. Looking back, my son would have fit well in the group. The teens I saw in the group around the ship looked like they were on the younger end of the age group (13-14). They were friendly and seemed to be having a good time. My daughter is an "old" 15 year old and just did not connect with the group. There were 40 13-17 year olds on the ship and we saw about a dozen teens at some of the activities.

[MikeT718]

Great reivew and it was not too long did you get a chance to read mine ( over 4500 words) although I think your's is just as long or longer ..We were on the Volendam at the same time as you and we saw you in Glacier Bay and in Ketchikan you were pulling out to make room for us....One thing I can tell you about the Totem Bight Park it was AMAZZING...We got a retired College Professor for our tour and he made it intresting

[birder22]

I think you can hike East Glacier trail in 1.5 to 2 hours. We stopped along the way to take photos, id birds and plants and then went down the Nugget Creek Trail so I don't know how long it took us. The Nugget Creek Trail is worth hiking. It drops to the creek and then follows the creek. We stopped for lunch at the washed out bridge. The trails were well marked and maintained.

[birder22]

Yes, I enjoyed your review.

We waved to the Volendam from the bow of the Westerdam in Glacier Bay. What a spectacular day!

 

Having been to Ketchikan, my advice would be to get out of town. We should have made the effort to get to Totem Bight State Park- next time we will.

[birder22]

My mom can not walk very far either. The check in staff were eager to provide wheelchair assistance and the gangway to the ship is quite long so you may want to accept their help. My mom enjoyed the Glacier Gardens and Mendenhall Glacier tour which did not have too much walking. There is a shuttle bus in Sitka and the town is quite compact so it is easy to get around. The shuttle buses in Victoria take passengers to the Inner Harbor and there was quite a bit of activity going on within a block or two of the bus stop. My mom stayed on board for two of the ports and enjoyed being on the ship. Have fun.

[happy5]

thank you..thank you...thank you

what a fabulous review!!! after reading about problems lately, I was pleased to read your great and informative review

We are sailing on July 25 on the Westerdam, and your review made me even more excited!!!

thanks again

[DL10]

Hi birder,

 

Good review. I agree with you about lots.

Ketchikan was our least favorite port.

I'm writing my comments about the trip in small bits.

[Pokeynose]

My mom can not walk very far either. The check in staff were eager to provide wheelchair assistance and the gangway to the ship is quite long so you may want to accept their help. My mom enjoyed the Glacier Gardens and Mendenhall Glacier tour which did not have too much walking. There is a shuttle bus in Sitka and the town is quite compact so it is easy to get around. The shuttle buses in Victoria take passengers to the Inner Harbor and there was quite a bit of activity going on within a block or two of the bus stop. My mom stayed on board for two of the ports and enjoyed being on the ship. Have fun.

birder22, thanks for the information. He can walk just not long distances and he will not get a wheelchair, that I know. We'll do what we can and then come back on board and relax. This is what our cruise is all about, relaxing. Lots of medical problems for both of us this past year, the cruise is just what we need.

[photodoodle]

Thanks for the informative and engaging review. How many of the bird sightings were new for you? :)

[birder22]

Ancient Murrelets and Tufted Puffins were new ones for me. All of the birds were in breeding plumage and looked lovely.

[Barek]

We're on the Westerdam in just over three weeks - I loved reading your review!

 

Do you recall if the "Deck for a Cure" walk was held on any of the mornings? I think it used to be on the sea day.

 

Also, I know that dinner menus can frequently change cruise-to-cruise ... but do you have notes on the entres each night? Were there any special "event" nights in the main dining room other than the formal nights?

[dlbaqua]

thank you for your detailed review!

[MWGuy]

You will be delighted with your Davey Lubin tour! We were with him the first week of May..saw many whales, sea lions, sea otters, endangered birds (Brandts) which had returned en mass to Sitka waters, his wife's delicious cookies. Have a great time!