Alaska - On Board the Statendam

[mickeyfitz]

We are currently half way through a back to back Alaska cruise on the Statendam - Vancouver to Seward and Seward to Vancouver. We are Michael and Nancy and for the first week Michael's sister Kathleen was with us on the cruise. She left today in Seward for a land tour.

At the beginning of our trip we stayed two nights in Vancouver at the Pan Pacific, which is a great hotel. We took the on/off trolley tour on Saturday. Embarkation on Sunday was very efficient. The hotel took our luggage from our room and had it delivered to the ship. We were checked in and on board by 11:30 am.

The statendam is in great shape and the crew are, as always with HAL, great. We cannot say enough about the great service and the pleasantness of the crew. It is ironic that we are on the Statendam. In 2002 we scheduled our first HAL cruise after not having cruised at all in 15 years. It was an Alaska cruise out of Vancouver on the Statendam and unfortunately on the first night there was an electrical fire and the ship lost power. It had to be towed back to Vancouver by tug boat. However, HAL addressed the problem appropriately, gave a 150% credit and paid for our airfare to Anchorage since we had our return flight scheduled from there. We ended up renting a car and driving through Alaska for the week. We did the Alaska cruise the following year and are now HAL loyalists, having a total of 9 cruises / 75 days.

This cruise had stops in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. In Ketchikan we did the Saxman Village tour which was a nice opportunity to look at Native culture / totem poles and art.

In Juneau we did a whale watching tour on our own with Harv and Marv Outback Alaska Company. It was a small boat with room for 6 passengers and there were only 5 of us. Harv was our Captain and was great. Harv had heard that there was a possiblity that a pod of Orcas was in the area and made a detour to find them. He was successful and saw numerous groups of Orcas. We also saw Humpback whales. We would highly recommend this company.

In Skagway we rented a car from Avis and drove into Canada as far as Emerald Lake. We had lunch at Cinnamon Cache. The scenery was absolutely spectacular, especially with so much snow still on the mountains. We used Murrays Mile by Mile Guide (available online) and it was a great resource.

We visited Glacier Bay on Friday. We spent the entire day in Glacier Bay with two Rangers on board as well as some members of a local Indian tribe. Again, it was spectacular. On Saturday evening we visited College Fjord.

Today, Sunday, is disembarkation/embarkation day. It is nice to be able to stay on board while almost everyone else has had to pack and deal with a day of traveling. Apparently there are 111 guests staying on for the back to back cruise. We repeat the same itinerary in reverse with the exception being Haines instead of Skagway. In Haines, which we have never visited before, we booked a wildlife tour in the morning and since we are in port until late evening we will have plenty of time to visit the town.

We are looking forward to another wonderful week aboard the Statendam.

[canadarocks]

Thanks so much for the report. We are on a b2b on the Ryndam in August and are taking many of the same tours as you!:) We're going on a tour with Harv & Marv, and the Saxman Village as well. I look forward to hearing about your wildlife tour in Haines, because I've booked that as well! :cool: Thanks again!

[Love the beach]

Thanks for posting--glad to hear things are going well! We are on the same trip aboard Statendam on Aug. 16th.

[dizzy1949]

Thanks for the info. We will be cruising on the Statendam on June 14th- first time with HAL and to Alaska. Glad to hear you like the ship. Sounds like you did/are doing some of the same excursions that we have planned. Enjoy the rest of your time on board.

 

This seems to be the most perplexing question for us - more long sleeves or short? Thanks. Sue:confused::D

[TCF]

Glad you're having such a grest cruise on Statendam.

If you get the chance please stop by the "Logo Shop" and say hello to our friend Lady who works there. We became friends during our 36 day cruise to the Amazon last year. Just her incredible smile will light up anyone's cruise!!!

Just tell her Tom and Debbie send her hugs...and tell her she has email from us!

Thanks

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for checking in.

Glad to hear that you are enjoying your Alaskan cruise.

[Yaya&Papu]

Thanks for the report. Hope you enjoy the second half as much as the first. We will be embarking in Vancouver as you are getting off. Hope that we have good weather and enjoy our tours as much as you did yours. We have a few days pre-cruise in Vancouver and then fly home from Anchorage. Could not take more time off from work.:mad:

[missintahiti]

Glad to hear things are going well on the Statendam. We board her on Sunday for the northbound leg.

 

Thanks for the report. Hope you enjoy the second half as much as the first. We will be embarking in Vancouver as you are getting off. Hope that we have good weather and enjoy our tours as much as you did yours. We have a few days pre-cruise in Vancouver and then fly home from Anchorage. Could not take more time off from work.:mad:

 

Yaya&Papu, are you boarding this Sunday (June 7) in Vancouver? If so, drop by our roll call. We seem to have a fairly active roll call for this cruise.

[mickeyfitz]

Long sleeves or short? You really need both. The weather is, to say the least, variable. Cold and mild, dry and rainy, all in one day.

[pipedreams62]

We really love the Statendam. I hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise and have good weather.