Alaska on Volendam May20-27...my thoughts

[ginjer2911]

Hello all. Just got back on a cruise on HAL Volendam rt from Vancouver. He had port stops at Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan and scenic cruising through Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm.

 

We had an absolutely fantastic cruise with great excursions. Couldn't have asked for me. Even the weather cooperated wtih us!!!

 

It only rained one day and that was in Ketchikan and even though it rained I really enjoyed seeing the low clouds hanging in the moutain valleys. While temperatures were mostly in the 50's it felt much warmer and I didn't need my jacket most of the time. Just went with a fleece and t shirt.

 

In Juneau- we did the Photo Safari Tour through the ship and had a great time watching whales, seeing Mendenhal Glacier and going for a hike at Mendenhal. Our tour guide Stacy and boat captain Brian were awesome. It was definitely directed at photographers. When we went to see the Sea Lions our captain did a complete turn around the buoy so that we could get different lighting situations and different backgrouns. He also did the same thing when we saw a Bald Eagle hanging out of one of the buoys and we were able to get really close. The hike at Mendenhall was all about shooting close up (macro) photos and again lots of instructions for photographers. On this excursion we had people with SLR (big) cameras regular pocket cameras and even one couple that just wanted to see the sights.

 

In Skagway- we booked the 7.5 hour train tour with Chilkoot Tours. BJ was our guide and he was great. Very informative. He picked out some Dall Sheep for us. Made lots of stops for photographs. And went out of his way to get in a good position for a us to get some pics of a bear. There wasn't very many people taking Chilkoot that day. There were 6 of us in the train car....perfect for being able to sit where you want..and only 4 of us in the van for the Yukon part of the tour. The only thing I didn't like was the lunch at Caribou Crossing, but I do realize that there isn't really any other options there. And most of the other people there did enjoy the lunch. And I will freely admit that I am a very picky eater!!

 

In Ketchikan- we went on the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour. This was by far our favorite excursion. The people that work on the Alleutian Ballad are just wonderful. The part where they feed the eagles was just amazing. At one point we had about 20-30 eagles flying around the boat!! We also got to see and hold King Crab, Snow Crab, Box Crab (these are kinda cool...they look like rocks), jumbo prawns, hermit crabs (in shells), and I know there was more. We also saw a hugh 50lb octopus. No one except the crew got to hold that one, but we were not upset; especially when the octopus starting wraping its tentacles around Kiwi's neck. If anyone is thinking about this and can't decide...I would definitely say to do it. Especially if you are into Alaskan Wildlife. We even saw some whales off the side of the boat. And if you want to see eagles...do not miss this. One lady on the boat said she went to an "eagle show" and didn't see this many eagles or see them so up close.

 

Tracy Arm was beautiful. We had a perfect sunny day. Very little wind and the water was so smooth. We were able to go around the little island in the middle of the fjord and got to the point that we could see both glaciers but couldn't get too close because of the ice flow. We saw tons of seals on the ice flow. And even though we couldn't get too close we did get to see the face of the S. Sawyer Glacier and it was really pretty.

 

Glacier Bay started out really cold, cloudy, and foggy. But by the time we got to Margerie Glacier the clouds stated breaking up and the sun and blue sky started peeking through. We stayed at the Margerie Glacier for quite a while and got very close to it. We saw a lot of calving and heard the popping and cracking of the glacier. While we were there there was a huge piece that calved off. It was so big that it caused water to splash up higher than the bow of the ship and the ship to roll for a while. We weren't able to go the John's Hopkins Glacier because the seals were giving birth and they couldn't be disturbed so we went to the Lampaugh glacier, but it didn't calve any. :( Big tip for Glacier Bay...if you want to see wildlife go to the bow and see if there is a Park Ranger there with a spotting scope and binocluars. We had one on our ship and he says that he goes out on 4 ships a week. There job is to spot and record wildlife in the park and he pointed out a lot of animals for us. Moose, Bears, moutain goats, eagles, seals, etc. And don't forget your binoculars.

 

This was dh and mine's first cruise and it was such an amazing experience. We are already talking about when we can go back.

 

If anyone has any questions I will be more than happy to answer what I can. And I will try to post some pictures, but just not sure how to do that yet.

[vbmom87]

Thank you for sharing your trip with us. It sounds like it was wonderful. I have been recommending this itinerary to people who have scenery as their priority. I am glad to hear it was a great cruise!

[sooper]

Glad to hear you enjoyed the cruise and the weather was nice! We'll be on the same itinerary later this month and also have booked the Chilkoot tour. What was the lunch that you didnt' like?

 

How long did it take for passengers to get off at each port? I'm hoping there's enough time to get to each excursion (not booked through HAL).

[Mrs Charmin]

Thank you for posting highlites of your cruise ginjer. It sure is helpful to all of us who have never been and are planning cruises.

 

Thanks again.

[ginjer2911]

Glad to hear you enjoyed the cruise and the weather was nice! We'll be on the same itinerary later this month and also have booked the Chilkoot tour. What was the lunch that you didnt' like?

 

How long did it take for passengers to get off at each port? I'm hoping there's enough time to get to each excursion (not booked through HAL).

 

 

We were off the ship very quickly. In Juneau and Skagway we docked early so we were off early. We did have to have the ship cleared in Juneau before we could dock, but that didn't take any time at all. Dh and I would also go down to the Promenade deck and watch as the ship docked then we figured out what deck they were docking to and then went to that deck and waited. I think that helped us get off quickly also. We were one of the first 10 people off the boat in Skagway by doing this trick.

 

The lunch at Caribou Crossing was BBQ chicken, coleslaw, and roll. The chicken was a boneless chicken breast (we requested white meat) that was dunked in bbq sauce. It wasn't horrible, just not what I like. I don't like cole slaw at all and I felt that the chicken breast was kinda tasteless; all I could taste was the bbq sauce and that didn't taste good to me. The rolls were good and they had some homemade donuts and those were really good. Of the 5 of us at our table 2 didn't like lunch at all, 1 thought it was okay, and the other 2 said that it was good.

 

HTH

[DizzyDallasDi]

Thank you for your review. I was right behind you on the Zuiderdam -- 5/23 - 5/30. I also did the Photo Safari excursion in Juneau and my guide was George. It was fantastic!! I appreciated the guide's photography pointers and used them throughout the rest of my trip, which thankfully returned some great vacation photos. :D

[rubytue]

Did you have an onboard naturalist? Not a "travel guide," nor the rangers that come on in Glacier Bay, but an actually naturalist for the whole cruise? It was one of the selling points for HAL, but is appears they have done away with them :( We didn't have one on the Zaandam, and the scuttle on the HAL board is no one is seeing them this year.

[MercedMike]

Did you have an onboard naturalist? Not a "travel guide," nor the rangers that come on in Glacier Bay, but an actually naturalist for the whole cruise? It was one of the selling points for HAL, but is appears they have done away with them :( We didn't have one on the Zaandam, and the scuttle on the HAL board is no one is seeing them this year.

 

Well, I am not an Alaska wildlife enthusiast like some posters on this board, but I do enjoy the wildlife and the natural history.

 

To be honest about it, I have been underimpressed with the past HAL on board naturalists. They seemed to come equipped with a few canned slide shows and not a whole lot of Alaska knowledge. The Park Rangers in Glacier Bay are awesome and can correct some of the nonsense handed out by the on board naturalists.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[ginjer2911]

We didn't see any naturalist on board. We did have a "travel guide" on board and sadly, I don't think she was very intelligent or maybe it's just my problem. I lost all respect for her when she told us that the glaciers were blue because that is the color that is reflected that our eyes see. Ummmm yeah, that's true of all colors. And has nothing to do with glaciers!! But anyway, maybe just me being picky about stuff like that. Guess it's the nurse in me. :)