Really Need Your Help Please!!!!!

[Italy52]

After mulling over quite a few itineraries DH and I think we have come up with a nice itinerary for our Alaska trip. Comments/suggestions with regard to ship and itinerary are appreciated.

We want to do 2 itineraries which will give us a Vancover-Vancover round trip (savings on airfare). We also wanted to incorporate ports that we have not seen. This will be or third cruise to Alaska. Have done Seattle-Seattle and Whittier-Vancouver with Princess.

Here goes:

Vancover-Inside Passage-Ketchikan-Icy Strat Point-Juneau-Sitka-Hubbard-Seward (Volendam)---Spend two days in Seward before embarking on 2nd cruise.

Seward-College Fjords-Glacier Bay-Haines-Juneau-Ketchikan-Inside Passage-Vancouver (Ryndam)

I know we will be repeating ports, we don't mind as it is the only way for us to incorporate ports we have not seen.

Are we making a mistake?

[grannynurse]

That sounds like a great trip to me. We went to Alaska on the Westerdam last September and wished we could have gone all the way to Seward. You'll like the narration for the glaciers and the on deck hot chocolate and pea soup too. HAL does a wonderful job in Alaska. We took as picture of Ryndam in Glacier Bay from our balcony on Westerdam. I'll post a link to the pix if you'd like.

The Volendam (her theme is flowers, and there are fresh flowers everywhere) is slightly bigger than Ryndam in that it has midship elevators and carries 1300+ pax, Ryndam is a shorter length by about 60 ft and carries 1200+ pax. Other than that, the deck layouts are almost identical, except for color sceme, both have great crews and super service.

I think you'll like HAL.
You made a good selection.
GN

[RuthC]

Well, this itinerary doesn't have Skagway, which is a good port, but it does have both Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay, which is good. Perhaps you've already gone to Skagway.
You also have some time in Seward, which is nice. Have you considered taking time while there to go over to Homer? I loved that port when I stopped there. Or you could go up to Portage Glacier or Anchorage.

The ships are R-class and S-class; they are virtually identical in layout, but not quite. Once you know you're way around one then you will feel comfortable immediately on the other. I did Alaska on the Volendam last July and thought the ship beautiful. I loved it's "flowers" theme. And my favorites have always been the S-class ships.

As long as you don't mind packing to change ships this should work.

[Italy52]

That sounds like a great trip to me. We went to Alaska on the Westerdam last September and wished we could have gone all the way to Seward. You'll like the narration for the glaciers and the on deck hot chocolate and pea soup too. HAL does a wonderful job in Alaska. We took as picture of Ryndam in Glacier Bay from our balcony on Westerdam. I'll post a link to the pix if you'd like.

The Volendam (her theme is flowers, and there are fresh flowers everywhere) is slightly bigger than Ryndam in that it has midship elevators and carries 1300+ pax, Ryndam is a shorter length by about 60 ft and carries 1200+ pax. Other than that, the deck layouts are almost identical, except for color sceme, both have great crews and super service.

I think you'll like HAL.
You made a good selection.
GN


Thank you for your post and positive comments. Yes, I would love to see your picture. I have only been on one HAL ship, the Zuiderdam and don't have any other experience to draw upon. We really enjoyed HAL and are hoping to go again soon.

[Italy52]

Well, this itinerary doesn't have Skagway, which is a good port, but it does have both Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay, which is good. Perhaps you've already gone to Skagway.
You also have some time in Seward, which is nice. Have you considered taking time while there to go over to Homer? I loved that port when I stopped there. Or you could go up to Portage Glacier or Anchorage.

The ships are R-class and S-class; they are virtually identical in layout, but not quite. Once you know you're way around one then you will feel comfortable immediately on the other. I did Alaska on the Volendam last July and thought the ship beautiful. I loved it's "flowers" theme. And my favorites have always been the S-class ships.

As long as you don't mind packing to change ships this should work.

Thank you for your positive comments as well. With regards to your suggestions, we have already been to Anchorage, Portage Glacier, and Skagway (twice). Homer has not been seen yet, but will definitely put it on my "to see list." :)

[Tricia724]

That sounds like a great cruising itinerary. You're going to hit most of the port cities and both of the major glacier areas. Actually, you might even be able to make it up Tracy Arm to Sawyer Glacier on a private excursion....depending upon your port time in Juneau.

Seward is a neat little town, too. There are a lot of possibilites there. You could rent a car and drive around the Kenai, take a Kenai Fjords National Parks cruise, or spend the time enjoying all that Seward has to offer. We stayed at a bed and breakfast in Seward a few years ago before sailing and really enjoyed ourselves.

I love Alaska. I hope we make it back in the next few years because there is still so much we want to see and do there. Have a wonderful trip.

[Italy52]

Thanks for your reply and suggestions. We are really hoping that we can do this itinerary as it incorporates just about everything we want to see.

[grannynurse]

Italy52.

Here is the link to our Alaska pictures. I made a mistake, the picture of the Ryndam was taken when it was coming into Ketchikan. She passed us on the starboard side. We were able to get the picture from our aft balcony.

http://community.webshots.com/album/554456434.vmsmzT

GN

[Italy52]

Italy52.

Here is the link to our Alaska pictures. I made a mistake, the picture of the Ryndam was taken when it was coming into Ketchikan. She passed us on the starboard side. We were able to get the picture from our aft balcony.

http://community.webshots.com/album/554456434.vmsmzT

GN

Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, there is a high volume of usage at the moment and I can't get into it to see the picture. Will try again later.

[Jade13]

Hi, we did the Seward to Vancouver last year, same itinerary but it was on the Veendam.

I saw Ruths post, but Haines is the port to visit skagway. We did an excursion on the River to see Eagles in Haines and then booked the Rsil & Sail directly with the Skagway Railroad so took the 11:30am Ferry to Skagway, walkec around and then the 3:30pm Rail Ride, and 8:00pm Ferry back to Haines. It was a great day.

I have to say that Sewatd was my favoritte port. It was sooo beautiful. We went Whale watching from there, after boarding at 11:30am and emjoying lunch, we went to the Sea Life center which was great and then a 3:30pm Whalewatching and back to the ship by 6:30pm. That was a great day too.

[Italy52]

Jade, thanks for your comments, I really appreciate the suggestions. I'm putting together a list from everyone's helpful comments and I am going to explore every one. :)

[tim agg]

Last year we did 14-days on the Veendam, Vancouver-Seward, Seward - Vancouver. The only improvement I could think of would have been a couple of extra days in Seward! Do plan to take the Kenai fjords day boat trip out of Seward - it is stunning, with lits of wildlife and scenery. In the Icy Strait area, watch for humpback whales, orcas, sea lions and sea otters.

[Italy52]

Last year we did 14-days on the Veendam, Vancouver-Seward, Seward - Vancouver. The only improvement I could think of would have been a couple of extra days in Seward! Do plan to take the Kenai fjords day boat trip out of Seward - it is stunning, with lits of wildlife and scenery. In the Icy Strait area, watch for humpback whales, orcas, sea lions and sea otters.


We hope to take Kenai Fjord tour out of Seward and Cpt. Larry out of Juneau. Still trying to work out all the logistics. Thanks for your information and feedback, appreciate it very much.