Naturalists on HAL Alaska cruises

[allentownahoy]

We are planning a cruise to Alaska for 2009. We basically prefer HAL in most respects but last year when we cruised to Alaska 1 way on HAL and 1 way on Princess ,the HAL naturalist was quite poor-gave a few talks but didn't comment much on an ongoing basis on what wildlife we were passing.

The Princess naturalist on the other hand seemed to be on the bridge constantly (not just at the glaciers) telling you when she spotted wildlife and even coming over the speaker system to give us a heads up when we would be traveling in known whale areas etc. This made for a far superior experience.

So my question is- did we just get a poor naturalist on our HAL cruise or do the HAL naturalists in general not provide as much commentary as the ones on Princess. Since wildlife viewing is such a thrilling part of the Alaska cruise experience I might forgo HAL in favor of Princess if the Princess naturalists are routinely superior.

Please share your experience with HAL naturalists in Alaska

[kalliekae]

We are planning a cruise to Alaska for 2009. We basically prefer HAL in most respects but last year when we cruised to Alaska 1 way on HAL and 1 way on Princess ,the HAL naturalist was quite poor-gave a few talks but didn't comment much on an ongoing basis on what wildlife we were passing.

Please share your experience with HAL naturalists in Alaska

We had a wonderful naturalist on the Statendam when we cruised in Alaska. He was always making announcements and we were well informed of all the available wildlife. Perhaps you just had a poor one on your cruise.

[Alaska05]

but last year when we cruised to Alaska 1 way on HAL and 1 way on Princess

We're thinking about doing this in 2009.

North on HAL (Ryndam) and return on Princess (Diamond).

We've never cruised on HAL, but have been on Princess 4 times (Alaska 3 times).

Did you find it hard working the logistics between Seward and Whittier (or vice versa)?

By doing this itin we will have a couple of different stops and also different food than doing a B2B on the same ship.

Any insight you can provide would be helpful.

[allentownahoy]

We're thinking about doing this in 2009.

North on HAL (Ryndam) and return on Princess (Diamond).

We've never cruised on HAL, but have been on Princess 4 times (Alaska 3 times).

Did you find it hard working the logistics between Seward and Whittier (or vice versa)?

By doing this itin we will have a couple of different stops and also different food than doing a B2B on the same ship.

Any insight you can provide would be helpful.
We also do this so we can have different ports and also to do Hubbard one way and Glacier Bay the other.

The best way to get from Seward to Whittier or vice versa is to use one of the transportation services that are available. They picked us up in Seward and drove us to Whittier with stops at Portage Glacier and the Wildlife Center. We got to Whittier in time to do a Prince William Sound glacier boat trip before boarding Princess. Not to be missed.

[Alaska05]

We also do this so we can have different ports and also to do Hubbard one way and Glacier Bay the other.

The best way to get from Seward to Whittier or vice versa is to use one of the transportation services that are available. They picked us up in Seward and drove us to Whittier with stops at Portage Glacier and the Wildlife Center. We got to Whittier in time to do a Prince William Sound glacier boat trip before boarding Princess. Not to be missed.

Thanks for the info. We've already done the PWS small boat trip, so are looking to do a Kenai Fjords excursion and stay overnight in Seward before going to Whittier the next day for southbound trip on Diamond Princess.

I'm hoping there are more accommodations in Seward than there are in Whittier. We've never been to Seward so I need to start my research to see if this is something we want to do.

[gg3]

Does anyone know the naturalist on Ryndam for this 2008 Alaskan cruise season.....going mid-September. gg

[sammiedawg]

HAL does a nice job in ALaska as does Princess but I have to agree HAL underutilizes its naturalist.
We did Zaandam and really enjoyed it. The naturalist only had a few presentations and they were very brief.
The Princess naturalist was much more visible.
I dont know why. T
hese 2 lines control most of the Glacier Bay permits and are the most experienced in Alaska. I would choose one of these 2 lines.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We are planning a cruise to Alaska for 2009. We basically prefer HAL in most respects but last year when we cruised to Alaska 1 way on HAL and 1 way on Princess ,the HAL naturalist was quite poor-gave a few talks but didn't comment much on an ongoing basis on what wildlife we were passing.

The Princess naturalist on the other hand seemed to be on the bridge constantly (not just at the glaciers) telling you when she spotted wildlife and even coming over the speaker system to give us a heads up when we would be traveling in known whale areas etc. This made for a far superior experience.

So my question is- did we just get a poor naturalist on our HAL cruise or do the HAL naturalists in general not provide as much commentary as the ones on Princess. Since wildlife viewing is such a thrilling part of the Alaska cruise experience I might forgo HAL in favor of Princess if the Princess naturalists are routinely superior.

Please share your experience with HAL naturalists in Alaska

We had excellent naturalists on the Westerdam -- guess you didn't luck out as well as some of the rest of us.

Sorry.

[funlovin'cruiser]

Does anyone know the naturalist on Ryndam for this 2008 Alaskan cruise season.....going mid-September. gg

Hey everyone - they are not actually "naturalists" on HAL, instead they are travel guides for the Alaska season that are employed through the Alaska Native Heritage Center - they don't have to be "native" in the sense of American Indian, however in order to apply for the job they do have to be a native of Alaska. This is a new arrangement with the state of Alaska that HAL has and they are no longer employing "Naturalists" through the corporate offices anymore. Each travel guide has different specialties. The Ryndam's travel guide is Darlene Hawk. She's originally from Nome, Alaska and is very proud of the fact that she is a real Eskimo :). She will give at least 3 lectures on the cruise - 1 on wildlife, 1 on native culture and another on the geology of Alaska. She also does commentary from the bridge in several different locations (immediately after exiting Glacier Bay in Icy Strait, in Alert Bay, etc) and she has desk hours in the Explorations Cafe where people can come by and ask her questions and check out all of the goodies that she has (she is a bead artist and also has different fur samples of Alaskan animals to let you "play" with) Hope that this helps.

[geologygeek]

Actually I was quite shocked to find on the Volendam this season they were passing of a native Alaskan, Jane, as a jack of all trades (naturalist, anthropologist and geologist).

I thought that this was extremely poor. Whilst she was friendly enough and gave some useful insights into Alaskan culture we found her very deficient in the other areas (perhaps being geologists - hence the name - ourselves made it look even worse).

This is by no means her fault, but the fault of HAL who obviously have seen a way to cost-cut. We found proper naturalists to be excellent on all the day-trips/activities that we participated in (except the only HAL excursion we did we Haines, which was disappointing and we were continously getting the hurry up - it was a come down from kayaking with Dahl porpoises in the Kenai Fjords - magic). I guess as well after following this thread that most people don't understand what a naturalist sensu stricto is, just by saying "A pod of orcas off the starboard bow" doesn't in no way make a naturalist. This might be why HAL feel they can get away with it.

The talks by the rangers from the Glacier Bay NP Service was interesting, the commentary in Glacier Bay was okay and witty at times.

P.S. Eskimo is actually an offence term to native Alaskans!

[geologygeek]

Hey Alaska05,

I can highly recommend Alaska Creekside Cabins out of Seward - you'd need a hire car though. It's just close to the road to the Exit Glaicer - stunning walk up to view of the Harding Ice Field. It's got a sauna next to a small creek and is also a good spot for viewing moose - we saw two just around the corner. Trip Advisor also has a lot of reviews.

[butterfliesfly]

[ The Ryndam's travel guide is Darlene Hawk. She's originally from Nome, Alaska and is very proud of the fact that she is a real Eskimo :). She will give at least 3 lectures on the cruise - 1 on wildlife, 1 on native culture and another on the geology of Alaska. She also does commentary from the bridge in several different locations (immediately after exiting Glacier Bay in Icy Strait, in Alert Bay, etc) and she has desk hours in the Explorations Cafe where people can come by and ask her questions and check out all of the goodies that she has (she is a bead artist and also has different fur samples of Alaskan animals to let you "play" with) Hope that this helps

Thanks for this info. WE will be on the Ryndam in a little over a week and I will look for her.

[butterfliesfly]

The Ryndam's travel guide is Darlene Hawk. She's originally from Nome, Alaska and is very proud of the fact that she is a real Eskimo :). She will give at least 3 lectures on the cruise - 1 on wildlife, 1 on native culture and another on the geology of Alaska. She also does commentary from the bridge in several different locations (immediately after exiting Glacier Bay in Icy Strait, in Alert Bay, etc) and she has desk hours in the Explorations Cafe where people can come by and ask her questions and check out all of the goodies that she has (she is a bead artist and also has different fur samples of Alaskan animals to let you "play" with) Hope that this helps.


Thanks funlovin' cruiser. We are sailing on the Ryndam in a little over a week and I will look for her.

[TedC]

We (a family group of nine) were on Amsterdam in Alaska late July-early August, 2007, and were VERY disappointed in the weak lecturer. In many other HAL cruises throughout the world we've had excellent lecturers, however.

It was first time in Alaska for all of us and we expected much better. Since I recommended HAL, I was embarrassed.

[birder22]

Different people will have different opinions of the same lecture series, but I was not impressed with the lecturers on the Westerdam. A couple covered geology, natural history and Native American culture. The geology lecture was quite superficial and appeared to have been lifted from the wikipedia account of a major earthquake in Alaska that I read before going on the trip. The couple were also in no way experts in natural history. A good natural historian can greatly enhance a trip to Alaska. A good natural historian knows how to id the local flora and fauna, where to expect to see plants and animals and the relevent aspects of their life history. Davey Lubin of the Esther G Sea Taxi is a great natural historian, this couple is not. The individuals on the Westerdam were not hired for their knowledge of geology or natural history.

[Juanita462]

How disappointing - we are on the Veendam in Sept. and were looking forward to the naturalist lectures and comments. Last trip was on the Volendam and the woman naturalist was outstanding - at the end of her lecture she showed about 20 minutes of her own photography of areas that tourists never see - showing a truly beautiful Alaska.

This kind of cost cutting will come back to bite HAL.

[funlovin'cruiser]

Again, as I posted before, these travel guides are not hired by HAL but by the Alaska Native Heritage Center and actually are paid more through their contract by HAL than the naturalists of the past Alaska seasons, therefore your arguments about cost-cutting are baseless and inaccurate. If you haven't noticed, the state of Alaska in the last 2 years has become super protective of their jobs and businesses and the way that they are impacted by the cruise industry. In working with the state of Alaska, HAL has entered into this agreement to accept these travel guides onto the ship as a trade off in ways. As you probably know, Alaska is the lifeblood of HAL and HAL is granted some of the best berths in ports and the highest number of permits to enter state and national parks (like glacier bay). In trying to keep that relationship going, we get arrangements like the travel guides. Please keep in mind that these guides are supposed to be fully knowledgeable in various areas and their deficiency is pointing towards a lack of training on the Alaska Native Heritage Center side or poor hiring by them.

BTW, I understand that Eskimo is an offensive term, however Darlene actually says it repeatedly and jokes about it. For those going on the Ryndam, drop by the Explorations Cafe and ask her about it and she is eager to laugh about it. She thinks that it is funny and usually offers, tongue in cheek, to point out any igloos that she might see :) The sad part is that there are several guests that ask her where all the igloos are. so sad.

[gg3]

Hey everyone - they are not actually "naturalists" on HAL, instead they are travel guides for the Alaska season that are employed through the Alaska Native Heritage Center - they don't have to be "native" in the sense of American Indian, however in order to apply for the job they do have to be a native of Alaska. This is a new arrangement with the state of Alaska that HAL has and they are no longer employing "Naturalists" through the corporate offices anymore. Each travel guide has different specialties. The Ryndam's travel guide is Darlene Hawk. She's originally from Nome, Alaska and is very proud of the fact that she is a real Eskimo :). She will give at least 3 lectures on the cruise - 1 on wildlife, 1 on native culture and another on the geology of Alaska. She also does commentary from the bridge in several different locations (immediately after exiting Glacier Bay in Icy Strait, in Alert Bay, etc) and she has desk hours in the Explorations Cafe where people can come by and ask her questions and check out all of the goodies that she has (she is a bead artist and also has different fur samples of Alaskan animals to let you "play" with) Hope that this helps.

Thank you so much for your great response to my question. I look forward to hearing Darlene's lectures. Will she be selling any of her bead work ??? gg

[crusinbanjo]

I thought you were asking about Nudists, (Naturalist), on board, I was like WOOOO this thread is kind of kinky. :p

Anyway, we have had environmental and wildlife speakers talking from the bridge on some cruises, while other lines have had them out on the deck speaking to smaller groups. Personally I don't like it when they speak over the PA system to the entire ship, it just seems noisy and not very personal, and you don't get to ask questions, you can only listen.