1st Timers on 10-day Alaskan Cruisetour (AK & Canada)

[aggie_gal]

My parents are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary and 60th birthdays next year and they just booked a cruisetour to Canada and Alaska next summer on HAL. They've never been on a cruise before so this will definitely be an experience for both of them.

Just a few question for some of you more experienced cruisers....

Since this is only a 3-night cruise, will there be a formal night? If so, if you don't participate, can you still get into other areas of the ship without a jacket or dress?

Will khakis and button down (for dad) be ok for dinner the other nights?

Can anyone give me some excursion suggestions? They're both active and in shape but also on vacation so nothing too strenuous or expensive.

As for the cruisetour, is there much time for excursions? I've been looking around and their itinerary doesn't indicate just a whole lot of time to do other activities. Is there another forum more directed towards cruisetours/excursions?

Any other ideas, recommendations, opinions are greatly appreciated! Please help out some newbies! :confused::confused::confused:

[RuthC]

Welcome to the HAL board, and a welcome to HAL to your parents. I don't know the answers to most of your questions, but do know some:
Since this is only a 3-night cruise, will there be a formal night?
Probably. I suspect the port for (dis)embarkation is Skagway? If so, then the ship has one formal night before, and another after that port.
If so, if you don't participate, can you still get into other areas of the ship without a jacket or dress?
The dress code is for the entire evening in the public areas of the ship; the Lido Deck, and outdoor decks are excluded. That's not to say that anyone will stop them from entering the other areas.
But why not join in the fun? It would be so nice to have a portrait taken with them all dressed up on their first cruise.
It could become a cherished memory.

Will khakis and button down (for dad) be ok for dinner the other nights?
That would be fine on "smart casual" nights. If they decide to go to the Pinnacle Grill he might want to add a sport coat.

Can anyone give me some excursion suggestions? They're both active and in shape but also on vacation so nothing too strenuous or expensive.
It would help to know which ports they are going to, and a bit about their interests.

As for the cruisetour, is there much time for excursions? I've been looking around and their itinerary doesn't indicate just a whole lot of time to do other activities.
Not when I did the cruisetour! It seemed like every minute of my day was filled before I got a chance to plan anything! As one woman said to me: "You're not on vacation---you're on tour!" :eek:
Is there another forum more directed towards ruisetours/excursions?
Not that I know of. But the posters on this forum have a wealth of experience, and should be able to raise a lot more questions for you! :D

Hope this helped a bit.

[Krazy Kruizers]

7 day land tour -- 3 night cruise.

We just did another Alaskan cruise this past May.

For three nights -- yes there will be one formal night -- don't fuss about it. Your are spending most of your time on the land tour -- you need more clothes for that portion.

IF -- you are able to pack just a jacket for your DH for the one formal night that you MAY have (depends on where you board the ship and where you disembark) -- that jacket will look great on for the formal picture.

And if you do get a chance to go to the Pinnacle -- well it really depends on which ship you will be on.

Let us know the ship -- we can all help you here.

[aggie_gal]

I can't believe y'all (can you tell I'm from Texas?!) can't read my mind! ;) I guess I left off some important details!

They will be embarking on Zuiderdam in Vancouver and disembarking in Skagway. The next 7 days will take them through Fraser, Whitehorse, Beaver Creek, Fairbanks, Denali and finally Anchorage via coach and rail. After looking at the schedule many times, it looks like they really only have time for excursions in Juneau. I've asked my mom to call or check her detailed itinerary for time spans where they can plan something.

As for activities, my dad wants to go fishing or look/learn about wildlife. He is an avid hunter and loves being outdoors. Mom doesn't care...she's just thrilled to be going to Alaska finally. I mentioned a rafting experience, but my mom is a little concerned about it because she uses an insulin pump and it cannot get submerged (she's afraid of falling out of the raft!). If they decide on a fishing trip, do they allow people to go along and not fish?

As for the clothing, my mom is holding off on telling my father about formal night. I think he'll end up taking his suit, but I'm going to let Mom fight that battle! I think she's afraid he's going to see it as one more thing to pack. I think she can convince him be letting him know he can always wear the pants and a button down the other nights at dinner. :)


Thanks y'all so much for all your help! I've been doing a lot of research for them, but nothing is more helpful than actual experiences! My mom would be posting, but they live out in the country and their internet is ssssslllooooooowww.

[RuthC]

Yeah, I gathered Texas---your boardname was a real tip-off.

If they're sailing from Vancouver they will have a formal night the second night out---after the day heading up the Inside Passage. And their only port is Juneau. Once they disembark in Skagway they will be at the mercy of the land tour schedule. :eek:

Your folks don't have to do the same shore excursion in Juneau. Your dad could go fishing while your mom does something she'd like better. The first time my husband and I went to Alaska he desperately wanted to go fishing---I wasn't going to go, but urged him to go without me. He didn't want us to go our separate ways, but the lure of the fish was strong. He went, and was happy about it ever after.

A sport coat and tie meets the minimum acceptable level of dress in a formal night. It's not really "formal", but it is the code.

[aggie_gal]

I mentioned that suggestion to her as well...do something separate. They're going to stuck next to each other for 10+ days...some time apart will be nice! I guess there's a reason they're celebrating 40 years of marriage, huh?!



Since they're on such a short cruise, will they still get to enjoy split pea soup on the deck??

[RuthC]

Since they're on such a short cruise, will they still get to enjoy split pea soup on the deck??

I did that cruise on the Volendam a couple of years ago, but I don't remember if pea soup was served when we were at Sawyer Glacier. I wasn't looking for it myself.
That would be their only opportunity, as they will disembark before the ship gets to Glacier Bay. But they won't go hungry!

[aggie_gal]

I'll tell her to keep an eye out for it or ask around.


I'm assuming there will be passengers getting on and off this ship instead of everyone getting on for a 3 day cruising? Meaning there is will be passengers that got in in Seattle or Vancouver and the ship will continue on to Katchikan, etc after Skagway? Any idea how many continue onto the cruisetour? I'm just curious.

[RuthC]

I'm assuming there will be passengers getting on and off this ship instead of everyone getting on for a 3 day cruising? Meaning there is will be passengers that got in in Seattle or Vancouver and the ship will continue on to Katchikan, etc after Skagway? Any idea how many continue onto the cruisetour? I'm just curious.

The ship does a 7-day round trip cruise from Vancouver. While in Skagway some passengers disembark to start their land tour, while others complete their land tour and embark.
There will be several busloads of passengers disembarking. After that it becomes your own little group on the same bus.
HAL handles it all very well.

[aggie_gal]

Ok...last thing I can think of...

What is the attire for the dinner theatre (Yukon Rendezvous Dinner)?



I REALLY appreciate all your help!:D

[penelope42]

I'll tell her to keep an eye out for it or ask around.


I'm assuming there will be passengers getting on and off this ship instead of everyone getting on for a 3 day cruising? Meaning there is will be passengers that got in in Seattle or Vancouver and the ship will continue on to Katchikan, etc after Skagway? Any idea how many continue onto the cruisetour? I'm just curious.


When we took our land tour they divided our tour group up into 2 groups of about 34 people per tour director. They said that bookings were down and that in the past they sometimes have 3-4 subgroups on any given tour number. Our groups still went all the same places but depending upon the size of the transportation the groups were sometimes together and sometimes separated. Usually we were separated when traveling by bus or motorcoach and together on the train from Anchorage to Denali then to Fairbanks.

As to some of your earlier questions we did have time for extra excursions on our landtour but we didn't find out the details until the online booking for excursions opened up for our trip. That was when we were able to see which excursions fit with our tour. It was tempting to overload on excursions though so I had to control myself and remember to look at the big picture in terms of how early the day started and how late we would be ending the day. There is nothing wrong with a little scheduled downtime and alone time away from the group.

[RuthC]

Ok...last thing I can think of...

What is the attire for the dinner theatre (Yukon Rendezvous Dinner)?

Can't be sure there. I'm betting it's Klondike Kasual. :D

I REALLY appreciate all your help!:D

That's what we're here for! :)

[St. Louis Sal]

If I remember correctly our tour guide on the bus gave us information about the excursions available and we could sign up along the way. However we were on a two week land tour and so we had more time to do additional activities.

Your parents are going to love Alaska. We went to Alaska for the first time on an 11 day cruisetour on the Ryndam, loved it so much went back on the Ryndam for a 21 day cruisetour, drove our RV to Alaska last summer (10,000 miles) and now we're counting down the days to Alaska on the Westerdam with our daughters. We definitely got hooked!

St. Louis Sal

[agabbymama]

As Penelope42 stated,

You can go to the HAL website and look at the tours that are available to get an idea of what they might like to do. Then when it gets closer to their sailing date, you can pre-register for tours that are available on their sailing. I did HAL Yukon Wilderness Tour # 1 on the Zuiderdam, with 3 days on the ship from Vancouver to Skagway (with 1 formal night), debarked in Skagway up the Whitepass Yukon RR to Fraser, to Whitehorse, to Dawson City, to Eagle, Chicken, Tok, Fairbanks, to Denali and finally ending in Anchorage. The cruisetour covers so much, I didn't do many additional excursions. We did book the Husky Homestead tour while at Denali, because I knew I already wanted to go there, and was thrilled when I saw HAL offered it. But for the other overnight stops, we just did the towns on our own.

My husband doesn't own a suit, but I did buy him a sport jacket and slacks for formal night. He put it on for photos, then immediately went back to the cabin to change to more comfortable clothes. He didn't go to the main dining room, he prefers the buffet. But he was never approached and told he was not dressed appropriately.

They will have a wonderful time on Zuiderdam and HAL.

[aggie_gal]

Does anyone else have any suggestions or opinions?

Thanks again for all the input!:)