Holland America Alaska Route

We will be on the 7-day round-trip Vancouver and very curious the exact route that Holland America ships are expected to take? Our schedule is:

Vancouver

Inside Passage

Tracey Arm (10:30) - Junau (1:00)

Skagway(7:00-9:00)

Glacier Bay (7:00-4:00)

Ketchikan (10:00-6:00)

Inside Passage

Vancouver

I'm one of those planners who try not to miss something that shouldn't be missed and have the Alaska Cruise Handbook so trying to figure out what times we will be by what mile markers and what days. I'd love to see the normal route map that they take for this itinerary.

We will be on the 7-day round-trip Vancouver and very curious the exact route that Holland America ships are expected to take? Our schedule is:

 

Vancouver

Inside Passage

Tracey Arm (10:30) - Junau (1:00)

Skagway(7:00-9:00)

Glacier Bay (7:00-4:00)

Ketchikan (10:00-6:00)

Inside Passage

Vancouver

 

I'm one of those planners who try not to miss something that shouldn't be missed and have the Alaska Cruise Handbook so trying to figure out what times we will be by what mile markers and what days. I'd love to see the normal route map that they take for this itinerary.

I doubt very much that you would be able to figure out what times you will be passing mile markers.. It depends strictly on the Capt. & the ship.. Usually the Capt. announces when he expects to arrive at point B from point A, but winds & sea conditions play an important part in the timing..

Lately we've seen Capt's try to save fuel by slowing down his ship..We've also seen Capt's slow down or stop when a pod of whales or dolphins are playing in the ships's wake, but he, or one of his officers will announce those times..

I too am a planner, & when we were out on our long distance sails I was the navigator.. I quickly learned that overplanning can put a crimp in my enjoyment of the spur of the moment happenings..

If you look on your schematic map (found on Holland America's website) of your trip, that's the closest you will get to knowing where you are going. LOTS of currents that affect that route, so you really can't know the exact time you'll be anywhere...just enjoy the scenery.

Try posting your question on the Alaska board:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

There are posters there who might be able to help.

I have found many of the possibilities and probabilities, with good explanations of what to look for as you sail, are in the web site alaska cruise handbook dot com.

- Joel

Watch out for Grenfell Channel! Some ships do this route, partial or whole. This is a spectacular route!

Take a look in your Handbook for a map of the area from the north tip of Vancouver Island and northward to get your bearings.

Watch out for Grenfell Channel! Some ships do this route, partial or whole. This is a spectacular route!

 

Take a look in your Handbook for a map of the area from the north tip of Vancouver Island and northward to get your bearings.

I don't think there's much chance that the NA can get into that channel :( We did it on the Ryndam, and only because all the stars, moon, tides and currents aligned. And our Captain was motivated :D I think there was one other HAL cruise that season that got in there, again one of the small ships.

I don't think there's much chance that the NA can get into that channel :( We did it on the Ryndam, and only because all the stars, moon, tides and currents aligned. And our Captain was motivated :D I think there was one other HAL cruise that season that got in there, again one of the small ships.

We did the partial on the Zuiderdam in July.

Hadn't done this on the smaller ships for many years, so was pleasantly surprised!

I hope the OP has the chance to see some of this area!!

SilvertoGold that is very cool! I'm happy you got to do it :)

The Alaska cruise handbook is very good and have made all notes in my itinerary I've created. I know there can't be exact timings due to all factors that come into play by day/by cruise.

However it's great to know what to look for IF you can and it may just be a couple trips to guest services to see if they know when we should get to some of the more key highlights, as a rough idea, to try to see if possible.

Have noted Grenfell Channel and will keep an eye, though understand most likely not due to noted factors. :)

Thanks for all the great advice and I'll take anything anyone has!

Once you are aboard ship there should be a map on the wall near the library or on some ships in the Crows Nest area that will show your location in real time with a map and a marker showing where the ship is. Using that information and the map from your Alaska cruise handbook as well as comments from the Captain from time to time you should be able to get a pretty good idea of your location in real time.

SilvertoGold that is very cool! I'm happy you got to do it :)

Me, too!!

Have done the whole of Grenfell Passage several years ago on the Volendam and it was the absolutely the highlight of the cruise!

To save fuel I think HAL doesn't do the whole anymore. Really too bad!!

CalJas

Often Captains do note the "mile markers" so when they make announcements, do listen. They will often also talk a little about what to expect, like "5 am tomorrow be on the bow for whales".

Your TV will have a channel showing a map with the approximate position of the ship. With your book at the ready you will have a good idea of where you are.

Mostly I an looking for wildlife:

Snow Passage is the place we see whales (humpbacks) on virtually every cruise. You would need to be up and out early, as it is north of Ketchikan.

South of Juneau there are often humpbacks as well.

Robson Bight, mid-coast of Vancouver Island, is a hot spot for Orcas.

Waterfalls on the approach to Juneau (45 minutes out).

Haines and the mountain behind the town on the way into or out of Skagway in Lynn Canal.

On the way into Glacier Bay: the various glaciers, otters, maybe bears. You will receive a very good map the night before.

And last but not least: you might want to view the Fudge Shop in Juneau - excellent chocolates!

Bear in mind that as with all cruises, you do a lot of your travelling at night. So the opportunity to see things along your route may be limited. Also, weather in Alaska and British Columbia Central Coast is highly changeable, so there is no assurance that you'll have the conditions you want. But that being said:

You leave Vancouver around 5 pm (there is some variation depending upon the number of vessels, and other traffic through the first narrows). You will head up the Salish Sea (Strait of Georgia) leaving Lasquiti and Texada Islands to starboard. Your northern transit of the Johnston Strait will be overnight.

By the following morning, you will be out in the Pacific, heading towards Hecate Strait, which you will transit in the afternoon of Day 2. Hecate Strait is about 50 km wide at it's narrow (Northern) end, so you won't see a lot of land. Your closest approach will be near dinnertime of day 2 when you drop the Canadian pilot off of Prince Rupert. You spend the second night in Dixon Entrance--the roughest seas you will likely encounter.

Day three dawns in then entrance to Stephens Passage. This is the first point since Howe Sound where you will have daylight cruising with significant visible land. The stop at Tracy Arm is just that--a stop in mid channel, after which you continue the approach to Juneau. Departure from Juneau is late--though depending on when in the summer you are cruising you may have plenty of light left as you cruise around Douglas Island. You leave Juneau to the South, leaving Douglas Island to starboard.

You will likely be well into Taiya Inlet by the the time you wake on Day 4. Arrival is early, even if you're the last ship in. (You can check the cruise ship schedule for all your ports to find out how many others will be in with you at each). Departure from Skagway is also late, and although you're that much further north, with a very late sunset in the first half of the season, the inlet is pretty narrow, with fairly high peaks around you, which means you have only indirect light as you're leaving.

Day 5 will start in Icy Strait, the entrance to Glacier Bay, as you take on the

National Park rangers. This is, without question, the best day of scenic cruising (subject, of course, to weather). You have the National Park on both sides of you, as well as plenty of face time with one or more glaciers. You'll leave Glacier Bay by mid-to-late afternoon because you need to put on a fair bit of speed to get you to Ketchikan overnight. A typical routing will take you out into the Gulf of Alaska and in through Dixon Entrance, where the ship can make better time than cruising overnight through Chatham Strait (which has some pretty major tides).

Day 6 starts with your approach to Ketchikan through Nichols Channel. You'll get some nice scenery over breakfast, and you'll depart well ahead of sunset, so you'll have because it's a long way to run to get back to Vancouver. You'll be back in Dixon Entrance and Hecate Strait overnight.

Day 7 begins in the Pacific, and you won't make your approach into Queen Charlotte Strait until mid-afternoon. If you're sailing in the first half of the season, you'll get plenty of cruising through Johnston Strait on your last evening. Your transit of the Salish Sea will be overnight, and you'll likely be holding outside of the Burrard Inlet from the small hours until you come into Vancouver just before dawn.

At least part is predictable. Google Seymour Narrows for the time slack tide is predicted the evening you leave (or the wee hours of the next morning). The ship will be shooting for the transit at that time. More on that can be found in your book- undoubtedly you have found it).

Planner to planner: you might get the times of civil twilight for sunup and sundown for each of your ports. That will give you an idea of when there is enough light for things to be visible. (I make myself a little table with sunrise and sunset times and port times for all our trips). It's quite likely to be misty (read you get wet) in the early hours). If your cruise is early enough (closer to solstice) you will likely have time to see the Lynn Canal (going in to Skagway) and I'd recommend it instead of planning to wake up in Taiya. But that's us.

Chatham straight can be spectacular. We woke up at 5:30 to being surrounded by snow covered peaks. And leaving glacier bay there is another glacier to starboard at Taylor Bay. It's a couple hours after dropping off the pilots and before you leave protected waters- on starboard.

If you like charts (I'm a chart-o-phile) NOAA has some free downloadable PDFs online. They provide lots of detail. We found lots of things that were never pointed out with them. (Sumdum Glacier which john Muir wrote about, other glaciers and peaks, etc).

I don't know that I can wait over a year to go, ha! I should have known better to book something so far out as I obsess over finding out every possible detail. For those that don't have this challenge, lol you are lucky!!

Thank you for all of these details and never thought of NOAA - will look at this too!!

I do plan to not get much sleep on this cruise, it's all about the scenery and possibility of seeing wildlife. I can sleep when I get home. Looks like up very early and late to bed, each night, fine by me! I'm also ok skipping going to dining room if needed to not miss the views.

Thanks again for all the tidbits and I'll keep taking them!!

Scenery and being on deck also take total priority for us also. That's why we eat in the Lido (where there are lots of windows and no schedule we need to meet/ or extended dinners. (I missed College Fiord on our first cruise because I felt obligated to attend Master Chefs Dinner. DH said he was ditching the dining room for the scenic cruising. For US, I'd say he made the better decision- he saw glaciers while I saw stewards juggle fruit and pax wearing chef hats).

On sea days I go to MDR when I'm solo.