HAL D-4L Land Tour and Oosterdam Southbound Cruise - July 2014

My parents, brother and sister-in-law, and I went on a great Alaska adventure in July. We did the Holland America D-4L land package and southbound cruise on the Oosterdam. Since the land package started in Fairbanks on Tuesday, we decided to take advantage of the long holiday weekend and fly to Anchorage on Friday, July 4th. After arriving into Anchorage, I picked-up our rental car and we headed to the Marriott for a two night stay. The hotel was very nice and a good location to walk around downtown Anchorage.

Saturday, July 5th

While looking through the Holland America tours, I noticed that they offered a ½ hour float plane ride for $125 per person from Anchorage. Doing some research on-line, I found some great and longer float plane tours. We decided to take the Colony and Kink Glacier Tour by Regal Air. The tour was $245 per person and last over 90 minutes long. Since we had five of us, it was just us on the flight. The weather in Anchorage was sunny and a perfect day for flying. Everything about the tour was fantastic and the pilot was the best. The scenery was indescribable and we even landed in front of the glacier. I highly recommend Regal Air. (On a side note, we meet a gentlemen later on the cruise who did the ½ tour offered by Holland America and he indicated, while the flight was nice, it was too short and he was very disappointed in the commentary offered by the pilot from Rust’s. It was the polar opposite of what we experienced. )

After stopping by Walgreens to pick-up some things we forgot to pack, we headed downtown for some shopping and hard lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. After returning the car, we headed for dinner at the Glacier Brewhouse. The wait for a table was very long in the restaurant, but we headed to the bar area and found two table right next to each other. The food and service we excellent. I highly recommend the Nachos and King Crab Legs.

Sunday, July 6th

When looking at airfares and schedule, flying into Anchorage was so much easier and cheaper than into Fairbanks, so we decided to take the train from Anchorage to Fairbanks. We booked the Alaska Railroad Goldstar service in advance and, after a short wait to check-in and shopping at the shop in the depot, we boarded the train. We found everything on-board the train to be fantastic. From the bartender to the waitresses in the dining room to train crew were super friendly and helpful. The weather was rainy as we left Anchorage, but cleared as we headed north and the sun was out before we arrived at Denali. I spent a lot of time on the open-end platform of the car taking pictures and enjoying the scenery. The scenery between Broad Pass and Denali and between Denali and Healy are very scenic and was one of the great highlights of the trip. Upon arriving at the Fairbank's depot, we were able to get a ride on the Holland America/Princess bus to the Westmark Hotel.

Denali Star at the Anchorage Depot

Along the Susitna River north of Talkeetna

View from the Hurricane Gulch

Monday, July 7th

I headed to the airport in the morning on the free Holland America shuttle to pick-up a rental car for the day. My brother and sister-in-law decided they wanted to walk and shop around downtown Fairbanks while my parents and I headed to Gold Drudge 8 after having lunch. While the Gold Drudge 8 is very touristy, we really enjoyed the tour and panning for gold.

Train ride takes you on a tour of the history of gold mining.

Gold Drudge 8

Gold Drudge 8

Ken panning for gold.

Mom and dad in front of the Alaska pipeline

After the tour, we returned to the hotel only to find my brother and sister-in-law disappointed as there was not much to see downtown (except for the fudge shop). After stopping at the bookstore, we headed to the Pump House for dinner. The atmosphere and food were excellent and I would highly recommend the Pump House. (FYI…It is not in walking distance from the hotel and a cab ride might be a little expensive.)

I returned the car after dinner. The Westmark Hotel was very nice with free internet.

Tuesday, July 8th

Today, our office tour portion started with Holland America. We meet in the lobby and boarded a bus to the Riverboat Discovery Tour. We were blessed with a beautiful day and really enjoyed the tour. The Riverboat cruises down river and then stops along the riverbank to tour areas show casing the history of Alaska and the native way of life. We returned to the dock for the included lunch and, after time for shopping, left at 1 pm for Denali.

Steamboat Landing

The Steamboat Paddle Wheeler

Float plane demonstration.

The Steamboat stops along this Dog Husky dog kennel and we got to see the dogs take a lap around the grounds.

The Steamboat goes as far as the Tanana River turning back.

Tour guides explaining the history of living in Alaska.

We are considering the very same trip for June 2015. Pictures are excellent.

Thanks

We arrived into Denali at the McKinley Chalet at 3:45 pm before I headed out on my evening excursion (more on that in the next post). The hotel is very nice, our room was fine, but the room layout was weird. By the front door of the room, there is a narrow small room with a couch and desk with the bathroom located between the small room and the bedroom. We end-up using the couch to place our suitcases on. The TV is in the bedroom. It was fun to walk around the property and look at the Nenana River Canyon. There is no internet in the rooms, but free Wi-Fi in the hotel lobby and restaurants.

My brother and sister-in-law went white water river rafting and they enjoyed it very much. The tour company offers different levels on rapids. The Nenana River was running very high due to all the rain they had before we arrived. They took the tour through HAL, but there is rafting tour companies right along the road.

After getting back to the hotel after my excursion, I had dinner in the Nenana View Bar & Grill. The food (I had the steak) was excellent as was the service. I will cover this in a latter post, but we had dinner in the Pinnacle Grill on the cruise. The food at the Nenana River Canyon Bar was hands down better than the Pinnacle Grill aboard the Oosterdam.

Looking forward to the rest of your trip report. I'm in the early stages of planning Canada and Alaska for 2016 and looking at a HAL Land Sea tour, so very interested in how everything went. Having the photos to see is great.

In the evning, I went on the Denali flight seeing with glacier landing tour. The flight was done by FlyDenali and our pilot was excellent. The flight was awesome and worth every penny. The scenery just was breath taking as was seeing Mt. McKinley and landing on Ruth Glacier. This was probably the #1 highlight of the entire trip. While the tour is pricey, it was definitely worth it.

There is Denali through the clouds.

Getting ready to land on Ruth Glacier.

Here is another plane taking off. It gives you a sense of scale and how big everything is in Alaska.

Ken in front of our plane on Rith Glacier.

As we headed back north, we flew over Denali National Park.

Saw this rainbow right before we landed. A reminder from God that He created all this beauty!

Very interesting.

Thanks for posting.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

My brother, sister-in-law, and I left the hotel at 5:30 am for the Wilderness tour (mom and dad decided to skip it). We did get to see Mt. McKinley, as it was a mostly sunny day, and the scenery was very beautiful. Personally, I would not do the tour again. It was long bus ride (they do make stops along the way) and all the wildlife we saw was from a distance. It was a long trip to, in reality, to just see Mt. McKinley. I would next time book an excursion where you go all the way to Kantishna for lunch and either drive, or preferably, fly back. It would be a long day on the bus, but at least, you would see more of the park. I also do not know if the cruise lines will let you opt out for a credit since it is included in the land tour. Something to keep in mind if you do want to book your own trip.

Maybe the disappointment was caused by the over the top Glacier Landing the night before or not seeing animals closer. I just know that this tour was not one of the top highlights of the Alaska trip.

One thing to think about when going to Denali, what you can do inside the park is very limited. One can hike or bike or take the bus tours. All the ATV, river rafting, and other excursions all happen outside the park.

Park tour bus

Ken in front of Mt. McKinley

After the tour, I walked to the depot to eat my boxed lunch and look around the visitor center. I then went for a short hike by Riley Creek to take a pictures of the Northbound Denali Star crossing over the Riley Bridge. After taking the shuttle bus back to the hotel, we all headed to dinner again at the Hotel's bar (Nenana View Bar & Grill). Again, dinner was excellent. Highly recommended!

Denali's Park Visitor Center

Display in the visitor's center.

Denali Star crossing Riley Creek

Meet this little guy on my hike.

Thursday, July 10th

We headed out mid-morning to catch the McKinley Explorer train to Anchorage. This is a dedicated Holland America/Princess train. The Holland America Cars are nice, but the bathrooms were down in one car, creating lines in the all the other cars. The viewing platform is on the lower level and a lot smaller than the Alaska Railroad cars. While Holland America did a nice job, the Alaska Railroad did an excellent job on the trip four days earlier and I really enjoyed the upper level viewing platform on the Alaska Railroad cars. The weather was cloudy with some rain, but the scenery is still beautiful on the train trip.

Boarding the train in Denali

View from the upper floor. All seats are on the upper level with dining, bathrooms, and viewing platform on the lower level.

We were transferred by bus from the train to the Hilton Hotel for the night. The Hilton was nice, internet was an extra charge. We were able to get an advanced reservation at the Glacier Brewhouse, we lucked at the bar again and found a table right away for another excellent dinner.

Enjoying your report and pictures!

Looking forward to more!

Friday, July 11th

Friday morning was free to enjoy Anchorage as we did not leave for Alyeska until noon. After some morning shopping, we meet in the Holland America ballroom to catch our buses. (It was so funny to see a large group of the people not wait for instruction and try to board the first bus that arrived only to find that it was headed to the airport!) Many people also did not realize that you were supposed to eat lunch before boarding the bus, but Holland America did not announce this detail either.

The weather was nice in Anchorage and for the first part of the drive along Turnagain Arm.

It turned rainy, very windy, and cold as we approach the Portage Glacier Welcoming Center. We had already been told our Portage Glacier cruise was cancelled due to the weather (and we understood why when we exited the bus). After touring the Portage Glacier Welcoming Center, we headed to the Alaska Wildlife Conversation Center. The rain had stopped by then and the wind was bearable, so we walked around and saw the animals. I really enjoyed the Wildlife Center and it is worth seeing the beautiful animals of Alaska up-close. The center is a place where enjoyed animals can be cared for and, hopefully, returned to the wild. If they cannot return the wild, they have a safe home at the center.

Friday, July 11th late afternoon and evening

After the Wildlife Center, we then headed to the Alyeska Resort. The resort is amazing 5-start resort (with free internet). It is one of the premier ski resorts in the the wintertime and averages over 643" of snow a year (that is over 53')! We were so glad that we included staying at the Alyeska Resort in our land tour.

Aerial tram to the top of the mountain.

On a side note, there is a lot more tours you can take at the resort then was offered by Holland America. You can also rent mountain bikes right at the resort. A great website is the Girdwood Chamber of Commerce:

http://www.girdwoodchamber.com/Home/

We had made reservation at the Seven Glacier Restaurant at the top of the mountain for dinner and were not disappointed. While it was an expensive meal (plan for $70 per person), the dinner includes free tram tickets to the top of the mountain. When you factor the tram tickets, the dinner was comparable in cost to our other dinners on the trip. (Tram tickets are $25.00 per person and $15.00 per person after 7 pm.)

Ariel tram up the mountain.

View from the tram looking at the Alyeska Resort.

Inside the Seven Glacier Restaurant

Family picture

Part of the Seven Glaciers on the mountain side.

Saturday, July 12th

We woke to a beautiful sunny day and we walked around the Alyeska Resort before boarding a bus to take us to Whittier to board the 26 Glacier Cruise aboard Phillips Cruises in Prince William Sound. The cruise was fantastic and we really enjoyed everything about the cruise.

One a side note, do not believe any of the weather forecasts outside of Fairbanks and Anchorage. Checking two different weather forecasts on the net, both called for rain and wind while it was clear and beautiful sunshine.

The tour boat docked in Whittier

Lunch is served shortly after leaving as the boat heads towards the sea lions on Egg Rock.

Heading towards Egg Rock.

Seal lions on Egg Rock

After Egg Rock, the boat cruise through Esther Passage.

One of my favorite photos. The clouds look like fireworks!

Eagle in Esther Passage.

After Esther Passage, the boat cruises into College Fjord, for a nice view of all the glaciers (no up close viewing in College Fjord though).

Continued in next post....

After College Fjord, the sea otters were hanging out as we headed by Berry Arm towards Harriman Fjord.

Love these guys, they just looks so relaxed when they lay on their back this way. We did see a mom with a baby on her stomach too.

Glacier in Harriman Fjord

Believe this is Baker Glacier

Surprise Glacier. The boat spends some time in front of Surprise Glacier, but we did not see any major ice calving.

View heading into Whittier

Last stop was to see the Kittiwake Bird Rookery.

We do see a couple whales, but they did not hang around much and I was unable to get any good pictures. Upon our return the the Alyeska Resort, we had dinner at the hotel bar and it was very good.

Sunday, July 13th

We left the hotel and headed to Seward by bus. Our HAL bus driver, Penic, who drove us on Friday from Anchorage to the Alyeska Resort was awesome. Mom and dad had decided to head directly to the Oosterdam while my brother, sister-in-law, and I decided on the Kenai Fjords National Park Tour from Seward. The tour was very nice with great scenery and lots of wildlife (from whales to sea lions to puffins.)

Leaving Seward

It did not take long for us to see our first whale.

Heading towards the island outcrops where the animals are.

Sea lions on the rocks.

Came across a moma whale with child.

We had a brief break in the weather making for a beautiful view.

Continued in Part 2

Continued from Part 1

The Captain heading towards the island to see the Puffins up-close.

Puffins.

Heading up the Fjord to Aialik Glacier

Aialik Glacier. The weather had turned rain and cold. We were told that the glaciers create their own weather patterns at times, so be prepared for all four seasons in one boat trip!

We did see some nice ice calvings while at Aialik Glacier.

Continued from Part 2

Sea Otter enjoying the view.

Another whale sighting on the way back to Seward.

Coming into Seward.

Oosterdam in Seward.

We arrived on-board about 7:00 pm and headed to the Lido for dinner (since we were on early sitting for dinner) and a nice hot shower!

looking forward to your cruise report

Monday, July 14th - At sea

It was a lazy day at sea, weather was cool and cloudy. We did some shopping in the morning as they had some good jackets sales. Since there was no taco bar today (due to no self-service for the first two day) and the menus in Ledo did not seem too appealing, the parents and I headed to the dinner room for lunch and a very nice meal. After a afternoon nap, we headed to dinner and then the show afterwards. Holland America is not known for the entertainment, but the production show had an Alaska theme and was very enjoyable. The ship was very clean and in very good shape. The Captain loved to talk and kept us very informed during the whole cruise.

Our veranda rooms were forward to deck 4, right by the elevators. Location was great as was the larger balcony.

Tuesday, July 15th

As we started to head into Glacier Bay, the weather kept getting more and more foggy.

We went for lunch in the Lido and, like someone hit a light switch, we emerged into bright sunny weather.

We passed the Westerdam as we headed towards Majgerie Glacier.

The Captain positioned the Oosterdam in front of Majgerie Glacier. Since we had two balcony cabins, one on either side of the ship, we just moved from room to room as the Caption rotated in front of the glacier.