Volendam 06/15/05-06/22/05

Hello All,

We (Mom and I) are just back from the Volendam's Round-trip Yancouver Inside Passage cruise. It was my first cruise and first time to Alaska. I haven't posted much but I've read this board almost every day for the last 6 months trying to learn anything I could about Alaska and Holland America. Everyone here is the best, I've learned so much, you all helped me more than you'll ever know. This is my way of saying thank-you and maybe I can even help someone else. :D

My cruise report...........Any questions please ask. I have all the daily programs and the menus. I'll be happy to help you anyway I can. It might take me a day or so to finish this so please bear with me.

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!! I love Holland America and the Volendam. It was wonderful. I'm not sure what I loved more, Alaska or the Ship????? LOL I'd never think of trying any other line other than Holland America as I can't believe anything could top the experience we had. For a first time cruise this is going to be hard to beat. :p The staff of the Volendam is unbelievable. I've never met so many friendly, outgoing, intuitive, nice, polite, caring people ever on any vacation. It was so nice.

I think I got the best deal on the ship. I can't remember the letter catagory of the cabin we had but it was the best inside cabin you could get. We paid $1249 per person. An okay price I had thought. It turned out to be a huge bargin. I had read here that there were little used decks on the Volendam so I choose a cabin next to one of those areas. I choose cabin 7086 on the Navigation deck, back in November when we first booked it. (I learned not to do a "guarantee" here too. LOL) It was the last cabin at the back of the ship. It was on the same floor as the suites and verandas so I figured it must be a good location. From the deck plans I could see we could leave our cabin go a few steps and be out on an outside deck. Imagine my surprise when we get to our room and we have a window. A window that looked out over the back deck and the back of the boat. I couldn't believe it. An inside cabin with a window and a view!!!!!!! It wasn't an upgrade. It was the room I asked for. The room was much bigger than I had imagined. It was all too good to be true. The back deck had about 10 deck chairs and was indeed a little used deck. Mom and I called it our own private deck. We spent hours out there laying the deck chairs, wrapped in blankets, drinking hot tea and watching Alaska go by. There was a set of stairs there that went up to the Lido deck and the outside pool. People would come by now and then. They seemed to be exploring and would look off the deck a few moments and then move on. We loved it. It was so quiet and peaceful. There is another cabin on the other side of the ship the same as the one we had, cabin 7083, but that cabin had the steps right outside the window. I would have to say cabin 7086 is one the best deals on the ship. I plan to book the same room if I ever sail the Volendam again, which I'm already planning to do. LOL We did wake to a little vibration the second morning but other than that one time the room was motion free and very quiet. In fact the first day as we were leaving Yancouver we were in the room unpacking and I had wanted a drink, I went out the back of the ship, up the stairs to the Lido and right there, at the outside pool, they were having a sailing away party with a band and everything and we never heard a peep in our room and we were right under them. It was such a perfect room. :p I highly recommend it. LOL

We met our cabin stewart Yayat the first day and we saw him every day. We talked to him often and learned about his life onboard the ship, his family and home. He was so cute and sweet. When I asked for some extra hangers, instantly I had hangers. Our remote control for the TV went crazy one day and he replaced it within minutes of our asking. Our room was always cleaned by the time we returned from breakfast and dinner. Whenever we saw him he would ask about our day and plans, if we were having a good time and was there anything he could do to help. The unreal part was I really think he meant it. He cared that we were having a good time. He wanted to help. His smile was genuine. It was nice, it was really nice. :) We did had a towel animal, one night only. An elephant, with chocolates for eyes. I think I would have liked a few more. LOL

We had table 82 in the upper dining room. It was a table for 4 along the inside railing. I liked the location. We had requested a table for 6 or 8 but I guess they couldn't do it. I was too lazy to try to change it. We had the early seating at 5:30pm and if I had to change anything about this trip I would have choose a later seating. It did make for some rushing on port days but it all worked out. I had choose the early seating as we are from the east coast and I thought it would be better for our bodies time wise, but it seems your body adjusts to the time difference rather easy. I would recommend the later dinner seatings for Alaska. LOL We liked the dining room much more than the Lido. We felt the Lido was more like a cafeteria than a buffet and even though the menu items were similar, and were probably cooked in the same kitchen, the food looked and tasted so much better in the dining room. Not to mention the service. Our servers were Yahut and Adapdal. They were great. It seemed like they only had about 20 people to service between 4 tables. So needless to say, the service was very personal and attentive. Adapdal had been on the ship for one year and was going home for 5 months upon our arrival in Yancouver. He was so excited. It was very cute. After the second day they knew which of us had coffee and which had tea and it arrived without our even asking. They too always asked and seemed interested in our day. Our head waiter was Joesph (not spelled with a J, but I can't remember the correct spelling.:o ) By the second day he was calling us by name whenever and where ever we saw him. No matter if it was at breakfast, in the hallways or at the dessert buffet he always called us by name and asked about our day. It was a nice touch and made us feel like welcomed friends and not just a number. He stopped by our table nighty with a greeting and joke. We really enjoyed the food and the service.

Oh well.....enough for now....off to do some wash LOL

CC

Delighted that you had such a wonderful first cruise - welcome to cruising! Now you understand what the "fuss is all about!

I'm so glad that you had a good time on the Volendam. Now you know why it is my favorite ship. I thought Alaska was beautiful, and we have the bug now as we are already booked for next year. My girlfriend had that same cabin and loved it for the exact same reasons you did. Thanks for the review, and again, I'm glad you had a good time.

Alaska is fantastic and I am so happy that you enjoyed the Volendam. My brief visit on her was an excellent experience. The Amsterdam was awesome, too; hope you have a chance to sail on her someday. Hopefully, we will have an itinerary in the near future where either the Volendam or Amsterdam are the ships we can choose to cruise.

Don't you just love the size of these HAL ships?:) Looking to read more of your Alaskan experience.

I could sense the permanent smile on your face as I read your review. Instead of an over-the-top gush without anything behind it, you have gone into great detail to explain the things that made your trip memorable. Thank you so much.:)

CCaroleAnn:

Glad to hear you had such a great time. We will be on the Volendam 8/10/05 and are really looking forward to it.

You mentioned that you have the menus and programs. Is there any way you could scan those and post? If not would you be willing to e-mail me a copy?

Also, did you frequent the gym? Do they have spinning or aerobic classes? Finally, when and where was High Tea?

MANY THANKS!!!!!

As I read your words I could hear the delight in your voice. Hope Mom had as good a time as you did.

Can't wait to read more of your report.

Welcome to the wonderful world of cruising. You're hooked! :D Ha-ha.

Hello All....time for more since I did get a little wash done. LOL

To answer a few questions;

Robntawn, I do have a scanner but I'm not sure how to get them onto this board. :confused: There are quite a few pages, over 30 pages I would think. Maybe email would work better? Any suggestions? They had Dutch High Tea on the second day in the Dining room at 330pm. It was wonderful. :D You must go. LOL I personally think the display and taste riviled that of the Dessert Extravaganza. (Which was held on Day 5.) There was lots of chocolate, scones with cream and very large tea sandwiches. The band was playing and it was just lovely. They did serve an "afternoon tea" every day but the Dutch High Tea only just that once. We did a tour of the gym and spa but I really didn't spend anytime there. They did seem to have a daily walk sunrise walk and some sort of aerobics or yoga class every morning. But I didn't go to any of them. Sorry.

And yes Arzz and RuthC I guess I am hooked. LOL And to think I was afraid to get on the ship. Afraid I'd be sick and unable to eat. Afraid I'd be bored with nothing to do. Oh well.......live and learn. Oh and yes RuthC, Mom had a great time too. She was quite taken with all the pampering and our room with our own "private deck". LOL

Yes Time2sail, the ship is a perfect size. I have nothing to compare it to, but we found our way around easily and nothing seemed far. We used the stairs most of the time and found it very simple to get from one place to another. We did have a problem a few times running into a dead end near the dining room on the 4th floor, but we soon learned not to use the aft stairs and after that we were fine. LOL

Wow Sage...So you know about the best cabin on the ship too. That so cool.

On to Alaska. I woke up at 400am the second morning on our way to Tracy Arm and looked out our window. Oh My God it was beautiful. Mountains topped with snow and water like glass. I jumped out of bed and got dressed. I couldn't sleep a second longer. I had read here that the best whale watching was before Tracy Arm so off we went to the Crows Nest to watch for whales. At 500am there were only 4 of us up there. It wasn't long before we started seeing whale spurts and we were lucky enough to see lots of whales tales. It lasted almost an hour and then they were gone. When we left the Crows Nest at 630am for breakfast it was fast becoming full, but the late comers never even knew they missed the whales.;) We walked to breakfast with smiles plastered on our faces. It was so cool. Whale tails!!!! LOL Tracy Arm was the best. I've never seen such beauty and pure wilderness. The floating ice, the colors, the wildlife. We saw lots of seals with their babies. As we relaxed on our back deck we could hear the naturalist talking. She would say, "There are some seals on an iceberg on the port side...Oh no, they just dove back into the water, watch for them to surface." As we watched out the back deck we saw the seals pull themselves back into the ice. Time and time again as the boat came up it scared the seals into the water and as it passed by they went back into the ice right off the back deck. We were also lucky enough to see sea lions in Tracy Arm. I think they were wrestling as they rolled and rolled in the water. LOL It was rather cold and windy but very sunny while we were in Tracy Arm. We are from the East Coast and we are use to cold, but even still we were dressed in layers with fleece coats, gloves and a scarf. I wish I had brought along ear muffs. But then again it was still pretty early in the morning and by the time we left Tracy Arm the sun was warm and the wind died down. And when we got to Juneau that afternoon it was 85 degrees. Uggggggggg I get enough of that in Philly. LOL

We did something called "The Grand Tour" in Juneau. It was nice but I think it was a little over priced for what you got. We did a city tour which lasted all of 10 blocks maybe. But hey Juneau can't help it, it's a small place.:p We made a stop at a salmon hatchery. The coolest part of the hatchery was the "flock" of bald eagles on the beach next to it. There was a fishing dock and I guess someone threw some fish to the eagles. There had to be at least 20 or 30 eagles flying around, walking on the beach and fighting over the fish. I'd never seen anything like it. We next went to a place called Glacier Gardens. They take you for tours up a mountain in a 4 person golf cart. Part of the trail is natural and part is man made gardens. They had fuchsia plants there were HUGH. I was told it's all the sun they get. But boy, some of the flowers were really really big. Something I wouldn't expect in Alaska. After that we went to Mendenhall Glacier which was way cool. They have these high power scopes in the vistor center that let you see the glacier way up close. They also had a park ranger there with pieces of Glacier Crystal you could hold. I watched as hundreds of years of snow melted in my hands. Juneau as a city was very nice and there were tons of wildflowers growing next to the highway. But it was so hot!!!! It's not supposed to be 85 in Alaska. At least not in my mind. LOL

Enough for now, time for bed. I'll write more in the morning.

CC

Good Morning. I'm apologize if my trip report seems out of order. I didn't take any notes.:o I'm writing as I remember things.........

One of the other things that amazed me about the ship was that everything was so "on time". If the program said Kitchen Tour at 10:00am the doors opened at excactly 10:00am. If the ship was to sail at 5:00pm we sailed at 5:00pm. (In Philadelphia the time is just a suggestion or rough estimate. LOL) We soon learned to get to any activity 15 minutes prior.

Anyway, we got into Juneau in the afternoon and with our tour we "thought" we would miss our early seating dinner. Here it turns out when the ship has an "off time" shore day they adjust the dining times. I never read that here or else I missed it. LOL We were pleasantly surprised. Where the Lido was normally open from 6:00-7:30pm on sea days that was adjusted to as late as 9:30pm on port days. In Juneau the dining room dinner was open seating from 6:00-8:30pm. Mom was so worried about missing a meal. But that was only until we got on the ship and we were eating every 3 hours. After that she thought maybe we could skip a meal or two, but we never did. LOL We learned to eat in moderation so we could eat everything. It's hard eating all day long. LOL Mom watches her weight and belongs to Weight Watchers. She enjoys eating and took full advantage of the many opportunitys the ship offered. She told me today she only gained 3 pounds during the cruise and was quite happy. She especially enjoyed the Salmon BBQ's on the Aft Lido deck during glacier days and the ice cream. I'd read here not to expect too much from the food and that it was banquet food at best. It is true the ship has to cook for 1600 people but I was quite impressed with the food. The selections, taste, presentation, and quality really surprised me. True, I couldn't order my duck breast or lamb rare as they don't cook to order but all and all the food was quite good and cooked properly. Everything was always the correct temperture. I enjoyed all the soups. The desserts seemed to be to the only area that could have used improvement. Not that there was anything "wrong" with them but they just didn't stand out like the rest of the courses offered. The "Dessert Extravaganza" was very nice but I've seen and tasted better on land. (In Las Vegas and Atlantic City Casino Sunday Brunches.) Mom and I always drink unsweeted ice tea at home and out and we were happy with the taste and accessibility of the ice tea in the Lido. (24/7)There were always fresh cut lemons, even at 4am. They also had a large hot pot of already brewed hot tea in the Lido. A great time saver on Glacier watching days. Also don't forget the fresh squeezed OJ in the Lido, it is by the ice cream counter. Don't pick up the OJ in the line with the other jucies it's not the same. Boy is that fresh squeezed OJ good. I just might have to start squeezing my own at home. What a difference when you compare them side by side, like we did. :D We never did eat anything from the Terrace Grill, Taco and Pizza bar. It just never looked appetizing and the line for the grill was always long. We didn't go to the Pinnacle Grill but I have to say the meat they display in front of the restaurant looked amazing!!!!! And well worth the $20.00 surcharge. We split our breakfasts between the Lido and the dining room where we had lunch and dinner every day. We also never took advantage of room service, but the menu seemed to have lots to choose from at all hours of the day and night. I did bring a bottle of wine with me from home. I had no problem bringing it onto the ship. I took it to one of the formal dinners and we were charged the $15.00 corkage fee. The wine stewardess was attentive and she had the rest of the bottle ready for us the next evening. As I said earlier we ended up at at table of 4. We were sat with 2 lovely older ladies from Canada that first night. As we talked they asked about the formal night the next evening and if we were getting dressed up. We told them we were. They seemed very disappointed as they didn't bring any formal wear as their travel agent told them people don't get dressed up for Alaska. I felt bad for them. We asked them to please come to dinner no matter what they wore as their company was what we cared about not their dress. They didn't come to dinner the next evening and we saw them leaving the ship in Juneau with their luggage. :confused: (They had told us the first night they were on the same 7 day cruise as us.) After that we sat alone at dinner. :( There was a table of 8 next to us and many a night there were only 2 or 4 of them there. So I guess even a larger table doesn't guarantee tablemates. We did speak with the head waiter about our tablemates who left the ship and he did confirm they left the ship in Juneau but he didn't know why. We did ask for some nice single men to replace their spots but he was unable to help. Even after we told him they didn't have to be rich. LOL

Oh well enough for now. I'll be back later....Thanks for reading!!!!

CC

<<<< They seemed very disappointed as they didn't bring any formal wear as their travel agent told them people don't get dressed up for Alaska. I felt bad for them. We asked them to please come to dinner no matter what they wore>>>

so many ta s dont have a clue whats goes on aboard each different cruise line----most of them most likely have never sailed-----------to tell a client that they dont have to dress for dinner on formal nite because people dont dress up on alaskan cruises is certainly doing a disservice to the cllient---------------------had the women done a little independent homework they would have found out that the ta didnt have a clue other then to call a cruise line and book a tix

I'm so glad that you enjoyed the staff on the Volendam. I love the people on the Volendam. They are so friendly and remember you from year to year. For us, it is like a big family reunion. :D

Wow...I love to read your reports! Very personal experiences instead of a cookie cutter description. THIS is exactly what I was hoping for!!! Thanks so much for your insight and opinions.

If you would like to email me those menus, my address is robntawn@pacbell.net

We are eating in the Pinnacle the first night, and I was hoping to add a second night on Day 5 or 6, depending on the menu offered in the dining room.

Hi,

How were the lineups on embarkation? How about immigration/customs?

What time did you get to the boarding area, and what time did you actually get on the ship?

Hello All,

 

We (Mom and I) are just back from the Volendam's Round-trip Yancouver Inside Passage cruise. It was my first cruise and first time to Alaska. I haven't posted much but I've read this board almost every day for the last 6 months trying to learn anything I could about Alaska and Holland America. Everyone here is the best, I've learned so much, you all helped me more than you'll ever know. This is my way of saying thank-you and maybe I can even help someone else. :D

 

My cruise report...........Any questions please ask. I have all the daily programs and the menus. I'll be happy to help you anyway I can. It might take me a day or so to finish this so please bear with me.

 

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!! I love Holland America and the Volendam. It was wonderful. I'm not sure what I loved more, Alaska or the Ship????? LOL I'd never think of trying any other line other than Holland America as I can't believe anything could top the experience we had. For a first time cruise this is going to be hard to beat. :p The staff of the Volendam is unbelievable. I've never met so many friendly, outgoing, intuitive, nice, polite, caring people ever on any vacation. It was so nice.

 

I think I got the best deal on the ship. I can't remember the letter catagory of the cabin we had but it was the best inside cabin you could get. We paid $1249 per person. An okay price I had thought. It turned out to be a huge bargin. I had read here that there were little used decks on the Volendam so I choose a cabin next to one of those areas. I choose cabin 7086 on the Navigation deck, back in November when we first booked it. (I learned not to do a "guarantee" here too. LOL) It was the last cabin at the back of the ship. It was on the same floor as the suites and verandas so I figured it must be a good location. From the deck plans I could see we could leave our cabin go a few steps and be out on an outside deck. Imagine my surprise when we get to our room and we have a window. A window that looked out over the back deck and the back of the boat. I couldn't believe it. An inside cabin with a window and a view!!!!!!! It wasn't an upgrade. It was the room I asked for. The room was much bigger than I had imagined. It was all too good to be true. The back deck had about 10 deck chairs and was indeed a little used deck. Mom and I called it our own private deck. We spent hours out there laying the deck chairs, wrapped in blankets, drinking hot tea and watching Alaska go by. There was a set of stairs there that went up to the Lido deck and the outside pool. People would come by now and then. They seemed to be exploring and would look off the deck a few moments and then move on. We loved it. It was so quiet and peaceful. There is another cabin on the other side of the ship the same as the one we had, cabin 7083, but that cabin had the steps right outside the window. I would have to say cabin 7086 is one the best deals on the ship. I plan to book the same room if I ever sail the Volendam again, which I'm already planning to do. LOL We did wake to a little vibration the second morning but other than that one time the room was motion free and very quiet. In fact the first day as we were leaving Yancouver we were in the room unpacking and I had wanted a drink, I went out the back of the ship, up the stairs to the Lido and right there, at the outside pool, they were having a sailing away party with a band and everything and we never heard a peep in our room and we were right under them. It was such a perfect room. :p I highly recommend it. LOL

 

We met our cabin stewart Yayat the first day and we saw him every day. We talked to him often and learned about his life onboard the ship, his family and home. He was so cute and sweet. When I asked for some extra hangers, instantly I had hangers. Our remote control for the TV went crazy one day and he replaced it within minutes of our asking. Our room was always cleaned by the time we returned from breakfast and dinner. Whenever we saw him he would ask about our day and plans, if we were having a good time and was there anything he could do to help. The unreal part was I really think he meant it. He cared that we were having a good time. He wanted to help. His smile was genuine. It was nice, it was really nice. :) We did had a towel animal, one night only. An elephant, with chocolates for eyes. I think I would have liked a few more. LOL

 

We had table 82 in the upper dining room. It was a table for 4 along the inside railing. I liked the location. We had requested a table for 6 or 8 but I guess they couldn't do it. I was too lazy to try to change it. We had the early seating at 5:30pm and if I had to change anything about this trip I would have choose a later seating. It did make for some rushing on port days but it all worked out. I had choose the early seating as we are from the east coast and I thought it would be better for our bodies time wise, but it seems your body adjusts to the time difference rather easy. I would recommend the later dinner seatings for Alaska. LOL We liked the dining room much more than the Lido. We felt the Lido was more like a cafeteria than a buffet and even though the menu items were similar, and were probably cooked in the same kitchen, the food looked and tasted so much better in the dining room. Not to mention the service. Our servers were Yahut and Adapdal. They were great. It seemed like they only had about 20 people to service between 4 tables. So needless to say, the service was very personal and attentive. Adapdal had been on the ship for one year and was going home for 5 months upon our arrival in Yancouver. He was so excited. It was very cute. After the second day they knew which of us had coffee and which had tea and it arrived without our even asking. They too always asked and seemed interested in our day. Our head waiter was Joesph (not spelled with a J, but I can't remember the correct spelling.:o ) By the second day he was calling us by name whenever and where ever we saw him. No matter if it was at breakfast, in the hallways or at the dessert buffet he always called us by name and asked about our day. It was a nice touch and made us feel like welcomed friends and not just a number. He stopped by our table nighty with a greeting and joke. We really enjoyed the food and the service.

 

Oh well.....enough for now....off to do some wash LOL

 

 

CC

Hello all....Thanks for bearing with me. I do get kind of wordy. LOL At least Robntawn are enjoying my novel. LOL

Robntawn...I'll try to get those menus to you as soon as I can. Promise!!!

To answer Artofwar's questions.........and anyone else going for the first time;

We took a Grayline city tour the morning of the cruise. We just happened upon it in the lobby of the Holiday Inn on Howe Street. It was around $43 per person. We gave our luggage to the Grayline driver and we never saw it again until it was placed in our cabin on the ship. The tour was about 4 hours and we were dropped off underground in Canada Place around 130pm. There was plently of direction given as our driver had representives of both cruise lines come onto the bus and tell us where to go and what to expect. We walked a short distance and we were directed into security lines. We never really stood in one place, we were always moving. Once through security we were sent to customs. Again there was no-line to speak of, lots of people but everyone kept moving. Once out of customs we were sent to the Holland American area. There were 2 areas. We had filled out our immigration forms on-line so we were sent to that area. Again we walked right up to the counter. The other area, for people who hadn't filled out the on-line immigration, was very crowded and looked to be at least 100 people in line. :eek: Thanks again everyone here for the good advise. Fill out that on-line immigration form!!!!! LOL We were given our card keys, stopped for a photo pre-boarding and we were on the ship. We were greeted and escorted "almost" to our cabin. We were brought to the 7th floor and then he pointed towards the end of the hall and left. All in all we were dropped off at Canada Place at 130pm and we were in our room by 215pm. We didn't get our luggage until 430pm. I think Mom would have freaked if we didn't have it by the time the ship sailed. LOL

So to continue with our excusions;

In Skagway we did the "Yukon and White Pass Railway" tour. We had the cutest little driver. She was a college girl from Utah and was maybe 5 foot and 100 pounds dripping wet. She started out the tour by telling us she was old enough to drive and she could reach the pedals. LOL She was a great tour guide and handled that huge bus with ease. She stopped a bunch of times and took pictures for everyone. We went to a place outside of Carcross for a BBQ Chicken Lunch. The lunch was great but the "park" or whatever it was had seen way better days, way better:eek:. It was bad. Only 1 of the 4 retail stores were open and the people working there had to be the rudest people we meet the entire trip. They had a petting zoo portion and you could pay $2.00 to play with puppies. The "puppies" were probably 6 months old. :( There were maybe 10 or so sled dogs tied up to their dog houses. I felt bad for the dogs as it was so hot that day. They really looked miserable. I'm a big animal lover and it just broke my heart to see how these poor dogs live. We stayed there for 1 hour. Our next stop was Emerald Lake. It was beautiful. Our tour guide told us the lake is privately owned and they have recently started selling land around it for $50,000 per acre. :eek: So it looks as if the views of Emerald Lake will be changing soon, as 2 houses have already been built. Progress even in the wilderness. Oh well. We then made a stop in Carcross for ice cream. According to the driver it was the best ice cream in the Skagway area. It was good. We made a few stops on the way back to the train for more photos. She then dropped us off at the White Pass Railroad at the Canadian border. Our entire bus was directed to a certain car number on the train. I told Mom to get a seat on the right hand side so we could see the canyon. (From the boards here. LOL) The train was pretty empty and we were told by the conductor to spead out to the next car and the best views would be on the right. LOL Oh well now everyone knows. The train also provided bottled water in cute little train bottles. I thought it was a nice touch. The train ride was wonderful. Mom ended up moving away from the window as the canyon was rather far down and she didn't like being on the edge of it. There were so many wildflowers blooming all along the tracks. I felt so privileged to be there at just the right time to see them. We also happened to be there on a special day for the railroad and they had taken out the steam engine and we were able to view it down below us in all it's glory. It reminded me a lot of the train in Durango Colorado. There was always an attendent walking though the trains cars that was able to answer any question we had as well as the on-going commentary over the PA system. The train dropped us off at the depot in town, which confused me as I thought it would go back to the docks. A US customs offical boarded the train and checked our ID's before we could de-board. We were wondering how to get back to the ship and there was our Grayline driver waving us over to the bus and she transported us back to the ship. It was a great tour and the driver made it even better with her attitude and love of the area. She told us she really didn't make that much money but it was worth it to her to live in Skagway for the summer. She has a plan to swim in every lake in the area before she has to go back to Utah for school. The scenery was breathtaking and many times as she was driving she would comment on how beautiful it was that day and how such and such was her favorite view. She really helped to make the trip memorable. This tour lasted 8 hours I think and was around $150 and worth every penny.

More later.....time to get back to work.

CC

Really enjoying your reports and look forward to the next chapter!

CCaroleAnn: Really enjoyed your report. Thanks for the tip about 7086.

Thank you so much Carole Ann. Your reports are so full of details that i feel as if we know the ship already. This is our first time on Holland America, first cruse in about twenty years. Your reports make me feel as if the next two weeks are swept away and we are already on board. Was it worth eating in the Pinnacle? I just can't wait to begin our adventure. After 40 years of marriage and a new kidney transplant for my husband, this is a long awaited dre4am come true. Keep up the interesting reports.

Thanks you so much! Ruth D.

Thank you so much Carole Ann. Your reports are so full of details that i feel as if we know the ship already. This is our first time on Holland America, first cruse in about twenty years. Your reports make me feel as if the next two weeks are swept away and we are already on board. Was it worth eating in the Pinnacle? I just can't wait to begin our adventure. After 40 years of marriage and a new kidney transplant for my husband, this is a long awaited dre4am come true. Keep up the interesting reports.

Thanks you so much! Ruth D.

We were on this same cruise and we had a wonderful meal at the Pinnacle.

We would definitely eat there again for at least 1 night on our next cruise.

Hello Everyone.........Sorry but life got in the way of my cruise report. :eek: A little kitty emergency but all seems to be fine now. At least kitty waited for me to come home to have his medical problem. Otherwise the petsitter just may have had a heart attack. LOL

Ruth...Sorry, but we did not eat at the Pinnacle. I did do a kitchen tour and saw a cooking demo from them. The beef they had displayed was beautiful and looked to be well worth any $20 surcharge.

Emsacks...Hope your family enjoyed the cruise as much as we did. We had a great week weather wise didn't we? I did look at your pictures and I can't say I remember seeing any of you during the week. :confused:

To anyone with computer knowledge I need you help. How do I re-size a scan? I scanned the menus but I am unable to email them due to the size. They are 16mb and AOL says I can only send up to 10mb. How's does one make them smaller? Robntawn would be grateful. Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

Lets see...on to the cruise report. I can't think of anything much else to tell you all about. I'll guess I can tell you about our last port stop of Ketchican.

The ship arrived very early into Ketchican. We had a 830am boat tour booked to Misty Fjords, but we were able to get off the ship at 730am and had a little walk around town before our tour. I was amazed at the number of jewelry stores in the wharf area by the ships. I was even more amazed by the hawking and upselling of this jewelry by the sales people. As we would stop and look in the display windows the sales people would come out of the store and try to get you to come in. One store had a sign out front that stated earrings for $9.99. This store tried to sell me everything under the sun instead of the $9.99 earrings. The sales person asked my style, I told them antique, they in turn showed me a beautiful ring that was only $3000 :eek: Good grief the whole vacation didn't cost $3000. They must be nuts and I told them as much. They finally showed me the $9.99 earrings that they had behind the counter. They weren't worth .99 to me. Oh well, live and learn. Time to meet back at the ship for the tour. This tour was a bit differerent than the other tours we had been on. Were we normally left the ship and boarded a bus. This time we left the ship and found our tour person holding a sign. She then directed us a block down and told us to look for someone dressed just like her. So off we went and we found the next person with no problem and then again we were directed to another person a block away and then finally to the boat to Misty Fjords. A little strange. I think if we were just told were to go to begin with it would have been easier. I think the tour was run by Allen Marine. The boat they used was only 1 month old and looked brand new. There were 2 seats along both sides by the windows and maybe 6 or so across the middle. When we first went to sit down there were binoculars on the seat so I went to the next seat and there were more binoculars. All these seats can't be saved I was thinking and they weren't. Seems the tour provides binoculars. I thought that was a real nice touch but then I wondered how many pairs they lose each trip. I believe the tour was called Misty Fjords and Wilderness Explorer. It was to last 4 hours and it was $150 per person. We left the dock a few minutes late as a float plane trip had been canceled and we were waiting for the cancelee's to arrive. The had a naturalist aboard and she explained what we were seeing. They offered free coffee, tea, juices and hot chocolate. They came around with pastries in the morning and on the return trip chili or chowder. Everyone on board was very nice. They walked around and would point out on our maps where we were and where we were going. Even the captain came around to answer questions. The captain looked very young yet he told us tales of his growing up in the area and fishing for a living. He told us he always enjoyed seeing the wildlife and nature and he felt he now had his dream job. Again I was impressed by the people of Alaska and how much they loved nature. Everyone we talked with loved what they were doing and where they lived. I'm jealous. LOL We saw a active eagles nest and a few eagles. We also saw some seals and their pups. But the best part was Misty Fjords and the boat. Misty Fjords is such a beautiful place. There were so many waterfalls and the color of the water was so cool. I has second thoughts about this tour as we were on a ship and here we were getting onto a small boat. I would have thought we would have been "scenery'ed" out but I am so glad we went. The boat Allen Marine used got us so close to the waterfalls you could feel the water splashing on you as you stood on the open top deck. I was told the boat could operate in as little as 2 foot of water and with the sheer cliffs they could get really close. When I say the boat got close you just can't picture how close it really got. We were touching the rock walls practically. Mom got a little sea-sick on the tour. Not physically ill, but it did upset her stomach. Just an FYI for anyone else who is thinking of taking this tour. Bring your Bonnie. It was funny as on the way back as I would say 50% of the people on the tour feel asleep, Mom included. They did show us a movie on Ketchican which may have helped knock them out. It was a nice tour, with nice people to a nice place. A bit over priced but very nice. Afterwards we took a walk along Creek Street which was very nice. Not at all like the carnival of jewelry by the docks. I was sad that I wasn't able to see any salmon in the creek. Someone told us when they are running you don't even need a fishing pole, you can just reach down and grab one. LOL I'm not sure if that's true or not since they weren't yet "running."

Our 2nd formal night on the cruise was the night we were in Ketchican, which I thought was a little strange. I would have thought a better night to have it would have been the day we spent in Glacier Bay but HAL had other plans. The All-aboard was at 500pm and we had a 530pm dinner. I would think HAL needs to rethink the 2nd formal night as it made for some rushing on our part to get ready for dinner. We were a few minutes late but we made it. This was the formal night (I read about here) where where HAL puts those wrinkled covers on all the chairs. It really looked sloppy. Everyone dressed so nice and those wrinkled chair covers. Ugggggg

Speaking of formal nights it did seem as most if not all guest did dress properly. I did see a women one night in a jogging type outfit but I assume they did not let her in as she was talking to the head waiter and then she left. There were more suits than tuxs but everyone looked lovely. I wore a nice gown my Mom got from a yard sale for $2.00. Sure it cost me $15.00 to get it cleaned but it was dressy and I got many compliments on it. You guys here are the only ones who knows what it really cost. ;) LOL

If anyone has any questions please ask away as I think I've just about covered just about everything. Thanks again for reading and for all your pre-trip help.

CC

I really appreciate all time you have taken to share your Alaska experiences.:)