oaktreerb

Noordam on the way along Thane road near the yacht harbor.

You’ll probably enjoy the Lynn Canal and Eagle Preserve rafting excursion. The glaciers viewing will be from the cruise ship in Glacier Bay, Hubbard Glacier or a small boat excursion into Tracy Arm depending on your itinerary. Actually, it is possible that your ship will go into Tracy Arm but again, it may not depending on the ship and the conditions.

Nice camera work today!

Two ships from HAL fleet in the same screen shot. A lovely day for a cruise to Juneau. Two ships of another line in Icy Strait today, too, plus a Coast Guard ship.

@Boatdrill

You are right. Some of these cruisetours were booked for 2020 (pre Covid) and are now finally happening. There are a lot of issues that nobody could have predicted. I don’t think anybody thought we would still be dealing with Covid at this point. In the past HAL has hired college students, teachers and others who want summer jobs to work in the tourist land itineraries We have sen Russian young people on summer visas working in the hotels in Denali. That’s not happening this year. We are also hearing of flights being cancelled and people are being bumped from flights. HAL has asked for volunteers. Maybe some people are not really looking forward to this trip but feel like they have to go since it’s been planned and paid for since 2020. They now have a way to back out. Some will probably be glad to take the offer.

For those who live within driving distance of the port (Seattle or Vancouver) and who can be flexible with vacation dates this would be a great offer.

Your cruisetour includes hotels, busses, air flights that HAL is managing and I suspect they are trying to make the travel groups smaller because of Covid precautions. I have a Denali cruisetour in August and I am concerned about the size of our group. A full bus load of passengers is my main concern. There are even more concerns for HAL about the Yukon trips. HAL is not only dealing with modes of transportation but Covid rules in Canada as well as the U.S. Lisa @LAFFNVEGASis giving you good advice. Call the numbers in the e-mail on Monday to clarify.

I enjoy the smaller Club Orange dining room but service is walk in (no reservations) and I have had better service in the dining room with fixed dining. In March 2022 on the Koningsdam I found a lack of consistency in the breakfast preparation and there seemed to be a lack of consistency in servers for both breakfast and dinner. Staffing issues may have been Covid related. The service in November 2021 was more consistent.

Was your Denali tour a Holland America cruise tour? If so, did you take the train or bus to Anchorage? How many were in your group? Was there Covid testing when your land segment began?

Thank you for the reply. I’ve been watching the HAL ships come into port in Alaska for a few years and I knew from past experience that you would have the answer to my question. The docking process is such a precise maneuver that it makes sense to identify the final position at the dock if a ship will be at the same dock repeatedly over the season. Now I understand a lot more about the docking process. The added information about Drew and the duties of the Port Agents was very interesting. Port Agents have a lot of responsibilities that most of is are unaware of. It must be a very interesting job. You are one of the “nice guys”. I have learned a lot about cruising from you and my other mentor, Captain Albert. I was fortunate to attend one of his lectures when he was onboard in Alaska before Covid. Both of you are great ambassadors for Holland America. Thank you so much for responding.

We were in 4156 in November and again in March and yes, 4154 was the first stateroom inside the firewall to the quarantine cabins. It’s too bad that 4154 is included in that corridor of partially obstructed balconies but that is where the firewall closes. Our cabin stewards at that time indicated that closed off area was used for newly arriving staff to quarantine before joining the crew. My guess was that maybe an officer quarantined there but never saw anyone on the balcony. Above us on Deck 5 was a quarantine area for sick people. We occasionally heard someone coughing on the balcony above. Good for you for speaking up. You deserve the free upgrade. Have a wonderful cruise.

WOW! Thanks for posting.

There are some large Denali cruise tour TA group bookings in that time frame on the Nieuw Amsterdam and HAL will have to get those rooms assigned as well as maybe set some staterooms aside for quarantine. We have been booked on one of these cruise tours since 2019 and will finally be traveling in mid August. HAL could just be working through those group bookings before it opens up for more bookings. These group bookings have no impact on other passengers as they are not charters. I wouldn’t worry, Nieuw Amsterdam will be cruising.

Nice Day in Juneau.

Maybe the Hammer Museum will stay open late when a ship is in port. It’s an interesting place to spend some time.

Missed the sail in today. I checked in early when the two Princess ships were already in. The Royal Princess was tying up at the AS dock. It was low tide and we got lots of close ups. With a ship already at the AS dock there wouldn’t have been much to see of the Nieuw Amsterdam sail in. Beautiful day this morning in Juneau.

Dale R Lindsay pusher tug just passed through the screen and the Celebrity Solstice is in view. Winds of 10 mph and 15 mph gusts.Maybe the Solstice will need assistance docking. Signing off. Time for me to recharge!

Too bad we didn’t get a camera person. There is a lot going on in the harbor today. OK, Camera person showed up?

Eurodam near the Douglas Boat Harbor.

Eurodam is first up the channel and soon we’ll get to see her pull up to the CT dock. The Koningsdam hasn’t entered the channel yet. She will go to the AS dock closer to the camera. We can watch two ships dock today (through the rain drops!)

Eurodam and Koningsdam in Tracy Arm area and most likely in the process of transferring passengers to smaller vessels for a closer look at the magnificent scenery of the Tracy Arm excursion. Norwegian Sun is anchored in Juneau and tendering their passengers to shore on this rainy day. It reminds me of our last Alaska cruise on the Maasdam (before the Covid shut down) when we had to tender to shore on a blustery and rainy day. Maasdam was the smallest of the “major” cruise ships in Juneau that day. What a mess that was. Never expected to be tendering in Juneau.

Didn’t expect that! I looked a few hours ago and couldn’t find it so I guess I’m not surprised it is running somewhat late. It’s just getting to the channel now.

Actually, I have watched it for several years and always considered it Hoonah since that seemed to be where most cameras were located. The service seems to be out of Juneau. Looking at maps it is surprising how close these ports that we visit in Alaska are like Glacier Bay, Tracy Arm, Juneau, Sitka, Hoonah. I enjoy watching these two webcams as the seasons come and go!

Great memories! Thanks for sharing.