Volendam Cruise (3 night) 7 night land June 13 anyone????

Can’t seem to find any other land sea cruisers to pick their brains , leaves Vancouver 6/13 . Land tour ends in Anchorage 6/23. Any others out there?

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Hello.

We were on a Y2L 15-day Alaska-Yukon-cruise trip last May and June. What information are you looking for?

Thanks for your reply!!What were the best excursions and anything else I need to know about trip? Did you end in Anchorage? If so where did you stay? Thank you

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Thanks for your reply!!What were the best excursions and anything else I need to know about trip? Did you end in Anchorage? If so where did you stay? Thank you

Our route was Anchorage, dome car train to Denali, bus to Fairbanks, plane to Dawson, bus to Whitehorse, then bus and train to Skagway. We spent 10 days on land and five on the ship.

There were several excursions built into the itinerary: the Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali, an afternoon seeing a gold dredge and the Alaska pipeline in Fairbanks, a riverboat excursion in Dawson, and a two-hour ride on the White Pass & Yukon Railroad from the U.S.-Canada border into Skagway. We had a journey host (tour leader), and so were pretty thoroughly scheduled during our 10 days on land save for a one day each in Denali and Skagway, and a half-day in Dawson (riverboat trip in the morning). You could decline to take any of them (I presume you could ride on the bus with the luggage into Skagway), but they were already paid for.

The Tundra Wilderness Tour took most of the day (about seven hours in late May, longer after June 1). I think it's included with any trip that stays more than one night in Denali.

My wife walked to the Denali park visitor center on our free day and saw sled dogs and the park exhibits (I think it was a mile or two from McKinley Chalet, HAL's lodging there). She enjoyed that a lot. In Skagway, she took a walking tour offered by the National Park Service (it was free, but there was a nominal charge to reserve tickets online). We also took a one-hour NPS ranger-led tour of Jeff Smith's bar and headquarters for $5 (again, reserve online). We visited the Skagway city museum, about four blocks from the hotel: it's a hidden gem, and would not be out of place in a big city.

Other than these, we didn't have time to do much on our own, but we saw and learned so much (the land portion was fully narrated by our journey host and bus driver) that we welcomed a little time to be off schedule.

A gentleman from Oregon took the Y2C tour (cruise first) and wrote an extensive review of it: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2380606 I highly recommend reading it. After I did, my wife and I decided this was the trip for us.

Hope this all makes sense. Good luck!

thank you so much for your information

Our route was Anchorage, dome car train to Denali, bus to Fairbanks, plane to Dawson, bus to Whitehorse, then bus and train to Skagway. We spent 10 days on land and five on the ship.

 

There were several excursions built into the itinerary: the Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali, an afternoon seeing a gold dredge and the Alaska pipeline in Fairbanks, a riverboat excursion in Dawson, and a two-hour ride on the White Pass & Yukon Railroad from the U.S.-Canada border into Skagway. We had a journey host (tour leader), and so were pretty thoroughly scheduled during our 10 days on land save for a one day each in Denali and Skagway, and a half-day in Dawson (riverboat trip in the morning). You could decline to take any of them (I presume you could ride on the bus with the luggage into Skagway), but they were already paid for.

 

The Tundra Wilderness Tour took most of the day (about seven hours in late May, longer after June 1). I think it's included with any trip that stays more than one night in Denali.

 

My wife walked to the Denali park visitor center on our free day and saw sled dogs and the park exhibits (I think it was a mile or two from McKinley Chalet, HAL's lodging there). She enjoyed that a lot. In Skagway, she took a walking tour offered by the National Park Service (it was free, but there was a nominal charge to reserve tickets online). We also took a one-hour NPS ranger-led tour of Jeff Smith's bar and headquarters for $5 (again, reserve online). We visited the Skagway city museum, about four blocks from the hotel: it's a hidden gem, and would not be out of place in a big city.

 

Other than these, we didn't have time to do much on our own, but we saw and learned so much (the land portion was fully narrated by our journey host and bus driver) that we welcomed a little time to be off schedule.

 

A gentleman from Oregon took the Y2C tour (cruise first) and wrote an extensive review of it: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2380606 I highly recommend reading it. After I did, my wife and I decided this was the trip for us.

 

Hope this all makes sense. Good luck!

thank you so much for the information, trying to tie all of our plans together

Find out if some one started a roll call for this cruise. If not start one. Sounds like a great itinerary. Enjoy.

Allan

Allan I tried to start one after not finding one for this trip. Followed the directions but to complicated for this gal! Lol

Amen

So how was it?

Roy

It was well worth the price. Be careful when you’re booking a Travelzoo deal that your agent knows and guarantees the perks included. We missed lots perks as neither Holland or your guide had our vouchers despite several hours of calls to all parties before during and after our trip. A land sea was a great option but with any tour it’s bags out by 6 on the bus by 7:30 the price you pay to see so much in 11 days. My favorite the seaplane pricy at $320 p/p but up close to polar bears and salmon bake includes with air tour. Don’t forget bug spray , mosquitoes at some spots

Glad you enjoyed your Alaskan trip.

Sorry you had a couple of problems.

jodaytona, did you purchase the meal plan for the land portion of your trip? If so, do you think it was worth the cost?

It was well worth the price. Be careful when you’re booking a Travelzoo deal that your agent knows and guarantees the perks included. We missed lots perks as neither Holland or your guide had our vouchers despite several hours of calls to all parties before during and after our trip. A land sea was a great option but with any tour it’s bags out by 6 on the bus by 7:30 the price you pay to see so much in 11 days. My favorite the seaplane pricy at $320 p/p but up close to polar bears and salmon bake includes with air tour. Don’t forget bug spray , mosquitoes at some spots

Where was this seaplane/ polar bears trip from? Who was the vendor if not HA?