HAL Alaska cruise questions

[allisons]

I have some Holland America Alaska cruise questions. Thank you in advance for your answers.

 

1. Is the Tracy Arm excursion available anytime a ship is scheduled in Tracy Arm? Or only on those days when a ship is scheduled in Tracy Arm for 30 minutes and then in Juneau 2 1/2 hours later? We are scheduled to do scenic cruising in Tracy Arm for 5 hours and then we are in Juneau the next day. Will we be able to do the excursion while in Tracy Arm? If not, should we do the excursion from Juneau? If we do it from Juneau, is it better to do it with HAL or with Princess (we'll be in Juneau on a Princess cruise the week before)?

 

2. Is the split pea soup available during any glacier cruising day? Or only specifically while cruising Glacier Bay? We are scheduled to cruise Tracy Arm. Will there be pea soup served while we're cruising Tracy Arm? (We'll be cruising Glacier Bay the week before on Princess.) What about the hot chocolate?

[RuthC]

If a HAL ship goes to Tracy Arm, it will either be for a scenic cruising several hours there, or for a service call for shore excursion passengers to transfer to a boat. You can tell by the itinerary listed on the HAL website which one any given ship has planned.

If the ship itself is doing scenic cruising there, there is no opportunity for the small boat excursion via HAL. I don't know if there are private tours out of Juneau that fit the timing.

I have seen both pea soup and hot chocolate offered on my Alaska cruises, but can't recall specifically which glaciers which ones were offered in. I clearly remember hot chocolate on a Glacier Bay day, but I don't recall the itinerary or ship.

[Krazy Kruizers]

For Tracy Arm -- just check your itinerary and if it lists Juneau for the same day as Tracy Arm -- a tour will be offered where you will be picked up at the ship, then you get closer to Tracy Arm on that boat and then you head to Juneau to meet up with the ship later in the day. The cruise ship itself will not get close to Tracy Arm. For a day like this don't expect any Pea Soup or Hot Chocolate.

We have been offered both Pea Soup --- check the "On Location" daily program for the places where it will be served and the Hot Chocolate. Warning -- on our last few Alaskan cruises the Hot Chocolate was available in special mugs which you had to buy.

[allisons]

If a HAL ship goes to Tracy Arm, it will either be for a scenic cruising several hours there, or for a service call for shore excursion passengers to transfer to a boat. You can tell by the itinerary listed on the HAL website which one any given ship has planned.

If the ship itself is doing scenic cruising there, there is no opportunity for the small boat excursion via HAL. I don't know if there are private tours out of Juneau that fit the timing.

I have seen both pea soup and hot chocolate offered on my Alaska cruises, but can't recall specifically which glaciers which ones were offered in. I clearly remember hot chocolate on a Glacier Bay day, but I don't recall the itinerary or ship.

 

Thank you. That's what I figured. We'll be doing scenic cruising at Tracy Arm for 5 hours. I will look into the excursion out of Juneau on HAL or Princess.

[allisons]

For Tracy Arm -- just check your itinerary and if it lists Juneau for the same day as Tracy Arm -- a tour will be offered where you will be picked up at the ship, then you get closer to Tracy Arm on that boat and then you head to Juneau to meet up with the ship later in the day. The cruise ship itself will not get close to Tracy Arm. For a day like this don't expect any Pea Soup or Hot Chocolate.

We have been offered both Pea Soup --- check the "On Location" daily program for the places where it will be served and the Hot Chocolate. Warning -- on our last few Alaskan cruises the Hot Chocolate was available in special mugs which you had to buy.

 

Thank you. That's what I figured. We'll be doing scenic cruising at Tracy Arm for 5 hours and then Juneau the next day. I will look into the excursion out of Juneau on HAL or Princess.

[Steppy08]

For Tracy Arm -- just check your itinerary and if it lists Juneau for the same day as Tracy Arm -- a tour will be offered where you will be picked up at the ship, then you get closer to Tracy Arm on that boat and then you head to Juneau to meet up with the ship later in the day. The cruise ship itself will not get close to Tracy Arm. For a day like this don't expect any Pea Soup or Hot Chocolate.

We have been offered both Pea Soup --- check the "On Location" daily program for the places where it will be served and the Hot Chocolate. Warning -- on our last few Alaskan cruises the Hot Chocolate was available in special mugs which you had to buy.

 

If you really want the pea soup, be there AS SOON AS they start serving it. It apparently doesn't last long, as I found out a few weeks ago.

[allisons]

If you really want the pea soup, be there AS SOON AS they start serving it. It apparently doesn't last long, as I found out a few weeks ago.

 

Thanks! I'll be sure to be there right on time!

[jer_l]

Beginning with this Friday's Amsterdam cruise, Tracy Arm is replacing Glacier Bay for the next several sailing. (We are booked on the Amsterdam at the end of July.) While not as spectacular as Glacier Bay, it could be an amazing day depending on how far into Tracy Arm we sail. (Hopefully with enough Pea Soup and Hot Chocolate to satisfy everyone!)

[NoobCruise]

If you book the Tracy Arm excursion out of Juneau, be sure to have a back up plan. We had it booked. The night before, there was a card left in our room telling us to meet in the Queens Lounge at 12:30 for the excursion so we could be the first off the ship since it's such a long excursion and it meets on the pier at 1:00. When we arrived at the Queen's Lounge, all excited for our tour, they announced it was cancelled due to bad weather, but they said we could immediately book whatever other excursion we wanted. It helped a lot that I already knew what my second choice was. There were quite a few people who seemed dumbfounded and lost at what to do instead.

 

We had a fabulous day, even though the Tracy Arm excursion was the one I had been looking forward to most. I'll just have to do another Alaska cruise now so I can see Tracy Arm! :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

If you really want the pea soup, be there AS SOON AS they start serving it. It apparently doesn't last long, as I found out a few weeks ago.

 

We get to the Crow's Nest about 1/2 hour before it is served -- been doing that the last few cruises.

[Krazy Kruizers]

If you book the Tracy Arm excursion out of Juneau, be sure to have a back up plan. We had it booked. The night before, there was a card left in our room telling us to meet in the Queens Lounge at 12:30 for the excursion so we could be the first off the ship since it's such a long excursion and it meets on the pier at 1:00. When we arrived at the Queen's Lounge, all excited for our tour, they announced it was cancelled due to bad weather, but they said we could immediately book whatever other excursion we wanted. It helped a lot that I already knew what my second choice was. There were quite a few people who seemed dumbfounded and lost at what to do instead.

 

We had a fabulous day, even though the Tracy Arm excursion was the one I had been looking forward to most. I'll just have to do another Alaska cruise now so I can see Tracy Arm! :)

 

No matter where we have booked excursions for -- we have gotten in the habit of having a back-up excursion.

We have had excursions cancelled quite a few times at the last minute in many areas of the world.

[allisons]

If you book the Tracy Arm excursion out of Juneau, be sure to have a back up plan. We had it booked. The night before, there was a card left in our room telling us to meet in the Queens Lounge at 12:30 for the excursion so we could be the first off the ship since it's such a long excursion and it meets on the pier at 1:00. When we arrived at the Queen's Lounge, all excited for our tour, they announced it was cancelled due to bad weather, but they said we could immediately book whatever other excursion we wanted. It helped a lot that I already knew what my second choice was. There were quite a few people who seemed dumbfounded and lost at what to do instead.

 

We had a fabulous day, even though the Tracy Arm excursion was the one I had been looking forward to most. I'll just have to do another Alaska cruise now so I can see Tracy Arm! :)

 

We'd have a back-up plan. But we wouldn't be too upset. We'll be in Juneau the week before on a Princess cruise. We were in Juneau this year also.

[allisons]

We get to the Crow's Nest about 1/2 hour before it is served -- been doing that the last few cruises.

 

Good tip! Thank you!

[allisons]

No matter where we have booked excursions for -- we have gotten in the habit of having a back-up excursion.

We have had excursions cancelled quite a few times at the last minute in many areas of the world.

 

We got so lucky this year (knock on wood!). We thought for sure some of our excursions would be canceled. Particularly all of the flights that we had scheduled. Despite pretty awful weather, none of our excursions were canceled.

[jayisgerman]

I have some Holland America Alaska cruise questions. Thank you in advance for your answers.

 

 

2. Is the split pea soup available during any glacier cruising day? Or only specifically while cruising Glacier Bay? We are scheduled to cruise Tracy Arm. Will there be pea soup served while we're cruising Tracy Arm? (We'll be cruising Glacier Bay the week before on Princess.) What about the hot chocolate?

 

Dear Allisons, we went last year on the Oosterdam. I looked in the Explorer for the time for the pea soup and off we went to get some. We criss-crossed that ship for a good 30 minutes in our search. Along the way, we asked several staff members and they did not know anything about pea soup. We finally found a bartender at the end of our search and he said - oh that was about an hour ago and it is all over. :confused:

 

So...the time in the Explorer was incorrect. The locations mentioned in the Explorer did not have any either.... and the end result was: no soup for us. Oh well, I suppose next time I will not invest all that time and effort for that soup and maybe it will just appear? :D

 

According to tips from CC - sometimes they will serve it in the MDR at dinner, but no such luck in our case either. We also mentioned it to the concierge in the NL and she did not even know anything about it to begin with. Good Luck to you and I hope you will get some soup! ;)

[allisons]

Dear Allisons, we went last year on the Oosterdam. I looked in the Explorer for the time for the pea soup and off we went to get some. We criss-crossed that ship for a good 30 minutes in our search. Along the way, we asked several staff members and they did not know anything about pea soup. We finally found a bartender at the end of our search and he said - oh that was about an hour ago and it is all over. :confused:

 

So...the time in the Explorer was incorrect. The locations mentioned in the Explorer did not have any either.... and the end result was: no soup for us. Oh well, I suppose next time I will not invest all that time and effort for that soup and maybe it will just appear? :D

 

According to tips from CC - sometimes they will serve it in the MDR at dinner, but no such luck in our case either. We also mentioned it to the concierge in the NL and she did not even know anything about it to begin with. Good Luck to you and I hope you will get some soup! ;)

 

I hope so too! Thanks for the info!