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

[ken4556]

We then headed towards the John Hopkins Glacier inlet. I headed to the bow for taking pictures as the scenery was just breath taking.

 

 

 

The sail out of Glacier Bay was equally as beautiful.

 

 

 

After dinner, we headed to bed early as we had an early tour leaving the next morning.

[ken4556]

Wednesday, July 16th

 

On its southbound trip, the Oosterdam docks in Haines vs. Skagway on the northbound trip. Mom and dad wanted to take the White Pass & Yukon Route Scenic Railway tour, so my brother and I joined them. While Railway does offer different tours, our arrival time into Skagway limited our options (as you lose 45 minutes on the ferry from Haines). We took the Summit round trip train trip and HAL includes the cost of the ferry in both directions into the tour cost. For those who are interested, the ferry ran every odd hour from Haines and every even hour from Skagway and costs $70 round trip. Also note that HAL does offer two tours, one with shopping and one without. Since they strongly encouraged you to stay on your assigned ferry boat time, make sure you sign-up for the right tour.

 

FYI ...We did not hear a lot of great feedback on some of the tours in Haines (except for the tour I took in the afternoon), so I would suggest one do some research before picking a tour in Haines.

 

We enjoyed the train trip very much. As others have posted, left side going up and right side coming down (if possible) as they do have a mandatory seat switch at the summit. The platforms at each end more less crowded on the way down, so I enjoyed my “left side” on the way up and rode down most of the way on the outside platforms. After arriving back into town, we walked around and did some shopping and I had a quick lunch. The tour ended about 11:40 am and we had to meet the bus at 1:30 pm to take us to the ferry, so we had almost two hours to enjoy the town. They had some nice shop and some great junk shops. We returned on the 2 pm ferry. The ferry ride is very scenic and beautiful and the crew was very nice and gave a great narration during the trip.

 

 

 

Heading over one of the many bridges on the line

 

Old railroad bridge that is no longer in use.

 

Near the summit.

 

At the Summit as the trains pass each other to get back down the pass

[ken4556]

More pictures...

 

Looking down the canyon the train follows for most of the trip. You can see a train in front of us.

 

 

 

 

 

Train and cruise ships...hmmm

[Krazy Kruizers]

Loving your review.

Pictures are great.

[ken4556]

I had about 20 minutes on-board before heading out our my afternoon tour with my brother and sister-in-law. We did the Glacier Wilderness Safari and was it awesome. It was one of the top highlights and memories from our entire Alaska trip. We left Haines by a small boat (that seated about 25 people) for a 40 minute cruise that took us to the beach in front of Davidson Glacier. On a side note, the tour is normally run from Skagway (as Haines does not have many cruise calls) which makes for a longer boat ride to the Davidson Glacier.

 

After arriving on the beach, we walked a short distance to a picnic area for turkey sandwiches, water, and snack. Then we took a 4x4 bus through the woods to get us to the base camp. We were given life jackets and waterproof boots. We then walked down a very uneven trail to the lake to board canoes.

 

Davidson Glacier has receded and left behind a small lake and stream caused by the melting ice. The canoes have motors, so we really did not have to paddle much. We circled around to see the glacier from different angles before bring the canoe to a stop on a gravel bar. We then walked to get as close to the glacier as possible. This is when you realize how massive these glaciers really are! Please note that how close you can get depends on the water height and finding solid enough ground to walk on. We probably spent 30 minutes or so outside the canoe before we headed back to the camp. Dress in layers (as you would expect) as it was windy and chilly by the glacier. After returning the life jackets and boots, we returned to the beach where the small boat was waiting to take us back to Haines.

 

This tour was awesome (5 stars) from top to bottom. The sweet lady we had on the boat was a great host and the guides that took us out on the canoes were super nice and knowledgeable. It was truly a unique and great experience, something different from the glaciers we saw from the water. We got back on-board the Oosterdam just before 8 pm.

 

I went to Ledo for dinner (my brother and sister headed to the dining room and were able to get seated), barely making it in-time before all but the pasta station closed for the evening. I would hope the HAL would look at extending the hours when late tours are on the schedule.

 

Enjoy the pictures!

 

Arriving at the beach from Haines.

 

Our first view of the Davidson Glacier as we walked down the trail to the canoes.

 

Heading towards the glacier.

 

Davidson Glacier

 

 

Getting ready to beach our canoe.

 

More pictures in part 2...

[ken4556]

Continued from Part 1...

 

Walking towards the Glacier.

 

This was about as close as we got. That is actually ice covered with rock in the foreground.

 

Picture of the three of us.

 

Very scenic ride from Haines, here is a picture on the bat back to Haines.

 

The Oosterdam in Haines as we returned.

[EMED2010]

Loving your review - beautiful pictures!

[ken4556]

While walking back to the canoe, I noticed some unique rocks and stopped down to look at. Our guides said pick-em up, take some home. I gathered a dozen or so rocks of different sizes and put in my pocket. Once home, I struggled on how best to display the rocks. Without context, they were just rocks. I went to Hobby Lobby and found a display case used for models and sports memorabilia. I then had a poster of Davidson Glacier printed at Walgreens, cutting the water to glue to the base and the glacier to be the backdrop. Here is how it turned-out:

 

 

I really like how it turned out and serves as a great reminder of my trip to Davidson Glacier.

[ken4556]

Wednesday, July 17th

 

We had a hard time deciding what to do in Juneau. Since mom and dad had been here before, we decided take the Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer tour while my brother and sister-in-law decided on the Sled Dog Discovery & Musher's Camp Tour. When we woke-up in the morning, dad was not feeling the best, so they decided to stay back. I headed down to the tour desk when they opened to see if they could resell the tickets (they could not), so I headed out on this tour by myself. On a side note, I meet a mom who was trying to resell her tickets for the same tour as her kids said they were tired of seeing glaciers and wanted to do something different.

 

It takes about 75 minutes to get to the entrance of Tracy Arm from Juneau. It is a very scenic ride and we did some whales, but they do not stop on this tour to hangout with the whales. Tracy Arm is very scenic, similar but different than Glacier Bay as you are in the same fjord with steep mountains on either side of the boat. On the way to Sawyer Glacier, we stopped by a glacier waterfall and the Captain literally put the bow under the falls. We first went to North Sawyer Glacier and did not see much happening there. So, then we headed to South Sawyer Glacier. I was very impressed the Captain was able to make it with all the ice he had to wave through. When we finally made it to South Sawyer Glacier, we had a great seat for the show. There were seal lions hanging out on the ice on the ice and we heard lots of ice cracking sounds and saw a huge crack starting to form. Then about 10 minutes later, we saw a huge ice calving that was just amazing. I was able to get it on video, here is the link.

 

 

We then retraced our path out of Tracy Arm, passing the Carnival Miracle heading towards Sawyer Glacier. The Carnival Miracle really helped to put the scale of Tracy Arm into perspective. We arrived back into Juneau about 5:15 pm and I walked around the shops for a while before we left. I wanted to do the tram, but was afraid I was short on time and did not want to get left behind!

 

I really enjoyed the tour even though I had already seen a bunch of glaciers, there was just something special and unique about Tracy Arm that I loved. Seeing the huge ice calving was just icing on the cake! (ok, bad pun there….)

 

We went for dinner in the Pinnacle Grill (more on that latter). During dinner we could constantly see whales next to the ship. One of the best dinner views I have had on a ship.

 

Heading out through Stephens Passage

 

Approaching the entrance to Tracy Arm Fjord

 

Inside Tracy Arm Fjord

 

 

 

 

Continued in Part 2...

[ken4556]

Continued from Part 1

 

 

 

Sawyer Island where you head to either North Sawyer Glacier or South Sawyer Glacier (seen in the background).

 

North Sawyer Glacier

 

 

You can see all the ice the Captain had to weave through as we headed to South Sawyer Glacier.

 

Continued in Part 3

[ken4556]

Continued from Part 2

 

South Sawyer Glacier

 

Ken and South Sawyer Glacier

 

 

Sea lions

 

More seal lions.

 

Heading back home through the ice.

 

Continued in Part 4

[ken4556]

Continued from Part 3

 

Carnival Miracle heading towards Sawyer Glacier

 

 

This pictures really give one the scale of the Fjord.

 

Coming back in Juneau, One will set float planes coming and going all day in Juneau.

 

Mount Roberts Tramway

[KroozFoolz]

Looking forward to more!

[ken4556]

Friday, July 18th – Misty Fjords Tour

 

My brother and I decided to do two tours in Ketchikan while the rest family decided to spend the day shopping. We arrived to clouds and on & off rain showers. The first tour we did was the Magnificent Misty Fjords by Floatplane. We were taken by bus to Taquan Air’s base and watched a safety video before boarding the plane. Unlike the previous two airplane rides where the pilot did the full narration, they used a prerecorded CD to point out the highlights. The pilot did talk at times, but it seemed very unpersonal compared to the previous flights. We left right around noon. Many flights were cancelled in the morning due to weather (rain and low visibility), so were happy to get in the air. It takes about 20 minutes or so to get out the Misty Fjords and we had low clouds and occasional rain showers, so it was really hard to see the beauty that I know was there. We flew though a Fjord and after landing, we were able to step out onto the pontoon of the plane to look around. We then retook our seats and flew though the Fjord some more before heading back into town.

 

Honestly, I was disappointed. I think it was a combination of the weather limiting what we could see and (probably) unrealistic expectations compared to what we had already seen on our trip. If this was our first tour of the trip and a nicer day, I really think I would have been super excited over the flight. This is one tour that I would not book in-advance and what to see what the weather was the day before. The tour was not sold out on the ship, but unsure if that was the exception or the normal. My brother was able to have a quick lunch along the waterfront before we headed out on our second tour.

 

Arriving into Ketchikan.

 

Dad and the Amsterdam

 

Getting ready to dock in Ketchikan

 

Taquan Air floatplane

 

Heading out to Misty Fjords

 

Start of Misty Fjords

[ken4556]

Continued for Part 1

 

 

 

 

Landing in the Fjord

 

My brother outside after we landed.

 

[ken4556]

Continued from Part 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ken4556]

Friday, July 18th - Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour

 

As so many have said before, this tour was awesome from start to finish. Being a big fan of the TV Deadliest Catch, this tour was a great way to see what before I saw only on TV. But the tour was so much more. They explained how fishermen catch fish and crabs along with how the industry has changed over the years. They also stop and feed the eagles right next to the boat, it was amazing to see these eagles up-close.

 

The crew was very friendly and answered any question you had along with allowing you to have your picture taken with them. They had free hot coffee available and a nice store to buy “Bearing Sea” clothes. This tour was one I will remember for a long time and I would recommend to everyone, whether you are a fan of the show or not.

 

 

Bring the line in filled with hooks.

 

One of the fish caught.

 

Feeding the eagles

 

 

Throwing the hook...

[ken4556]

Continued from Part 1

 

Bring-up Rock Crab.

 

Me and a Rock Crab

 

Bring-on a crab pot

 

King Crab.

 

 

[ken4556]

Saturday, July 19th – At Sea on the Oosterdam

 

We had a lazy day at sea, sleeping in and taking time to pack. I skipped the Mariner’s lunch as the Taco Bar sounded better. According to dad (he was the only one who went), I made the correct decision. We did go the “Dancing with the Stars” finale that evening. It was very entertaining. The winner was a very good dancer, two others dancers were good, and the rest had fun and keep us laughing. We them waiting for us to go through the Seymour Narrows and then passed the Zuiderdam and Crown Princess before heading to bed.

 

Since I have not talked much about the ship itself, I will take time to review the ship. The lifeboat drill in Seward was at 7:30 pm and formal nights were Monday and Thursday nights. I love the design and layout of the Vista class ships and the Oosterdam was no exception. It was sad knowing they will ruin her when they add extra cabins and cabanas like to have done on the Noordam. The Captain was excellent and loved to talk and tell us about what was going on. JC, as always, did a great job as cruise director. I only made the Alaska Show on the first formal night and really enjoyed the show. My brother and sister-in-law went to most of the shows and did enjoy them, especially the comedian.

 

We were in room 4048, deck 4 verandah right near the forward elevators and my brother and sister-in-law were in 4047 on the opposite side of the ship. I love the location of this room along with the deeper balcony. The room was nice and our room steward was excellent. The sofa bed was the most uncomfortable thing in the world to sleep on! I had to put two pillows over the middle bar in the bed so that my body did not dig into the bar. I hope HAL goes to more of a sofa bed like RCCL did on the Oasis and Allure instead on a pull-out bed on the new ship.

 

While the ship itself was nice, clean, and in good shape; the crew just seemed to be going through the motions is as best as I can describe it. They seemed to do what they had to, but no more. On our Christmas cruise last December on the Ryndam, the service was slow in the dining room . Our waiter looked to have too many tables as he never stopped and was doing the best he could. Our waiter on the Oosterdam provided slow service with half his tables empty each night. Bar service was also hit or miss. Really good when the lounge was not crowded, really bad when the lounge was busy. Again, they do not have enough servers to handle the demand when the lounges got busy. The cost cutting becomes more evident with each HAL cruise.

 

The food was good, but I continue to be unimpressed with the selection. The scaling back of the portions has, in my humble opinion, got ridiculous. After receiving a Caesar Salad three nights in row with enough lettuce for two bits, I asked the waiter to bring me either three of them or a decent serving size. I never ate at the terrace grill as I refused to wait in line that long for a hamburger and fries.

 

A funny side story… My mom was in line at the Terrace Grill and a lady asked the gentleman in front of my mom if she could cut in line because she was a “senior citizen”. The gentleman asked how old she was and she said she was 67. The gentleman turned to my mom and asked how old she was. My mom answered that she was 77. The gentleman turns back to the lady and says, “Lady, I am 72 and this lady is 77, go to the back of the line and wait your turn!” We laughed about this all day!

 

We did go to the Pinnacle Grill on Thursday night. It was the night for the highly acclaimed (at least in HAL’s mind) “An Evening at Le Cirque.” It was nothing special or a night to remember and certainly not worth the surcharge. The food was good, but not excellent. We ate better for less money at the McKinley Chalet’s bar restaurant and the Glacier Brewhouse in Anchorage. I would suggest that the HAL advertising department needs to actually eat at the Pinnacle Grill before writing the brochures. The hype and reality are two different things!

 

Penguins at the Lido Pool

 

Lido Restaurant

 

Sea View Pool with the Inside Passage in the background

 

Crow's Nest

 

Zuiderdam

 

Crown Princess

[ken4556]

Sunday, July 20th

 

My brother and sister-in-law flew home from Vancouver on Sunday while Mom, dad, and I stayed until Wednesday. I made reservations at the Renaissance. As with most Marriott properties, it was very nice. They asked me at check-in if I wanted to upgrade to a harbor view for an extra $30 per night. I was glad I did. From our room, we could see the float plane take-off and land all day as well as seeing the cruise ships come into the harbor in the morning and depart in the afternoon. The Renaissance is about a five blocks away from the cruise ship terminal and was quite a bit cheaper than doing the Pan-Pacific Hotel through HAL. Disembarkation was easy and very well organized.

 

After walking to the hotel and dropping off our bags, we took a taxi to Stanley Park. Since it was raining, we decided to walk through the Vancouver Aquarium. It was very impressive and we really enjoyed it. After having some lunch at the Aquarium, we took a horse drawn carriage ride around the park. It was a nice tour and enjoyed staying dry as it rained on and off during our tour. A great option would be to rent bikes and pedal around the park. (This was not an option for me with my parents.) We then took a taxi back to the hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mom and the horses on the horse carriage ride.

[ken4556]

Continued from Part 1

 

 

 

 

 

View from our hotel room as the Oosterdam leaves to head back to Alaska.

 

[ken4556]

Monday, July 21st

 

Our original plan was to take an all day tour to Victoria, but we decided to stay and do a little touring in downtown Vancouver. We had a full day planned on Tuesday and I could sense that doing two long days in a row was not the best plan for my parents. We took at Taxi to the Gastown Steam Clock and wondering through the souvenir shops as we made our way to the Vancouver Look-out. After seeing the city from up-high, we went to lunch at the Steamworks Pub and Brewhouse. The food and service were excellent.

 

We then walked towards Canadian Place, stopping by the Canadian Pacific Train Station on the way. Once we reached Canadian Place, we walked alongside the Disney Wonder to the end of the pier for a great view of the harbor. As you will see in the pictures, it was a beautiful day. We then walked along the shore line as we made our way back to the hotel. Although we did not make it out of downtown, we really had a fun day. We went to bed early as we had a big day planned for Tuesday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ken4556]

Continued from Part 1

 

 

 

 

 

[ken4556]

Tuesday, July 22nd

 

When we originally started planning the trip, mom made it crystal clear that she really wanted to visit Whistler. So, off to Whistler we went. I reserved a one-day rental car through National for pick-up at Canadian Place and return at the airport. Instead of staying downtown on Tuesday night, I reserved us a room at the Hampton Inn by the airport. The room was less expensive and we saved the cost of transportation from the hotel to the airport. The plan worked very well. (I was told that by the agent that National only has cars available on days that cruise ships are in port and cars must be reserved in-advance as they bring the cars from the airport. Everyone that was picking-up a car except for me was doing a one-way rental to Seattle.) We left our bags with the bell cap as we could not fit everything in the trunk and just stopped back on the way to the airport. It was on the way anyway, so we really did not lose a lot of time.

 

The ride to Whistler is very scenic although I do not think that there is a straight section of roadway on the whole route along the coast. After parking the car, we made our way through Whistler Village to the ticket booth to purchase tickets for the Gondola’s. We took the Whistler Gondola up to the top of Whistler Mountain. After walking around a bit, we took the Peak 2 Peak Gondola over to Blackcomb Mountain. The ride and view were amazing. The Peak 2 Peak Gondola is the longest and highest in the world. We had lunch at the lodge on Blackcomb Mountain before retracing our steps backs down to Whistler Village. We toured the shops before driving back to Vancouver. We stopped along a couple of the scenic overlooks for just amazing views. We were blessed with beautiful sunny day, so it was a great way to conclude out great Alaska adventure. After checking into the hotel, I returned the car that evening to avoid the hassles in the morning as the hotel had an airport shuttle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ken4556]

Continued from Part 1