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Live from Volendam! May 9-16 Alaska Inside Passage from Vancouver

Kesstral

By Kesstral,
in Holland America Line

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Sounds like you could really use this cruise to kick back & enjoy. Hope the weather is good for you, they have been calling for rain in Juneau. Bon Voyage, fair winds & smooth seas.

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Kesstral

Kesstral

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We're just pulling into Juneau shortly. Got passed this morning by Island Princess.

I was a gracious wife and let my husband have some internet time this morning. Then I had to deal with work "fires" for the last hour or so.

Just walking my daughter around the lower promenade until we dock. I'll post some updates later today!

 

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Kesstral

Kesstral

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Oh my gosh, thanks for such a lovely shot. I feel like I'm right there on the promenade deck with you. So exciting!
Thanks!

Here's my favourite shot right now! Only taken something like 6 laps for her to fall asleep.20180511_121801.thumb.jpg.a08130670cf7d0cf888e74dfbe9eea32.jpg

 

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bcummin

bcummin

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Thank you so much for posting. We are in withdrawal mode from disembarking ms Volendam on May 9 after 57 days. We loved our voyage and our cruise ship family.

I can tell you about the tub changed to shower that you missed out on. We were in 1887 inside stateroom, deck 1. It was a strange shower head, hard to stand under, but worked nicely held in the hand. One tablemate called it a "skillet" because it was so large, maybe ten inches diameter. Can't really complain, because we always had hot water, and I have never been on a cruise ship that I did not enjoy. Another tablemate asked for and received a mat to stand on to avoid slipping. You are a brave mom, and you will undoubtedly have a memorable adventure!

 

Barbara

 

P.S. Happy Birthday to your mother !!!!!!

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bigwally

bigwally

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We're just pulling into Juneau shortly. Got passed this morning by Island Princess.

I was a gracious wife and let my husband have some internet time this morning. Then I had to deal with work "fires" for the last hour or so.

 

Work fires while you're trying to enjoy a cruise suck, but at least the ship Internet wasn't so bad (most of the time) that I couldn't get what I needed to done. Hope you find it likewise.

 

The Island Prices was the bane of our cruise too - everywhere we were, from Glacier Bay on down to Vancouver, she was there too. :p

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frankc98376

frankc98376

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Loving your live review! My 11 year old son and I are headed off on a mother son cruise this Saturday to Alaska on Nieuw Amsterdam. We were told in an email to arrive at 1pm but I am planning to be at Canada Place at 10am as our flight arrives in Vancouver at 7:30am! Were you told a specific arrival time as well?

 

Everyone gets the 1 pm email. If there are 3 ships in you will be glad you arrived at 10.

 

We went down to the terminal at 10 and were onboard at 11:30. Others told us they arrived at 1 or 2 and were in lines and holding areas for 2 to 3 hours.

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Kesstral

Kesstral

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Everyone gets the 1 pm email. If there are 3 ships in you will be glad you arrived at 10.

 

We went down to the terminal at 10 and were onboard at 11:30. Others told us they arrived at 1 or 2 and were in lines and holding areas for 2 to 3 hours.

We arrived at 10:30 and were onboard by 12. I would highly recommend 10am if you can.

 

Once you check in there is a giant conference room to wait in. I quickly counted something like 6 sections of 16 chairs wide (arranged the width of the convention floor so didnt get a chance to count the rows) for people to wait for security/customs and at 1030 it was about 1/6 full (loosely, lots of space in between people).

 

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Kesstral

Kesstral

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Good morning from (currently) dreary Skagway!

We're first in port this morning (ha take that Island Princess) but we'll have company soon. Docked at "railroad front", I think it's called, which is the dock against the big rock wall but closest to town. We backed in this morning. No idea what time we got here as we were already in port when room service came knocking at 5:35am.

A note on that, lots of people with early tours in Skagway so even though we picked 6am to 630am our breakfast came early due to the volume the kitchen has to deal with. It didn't bother us but if you don't want to risk being woken that early, pick a slightly later time.

 

Oh! Looks like they forgot my omelette... I felt bad calling room service since they are so busy (had to wait on hold) but it will be here shortly.

 

So just waiting for Island Princess to get here. Not sure if she will dock beside us or pull in at our nose.

 

We've got a rental car today since hubby and I did the bus/train combo with Chilkoot last time we were here (2014). With 4 people the rental is much cheaper and we can get a car seat.

20180512_055207.thumb.jpg.706ef2b3e0b7f57137c845b1aaea572f.jpg

 

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Kesstral

Kesstral

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Got off the ship just before 7:30am. Was drizzling, miserable and grey. Walked into town to pick up the rental car (looking at the inventory we may have been the only ones to book.

We were on the road by 8am and visibility was maybe 20-50 feet until we reached Fraser. I was a little worried that the drove would be a waste but the views cleared up just past Tutshi lake and we're now sitting in Carcross (made it by 9:30am) having a coffee and letting my daughter play on the new playground. It's sunny but cold (about 48F) and a little windy.

We're going to head to Whitehouse shortly. My husband's shoe is letting water in through the sole (He was grumpy this morning) so want to see of we can find something for him to wear in town.20180512_095206.thumb.jpg.2cad71ee30431cc4e38261108f6c18c8.jpg

 

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Kesstral

Kesstral

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So we made it all the way to Whitehorse. Didnt look for shoes but managed to pick up a cute little dress and shrug for my daughter at Wal-Mart (yay for paying in Canadian dollar too).

The weather was great all the way to Whitehorse from Carcross and then coming back all the fog had lifted and the rain seems to be done for the day (fingers crossed). We made it back to Skagway at 3pm. Managed to avoid any tour busses at customs.

Letting my daughter play at the rec centre playground before we take the car back. 20180512_151038.thumb.jpg.c99042e6b0bf4314ac150017b0f81a4f.jpg

 

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