Alaska land/sea 2022 on Noordam - luggage question

[Lalof]

We aren’t clear if we are understanding the luggage situation for the land/sea Alaska cruise.  Hoping someone can clarify/confirm.  We are doing the land part first and then the cruise.  Our understanding of the directions is that we should have a backpack-type bag with us during the day on land, in which we keep essentials, ID, what might be needed during the day.  We can have a carry-on-type suitcase along, but that will only be available to us at night when we get to whatever hotel we will be at for the night.  We can bring a larger suitcase for clothing, etc for the cruise and that suitcase will go directly from the airport to the cruise ship so we won’t see that until we get to our room on the ship.  Is this correct?  For anyone that has done this, was it difficult to carry your camera/lens and other stuff all in a backpack?

 

Thanks!

[oaktreerb]

That’s pretty much right.  We pack our land wardrobe in one suitcase and the things that we won’t need until we get to the ship in the other.   If it is a Yukon tour you will probably have both with you because you will be going through customs.   Even if you end up traveling with both bags it will be easier to separate your wardrobe.

 

The train has a lot of room at your feet for your “day bag” and unless you have a large camera with big lenses you should be fine.  The bus is a nice tour bus with less space but a sturdy hand carry day bag works fine.  I also carry (wear) a fanny pack type bag so I can carry my wallet, binoculars and water when the bus stops along the route for food, comfort and scenery.

[Crew News]

3 hours ago, oaktreerb said:

That’s pretty much right.  We pack our land wardrobe in one suitcase and the things that we won’t need until we get to the ship in the other.   If it is a Yukon tour you will probably have both with you because you will be going through customs.   Even if you end up traveling with both bags it will be easier to separate your wardrobe.

 

The train has a lot of room at your feet for your “day bag” and unless you have a large camera with big lenses you should be fine.  The bus is a nice tour bus with less space but a sturdy hand carry day bag works fine.  I also carry (wear) a fanny pack type bag so I can carry my wallet, binoculars and water when the bus stops along the route for food, comfort and scenery.

Here is a link to the HAL cruisetour tips that will answer a lot of questions:

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/content/dam/hal/marketing-assets/manage-my-cruise-already-booked/faqs/Tour_Tips.pdf

 

Just to clarify, there is no limit to the luggage you have on the cruise portion.  The land portion is limited to one suitcase (no size limit - not limited to carry-on size) for those items you will be needing during your land portion. In many cases, this luggage will not be transported with you but rather meet you at each destination.  That means a small backpack with camera stuff, meds, snacks, etc. will remain in your possession when you travel.  The size limit in the tips document ensure your backpack (bog) will fit on buses/trains around your seat.  Bags that will not fit on buses means carrying your backpack on your lap for many hours of travel.  There is room by your feet on the train unless you have very long legs.

 

As a photographer, my equipment travels by in a large camera case and I pack a camera sling bag in my suitcase.  Upon arrival, I remove my backpack and fill it with what equipment I will carry on the land portion, snacks, meds, etc. I move my camera case to either the large suitcase that will accompany me or a suitcase going straight to the ship.  If you have a large camera, it can be carried on a strap to leave room in your backpack for other items.  Smaller lenses, chargers, flash, memory cards, etc. can be carried in jacket pockets or camera vests.

 

As you move from place to place on the land portion, you will receive written instructions, luggage tags for the next morning, and room keys before you arrive at your hotel.  For the bag you use only at night, you will attach the luggage tags in the morning, put it outside your hotel room door, and you will see it again at your hotel that evening.  When you arrive at the evening destination, you will again receive an envelope with instructions, luggage tags for the next morning, and room keys.  The same will be repeated on the evening before you board the ship.

 

HAL has been moving passengers and luggage around  Alaska for years and does an amazing job.  FWIW food on the train is really good.

[54Carol]

If we are doing the land portion first and bring more than one suitcase (pack one for the land portion and one for the cruise), does HAL take the one for the cruise and store it until we board the ship?  I would rather take two smaller cases than one huge one.

[Crew News]

55 minutes ago, 54Carol said:

If we are doing the land portion first and bring more than one suitcase (pack one for the land portion and one for the cruise), does HAL take the one for the cruise and store it until we board the ship?  I would rather take two smaller cases than one huge one.

That is correct. 

[ecosense]

I am going on a HAL cruise tour in @10 days which includes the land portion first, with part of the land portion visiting both Alaska as well as several Canadian stops by plane/train. I was trying to figure out the luggage situation, and kept seeing that the “meet me on board” bag tag service that I’ve used in the past thru HAL with other pre-cruise land adventures doesn’t apply with the Yukon-Denali trip, so i called to find out how my second “checked bag” can actually get to the ship and be waiting for me. Since we’re going from Alaska, to Canada, then back to Alaska to board the ship, and are only permitted ONE checked bag on the plane (under 50 lbs) and one carry on (totaling 13 lbs max), I was extremely worried since I WILL have more luggage than that for the whole trip. I was directed by Holland America (phone call to shore excursion folks) to a service called Luggage Forward, which will pick up any bag(s) you may have that needs transporting to the ship. They will come to your home or place of work to get your bag, and guarantee that it will be waiting for you on board.

The web address is www.luggageforward.com/hollandamerica And the phone number is 866-416-7447. I would DEFININTELY call them since the price for my one suitcase i will be shipping with them from Florida to the ship in Skagway was WAY higher on the website than what i was quoted on the phone. The lovely woman i chatted with eased a lot of my worries, answered all my questions, and made the whole transaction so easy. Be aware that you will pay a LOT for this service, but since i like to have all my “STUFF” with me, and also will be on a back to back cruise and staying in Vancouver for 5 days after, it was worth the cost.  Hope this information is helpful I was stressing! Safe travels, everyone!

Nancy

[Sebbiesgrammy]

We have the same concerns about having an extra bag since we have a 14 day, land first voyage with Vancouver arrival, 7 day Yukon and Denali, and 7 day inside passage after.  We're curious about what HAL does if you just show up with 2 suitcases instead of one.  If we were going back to Vancouver before the cruise, that would be ok as we could likely store a bag at our hotel for later pick up, but we sail out of Whittier. This scenario must happen often.  

[rafinmd]

3 hours ago, Sebbiesgrammy said:

We have the same concerns about having an extra bag since we have a 14 day, land first voyage with Vancouver arrival, 7 day Yukon and Denali, and 7 day inside passage after.  We're curious about what HAL does if you just show up with 2 suitcases instead of one.  If we were going back to Vancouver before the cruise, that would be ok as we could likely store a bag at our hotel for later pick up, but we sail out of Whittier. This scenario must happen often.  

Where will you be before the land part.  Can you use Luggage Forward to ship the bag from home to the ship in Whittier?

 

Roy

[Sebbiesgrammy]

9 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Where will you be before the land part.  Can you use Luggage Forward to ship the bag from home to the ship in Whittier?

 

Roy

We live in Connecticut. However, in reading the HAL tips for Alaska Yukon and Denali land tour, while confusing, seems like we can have all our luggage with us until we  get to Fairbanks where any extra luggage will be taken and sent on to Whittier where it will find us on the ship.  I'm not willing yo pay Luggage Forward to take an extra bag. It's cheaper to just buy anything else we might need.

[ecosense]

From what i know (which isn’t much…..) luggage forward can ship your bag(s) from anywhere to anywhere. So I suspect they can ship from your home to the ship in Whittier. Best way to know for sure would be to call them. 866-416-7447

I live in Florida and am flying up to Alaska this Friday (May 19th). My land tour doesn’t start until May 24th, and the cruise part of it isn’t until May 30th. Knowing my bag is being picked up this Thursday (May 18th) from my home and will be waiting for me on board the ship on the 30th eases my mind AND will make my travel so much easier, having to carry one less bag while I am traveling before and during the land portion of the cruise tour. 

I posted the above information to help those who are on same/similar pre-cruise land tours that include Alaska/Canada/Alaska itineraries. Due to customs regulations, all bags must remain with owners of said bags during the  entire land tour. BUT since the air trips to the Canadian stops have serious weight limits, my taking all my bags with me for the duration of my trip wouldn’t have worked. I definitely would have been overweight bag-wise, so was worried at what to do. 
The Luggage Forward company was a good option for me, but definitely was pricey. If i didn't have such a long trip, both before and after my land tour, I would pack differently and just bring less so i could only have one checked bag.

[eggemon]

12 hours ago, ecosense said:

I posted the above information to help those who are on same/similar pre-cruise land tours that include Alaska/Canada/Alaska itineraries.

We were on the same basic itinerary in 2022, with the same luggage restrictions. We were advised that you couldn't really ship a bag to Whittier, so we shipped it to our hotel in Anchorage (via UPS, not Luggage Direct). Indeed, a bit pricy, but we had the cruise and other destinations after, so it was worth it to us to expand our wardrobe at that point. Our extra suitcase was waiting for us in Anchorage.

 

Alas, we did not make it to the ship, because we tested positive for COVID at the end of the land tour. We quarantined and then continued the rest of our trip. (And we are now booked for the cruise only this summer.)

 

(BTW, ecosense, we are also from Tallahassee...)

[weatherman46]

Please can anyone tell me roughly what time in the morning you have to put your 'join me tonight' case outside your room. 

We are doing the 3 night Anchorage, Denali land tour before we cruise. So I am interested in the answer for this question for those 2 places.

[Alphen]

On 5/23/2023 at 1:48 PM, weatherman46 said:

Please can anyone tell me roughly what time in the morning you have to put your 'join me tonight' case outside your room. 

We are doing the 3 night Anchorage, Denali land tour before we cruise. So I am interested in the answer for this question for those 2 places.

Difficult to answer up front, depending on how things work out with transport. Sometimes we left late, but had to put our luggage out really early, depending on staff and seperate luggage transport, your luggage is not always on the same transport as you. Your tourhost will tell you by voice and in writing, what these times will be, sometimes only known upon arrival at a location.

Edited May 24, 2023 by Alphen