Holland cruise ports ?

[Yyyy4]

HI, we are taking a Holland cruise in mid May 2024. I have a questions about excursions when in port. I am assuming Juneau is good for whale watching and the Mendenhall Glacier? Skagway - White Pass? Ketchikan - not sure, kayaking?? Denali - flight seeing? Appreciate your suggestions. Thank you!

[Host Kat]

3 hours ago, Yyyy4 said:

HI, we are taking a Holland cruise in mid May 2024. I have a questions about excursions when in port. I am assuming Juneau is good for whale watching and the Mendenhall Glacier? Skagway - White Pass? Ketchikan - not sure, kayaking?? Denali - flight seeing? Appreciate your suggestions. Thank you!

 

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[AKStafford]

To be clear: "Denali" is not a port. In this case it's a stop that would be part of a land tour, or a "cruise tour". You do not need a "tour" to get to the Denali area. Once you disembark your ship in Whittier and get transferred to Anchorage, you can rent a car and drive yourself to the Denali National Park area.  

[Yyyy4]

Yes, thank you. I was just trying to keep my question short. We will be going to Denali after the cruise. Thanks again.

[SirTomster]

One hack I use is to go to the cruise website and look for their shore excursions.  Not through your booking, but on the website in general.  Check the port in question and see what the cruise line offers.   Since the cruise lines would only offer options that are popular, then you can find the most popular options.  Here is HAL's   https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/shore-excursions.html

 

You can then research options or tour companies that offer their service directly and not through the cruise line.   

 

Next google the port and excursions to see what pulls up.    They might have something that sounds interesting that the Cruise lines do not mention/offer.   

 

Once you have an idea of what you can do in a port, research what you want to do.  There are pros and cons to booking through the cruise line.  Pro:  The ship will not leave without you. Con:  Normally higher than obtaining directly.

 

This is where you get into the realm of deciding what you are comfortable with.  Do you want the guarantee of the ship not leaving and paying more, or maybe doing it yourself?  That is your call.

 

Another item is that on many of the Cruise Ship excursions, the group sizes are larger than some you can book directly.

 

An example is Juneau.  I want to do Whale Watching.  I have multiple options with HAL.   But most at a not horrible price start at 20 people and go up from there.   But then I look outside of HAL and I find a tour company (Harv & Marv) where I will be on a small boat with a max of 6 passengers.  

 

I think I want the 6 person option.   $175pp  Where the cheapest equivalent with HAL is a $189.95pp option that does not mention max capacity.  Only that it is a Catamaran.  So I am going to guess 60+ people.   That 20-person option is over $220.

 

There are so many options with Alaska, that I recommend you take your time to review.  I am still researching my options for my June 2024 Cruise.  I have an idea of what I want to do at each port, but there are still so many variations to go through.

 

For example:    For Skagway, you mention the White Pass Rail.   Something I am also doing.  But there are so many variations.

 

1)  Train up to Fraser and back.

2)  Train up to Fraser, bus back

3)  Train up to Fraser, bus up to Yukon Sign, Bus back

4)  Train up to Fraser, bus up to Emerald Lake, Bus Back.

5)  Train up to Bennet, bus to Emerald Lake, Bus back

 

These are just a few of the options I have found.  Initially, I was doing #1.  But now, I think it is either 4 or 5.   More than #1 but I think it is worth it for me since I like to take photos.

 

So I know I likely made your research even harder, but I think it is a good idea to research your options and what works for you.  You mention flightseeing.  Something out of my price range.  So it is not even on my radar.  Which could be something you can do and want to do and I would have never mentioned it.   So it is best for you to research all the options and go from there.

 

 

[Crew News]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

As a many-time visitor to Alaska on Holland America as well as a longtime hobby photographer, I recommend the following excursions for first-time visitors:

 

• Juneau - Tracy Arm has whales, glaciers, huge ice flows, sea lions, and amazing scenery.
• Ketchikan - Bering Sea Crab Fishing with amazing eagle feeding pictures and demonstrating crab fishing techniques.
• Skagway - Definitely dog sledding the snow
• Denali - Fly Denali

 

Tracy Arm

 

 

Ketchikan Crab Fishing

 

Skagway dog sledding

 

Fly Denali

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Crew News

[Yyyy4]

Thank you so much for your suggestions! Is dog sledding possible in mid May? Thanks!

[Crew News]

4 hours ago, Yyyy4 said:

Thank you so much for your suggestions! Is dog sledding possible in mid May? Thanks!

It is available on my mid-May Nieuw Amsterdam cruise May 2024.