Volendam in Alaska June 1-15, Excursion Review

[CC Help Michell]

Hi, all! These boards were very helpful to me in planning for our trip to Alaska on HAL's Volendam from 6/1-15/08, so I wanted to furnish some feedback on our excursion experience. My full review has been submitted to the Member Review section, and the ship review is at this link -- http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=795008

 

I've lifted the part about the excursions from the full review to post here on the Alaska board. Please let me know if anyone has questions.

 

..............

Ports of Call – Ketchikan: Northbound we did the Bering Sea Crab Fishing excursion, booked through HAL, and we simply loved it – it was one of our two favorite excursions for the whole trip. It features hosts who actually have fished in the Bering Sea relating their experiences, coupled with live demonstrations of their gear and routines. With the stadium seating they’ve added to the Aleutian Ballad there’s not a bad seat to be had, either – the lines of sight were carefully thought out. We got to see/touch a rockfish, a prawn (with the most amazing copper eyes), a king crab, a Tanner crab, and an octopus. It was a raw, cold, wet, nasty day – but the Aleutian Ballad crew offered ponchos, hot drinks, nice overhead heaters, and space indoors if you became too chilled. We were very much “in” to this excursion, as we are fans of The Deadliest Catch, but even some on our excursion who hadn’t ever seen the show were as happy as we were with the experience. It’s not touristy, canned, or shlocky at all, though I guess after a lot of repetition it could become that way. But for now it’s just a great time and very genuine. We also went to the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show, and found it corny and hokey (which we expected), but still a lot of fun. We got some good photos there, as the weather had turned sunny by afternoon.

 

Southbound we booked Lois Munch of Classic Tours and we had a very nice visit with her while touring Ketchikan and Saxman Village. The classic Chevy is a hoot (it doesn’t even have seatbelts!) and Lois is very knowledgeable about Ketchikan and Saxman Village. After the tour she dropped us at Creek Street and we had fun touring Dolly’s house and checking out the shops as the clouds gave way to a gorgeous, sunny afternoon. We went to Steamer’s for appetizers (chicken wings and crab margarita) and Alaskan summer ale, then shopped a bit more as we meandered back to our ship.

 

Ports of Call – Juneau: On the Northbound leg we had a major disappointment, as the Volendam was late arriving in Juneau due to what we were told was the need to perform some type of engine repair during the night. This meant we were unable to make our Adventure Bound sailing to Tracy Arm, which was very disappointing – that was the first excursion I’d booked for this trip and I’d really been looking forward to it. I contacted Winona at Adventure Bound when we returned home and she cheerfully refunded our money, waiving their 7-day cancellation policy since the ship was late – excellent service there, and she’s so nice. I hope we get back to Juneau someday so we can take the Adventure Bound. Interestingly, when I called to arrange the credit Winona said that the Volendam was also late into Juneau on June 18, the ship’s next northbound trip after ours. If this is a permanent schedule change, and wasn’t a temporary problem on our sailing, HAL needs to change their published time at the dock from 7 AM to 8 AM so folks don’t think they have time to make an 8 AM excursion in Juneau.

 

We booked the “Glaciers and Gardens” excursion through the ship at the last minute instead, and enjoyed it well enough. We liked the film at the Mendenhall Visitor’s Center, and thought the golf cart trip through the rainforest was really very interesting and beautiful. After the tour we went to meet a group at the Twisted Fish for lunch and had a great meal – that was a really good time!

 

Southbound in Juneau we’d booked Orca Enterprises and went out with Captain Larry, Captain Shaun, and a naturalist named Dirk (I think those last 2 names are correct; if not I apologize). We had a wonderful time with them! The information shared was very educational, and we were fortunate to have whales come very close to our boat. A bit further away we also saw a whale breaching. Afterwards we did some shopping in Juneau and wandered around Franklin Street before returning to the ship.

 

Ports of Call – Skagway: We booked the Yukon Bus/Rail excursion through Chilkoot Charters at Skagway and really enjoyed it. The day got off to a rocky start, though – the email confirmation said for us to meet our driver outside the security area at the end of our pier at 7:30. We (and another couple who had booked Chilkoot) were there on time on a chilly, wet morning, and no van showed up. After several efforts I reached the offices by phone around 7:50 and was berated by the woman who answered because we were “at the wrong pier,” and her driver was looking “everywhere” for us. I explained that we were at the pier where our ship docked – Ore Dock, per the security officer standing nearby whom I asked. The woman on the phone noisily flipped some pages, and said that according to her schedule we were “supposed” to be at Broadway Dock, and with a heavy sigh, said she’d send the van to our dock. This really irked me, to be honest. Did this woman think I had any control over where our cruise ship docked? Plus, couldn’t her driver look around the port and SEE that the Volendam was berthed at a different dock than their schedule said? The Skagway port area isn’t that big – one can easily see every ship in port.

 

In any event, the driver did finally arrive and he was very nice. We enjoyed the train trip, especially the “moonscape” above the tree line at the end. By the time we reached Fraser it had turned into a beautiful day. We really enjoyed the trip to Emerald Lake, the activities at Carcross, all the photo stops we were able to make, and our driver, BJ, was really nice and informative – his friendly attitude went a long way toward improving my overall impression after the phone conversation that morning. We saw a brown bear eating dandelions right beside the road and he basically ignored us as we got great photos right from the mini-bus. I liked doing this excursion in the small group very much, especially for the ability to make a lot of photo stops. The large buses just can’t do that, because it takes so long to get everyone off and back on.

 

We returned to a beautiful, sunny afternoon in Skagway. We went on the ship-sponsored excursion to Liarsville for a salmon bake and gold panning. We were the only 2 from the Volendam who went to that evening’s show, and in fact there were only about 20 people in all who attended, so it was a nice, intimate experience. I enjoyed this excursion – again, it was a bit hokey, but then again we were tourists! The young performers were especially engaging and fun, and the food at the salmon bake was very good.

 

Ports of Call – Haines: We really liked Haines (which was our Southbound port of call rather than Skagway). The thing I liked immediately was getting off the ship and NOT seeing rows of the same jewelry stores you see in the Caribbean, and in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway. We rented a car in the morning, using Avis at the Halsingland Hotel, and drove out the Haines Highway into the Yukon as far as Million Dollar Falls. It was a really pleasant drive, and we saw eagles, trumpeter swans, arctic ground squirrels, and a large brown bear, as well as beautiful mountain and alpine views. On the return visit we stopped for lunch at the 33 Mile Roadhouse, which had wonderful hamburgers and onion rings.

 

We got back to Haines and met our ship-sponsored excursion called the Alaska Wildlife Expedition, which visited the refuge owned by filmmaker and animal handler Steve Kroschel. This was thoroughly enjoyable! Steve is so nice and enthusiastic, and so is Mario, another naturalist/documentary-maker who helped show us the animals and explain more about them. We saw (and in a few cases got to pet and/or feed) a wolf, an owl, a hawk, a pine marten, a mink, porcupines, wolverines, lemmings, ermines, foxes, moose, caribou, etc. Steve also had recently had a brown bear cub placed with him and it was too soon for her to make an appearance, but we saw her from a distance. A couple of points about this excursion: first, the description says walking is required, but doesn’t make it clear this walking is up and down some very steep gravel and dirt paths – several people in our group had mobility issues and struggled; and second, use the bug spray they give you liberally, as this place is on “Mosquito Lake Road” and they aren’t fooling – there were zillions of very large mosquitoes. On the way back to Haines we stopped at the Bald Eagle Foundation and were treated to a very informative talk by Dave Olerud, who was one of the creators of the Foundation.

 

Ports of Call – Seward: We were thrilled by our excursion choice at Seward – the Kenai Fjords Northwestern glacier trip so frequently recommended on the Alaska board here at Cruise Critic. Those recommendations are spot on, based on our experience. We were able to use the Northern Lights 2-for-1 coupon for this excursion. We saw lots of wildlife: orcas (including breaching), humpbacks (also including breaching), puffins and other birds, sea lions, seals, otters, Dall porpoises, and mountain goats. At one point while we were stopped and watching whale activity several hundred feet away a different humpback surfaced nearby, then literally dove under our vessel, the Chugach – his tail wasn’t more than ten feet off the bow rail! We also saw great calving activity at the glacier. I do advise bringing sunscreen for this trip, as our day was so clear and bright, and I spent so much time on the bow, I’d have burned without it. I did take Bonine prior to the trip, but my SO didn’t, and neither of us felt at all queasy – though I could see how that could happen, as the boat did bounce and wallow from time to time even on this very calm day.

 

Our captain/naturalist, Mark Lindstrom (I think the last name’s right) was very informative, his crew was excellent and attentive, and overall this was one of our top two excursions of the trip (along with the Aleutian Ballad one in Ketchikan). I was so impressed that instead of selling the rest of the Northern Lights book on Ebay (the Kenai Fjords was the only coupon we used from it, as it turned out), I gave it to the captain as a “tip” so that he and the others at the Kenai Fjords company could benefit from the various coupons in the book, or share them with friends and family.

 

Scenic Sailing and Glacier Viewing: One of the best parts of the itinerary we chose was that it gave us six “sea days” – two each for the Inside Passage, Glacier Bay, and College Fjord. We were able to maximize our time outdoors just watching the amazing scenery unfold. We also had two chances to see Glacier Bay, and Margerie Glacier was much more active on our second visit than our first, so we were very grateful. The second visit a piece calved which was so large the waves from it could be felt onboard the ship. HAL does these glacier days well, with blankets and hot pea soup on deck, plus hot chocolate available, and stronger fortifications for sale if desired. The National Park Service rangers during the Glacier Bay days were very informative, as was the representative of the Huna speaking about their way of life.

[KSSTravel]

MichelleP,

 

Thanks for the excellent reviews both on the ship and excursions! I will be on Volendam too on Northbound on 8/24 :) It's a great great help to hear from someone that has just been on the same exact cruise!

 

I am sorry to hear that you didn't make it to Tracy Arm Cruise. Just how late did you get to the port? I hope this does not happen on a regular basis.

 

Originally, for Ketchikan we were only going to do a tour of the Saxman Village either through the ship or with Sourdough Tour. After reading your review coupled with a few other recent raving reviews about the tour, I am considering doing the Bering Sea Crab Fishing excursion. I am not the fan of the Deadliest Catch but my dad is.

 

Thanks again!

[baron45]

On my Chilkoot excursion, BJ was also the driver/guide on my tour. Really a nice guy and accomodating with taking photos and making stops when we spotted bears and caribou. There were about 18 people on our bus, and it was good to see that every group tipped him at the end.

[themerle]

I enjoyed reading your review as I will be sailing on the Volendam July 6. Happy to hear that you enjoyed your cruise with HAL. I'm getting very excited about our cruise. This is our second time with HAL and our second time to Alaska.

 

In Haines....how long did it take you to get to Million Dollar Falls? What made you decide on this area as your turn around point? Did you spend any time in "town"? If you did, what did you enjoy most?

 

Thanks for the review!

[curry767]

Michell,

 

On your first day at sea northbound, was there much to see on deck? Were you close to land or out in the open sea most of the day?

 

Cheers

[CC Help Michell]

MichelleP,

 

Thanks for the excellent reviews both on the ship and excursions! I will be on Volendam too on Northbound on 8/24 :) It's a great great help to hear from someone that has just been on the same exact cruise!

 

I am sorry to hear that you didn't make it to Tracy Arm Cruise. Just how late did you get to the port? I hope this does not happen on a regular basis.

 

Originally, for Ketchikan we were only going to do a tour of the Saxman Village either through the ship or with Sourdough Tour. After reading your review coupled with a few other recent raving reviews about the tour, I am considering doing the Bering Sea Crab Fishing excursion. I am not the fan of the Deadliest Catch but my dad is.

 

Thanks again!

 

We arrived at the dock in Juneau around 8:30 AM on the Northbound leg (the published time on the web and in our ticket packet was 7 AM). I didn't think to ask Winona just how late the Volendam was on June 18, but she did say that by then she had her second boat in town and was able to move the Volendam passengers to their 9 AM run -- that hadn't been an option for us on June 4, as the second boat hadn't yet arrived.

 

Have fun with whichever excursion you choose in Ketchikan!

[CC Help Michell]

I enjoyed reading your review as I will be sailing on the Volendam July 6. Happy to hear that you enjoyed your cruise with HAL. I'm getting very excited about our cruise. This is our second time with HAL and our second time to Alaska.

 

In Haines....how long did it take you to get to Million Dollar Falls? What made you decide on this area as your turn around point? Did you spend any time in "town"? If you did, what did you enjoy most?

 

Thanks for the review!

 

We chose to turn around at Million Dollar Falls because it was a good spot to make it back for our ship-sponsored excursion for the Alaska Wildlife Expedition -- it took us about 3 hours to get there (making stops along the way) and about 2 hours to get back (including lunch). We drove around town a bit, explored Fort Seward some, and stopped at a few places for shopping, sodas, etc. I'd wanted to eat at either the Bamboo Room or the Lighthouse, but after the huge burgers at 33 Mile Roadhouse we were just too stuffed! Since I was an army brat, I liked the Fort Seward drive through tour our bus driver made after our excursion, explaining what each building had been and so on. I wish we'd had even more time in Haines -- I really liked what I saw of the community.

[CC Help Michell]

Michell,

 

On your first day at sea northbound, was there much to see on deck? Were you close to land or out in the open sea most of the day?

 

Cheers

 

We were pretty close to land most of the time, and not in open sea at all that I recall. I haven't done all my photo arranging yet, but I'm attaching thumbnails of two of the sights we saw that day to give you some idea. Hope this helps!

[chaingang]

I was curious on the sea crab fishing, Who did you go thru for this excursion and the price range. I am on the Volendam for 14 days on its next departure. Any other suggestions for me ?

[CC Help Michell]

I was curious on the sea crab fishing, Who did you go thru for this excursion and the price range. I am on the Volendam for 14 days on its next departure. Any other suggestions for me ?

 

We booked it through the ship as it was the same price either way. For more information and a really good slideshow, their website is http://www.56degreesnorth.com. It was $149 for adults, and we thought it was worth it. Hope that helps, and have a great trip!

[chaingang]

Thats a great deal for a fishing trip, you get to fish right ?

[NancyIL]

We arrived at the dock in Juneau around 8:30 AM on the Northbound leg (the published time on the web and in our ticket packet was 7 AM). I didn't think to ask Winona just how late the Volendam was on June 18, but she did say that by then she had her second boat in town and was able to move the Volendam passengers to their 9 AM run -- that hadn't been an option for us on June 4, as the second boat hadn't yet arrived.

 

Thanks so much for the review of your excursions, and welcome back!

 

How disappointing that you didn't get to do the Tracy Arm excursion! I am glad to read that the June 18th Volendam passengers were able to get on the 9:00 boat, as I know of one poster here (vbmom87) who booked that excursion.

[CC Help Michell]

Thats a great deal for a fishing trip, you get to fish right ?

 

No, the crew/hosts do the fishing on this excursion. It's more of an exploration and demonstration of what commercial fishing in Alaska is like; it's not a sport-fishing excursion. The website I linked has a slide show and lots of photos to help describe the excursion. Basically they demonstrate how they bait the gear, drop the gear, retrieve the gear, and what types of fish and other marine life they catch.

[themerle]

Thanks for answering my questions. I know we will go as for as Million Dollar Falls. We don't have an excursion planned, so we might go further. Thanks again.

[kk-l]

Thank you for your review, it was a lot of fun to read all about your excursions.

The 33 Mile Roadhouse and its burgers were highly recommended to me by a Haines resident on another thread. I also understand that members of the West family (Cruise West small ship line) have a home in Haines. They've seen a lot of Alaska and could chose to have a home anywhere. I'm anxious to visit this port when we're there in August.

[curry767]

Thanks for answering my question, its just what I wanted to hear, cheers.

[KSSTravel]

We arrived at the dock in Juneau around 8:30 AM on the Northbound leg (the published time on the web and in our ticket packet was 7 AM). I didn't think to ask Winona just how late the Volendam was on June 18, but she did say that by then she had her second boat in town and was able to move the Volendam passengers to their 9 AM run -- that hadn't been an option for us on June 4, as the second boat hadn't yet arrived.

 

Have fun with whichever excursion you choose in Ketchikan!

 

MichellP,

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer each of our questions. I feel a little better now knowing that the ship wasn't late late. For a cruise with only 3 port days and especially for Alaska, I definitely wouldn't be thrilled if the ship have long delay on regular basis. Too bad the 2nd boat was available back then.

 

Thanks again for the details in your reviews. I have been wondering if Pinnacle accepts wine card and you have answered that and many other questions for me.

 

NancyIL,

Me too was a little worried that VBMom also missed the Tracy Arm Cruise as I remembered she is on the 6/18 cruise, but now looks like she could well be on the 9am cruise.

[CC Help Michell]

MichellP,

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer each of our questions. I feel a little better now knowing that the ship wasn't late late. For a cruise with only 3 port days and especially for Alaska, I definitely wouldn't be thrilled if the ship have long delay on regular basis. Too bad the 2nd boat was available back then.

 

Thanks again for the details in your reviews. I have been wondering if Pinnacle accepts wine card and you have answered that and many other questions for me.

 

NancyIL,

Me too was a little worried that VBMom also missed the Tracy Arm Cruise as I remembered she is on the 6/18 cruise, but now looks like she could well be on the 9am cruise.

 

Glad to be of service! We really had a good time, so in answering questions and all I get to relive the fun as well as helping others... definitely a win-win! :)

[chaingang]

I wanted to ask your opinion about the 14 day as I will be taking it also. I have read a few comment about the 14 days were like taking (2) 7 day cruises back to back. The entertainment and the food repeated itself and they found it to be repetitive. I do plan on skipping a few shows and certain things to break it up but what was your opinion ?

 

Also on the crews participations in making things fun ? I know service will be great but the interaction and participation of the directors and officers make the trip that much more enjoyable.

[CC Help Michell]

I wanted to ask your opinion about the 14 day as I will be taking it also. I have read a few comment about the 14 days were like taking (2) 7 day cruises back to back. The entertainment and the food repeated itself and they found it to be repetitive. I do plan on skipping a few shows and certain things to break it up but what was your opinion ?

 

Also on the crews participations in making things fun ? I know service will be great but the interaction and participation of the directors and officers make the trip that much more enjoyable.

 

Sure thing, here's a link to my review of the ship on the HAL board -- http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=795008 -- in that thread I posted the evening show and movie theater lineups in both directions. The shows did have a little overlap, but the movies were different every night. I didn't think the menus repeated themselves too badly, though they were the same for formal nights (which was fine by me, as I liked what I had both times enough to have it again -- king crab and lobster tails for one thing!).

 

For us personally we didn't find the evening lounge shows that appealing, but we really enjoyed listening to Randall Powell in the Piano Bar, so that's where we spent our evenings, playing his Name that Tune games and talking with others. I really enjoyed this cruise, which was the longest I've taken. That bodes well for my retirement years, when I'm eyeing some of the 30+ day itineraries. It felt like a 14 day cruise to me, even though there was a little overlap -- we kept the same cabin, we didn't have to disembark and reboard on turnaround day, and enough passengers were also doing the 14 days that we saw a lot of familiar faces the whole time. I loved the itinerary for Alaska -- six sea/glacier viewing days and seven port days was a perfect mix, to me.

 

Regarding onboard activities, there were a lot of events during the days, like cooking demonstrations, trivia games, various activities where you could earn dam dollars (like putting contests and such) -- I thought there was plenty to do and the activities staff and Cruise Director seemed very involved. It's not a "Hairy Legs contest" type onboard atmosphere (by a long stretch) but there were a lot of choices for activities. Honestly, though, we spent much of our time just on deck with binoculars looking at the amazing scenery of Alaska and watching for wildlife. Hope that helps a bit!

[CC Help Michell]

Blah, double post, sorry.

[chaingang]

Yes you help me out out immensely, I enjoyed reading your reviews and detailed explinations of things. You got me all geeked up and my suitcases are packed. Thanks again...

[CC Help Michell]

Yes you help me out out immensely, I enjoyed reading your reviews and detailed explinations of things. You got me all geeked up and my suitcases are packed. Thanks again...

 

You are very welcome and I hope you have a wonderful cruise -- bon voyage! :)

[JudithLynne]

Hi Michell,

 

Thank you so much for all the info. We will be doing the same cruise on Aug. 10th. We did this cruise 2 years ago and loved it. My question is about Seward. Did HAL provide transportation to town for the B2B people? They did this on our previous cruise and it was a wonderful service. If not, what is available for transportation? Thanks so much……

 

Judith

[themerle]

Hi MichellP, When were the formal nights on your southbound portion of your cruise?