Volendam in Alaska June 1-15, Excursion Review

[CC Help Michell]

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

 

I don't know if there was HAL transport or not, actually, since we took the Kenai Fjords Tours trip and their van picked us up at the pier in Seward. Sorry I couldn't help with that one. :(

[CC Help Michell]

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

 

Southbound we had formal nights on day 2 (College Fjord) and day 5 (Juneau). I assume they did it that way because day 6 (the usual second formal night) we were in Ketchikan fairly late -- until 8 PM. Hope that helps!

[vbmom87]

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.

 

Great Review Michelle. We just got back on the red eye, but I had to check out CC to catch up since we've been gone. We had a great trip. It will be awhile before I will have time to put together a summary. Much has happened at home since we left and I have a lot to tend to.

 

We did make the 9:00 a.m. Adventure Bound Tracy Arm tour, as the Volendam did arrive at 8:00 a.m. instead of 7:00a.m. There are some serious communication issues on that ship. The daily program we received the night before did say we would be arriving in Juneau at 8:00 a.m. I placed a call to the front desk about it and they told me they usually arrive at 7:00 a.m. I asked if she could check with the bridge, but she just kept saying that the ship usually arrives at seven. When we woke up we checked the TV for the ship report and it stated that we would arrive at 7:00 a.m. Just like you, we arrived at 8:00 a.m. We discovered that the ship reports on the TV were not updated. They just always told us what the original itinerary stated and not any updates. The College Fjords viewing time was also changed from the original schedule, yet the TV still had the original times. I suggest you make sure you always read the daily schedule they provide. That was the most accurate information.

 

As far as the Adventure Bound Tracy Arm tour, it was the highlight of the trip for both my DH and myself. As many of you know, I debated this excursion long and hard. We were so glad we went on it. In spite of it raining for most of the trip, it was just one fabulous outing. I will tell more about it in my trip summary.