Alaskan cruise - Holland America

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scd88
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7:10p, 8/23/24
AG
Backstory:

Ive been on 4 HA cruises; all work rewards for sales stuff when I was with State Farm. So, the entire ship was State Farm agents, field leadership, and their families.

Of those 4 , 2 have been Alaskan cruises out of Seattle and back. This was 17-18 years ago, if not more.

On to this one I just took...

Family trip with cousins and in-laws. They wanted an Alaskan cruise and I suggested HA as I've had good experiences with them. We picked a cruise that left out of Vancouver on a Sunday, stopped in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway. It also cruised through Glacier Bay.

Jmac booked this for me and that helped a lot with logistics. Thanks again, JMac.

I freaking loved it. Most of my family extended into a 3 day Denali trip, but my wife and I needed to get home so we passed.

Food was pretty good, but that applies to eating in the dining room at the back of the ship where you are seated and have a wait staff. The buffet stuff was OK, but not my thing.

I bought the drink and WiFi package. Highly suggest that. That includes an 18% gratuity but I still left $1 per drink in cash. The drink package includes Cokes and specialty coffee, but I still never came close to hitting my 15 per day limit.

Cabins were clean, water pressure good in the bathroom. Cabin attendants were excellent. I left them an additional $20 each.

Views were ridiculous. Even though this was my third time, Alaska never gets old. The glaciers were phenomenal and the captain/local pilot got us pretty close to them in Glacier Bay and College Fjord.

Stops were OK. The touristy ships are the same at each place. We only did one excursion to the Mendenhall Glacier at the Juneau stop. It was fun and a nice easy hike/walk day.

The cruise attendees were mostly mature folks; very few kids. School having just started may have played a role here, too. Pretty chill environment on the ship.

I'm leaving out details, I'm sure, but just thought I'd pass along a few thoughts. I loved it. I know, I know, cruising can be dorky but it was a lot of fun. I love that you don't have to constantly pack and unpack your stuff - your hotel room moves with you! lol.

Would do again, actually. Even Alaska, although a cruise through the Panama Canal would be bad ass. I'm gonna do a Viking river cruise at some point in Europe, too.

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JMac03
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8:21a, 8/24/24
AG
Thanks for the shoutout! I'm so glad you had a great time. I appreciate the repeat business.
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redaszag99
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5:14p, 8/24/24
I did a HA Mediterranean cruise about 10 years ago and it was the best cruise experience I have had. Food was very good.
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Col. Steve Austin
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8:35p, 8/24/24
AG
Good timing on the trip post. My wife and I are looking into going next year on HA. Never been to Alaska. Have cruised 3 times on Royal Caribbean, twice out of Galveston and once out of Miami. We prefer to go when kids are in school and on a smaller ship. The last cruise was on Oasis of the Sea and that's just too big. More things to do but we had trouble getting into some of the small venues due to the number of other folks that had the same interests. Food in the main dining was good to excellent along with being plentiful (order as many sides, entrees and desserts as you want per person). We always had great service in main dining. We would sometimes do the buffet for breakfast or lunch for the convenience, but it's basically Golden Corral at sea. We get the drink package and make thorough use of it LOL.
I am not the Six Million Dollar Man, but I might need that surgery. "We have the technology, we can rebuild him!"
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JMac03
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In reply to Col. Steve Austin • 8:54p, 8/24/24
AG
Col. Steve Austin said:
Good timing on the trip post. My wife and I are looking into going next year on HA. Never been to Alaska. Have cruised 3 times on Royal Caribbean, twice out of Galveston and once out of Miami. We prefer to go when kids are in school and on a smaller ship. The last cruise was on Oasis of the Sea and that's just too big. More things to do but we had trouble getting into some of the small venues due to the number of other folks that had the same interests. Food in the main dining was good to excellent along with being plentiful (order as many sides, entrees and desserts as you want per person). We always had great service in main dining. We would sometimes do the buffet for breakfast or lunch for the convenience, but it's basically Golden Corral at sea. We get the drink package and make thorough use of it LOL.


For Alaska your two best options are Princess and Holland. They are better than your average mass market cruise line. They are two of the three cruise lines that actually can stop in Glacier Bay, and they have priority over the other one, which is Norwegian.

I would be happy to provide you a quote for what you're looking for if needed. Sometimes I can find better pricing as I have access to groups or other amenities.
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Mathguy64
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9:19p, 8/24/24
AG
I've done this same cruise and itinerary on the Royal Princess. It is an amazing time.
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AgOutsideAustin
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7:48a, 8/25/24
AG
Another vote for Holland America to Alaska, loved it.
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scd88
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In reply to JMac03 • 8:01a, 8/25/24
AG
JMac03 said:
Col. Steve Austin said:
Good timing on the trip post. My wife and I are looking into going next year on HA. Never been to Alaska. Have cruised 3 times on Royal Caribbean, twice out of Galveston and once out of Miami. We prefer to go when kids are in school and on a smaller ship. The last cruise was on Oasis of the Sea and that's just too big. More things to do but we had trouble getting into some of the small venues due to the number of other folks that had the same interests. Food in the main dining was good to excellent along with being plentiful (order as many sides, entrees and desserts as you want per person). We always had great service in main dining. We would sometimes do the buffet for breakfast or lunch for the convenience, but it's basically Golden Corral at sea. We get the drink package and make thorough use of it LOL.


For Alaska your two best options are Princess and Holland. They are better than your average mass market cruise line. They are two of the three cruise lines that actually can stop in Glacier Bay, and they have priority over the other one, which is Norwegian.

I would be happy to provide you a quote for what you're looking for if needed. Sometimes I can find better pricing as I have access to groups or other amenities.


The Galcier Bay day on the boat was my favorite day. The scenery was fantastic.
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AgOutsideAustin
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In reply to scd88 • 12:06p, 8/25/24
AG
We arrived at Glacier Bay around 9 am and we were out on deck watching a glacier calve then out comes a waiter with a tray (6) of beers. Of course my brother in law and I said we will take those and drank cold ones at 9 am looking at the glacier.
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Aggie87
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1:48p, 8/25/24
AG
We did Holland America back in the summer of 2022. But we did the opposite direction of the OP, and we did the land portion as well. For me that direction worked better, if you want to include the land portion.

We started in Fairbanks, explored the Chena River, the Indian Village and sled dogs, then bussed down to the Denali area and spent a few days there. Denali National Park is wonderful, though the park road was closed at about the half way point, because of a landslide. I don't know if that's been resolved yet or not. We saw caribou/reindeer, Dall sheep, and moose in side the park.

We also Jeeped about 100 miles down the Denali Highway, a dirt road that was the original access road to the national park.

Then a 9 hour train ride down to Anchorage. That was an amazing experience, in dome cars so you could see all about and over you. Mountains, rivers, moose all around.

After a night in Anchorage (visiting old friends who live there now, and also seeing an Aggie flag draped over someone's backyard fence), we trained down to Whittier and started the cruise portion of the trip on the MS Noordam.

Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay Nat'l Park (we saw porpoises, seals, otters, grizzly bears, sea lions, bald eagles, and humpback whales), Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, and ending in Vancouver.

I liked this sequence because it was nice to do the land activities, and then end the trip on the ship with a more relaxed pace, without worrying about your bags catching up to you or making it to the ship. We did outings at each stop and enjoyed all of them.
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Col. Steve Austin
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5:39p, 8/28/24
AG
So, we're booking a May 2025 trip on Holland America with JMac03. We chose the 11-day Signature Denali cruise. We will fly into Vancouver for the cruise up to Whittier on the Neuw Amsterdam, then a 9-hour train ride to Denali with 3 nights in the Holland America Denali Lodge. Then bus back to Anchorage for our return flight to Houston.

I've been going over the itinerary and looking at the excursions and really getting pumped for this trip!
I am not the Six Million Dollar Man, but I might need that surgery. "We have the technology, we can rebuild him!"
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JMac03
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In reply to Col. Steve Austin • 6:40p, 8/28/24
AG
Col. Steve Austin said:
So, we're booking a May 2025 trip on Holland America with JMac03. We chose the 11-day Signature Denali cruise. We will fly into Vancouver for the cruise up to Whittier on the Neuw Amsterdam, then a 9-hour train ride to Denali with 3 nights in the Holland America Denali Lodge. Then bus back to Anchorage for our return flight to Houston.

I've been going over the itinerary and looking at the excursions and really getting pumped for this trip!
THANK YOU for booking with me!
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scd88
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In reply to Col. Steve Austin • 10:57p, 8/28/24
AG
Col. Steve Austin said:
So, we're booking a May 2025 trip on Holland America with JMac03. We chose the 11-day Signature Denali cruise. We will fly into Vancouver for the cruise up to Whittier on the Neuw Amsterdam, then a 9-hour train ride to Denali with 3 nights in the Holland America Denali Lodge. Then bus back to Anchorage for our return flight to Houston.

I've been going over the itinerary and looking at the excursions and really getting pumped for this trip!


Awesome.
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Col. Steve Austin
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In reply to JMac03 • 11:19a, 8/29/24
AG
JMac - you're welcome!
I am not the Six Million Dollar Man, but I might need that surgery. "We have the technology, we can rebuild him!"
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aggiebrad94
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2:31p, 8/29/24
AG
Quote:
We picked a cruise that left out of Vancouver on a Sunday, stopped in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway. It also cruised through Glacier Bay.


Got to do the same exact trip at the end of May. We actually ate more at the buffet than the dining room. We thought the Asian flare was outstanding. One of the young servers asked my wife's name on the 2nd day and called her by it the rest of the week. We got a picture with her the last day.

We got the drink package as well but didn't come close to the 15. With coffee and afternoon / dinner drinks it was worth it.
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Col. Steve Austin
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In reply to aggiebrad94 • 11:49a, 8/31/24
AG
aggiebrad94 said:
Quote:
We picked a cruise that left out of Vancouver on a Sunday, stopped in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway. It also cruised through Glacier Bay.


Got to do the same exact trip at the end of May. We actually ate more at the buffet than the dining room. We thought the Asian flare was outstanding. One of the young servers asked my wife's name on the 2nd day and called her by it the rest of the week. We got a picture with her the last day.

We got the drink package as well but didn't come close to the 15. With coffee and afternoon / dinner drinks it was worth it.
We've watched a few videos reviewing a couple of the Holland America ships and I will say the buffet food looked much more appetizing than what was available on Royal Caribbean.
I am not the Six Million Dollar Man, but I might need that surgery. "We have the technology, we can rebuild him!"
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