Table Of Content
With more than 20 animal sanctuaries and sightseeing excursions, we bring you closer to creatures great and small. Learn about the Big Five and other amazing animals you might spot. Cross Alaska’s massive ice shelves, crystal fjords, and fascinating marine wildlife off your bucket list with itineraries that conveniently depart from Seattle and Vancouver. Enjoy perks such as privileged access to Glacier Bay National Park and prime docking locations that give you a head start on sightseeing. Discover top restaurants with playgrounds in San Antonio! Enjoy local cuisine while your kids play in safe, fun-filled areas.
Visiting Alaska's Denali National Park
We stayed for a couple hours in perfect conditions for people to wander the decks and take hundreds of photos. It was a spectacular experience, especially for those seeing the real raw Alaskan beauty for the first time. It carries just 2,100 passengers, making it relatively tiny when compared with the giant megaships that have greatly expanded the options for cruisers in recent years. Stop by the professionally staffed Fitness Center equipped with the latest cardio and weight machines. Try one of our classes on indoor cycling, Pilates and more or work out at your own pace. You can also head out for fresh air and exercise on deck, where you'll find basketball and volleyball courts, and two refreshing pools (available on select ships).
Standby Cruising: A New Option for Bargain Seekers - The New York Times
Standby Cruising: A New Option for Bargain Seekers.
Posted: Fri, 05 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Dining & Onboard Activities
Included in your price is the option of an assigned dining time or a flexible time in the main dining room. Those who choose a set dining time are given tables on the third deck, while those with flexible times are seated on the second. Princess has long been heralded as one of the best cruise lines for multigenerational travel, in part because its ships offer a little something for travelers of all ages. An all-day rain did not stop us from exploring Alaska’s capital city of 30,000. Our ship docked within steps of Mount Roberts Tramway, where cable cars ascend 1,800 feet up the steep mountain.
Signature Suite
Or sidle up to Hubbard Glacier and watch house-sized icebergs cannon into the sea. Glaciers, wildlife and frontier towns are yours on these voyages. Are you an already booked guest with Holland America Line? For booked guests, please see our travel planning details on how to book an airport transfer. For more information, visit our hotel packages and pre- or post-travel arrangements.
Day Alaska Explorer
I booked my Alaskan cruise, and as I scoured the internet for information, I read that HAL cruises were for “older” people. This wasn’t true on a mid-July sailing out of the Port of Seattle. That'll depend on your personal interests and travel style because there are cruises from Seattle that appeal to everyone, including family travelers, budget travelers and retirees. Westerdam is also a slightly smaller ship than Eurodam, and as a result, its demographics on any given sailing are more likely to skew toward a retired crowd.
If that is not enough time in Alaska, add a land package to your cruise to visit Denali National Park. We often saw ships from Royal Caribbean International, Norwegian Cruise Line, Carnival Cruise Line, and Princess Cruises in our ports. Even though the other cruise lines were in the same Alaskan ports, our ship had prime docking spots.
Convenient Alaska Cruise Departure Ports
I saw lines outside Tracy’s King Crab Shack, Red Dog Saloon and The Hangar as I headed down the pier to meet a friend for dinner and drinks at Twisted Fish. Enjoy complimentary lessons, tournaments, and courts with amazing top-deck views. Explore the vast interior and the rugged coast on one amazing trip. Alaska cruisetours combine the iconic Alaska cruise with a voyage into Denali National Park and the Yukon Territory. Our Alaska cruise departure ports have big personalities and loads of attractions.
Stations include breads, salads (a menu of creations are available or create your own), a carving stations, pastas, tacos, fruits and vegetables and potatoes. Cruisers will find plenty of good options at the included restaurants, as well. Tamarind ($29) and Nami Sushi (a la carte pricing) are two eateries in the same complex with perhaps the best views for any meal experience on Eurodam. I have been to Ketchikan on a number of Alaska cruises, so this time, I tried something different. I picked HAL’s Kart Adventure Expedition, a thrilling outing operated by Kawanti Adventures that lets us drive military-grade off-road vehicles through the muddy rainforest.
This website tracks the best prices for all cruise lines, and offers cruise reviews, and other helpful cruise tips. Nearly a dozen major cruise ships operate Alaska cruises out of Seattle during the summer months, giving cruisers plenty of choice. We recommend the Sugarcane Mojito Bar on Norwegian Bliss. There, the bartender will muddle your mojitos with raspberry, guava, passion fruit or even jalapeno pepper to spice things up when you're sitting with your new solo friends. Yes, the 3,998-passenger Norwegian Encore is a cruise ship that generally caters to the masses, not the luxury crowd.
Still, you can get a variation on a luxury cruise experience on a voyage to Alaska from Seattle on Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Encore. We suspect the lower starting prices for Holland America ships as compared to Carnival ships on Alaska sailings out of Seattle is because Alaska cruises from Seattle are round-trip voyages. Many Holland America fans who cruise to Alaska choose a one-way voyage to or from the state that lets them add extra days for touring in Alaska at the start or end of the voyage. Such one-way voyages only are available out of Vancouver, British Columbia. Alaska cruise tours with Holland America allow you to visit the spectacular coast of our state by large cruise ship in style. Aboard a Holland America Alaska cruise you’ll sail with the finest premium fleet in Alaska.
That's because it's not the Alaska voyages from Seattle offered by the North American cruise line best known for budget sailings — Carnival Cruise Line. However, keep in mind that Alaska can be chilly, even at the height of summer, and rainy, too. Holland America Line is one of the privileged few to cruise the pristine waters of Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve, a 23-million-acre ever-changing biosphere with glaciers, inlets, rivers, and wildlife galore. Experts are brought onboard to uncover the stories and science behind every sight. Offered once per cruise, all dishes on the Alaska Brunch menu in the Dining Room were created with the influence of fresh, local Alaskan and Pacific Northwest ingredients. Besides traditional Bingo, casino, dance lessons and swimming pools, Westerdam offered Windows technology and group cooking classes which Rob and I attended.
The HAL employee didn’t try to upsell us into a pricey sunset cruise; instead, she encouraged us to walk into the city independently. It ended up being a lovely time in Victoria without an excursion. My best advice is to read the excursion itinerary carefully. A pass by the Mendenhall Glacier does not mean the same as a visit to the Mendenhall Glacier. Walking around the port on the last night of our cruise in this beautiful city was a beautiful way to end the trip. For a more casual dining experience, the Lido Market is open often.
The Retreat cabanas can be reserved for $50 on port days and $85 for at-sea days. You can access the thermal spa and warming loungers throughout the cruise for a flat fee. On our cruise, the cost was $169 per person for seven days. If interested, pre-purchase or book on the first day of embarkation.
Then, it was two miles of cycling back to our starting point. I hopped on the bus back to Sitka Sound cruise port to have lunch at the restaurant Halibut Point Crab & Lobster, located right at the pier. I chatted with others who had a good time at a whale watching and salmon bake tour and some who took float plane rides — with reports of sightings of bears and orcas. Eurodam pulled into Disenchantment Bay to see the large glacier that sits within the Wrangell-St.
No comments:
Post a Comment