trip review - HAL/Westours #23 (Alaska)
hk
Just returned from our trip - June 15th thru June 27th.
Itinerary was:
Fairbanks
Denali
Anchorage
Alyeska
Cruise on the Statendam to College Fjord, Glacier Bay, Sitka, Juneau,
and Ketchikan
Disembark in Vancouver
HAL arranged our flights for us. I (age 43) was traveling with my mom
(age 81) and we got from Ft Lauderdale to Seattle on TWA with no
problems. The next fllight was on Alaska Air to Fairbanks, which gave
us a two hour layover in Seattle. The plane was delayed almost three
hours, stretching our stay in the Seattle airport to five hours. Alaska
Air did nothing - no apology, no offer of a cold soft drink, not even
enough seats at the gate for all the people who were waiting. It was
terrible. I went and got my mom a wheelchair just so she could have a
place to sit down (there were lots of them, so I didn’t take one away
from someone who really needed it) and I sat on the floor. We were
miserable after a full day of flying to run into this.
We finally got to Fairbanks at close to 11pm, Alaska time. Everyone
there got picked up for their tours (people going on Princess tours, and
some other smaller companies' tours) except us and one other couple who
were on our flight and were on the same Holland America tour as we
were. We were the only four people left in the airport, except for some
employees. No one came for us and no one was at the Holland America
desk. The brochure said that a Holland America representative would be
there to greet us. Finally a Princess tours representative felt bad
for us and called GreyLine (the people that were supposed to take us to
our hotel) and told them that we were there waiting and they came and
got us. We were not happy and were wondering what we were getting into.
The hotel was very nice. When we got there (after midnight), there was
a tour rep there, and she told us to be in the lobby at 7:45 the next
morning to leave for our tour at 8am. Since we didn't get to the hotel
until so late, we didn't go. It would have been nice had she told us
that we could go on a later tour, but she never mentioned it. We were
supposed to do two things in Fairbanks...the morning boat tour and an
afternoon tour of a Gold Dredge operation, but the tour went straight
from one to the other without returning to the hotel. So, we figured
that we missed both. We really didn't care. Fairbanks is a two-bit
town with really nothing much to see or do… Anyway, mom was in the
lobby and found out that we could still go on the gold dredge tour in
the afternoon...they told us what time to be down in the lobby and a bus
would come pick us up. It didn't. The hotel people at the front desk
called and called- the bus people kept saying they'd be there in five
minutes. Yea, right. About two hours later, the bus finally came.
Mom was really upset by now. The story we got was that about 300 people
arrived all at once at the airport and so all the busses got called to
go there rather than to the tours (gee, at least some people got picked
up at the airport). Well, we finally got to the gold dredge...it was
pretty boring, but there were some pretty flowers to take pictures of
and a neat gift shop. (we could pan for gold there, but I didn't want
to put my hands in the dirty water). On the way back to the hotel, we
stopped along the road, at a section of the Alaska Pipeline and learned
about it…very interesting.
Anyway, we had to get up early the next morning to catch a train for
Denali National Park. It was a luxury train - with comfy seats, a
bartender, a dining room, and a guide pointing out the sites. The ride
was pretty, but the train went really slow...it could have gotten us
there in half the time, but this way they could get more of our money
(they even sold souvenirs). The food was good, but greatly overpriced.
We had to give up our luggage and take only our carry-on to Denali
(while our luggage traveled to Anchorage), supposedly because there
wasn't enough room on the train for suitcases. This was very difficult
- making our carry-ons quite heavy and having to do without some of the
things we would have like to have had with us. They don't tell you this
part until after you pay for your trip.
It may have made us think twice.
We got to Denali in late afternoon, and checked into our hotel room at
the McKinley Village, which is on the south end of the park. (Most
people on the tour seemed to end up at the McKinley Chalets, at the
north end of the park). It was very nice, but rustic, with a great view
of a stream and mountains. At 5pm, we were scheduled to go on a tour on
a bus. The tour left from another park of the park, and there are
scheduled shuttles to take visitors to the various areas. Of course,
the shuttle was way off schedule, and if one of the guys who worked at
our hotel hadn't driven us, we would have missed the tour. It was
great there - and we saw lots of animals (from far away, of course).
The guide had a huge telescopic lens and a tripod and whenever we saw
animals, she stopped the bus and set it up and we got out and looked.
We saw Dall sheep on the cliffs, and also caribou, moose, and ptarmigan
(the state bird). The wildflowers were plentiful - evidently things had
just turned green about ten days earlier. It was raining during most of
the tour, but not too heavy.
The next morning, we had to leave to get back on the train to head for
Anchorage.
This was a train ride that was supposed to take all day...we weren't
going to get into Anchorage until evening. The train car we were
assigned to had half the air conditioning broken (so the back half of
the car was hot and the front was cold...our seats were in the middle,
so it was hot, but not as bad as for the people in the back). I later
learned that two other cars had broken air conditoning, too. A mechanic
was supposed to get on the train at one of the scheduled stops and ride
along while he fixed the air conditioning, but it turned out that he
never made it to the train station. Anyway, the ride got boring...after
seeing mountain after mountain and stream after stream they all start to
look alike. Mom and I had reading material along, and I also got some
sleep. Lots of other people did, too.
When we got to Anchorage, it was late. We checked into the Anchorage
Hilton, which has some sort of cooling system in some rooms but not real
air conditioning. The rooms were nice, as was the hotel - just what I'd
expect from a Hilton. We had to be up early the next morning for a
tour, so we couldn't do anything but have a quick bite to eat in the
hotel restaurant and go to sleep. The Anchorage city tour the next
morning showed us all the great stores we missed going to, and also
stopped at the Art and History Museum. It then took us to the Wild
Berry Chocolate Factory to see the chocolate waterfall (!) and to taste
the free samples :-) Lots of people bought candy in the gift shop. I
couldn't see dragging it with me in my luggage, but I signed up to be on
their catalog mailing list, so I'm sure I'll be buying some soon. We
were then on the way to the Alyeska Prince Hotel, which was gorgeous!!
It's a ski place in the winter, and the tram to the top of the mountain
is still operating (there's a restaurant up there). We got to the hotel
late, and had time for dinner in their restaurant (not the one on the
mountaintop) and some quick picture taking on the grounds (until the
droves of misquitoes came out), before we had to go to sleep to be up
early the next morning. It felt by now that we were being herded like
cattle. We’d get to places late and leave early the next morning –
really no time to see anything.
Sunday the 20th we headed for Seward, where we were to get on the cruise
ship. But, first we had two stops to make. The first was the Alaska
SeaLife Center…a place where they do research, but also have interesting
displays and big tanks (sort of like SeaWorld, but on a much smaller
scale) and of course, a neat giftshop. I wish we could have spent more
time there. After that we went on a boat trip thru the Kenai Fjords
(in the Kenai Fjords National Park). The boat was noisy and it was
almost impossible to hear what the guide was saying. It was cold
outside, but I spent most of my time there, taking pictures and seeing
whales (humpback, orcas, and fin whales), otters, and Steller’s sea
lions (sunning themselves on the rocks). There were also lots of
birds…puffins, cormorants, bald eagles (saw them all over Alaska, not
just here), murres, and others. We stopped at a glacier (I forget the
name of it) and then headed back. It was a very long boat ride.
When the boat trip was finished, they had us line up to get on the
busses that were to take us to the port. Trouble was, it was raining,
and we were waiting there in the rain. It was terrible that they didn’t
have some sort of shelter available. Everyone was complaining. We
finally got to the ship and had to wait in line to show our documents.
We were wet and tired and windblown from the boat ride – there was no
way mom was going to let the ship’s photographer get us – while he was
taking someone else’s picture, we walked right by and onto the ship (way
to go, Mom !!) When we got onto the ship, where, just like it says in
the brochure, someone escorted us right to our cabin (mom has been on
seven previous cruises on other lines and says that this has never been
done for her before). Our cabin (category E) was on the main deck (same
deck as the gangplank, which was convenient)... it was a decent size
with two small beds, a couch, chair, table, dresser, tv, and a nice size
window, which could have used some Windex. The drawer and closet space
were adequate, but we had to ask for extra hangars and all they could
come up with were wire ones.
The ship was pretty. We found our way around okay. The food was
okay…certainly plentiful in terms of being available in many different
places at all times of the day and night, but the portions in the dining
room were small. They had an ice cream bar that was only open a few
times aday for a few hours…but mom and I liked that the best. The
dining room was kind of snobby, and they assigned us a table for four,
along with another mother and daugher combo. Mostly we ate in the
cafeteria on the Lido deck, rather than in the dining room.
The first day’s attraction was College Fjord. We got there early in the
morning and didn’t stay too long. It was very pretty and also very cold
to be outside. This is the one place where I was glad that I had
brought my winter coat, hat, and gloves. Of course, I could have just
looked at it from inside, but I wanted to be somewhere that I could take
some good pictures.
The next day we went to Glacier Bay National Park. The star attraction
was Margerie Glacier, at which the ship stayed in front of for several
hours, moving around so that people on each side of the ship (the people
sitting inside) could see it. Mom and I were outside (it wasn’t that
cold) and there were Park Rangers on board, which made it very
interesting. The glacier was very actively calving. The ranger said
that she had never seen the glacier so active. It was incredible to
watch. Later, talking to people who had been on other cruises, I was
under the impression that the rangers say that (about never seeing the
glacier so active) on all the cruises.
Sitka is a little island with lots of shops. We just went around on our
own there - didn’t take a tour. There was a woman there driving a
little bus, who made a regular route to all the attractions every half
hour. For five dollars a person, we got a pass that was good all day.
That turned out to be a good deal, as we easily went from attraction to
attraction and then back into town to shop. We ended up at the Raptor
Center - a place where they rehabilitate eagles and other birds who have
been injured and release them back into the wild. We didn’t get to see
those birds, because they don’t want them to have human contact (as much
as possible)…but the birds on display are ones who will never be able to
survive in the wild and are living at the raptor center permanently.
There was also a visitors center in Sitka, with lots of totem poles
around. We ate lunch at a little place in town – the food was fine but
the service was terrible. The weather in Sitka was warm and sunny – a
beautiful day !!
By this time, I had come down with what I thought was a cold, but what I
now know to be the Alaskan flu. I’m sure you’ve mentioned this in the
group already, but honestly, I’ve been too sick to follow the group
since I’ve been back. I still have it, and have never been this sick
from a flu before. Mom got it two days after I did, but she had a flu
shot this year, so her symptoms were pretty mild. Anyway, the ship’s
store didn’t sell cold medicines – they suggested a trip to the
infirmary- but we went to a pharmacy in Juneau and bought some
over-the-counter cold stuff.
In Juneau, we took the HAL city tour. There is also, lots of great
shopping right near the pier (of course). Our tour took us out to the
Mendenhall Glacier, and the walkway there takes you to within a half
mile of it. It was beautiful ! We also got a tour of the Salmon
Hatchery. But, there were no salmon hatching, even tho we did get to
see some adults. They had gorgeous aquarium tanks with lots of
sealife. The day we were in Juneau it was bright and sunny and temps in
the 70s !!! I was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, but it was very hot in
the sun – if I had had shorts with me, I would have put them on.
Ketchikan was my favorite place - the shopping was great !!!!!!! There
were stores with the usual t-shirts and postcards, but also great
jewelry shops and sculpture, etc.
We shopped along Creek Street and also in the shops near the pier. We
didn’t take a tour or anything – just spent the day walking around. I
wish we could have stayed longer. It was warm and sunny there, too.
The day we came home we left from Vancouver airport. So, we had to fill
out customs forms on the ship to have ready to turn in at the port when
we left the ship. A bus then took us to the airport (after a LONG wait
in line) at which time we had to fill out a US customs form because we
were going to go back into the US. Anyway, our plane left on time -
sort of. They evidently only have one runway there, or so it seemed… so
after leaving the gate, we sat in line behind about six other planes to
take off, and I could see from the window that there were about eight
planes in line behind us. We took off about a half hour after the
scheduled time, but made good time in the air. We made it to Ft
Lauderdale at 2am Monday, after a two hour delay in Detroit. So ended
the adventure.
Helene
hk-m...@ix.netcom.com