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Name: Alan Roehl
Email: akr@pacifier.com
Age: 54
Occupation: Electrical Engineer
NumberOfCruises: 3
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Holland-Maasdam
SailingDate: August 10, 1998
Itinerary: Alaska - Inside Passage
FoodDiningRoom: 92
CruiseDirector: 86
CabinComfort: 96
FoodRoomService: 86
CruiseStaff: 92
CabinAmenities: 98
FoodLidoDeck: 88
DiningRoomService: 86
CabinQuietness: 93
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 92
ShoreExcVariety: 96
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue: 87
GoodForHoneymoon: 85
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 90
LoungeService: 78
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors: 92
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 89
WheelchairAccess: 90
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 92
OverallPortsofCall: 95
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside:
CruiseActivities: 93
Casino: 80
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 92
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 92
Stabilization:
ShopsOnBoard:
SpaceRatio: 92
OverallCruiseValue: 93
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 20 Aug 1998
Time: 23:01:59
Remote Name: 206.163.57.227
Remote User:
Comments
This cruise was the direct result of e-mail discussions last year
between my former college roommate and me. He was planning to
retire at the beginning
of August this year, so we decided to celebrate with an Alaska
cruise. He and his wife live in Texas, and even before this
year's heat wave, they knew
that an Alaska cruise in August would be just the ticket.
Because my wife and I had been on a couple of prior cruises
(including one Alaska cruise), I offered to make most of the
arrangements. I started by
getting brochures from my travel agent for those cruise lines who
do the Alaska route. We quickly decided upon the inside passage
itinerary and that we
wanted to include Glacier Bay. This narrowed the choice to a
manageable number of possibilities. After studying the deck plans
of several ships, we
decided to request verandah cabins on the ms Maasdam. In order to
maximize our ability to view Glacier Bay from our cabins, we
requested the aft most
cabins (205 and 220). The verandahs for these cabins offer not
only a view off to the side of the ship but also a view to the
rear. With one couple taking
the starboard side of the ship and the other couple the port, we
were certain of having one of the cabins provide a sweeping view
of Glacier Bay.
Fortunately, we made our reservations early enough to get
assigned to these cabins.
As our August 10 sailing date drew near, my wife and I drove to
Vancouver where we spent two wonderful nights prior to the
cruise. We stayed at a
lovely bed and breakfast (West End Guest House) that is within
easy walking distance of downtown Vancouver. It even has a couple
of bicycles available
for use by the guests. With the nice weather we took advantage of
the situation and rode the bicycles around the seawall in Stanley
Park. On the day of
our embarkation for the cruise, we drove our car to Canada Place.
We used a parking service (approximately $50 for the week) to
handle the parking
while we were on the cruise. So far, so good.
When I opened the trunk to unload our bags, a longshoreman
grabbed the bags and smashed them onto the concrete sidewalk. We
had packed two
bottles of a special 1990 Burgundy in one of the bags, and one of
the bottles broke as the bag hit the concrete. Several other
items in the bag rapidly
became soaked with the wine. A representative from HAL arrived on
the scene a few minutes later and helped us clean up. Needless to
say, it wasn't the
start we had hoped for.
Meanwhile, our friends from Dallas had flown to Seattle to spend
a couple of nights with their kids prior to the cruise. They took
the HAL transfer bus from
Seattle to Vancouver. Due to heavy traffic, their bus got them to
Canada Place about the time the lifeboat drill began. So they too
were also a bit anxious
as we got underway.
As the Maasdam pulled away from the terminal, things started to
look better. We stood on one of the upper decks for the departure
from Vancouver.
Going under the Lions Gate bridge and then watching the lights of
Vancouver disappear in the distance provided a very romantic
setting.
In our cabin there was a card that told us we were assigned to
table 22 (second sitting). So as the 8:00 PM hour approached, we
began to wonder what
our dining arrangement would be like. As it turned out, there was
no reason to worry. Table 22 is a four person table right next to
a huge window on the
port side. The windows in the Maasdam dining room are huge
compared to those found in many other ships. We ended up having
an intoxicating view
every evening while eating dinner. Perhaps the wines we enjoyed
with our dinners also helped just a bit also.
The food was delicious and included a reasonable amount of
variety from evening to evening. Our waiter had some trouble
communicating with us, but we
eventually got what we wanted most of the time. The wine steward
was quite friendly and we certainly enjoyed kidding with him.
When he opened the first
of two great bottles of wine that our travel agent arranged for
us, he claimed that he was her niece. He made sure we knew about
the HAL wine
navigator program (any 4 bottles from a two page list for $56)
and helped us with our selections. He was even generous enough to
serve our one
remaining bottle of 1990 Burgundy without fussing with a corkage
fee.
Our cabins were very spacious. In fact they were the largest we
have ever had on a cruise. There was plenty of room in the
closets to hang all of our
clothes. The bathrooms include a whirlpool bath, so we took a
whirlpool bath each morning of the cruise. As mentioned before,
the verandahs on the
rear most cabins on each side curve around such that they provide
good viewing to either the side and to the rear. The only
negative feature is that
some of the crew use the rear section of the verandah deck as a
smoking lounge, and the smoke sometimes would infiltrate our
verandah area.
The first day was at sea. We encountered some rain, but it didn't
dampen our spirits as we spent most of the day getting familiar
with the ship and just
relaxing. We went to the showroom in the afternoon to hear a very
enlightening presentation by the ship's naturalist.
The second day was spent at Juneau and the sun was shining. My
wife and I took the float trip down the Mendenhall river. There
are only about two or
three minutes worth of rapids, but it was still a worthwhile
excursion. The views of the glacier are splendid (especially
considering it was a sunny day). Our
friends from Dallas took the city tour and said it was quite
informative and enjoyable.
The third day we arrived in Skagway. It was drizzling a bit as we
arrived, but soon cleared up. As we ate breakfast, we saw two
bald eagles perched on
large rocks just a few yards away from the ship. We didn't opt
for any of the excursions in Skagway. Instead, we stopped by the
park service
headquarters and took a walking tour of the town. Skagway is
quite small, and you will probably see and learn a lot more from
this free walking tour then
you could get from a coach tour. After lunch we decided to take
the short hike to Lower Dewey lake. Part way up the trail we were
treated to a nice view
of the town and cruise ships below us. We followed the trail
around the lake before returning. With three cruise ships in
port, the White Pass Summit
Railroad appeared to be quite crowded, and we were glad to find a
place to escape from the crowds while getting a good glimpse of
the countryside.
The fourth day was spent in Glacier Bay. It was sunny all the
time we were there. What a sight it is. With the port side of the
ship facing the glaciers, our
friends and us congregated on our verandah to take in all the
splendor. Our cameras clicked and whirred as we marveled at all
the shades of blue that
were made visible by the sunny day. A couple of grizzly bears
entertained us along the shore for awhile. From our verandah we
were able to clearly
hear the Park Service Rangers who boarded the ship for our time
in Glacier Bay. As we started to leave, we felt really lucky that
we were some of the very
few who actually get to see Glacier Bay and even fewer who see it
on a sunny day.
On our fifth day, we arrived at Ketchikan at mid morning. We had
booked the 'best of Ketchikan and Misty Fjords flightseeing'
excursion using the on
board excursion office. With sunny weather once again, it turned
out to be another fabulous experience. The 1000-foot waterfalls
and sheer granite
walls in Misty Fjords are so stunning that it is difficult to
describe them in words. There were even some mountain goats and a
bear to be seen. Our
floatplane landed on lake Manzoni and we were allowed to step out
on the pontoons to experience the quiet solitude of the location.
On our return we
stopped to tour the now defunct George Inlet cannery (in case you
didn't know, Ketchikan is known as the salmon capital of the
world). We also made a
photo stop at the Saxman village totem pole site.
Our sixth day was again at sea, and we arrived back to a rainy
Vancouver at 7:00 AM on the morning of our seventh day. We didn't
get wet however,
because we were able to disembark, retrieve our luggage, go
through customs and load up our car and drive away while being
under cover all the way.
This was certainly a memorable and enjoyable trip. It was the
first time we had ever traveled with another couple, and since it
was such a great
experience, we are already thinking about where to go next. The
question is, could anything possibly equal or beat our Alaska
cruise?
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