Holland America Line cruise from Vancouver, B.C., to Seward, AK, followed by a land tour of Anchorage, Fairbanks and Denali National Park. The tour was arranged and guided by those wonderful travel agents, Carol and Jerry Reynolds, American & International Travel Services, Inc.
Our ship was the MS Veendam which had its maiden voyage in 1996. Cruise capacity 1,266 guests, ten passenger decks, gross tonnage 55,451 tons, and length 720 feet. Although we were on the MS Veendam, the Alaska State Ferries run regular service up and down the inside passage. Except when we went out to Sitka and we had good weather, this ship had less roll and pitch than any I have ever been on. I suppose they are all that way now--simply a luxury floating hotel. The picture of the Veendam with the Vancouver skyline is from the Holland America brochure.
Pam and I signed up for the two-day pre-cruise tour of Vancouver and Victoria, B.C., so our trip began Friday, 8 Jun 2001, flying from Reagan National Airport to Vancouver. We had a beautiful room in the Pan Pacific Hotel, right on the waterfront docks where our ship departed. Through the window you can see the Vancouver harbor and one of the cruise ships docked. The Veendam was docked on the other side of the pier.
On Saturday, 9 Jun, we took a motorcoach/ferry across the Strait of Georgia, through the Gulf Islands to Victoria, B.C. There we toured the beautiful Butchart Gardens. Mrs. Butchart wanted to make something of the abandoned limestone quarry the family owned. She spent years researching, hauling in topsoil and planting. Finally the family opened it to the public.
Returning to Victoria, we had a couple of hours to explore the downtown area before we boarded our motorcoach for the return to the ferry and Vancouver.
On Sunday, 10 Jun, we were given a motorcoach tour of Vancouver before returning to the docks and boarding the Veendam for a 5pm depature. Because our travel agent had taken groups on Holland America Line previously, she was given an upgrade to the veranda deck for the whole group. As a result, we had a beautiful stateroom with a private veranda on the starboard side--important when you are going North to Alaska. The small yellow triangle in the center of the picture is on the other side of Vancouver harbor. As we got closer we realized that the yellow triangle was about 50 feet high—sulphur—piled up by a conveyer. When we took the harbor cruise, the captain described it as "McDonald's scrambled egg powder."
Monday, 11 Jun, we were at sea making our way to Ketchikan.
Tuesday, 12 Jun, arrive in Ketchikan at 7am. We had most of the day to see Ketchikan, departing at 3pm.
Wednesday, 13 Jun, arrive in Juneau at 8am.
We had the whole day to explore Juneau, departing at 6pm under a beautiful sunset.
A great book on the inside passage is "Passage To Juneau," by Jonathan Raban, (www.vintagebooks.com).
In Juneau we had time for a Kayak trip to see one of the glaciers. We were taken by bus to the shore of a fjord where we were required to put on rubber boots, rubber pull-over pants and jackets, then a life-preserver on top of that--no exceptions--except for our leader who had on shorts and sandals. Thanks to Pam's keen observations we had a wonderful time on the water. Pam saw how the other two-somes were struggling, crossing paddles, going in circles, so she quickly decided she could help the most by not putting her paddle in the water. She was right.
(I should point out that, while this was my first time in a real kayak, Ed is an experienced amature kayaker, and the water was smooth as glass. He clearly had this kayak thing under control. -Pam)
Thursday, 14 Jun, arrive in Sitka at 8am. We were taken to and from the ship in tenders which are seen in the picture.
While we were here we went on the "Otter Quest" boat tour where we saw many seals, sea otters and a couple of whales. The captain said it was "just" calm enough to make it to one of the western-most islands where we saw sea lions on the rocks. It was a bouncy ride.
After leaving Sitka at 6pm we had an unscheduled stop at Yakutat in order to transfer someone with a serious medical problem for airvac to Anchorage.
There were a couple of days when it was sunny and warm enough that they opened the sun-roof over the pool.
Friday, 15 Jun, at sea spending a couple of hours cruising the Hubbard Glacier in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park--then overnight to Valdez. As we were approaching the glacier there were many great photo ops so I kept snapping pictures, not wanting to miss a good shot. But the ship just kept getting closer and closer and a couple of times the captain rotated the ship 360° so everyone would have a perfect view of the glacier and the "berger bits." (The propulsion system on the ship allows it to move sideways to or from a pier and to rotate 360° without moving forward or aft.) Then when we left the bay it was through a narrow passage between the glacier and an island, so we got even closer and took yet more pictures. They must be in cahoots with the film producers.
Saturday, 16 Jun, at 7am, arrive in Valdez, the southern terminus of the Alaska Pipeline. The picture was taken from the Valdez harbor tour boat with the Veendam in the background. In March 1964, an earthquake and massive tital waves destroyed Valdez in four minutes. It caused the land to ripple and a 4,000-foot piece of waterfront to collapse into the harbor. Residents decided to rebuild the city at a new sight, four miles from the old town, with more stable ground. Then the city had to contend with the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.
Departing Valdez at 12pm the ship toured College Fjord which is the home of many glaciers; then overnight cruise to Seward.
Sunday, 17 Jun, arrive in Seward at 8am where we met our land-tour guide.
