Jeannine Cantin
cantin2@optonline.net
Itinerary:
13-Day Yukon Cruise Tour
Sailing Date: August 3rd, 2007
Occupation: Travel Professional
Number of Cruises: over 35
YUKON CRUISE TOUR ON
HOLLAND AMERICA’S ZUIDERDAM
The
Cruise:
The Zuiderdam was enjoyable –
good service, many balconies (ours even had a tub), food
better than I expected in the dining room. Meal times were
very short. We missed lunch the first day because we didn’t
pay attention to our daily schedule. The pool grill or room
service then become your only options. The buffet food was
typical – mass prepared early and kept warm but there were
lots of choices, including their renowned Bread Pudding that
it served at every lunch. The room service menu was quite
limited and took about ½ hour to arrive. Since this ship
cruises Alaska, the main pool had a retractable dome and all
pools were heated. I found the dress very casual on the
Alaska cruise. On formal night very few gowns or tuxedos
were seen – cocktail dresses and sport jackets were the
norm.
A
disappointment was the quiet nights – hardly and gamblers,
no one danced anywhere, the shows were mediocre and the
musicians and singers in the small rooms took lots of breaks
and for more than a few minutes – a half hour at a time -
usually causing the few guests to slowly dissipate. This was
probably due to the early morning arrival in ports with so
much to do. Excursions started at 7AM and on cruising at sea
days, one wanted to be on deck at 5AM to see the whales
feeding – so I guess that means "early to bed".
The Tour:
The Yukon is a vast territory – distances between towns are
long – translating into lots of time on coaches. Our tour
guide and driver guides were young, enthusiastic,
knowledgeable, well trained, informative and best of all –
entertaining. We learned about bears, eagles, forest fires,
glaciers, saw a Gold Rush movie, were entertained with
jokes, juggling, singing and poetry – all excellent…..Guess
I was really impressed !!...It did make the trip go by
quickly. The driver guides do a commentary whenever we
travel past something of interest – Ours happened to have a
major in theatre Arts – Such an actor – Added enjoyment for
sure.
The Holland
America coaches are new for 2007 – very comfortable. First
of all they are decorated with paintings of animals – moose,
bear or eagle in shades of blue, green or yellow. It’s easy
to pick out which coach is yours when at a tourist stop. All
have leather reclining seats with footrest, drink holder and
head phones. Unobstructed views for everyone through large
windows. They are equipped with "new technology" see-through
shades to filter the sun or to shade the reflection
especially welcomed when watching the drop down TV’s and
bathrooms are appreciated on trips as long as these.
Frequent stops are made every couple of hours to stretch
your legs, have a snack or lunch, Kodak moments and even for
the "compulsory" gift shop stops.
Hotels:
These were somewhat of a surprise to me…..Not that I hadn’t
read about it….It’s right in the brochures – "we will
provide the best accommodations possible in the areas that
we visit"…….In Anchorage and Fairbanks we had lovely hotels
– Marriotts – that were located in the center of town,
walking distance to all that you needed, but in the smaller
towns like Tok, Skagway and Dawson City, they were really
motels in need of updated décor. You had all that you need –
coffee maker, alarm clock, TV, Safe, iron and board and they
were clean, but the look was 50’s……Dark carpeting, heavy
draperies and flowered spreads – even if they were brand new
as in Dawson City. We have become accustomed to clean duvet
covers for each new guest. Even in Denali Park, the resort
is beautiful, but we were accommodated in the older section
of the resort which needs renovations. The new buildings are
lovely.
Food:
As mentioned previously, food aboard the Zuiderdam was
better than expected. Once the tour starts, you have a
choice of a meal plan – not recommended, even by Holland
America - (surprised me) – unless you are one that needs
"peace of mind" to know where you will be dining each night
– on this plan you will be eating in the hotel every night.
The meal plan included breakfast and dinner daily. We
always chose to eat in town, rather than at the hotel. There
were always choices within walking distance. In the smaller
towns, dining is very casual. You’ll be hard pressed to find
tablecloths, candlelight or flowers – It’ll be more like
formica tables, forever lasting flowers and home cooked
food. The larger cities have the more formal dining
options.
Do I recommend it???
Yes…There is so much to be appreciated about the stamina of
the people at that time – and the desperation to get a piece
of that "gold". No travelers complained about anything –
even when we had meals that were not so appetizing – see
picture…. The scenery is beyond belief and the tour well
organized. There are so many different transportation
experiences - Cruise ship, Narrow gauge rail, Catamaran,
luxury coaches, school bus in Denali Park and luxury domed
trains. We went to Follies Show, panned for gold, Visited
old fashioned towns, the Denali Park excursion and so much
more and all is included in the Cruise Tour price. There is
no way that one could do it so economically or well planned
on their own. Early July is probably the best time to go –
We went on August third and it was already starting to get
cooler – Colors were starting to change – which was
great…and they even predicted snow one night – but it didn’t
happen. Princess Cruise Tours also followed us to wherever
we went – they are certainly comparable – their hotel in
Denali is nicer. I’d choose whichever one was the better
value.
