10-Day Double Denali (D6C) Land + Sea Journey Aboard Westerdam
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10-Day Double Denali (D6C) Land + Sea Journey aboard Westerdam Vancouver 14 July to Anchorage 24 July, 2019 7-Night Cruise Aboard the Newly Refurbished Westerdam 2-Night Land Experience in Denali National Park McKinley Chalet DENALI NATIONAL PARK Resort ANCHORAGE Haines/ Seward Skagway GLACIER BAY Juneau NATIONAL PARK Ketchikan INSIDE PASSAGE Deluxe Motorcoach McKinley Explorer Cruise VANCOUVER Susan Baxter Marketing Manager Francis Travel Marketing Westerdam Refurbished in April 2017, she looks AMAZING! The lighter colour palette used throughout is very tasteful, with everything looking clean and fresh. The upgrades are excellent, the space has been utilised very well, particularly on Decks 1 & 10 and the public spaces are more open plan. She has such a great feel to her, still looking elegant and sophisticated, but with a modern accent. Deck 1 houses Guest Services, the atrium area contains comfortable seating and is surrounded with material from the Rijksmuseum at Sea, including a wall /screen displaying beautiful art pieces that changes regularly - I really enjoyed sitting in this area. Westerdam’s atrium centrepiece has been updated to three rings suspended by wire. The gold staircase no longer goes down to the first floor, it connects Deck 2 to 3. Atrium Deck 1 | Atrium | Rijksmuseum at Sea Deck 1 | Adjacent to Guest Services Deck 1 | Rijksmuseum at Sea Deck 2 features the Gallery Bar, which replaced Northern Lights nightclub. It has a great feel to it, it’s tucked in behind Queens Lounge and flows onto the casino. It’s a very elegant room with gorgeous artwork and a great place to meet. Billboard Onboard has been extended to take over the Sports Bar area, however sport channel’s are still played on tvs in the Gallery Bar. The larger area has enabled duelling pianos, and more seating which opens onto the walkway and the casino. Deck 2 | Billboard Onboard | Casino The shops on Deck 3 are more open plan, so as you walk along Deck 3, you’ll walk right through the shops. The Deck 3 | Open Plan Shops Explorations Café has been moved up to Deck 10. Deck 10 – Wow - Excellent use of the space, it now contains Explorations Central™, Explorations Café and the Crows Nest. It still has seats around the windows, perfect for sail-aways, with tables and couches on half the area, mid- to port side. The Explorations Café has combined with the bar, and there is a small sectioned off area just as you walk in that can be used for talks, private cocktail parties etc. In the centre are two screens that display alot of different information relating to weather, ship position etc. The starboard side features a small library, EXC interactive tables as well as two EXC screens mounted on the wall. There is the EXC consultants desk where you can talk about shore excursions and book them. The Future Cruise Consultants have an office, starboard as you walk into the Crows nest. The EXC® area is awesome! The interactive tables feature port highlights, including a city map and split into four screens, enabling four people to use at one time. Everyday I would use them to check out the next days port. Deck 10 | Explorations Café & Bar | Meeting Room Deck 10 | Crows Nest Deck 10 | EXC® Deck 10 | Library Deck 10 | EXC Interactive Table Dining Canaletto - Deck 9: Dinner in the Canaletto was superb, Pinnacle Grill – Deck 2: Outstanding food! A new great menu. They’ve recently introduced a new menu, menu was introduced six weeks ago. The staff are so but have retained some old favourites. professional and experienced - our waiter had been https://www.hollandamerica.com/blog/topics/food- with Holland America Line for 25 years! They have beverage/canalettos-new-menu-is-amore-at-first-bite/ iPads featuring the wine selection, where you can scroll The Dining Room: Dinner in The Dining Room was through and see pictures of the wine bottles and a excellent, top quality food with a great selection. One description, the waiters are also very experienced and of our colleagues was vegan, and was made a bespoke able to make suggestions for wine pairing with your meal. The waiter made a point of asking her when she meal selection. If you wish to order two mains there is was planning on dining there next, as he would notify a charge of US$15 and each course on the menu has the chefs and have something special ready for her. a spectacular optional dish that is also an additional High Tea at 3pm - The Dining Room, Deck 3: Delightful charge. https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/dining/ 3-tiered platters with sandwiches, scones and cakes pinnacle-grill.html adorned every table. You were shown to tables by the Rudi’s Sel De Mer pop up - Pinnacle Grill, Deck 2: maîtrede and gloved waiters came around serving tea. Absolute perfection was the only way to describe the Gala Night - The Dining Room: The menu selection food and service. https://book2.hollandamerica.com/ was very nice with something for everyone. It was an content/hal/cruise-experience/dining/menus/rudi’s- outstanding meal and the service was excellent. There sel-de-mer,-a-one-night-only-experience.pdf are two Gala nights on a 7-night itinerary. High Tea Sel De Mer Pinnacle Grill Entertainment Verandah Stateoom (VC) There is so much to do every day! A must-do is the The colour scheme in the staterooms are very appealing. America’s Test Kitchen, it’s a cooking class with a twist! There are some great new touches, such as a sensor The Music Walk is such a great initiative. BB King’s Blues light at the bottom of the wardrobes - good for night Club went off every night, as did, Billboard Onboard. trips to the bathroom! There are several USB ports, with When BB King’s took their breaks, we would go along to a handy one right next to the bed. The rooms have a Billboard Onboard. Lincoln Centre Stage is the perfect large flat screen tv mounted to the wall. Great storage way to cap off a delicious dinner. Five artists played the space - there was enough cupboard/drawer space for night I went, Italian themed music. All the musicians the contents of four suitcases and then they tucked onboard were so talented. There were two Mainstage away under our beds.The hair dryer is good quality and performances, again, top class entertainment. bathroom amenities are the lovely Elemis products. America’s Test Kitchen Main Stage Performance Twin (VC) Verandah Stateroom Double Denali Land + Sea Journey Vancouver, B.C., CA: We left a stunning day behind in Auckland, to be met 13 hours later by another beautiful day in Vancouver! The Pan Pacific Vancouver is approximately a 30 minute taxi ride (in good traffic) from the airport and is the perfect place to stay, as it’s right at the cruise terminal. If your cruise ends in Vancouver, you can store your luggage at the Pan Pacific Hotel (Cash US$5 per bag). It’s best to arrive a day prior to your cruise departure, as the ship cannot wait if you experience any delays with flights and transfers. If you miss your ship and try to join it at the next port, you may be violating the Jones Act and will be required to pay a fine on top of the costs to meet your ship. Gastown is a lovely, historical area, just a few minutes walk from the Pan Pacific. It has a lot of tourist shops and some cool bars and eating establishments. There is a good outlet mall near Vancouver airport. Glen Vancouver Designer Outlet Mall is two stops before Vancouver airport (Canada Line). You can store your luggage there for free. https://www.mcarthurglen.com/en/outlets/ca/designer-outlet-vancouver/ Sunday, July 14 | Vancouver, B.C., CA | Depart: 4:30 PM Checkout from the Pan Pacific is easy, you can elect to have your bags picked up from your room and transferred to the ship. Then just head to the bottom floor of the Pan Pacific and you’re at the cruise registration area, you don’t even have to leave the hotel! View from the Pan Pacific Deck with Nieuw Amsterdam in Port Monday, July 15 | Scenic Cruising The Inside Passage Westerdam cruises through the Inside Passage at a really nice, relaxing speed. We were having lunch on the Sea View deck when the Captain announced there was a pod of Orcas port side, so we went to the rail and had front row seats to premium wildlife viewing! It was nice to have a sea day as the first day, as it gave you time to settle in and explore the ship, and peruse the EXC® information to get the most out of your week ahead. Tonight was the First Gala night dinner in The Dining Room. It Gala Night in The Dining Room was great to see most people dressed up elegantly. Tuesday, July 16 | Ketchikan, Alaska, US | Arrive: 7:00 AM Depart: 3:00 PM You dock RIGHT in town, the view from our stateroom was of Front Street, and when you disembark the ship you’re in the middle of the main tourist part of town! Four ships were in port today. Even though it was mid-summer, I was still in jeans, boots and a warm top. In 2017 tourism surpassed fishing as the No. 1 industry in Ketchikan. It’s the 4th wettest place on earth, BUT there’s been a drought and today was the first day of rain in ages! Tonight we were booked in for dinner at Rudi’s Sel de Mer pop up in the Pinnacle Grill - an excellent meal, and every need was catered for, we spent several hours there Excursion: Misty Fjords & Wilderness Explorer Cruise The Melinda Leigh is a brand new aluminium, jet powered catamaran, freshly delivered from Sitka the week prior.