Statendam Alaska & Land Tour
 

Has anyone been on the 7 day Statendam Vancouver to Seward cruise and the 5 day land tour? We are going on August 17th. I am wondering about the optional tours both on the boat and on the land part. Which do you recommend?

Look over a shore excursion list. Also post what tour you are on??? A 5 day tour usually has a lot of time in transit and it probably is better to go with the tour operator tours to make the best use of your time. If you want wildlife viewing- be certain to have the Tundra Wildlife tour at Denali Park.

We were on the Statendam Vancouver to Seward from June 22 to the 29. Didn't do a land tour, though. It is a beautiful ship and well laid out. There is plenty of outside deck space which we liked. Food is fantastic, both in the main dining room and in the Lido.

We enjoyed all of the shore excursions that we did. In Ketchikan we did the Crab Fishing and Lunch at George Inlet Lodge. It was fun. At Juneau we took the Taku Lodge trip and it was magnificent. The lodge is just across the river from a large glacier and the view is breathtaking. The salmon there was the best of the trip. The flight there on a small floatplane was also fun. From Skagway we did the train up and the coach down the mountain with stops at Liarsville gold rush camp and a tour of the brothel that used to operate on the second floor of the Red Onion Saloon downtown. The views were spectacular from the train, Liarsville is a fun touristy place, and the brothel was interesting. At Sitka we did a city tour that included the totem pole park and the raptor rebabilitation center. We were left in front of the Russian Orthodox cathedral where there are some wonderful icons. From there it was a short walk back to the tender dock.

Sitka was the only place we tendered. In Ketchikan and Juneau the docks are right downtown. They are not so close in Skagway but there are small city busses that take you back and forth to the ship.

From Juneau we also booked a whale watching tour on our own with Capt. Larry. I highly recommend doing that. We saw both Orca and humpback whale as well as other wildlife. You have to book that one on your own.

Have a great trip!

About five years ago we did the Statendam cruise/tour, although I believe we were inland for seven days and on the ship for three....it was sensational. I have written several critiques of the trip on this site, but imagine they have been removed by now. While we were on the ship it was rainy, foggy and we could hardly see the shore and saw no wildlife at all, so we were so happy to get off and go inland on a bus tour. The guide was a college age young man who could not have been more magnificent...full of info., organized, helpful and just a nice guy, very outstanding. We were in the Yukon two days. Alaska is still somewhat primitive and you aren't staying in five star resorts, but you will get the best they have and I believe most are owned by HA....Princess has their own hotels also. There were no optional tours on the bus land tour, it was all included....we did take couple of tours on the couple of stops before we got off the ship. I will say we saw very few wildlife, although the bus tour took us to a contained wildlife park, which was good. Denali bears were out of sight except for a few little brown specks in the distance. I think you have made a fine choice....it was very warm inland and we went in late June and no rain at all.

Thanks to everyone who answered my question. I am really getting excited about this trip.

We were on the same 6/22 cruise - we made a mistake and took the 3 day tour to Denali National Park (Natural History Tour). We were in Achorage overnight - train was nice, but took 8 hours to get to Denali, the next day it was 3 1/2 hours on the bus in the park - couldn't see Mt. McKinley because of cloud cover (understand no one sees it unless you go right up to it in the helicopter) - saw 1 caribou and 1 moose....then it was over 6 hours back to Anchorage on the bus - stayed overnight again and then it was 3 hours on the bus again to get to Seward to board the ship. This was a cost of $800 pp.....DON'T DO IT. If you want a tour do a longer one.
The food and service were superb, but the Veendam is not as nice as some of the newer ships. Main thing was the showroom ... it didn't have a real theater - chairs were all on one level which made it hard to see. Also the "enclosed pool" was unusable as it was too cold. Of course our weather was cold and rainy which didn't help.
Hope yours is much better - have a great time - Bon Voyage.

mistake and took the 3 day tour to Denali National Park (Natural History Tour). We were in Achorage overnight - train was nice, but took 8 hours to get to Denali, the next day it was 3 1/2 hours on the bus in the park - couldn't see Mt. McKinley because of cloud cover (understand no one sees it unless you go right up to it in the helicopter) - saw 1 caribou and 1 moose....then it was over 6 hours back to Anchorage on the bus - stayed overnight again and then it was 3 hours on the bus again to get to Seward to board the ship. This was a cost of $800 pp.....DON'T DO IT. If you want a tour do a longer one.



I post this over and over. Be certain of what you are buying and if interested in wildlife be certain- if on a tour to have the Tundra Wildlife tour included. Tour descriptions are intentionally vague in my opinon and extremely costly for what you get. Be an informed purchaser.