Alaska Here We Come

A few years ago there was a wonderful older ship that did an intensive 14 night cruise that went to some of the Alaskan ports that the bigger 7 night ships missed. It was an educational experience that folks just raved about. Mark and I always procrastinated and never did it and then they took the ship out of service.

Earlier this year Holland America Line announced that one of their smaller ships was going to start doing a 14 night cruise to Alaska starting in 2010. When we had to cancel our Canada New England cruise this fall to deal with Marks health issues we decided that we just had to reward ourselves with the 2 week trip to Alaska. So we are issuing an invitation to family, friends, clients, new friends and potential clients to join us. The details are:

We will depart from Seattle on Monday May 31, 2010 and will be visiting: Ketchikan, Sitka, Skagway, Glacier Bay, ANCHORAGE, HOMER, KODIAK Island, Hubbard Glacier, Juneau and Victoria with three at sea days in addition to the two days cruising the glaciers. The ship will dock in Anchorage for 16 hours which will allow time for a visit to Denali Park. Our return will be from Seattle on Monday June 14, 2010.

At this time there is a fantastic rate for a one night stay in downtown Seattle May 30 prior to the cruise. This deal could go away at any time so book early because the following rates are subject to change. There are also all kinds of deals happening on cruises for 2010 so the following prices could also go down. Airfares will be subject to availability and right now are around $400 from Atlanta. I'm watching for low $300s which could happen at any time.

I love the Lower Promenade deck because you can walk down the hall a bit and go right outside for your Alaska viewing pleasure. There are several types of staterooms available on that deck and I've got good rates on four of them. We've got interior category K (no window) - Outside fully obstructed view category HH - Outside partially obstructed view category DD and outside unobstructed view category C. I also have some unobstructed view cabins on main deck. All the outside rooms have picture windows not portholes. The fully and partially obstructed rooms look across the promenade and there may be a stauncion or life boat support but you have natural light and by looking to the right or left you'll see the ocean, sky and scenery plus I can't stress enough that capability for easy outside access.

The following prices are per person based on double occupancy. I've included the hotel package for one night in Seattle and that includes the transfers (from the airport to the hotel - hotel to the ship - ship back to the airport).

All taxes and fees are included but the cruise line reserves the right to add a fuel surcharge if oil prices reach a certain level. So far that hasn't happened. I've not included airfare or travel insurance which is optional but recommended. I'm setting up a group insurance program that will be approximately $105 - $125 per person based on the total price of the trip.

Category K $2218.00

Category HH $2418.00

Category DD $2458.00

Category C $2718.00

Other categories, single, triple and quad rates are available on request. Not included are gratuities, shore excursions and other items of a personal nature.

On our last Alaska group cruise I was able to set up some shore excursions and we had our own buses plus saved a bundle over the cruise lines prices.

The Amsterdam is one of Holland America Lines smaller ships (61,000 GRTs) with 1380 passengers based on double occupancy. She entered service in 2000 and had a refurbishment in 2005. There are not many balcony rooms and the ones they do have are 300 square foot Veranda suites. There are also some beautiful Deluxe Veranda Suites that are bigger than my first apartment. The outside rooms are 197 square feet and the interior rooms are 182 square feet.

Any questions?