Great Cruise-Especially the Sea version

My wife and did the 11 day cruise including Denali. This was our first HA cruise and we were very pleased. The highlight of the trip was Glacier Bay. The low light was the day we spent at sea. I had a great experience on the first day. As we were leaving Vancouver and entering the inner passage I was training my binoculars when a humpback whale breached right in front of my lenses! There were many other really nice experiences and we met some very pleasant people. The population is on the older side and the activities for kids are very limited.

The evening entertainment was very good. Mostly made up of comedians and singers as well as the ship's crew. All the shows were enjoyable. The activities needed a little more work. The cooking classes were a disappointment. They were pretty weak and one occasion the crowd was left waiting when the performer never made it.

We are Catholics and HA offers Mass daily. The priest was excellent and the service was always packed.

The meals were very good though mostly towards what we consider the bland side. We decided to be seated at a particular time in the Rotterdam dining room and this worked well. At first I was a little grumpy about the need to dress up a couple of time but I have to admit it was worth it.

The service was always excellent. Our server, Ben, was always available and made sure everything was in order. Our Cabin Steward, Harry, was also extremely helpful and had a great attitude. On the first day there was a foul smell in the cabin. We asked for his assistance and within an hour the problem was resolved. The administrator called later to verify that everything was in order.

The ship reached Seward and from there we went to Denali by rail. Tom H, the guide in the train, was spectacular. That part of the trip was gorgeous. We got great weather and got to see Mt. Denali. There was one disappointment and that was the hotel in Denali; the McKinley Chalet.