Hello again, from Lynnwood. 

What a busy couple of days we’ve had. Everyone had been waiting for our 2023 Alaska cruise/tours and everyone called. Even though we had room for 174 people on each departure, we completely sold-out. People love these tours because you get to see so much of Alaska, from the coast to the interior. They love that everything is take care of…even the luggage is taken from one room and shows up magically in your next room. And, of course, they love that so much is included. Almost EVERYTHING is included…from shore excursions, tours, attractions and meals. Aboard the cruise portion of the tour, we’ve even included drinks and tips.

I’m resending last week’s e-mail and changing the dates of our departures to show the new dates we are offering. Call us up or book online…then, next summer, we’re heading north to Alaska!

I am happy to announce that we have added three new dates for our tours…we the exact same itinerary, exact same inclusions, and exact same price! If you didn’t call in on Friday or today, you have a second chance

Hello again, from sunny but cold Lynnwood, Washington! 

Since I wrote to you last, I’ve been here in the office. Next week, I leave to fly back to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to meet our Seabourn “Double Panama Canal” group. I’ll be in Fort Lauderdale for just three days and then fly back to Seattle.

Today I am sending you the e-mail that everyone has been awaiting...our world-famous Travel With Alan Alaska cruise/tours. Last year we made a few changes to this tour, which were a great success. Holland America had already made the change of ending the cruise in Whittier, instead of Seward. With the Seward Tunnel, this substantially reduced our driving time to Anchorage. Last year, we added some extra inclusions and meals. This year we added even more…a total of ten meals on the land portion of the tour. Most offerings for these tours have no meals included. People like having more meals included…especially since we have included the meals that are usually very expensive, like the lunch on the train and the meals in Denali National Park. Our package will still include a special Travel With Alan shore excursion in each of the ports of call. Some of the new inclusions for this year include a guided tour of the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, with an animal encounter, a lunch at the Alyeska Resort, and a visit to “Santa Claus House” in North Pole Alaska!

Our newly re-imagined 14-day Alaska Land and Sea tour will be our best yet. Our upgrades and additional inclusions make this, by far, the best Alaska program out there…and the price is right!

Over the years, we have become famous for our Alaska cruise tours. We take the basic cruise tour that Holland America offers and add a ton of extras. Normally, on these cruise tours, you end up spending so much money on shore excursions, extra tours, and meals on the land portion. We have included many of these things from the beginning to get you an incredible value. 

This is my favorite Alaska cruise/tour. In addition to the full seven-day cruise, you get 6 nights in some of the top interior destinations in Alaska. 

Your tour will begin at the pier in Vancouver, or you can join our complimentary motor-coach transfer from the Seattle area to the Canada Place Pier in Vancouver. Upon your arrival at the pier, you will board your Holland America Line ship. You will then begin your seven-day cruise up the Inside Passage. You will visit three ports of call during your cruise; Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway. We have included a Travel With Alan shore excursion in each of these ports of call! In Ketchikan, you will have a city tour and a visit to Potlach Park, a native totem park. In Juneau, you will tour the city and Mendenhall Glacier. The tour will include a tour of Alaska’s capitol city, the Macauley Salmon Hatchery, and a visit to Mendenhall Glacier with admission to the Visitors’ Center. In Skagway, we have included a tour of the city, the Gold Rush Cemetery, and a scenic drive to the summit of White Pass. Your cruise will also include a day of scenic cruising in Glacier Bay National Park. On this day, you will remain on the ship and rangers from the U.S. Park Service will come aboard the ship to give commentary throughout the day. This year’s cruise will even include scenic cruising through College Fjord, the last evening of the cruise. Here each of the five tide-water glaciers is named after a famous college or university.

We have included a bunch of “extras” on the cruise portion of the tour. The standard crew appreciation daily charges (gratuities) are all pre-paid for you. We have also included Holland America Line’s “Signature Beverage Package”. This gives you complimentary drinks from the ship’s bars and restaurants, from beer, wine, and cocktails, to smoothies and “mocktails”, or sodas and juices. Even the specialty coffees are included, so you don’t have to think twice about ordering that mocha, latte, or glass of champagne! Even the gratuities on these drinks are included!! While all of the meals on the ship are included (even room service). The ship does have some “specialty restaurants” that are available for a surcharge. We have included one dinner in one of the ship’s specialty restaurants for you to enjoy during the cruise. And, as I mentioned, we have included a special shore excursion in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway, so you won’t have all these charges on your bill at the end of the cruise.

Our customized land tour includes a two-night stay at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, a two-night stay at the McKinley Chalet in Denali and a two-night stay at the Westmark Hotel in Fairbanks.

Leaving the pier in Whittier, you will board your Holland America coach to transit the Whittier Tunnel. The tunnel will take you to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, where you will have a guided tour and “animal encounter”. You will then continue to the Alyeska Resort, for a buffet lunch. After lunch, you will continue into Anchorage for a two-night stay. After a quick hotel check-in, you will have the rest of the evening at your leisure. The next day, after a free morning to explore Anchorage on your own, you will have an Anchorage city tour, including a visit to the Anchorage Museum. That evening you will have a special, private dinner at the hotel…a chance to have the whole group together. The next morning, you will transfer to the train station for your rail journey on the McKinley Explorer Rail Cars, with upper level “Vista Dome” seating. During your narrated rail journey, through the Alaskan Interior, you will be treated to a white-linen lunch in the train’s diner car.

Your rail journey will end in Denali National Park. Upon arrival, you will be transferred to the McKinley Chalet, for your two-night stay. Upon arrival at Denali, you will be given vouchers for the breakfast buffet for both days. You will also be given a dinner voucher for each day. These vouchers can be used in any of the resort’s restaurants for your choice from the menu. You can even use your voucher for the hotel’s “Music of Denali” dinner show, based on availability.

Early the next morning, you will be treated to the park’s “Tundra Wilderness Tour”. This tour takes you deep into the park, showing you the beautiful terrain of the park. Often, we also have wildlife sightings including bears, moose, wolves, and more). After the tour, you will have some free time to relax, take a walk by the river, go to the visitors’ center, attend a “ranger talk” or do an optional tour. That evening you have another dinner included at any of the resort’s restaurants.

The next day, after a leisurely breakfast buffet, you will have a mid-morning departure for Fairbanks, and lunch at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. After lunch, you will continue to North Pole, Alaska and Santa Claus House. Here you can see the year-round Christmas displays, do early Christmas shopping, and even visit with Santa himself! You can also go out and feed the reindeer. You will then continue on to the hotel. That evening we have another special group dinner.

The next day you will have a full-day tour. Your tour will include a tour of Gold Dredge #8. Aside from taking a train ride through the gold dredge, you will learn about dredging for gold in Alaska and even have a chance to pan for gold. You will then continue to the riverboat pier, where you will be treated to a “Miner’s Lunch”. Afterward, you will board the Riverboat Discovery, for a 3 ½ hour interactive paddlewheel boat adventure. After this full-day journey, you will return to the hotel to enjoy your last night in Fairbanks. The next day you just have a transfer included to the Fairbanks Airport for your flight home.

This tour is VERY inclusive. Most people have very little out-of-pocket expenses. Everything that I mentioned in this letter is INCLUDED!

We have space on three “peak season” departures:

ms Nieuw Amsterdam (June 18 - July 1, 2023)

ms Nieuw Amsterdam (July 16 – July 29, 2023)

ms Noordam (September 3 - September 16, 2023)

As usual, the best part about this tour is the price…. just $3299 per person, based on double occupancy. Government taxes, fees, and port expenses of $370 per person are additional. This price includes the transfer from Seattle to Vancouver, the 7-night cruise aboard your Holland America ship, a shore excursion in each port of call, the six-night land program with first-class hotels, and all the meals and tours that I mentioned. On these Alaska cruise/tours, usually there is no air included. However, for our tours, we have included air at the end of the tour, from Fairbanks to Seattle. If you would like air to any other city, in the U.S. or Canada, we can also fly you there, for an additional charge. These airfares must be requested at the time of booking. Flights from Fairbanks depart at all hours of the day and night. Because of the distance and time-zone changes, most flights to east of the Rockies will include an overnight flight, or depart in the early, early morning hours. The good news is that we have some low add-ons to fly you to cities across the U.S. and Canada. Please confirm your choice at the time of booking. Please remember that air to Seattle or Vancouver, at the beginning of the tour, is not included. If you fly into Seattle, you must book a flight that arrives the day before the tour begins. We are negotiating a special rate at a hotel near Sea-Tac Airport that has a shuttle that will pick you up, upon arrival. Our Travel With Alan buses will pick you up at that hotel the next morning and take you directly to the ship. You can also fly directly into Vancouver, on the day of departure, and make your own way to the pier. If you do this, we advise that you choose a flight that arrives by 12:00 noon. About 45 days before your tour, you will receive a questionnaire, giving you options for bus pick-ups. That e-mail will also have information about our available hotel, near Sea-Tac Airport, where we are negotiating a special rate for the night before, and/or after your tour. Again, that information will be available 45 days before your cruise. For those from the Pacific Northwest, we are also working on a discounted parking rate at the hotel. All of this information will be in the e-mail you receive 45 days before your tour.

We also have a great deal on the upgrades. You can upgrade to an obstructed ocean-view stateroom for $280 per person or to a full ocean-view stateroom with a private balcony for $525 per person. We also have some excellent upgrades to Signature Suites for $875 per person or all the way to a Neptune Suite for $1350 per person. This is an outstanding price for this cruise/tour but with all of the extra meals and tours, the price is unbelievable! Also, if you book a verandah stateroom or one of the suites, you will also receive complimentary internet service during the cruise!

A deposit of $1450 per person is due at the time of booking with the final payment being due 95 days prior to departure. Although all payments are non-refundable, you can cancel up to the final payment due date and receive 100% back in the form of future credits from the different suppliers.

2023 is going to be our biggest year ever in Alaska…everyone is ready to go! If you would like to join us, please call us right away, to reserve your spot. You can reach us at:

1-855-885-9252

OR

For faster service, you may now click on one of the following sign-up links below to use our new online Travel With Alan Booking Form:

ms Nieuw Amsterdam (June 18 - July 1, 2023)

ms Nieuw Amsterdam (July 16 – July 29, 2023)

ms Noordam (September 3 - September 16, 2023)

Each of the above three sailing dates are clickable links in which you can sign-up for the tour without waiting on hold.

If you prefer to call our office, please have the following information available for EACH guest:

• Full legal name, (first, middle and last), exactly as it appears on your passport
• Home mailing address (address where you receive your credit card statement).
• Two phone numbers, per suite booked
• Your e-mail address (where you would like to receive correspondence for this tour)
• Date of birth
• Credit card number, expiration date, and security code

We will open tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 9:00 AM Pacific Time and will continue to take reservations until we are sold-out. If you are traveling with a group or family, and one person is making all of the reservations, please be sure that you have the FULL LEGAL NAME of each traveler (first, middle, and last), their date of birth, phone number, email address, and complete credit card information, so that we can complete the reservation to hold your space. It is also a good idea to have a “second choice” date in mind. I hope you can join us for one of these very special departures.

Sincerely,

Alan

Alan Schiller

Group Coordinator