Between the writing assignments on this crusing and producing Cruise Information At the moment onboard, I rapidly realized that doing a day by day journey report for this seven-night Alaska cruise on Holland America could be unattainable with out working across the clock.
So, as a substitute, I took lots of psychological notes. Now, again residence and with slightly respiratory room, I can collect my ideas and share particulars about my crusing on the MS Koningsdam.
Talking of working whereas at sea, the Starlink high-speed web service was fairly spectacular. The speeds have been nice for primary use, similar to e mail, studying information web sites, or posting to social media. They have been additionally ample for on-line heavy lifting (importing, streaming, or downloading work media recordsdata). I had the four-device bundle for my work laptop, iPad, and iPhone, and the sign/speeds met my wants.
Because the final journey report talked about, the northern lights have been like nothing I’d ever seen. Sitting on my balcony and taking all of it in was surreal; it gave me chills (and never simply because it was a windy 43 levels).
What’s the Inside Passage?
The Inside Passage is a scenic route that stretches from the Pacific Northwest to Southeast Alaska, providing cruisers views by a community of fjords, islands, and coastal cities.
Many Alaska cruises embrace the Inside Passage of their itineraries, providing stops in standard ports like Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway. These sailings typically depart from Seattle or Vancouver.
Ships might take alternate routes to the Gulf of Alaska, which usually embrace crossing the open ocean to go to ports like Anchorage and Seward, and even longer voyages to the Aleutian Islands or Arctic Circle. That tough is a bit rougher, as I discovered the arduous means again in 2019.
A balcony cabin in Alaska
This brings me to this subsequent level: If a balcony cabin suits your price range, do it! Certain, the ship has views exterior your stateroom, however having your little slice of privateness in your voyage is priceless. That is true basically, however significantly when crusing in Alaska.
Alaska affords gorgeous pure landscapes, together with among the greatest glaciers in Alaska, fjords, and plenty of wildlife (we noticed bears, dolphins, sea otters, bald eagles, and mountain goats), all of which will be seen from the consolation of your balcony cabin.
Simply pack a hoodie or jacket as a result of Alaska does get chilly on the open water, regardless of while you’re crusing.
I forgot to say one factor in yesterday’s journey report when speaking concerning the room: the motion-activated flooring lighting within the cabin. Numerous occasions all through the week, it saved me from kicking the bedpost in the course of the night time. I do know it’s one thing small, however typically issues like that make an enormous distinction.
Alaska Sea Day Brunch
We wakened this morning and went to the Alaska Sea Day brunch, the place we sat with a household of three. We may have waited for a desk for 2, however as a result of we hit brunch at peak time, that will have meant a 45-minute wait, and we have been ravenous. Plus, back-to-back cruisers have advised us that the brunch is a not-to-miss expertise. They have been proper!
This was my first time sitting with individuals who weren’t at my social gathering for the reason that cruise trade restarted, and I spotted I missed sitting and speaking with folks exterior of my circle. One of many nice issues about cruising is the chance to fulfill folks you may not in any other case.
The household we sat with was from Kentucky. They’re usually Royal Caribbean and Carnival company, however they needed to attempt one thing completely different, so that they opted for Holland America.
I went with goat cheese and diverse recent berries, a fried halibut sandwich, and a wild berry crisp. It was all spot on, and I believed the menu was thoughtfully deliberate for our itinerary. It provided sufficient choice in order that for those who didn’t like seafood, there have been breakfast choices like yogurt and parfaits.
The brunch menu had a pleasant choice of choices, together with recent halibut and reindeer sausage. (And sure, one of many substances is, in actual fact, reindeer. I’m wondering what number of children are traumatized after they discover that out?)
The meal took about an hour, however we may have left earlier. Since we have been sitting with one other household, getting suggestions and seeing what everybody else considered the crusing was good.
My ideas? Contemporary seafood and Alaska go hand-in-hand. Holland America’s just lately launched Contemporary Seafood program is the actual deal. I’ve been on many cruises and might say that this has been top-notch as a lover of recent seafood. I’d go as far as to say it’s possibly the very best I’ve ever had on a ship.
Quiet days at sea
It was good to listen to the leisure host (cruise director) communicate solely briefly throughout the day to echo that sentiment. It might sound small, however one thing should be mentioned about being on trip and never having to listen to concerning the newest bingo sport or slot pull. This cruise line seems to grasp that if their company need to know what is going on, they’ll open the Navigator app or have a look at the day by day program within the stateroom.
Talking of the Navigator app, it does come in useful however there may be room for enchancment. One miss with the app is a planner and occasions for what is going on across the ship. If venue hours of operation are a factor with the Navigator app, it wasn’t engaged on our crusing.
As a result of it was a cloudy sea day as we made our method to our first port of Juneau, I spent a lot of the day working within the Crow’s Nest. What I like about this area is its 270-degree unrestricted views, and on an Alaska cruise, you need that.
As an illustration, at one level, the watch officer introduced {that a} whale pod was on the ship’s port aspect, instantly off the bridge and within the distance.
Since our stateroom was on the starboard aspect, I wouldn’t have been in a position to see them from the balcony. As a result of I spent a lot time within the Crow’s Nest, I may stroll 50 ft and see the whales off within the distance, as promised.
Plus, since I had the Quench Beverage bundle (soda, water, and occasional), having a espresso store on the starboard aspect and a bar on the port aspect was handy. I most likely drank extra espresso than I ought to have on this cruise.
Dinner on the Pinnacle Grill
On the primary sea day, we ate dinner at Pinnacle Grill. The steakhouse on deck two on the Koningsdam is standard, so reservations are extremely really helpful. Relying on the voyage’s itinerary, it’s additionally open for lunch and typically brunch on choose days. On our crusing, that they had a particular Mom’s Day Brunch.
We solely did the dinner at Pinnacle Grill on this voyage, and it was a scrumptious expertise. You get one appetizer, an entree with sides, and a dessert. I began with the jumbo shrimp because the appetizer, the Porterhouse (medium uncommon), and the not-so-classic Baked Alaska for dessert.
One among my pals wasn’t hungry, so I had him order the clothesline candied bacon for his appetizer, which took heart stage for the complete meal. It got here out hanging on a rack on hooks with little tongs to seize them. That is bacon overload, which can also be why I take the steps on cruise ships.
Between the dialog, meals, and wine choices, it was a worth for $46.
Nighttime Leisure on Holland America
The nighttime leisure is in a single space referred to as Music Stroll, the place the Rolling Stone Lounge (rock music), Billboard Onboard (piano), and the B.B. King Blues Membership are positioned. All have been energetic all through the night time. The home band at B.B. King’s is the actual deal and at all times had the group on the dance flooring. I couldn’t inform you which might’ve received a reputation contest; they might have all tied for first place.
We additionally hit the Rolling Stone Lounge, the place the expertise pulls out all of the stops. They did an Aerosmith cowl of “Dream On” that had everybody within the place rocking out. By the best way, massive props to the man who combined the dwell sound; it’s not straightforward to combine ranges in a room that’s not formed like your typical live performance venue.
I’m an enormous music fan, so seeing every little thing carried out all through the week in all of the venues was refreshing. You weren’t restricted to listening to Journey or the Eagles’ covers all week—every little thing from the 80s and 90s to the nation and extra.
I’ve to say that I used to be very impressed with my first time again in Southeast Alaska with Holland America in a decade.
In my subsequent report, we’ll look all of the ports we visited and what we did in them. We visited three ports and spent a full day in Glacier Bay Nationwide Park, earlier than shifting onto extra meals and onboard programming.