We've never cruised before. Our style is to see a place and explore it, instead of hop off a ship, take a tour, snap a photo and hit the Lido deck. We've looked at Alaska for years and logistically, a cruise is the easiest AND cheapest way to see the inside passage. Even BC ferries and the Alaska Marine highway don't offer a savings, with a big sacrifice in comfort. Lastly, we didn't want to be hassled and we wanted to go off on our own. The Volendam itinerary gives you these opportunities.

KIDS STUFF:

HAL is valiantly trying to get younger, but we were in the whipper-snapper age bracket as 40 somethings. There were about 50 kids in the 1500 plus passenger list, although Arman, the cruise director, said there were 200. As a cruise director, he is sworn to lie repeatedly! The teens have the best place on the ship: deck 9, with a loft on deck 10. Perhaps a dozen teens were on the cruise and some hung out together the entire trip. Our daughter was mainly with us, but also enjoyed the Loft when she attended. Low key--minimal structure--very mellow. As far as he 8 year old, there were a minimum of screaming kids on board. The hyper children had plenty of video game action, while others could do arts & crafts. Only one child was under 8, so parents with 5 year olds will probably be kicked into the tweens room. Once again-- safe, mellow and more structure than teens. They do offer a kids only cooking class where they all made pretzels in the culinary arts center. We recommend this activity. Otherwise, we looked at the agenda & let the daughters pick what they wanted. Read more