Returned from Alaska on the Oosterdam last weekend, am I still having trouble getting it sufficiently out of my head so that I can function at home. What an amazing trip. It's rare that we go anywhere anymore that nothing in our experience prepares us for, but Alaska was all of that and more. My wife and I had been on the Oosterdam before for the Mexico itinerary, so I'm going to skip general ship comments in this review unless something changed since then. My review of that cruise is posted here for 3/05 if you want to check my general impressions.

Pre-Cruise

In addition to our firm belief that one should not attempt air travel on the day of a cruise (the stress would kill me), Seattle is one of my favorite places, so we flew in Thursday morning and spent two very nice days at the Inn at the Market, located just a half-block east of the Pike Place Market. It's a very nice midsize hotel with a great roof deck overlooking Elliott Bay, and an easy walk to everything (Seattle is a very nice walking town). The only caveat would be to be sure to get a room as high up as possible on either the north or west sides—lower rooms or those on the other sides can have a fair amount of street noise. Walked to Lake Union on Friday and did an Argosy boat tour of it and Lake Washington, and a great lunch at Duke's Chowder House after. Save room for dinner! Read more