My husband and i celebrated our 45th anniversary by returning to Alaska.This was our first cruise with Holland America but we have had several cruises with NCL.We were accompanied by our son and brother in law who were able to book single cabins. We drove to Vancouver a day early and stayed at the Holiday Inn downtown. It was a short drive to the parking at Canada place.This parking is so reasonable and easy for cruisers. Our cabin with balcony was the largest we have had. The couch was full size, very comfortable and had a great table that could be adjusted for height.Even throw rugs in case you wanted a nap. Lots of storage. HAL is sophisticated enough to allow you to bring wine and champagne on board with no charge if you shared it with friends in your cabin.Our dinner time was 530 and this was a problem for us. We did not try to change the time because of our group. In fact one cruise later HAL was offering free style dining which we prefer.The food was delicious and plentiful. I loved having fruit in the cabin every day. What a nice touch. room service was amazing with hot food arriving hot.We ate in the Lido and enjoyed the experience .One suggestion is to look at stations so that everyone is not in the same lineup . Highlights on the ship Kenny the piano player doing the song trivia. What a great showman he is.We had a group for Team Trivia and managed to win several times. Loved the activities golf chipping and putting etc. Film clips and all the other challenges.It has a great venue for chef presentations. Our best shore trip was whale watching. We had beautiful weather that day and an uncrowded boat. We saw killer whales sea lions humpbacks and eagles and felt our day complete.I am disappointed that jewelry stores have taken over the waterfront in the towns we visited.A big change from only 3 years ago.

Anyone thinking of travelling on HAL look at the wine cards. They are a great bargain . You can preorder them on the gift form and they will be in your cabin. i enjoyed the shows I saw.The theatre is well designed so that you have a good view. Disembarkation was a breeze. We usually use express taking our own luggage with us. This time we used HAL to take the luggage off the ship. It was so organized we found our luggage immediately walked to our car and headed home to the interior of BC As a final note. I think each cruise line has its positives and negatives that all balance out.I would recommend both cruise lines for individuals who want clean ships happy staff and good food.