This was my first cruise to Alaska, and first time of Holland America. Four of us travelled together - my husband and I, and another couple. All of us are in our early sixties, so HAL's reputation for catering to an "older" crowd was perfect for us. Most of the other passengers on the ship seemed to be between mid-fifties to late-seventies. We flew into Seattle the day before the cruise, and stayed overnight at Best Western. We arrived at the dock at noon, and embarkation went quickly and smoothly; we were on the Amsterdam in less that an hour. They immediately sent us to the Lido Buffet on Deck to have lunch while we waited for our staterooms to be ready. Unfortunately, with so many people there are once, they ran out of food. However, rooms were ready in about an hour, and bags brought up 10 minutes after that.

The Amsterdam's public areas are very beautiful, luxurious and comfortable. However our stateroom on the Main Deck was a little shabby; the curtain was torn, and part of the metal window frame was rusty. Also there was duct tape holding the DVD player to the TV. Otherwise pleasant, and very clean with tons of closet space. Our cabin steward Hotlas was very efficient, friendly and helpful. The entire staff of the Amsterdam is courteous, pleasant, efficient and genuinely eager to make your time on board easy and enjoyable. The band in the Ocean Bar was great; We saw two shows in the Queens Lounge, a musical review and a comic juggler. Both shows were very enjoyable. There are activities all day long on the days at sea: movies, cooking classes, computer classes, scavenger hunts, trivia contests. In the LaFontaine dining room (where we had open seating), they were a little stingy with the food portions, but it was excellently presented and very tasty. The people our party of four was seated with were great fun. We ate all breakfasts & most dinners in the Lido Buffet. Selection, diversity, quality and taste of food is excellent. Dining room and buffet staff all top-knotch, very solicitous and attentive.

In Juneau we went on the whale watching excursion. On the bus ride to the bay, the driver made an unscheduled trip through other parts of Juneau including Mendenhall Glacier. Whale watching boat trip was loads of fun - we did see about 5 whales, as well as eagles, sea lions, and of course wondrous scenery. We took the tramway to Mount Roberts when we returned from whale watching and spent the rest of the day there. Couldn't walk the trails however, because they were still snowed in. At Sitka we needed a tender to get to the dock as the Amsterdam had to anchor offshore. Even that 5 minute boat ride was a fun trip. We walked to the park and museum, where we observed a totem maker in his shop, saw an interesting film on the history of Sitka. The stay at Ketchikan was only about 4 hours, so we didn't see as much of if as I would have liked, but the horse-drawn trolley ride was enjoyable, even in the cold & rain. There are no words to describe Glacier Bay. Absolutely breath taking. The hours we spent there were almost worth the price of the cruise. It was cloudy every day, and rained twice, but that didn't dampen anyones spirits or stop us from enjoying the beauty of Alaska. Read more