THE GOOD: Very efficient at embarking and disembarking passengers smoothly. Smiley, welcoming and attentive staff. Very clean and comfortable stateroom. Good entertainment (we watched the dancers). Several choices of bars and lounges, all with excellent service. Pretty good food. NOT SO GOOD: I couldn't help compare this ship with the one I sailed on 20 years ago. It was nothing like as luxurious. The opulent art and sculptures are gone. The decor, once tasteful, is pedestrian. The colour schemes horrible. The cuisine, once out of this world, is ho-hum. No ice sculptures. No Baked Alaska. No movie house. No jazz pianists in the lounges. No afternoon Dutch tea. No midnight chocolate extravaganza. I think I know what happened. Cruise passengers were once refined, cultured and discriminating. Now they are not. People from all walks of life come to party, gamble, drink and overeat. Because of the changing demographics and lowering of standards, Holland America has eliminated the niceties. What an awful shame! Read Less

I wanted to try a 1 day cruise and it was really more work getting packed and it was over the moment I woke up. However we did upgrade to the Pinnacle Suite which was a lot of fun, and fairly affordable considering this was only one night. The golden marble in the bathroom was beautiful and it is much more tasteful than the newer HAL Pinnacle Suites, however the furniture is silly and the shower has a broken plastic panel. Room service was great. This ship has lots of brass and beauty unlike the other ships which are now the beige office building types. I was disappointed they did not contact me for a post cruise review. The room was soundproof, had a huge kitchen and quadruple sized fridge, lots of crystal glassware, silverware, plates, and a very big dining table. I am surprised the upkeep on this room is not perfect. They changed the chef in the Pinnacle from the wonderful fellow from South Africa to a fellow from India. Meals lacked total artistry and we had a salad that had chunks of romaine lettuce in it and that was it, zero variety or artistry. Kitchen here is a real dud. They did do a great job on my soufflé desert, it was very good. The one thing they have is people and they made a line of them from embarkation to our room which was touching. Same thing on disembarkation. Read Less

We had used Holland America about 14 years and decided to give it a try once again as a lot of our friends were going on this cruise and it was just a 1 day cruise Embarkation:- we had arrived at about 3 the embarkation process was very smooth and we were on this ship in less than 15 minutes. We did find it odd that held on to our passport and Green card and gave us a receipt for just the passport. (when we went back and pointed it out they said sorry and added US permanent card on the receipt) They told us that they do this for the getting the customs and immigration clearance and that we will get them back on this ship. Dining Lido - they were running out of food and did not refill any of it. I took some pasta and it was dry. Cabin - the cabins were a bit small but they were neat and clean. Fries on the swimming deck. One of the best fries that we had. Main room dining - We were in the 8 o clock sitting. They were running out of food clearly. they had prepared Indian and offered it to us. they were in small tiny cups and the dal was only half filled. When people asked for refill they said sorry that they had run out of it. The salmon dish that I had ordered for my entrée was not brought when others on the table were ready to order the desserts. When I enquired about the Salmon he said they were backed up for this and that it would take a while to bring it out and asked me if I still wanted it. When I said yes they brought it 15 minutes later and it was overcooked. One of the couples in our party were celebrating their anniversary but they left as the service was slow and the showtime had begun. After they left the servers came and said they had a cake for them. When they found out that they had left they took their cabin number and said they would deliver it, but it never got delivered to the room. Show - The show was decent IMO, but the others in the group liked it. so will leave it at that Public restroom. They were clean and I personally like the rolled up hand wash towels. Early morning phone call - We still hadn't heard anything regarding our passport / green card. However at 6:35 on the morning our phone rang and they informed us that we needed to be in the Hudson room at 6:40 for immigration process and they wanted all of the family members there. When we went there they made us all sit in the room and they started taking a roll call of the people present and asking if all of the members in the party were present. There was no communications as to what was happening and the process involved. When I raised and asked my hand if they would announce what we should expect the lady rudely explained that they would do it. After about 30 minutes of roll calling, the supervisor arrived and said the immigration officers would come and clear the passports and would pick a small size of people to see them face to face and to sit tight. After about another half an hour of wait a few people were called and one of the couples they wanted to see could not be located. even during the roll call they were missing. after 10 minutes later they came and said that the ship was cleared and one person was announcing the room number to come and pick up the passports. we got ours back in about 15 minutes but I am sure they would have take another 15 20 minutes. The whole process IMO was ridiculous and disorganized. Silver lining - the breakfast they brought to the room was good and on time which we were not expecting. They earned some brownie points Bottom Line - they lost us as customer for sure. Never again are we going to cruise with Holland America. Read Less

We were a party of four (my wife and I and my brother and his wife, all late 60’s early 70’s) and we booked Neptune suites on either side (port and starboard) of the Neptune Lounge entrance. That way you don’t miss any views and one side always gets the sun. However, if you have to pick one side starboard is better as you spend more time on the veranda coming back. The weather was mostly very good, some rain but sun when it was important. We booked 6 months early got a free beverage and no gratuities perk, and the price was less than brochure. The cruise – If you enjoy cruising then you must do this one at least once. Ours was the end of season seven-day Alaskan cruise. Average age 65+; few children (who seemed to have a good time.) I suspect the ship was not sold out and other than the Lido buffet things were pretty quiet. Smoking section is outside aft of the lido and was a sensible solution – heard no complaints and there were quite a few older smokers. Clothing – For excursions and on the boat deck during Glacier Bay - I read everything in Cruise Critic (advice varied) and planned accordingly and was very cold the first day as I did not have any fleece or wool layers. Bought a sweater in Juneau for the rest of the trip. My recommendation – • thin long sleeve thermal undershirt(UNIQLO heatex), • light to medium wool sweater with high neck – zip up was best, • cotton hoodie • unlined rain jacket (NorthFace), • light scarf • light wool gloves These layers were pared down according to condition. Fully dressed in the 45° rain on one of the whale boats on their outside decks. Extras – You don’t need: • Binoculars – the ship has them (in the suite) and all the tours have good ones as well. • Bug spray – never saw a mosquito • Sun block – you welcome any sun There were two ‘formal’ nights and most folks dressed up – some in suits and a few in tuxes – for the main dining rooms. I brought a jacket and tie and black slacks. Embarkation – we arrived at 11:15 and they opened the gate at 11:45 and we were in our room shortly after. We snacked in the Neptune Lounge and had salads in the Lido. The stateroom – Neptune suites are really gorgeous – this was our 4th time and they have only gotten better appointed. Very spacious and a large balcony, although this was only used on sunny days when we had them. Free laundry and binoculars. We have gotten used to booking suites which means we cruise less but cruise better. Our favorite is the Haven suites on Norwegian but Holland is our favorite after that. Both offer some dining advantages especially breakfast and sometimes lunch. Entertainment – we did not partake except to listen to the classical ensemble. Typically we retire after a late dinner Neptune Lounge – This lounge area is a really nice respite from the rest of the ship, offering a quiet escape and great snacks and beverages throughout the day. Plus there is a concierge on duty to assist with any kind of planning. Having it across the hall made it real easy to grab coffee (one of those wonderful cappuccino machines) and get back to the room. Wifi – standard package (day and capacity based) was fine for email and news – 89$ for the week. What we did – • Juneau – 50° - mixed rain and cloudy - we took the whale watch catamaran and Mendenhall Glacier package - about 5 hours. Saw 10 whales, some see lions and a few eagles – and then a bus ride to the glacier. Good guides throughout. I would recommend just doing the whales and skipping the glacier – not much of it left and you miss Juneau. Or if you can afford it – do the float plan tour of the glacier. Saw a little of Juneau at beginning and end of trip. • Sitka – 47° - Mixed rain and sun - we took the another catamaran and saw plenty of otters. Then a bus ride to a raptor sanctuary and bear sanctuary. Missed seeing Sitka. • Glacier Bay – 45-50° - Mostly sunny – This is why you do this cruise – Seeing whales and sea otters is fun, but this part of the trip makes the whole trip worth it. It consumes most of the day and the scenery is visible from many venues on deck, even from your staterooms. Really spectacular landscape and great narration by park rangers. We saw bears, mountain goats, eagles, a whale or two and many glaciers – even caught a double ‘calving’ at one. • Katchican – 42° heavy Rain and then sun - we took the another catamaran. Aside from a 45-minute tour of the beautiful Misty Fjords, most of this 4.5 hour trip is getting there and back. And you have zero time in Katchican, the best ‘town experience’ on this trip. If I did it again I would do the float plane tour of the fjords, otherwise skip it. • At sea to Vancouver – 50° sunny – we arrived at 6 so we never left the ship. Dining – • Lido – better than I remember – really good curries. • Main dining room – Ate there four times –always good - the gala night was the best menu. • Pinnacle – Beautiful space. The rib eye and NY strips were tough and either under or over cooked. The 7 oz filets were perfect, as where all the sides and the service was just great. • Rudi’s Seafood dinner night at the Pinnacle was well worth it – best meal of the trip - we had the dover sole on the frame (skillfully filleted in front of you). My wife had perfect rack of lamb. Big portions. Sides and desserts were really good. • Tamarind – had a really good experience there – We felt that the food and venue (and service) are underrated. I had excellent sashimi and the others had a combo of Asian appetizers and a filet. Great appetizers and sides as well. • Room service – didn’t have any – My sister in law loved it. Overall – I give this cruise B+ that with a few tweaks (regarding excursions) it would have been an A. Read Less

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First review on cruise critic prompted by reading so many negative reviews on this forum. We sailed on the Oosterdam in May and again in September 2019. Loved it so much will probably sail the same trip again in 2020. I think the key to understanding what cruise line to choose is research. Party animal? Active kids? Love raucous crowds? Holland America is not for you. We love quiet. We enjoy understated elegance. We dine, not 'do dinner'. We absorb classical music and nature presentations. Entertainment for us is bundling up on the verandah and sipping tea while searching the shoreline with binoculars, or counting and tracking whale blows. We loose ourselves for hours in the hydro spa followed by Zen time on the heated tile lounges simply watching the sea. If this sounds like you, the Oosterdam is heaven. In May we had a signature suite, which was simply wonderful and worth every penny. In September we tried a verandah room. It was not as spacious but more than adequate. Our next voyage will be the signature suite again simply for the extra room. Our research found that Holland America has the best, least expensive suites in the industry. And HAL is one of the few cruise lines that still offer complimentary room service 24/7. Read Less

Our 37th cruise but our first trip to Alaska. How could it have been better? Uber dropped us off at the front door at 12:15, in our cabin at 12:35. Holland really knows how to get you on and off the ship. The ship was a little smaller than our last HAL cruise on the Koningsdam. Our room was so big that we could not see the TV to pick movies, had to use binoculars. We like to sit outside a lot but did not on this cruise, the back of the ship on the starboard side allows smoking so we did not sit out there much. I do love the fact that this is our first cruise where they did not allow smoking in the Casino. Spent much more time there. We asked for late seating at a large table. We went to our assigned table the first night and we dined alone so the next night we asked to be changed to the dine anytime and that worked out perfect and we met a lot of really nice people because we asked to be seated with someone each night. Only 1 night (gala) was there a 5 minute wait in the lounge. Food was good, service was spectacular. We had most breakfasts in Lido which was great, had an Omelette almost every morning and the longest wait was 10 minutes because there were 3 people in front of me. They had 2 omelette stations and 2 servers making omelettes at each. We had room service at least 3 mornings and it was on time, hot and very good. We spent a lot of time in the Crows Nest and listened to Morgan the onboard naturalist speak and that was really nice. We went to several of her outdoor morning briefings. Wife attended the Test Kitchen presentations and she enjoyed them all. We visited the Billboard Onboard or BB King every night, great entertainment. We attended all of the shows. I believe we witnessed the funniest comedian ever (John Wang), this guy was hilarious and it was a clean act. Enjoyed the talk with the captain in the main stage. The ship had a medical emergency during the day and a Coast Guard Helo had to take someone off the ship and we turned around for an hour to give the Helo more time over the ship. Captain said this happens about 2x per year and a lot goes into planning and making this work safely. The ship was in great shape and the staff of Holland is by far the best that we have ever witnessed. They are the friendliest crew at sea. I read reviews from our same week that said there is not enough entertainment and the shows were not good even though they did not attend any shows. Huh??? These are not Vegas productions but small scale shows on a moving ship so....... We now like Holland because there are NOT hairy chest contests and drinking contests onboard. Holland is a little older crowd but that is good, I did not hear or see any over served guests, nobody running up and down the halls at 4:00 am Someone complained there was no big central atrium on the ship. I believe it was designed this way. Maybe they would be happier on the mega party ships. I read where someone complained that you did not get a tray in Lido so it was slower. Yes, and that is a good thing, the servers give you your food after you tell them what you want. I love this, have you watched people getting food on other cruise lines and can you imagine that 1/2 or more do not wash their hands? We were on a Holland 21 day Europe last year and we signed up for 17 night Hawaii next year and we are looking forward to the great experience. I do expect to do Alaska again but might try Vancouver next time to see different ports. Seattle was easy, flew in a day early, Uber to the dock which was just at the edge of the city. Read Less

Alaska & Glacier Bay itinerary. I've been on 7 cruises to Alaska, this was the first time for a good friend. I'm a 2 star Mariner on HAL, and like their no hassle approach, no hard up selling etc. Food was good in the MDR for the most part and excellent in the Tamarind and Pinnacle Grill. Great service from waiters and cabin steward. My one reservation with HAL nowadays is the lack of daytime activities and music on board. If you don't cook or enjoy classical music and jazz, your options are limited. A great shame, since the majority of baby boomer cruisers wanted rock and roll and oldies. This was evident by the folks wanting to dance to the Billboard Onboard piano duo that was unfortunately sub par. In the space between them and the casino, folks tried to dance & join in the singing, but we would have all preferred a venue that catered to original hits and the ability to have a dance party. During the day the options were few and unimaginative. "How to Decorate a Mug" was offered many times, as was making a metal picture. Seriously, we're over 50/60 but not dead yet! I was told by the entertainment host that all decisions on activities came from corporate these days. What a bad decision! Gone are the days of the cruise director having the flexibility to change.customize activities to the crowd. What ever happened to FUN at HAL? No music during the day either. The main stage shows were great though, however on the last night in Victoria, there was no show available. It was assumed all had gone ashore, even though the ship was late arriving & was only in port for a few hours. Loved the spa and thermal suite. Was the perfect place to watch the glaciers in the warm. Unfortunately, I may not sail HAL again until they offer more fun & activities at the appropriate time (music trivia at dinner time, when everyone is eating??) Come HAL, you have a unique mid-ship up advance that draws an upmarket crowd. Time to upgrade your thinking on what baby boomers want!! (Or do 20 somethings make the decisions & think we're too old to play?) Read Less

Visited wifes family in Tacoma and booked Holland to see Sitka and Hubbard Glacier and to see what Holland has to offer compared to other cruise lines. Very little action in pre cruise comments and no interest in a meet and greet. The cruise itself followed this scenario as it was most uneventful and very subdued. The ship design does not appear conducive to a lot of social activity as promenade decks 2 and 3 take you in tunnel fashion through the ship and shops and bars and service locations. There is no central Atrium where things come together on a multi level agenda as we have come used to on Princess. No band playing on top deck as we left Seattle nor at any other time. Except for the Crowsnest there was really no central meeting place to celebrate or converse with new friends. Did visit BB Kings Club one night and the lady singer was great, but never made it to the Mainstage as saw nothing advertised there at night except a magician. Life after dinner was totally subdued as we are not gamblers and had no interest in the casino nor were there any other enticements to our interests. Room and service there was fine and the loading and unloading of the ship was exceptional as we were on and off with no problem. The Port Valet program unique to Seattle is remarkable and should be utilized by all. Food service on Lido deck is a problem as no trays are provided and you have to take one plate at a time to a table and then go back for your other needs. Too much foot traffic. Read Less

I chose this itinerary for the Hubbard glacier. My original cruise plans (was planning to sail r/t from Vancouver) got disrupted, so opted for easier Seattle embarkation). I originally booked an aft-facing deck 4 verandah and TA sent an upgrade offer about 2 weeks prior to embarkation for a Neptune, which I took. I had taken a very similar itinerary last year on Eurodam in an oceanview, but really wanted to see Hubbard. Hubbard is astounding. Disenchantment Bay is spectacular. Oosterdam managed to be in the best port docks at every port, which made my mobility issues much easier, thus could expend my energy in town rather than all on simply getting from ship to anywhere. Unlike last year (we chose 8pm dinner seating and only managed to get into MDR once as a result, we did Anytime Dining and ate dinner and breakfast in MDR every day, sitting with new delightful people every meal. Having the flexibility to dine at times that suited that day's activities and our hunger level worked very well for us. Only managed to get to 1 mainstage show (Stages) and it was fine (I don't cruise for shows). Oosterdam is beautifully maintained. Overall, the food was excellent. I did find it a little odd there seemed to be much less salmon featured in MDR and Lido (last year, my favorite lunch was a heaping bowl of salad topped with a perfect salmon filet and I never found that salmon at lunch and the salad bowls were smaller, but that is a small quibble). My only concern going forward is how I am going to manage in less than a Neptune LOL Read Less

We took the SoundTransit (light rail to downtown from airport)) 2 blocks from the hotel. The next morning rideshare was 15 mins to pier. Be warned after the Seattle cruise rideshare pickup is way past the regular pickup. Keep walking. Getting on was smooth and getting off was a pleasure with Port Valet. Thank you Seattle Port Authority. Cabins, Dining, Service, Ship Condition, Entertainment, Activities and Ports were all good to great. Where I felt Holland hit it out of the park was the diversity of offerings on board. We met a couple at dinner and hung out throughout the adventure, each enjoyed very different activities in addition to our shared interests. Cruiser 1 - Thermal Spa, Windows Classes, EXC Port Album Cruiser 2 - ShipFliks, Happy Hour, Movie Theater, Port Tours on TV Cruiser 3 - Stage Shows, Bridge, Vegetarian Dining Cruiser 4 - Library Recliners, Northern Lights, Stage shows and the Movie Theater. Notable food observations: The omelet bar starboard 5 stars, the DiVE IN Mushroom burger was extra special and all 14 days the Soups and Sauces were fabulous. We all loved scenic cruising, seeing whales and bumping into an iceberg. Favorite Excursion...rented a car in Juneau and drove to Mendenhall and the Hatchery. Favorite walkabout... walked to Sitka Raptor Center and took the Historical Park trails back to the Visitor Center, Science Center and then port shopping. Our Advice: need some sort of water bottle filling station and longer Happy Hour :) In Ketchikan early morning we enjoyed watching many float planes take off next to ship. Seriously, given the funding and open calendar, We would have gotten right back on board for another 14 days! Read Less

This was a great, low key trip to Alaska on the Oosterdam. We had cabin 4006. The cabin is at the front of the ship. It was clean and a nice size cabin. No bath tub but we didn't miss the tub at all. The cabin is near the side thruster, external door, and main stage. It was generally quiet, but there were times when engines, entertainment, or door drop were very noticable. Food was good across the board, although room service had warm cold items and cold warm items for breakfast. Entertainment was great with the Lincoln Center Stage being wonderful. The BB King Blues Club and Billboard groups were fun as well. If you fly in, make sure to check out the Port of Seattle program for luggage coming and going. Also, we suggest not buying any drinks until you are out of the Washington state area...otherwise you will have to pay 10% sales tax on things like sodas, wine, beer. The staff is quite friendly and helpful. We also suggest using the Navigator phone application so you can see daily events and check your bill. We had a great server in the Lido named Yasmeen. The Pinnacle Grill food was excellent. It is a great first night dinner as you cruise out the Puget Sound. We also picked the night at Victoria for the Pinnacle as the time is quite short in port. Read Less

This was my wife's and my brother/sister in law " Cruise of a Lifetime ". Started off fine. Staterooms clean and the cabin staff very nice. Now for the fun parts: - LIDO so full, one could barely walk through. Food Service staff rude, close to being downright nasty. Same goes for bar staff on deck 9 stern. Terrible. - Food - Marginal at best. Dining room dinner maybe 1/2 star better. - Magician - I think he had three tricks. lasted 40 minutes. Pretty much a joke. Casino - Small and , well, never saw a roulette table with a 0, 00, and a Special third 000. - They should just eliminate it, but with odds further stacked I'm sure a good source of revenue. - Juneau - Port area typical tourist trap,,,,nothing special there. Did go to Mendenhall and that was fine. Walked to Nugget falls, pretty neat. Then went out whale watching. Saw some humpbacks, uuh, well at least their tails. Saw more wales from the back deck just while cruising. - Glacier Bay - Awesome. 100% beautiful day ( 8/27/19 ) Couldn't have asked for anything more perfect weather wise. Surely a sight to behold even if the servers were jerks. -Sitka - Ditto on the weather ( We got lucky! 8/28/19) Cool place. Saw the salmon going up river which was really cool, rainforest walk, etc. Really neat. Then...…….. we were to depart at 6:00pm. Ship was moving nowhere. Mechanical problem. Not corrected until approx. 10:00pm. As a result, the captain indicated he was changing the intinerery!!!! We were scheduled to go to Ketchican the next day arriving at 7:00 am. We had booked the " Deadliest Catch " excursion and were so excited...……. We lost out on the visit to Ketchican and ALL related scenery. Now, I don't know all international travel laws, speed limits, port rules, etc,,,, but lets do the math.... We were delayed (4) hours +/-, and as a result we aborted a (5) hour stop in Ketchican, all kinds of scenic viewing in and out of that port. Instead the captain put the ship back out to the Pacific in high gear and we spent 1.5 days out at sea, looking at nothing but the shoreline from 10 miles out, and/or open sea. Why you ask, so we could get to Victoria Canada early and spend more time there, which frankly I didn't drop $7k on an Alaskan cruise to see Victoria. Now, Holland American realized that all on the cruise were "disappointed" and so was the captain. They wrote everyone a letter and gave us a coupon for 20% our next cruise. Are you kidding me?!?!?!?. I will never, repeat never, cruise with this train wreck of an organization again. Don't be fooled. I have cruised with RC, NCL, Carnival and HA is not even close. Forget about the breakdown and change, things happen, but the demeanor of staff, lack of good food, poor entertainment, and a slap in the face apology for a breakdown ruined the trip. Buyer Beware. Go to Alaska, be prepared for some rain, but do it with another cruise line. Read Less

We had an amazing cruise! We missed Ketchikan, which was very sad but we had a full afternoon and evening in Victoria. We traveled with 10 of us ages 9-79. We had 4 staterooms and I personally had an interior and it was large and comfortable. The show were great, we only got one because of the missed port. Magician and comic were fine but the music walk is AMAZING! Dancing at BB King was so fun and be sure to listen to the billboard piano players. They are amazing. My 9 year old found a friend at the pool and she swam with her everyday instead of the HAL club. She wasn’t much interested in the club. Too many young kids for her. Not too many kids in the club and it would have been fine if she hadn’t found a friend. Food was amazing! We only ate at the Lido and main dining room. Not sure how you couldn’t find enough food at those 2 places. Oh. And we went to tea everyday we could. I read so many conflicting reviews before I left that I wanted to write and say, it’s a beautiful ship, the covered pool is amazing and the staff and food could not be better. If you’re going to have a good time on a cruise, it’s up to you to make it fun. We went to the shows, swam and hot tubbed, tried all the food, danced at the Bb king and sang with the billboard artists. We also took games to play in the crows nest and at the poolside. Thanks HAL staff for taking such good care of us. Read Less

We chose an Alaskan cruise to celebrate husbands 60th birthday with our four adult children. We’ve been regular cruisers on Hal, so very disappointed with some of the changes.. Ship is in great shape and the wait staff and cabin stewards fantastic as usual. Front desk folks not helpful or friendly...took Many trips to resolve a couple of small issues. Wait staff in Pinacle were surly and unfriendly. New photo policy requires you purchase the digital image for each photo for $29.99 plus an additional $10.00 if you want a print...no option for print only. Pkgs only bring down to $20 each....as i have no intention of reprinting, each print costs $39.99. We used to pay $10 each .... Shore excursion talks were 60 min long infomercials for the diamond gem shops owned by Holland . Total waste of time. The new daily schedule format lacks basic information about activities and length of programs. Most activities were just an opportunity for Hal to sell you something. Shows were poor to mediocre at best. Scheduling was poor... 3:00 bingo ran late into the 4:00 trivia time and left no seats for the Trivia crowd...Catholic mass was in an open room next to Crows Nest bar during Happy Hour..poor priest had to shout over reveling drunks and whirling blenders. Could they have changed Mass tme or move happy hour to a different bar? Not scheduling another Hal cruise any time soon. Read Less

I chose Holland America because the ship size was not so big that I would be lost. My family and I prefer a quieter experience, crowds, crazy dancing and rocking bars not really our thing. Embarkation was a breeze, went on the ship at 2pm, walked right on. Ship, a little dated, 70's like décor mirrors, velvet and geometric shapes but still in decent shape. Our cabin steward was wonderful. Dining in the main dining room eeeh…. it was fine. Dining in specialty restaurants Pinnacle Grill and Tamarind... fantastic! Dining in Lido crazy crowded and grabby people. Dive in burger bar and pizza always a wait of 35 to 40 min, food ok. Alaska is beautiful... cruise excursions helicopter ride to glacier and dogsled in Juneau and zipline in Ketchican (booked our own private whale watch in Sitka for $135 per head - this was not on Holland America excursion menu) all were fabulous. Kids ages 12, 16, 19 actually played board games in the game room on the ship, a lot!! That was awesome.. they all go to their separate corners at home. BBKings blues band was really great and magician and comedian entertaining as well. Overall a great family vaca to Alaska on the Eurodam. If I had to do it again I would do dining room for breakfast and lunch and book specialty restaurants for most nights of the cruise to stay away from crazy Lido, although convenient crowds take relaxation factor way down. Read Less

This cruise was the most relaxing and enjoyable of the many vacations we have had. The boat is super clean, easy to get around, lots of things to do and the food was fine. We had a signature suite and the room was spacious, the bathroom was large for a cruise ship and the balcony had the best views. We could not do everything on board but we would recommend the Eco talks, BBKing Lounge, Lincoln Center and the Billboard Stage. I did a couple of the sessions of the American Test Kitchen which were simple and OK. The Humanity Show was a highlight. The weather this week was terrific. The day in Glacier Day was magnificent. The crew is extremely helpful and nice. I would take a pass in the spa our massages were not very good and they only wanted to really sell you stuff you don't need, so skip the spa. Pinnacle Grill was a good one night upgrade for steak. For excursions, we did the Bear Walk in Ketchikan and that was amazing and highly recommend that. You are back in plenty of time for more shopping if you need to. We would sail again with Holland America. In Juneau, we went out whale watching and the salmon dinner at the lodge and we must have seen 20 whales that day. Mendenhall Glacier even had some bear sightings. In Sitka, we highly recommend a food truck Captian JuJu's for fish. Fish so fresh that even the fisherman in town were eating there. Read Less

This had a very good itinerary, with plenty of time in Anchorage and Victoria. Although, lots of smoke in Anchorage due to nearby fires. The staff on this ship is wonderful. They all seemed to have great attitudes, and were willing to help. The ship still maintains a quiet elegance although it’s scheduled for dry dock next May. The public spaces never seem crowded, and the onboard entertainment on the Main Stage was very good. Three production shows, three comedians/magicians, and a wonderful pianist (Ryan Ahern). Temperatures during the day were in the high 60’s, but I definitely recommend warm clothes for being out on deck. The Hubbard Glacier was a good highlight. We were able to get very close, and their was calving during our visit. We also had a lot of whale sightings off the ship. This was our 4th cruise to Alaska, and I recommend this line for anyone looking for a quiet, and enjoyable experience. Read Less

Past the “sweet spot”..... timing wise, for sailing Alaska, but weather was really good, considering. We’ve been up that way 6+ times. Arrived day early staying at boutique in Queen Anne neighborhood, closer jump off to getting to ship next day.... a little hilly, great neighborhood & restaurants. Uber from airport to hotel $38 and the hotel to port $8. Arrived port 11:15am We were sailing Neptune suite so check in easy, they were already boarding group 3, we walked on, drop our bags in room, unpacked, decent closet space, then to dining room for lunch. Ship falls into mid size for Holland. Don’t particularly care for these ships, the layout, stuffy, lounges small, but Holland has done about as good as they could accommodating the newer music venues and ATK. Main show room is ok. MDR is tightly packed, Canelleto part of buffet seating. Pinnacle Grill nicely sized. EXC central (Crows Nest) ok seating, but has lost a little ambiance with the EXC adder. Across ship Disappointed with bars, small cramped, service poor. Had anytime dining, Club Orange.... seated immediately. Food and dining service both MDR and Pinnacle Grill a bit spotty.... quality, missed items, under, over cooked. We only did buffet a few times for breakfast.... nice mix of options. Otherwise can’t comment further. Club Orange needs further development on these size ships. Aside from immediate seating... no seperate dining area, seated with reg passengers with different menu... a bit uncomfortable. Can’t see any other perks..... what am I missing here? As for Suite perks, not competitive with any of the RCL products,even Princess a bit more refined.... I hear larger HAL ships not as big an issue. Main Showroom shows have taken on a more cultural bent, in line with featuring the music venues. Featured a dance company.... excellent.... The EXC lecture presentations were outstanding. More professional done, focused topics to the area sailing. Very impressed America’s Test Kitchen presentations were excellent. Outstanding Chef great chat, meaningful recipes... well attended... shares BB King venue, works out well. All in all a good trip. Read Less

This is my first review of a cruise ship. I have been on two previous cruises. One was in 2015 on RCI's Liberty of the Seas, and in 2018 on Holland America's Maasdam. I have to say, for my third cruise, the Oosterdam did meet or exceed our expectations. Starting in Seattle, embarkation went smoothly. We were in a pretty long line, and it took 30 minutes to get to speak to someone. I'm by far not complaining--as we had general boarding. We had been on HA the previous year, and were able to speed through the boarding process with ease. The cabin was nice and had a large window to look out at the beauty that is Alaska. HA could have spent a little more on the bathroom. The shower was the smallest of the previous cruises. We also had an issue with the toilet not flushing and almost overflowing. It took several calls before someone finally showed up to fix the toilet. Not the best experience there. For dining, we spent the majority of our days/nights in the buffet. Definitely a wonderful selection each day! Canaletto was our only paid night of dinner and I would definitely go back. Service was out of this world on the Oosterdam! Our cabin attendants were polite, funny, and catered to our every need. Some very intense customer service had to have occurred because we have nothing but good things to say. I also liked the unlimited laundry. We used it four days, and were charged a very reasonable price. Unlike some cruise lines that have laundry based on the number of pieces and can only be used once in the trip. Ports in Alaska are definitely worth a visit. Some are like others--all the same jewelry retailers trying to sell you over-priced jewelry. However, steer away from this and go on an excursion! Take the tram to the top of the mountain, go on a halibut fishing trip, have lunch in a sawdust floored restaurant, and get as man pictures as possible at the glacier! Overall, I would do this trip again in the future. Read Less

This was my 12th cruise. Fourth to Alaska. First on Holland. We chose this cruise because I love Alaska. The scenery is amazing; the excursions can be great, and, if you get great food, service, entertainment and accommodations, it can be blissful. There were things I really like about this cruise that lift it to an overall rating of 3 stars. There were things that were poor, which brought the overall experience down. We stayed in a Neptune Suite -- 6109. There were 3 of us, and we needed the space. Let me begin by saying embarkation and disembarkation were flawless -- probably the best I ever experienced. Our Suite. The room and verandah are wonderful. The room was clean. We had space to roam and enjoy the sights from inside the suite or out on the balcony. Our room attendants, Heru and Tri were excellent. They represent HAL so well and did a great job for us all week. The suite, however, was tired. The carpet and couch were tattered and worn. The furniture was old and in need of replacement. . Some of the wood was chipped or scraped. At the price of a suite, I did not expect that.Despite that, Heru and Tri were great and keeping our room feeling fresh and tidy. One major complaint was the sofa bed. On the first night, after the bed was open, I sat on it. The mattress was completely worn and you felt springs on your bottom, on your back, every where. No one could reasonably be expected to sleep or even rest on that uncomfortable mess.If you are going to charge for a suite you should deliver a suite. Fortunately, that night I ran into Heru and asked for a mattress pad. fortunately, he installed it when we were at dinner. Meals. As suite customers we were able to eat breakfast at the Pinacle. The staff there was awesome and we had the best service there and the best dining experience there bar none. We ate there 6 mornings. They were fantastic. We felt special. Dining in the Main Dining Room and in the Lido Buffet are another story. The MDR is noisy, chaotic, rushed, and the food is not that great. They seemed under staffed.The portions are smaller than I would like. Salads were scarce. They rushed around. They some times rushed us. Every dinner we had there was not served hot. Every meal was warm or cool. They are disorganized and it should be better. Even though we purchased three drink packages, we struggled to get a wine steward to get us a glass of wine or even a drink from the bar before we were being hawked by the waiters to give our order -- and this was before we got to examine the menu. This happened every night. it made me feel they wanted us in and out of the MDR as fast as possible We took a shore excursion in Juneau that was outstanding. We got back late, dropped our belongings in the room, went to the rest room and got to the MDR at 9:05 pm. The maitre'd would not seat us. He said it was closed. There were plenty of diners still eating. We explained we just got back from the excursion (it was a HAL excursion) and could they please seat us. He told us they close at 9 PM We were denied and told to go to the Lido. The stations in the Lido were mostly closed. The one small portion that was still open had a line of about 50 people and it was moving slowly. Very frustrating. I noticed a few items in the Lido market. I put 4 pieces of cold poached salmon on my plate and went to the back deck to eat it. My wife joined me and our adult daughter went back to the room and went to bed with no dinner. When I sat to eat, I discovered that all 4 pieces of salmon were RAW, disgusting and inedible.I had no choice but to push them away. My wife and I then waited 45 minutes to be served a pizza. This was such a bad experience -- to be denied seating -- then to be directed to an over crowded understocked location that served RAW fish was just incredible on a premium cruise line. nothing like this ever happened on my other cruises where it seems the staff cannot do enough for you. One more note on the Lido. It is jammed packed all the time. The lines are long and the aisles are not clear. It is bumper cars with your fellow passengers. We never once found seating all week in the Lido. When chairs were empty, the tables were not been bussed and were messy and probably full of germs. we occasionally bussed and wiped our own table after 2 PM when things calmed a bit -- all while carrying our plates. One time they ran out of an item I wanted at that time. Lido is chaotic and messy. I felt like cattle Two nights after we were denied service in the MDR, the maitre'd in the Club Orange (not the one who would not seat us) just happened to ask us how the cruise was going. I told him how disappointing the night in Juneau was. He was great. Highly professional and apologetic. For me, dining is such a big part of a cruise and HAL fell way short of my expectations. The concierge in the Neptune room as great Glacier Bay was fantastic and the park ranger(s) were amazing. The comedian and magician were good too, I really liked the Lincoln Center and BB King rooms at night although there was very little variety -- same stuff every night -- but they were good. Dueling pianos were boring and the first dance show was disjointed so I walked out after 15 minutes. The gym was well equipped and clean. Used it 5 times. The kayak excursion in Ketchikan from the ship was good. I would have loved another hour in the water. I am not sure I would give HAL another try given the experience this time and the experiences I have had elsewhere Read Less

Eurodam 7 day to Alaska August 10, 2019 My wife and I decided to take a cruise for our 15th anniversary leaving the kids with grandparents for the week. This is our story. Before the Cruise We had initially booked and fully paid almost a year ago for an N interior room at $699/ea. By the time two months before sailing rolled around I saw prices had dropped significantly for the trip so I called up the booking company and managed to get upgraded first to a HH then to an E outside stateroom. I almost had the chance for a guarantee verandah for $50 but the best deal that I could actually get an offer on was $80 for a Guarantee Verandah. I decided the room we had was fine. If we didn’t need to have everything set up for kids it would have been $200 cheaper to book about a month out than what we ended up with. Something to know for the future. Arrival, embarkation We arrived at 10:30 am dropped off by my inlaws and our bags were promptly picked up by a porter. We wandered over to the terminal where there was a huge line that almost reached to the outside of the terminal. It turns out this was the line for dropping off luggage, which we avoided by having tags made ahead of time and using the porter outside. We went up to the desk and got all squared away in under 20 minutes from showing up at the terminal to being at the gate. We were in boarding group C and we didn't start boarding until 11:30 so we had a bit of a wait but once boarding started we were on the ship by 11:40 and our rooms were ready at 11:45. Our First Room The outside view room we were assigned was 1126 which seemed perfectly fine. Generally speaking the room had everything we needed. The window was totally sufficient for looking out and viewing the whales that passed by the early on the second morning. I'd have had no problem staying in the room assuming everything worked as expected. There was a little wear on the wood coverings on the desk and tables which made everything feel a little dated but there were plenty lots of outlets (all located at the desk) and USB plugs on the nightstands and on the desk, most of which worked. The room is shower only which is actually pretty nice as the bathroom feels bigger than shower bath combos and we didn't have any plans to use the bath. The Problem I had read a post from 2015 saying that the air conditioning in the room didn't work. I'd figured that through dry docks and several years passing this wouldn't be a problem. I was wrong. It was still broken. Now this is on a Holland America ship and the vast majority of passengers would likely not have a problem with a room that could only cool down to 72.5F. But this was the lowest possible temperature after several adjustments. We initially reported it the first night. They checked it and gave us a fan. The fan really did help the second night and the room was workable at that point but the next day we were in the BB King Blues area and the AC there was in full swing and we were suddenly comfortable. This made me realize that the issues we were having in our room weren't just a matter of cruise ships being hot in general (which it was) so I continued to bring this up with guest services. Eventually, after bringing down one of the technical managers who determined that they couldn't fix it we were offered a change in rooms. When I walked into the new room it was actually a comfortable temperature which felt like a godsend at that point. Our Second Stateroom We got upgraded to a VB 4045 which was an extended balcony verandah. Considering we had paid rock bottom prices the upgrade was amazing. Still the best feature of this room for us was working AC but being able to watch the glaciers in Glacier Bay from the verandah was nice. Otherwise the room was incredibly similar to the old room. I did have to ask guest services to push the beds together which they did promptly, however, while doing so they also turned up the heat in the room all the way. I caught it pretty quick because I was only out of the room for about 30 minutes while this was going on. More funny than anything else. The room is right by the forward elevators which had more traffic than our room down in the back but nothing problematic. Just more likely to hear stateroom doors opening and closing at some points. Having had a verandah I'm not sure that I would need one in the future assuming we had working AC but having a window that you can open and close seemed useful after our AC challenge. Entertainment Overall most of the entertainment was fine but in no way outstanding. Vince, the Travel director, was really good onstage. It took us multiple shows to realize that he had a teleprompter since he felt so natural. The Captain's Toast which came with free champagne, was interesting and fun as was the kitchen tour where I got to meet the executive chef and get an advance peek at the upcoming dinner menu. I was hoping to be able to do the America's Test Kitchen classes, the ones that cost extra, but only one was offered all week, there was a waiting list which was reserved for 5 star mariners for the first 24 hours and it was an Egg class which I wasn't at all interested in. The actual onboard cooking sessions weren't great. We decided we'd stop by for the recipe cards and watch old episodes of the show in our state room, which we did plenty. The mainstage entertainment wasn't anything special. The BBC Alaska that we thought was the symphony was just an audio track which was really just an unimpressive discovery channel special. The dancers putting on a show called Humanity had a cool gimmick but it wasn't executed to the level that it was exciting to watch for the entire 45 minutes. Their second show Stages was really fun, as was the Crew Show. The comedian was good fun for both of his sessions. Instead of many of the onboard options we spent time in our room watching movies like Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Crimes of Grindewald, Rampage, and Jurassic World 3. We ended up skipping the magic show due to a two and a half hour dinner at Tamarind (more on that below). Food We had dinner in the main dining room every night, except for one, which was always great. Little tip: if you can wait until after 7pm the crowd dies down significantly and it's way more chill. We had one server named Jeffery who was awesome. He even found us in the morning on the lido and had a table for us in the Canaletto area. Food there was solid everytime we had it. Some requested customizations never happened but nothing that was too significant. Every time we ate there we left feeling pleasantly satiated without being stuffed which was a great experience for a three course meal. The Lido was frequently crowded for breakfast at around 8:30-9am but was generally pretty empty by 9:30 and wasn't as bad at 8am either. We decided to try to avoid the busy time there. Busy times for lunch were unpredictable due to schedule of events and docking times but we had to make multiple trips to find a seat after viewing the Margerie Glacier. Afternoon tea was a bit of a cattle call with no customization and very little attention paid to each guest. After going once we decided to avoid it for the future. Though several of the little bites there were great, having tea seemed unnecessary when the entire Lido was still open. Fine Dining We had one meal at Tamarind which was incredibly disappointing. Several of the dishes were great but even with the restaurant half empty it took two and a half hours to get through the meal, our water glasses ran empty multiple times, and we never really seemed to get service. They totally drenched the lobster roll I ordered in Mayo which wasn't even listed as an ingredient on the menu and I brought it up with 3 servers who never did anything but apologize. No offers to take it away or get something else. My wife ended up eating most of it but about half was taken away at the end untouched. I never leave sushi on the plate. This has pretty much turned me off of specialty dining entirely. I wouldn't have been happy paying $50 for that dinner and service in a restaurant under regular circumstances. The fact that I had to pay extra for lower quality service and in some cases worse food than the Lido is unacceptable. In the future I'm perfectly happy with the MDR. Service was also incredibly slow. Ports We didn't plan any excursions at port as we were hoping to explore on our own. This may have been a mistake. Juneau was heavily inundated with Cruise Port jewelry shops, places with locations in major cruise ports in Alaska and the Carribbean with locally themed swag. If you weren't looking for jewelry or something with the words ALASKA on it, you were probably out of luck. The entire area by the port is a big tourist trap with a number of the rudest sales reps I’ve ever met. I did manage to walk far enough to get to some local shops, local artists, and local native wears, but it was a few blocks back away from the main drag. Sitka was a pretty cool small town that reminded us of Friday Harbor in the San Juans. Having more time helped but we managed to hit the entire downtown in just a couple hours. I don’t have any particular drive to return to Sitka but it was pleasant being there. Kechikan seemed like a town I could spend more time in. The Creek Street area is super cool and I’d love to have time to hang out for coffee there. I really feel we didn’t have time to explore the area very well. As it was we spent a good 3+ hours wandering around there and came back at almost noon for a 12:30 departure. I wouldn't mind a fuller day there but the stop was pretty short. Victoria is a beautiful town that was somewhere I’ll definitely visit again, but our stop from 6 to 11 was too short to do much of anything. We walked to chinatown which looked like a cool place to eat but had nowhere to shop at 8pm. I’d love to explore the town more but there’s only so much still open at 7pm. I’d prefer to spend a long weekend in Victoria than a cruise stop. If I had another 5 hour stop there I probably wouldn’t get off the ship. In the end we decided we enjoyed our time cruising much more than our time in port. Watching the world go by outside of your window while relaxing, reading, and having access to unlimited food is pretty nice. Each of the stops didn’t really give us a chance to get more than a brief view of the town and we never stopped to eat or shop for local food since everything was free on the ship. If you really want to know what a place is like, cruising isn’t the best way to see it. In the future I think I’ll care less where the cruise stops and think about what I’d be seeing from the ship. Navigator App The Navigator App is a good development that hasn't really come together yet. First thing, don't register on it until you are on board. It just confuses the poor thing. Second, be careful because it doesn't update as quickly as you'd hope. I was still getting alerts in Seattle time while we were in Alaska for a few days and we still had the previous day’s menu until after dinner the next day. It's also fairly slow to load. That said, it's a pretty cool feature compared to nothing so I'd get it and use it onboard. Overall Cruising was a fun experience and pretty good for a couples getaway. Imaging the differences with kids takes away a lot of the potential relaxation that was present. The fact that ports are tourist traps makes it difficult to use cruising as a method of experiencing specific locations you might be interested in. Previously I had a lot of interest in a carribbean cruise where you got to see several eastern carribbean island but I feel like it would be difficult to get much more than a casual glance at each one and that view would be heavily skewed by the scenes that existed at port. I feel like cruises where a lot of the point was what goes on outside of your window would be more exciting. So in the future things like a Panama Canal, fall New England/Canada or European River cruise seems really interesting to me but I’m not sure that paying $300 more for a flight is worth the change in scenery. Excursions also don't really interest me as I don't generally want a curated experience. This means that the ports are less vital than the route. Read Less

This was a very last minute cruise booked within one week of travel. Got a decent price for a partially obstructed stateroom, which was actually larger than I expected. Having just gotten off RCL's Mariner of the Seas one week earlier, I was worried that the Eurodam was going to be boring by comparison. But our experience was better than I expected. For this cruise, it was just my 6 yo & me (late30s). We normally travel as a family of 4 (my husband & our 9 yo), plus grandparents. In complete honesty, this ship would probably have bored my 9yo who has become accustomed to our previous cruises' "bells & whistles" from the likes of Disney, Norwegian, and Royal. But my 6yo & I enjoyed the slower, more relaxed pace. I think the more "chill" vibe was very fitting for the serenity of Alaska. Compared to our most recent cruise on the Mariner, Eurodam 's food at the Lido & MDR was much better, although HAL needs to have more vegetarian options. Service in Lido was hit or miss. I often had to get my own drink or clear my own table. I appreciated that servers served portions, versus allowing guests to handle the tongs. Entertainment was good, especially the magician show as well as BB Kings. I do think HAL needs to up their entertainment options, compared to their rivals, who have more lively entertainment often. Fitness Center was sufficient and I even saw whales a couple times while I was using the elliptical. My 6yo enjoyed the kids club, but compared to Disney, Royal, & Norwegian, I thought HAL could do a better job with kiddie activities, playroom, and hours. Excursion & Guest Services did a good job addressing my questions and I appreciated being able to use Port Valet service. Overall, I recommend the Eurodam for an Alaskan itinerary. I'd consider cruising HAL again given the right itinerary and price. Read Less

This is our 4th HAL cruise. We've been in Alaska few years ago and we loved the scenery. We booked the balcony so we could enjoy the beautiful view, but it was a BIG mistake because we never enjoyed it because of a strong smell of smoke. We reported it few times at the costumer service but they never did anything. They keep telling us they will investigate ( whoever smokes at the balcony), NEVER solved the problem and it just gets worse everyday. The buffet was always crowded and I often heard people complaining about lack of space. Food was ok .The other complimentary restaurants had about the same food as buffet just fewer choices and service was not good there either.The dinners were just ok. We spent an hour and a half waiting on courses to be served. The positives side of this trip were the staff, they were great and friendly.. except the staff at the costumer service whose not very helpful. Front desk folks not helpful or friendly...took us many trips to report a problem and NEVER solved. Lack of activities as well. Most activities were just an opportunity for Holland to sell you something. This time I was in some ways disappointed. I remember our previous cruises with HAL was always great.. Not this time. Read Less

My review of the Holland America MS Oosterdam 08/04/19-08/11/19 We flew out of Kansas City International on Sunday morning, the 4th of August on an Alaskan Air flight leaving at 6 AM. The flight was very crowded and apparently sold out so I was glad we got there at 4 AM. As we were descending into Seattle we saw our ship, so that was very exciting! There were four of us cruising together, I am 54, my roommate on the cruise Elsie who is in her mid 80’s, and our friends Jim and Anne who were celebrating their 75th birthdays on the cruise. We were on the Oosterdam in Signature Staterooms 8091 and 8093. We flew in to Seattle and got some scrumptious Macarons there at the airport (Lady Yum!! YUMMY!!!!) We found the HAL people by the luggage area just as we were told and checked in our luggage at the little desk so we no longer had to carry that around and had lunch at Starbucks. Then we went to the area where they told us to wait for the bus. This was a long walk and not for anyone with bad legs. Got there and found seats over in the NCL area I think it was. Waited forever it seemed but they finally had us come over to a specific area and stand there a while then we were on the bus and on our way to the ship. Once we got to the terminal, it seemed as though it took forever but we were in groups F and G to board, F boarded and they called G at 11:30 AM and told us then that our rooms were ready so we went right to our rooms and set our stuff down, then ate at the Lido deck looking out on a gorgeous marina and boats sailing in the Puget Sound (I think). While in the terminal we heard that the Blue Angels would be flying at 3:30 so as we were mustering we were welcomed by an Angel fly by. They got closer as it got closer to time for us to sail. We watched from the back of the ship and suddenly the ropes were dropped and we were off on our way to Alaska! We had anytime seating for dinner and we went to the dining room a little late that night, I am the world’s pickiest eater and nothing on the menu sounded good so I ordered steak and fries. My fries tasted a little funny, kind of sweet even…I asked one of the ladies to try them and she said they were sweet so we called the Maître D (Sekan) over and he tasted one and scrunched up his nose and busted out laughing. Turns out there was someone new in the kitchen that got the sugar and salt confused and I was forever known as the sugar fry lady! All the waiters heard about it and it caused a lot of laughter through the whole trip. Monday was a sea day and if I remember it right it was really foggy at first and the ship horn blew every couple minutes but that didn’t bother any of us. We slept in and had breakfast delivered to the room and just explored the ship all day. We got to tour a little of the kitchen that day, that was fun and got a couple of samples of appetizers. We lost a little money in the casino and just had a great day. That evening was the gala dinner and it was yummy! Then we went to bed a little early once again to be ready for Juneau the next day! Tuesday we woke up nice and early – 5:30 AM or so and got coffee and tea from the Lido deck then watched the sunrise from our balcony. It was beautiful! We had breakfast that morning in the dining room and met a really great couple from Walla Walla Washington, but the food was just ok. I loved Juneau! We went gold panning, so fun! Did a little shopping and then did the evening whale watching with Gastineau Guiding and it was wonderful! I didn’t get any good pictures of whales but we saw two, and were able to identify them. I am not sure what the one’s name was but the second one we saw was Sasha! But I did get ok pics of Sea lions, eagles, a jelly fish and we saw seals too. It was an incredible excursion and I recommend anyone take it! It was so much fun. There were only 20 of us on the boat and Dan Michrowski was our guide and he was very knowledgeable. The next day we were in Sitka and it was my favorite of all the stops we made! We didn’t have anything planned so we rode into town and looked around a little, went back to the port and did a little shopping and enjoyed sitting on our balcony watching the world go by. Then we got to do the behind the scenes tour of the Bridge, that was great fun. There were only four of us on the tour and the assistant cruise director made it so much fun. The next day there were 6 of us on the other part where we saw the engine room, the laundry, kitchen, and storage areas. It was well worth the $150 I think it was that it cost! Ketchikan we had no plans either so we got a tour of the city we bought on the pier and we made several stops looking at the Salmon and looking for bears but never saw any. Did a little more shopping and enjoyed the view of Ketchikan from our balcony once again. Later that evening we played in the casino and I won $614! Victoria we just went into town and back again and the funnest part for me was singing O Canada on my balcony while in Canada. (I have sung it a few times for a local baseball team when they play a Canadian team.) I attended the past guest party and enjoyed it at lunch. And we sadly packed. We also saw a glacier on one day, apparently that did not make that much of an impression on me as I don’t even remember what day we did it. The ship was fabulous, our room stewards went above and beyond every day! The food was ok. I am just too picky. Our rooms had adjoining doors and our balconies were open before we even got there so that was nice! Our beds were supposed to be two twins and they were not but that only took about 10 minutes after we talked to our steward to be fixed. I had purchased the Thalassotherapy pool pass and only used it twice. There was just too much other stuff going on. It was a great trip and I would HIGHLY recommend the Oosterdam! Read Less