My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our first cruise to Alaska! Sunny Seattle was a welcome sight as we took about a 40 minute ride from Sea-Tac airport on Super Shuttle to the Smith Cove Terminal where the MS Amsterdam was docked. We were to enjoy sunny skies and calm seas until the last day in Vancouver. While still in port, we headed down for the Welcome Aboard Reception as 2-Star Mariners. After sailing, we settled into our Vista Suite on the Verandah Deck then later took a walk, pleasantly satisfied with the familiar look as compared to the MS Maasdam and MS Ryndam ships we have cruised.

At sea on the second day we celebrated my wife's birthday with a delicious steak dinner and very attentive friendly staff in the Pinnacle Grill joined by my brother and his wife. Following a restful night, we cruised the inside passage to the Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier where we enjoyed split-pea soup sitting covered with blankets on Lower Promenade deck chairs watching the seals sunning themselves on the floating glacier ice chunks. In Juneau we took an excursion to the Mendenhall Glacier; what a beautiful sight! There we saw bald eagles gliding overhead, salmon in the shallow stream, a porcupine sleeping up a tree, and were warned that bears had been sighted beyond the barricaded trail. Back in Juneau we sampled the delicious but pricey crab at Tracy's. Aboard ship we spotted the distant goats on Mt. Juneau then had our fill of more delicious crab in the La Fontaine dining room.

We tendered into Sitka, toured the Russian Bishop's house, then shopped as we strolled back past St. Michael's Cathedral to the Pioneer's Home and statue, paused to take pics at the totem pole, climbed the hill of Baranof's Castle for a panoramic view, then returned to the tender under O'Connell Bridge. As we sailed out of Sitka, the captain called out the location of whale pods so we all could get great pics of their spouts and flukes. Read more