We had heard that the quality of HAL was diminishing but such was not the case on our seven day cruise to Alaska. Service is still top notch and unobtrusive.  Food quality is still very good. Holland America offers good, consistent value for your money.  

The embarkation went smoothly.  Pier 91 in Seattle is new and is well laid out for the two ships that were embarking on that day. We were fortunate in that we had sunny weather for most of the week.  It was strange to see so much snow on all of the mountains but it is still a bit early in the season. Sailing out of Seattle meant that we did not traverse the Inside Passage on either leg of our trip.  We missed that part of an Alaska cruise but still had a lot of beautiful scenery to enjoy. There were plenty of humpback whales to observe at several portions of the cruise. 

Dining is excellent. My wife and I did dine in the Pinnacle Grille a few times but the quality in the main dining room is still commendable. Portions are a bit smaller than in the past but that is a good thing as we tend to overindulge. They did offer a wine card of twenty pours which was plenty for us for the week.  It averaged about $3.50 per glass and offered six wines to choose from.  A good value and you did not have to buy a bottle. The food in the Lido deck was the same as what was offered in the main dining room.  Read more