We went on a 12 day Cruisetour (Cruisetour #12) with Holland America Line. The tour commenced on 6/3 in Fairbanks and stopped in Denali and Anchorage, going on to Seward and getting on the Veendam on 6/7, sailing the Inside Passage southbound from 6/7 to 6/14. BACKGROUND:  My wife and I decided to go on this trip for our 28th anniversary. We "abandoned" the kids and went by ourselves. We made our reservations on HAL's website, and chose and purchased our excursions on the website as well. We made the air reservations by ourselves, and flew into Fairbanks 2 days early, exploring on our own, allowing HAL to book us into their hotel (Westmark) 2 days early. After the trip, we spent an additional day in Vancouver, BC. We made reservations for the Vancouver hotel using Priceline, and got the Hyatt Regency for about ½ of the published price.PRECRUISE TOUR Cruisetour #12 started Wednesday night, with arrival and check-in at the Westmark. Thursday was a trip for gold-panning in the morning and a paddlewheel boat down the Chena River in the afternoon. Friday morning we got on HAL's private car on the Alaska Railroad for a ride to Denali, where we took a tour bus into the park. Saturday morning was our choice, and then we left Saturday early afternoon by train to Anchorage. We arrived in Anchorage Saturday night, checked into the Westmark and then headed out Sunday morning for Seward and the ship.  There was little to no time in Anchorage to do much of anything. As we got to Fairbanks 2 days early, we rented a car and explored on our own. The highlight of this was a ride to Chena Hot Springs. It was too hot out to get in the springs, but the trip out there was beautiful, we saw moose along the way and the Ice Hotel on the property is worth the trip itself. In fact, if I had it to do again, I would have stayed at Chena Hot Springs Resort for the extra 2 days instead of the Westmark. The train ride was beautiful. The time sped by, and the car had its own guide and waiter. The information that the guide gave was invaluable and the alcohol and food make the trip speed by.We were put up Denali at the McKinley Chalets Resorts. After Denali, an 8 hour train ride took us to Anchorage.PRECRUISE ACCOMMODATIONS It seems that HAL has some kind of arrangement with the Westmark Hotels, or maybe even owns them. Both hotels (Fairbanks and Anchorage) were mildly disappointing, definitely tired and needing some work. They were clean, but that's about all that I can say about them. We took our meals at local venues rather than at the Westmark Hotels. The personnel were nice and efficient, and the luggage transfers were seamless.PRECRUISE EXCURSIONS 1) From Fairbanks, we took the "Journey above the Arctic Circle" trip, boarding a plane at Fairbanks International Airport and flying to Ft. Yukon, well above the Arctic Circle. There were 6 of us on the trip, and we all enjoyed it immensely. The views from the plane were indescribable and we realized we were in a place that very few people are lucky enough to see. The only downside of the trip was the show and tell in Ft. Yukon, an Athabaskan Indian village at Ft. Yukon. These people are a direct result of "we're from the government and we're here to help you". The government set up a military base here during the cold war, taught the locals how to shop instead of hunt, taught them to drink, then the installation was disbanded. Now the populace is largely impoverished, unemployed and bitter. If the trip could be made better, it would be by a landing at a village that supports itself with subsistence hunting instead of one decimated by our government. 2) In Denali, we rented a Jeep for a self-drive tour. We were given a map and some suggestions and took off on a gravel road called "Denali Highway". We encountered about 4 other cars on the 2 hour trip, and saw some amazing scenery. Definitely worth the cost and time. 3) We took the upgrade of the trip from Anchorage to Seward using the cruisetrain. The bus trip was 2 hours, this train trip was about 4 hours. While the scenery was beautiful, if I was to do it again, I would just save the money and do the bus trip. We were the last people onto the ship, and by the time we got there, had already missed dinner, and basically missed the excitement of the first few hours on the ship.SHIP We were on the ms VeendamCABIN We were in stateroom #A46. This is called a Verandah Suite in HAL parlance. The room was more than adequate in size, with a nice, very private verandah. I've seen suggestions against a verandah for an Alaska cruise, as the weather would discourage sitting and relaxing. While I agree that it's too cold to sit out for any great length of time, it's very nice to be able to walk out for short times and enjoy the view in privacy. At least in my opinion, the additional cost was worth it. As for location, this stateroom is on the 10th floor (Navigation Deck), where the Penthouse, Deluxe Verandah and higher-priced Verandah Suites are located. It's on the port side, aft. We had received a suggestion to be on the port side for a southbound trip, so the land would be on our side, it was a very good suggestion. There was no noise from the pool above, or the Rotterdam Dining Room below. Our cabin steward, "Sat", was attentive and pleasant, and seemed to know exactly when we left the cabin so he could straighten up things before we got back. We did try to take him home with us, but they wouldn't let us. There were 2 issues - the thermostat didn't work for the entire cruise; they acknowledged it and apologized. On the other hand, the in-room refrigerator was broken from day 1 and they tried to convince me it was a "cooler" and not a refrigerator, so the warm soda and water was to be expected. They, of course had no explanation for the fact that it was plugged in. This really wasn't a problem for us - we wouldn't have used the minibar anyway. I did see a lot of concern here about smoking on the ship. I had no problems with smoke, either on the verandah or the bars. Smoking is allowed in the casino, but even there, it really wasn't too bothersome.DINING In my opinion, this was the weakest part of the trip. The buildup left me expecting a much better dining experience than we had. The Rotterdam Dining Room was beautiful, with sweeping, full-length glass around the room. The waiters were attentive and helpful. Unfortunately, the quality of the food was not at the level that HAL claims (and level described on this website) - I'd rate it fair at best. That said, there was no argument if we asked for an entrEe to be switched, or asked to try something different. We ordered breakfast by room service most of the mornings because we really didn't want to clean up for the Rotterdam Dining Room and didn't want to be tempted with overeating in the Lido. Unfortunately, the order was generally wrong, but delivered with a smile and on-time. The Lido was a busy place and early on, very hectic. I did notice that there were no trays (apparently a big deal here on the message boards), but that really didn't present a problem. There were more than enough waiters to help with plates, and they were quick to get a cup of coffee or fill a glass for the passengers. For our anniversary, we went to the Pinnacle Grill ($20 per person surcharge). The service was impeccable and the food was excellent. We did go to Cannelloni (I think that's the proper spelling), an Italian restaurant in the back of the Lido, open only for dinner and by reservation only (no surcharge). This, in my opinion, was the best meal we had (including the Pinnacle), and we met people there who were returning for additional nights because it was so good. I'd highly recommend it. I was a bit disappointed at the dress for meals. The formal night should be just that - formal. I did expect folks in dark suits, but was disappointed at jeans, T-shirts, etc. In my opinion, there were other options (Lido, room service, late night dining), and the passengers should be held to a standard of dress on these nights. Further, we saw the same lack of respect for dress at the Pinnacle on Saturday night, again, I would suggest that service be refused for inappropriate dress.CLEANLINESS Cleanliness was a major issue (to avoid both Norwalk virus and swine flu), there were innumerable hand cleanser dispensers throughout the ship and the Lido was set up to minimize food handling by the passengers. Happily, neither infection was a problem during this sailing. NIGHTLIFE The entertainment was adequate, the casino well staffed with friendly folks and the waiters were everywhere offering drinks. The days were long and most people were in their rooms by midnight, which was just fine for us. The Ocean Bar and Mix, as well as the piano bar were very nice, and the piano player was superb.  The hors d'oeuvres served in the Ocean Bar were a nice touch. ONBOARD ACTIVITIES There were more than adequate activities to keep anyone busy, and the trip, being to Alaska, allowed for plenty of time on-deck taking pictures and listening to the local naturalists speak. One thing I read on these boards about some other cruise lines was a non-stop barrage of attempts to separate the passengers from their money. I did not see that at all on this ship, and was quite happy about that. The hype about future cruises was minimal and not intrusive in any way. INTERNET ACCESS  I do need to comment on the onboard Internet access. It was horrendous. Both with my laptop (wireless) and the ships desktops, it would take a minute or more for a single page to load. At $55 per hour, that's robbery. Please, just wait until you go onshore, there are access points within 100 yards of every gangway. We paid $2.99 for an hour in Haines, $5.99 in Ketchikan, and abandoned our prepurchased onboard access.CRUISE EXCURSIONS 1) Haines. We did a bike ride, "Glacier fjord by bicycle". It was an easy ride, about 4 ½ miles out and the same distance back, along the Chilkat River, to the glacier lake above it. The scenery was beautiful and well worth it. The salmon should be running up this river by now.  2) Juneau. We did the "Helicopter flightseeing and glacier walkabout". This was truly a trip of a lifetime. The vistas from the helicopter were astounding, and the ice-hike was unreal. I'd recommend this excursion to everyone.DISEMBARKATION This was a very orderly process, and seemed to go off without a hitch. PICTURES Feel free to peruse our Kodak photo gallery. The web address is:http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kodakgallery.com%2FShareL anding.action%3Fc%3Dao1v9ig8.9hg9cb1c%26x%3D0%26y% 3D-4jt5ub%26localeid%3Den_US&h=a1d145c842ddbd5abd7b7b 8959ac6067SUMMARY We took the trip of a lifetime and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Holland America Lines put together a well-planned, well-coordinated tour and cruise. I have no regrets and would recommend this cruiseline and ship to anyone. If you are looking for a cruisetour, you may wish to look into a longer tour portion, maybe one giving an additional day in Denali and another additional day in Anchorage. However you do it, this trip should be on everyone's bucket-list.