Having been on numerous cruises, we thought we knew what to expect for our first cruise with Holland America. We had been on 3 prior Alaska cruises (Celebrity, Princess, and Royal Caribbean) and knew Alaska cruises have very little nightlife and more multigenerational families. Overall, the Eurodam exceeded our expectations.

We arrived in Seattle two days early and rented car. On cruise day, we returned the car to the airport and caught a shuttle for the 30 minute ride to pier 91 (*cruise tip: Several local companies offer airport transfers for less than the cruise line…*cruise tip: the local companies charge a few dollars less for a ride from the SEATAC car rental location then from SEATAC so have them take you to/from the car rental and then catch the free shuttle to the airport).

The Eurodam uses pier 91 which holds two ships. Although there were about 5000 people at the pier between the two ships, boarding went very fast and took 25 minutes (at about 12:45) from dock to room. Our luggage arrived 20 minutes later and was placed in our room by our cabin attendant. Read more