Experienced a wonderful vacation trip on the Noordam 7- night cruise to Alaska via the Inside Passage. Really enjoyed spending the day/night in Vancouver pre-cruise. The Alaskan scenery was just jaw-dropping, humbling, and we really hit it well for the weather. The cruise was definitely tilted towards older cruisers. My wife and I are on either side of 60 and we were completely comfortable. Food was excellent throughout. But the real difference makers were the Holland America staff. Without exception they were gracious, welcoming, helpful and seemed very genuine. Our only other cruise experience was with NCL in Hawaii -the experiences were completely, definitely at opposite ends of the spectrum. We were able to do some exceptional port trips. In Ketchikan I took a float plane trip into Misty Fjords Nat Monument with Mountain Air. An experience I will remember forever. Great scenery and a wonderful day - landed on a mountain lake and saw a brown bear mom and cub - WOW! In Juneau we took a whale watching/glacier hike/ photo safari. I'd go again in a minute Gastineau Tours are total professionals and provided us a great day. In Skagway we took a river raft float trip on the Chikat River. Again a beautiful day and trip. Couple of pleasant surprises for us were how easy it was to embark/disembark absolutely no hassle, very organized. The free laundry service is an underpublicized perk - I could have packed a lot lighter. Bit of a throw-back experience in that we dressed for dinner 3 nights - very enjoyable.