Having just returned from Alaska on the Zuiderdam I felt compelled to give my 5 cents worth.

I am a mid 40 year old that has 17 cruises with all of the major lines under my belt. We were travelling with our small group of family members some of whom were on their first cruise.

The embarkation was easy for me and I was lucky to be the very first person on board. After that all H...l broke lose. There was a problem with US Customs not having enough agents to handle the amount of passengers departing that day despite the taxis and other agencies all being aware of the amount of people departing and all of them up-staffing to accommodate the busy day. Read more