The Westerdam is one of our favorite ships. This was our 4th time on the Westerdam, and 1st time on the Alaskan itinerary with HAL. We chose this itinerary for several reasons. It was our first cruise since January 2020, so we felt it safest to cruise from a U.S. port, after the busiest summer months were over. From previous visits, we knew we would enjoy the beauty of Alaska, and liked the itinerary, which included seeing Mendenhall & Hubbard Glaciers. We were fortunate with the weather, and saw lots of calving at Hubbard Glacier.

We flew into Seattle the day prior to embarkation, and spent the night at a hotel by the airport. We arranged our own transportation to Pier 91 the day of embarkation, and sailed out at 3 p.m. under sunny (but hazy) skies. The fires east of Seattle were still burning & air quality was poor -- it was a good day to sail away!

Embarkation went smoothly. We used Verifly, so we breezed through check-in and security in time to have lunch in the MDR & watch the muster video before going to the Sail-Away by the Sea View Pool. Read more