We wanted to embark at the Port of Vancouver, Canada as it is a short flight from our home. The repositioning cruise offered a fantastic fare and gave us a chance to visit Japan. We planned to join a land tour once we disembarked in Yokohama. This was our first ocean crossing and it was surprisingly uneventful (weather-wise). Except Typhoon Hagibis was scheduled to arrive in Tokyo the same day we ...
This was our sixth cruise to Alaska, all on Holland America ships. People, I know ask “Why Alaska? Why Holland America? Why the same cruise?”
I’ll answer the last question first, “Because we can, because it is the most convenient cruise to take from our home, and because we can afford it”. The Alaska cruise is always a lovely cruise, the scenery cannot be beat, and yes you may encounter some ...
Our Alaska cruise on the Westerdam was fantastic. We had 3 generations, with teenagers being the youngest of the group, so I was a bit nervous hearing about the usual demographics of Holland America cruisers. To my pleasant surprise: there were many multi-generational families, and we rather enjoyed not having the ship overrun with small, running, loud children.
Rooms: we all had a row of ...
We choose this cruise as we wanted to visit the Far East but couldn't face flying 14 hours each way. The cruise was 42 days from Vancouver to Hong Kong and it was everything we had hoped for. The weather was incredible, in all that time, there wwrw brief rain showers twice. We were the last ship of the season in Alaska and the weather was sunny. We had worried about being in Alaska the beginning ...
I choose HAL after reading many reviews on all cruise lines sailing to my location. Embarkation & disembarkation was smooth. The ship/cabin was updated clean & comfortable. The activities were appropriate for older adults I especially liked the educational talks Glenn Michaels was awesome. The entertainment was nice B.B. King Allstars, billboard onboard, Lincoln center stage. The staff was very ...
This was our first cruise and we loved it! From the perfect flight into Vancouver with great views and a beautiful airport to an easy flight home with more great views from the air including northern lights, it was all amazing!
We got into Vancouver a day early and absolutely loved the Pan Pacific Hotel which is literally part of the cruise terminal! This allowed us an opportunity to see one ...
My wife and I have cruised on 4 different cruiselines with this most recent cruise being our first on Holland America. From this point on, we need look no further. We took a Land and Sea journey to Alaska and the level of customer service, efficiency, comfort, exceeds Disney whom I thought couldn't be beat in these areas but I was wrong.
From the moment we boarded a bus at the Seattle airport ...
This cruise was a great value for the money. The food was always good, although I won't say it was ever amazing. The cabin stewards were fantastic. All the entertainers were really talented.
The clients were mostly retired people, although we did see some families. This was definitely not a party ship.
There were not a lot of extra things going on during the cruise, and usually the ...
My husband and I traveled on the Holland America Westerdam to Alaska in May (2018). Both of us were very pleased with the trip. Though we were embarking out of Vancouver we flew into Seattle and took the Amtrak Cascade. What a great way to travel! We found a fun, funky hotel (Moda) near the cruise terminal which was inexpensive and had a great restaurant/bar attached. We explored some of Vancouver ...
picked this cruise because of start and finish in Vancouver rather than flying one way.
99% of passengers were retired, staff were very attentive, dining menus were varied. went to Rudy's Sel De Mer one evening , the meal was excellent as was the waitress, only fault was that we felt rushed when the entree came minutes after the appitisers. After asking the waitress to slow down dessert came ...