We did this same cruise on Volendam 14 years ago with kids and friends. It was our first cruise ever. But goes to show you can’t relive things twice….
What worked?
-great weather and scenery
-calm seas
-overall very friendly crew
-consistently clean cabin, cabin steward made silk from a sows ear
-performers and dancers entertained with passion and enthusiasm. Grace in the piano ...
When looking at Alaska cruising, everyone we spoke to said there was really just one option: Holland America. We found an itinerary that looked promising and we really enjoyed the itinerary. We arrived in Vancouver the day before embarkation and stayed at a hotel in Richmond, and took a ride share app to the terminal in Canada Place.
Embarkation was an extremely easy process; although two in ...
Our choice of Holland America was based on their reputation, itinerary, park rangers on board, age of passengers and size of ship. Alaska was amazing and the excursions in each port added to our overall enjoyment of Alaska. We wanted to experience a smaller ship with passengers that were seniors. Because it was a June sailing, we expected some children and multi generational families. ...
We took this cruise to Alaska because it was an outlier in price. The exact same cruise was 2x the price the rest of the year... so heck, why not? We went in with this in mind.
First off, ship is smallest one we have ever been on. It's still bigger than all heck, but keep that in mind. It has less stuff to do. It has nothing fancy. The TV didn't even have a kids channel, only news, History ...
We chose this cruise because it ended at our home port of Vancouver BC .
It was also our first cruise with the Holland America line.
Prior to boarding we had to sit on rows of chairs the were so close together that gave us a feeling of clostaphobia.
Upon embarking we were informed that our suites had not been made available due to cleaning etc, so we had to find a spot to sit untill ...
In reading many of the reviews and write-ups on this ship I started to think I was on the wrong ship. I did not experience any of the great service and food everyone else was raving about. By day 2 I had already written an email to Holland America expressing my concerns about the poor service and food quality on the ship. It felt like I was on a training voyage for most of the staff.
Let's ...
We had never been to Alaska and as we're getting up in years we felt that if we were going to do it, we would do it all in one go. So when we saw a Holland America three-day cruise, followed by a nine-day land tour, followed by another seven-day cruise advertised, we jumped on it. Having never cruised with Holland America before we weren't sure what to expect. Our entire cruise history was with ...
Our 7 night dream Alaskan cruise was greatly marred due to the horrid cabin location.
Cabin 392 and neighbouring cabins should not be used for paying guests (especially NOT as an UPGRADE) unless passengers made aware that the kitchen is located directly above.
If you are wanting a decent nights sleep at all during your cruise ensure you check your cabin location. A late night here and there ...
I chose this short cruise to introduce a 'newb' to cruising. It was intended to give her a taste of cruising.......more than a one day overnight repositioning. By the time you add airfare to SF, and cost to get home as well as port fee's and taxes that matched the cabin charge.....it all add's up to a 'not cheap' cruise.......it's something to consider---cost to value.
Arrived in SF to find ...
Drab ship and dated. We were only three nights on the ship as it was the gateway to an amazing tour of the Yukon and Alaska.
Three days was more than enough. There was only one electrical outlet in our suite and it was placed between the mirror and the desk so we could not place our own power bar on it. These days people have electronic devices CPAP‘s and other things that need to be plugged ...