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And my 2018 review: 2018 Alaska Cruise

My bum knee is still a bummer, but worse than that, the OTHER knee finally gave out in the Fall and I ended up getting a total knee replacement for it....which hasn't gone as planned at all (i.e. infection, back in hospital for 4 days, picc line with outpatient antibiotics for 6 weeks, and currently at almost 5 month out knee feels worse than before the surgery) - so here I sit with my original bum knee and the surgical knee even worse! Ugh. It was, however, fun to re-read my cruise post! I don't think I'll be cruising again any time soon, but we'll see!

Here is my 2023 review: Koningsdam Alaska - 2023

We booked all of the excursions through Hal in 2018 (and most in 2023). HAL will let you book if there isn't enough overlap, BUT what I found this past year is the helicopter time slots initially showed only earlier in the day, but they progressively added more and when the later afternoon slots opened up I booked them. So for 2023, I grabbed the tracy arm slot early, and then got the helicopter slot a month or so later. I did not book the "backup" Skagway slot ahead of time in 2018...just rolled the dice and it worked out. Same for our June 2023 cruise (note: that review is on here as well). In 2023, I was less concerned about cancelation just because I had done it once already so figured I would be less bummed. As an aside, my brother and his wife did have their Juneau helicopter flight canceled this past Summer (with no Skagway backup)...you just never know!! Finally, we canceled Tracy Arm this year once we were on board (my knee gave out the day we left Dallas)...but had to do it by 5 pm the day we boarded in order to get a refund. Not sure a pre-booked "Skagway backup" would have helped there if both days had been good weather...I might have ended up paying for two copter rides!

I think our helicopter was around 4 or 5pm so we definitely had time for both. Heck, we were going to do the same thing this past June, but my knee centered right before the trip and we had to skip Tracy Arm this time around (total bummer as I watched the boat pull up alongside us from our balcony).

A few items: 1. The itinerary (i.e. route and port stops) - Your FIRST decision is whether you are doing a round trip (i.e. Seattle to Seattle or Vancouver to Vancouver). In your case, you are doing roundtrip. In general, a roundtrip from Vancouver is my preference as you get to do more of the true inside passage (between Vancouver Island and the coast) vs. open sea. For HAL they usually have certain ships sailing EITHER Vancouver OR Seattle, but not both...except at the very beginning or end of the season so that will automatically restrict you to some of the ships. The Vancouver cruises are generally more expensive as is flying into Vancouver. Beyond that, some of the ships appear to do roundtrips primarily, while others are used for the one way trips (North or Southbound). Once you decide on your route, the ship selection whittles down pretty quick. 2. Age/Size of Ships - I think the newest and largest ship HAL has in Alaska is the Pinnacle class Koningsdam (built in 2016). The next newest ships are the somewhat smaller Signature class ships - the Eurodam (2008) and Nieuw Amsterdam (2010). We have done two roundtrip cruises - both were from Vancouver. The first, in 2018, was on the Nieuw Amsterdam and the second, in 2023, was on the Koningsdam. I would not hesitate to do either ship again. As other have noted, the real star is Alaska itself. As such, you should (IMO) prioritize the route first and excursions you want to do. The latter, in particular, can take your Alaskan cruise from nice to awesome - though the impact to your wallet can be, um, substantial. However, if you really want to SEE Alaska, you need to take excursions (or rent cars, etc.) that get you out of the ports to where you can actually see stuff. If you care more about amenities on the ships, then generally, newer is better. I do, however, appreciate the more open rear lido deck and full size promenade deck on the Nieuw Amsterdam/Eurodam over the newer Koningsdam (for exterior sightseeing).

Like others we were summarily unimpressed with our bland tea on the Koningsdam this year. Having said that, it was still a better value than the overrated tea we had at the Empress in Victoria. While the sandwiches and deserts had actual flavor at the Empress, the whole experience was underwhelming....especially for the price.

Totally safe. It is basically a freeway with a bunch of pullouts. The tour busses and vans take the same route. Heck, some cruisetour passengers who do land first and a "4 day" cruise after can come from Whitehorse to Skagway this same way.

When we cruised Alaska in 2018, I researched the heck out of everything - see my attached cruise doc. I would have liked to do a land + cruise option, but it was an extended family trip (my parents and siblings) and not everyone could afford that much time away (and wasn't sure how my elderly dad would handle it) so we did a roundtrip. Your ports preference should be driven by what you want to do. I quickly decided I wanted to leave from Vancouver for the "true" inside passage experience and also decided I was all about the glaciers. So, to maximize the glacier experience I chose one of the Holland America routes that, on the way to Juneau, stops at the mouth of the Tracy Arm Fjord and you can hop off onto an excursion boat that heads into the Fjord (you see Sawyer glacier at the end of it) - the small boat then meets back up with the cruise ship in Juneau. Once in Juneau, I knew I wanted to see Mendenhall glacier...and no better way to do that than by helicopter! Since helicopter excursions are often canceled due to weather (like my brother's was TODAY - he is on a cruise as I type this), I had the next port (Skagway) as my backup helicopter plan. Finally, our ship also went into Glacier Bay on this trip - so we effectively had THREE glacier days on this simple roundtrip. Research the ports and decide what you want to see and do and budget for excur$ion$...they can exceed the cost of the cruise itself! Example ($270 for Tracy arm, $350-$600 for helicopter ride to glacier, $210 for Bering Sea Crab tour, etc. - all prices are per person). Whatever you do, don't just hang out in the port towns...you need to get into the interior somewhat to really see Alaska best. As to time of year, we did July in 2018 and then did a month earlier in June this year. We had a mix of sun and rain on both trips, but overall our June trip was a bit better weather when it mattered most to us - on Glacier Bay day and on our Skagway day (note: we drove to Emerald Lake - spectacular views on that drive). Unfortunately, you don't get to pick the weather as much as you would like. I did like seeing a bit more snow on mountaintops this time around...conversely, it was cooler on our balcony and we used it less than our July trip...pick your poison! Alaskan Cruise - v7 - de-identified.docx

Great review - loved your writing style and the pics - really told a story!

This is really a duplicate post, but since we did several excursions with pics...so figured I would post a link here for ya'll: June 10-17 Alaskan Cruise

On our recent trip on the Koningsdam it was a mixed bag however, we did have some winners: We both loved the Sushi at Nami Sushi (all of it...and we ate a lot) - get it on the first night, it won't get any fresher as the cruise goes on. The Dive-In fries were good on the first day, BUT by day 5 or 6 we went and they had switched to regular fries (like you would find in the Lido) - big disappointment so just be aware. Veal Scallopini at Canaletto was surprisingly good Gelato was pretty darn good at the standalone gelato stand AND as the "Gelato" dessert (sampler of 3 diff kinds) also at Canaletto. I guess that's not just one item!

On the Koningsdam last month we bought the plan for "one device" and basically flipped back and forth between devices. I would login with my phone, check some messages, do some surfing, etc...my wife would ask if she could have it and it prompts her with "do you want to disconnect the other device?" and it would disconnect me and she would do her stuff. It was a little inconvenient, but no big deal. If I was trying to WORK on the cruise, I would have wanted a multi-device plan.

What can I say....I'm a "car guy"!

I'll try to answer your questions as best I can, but others are more knowledgeable (or there are dedicated posts on some of these topics: 1. Customs/Immigration - When you leave out of Vancouver (i.e. Canada) you then head to Alaska. Instead of going through U.S. Customs at your first Alaskan port, you actually go through at the cruise port (aka Canada Place) there in Vancouver. If you leave from Seattle, you don't do that...BUT you do generally go to Victoria, BC for Seattle cruises so I'm not sure how CANADIAN customs are handled for that. 2. Club Orange - There are lots of posts here on the board just for Club Orange. Essentially though it is a group of perks that HAL lets you buy at the time of booking (I think you can even get it post-booking). It includes things like priority board, a tote bag, special line at guest services maybe, etc. However, the two "big" benefits are that you can get a cabin upgrade to the next class (when available) - like a VB balcony to a VA, etc. - AND you get access to the special "Club Orange" dining room on the boat (Pinnacle class ships only) or Club Orange "only" dinner selections in the main dining room. Unfortunately, we never took advantage of any of it! We already had a Neptune suite so no cabin upgrade (often considered the biggest benefit) for us. In the future, I would try the dining room as others have reported good things about it. 3. Rental Car - I have ZERO reservations about the rental car. It was a piece of cake. Many of the official excursions do the same trip (train/bus combo or van up/back, etc.). It is about 140 miles round trip and we were back at the ship in PLENTY of time. I think we left the rental place around 10:15 or so. We were at Emerald Lake by 3:00 or 3:30 and that was after we stopped for Lunch in Carcross (note: we stopped a ton along the way, did the suspension bridge, etc.). Back before 6:00 PM if I recall correctly.