Koali

We went a little crazy on our first cruise. We spent $3000 for two of us, this included about $1000 in shore excursions. We spent quite a bit at the spa, and I definitely regretted that, it wasn't worth the price. We ate at the Pinnacle Grill 3 times, bought a few souvenirs on board, drank happy hour specials every night (buy 1 get second for $1) and bought some cruise photos.

On our next cruise, we'll probably cut out the cruise photos unless there are good ones, no spa and the shore excursions seem to be cheaper. I enjoyed the Pinnacle Grill, so we will probably eat at least once there.

We did the land and cruise tour. We were on land for 5 days in mid May. The weather was supposed to be 50s, but it snowed that week and it was pretty rough, in the single digits. By the time we got to the boat in Anchorage about the 3rd week in May it was a little warmer in the 30s. As we traveled south, it got warmer 60 in Juneau. The week after it was 70, go figure. Some days it was cold but the sun was out making it feel better. Since it's early in the season, the boat didn't seem very full and there's always free deck chairs. They leave warm blankets outside by the chairs too. There wasn't any rain but Ketchikan and Juneau typically get rain most days.

Check the weather before you go and pack clothes that can be layered. It seemed like the shops in Alaska catered only to a summer crowd.. I couldn't find any long johns when I was freezing!

We were on the Zaandam last May before the dry dock and I thought the ship looked great! It was my first cruise ever so I didn't have any expectations. The rooms looked to be in good shape and the public areas as well. Make sure to take a walk on the deck on the promenade level or outside the lido deck. Sometimes you can see whales and seals. Lots of eagles. And we went in May as well. The week we went was a freak snowstorm so anchorage and Haines were really cold (30F) but by the time we got to Juneau it was 60!