Westie July review

[PattiPB]

In 2019 we booked an Alaskan cruise, that was rescheduled three times, until finally landing in July, 2022. We had an unbelievable deal for two extended balcony cabins, and it was a wonderful cruise. It was me and my husband (56 years old each), and two of my kids (28 & 24). This year, my brother and his wife (58) and their kids and significant others (all four are 28) jumped on the cruise in three more balcony cabins.. All ten of us had Have it All, and we used every little piece of it. 

 

Transportation:

We had flights for the day before the cruise on the first flight. After arriving on time, we Ubered to The Moore Hotel (recommendations from this site) and it was very well located. Easy walk to the Starbucks Roastery and Pikes Peak Market. It’s quite old, and I probably would go somewhere more modern in the future, but it was fine for one night. Coffee shop attached for breakfast helped, too. 

 

Embarkation:

Very smooth and quick! Arrived at the port at 11:00 with a noon arrival time. Walked straight into the building and started check in. Showed Verifly and Canada apps, and had hard copies of negative Covid test and Vax card just in case, along with Boarding Pass and passport. Through metal detector, and on to line for photo ID. Waited to board until they started at 11:30 am exactly. We were Zone A, and boarded effortlessly. We were at the Lido buffet at 11:35. 

 

Cabins:

Available immediately and our luggage arrived around 3:30 pm. Extended balconies 5035/5037 were perfect for us. Immediately had the balcony door opened, and it was very helpful all week. Forward elevators were never crowded, and even on disembarkation we had no wait to head down.  Shocked to find a tub in the room (didn’t use it), and loved all of the spaces for storage we found in the cabin. Cabin steward was a ghost—almost never saw him, but he was quite efficient (and of course we tipped accordingly).

 

Food:

We enjoy breakfast in the dining room every day (after our room service “starter” tray!), and the menu was extensive and very good. For lunch, we enjoyed the Dive In several times (awesome fries) and spent the other days at the buffet. I love soup, and the buffet had a new and excellent soup every day, so I mostly stuck to soup and a salad, which was wonderful. 

 

We had anytime dining, and enjoyed the meals in the MDR. Service was so spectacular, that we requested Ade’s section every night (table #101 for ten people). We strongly suggest you give him a try. The food in this MDR was far superior to other cruises we’ve been on lately. Everything we ordered—and my people can EAT—was awesome. We were particularly happy about the French Onion Soup available every night—it’s a favorite of me and my brother. Thrilled with dining on this cruise, which doesn’t always happen. 

 

Activities:

Significantly less activities than we have had on other cruise lines. Due to this itinerary (Alaska) it didn’t bother us one little bit. For a Caribbean or Mexico itinerary, I might have been looking for more activities during the days and evenings. With sunset at 10 pm, most of our time was spent out of doors this week. Some other tidbits

1. Don’t be afraid to jump in a pool or hottub! My people did it several times, and were fine while they were in the water, and ready for a shot from Have it All when they got out!

2. Do not skip the piano quartet! They were excellent players, and wonderful entertainers. We went to at least one performance each day, and were never disappointed.

3. Stage One dance company was exceptionally good. We enjoyed their shows.

4. We love the nature talks in an Alaska itinerary, so we went to all of those. Don’t miss them!

5.  

 

Ports: 

A frustrating but understandable thing about Alaska is how short the port days are. 

Juneau: We did a small group whale and Mendenhall Glacier combination excursion. It was a fabulous day, and we really wanted extended time at the glacier, which is why we chose Alaska Shore Tours. They have shuttles back to the ship ongoing throughout the day, so we could take our time. Loved the hike to Nugget Falls. Whale watching was great—lots of fins, but no breech unfortunately.

Sitka: Was a new one for us, and we LOVED it. We took the shuttle into town, and walked to the National Historical Forest (half mile walk). We did the FREE waterfront totem pole hike, and were treated to lots of information, totems, and bald eagles everywhere. We had dumplings back in town before returning to the ship, and they were spectacular!

Ketchikan: We enjoyed the self-guided hike from the visitors center. Didn’t see any salmon or bears, but it was a lovely nature walk that we enjoyed.

Hubbard Glacier: Sailing to the glacier was the highlight of the entire week. We came within a mile of it, and had the opportunity to witness multiples calving, and the sounds and experience were off the charts. Could’ve spent the entire day just breathing the air and watching the glacier. 

 

Crowds and sea days: 

According to a staff member, we had about 1100 people on a ship that handles 2000 easily. It was absolutely lovely. We had no waits for anything at all (except cheese fries at the 10:30 pm snack buffet!), including at any of the bars. The six young adults did a “bar crawl” and made sure to visit every bar at least once. They ended up loving Explorations cafe in the morning for coffee drinks, and spent time at Billboard Onboard bar because of the employees and the great menu. BB Kings also had a great drink menu. We were there every night watching the fabulous band, so we definitely tried everything on their menu…a few times. 

 

Sea days were wonderful. The aft pool always had tables and lounge chairs available—and that bar was always open!!! We loved walking through the deck three Promenade, and played ping pong and shuffleboard several times. 

 

Debarkation:

Smoothest I’ve ever had. Breakfast at 8:15 am. Out of the room by 9:30 and went down to deck 2 to simply walk off. Through immigration within 5 minutes using only facial recognition (which was weird). On our way out to the Rideshare lot by 10:15. We were back at Seattle airport by 11.   

 

Overall:

We got a great deal on this cruise several years ago, and we are really happy with how everything went. We have never been on such a small ship, and we are sold! It was easy to navigate, and we absolutely loved all of the little hideaways and nooks with chairs and couches to use while watching the icebergs go by. This cruise made Holland America believers of us, and we look forward to sailing with the line again in the near future. I’m already looking, believe me!

[albingirl]

What a nice positive review.  Thanks for posting it.  I really love reading happy reviews once in awhile.  Breath of fresh air so to speak.