Tim and Anne’s Holland America Alaska Cruise Tour August 2022

By Tim Larison, CLIA Certified Master Cruise Counselor

with comments by Anne Larison, Family Travel Gurus Travel Consultant

“If this will be your only trip to Alaska, I recommend a cruise tour,” I tell clients considering a vacation to our 49^th State.  On a cruise tour you get all the benefits of an Alaska cruise PLUS a different experience when touring the interior of Alaska.  While I had been to Alaska several times, either on land or at sea, never had on experienced both on the same trip.  I wanted to see what a cruise tour was like myself.  It did not disappoint!

For our journey we chose Holland America, a cruise line that has a rich history cruising Alaska.  In 2022 they were celebrating their 75^th year in cruising these waters.

Precruise stay

We booked our airfare and precruise hotel through Holland America.  They made everything so easy!  We were greeted in the baggage claim by a Holland America representative who was expecting us.  After collecting our luggage, we were given a voucher to take a taxi to our Vancouver hotel.

Our precruise stay was at the Pan Pacific in Vancouver.  We had stayed here years ago when our sons were young.  It’s a great hotel to start your vacation at.

I took this picture on the morning of our departure out of our Pan Pacific hotel room window.  At the left you can see a portion of our Nieuw Amsterdam ship.  The Pan Pacific is close to a number of restaurants within easy walking distance.  We placed our luggage outside our room the night before – the next time we saw our bags were in our stateroom on the ship.  We met a Holland America representative in the hotel at a designated time and we were escorted to the cruise check in.  Again, Holland America had every detail taken care of!

Anne says:  Canada Place at the port can be a very busy place with all the guests disembarking the arriving ship and those who are preparing to depart on their cruise.  There is a beautiful walkway along the water towards Stanley Park.  After breakfast, I took a stroll to look at the sites.  Close by is the Harbour Flight Centre.  I watched several floatplanes land in the water.  There are many restaurants and shops along the walk.  If you arrive a day or two early, we recommend spending time at Stanley Park.  

Sailing out of Vancouver

A long time Holland America employee once told me “when considering a one way cruise in Alaska, the North bound itinerary often prices less and has a wonderful sail away from Vancouver.”  He was right!  We started our cruise tour with the cruise first, Vancouver to Whittier, then followed by 3 days on land rather than 3 days on land first then sailing Whittier to Vancouver.  The views from the ship as we left Vancouver were stunning, including sailing under the Lions Gate Bridge.

Our Nieuw Amsterdam Ship

The Dining

One of our favorite traditions after boarding a cruise for the first time is eating at the opening buffet.  The Nieuw Amsterdam had an excellent buffet – the Lido Market.  I especially enjoyed the made to order salads (pictured above).

Just outside the buffet was Dive In where we could get fresh-made hamburgers and/or hot dogs. It was nice to have this option in addition to the buffet offerings.

Anne says: The buffet had a few specialty areas that added to the usual entrees.  There was an Asian section, a pasta area and the omelet station in the mornings.  One morning I ordered French toast at the breakfast station and it was made to order (not sitting in a pan, pre-made)!  Thin crust pizza is also available at the New York Pizza near the Lido pool.  It generally has extended hours for the late night munchies.

We had most of our evening meals in the main dining room.  Our window side table at the back at the restaurant was perfect.  We had views of the passing scenery as we dined.  A variety of choices were available for dinner and our servers were attentive.

On two other nights we dined at specialty restaurants – the Pinnacle Grill and Tamarind.  The Pinnacle Grill is one of our favorite specialty restaurants on any ship.  Known for its steak, I’m not a steak eater so instead I had the scallops at the Pinnacle – they were the best scallops I have ever had.  Tamarind was good also (Asian cuisine)

Anne says: I am a big fan of beef and enjoyed many delicious beef options at the special restaurants and at the main dining room.  At Tamarind I enjoyed Wasabi & Soy Crusted Beef Tenderloin.  Yum!

Entertainment

One of our favorite features on the Holland America ships is the Music Walk.  Pictured above is Billboard Onboard where two dueling piano players perform a number of popular hits.

Another portion of the Music Walk hosted the BB King Blues Club.  We sat in on a few excellent performances here.

If you prefer classical music the Lincoln Center Stage area of the Music Walk is for you!

When cruising Alaska I wanted to learn more about this region, too.  Holland America hosted a number of educational EXC talks featuring multimedia presentations, like the one on Pacific Whales pictured above.  Our cruise director was an excellent speaker.  I thought the live talks combined with film clips on the big screen were very well done.

There were other entertainment options: the Step One Dance Company in the main theater on selected nights, comedians in the main theater and in the BB King Blues Club on other nights, and more.

Anne says: One of the highlights was the combining of the Lincoln Center Stage with BBC Earth.  The footage from BBC Earth’s “Wild Alaska” is shown on the big screen in the theater and is combined with the live music from the incredible Lincoln Center musicians. 

Seeing the sights while sailing

The Nieuw Amsterdam was a great ship to see the amazing sights of Alaska while sailing.  I liked to get up early and take a walk on an outer deck to view the sunrise.

Sailing into Skagway on my early morning walk I saw a familiar sight – the Disney Wonder! (a ship we had sailed on several times in the past)

A highlight was sailing into Glacier Bay.  The Nieuw Amsterdam was the only ship allowed into these waters this day by the National Park Service.  Holland America is one of only a few cruise lines that has a permit to sail into Glacier Bay.  That was one of the reasons we picked Holland America for this cruise.

I had visited Glacier Bay before!  In 2003 on one of my first cruises as a travel agent I am shown in front of Margerie Glacier (first picture above).  And here I am in front of Margerie Glacier in August 2022.  I showed the 2003 picture to a National Park Ranger who had joined us onboard to provide his expert commentary.  He told me Margerie Glacier had receded quite a bit in recent years, as shown in my 2003 picture compared to today.

The time we spent sailing in Glacier Bay definitely was one of the highlights of our cruise!

Anne says: As the ship approached Glacier Bay there was a sighting of whales.  We didn’t see it at the time but heard stories from other passengers and crew.  We did see several sea otters throughout the day. 

On our cruise we visited not one but two prime glacier viewing areas!  The above two pictures were taken at College Fjord.  Some of the College Fjord glaciers were even larger than those we had seen at Glacier Bay.  While it was cold and rainy on our early evening visit to College Fjord, Holland America opened up the front deck so we could get a better view of the surrounding glaciers.

The Crow’s Nest at deck 11 forward was another place to view the surrounding scenery from the comfort of a cruise ship lounge. 

Anne says: The Crow’s Nest is a very popular place on the ship.  We did hang out for drinks – both hot and cold.  There are many chairs and tables for viewing the scenery but also for playing board games and building one of the many puzzles that are available.  It’s a great place to get social or to spend time enjoying the scenery in peace.

Shore Excursions on the cruise

Ketchikan

The first port we visited on the cruise was Ketchikan. One of the rainiest places in the U.S. and today was no exception!

Ketchikan was the only port where we took an independent excursion – Hiking the Tongass National Forest. Led by Leo, a resident of the area, we took a 3 mile hike through the lush forest. Leo was excellent in providing us his local insights.

Anne says: Even though the day was wet, it didn’t affect the quality of the tour.  The guide had a lot of personal knowledge and gave us plenty of information about the area, the flora and fauna.  The group was small so it was easy to navigate the trail.

Juneau

In Juneau we took Holland America’s Sled Dog Discovery & Musher’s Camp excursion. We were led by a team of sled dogs through a 15 minute ride. Afterwards we listened to a talk on the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race and on the care of these magnificent animals. No trip to the camp would be complete without the opportunity to hold a sled dog puppy!

Anne says: We learned a few things about the dogs and the Iditarod race.  The dogs prefer to be moving and pulling so when we had to wait a while before taking off there were a number of loud, wet dogs!  The puppies are adorable and really topped off our visit to the camp.

Skagway

Here we took the most popular shore excursion in Skagway – a 3 hour ride on the White Pass Summit Scenic Railroad. Compared to our other two more active excursions this one allowed us to relax in the comfort of the train while watching the scenery go by. The train staff provided commentary on the sights we were seeing along the way.

Anne says: The train trip is up and back.  So sitting on either side was good, because on the return trip you got to see everything on the opposite side as the trip up.  There was plenty of history provided by the narrator.  We enjoyed learning about the history of the area and the brave men who risked their lives to build the railroad. 

On to Denali!

Our 7 night cruise ended in Whittier, Alaska.  Disembarkation was smooth and we were quickly escorted to our tour bus for a 6+ hour ride to our resort near Denali National Park. 

There were two ways to journey to/from Denali.  We chose to do both by bus and by rail (the rail trip was at the end of our trip to get back to Anchorage – more on that later).  There were advantages to each of these.  On the bus trip we liked that we could go outside at the periodic rest stops to take in the scenery, and we also had a yummy buffet lunch at an Anchorage area restaurant.  Our bus driver provided excellent commentary along the way.

Anne says: The restrooms on the road were descent (no indoor plumbing except at the restaurant at lunch), but as with any group there is always a line.  It pays to be patient, sit back and enjoy the sites as the bus takes you to your next adventure.

Three Day Land Tour

Our three-night land package started with two nights at the McKinley Chalet Resort.  In my multiple trips to Alaska this was one of the best resorts I have stayed at in the Denali area.

I especially liked the Denali Square area of the resort.  Here we dined at Karstens restaurant for dinner upon arrival, and for breakfast the next two mornings.  The meals at Karstens were excellent.  There were other dining options within easy walking distance (we had lunch at a pizza place across the street from the McKinley Chalet on our second day.

Also at Denali Square on our second morning we attended a nature talk in a small outdoor theater that was informative.

Our first morning we took a short nature hike along the river next to our Denali resort.

Anne says: The luggage is transported separately from the bus and arrived in a timely manner. Ours was delivered to our room shortly after we arrived. There are plenty of options for souvenir shopping around our lodge, the Princess Lodge and village up the road and the shopping center within walking distance. In the Denali Square was ample public seating and, in the evening, folks can gather around the fire pits for a cocktail. Live music was playing in the restaurant and square periodically

The highlight of our Denali stay was the 6-hour Tundra Wilderness tour we took in the afternoon/early evening of our second day. On cruise tour packages what often is offered is a much shorter Denali Natural History Tour and this Tundra Wilderness tour.  I highly recommend you take a package that includes the Tundra Wilderness tour!  I’ve done both tours and the Tundra Wilderness tour travels much deeper into the Denali National Park.

The tour bus shown above is the only motorized vehicle allowed in the Park for tourists.

We saw a moose, a grizzly bear, a caribou, and other wildlife on our Tundra Wilderness tour.  Our bus driver and guide operated a zoom camera to focus in on the wildlife we would see from a distance.  Video screens on the bus showed the images this camera displayed.  The above pictures are of images taken with the zoom camera.

We highly recommend you also bring binoculars to get views of the wildlife.

Along the way on our Tundra Wilderness tour we could get out of the bus and take pictures at different scenic spots.

The Tundra Wilderness tour is an excursion I have wanted to take for years.  I found it very worthwhile and a reason alone to extend your Alaska trip to include a land tour.

Anne says: The school bus is fine for this tour.  Most of the people on the bus struggled with the school bus windows.  We kept them up due to the weather being cool, but when it was time to lower them or reclose them it was a challenge for most people.  Other than that, we did enjoy seeing this beautiful park, even though it was cloudy and there was no sign of the top of Denali. 

On our last full day in Alaska we took a 7 hour train ride from Denali to our Anchorage Westmark Hotel.  The train ride was very relaxing, with amazing views of the scenery from the comfort of our rail car.  We had lunch in the dining car.  The train crew provided commentary as we traveled through rural Alaska.

The Westmark Hotel in Anchorage was an older hotel, adequate for our last night stay in Alaska.  Because our train arrived after 6 pm we found many restaurants had long waits.  We walked to the nearby Hotel Captain Cook and did have a delicious final meal at one of the hotel’s restaurants (Fletcher’s)

Anne says: Tim and I have done other rail trips and find the trains very comfortable.  There is plenty of leg room and the domed cars allow for easy viewing of the scenery outside.  Each car has a host for providing commentary and answering questions and a bartender.  You can purchase drinks and souvenirs during the entire ride. 

Summary

Our Holland America cruise tour was truly a trip of a lifetime – a wonderful way to experience the many sights of Alaska from the comfort of a first-class cruise ship, buses, trains, and our Denali resort.  The tours we chose were diverse – we loved all of them!

Anne says: Holland America did not disappoint.  As you can tell from our report, we were very pleased with all aspects of the trip.  The most common piece of advice people give to others considering a trip to Alaska is to dress in layers.  I was glad I brought gloves and a scarf and several options from sweaters to a heavier jacket.  August is the start of fall and we did experience mostly cool weather.  If you are prepared you can appreciate all that Alaska has to offer.

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