Alaska - Inside Passage Cruise Reviews

Easy seven days. Good ship. If you can't do inland, Alaska by cruise is OK. Glacier Bay was wonderful and beautiful on our day. We saw some calving and a brown bear. We had a brief glimpse of a whale at Inside Passage. Not all ships stop at Sitka or Glacier Bay, so choose your ports/line based somewhat on what you want to see. The crew takes great pictures and you can choose the ones you want. Have them take all you can so your selection is large and you can pick the best.

Beautiful ship. Staff very friendly, supportive, and helpful. Very happy overall. Definitely love Norwegian Cruise Lines. The time at each port was shorter than other cruises, maybe because it is such a large ship and slower than the others. So much to do on the ship, you never really need to leave it. But missing out on Alaska and the Yukon would be tragic.

Disembarking from the ship was an absolute nightmare. Even though they put people in groups to disembark each group spent will over an hour standing in line to get off the ship because they only had one person checking people of the boat. The were over 4 thousand people on the boat. My time for disembarking was 8:15 my group wasn't called until 8:30. It took me until 9;30 to get off the ship and only 15 minutes fo pick up my luggage and get through customs. The racetrack had wet white and black ash falling on it from the smoke stacks which got on and dried on your clothes. The back open air bar was covered with the ash from the smokestacks which landed in your drink and food. The fee for the unlimited spa access was way over priced. I would have been much better off to just get day passes, I would have saved a bunch of money. The buffet was closed quite often and a $15 daily service fee was granted on to my bill at the end of the cruise. I will never go on another Norwegian cruise ever again. 95% off the passenger's I spoke with planned on writing letters to Norwegian expressing their anger and disappointment. Out of my 5 cruises this one was 2nd to worst even though it was by far the most expensive. Carnival was the worst but at a quarter of the price.

Notices before the cruise said ship would be in port at 8 am but that no one was allowed off until 10 am. We arranged transport for 11 am to allow time. Last night instructions said disembarkation started at 6:45 am and last call was 9:20 am with everyone off by 10 am. This needs to be fixed! We left the ship at 7:30 in a mob and waited in a coffee shop across the street from the terminal and waited for our ride at 11 am. A lot of people were confused and grumbling and said they had read the prior on-line messages that no one could leave the ship until 10 am.

This trip was a great trip with family although we have done a few trips with family it has never been a total of 18 of us before it will probably be a while before we stop talking about it .There was so much to do and so many activities really nice staff with good food

Let me start by saying that we loved Alaska!! We really enjoyed being on a smaller ship as everything seems more accessible and fast/easy to get to, but there are some trade-offs with smaller ships. Foremost amongst the differences, was no place in the evening to hang out and enjoy live music as a lounge/background music environment. BB Kings offered live music every night, but unless you got there early, it was standing room only. The dance floor in this venue is very small and it's realy more of a concert than anything else. The crows nest was very nice and quiet, but no live music and wasn't really geared up for the evening - the lighting was bright and harsh and service was spotty when seated/relaxing. Also, there is no disco or evening dance/party venue. Other HAL ships have a disco, but on Eurodam the same space is now the Gallery Bar off the casino. Very nice place and we really enjoyed the Galley Bar and spent a lot of time there as the service was great (thanks to Joey) but again, there was no music or craic as the Irish say. If you are looking for dancing, this is not the ship to be on. The Lincoln Center Stage concerts were nice and the musicians were very talented, but a lot of the senior citizens fell asleep and started snoring. The area where Lincoln Center Stage was, is set up like a concert in the middle of a lounge and feels very much like it was an afterthought to better utilize the space. Stateroom - we had a balcony cabin on deck four port side forward. The plus to the balcony cabins on deck 4 forward are they are a bit larger than other decks, by about 1.5' - 2' in depth. The downside is that from the railing down its steel rather than glass which makes it hard to sit on the balcony and see the water as you can only see in the distance above the railing. The bedding in the room is horrendous - the pillows were awful as was the mattress itself. My husband and I had a very hard time sleeping every night and not once did we wake up in the morning refreshed and ready to go. In full disclosure, I normally sleep like a baby on a ship and we stayed at the Marriott by Seattle airport the night before our cruise and their pillows/bedding were amazing and the best night sleep we had the entire trip. There is always the debate of port vs starboard in Alaska and which is preferred. My parents were starboard and we were port and to be honest, I don't think there was a discernable difference between the two on this particular ship and sailing. Wildlife moves, so you never know which side they are going to be on and as for general scenery, both sides were equally beautiful. In Glacier Bay, the ship rotates, so if you aren't in front of the glacier at first, you will be in a while. Food and Service - two very important aspects of any cruise. We were left feeling "meh" about this part of the cruise. The dining room menu for dinner is pretty pedestrian most of the time - meat, fish, pasta. Nothing that blew our socks off or left us wanting more. The dining room for breakfast and lunch was pretty basic, so we went to the Lido each day. The lido had a nice variety of things, especially at lunchtime. Nice salad bar which I enjoyed every day. The hot menu selections seemed pretty good and there was always something at the carving stations. There were also two specialty sections - Mexican on one side and Indian/Pan-Asian on the other. My husband really enjoyed most of the curries that were offered and I was thankful there was sushi, albeit very limited selection. We were traveling with my parents and a few of their friends and they all loved the food! They are pretty simple eaters and the basics suit them just fine. My husband and I are more adventurous and look for things that we can't make at home. While we were never left hungry, at times we struggled with the menu. There was only one dining room item (fish and shrimp taco) that was truly superb that I couldn't stop talking about it and even mentioned to the chef on the way out of the dining room. We did eat in the Pinnacle Grill one evening (the only time we could get in) and while it was nice, was nowhere near the experience I have had previously. We felt like we were rushed through every course - the entire meal only took 45 mins, when in the past, dining there has been an experience. The sommelier, Joseph, was horrible!! He rushed over when we were just being seated and threw an iPad at us to make our selection and then left...didn't come back until just before our main course was being delivered. We asked our waiter for him 3 times and nothing. Finally, my husband got up to get us wine from the Pinnacle Bar just across the way. Joseph finally showed up then and was a condescending a-hole and insulted us for having the drinks package. We actually left the Pinnacle dinner feeling like we had wasted the money and completely underwhelmed by the overall experience. We purchased our shore excursions through the ShipMate app and loved the whale watching in Juneau - we were on a much smaller vessel than what is sold through the ship. As a result of being on a smaller boat (18 pax) we were able to get closer, longer viewing times and found a large pod of Orca's that the larger boats couldn't get to. In Sitka, there is a free bus that takes you right into town and lots of shopping and a few bars/restaurants. There are also a few shops right at the pier for anyone who doesn't want to take the free shuttle to downtown. In Victoria, there is a paid shuttle to downtown that is $13 pp roundtrip BUT a cab is only $10 flat rate per car. There were 6 of us, so we just grabbed a mini-van cab and saved $68 total. Victoria was a beautiful town that is very walkable - lots of shopping, bars, and restaurants. Ketchikan we only had a few hours in the morning in port, which was not nearly enough time. Great city, very walkable right from the ship and lots to see an do as far as excursions. The itin for this ship could easily trim time off of Juneau (there until 10 pm) and add that time to Ketchikan to make it more balanced. Overall, Alaska is AMAZING!! We saw tons of wildlife - bears, whales, sea otters, eagles, etc. Ship life on Eurodam is pretty sedate and slow paced. I think HAL is trying to attract a bit younger crowd by adding BB Kings but it's still a senior audience that enjoys the 50's and 60's music. I was glad we selected the Eurodam versus the other choices (Princess or NCL) but the onboard pace and offerings, as well as food, is really geared toward seniors aged 60 and up.

everything was perfect! A bucket list trip for sure!

Great service at the dinner provided by Eugene & Itetsut

Scenery was breath taking and pure. Ship was very accommodating with superb service. Definitely recommend the Concierge class.

all went better than expected, room was comfortable, scenery incredible, room attendant made sure we knew some special items (where to get blanket, how to get bottle service, help in disembark, Arun was outstanding...) and the food was just fine :), we did upgrade to the prem drinks, party on !

We were in Aqua Class this time. I loved dining at Blu. We really did not take advantage of any of the other amenties --such as spa usage. The rooms are not any different except you are provided a robe, slippers and some travel chotskies. We had the worst stateroom attendant ever. Which was the only disappointment on the cruise. Our stateroom on most days was not made up until almost noon. I never saw in the hallway--except the last morning at 7am he was outside our door. Of course needing to turn the room over. I sensed he didn't like his job or was homesick. But other than him, we had a great cruise and I would cruise Celebrity again in a heartbeat. I like their ships, the food and the service.

Nice cruise, and ship is very efficiently run by a great staff. The only complaint that I have is the entertainment is mediocre and the excursions are very expensive.

As the title says it is a Disney cruise and it is Alaska. For us it was too cold to make use of the pools on deck but plenty of people were. Otherwise everything onboard is really good: current Disney movies to watch and great shows. Bring photo gear and good binoculars.

Beautiful scenery , gorgeous Glacier, worth the trip

Thank you for a beautiful cruise. We will always use Holland America—for their care in choosing staff that is helpful, willing, and manage to be joyous and happy at the same time. How do you do it? Wow! The Captain was stellar, experienced, gave confidence in the ship and the ship lines. The food was good, but could have used more variety—perhaps a different ‘special’ (Chinese, Mexican, Indian, etc.) instead of just an Italian station. We had a spectacular ‘wait’ staff in the Lido, and I must comment on them in particular. They were so very helpful.

Had a wonderful time with my family. We were all first time cruisers. I probable will not go again just for the fact it felt like we were on a moving hotel that was geared more for people the drink, dance and buy jewelry. We would have enjoyed more time in some of the ports. Overall it was nice and we are glad we went but cruises are not for us.

Overall, I enjoyed the cruise because of Alaska. But I would not go on Bliss again.

This was our first cruise and it will not be our last. Holland America made our first cruise a fairy tale experience. From the fantastic ship to the beautiful weather we could not have had a better experience. Mother Nature and Holland America are to be congratulated, What a great team!

Times in port at Ketchikan and Victoria were too short.

The scenery in Alaska was amazing. The cruise food was excellent, and the excursions gave us a chance to see more of the area. I just wish that the staff, which was great, would be given more time off. They work 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for many months in a row. This is unhealthy and unethical and made it difficult for us to enjoy our trip as much as possible.