A wonderful cruise!

Amsterdam Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 41

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Amsterdam

7 Night Alaskan Explorer Via Glacier Bay (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 14, 2007

Ship: Amsterdam

Cabin type: Inside

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 16 years ago

Review summary

This was NOT the Inside Passage" but the "Alaskan Explorer via Glacier Bay" and it was our first cruise and, overall, quite phenomenal. We suspected the age group would be older than we are and were correct but still met some folks in our age group ( late 40s). Staff were very friendly and eager to meet every request but due to being filipino/indonesian did not always understand our requests. For example, we'd requested diet 7-up and we received regular cokes; my husband is diabetic so this could be a problem. When we participated in the "walk-around mile"(one of the activities for the "dam bucks")(these are paper vouchers that look like money and are exchanged for prizes at the end if cruise), we weren't awarded the bucks as we couldn't find a staff person to give them to us. We told this to a female staff member, she said rather rudely: "oh someone was around" and did not offer to reimburse us the "dam bucks."

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Long lines at times and going through the buffet line was tiresome at times too; we won't be going to any local buffets for awhile but the food was great.

Entertainment

3 out of 5
We watched a juggler, a comedian and the Amsterdam singers and Dancers. I would have liked to have seen more comedians/nightclub acts.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
We like using a fan at night to sleep by and our room steward was quick to get us one!

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
The Amsterdam was an exceptionally clean ship!

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
We would have liked the stateroom to have been larger even though this was an inside cabin.Having never cruised before, we had no real idea how small the inside cabins would be.

Ports of call

Sitka, Alaska

5 out of 5
This was our favorite port; quaint and inviting!

Ketchikan, Alaska

5 out of 5
Many souvenir shops and quite beautiful, we also enjoyed this port immensely.

Juneau, Alaska

3 out of 5
Beautiful port!
Don't Miss: We highly recommend taking a floatplane excursion; it was worth the money!

Victoria, British Columbia

5 out of 5
We toured the city then visited the Craigdarroch Castle as our excursion in this port. It was well worth the time. It's unfortunate though that we arrived there at 6::30pm as it got dark fast. It would be better to take this cruise in May and visit the areas during daylight.
Don't Miss: The Craigdarroch Castle

Juneau, Alaska

3 out of 5
Beautiful port!
Don't Miss: We highly recommend taking a floatplane excursion; it was worth the money!

Victoria, British Columbia

5 out of 5
We toured the city then visited the Craigdarroch Castle as our excursion in this port. It was well worth the time. It's unfortunate though that we arrived there at 6::30pm as it got dark fast. It would be better to take this cruise in May and visit the areas during daylight.
Don't Miss: The Craigdarroch Castle

Ketchikan, Alaska

5 out of 5
Many souvenir shops and quite beautiful, we also enjoyed this port immensely.

Sitka, Alaska

5 out of 5
This was our favorite port; quaint and inviting!

Pros: Ports of call, entertainment

Cons: Language barrier with on-board staff

Recommends Amsterdam? Yes!

Was this review helpful? 41

2 Comments

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

glomarrone    10 years ago

I see that you gave lack luster ratings for Juneau yet your comments about it were so positive.  Can you share what disappointed you about Juneau?  I will be going to Alaska soon.  Gloria