Alaska cruise

Amsterdam Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 36

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Amsterdam

7 Night Alaskan Explorer (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 06, 2008

Ship: Amsterdam

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 14 years ago

Review summary

Our family of four recently sailed to Alaska aboard Holland America's Amsterdam. We sailed round trip from Seattle. We got a better deal by booking two outsdie cabins rather tahn booking a cabin that could accomodate four people. Having two bathrooms made getting ready much easier. This was the fifth cruise for my wife and I. We really appreciated the extra closet space and the bigger bathroom with a small tub/shower. We never meet our cabin steward in 7 days. However, the cabin steward for my wife and daughter's cabin was great. Our teenage daughter enjoyed all the activities for teens in The Loft, but our 12 year old son thought the activities for his age group were two "kiddie". The food was excellent, but the serivce in the main dining room did not measure up to what we have experienced on other ships. The shows with the HAL singers and dancers were dissapointing, but the guest illusionist was a big hit with our son. We booked an dog sled execursion through the ship. We traveled by bus to the dog camp and had a great time. Our two kids loved it. Unfortunately, the bus company that transported us to the camp failed to send a bus to pick us up. After more than an hour of waiting in a gravel driveway in the middle of a forest, the owner of the dog camp was able to make arrangements for another bus to pick us up. We expressed our frustration to the Exercusion Desk and were dissappointed in hoe they handle it. Alaska is a beautiful state. An Alaska cruise is a great way to see the Alaskan Coast, but I wouldn't recommend Royal Carribbean over Holland America.

Ports of call

Sitka, Alaska

3 out of 5
Sitka is a small town with little to offer. Tendering into port can be a pain.

Victoria, British Columbia

3 out of 5
Our ship did not arrive in port until 6:00 pm, so a lot of places were closed. We really enjoyed the 45 minute tour aboard the double decker bus. It was great way to see a lot of the city and cost line.

Ketchikan, Alaska

5 out of 5
My son and I enjoyed the Lumberjack show in Ketchican. Unfortuanely the ship was only in port from 7:00am to 12:30 pm so we were limited in what activites we could do.

Juneau, Alaska

5 out of 5
The tram gives you some great views on a clear day.

Pros: The cabins had plenty of storage.

Cons: The shows were dissappointing.

Recommends Amsterdam? No.

Was this review helpful? 36

2 Comments

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

glomarrone    10 years ago

How surprising that you got a better deal booking two rooms rather one.  Good move for you.  One of the less desirable aspects of cruising is limited time in some pots or as gapped to you arriving after everything is closed down.  Lots of times this happens when a ship arrives in port on a Sunday.  Sorry to hear that the entertainment was not tops.  One reason that I love cruising is the nightly entertainment.  Thanks for all your comments.

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