First Cruise EVER --
Amsterdam Cruise Review to Alaska
14 Night Great Land Explorer (Seattle Roundtrip)
Sail date: September 11, 2017
Ship: Amsterdam
Cabin type: Suite
Cabin number: 7040
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
This was my first cruise ever, so I have nothing with which to compare it. I travel solo and really enjoy having the freedom to set my own pace and schedule. My friends had independently recommended Holland America for my first cruise, and specifically one of their Alaska itineraries. So I chose the 14-day Great Alaska Explorer. First -- my friends were absolutely right: Holland America is a perfect match for me! The ship size couldn't have been better: I have some limited mobility issues (mostly breathing related), and I was still able to get around with minimal problems. I liked the fact that there were entertainment options available, but it wasn't necessarily the primary objective. I attended a couple -- and they were very good -- but I'm not really an "entertainment" person -- I live and travel alone, so I'm kind of used to entertaining myself, and that's easy to do onboard. Second, the accommodations: I had a Neptune Suite -- I have a slight tendency for claustrophobia and I didn't want to risk that having an impact on my initial impression of cruise travel. The room was even better than I expected. I loved having the extra room to move around, and the room stewards couldn't have been more gracious and accommodating. The towel critters that appeared each night were a hoot! They kept me stocked with grapes, too -- they soon figured out that I never eat bananas or apples, but LOVED grapes and pears -- so they started augmenting my daily fruit dish with more grapes and pears. I didn't have to say anything (never dawned on me to ask anyway). Those little touches were greatly appreciated, and I think speaks well for HAL's service level. The food: a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!!! Honestly, the Main Dining Room served some fabulous meals, beautifully presented by staff who were committed to providing a great experience. I had requested "anytime" dining/willing to share, and that worked out well -- never had to wait at all. I tend to eat earlier (between 5:00pm and 5:30pm), and over the 14 days I found familiar faces at the table many meals since we all tended to eat at the same time. I liked eating with a different mix of folks each meal -- made things interesting! The only downside was having different servers nearly every night, since seating was sort of random in different areas of the room. It's a trade-off between having a dedicated server for the trip or having a variety of personalities, but always providing the highest quality. I did have the same sommelier for all but 2 evenings that I ate in the MDR, and he was fantastic. I had purchased a wine package, so was able to select from the list with his assistance. Super experience! I ate two meals in Canaletto and was super impressed with it as well. Service was outstanding -- I was a "single," so had a table to myself, and was never made to feel "out of place" in a restaurant that includes as a concept the idea of sharing plates. The food was simply fabulous. Every dish was perfection on a plate. Would gladly eat there many more times. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. We had some rough seas on the way from Hoonah (Ice Strait Point) to Anchorage, and I had no problems at all with seasickness. A couple of slightly annoying things happened (the Neptune Lounge didn't seem to have anyone in charge and/or missing in action the 4 times I visited; and the Future Cruise Consultant was worse than useless), but NONE of this overshadowed the amazing food, service, and scenery!Embarkation
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This is a "low stress" ship -- not a huge amount of entertainment, but what there is is very good. It's a smaller ship -- my cruise had 1306 passengers, 647 crew -- so getting around is fairly easy, even for those of us with some mobility issues.
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3 Comments
GIL155 7 years ago