Wonderful first cruise experience
Noordam Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 92
7 Night Glacier Discovery Northbound (Vancouver To Whittier)
Sail date: July 09, 2023
Ship: Noordam
Cabin number: 4025
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 1 year ago
Review summary
This was my very first cruise and my first time visiting Alaska. The Holland America crew did a great job making sure I was comfortable, my room was clean, and the food in the restaurants was well prepared. The scenery in Alaska is also some of the best you'll ever see. I enjoyed it so much that I'm going on the southbound version of the same cruise in September, barely 2 months after my first ever cruise - I think that speaks to how much I enjoyed my first cruise.Embarkation
This was probably the one real negative for the entire trip. The customs process at Canada place is a mess that needs to be addressed. It took right around 2 hours to get through multiple serpentine lines before finally getting through customs. One through that mess, the Holland America portion of embarkation was excellent. The cabins were ready as soon as boarding began, so it was easy to get on the ship, get some unpacking done while watching the safety video, check in to my muster location, and then go grab some lunch. This freed up the afternoon to spend some time exploring the ship, grab a coffee and spend some time relaxing and watching the float planes do their thing.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
With the exception of breakfast in the main dining room on the first morning, which I attribute to getting a bad waiter, everything else went really well. I ate at Canaletto, Main Dining Room, Dive In, and the Lido Buffet during the cruise. The burger I had at the Dine In was good, but not great. Other than that, the food around the ship was generally excellent. My specialty dining in Canaletto was an excellent experience. The Lido Buffet had really good food and service, pretty good selection, and was the best way to have a quick meal so I could go do other things after the meal. I don't drink alcohol, but the service I received at the bars to get water or soda was great. Same thing with getting coffee at the Explorations Cafe (and don't forget to try the treats they have - some of them are REALLY good).
Onboard Activities
I purchased the all week thermal spa pass and made good use of the pass to spend time on the heated lounge chairs, use the steam rooms, and generally relax while enjoying the view out the windows in the lounge room. The only negative is that is was sometimes hard to get one of the heated lounge chairs when it got busy and it was somewhat difficult to predict those times.
I also attended a number of the nature/wildlife talks and found them to be really well done and informative.
Entertainment
I didn't attend any of the entertainment performances
Children's Programs
I was travelling solo without any kids...
Service and Staff
The service and staff was excellent. The room steward and his assistant did an excellent job and quickly responded to any requests I made, including a light that started flickering a few days into the cruise (fixed within a few hours of reporting it). The waiters, even in the buffet, kept my beverages topped off and made sure I was well taken care of. The spa staff did an excellent job keeping the facilities clean and being flexible on scheduling treatments. The rest of the crew was efficient and always friendly.
Ship Quality
The Noordam has been well maintained and the crew does a really good job keeping it clean. Sure, there are a few things here and there that are showing the age of the ship, but it was a very pleasant place to be during the cruise. So much so that I'm doing another trip on the Noordam less than 2 months after the first.
Cabin / Stateroom
Especially for one person, the cabin was plenty big and had plenty of storage for all of my stuff. It might be a bit tight for 2 people, but I'm sure it would work. The bed and pillows were extremely comfortable. The balcony, while not absolutely necessary, was really nice to have at times, such as the day in Glacier Bay as I was able to set up my GoPro on a tripod (securely attached to something solid just in case) and leave it on time lapse all day long.
Ship tip
Take some time at the start of the trip to explore the ship a bit to discover the areas you want to spend time in. Those areas are going to vary for different people and might be the thermal spa, the aft deck that can be accessed through the Lido Buffet on deck 9, the walking loop on deck 3, the pool on deck 9, or somewhere else.
Thumbs up
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Ports of call
Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia
Vancouver is a beautiful city that I wish I had more time to explore. I arrived the afternoon before the cruise, so I didn't get much time to do much. Next time I would probably plan to fly in 2 or 3 days before the cruise to allow for 1-2 days to see more in Vancouver.
This wasn't as scenic as I had anticipated, but was still a very relaxing sea day that provided a great opportunity to get more familiar with the ship.
There are a lot of potential activities in this port. I opted for the Misty Fjords Cruise, but probably wouldn't do it again. The fjord portion of the cruise is really nice, but close to 4 hours of the excursion is a boat ride to get there and back. The excursion was largely saved for our group by stumbling across a large group of orcas on the way back to the ship. Next time, I will consider the lumberjack show, visiting the totem park, or possibly just walk around the port.
Mendenhall Glacier is a must see while here and that can be accomplished with options ranging from an inexpensive bus ride to and from the park entrance all the way to expensive helicopter rides that have a stop on top of the glacier along with a sled dog ride experience. If the weather is clear, the tram ride to the top of Mt Roberts is well worth the cost and will provide you with panoramic views of the port and the opportunity to do some hiking from easy to difficult while up there.
If you've never been to Skagway before, seriously consider one of the train rides. The views are amazing. If trains aren't your thing, there are various options (bus, cars, bikes) to go up the road that parallels the train and enjoy similar views, possibly with the benefit of being able to stop along the way for better photo opportunities.
Glacier Bay was a must-see bucket list item for me and didn't disappoint. We got nearly ideal weather this day (sunny and upper 60's) which made it extra special. Be prepared to spend a lot of time out on deck this day to enjoy the views. This was probably the one day on this cruise where having a room with a balcony really paid off as it was possible to leave a GoPro in time lapse mode all day long, which really wouldn't be practical otherwise.
We got foggy and rainy weather on this day, which was unfortunate because the views probably would have been pretty good in nice weather. But we got so lucky on the rest of the cruise that it's hard to complain, especially since we got great weather in Glacier Bay.
The ride between Whittier and Anchorage is absolutely beautiful with all sorts of places to stop and make a day of the trip. I took and highly recommend the all day (roughly 7 hours) ACT Big Bus tour and highly recommend it. They have brand new buses with very comfortable seats, storage space above the seats for day packs (think air plane under seat size), USB charging ports, and rest rooms. The trip includes a pretty good boxed lunch, a ticket for the Alyeska Resort tram ride, a stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Area, and a few other stops. At the end of the day, the bus driver will drop you off at either your hotel or the airport. The only negative was that the weather was unfavorable for most of the day (cold, rainy, and windy).
Disembarkation
Getting off the ship in Whittier was a breeze and finding my luggage was also super easy.