Great Alaskan cruise, must see Glacier Bay!
Zaandam Cruise Review to Alaska - Gulf of Alaska
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 63
Review summary
Overall, we would do this cruise again in a heartbeat. One note: we had no rain the entire week, which probably allowed for a much greater experience. But we'd do it again, even with rain!Embarkation
Easy, fast service. Friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable staff.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The main dining room was amazing! Even if there's nothing that looks good on the menu, go there anyway. I tried things I wasn't so sure about and my husband and I were blown away at the quality and flavor of the food. It was hot, fresh, and flavorful. We tried the Lido twice and immediately wishes we'd stuck with the dining room. It was a couple steps above a typical buffet, but the dining room was what blew us away. The hot dog and Burger place by the pool had exceptional burgers and the fried were good, too. Definitely worth trying. The Explorer Cafe was great. Good coffee, good desserts. Room service food that we ordered was not worth ordering . The chocolate cake wasn't very flavorful, and the cookies were a bulk package type.
Onboard Activities
America's Test Kitchen was worth seeing. Learned some new tricks, and gave me more confidence in trying new cooking techniques. The pool was good, and there were two hot tubs we used. Note that one is hotter than the other. We weren't on the cruise for the activities, but seemed like on days at sea, there could've been more offered to people under 60.
Entertainment
Adaggio was wonderful, a rare gem. It's a piano/violin duet that plays three times a day. The nightly entertainment was okay. A must see would be the night they do the BBC video to Adaggio and band music.
Service and Staff
All friendly, helpful and very pleasant. Service with a smile. 😁
Ship Quality
It's not the biggest in the seas, but it's clean, and we really liked the smaller ship, having cruised on the biggest in the world at one point. The smaller spaces make things seem more personal. A secret... Deck 6 aft. Views off the back without any obstruction!
Cabin / Stateroom
Our cabin was very clean. We ended up in a handicapped cabin, which worked out fine but wouldn't be our first choice. We chose the guaranteed stateroom when we booked, and ended up in an Oceanview, but handicapped accessible so we didn't have a sofa/sitting area. Didn't matter too much, though. We were there for the views off the decks and excursions!
Ship tip
Eat every meal you can in the dining room. The food is amazing. Especially dinner.
Thumbs up
1
Ports of call
Nice to be able to walk to the small boat harbor. Plenty of time to do an excursion before final boarding call. We did the Major Marine Wildlife tour. Worth it!!! Take the train from Anchorage to Seward! Worth it, stunning views you won't get elsewhere!!!!
Activities limited unless you want to take the ferry to Skagway. We did a hike up Mt. Ripinski. Free. Nice trails. Took a shuttle to the trail head, walked back to town when we were done.
Used Harv and Marv's for whale watching tour. Booked through the company directly, got the 14 person boat. Only 8 of us on it, which was nice. Gabe and Andrea were great captain/wildlife expert team. Would do this again with the same crew in a heartbeat. Saw five whales, got tons of pictures. Porpoises played right off our bow.
We did a 5 hour kayak and hike Southeast Sea Kayaks. Ryan was our guide. We were the only couple on the tour, neither of us had kayaked before. Had a great time, saw a ton of wildlife, had lunch on an island beach.
Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia Did not visit port
Disembarkation
Very easy experience.