North! To Alaska – Seattle to ???

After months of planning, it’s time to head to Alaska. Of course, there are always ‘last minute’ things to take care of like re-packing the suitcase (remember we’ve been on the road two weeks by this point), checking in, printing out luggage tags, and boarding passes.

We met our friends and set off by Uber to Pier 91 on Saturday morning so we could make our boarding time. Holland America had everything clearly marked and several attendants pointing the way to the various checkpoints, from luggage, passport, ID Photo, and boarding the ship. Of course, I took my own photos, but there are cruise photographers on hand at various points during the cruise to help memorialize the trip. There’s a cost for the professional photos, so you’ll have to decide if you’re going to buy all of them, select a few, or stick with your own.

Holland America Eurodam

Princess Cruise ship

The first task was to find our room, get our life vests on, and meet at our emergency stations for a drill. Our room was nicely laid out with quite a bit of closet space, a large bed with drawers underneath, and a pullout couch. The bathroom is small and requires a bit of maneuvering (and is definitely NOT made for two people at a time).

The desk

Our ‘view’

Our bathroom had one sink

Compact!

Russ in his Life Vest

One of 2 closets

Our room reflected

Water & Sodas

Then it was time to meet at the Lido Deck (9) to plan the rest of the day. It was a beautiful sunny day and we had a great view as we left port. After we were underway, we moved to the Observation Deck (10) to wave goodbye to Seattle and head out to sea! We spent a bit of time walking around the decks before getting dressed for dinner.

Us on the Lido Deck

Our cruise mates

Leaving Seattle

Pier 91

Waving Goodbye!

After dinner, we explored some more and found the game room (which also has an espresso cafe & bar!). Several tables were scattered around; a huge storage cabinet housed a large selection of board and card games, and puzzles available for use. We played Sorry! and turned in for the night.

Us at Dinner

Our cruisemates at Dinner

Learning to play SkipBo!

Our next two days were at sea. As Saturday turned to Sunday, the seas became pretty rough. I’ve cruised before, and have rarely, if ever been seasick, but the seas were so rough the guys were the only ones up for breakfast. The Captain hosted a talk with graphs, charts, and some of the most colorful weather maps I’ve seen showing A MASSIVE storm calling for a complete re-route in our itinerary. The advanced warnings allowed our ship to skim along the outskirts of the storm, even though missed Juneau entirely to avoid all that scary red and pink in the weather system. The Captain’s presentation was fascinating; his experience at sea was evident and it was clear that not only did he know the size of his ship, but trusted his crew, maps, and the tools used to predict the weather.

Captain’s Briefing on the Storm

Red and Pink are NOT good!

Revised Itinerary to avoid the storm

Monday was still a bit rough, but as we continued to cruise along the outer rim of the storm and made our way north, the seas calmed and we were able to see some whales, seals, and a bit of blue sky on our way to Glacier Bay.

A dark sunrise

Seals on a buoy

A Little bit of a Whale tail

Our first stop is Glacier Bay, John Hopkins Glacier, and Icy Strait Point. Safe Travels and God’s blessings!

You can continue following our adventures on Facebook at Normads (Norman Adventures), or here on the blog.

North! To Alaska – Booking our Cruise

Planning for The Great September Road trip started after we sold the house in Redmond, Washington in June of 2022, moved to Edmonds, and began the checklist for the move to Mesa, AZ in June of 2023. As we packed up the house, I had several conversations with one of my best friends (and former neighbor) about what we would do when we moved. We talked about traveling, and she mentioned she ‘had always wanted to go to Alaska.’ Let’s forget about the fact that in the 20+ years we lived next to each other she never mentioned this once; it put a bee in my bonnet, and I began researching cruise lines, sailings, destinations, prices, and excursions the four of us could take.

I’m by no means a travel agent and have respect for those who are, as booking a cruise for two couples, with health challenges, pandemic restrictions, geographic diversities, and economic considerations, was no small feat. The cruise industry is mostly web-based now, so it was necessary to research pricing comparisons through email and I’m still getting ‘junk’ mail from cruise lines trying to sell me their wares. (And yes, we’ll probably go on another cruise in the future, but it’s not going to be an annual thing).

The first thing to decide was where and when. We wanted glaciers plus Juneau and Ketchikan – didn’t narrow the choices much; but deciding on 7 days vs 10 based on cost checked off the destination box and also narrowed the dates we could choose. Part of the booking process is choosing the stateroom: Inside, Ocean View, Balcony, or Suite. Prices were similar between all the major cruise lines, Priceline and Costco; we ultimately chose Holland America and booked Ocean View rooms across the hallway from each other (our neighbor’s daughter upgraded them to a balcony room a few weeks before the cruise), paid the deposit, and then dug into the ‘paperwork’ which is all online, but required information like full legal names, birthdates, passport or driver’s license information AND photos, medical needs, and packages for meals and excursions. We booked both the cruise and excursions through Priceline, not directly through Holland America. Priceline made the initial transaction pretty easy, however, we experienced issues later when we wanted to upgrade our room plus delays with refunds for excursions canceled due to weather. We’ll cover my thoughts on Priceline vs. Holland America in a later posting.

A basic cruise package includes meals (not ‘specialty dining’), and beverages like coffee, tea, water, and juices. We ate most of our breakfasts and lunches on the Lido Deck (Deck 9), which was buffet-style dining and included beverages like coffee, tea, juices, and water just like the main dining areas. Espressos, carbonated, and alcoholic beverages are not included and are charged to the room if ordered. We took our dinners in the ‘main’ dining room, except for 3 nights when they seated us in the ‘upper’ dining room. Our menu options varied each evening with starters, mains, and desserts included in the basic package, with options for 3 or 4 premium main courses, espresso, cappuccino, and specialty drinks at an additional charge.

We did NOT purchase the ‘have it all’ package from Holland America; packages ranged from US $55 – $60 per person per day. After calculating what we spent on the cruise for Wi-Fi, daily espressos, and the occasional alcoholic beverage with dinner, we would have saved about $100 overall. The savings would have been greater if we had chosen ‘specialty dining’ or premium main courses for our meals.

Anything not included in your package is charged to your room at the various locations (including the 18% gratuity PER GUEST PER DAY), so you’ll need to remember your room number. You can visit guest services and get a printout of your charges at any time during the cruise; I got one just before departing the ship so I had an idea of additional charges to expect. Our final bill for the cruise, excluding excursions, souvenirs, and transportation to and from Redmond, was $3k for the two of us.

Next time I’ll talk about setting off, and our first few days of the cruise. Safe Travels and God’s blessings!

You can continue following our adventures on Facebook at Normads (Norman Adventures), or here on the blog.