Alaskan Cruise season has kicked off and the port of Seattle is filled with ships preparing for northern voyages. We usually have to admire the ships from afar but Holland America Line, headquartered here in Seattle, invited us for a tour of ms Nieuw Amsterdam before she set sail on the first cruise of the season.
The addition of ms Nieuw Amsterdam to the region is big news for Holland America, as it is their first Signature Class ship to sail Alaska itineraries. This season, the ship will take guests on the popular seven-day Inside Passage itinerary roundtrip from Vancouver. The ship will offer 22 Saturday departures from April through September.
The tour was special because we saw one of the ship’s Pinnacle Suites – a 1,318 sq. ft. palace with a King bed, oversize whirlpool bath, living room, dining room, dressing room, pantry, and a separate hot tub on the balcony. The Pinnacle Suite was twice the size of my first apartment.
Lunch at the Pinnacle Grill was another treat. And lets face it, indulgent dining is one of the best activities on a cruise. I had the crab cakes for an appetizer, the pinnacle burger (because it had bacon jam and that sounded amazing) and the coconut trifle for dessert. I had a difficult time walking out of there because I was so stuffed. The best part of it all was the service. The staff were incredible and attended to every last detail.
As I toured the rest of the ship, I couldn’t help but think that this would be a wonderful way to see Alaska’s interior. This year, seven ships in the Holland America Line fleet will sail a total of 149 Alaska voyages that stretch from the Inside Passage to Glacier Bay and beyond. The other ships offering seven- and 14-day Alaska cruises are ms Amsterdam, ms Volendam, ms Westerdam and ms Zaandam.
During lunch, the captain of the ship stopped by our table to say hello. This led to an unexpected visit to the ship’s deck where we got to take in the view and see they myriad of buttons that made everything go. I was surprised by the size of the ship’s bridge, which spanned the entire width of the vessel. The floors at the very edge were made of glass so that the crew could see the dock when pulling into port.
Holland America also offers Land+Sea Journeys that combine a three-, four- or seven-day Inside Passage cruise with in-depth overland tours to the Yukon and Alaska’s interior. These voyages give you up to three days at Denali National Park for wildlife viewing and to take in the scenery.
The 13 options for 2016 range from 10 to 20 days and are in two distinct series with cruise-first or land-first choices: the industry-exclusive Yukon and Denali Land+Sea Journeys and Denali Land+Sea Journeys. Each option combines a three- to seven-night Holland America Line cruise with a one-, two- or three-night stay at Denali National Park.
We had a wonderful time exploring the ms Nieuw Amsterdam and left dreaming of taking our own Alaskan cruise someday. Thank you to Holland America Line for the hospitality! We had a fantastic time.
