ALASKA INNER PASSAGE CRUISE & OUR FIRST CRUISE EVER (PART ONE--THE SHIP)

Hello and welcome! 

My husband and I recently went on a cruise along the Inner Passage of Alaska.  We had talked of this often over the last few years but it just wasn't the right time. Now that we are both retired (I'm sort of open to a remote part-time nursing job, which is a unicorn lol) and my cancer treatments are done and I almost feel normal again, we booked a cruise on Holland America Line (HAL). I booked through Costco Travel, as I felt if there were any issues, Costco would help us sort things out. 

We booked on the HAL ship the Westerdam. Lovely ship and when our bus pulled up to the dock, I was amazed at how big the ship was! I had never seen a cruise ship up close. There was a Princess ship docked across the way that was quite a bit bigger (longer, had more decks, had a water slide on the top deck--no thanks) but we were so happy with the MS Westerdam--it was a great home away from home for a week! 

Info on the Westerdam:

Passengers: 1916

Crew: ~800

Staterooms/cabins: 987 (a variety of inside, ocean view, verandahs and suites)

Length: 936 feet

Width: 105.8 feet

# of decks: 11, though the 11th deck is the bridge and also has a "sport deck" for pickleball and other activities

*Info from HOLLANDAMERICA.COM

The ship's decor is impressive, and, at times, you forget you are at sea. For the most part, our cruise was quite smooth. You could feel the waves if the ocean kicked things up a notch but it wasn't very often. I actually slept great every night! I believe the movement of the ship was quite relaxing. I also found the foghorn, yes, the foghorn, relaxing. We had a night and one day that we experienced fog--visibility was next to zero. Being from Jacksonville, Florida and having lived not far from the port where the ships entered into the St. Johns River to unload their cargo, I could hear the ships' horns at night and to me, that was soothing. Living in landlocked Nevada these days, I don't hear a lot of ship sounds lol.

A photo of our cabin (looks like someone sat on the bed lol). We had two great cabin stewards, Anton and Achmad, who were THE BEST! They serviced our cabin twice a day--morning and late afternoon. Those two were hard workers and I regret not getting a photo with them.  

Photo credit to HOLLAND AMERICA LINE
 

Our room was pretty spacious, and we had plenty of storage space. You can see the closets in the photo and both my husband and I had room for our clothing (boy, did we take a LOT of clothing but more on that in another post) and shoes. There are also life jackets, a safe for valuables, comfy robes, hair dryers, and various items provided by the cruise line, even umbrellas! Alaska can be rainy at times, especially in the southern portion.

The bathrooms are pretty roomy. Each bathroom has body wash, hand soap, shampoo, conditioner and body lotion dispensers. I did take a small bottle of my normal shampoo and conditioner but ended up using what was available in the bathrooms--same brand as they use in the ship's salon. I was happy with the quality, and my fine hair did well with the hair products. 

Anton and Achmad were very aware of our comings and goings. They were aware that we were celebrating a few things on the cruise: my husband's retirement, my completing my cancer treatments, and our anniversary (which is in April). We came back to our room several times and found towel art, sometimes with a personalized note:

We weren't sure what this one was but we think it's a bear? What do you think? We didn't want to ask them.

We decided this is a seal.

In the mornings, the stewards cleaned our room and made sure we had a full ice container--they even filled up my personal water bottle with ice. In the evenings, we had a menu for room service for the next day's breakfast, a list of the ship's activities and/or shore excursions (some days were "sea days" when we didn't go into port) and of course, Anton and Achmad straightened up our cabin if needed. and made sure all was well with us. Both were very pleasant to visit with, and they endured my husband's dad jokes well.

We did have a mini fridge in the room, as well. It did have soda and beverages in but since those are pretty spendy, we didn't help ourselves. One thing to know before going on HAL cruises, which might apply to all cruise lines, they don't allow you to bring beverages or your own water onboard. You can bring water or sodas onboard from the different ports the ships will dock in. We did buy six glass bottles of water (1.5-liter size) to have in our rooms and to fill up our own water bottles. It was well worth the price of about $26 total.

More views of the ship:

Hallway Deck 3

Lounge Area Near the Pinnacle Restaurant, Deck 3

Each Deck has two elevators, such as these, in the center (midship) of the ship. There are also 2 more (less fancy) elevators on each deck, both to the right (starboard) side of the ship and to the left (port) side of the ship.

We did take the stairs quite a bit, especially if the elevators were busy at certain times. Plus, we got extra steps in!

A view at the top of one of the staircases.

Lovely floral arrangements throughout.

Lounge area on Deck 2.

Decor on Deck 3

Game Room on Deck 10. Lots to do and lots of room, with a great view of the ocean.

Eash day, the rugs in the main elevators are changed out bright and early so we all knew what day it was--easy to lose track of time!

The ship had "sea days," meaning we were out to sea for the day. Out of 7 days, we had two full sea days, plus the day that we left port in Seattle at 3 pm. The ship keeps a very tight schedule so if you do get off at port, make sure you know what time you need to check back in on the ship. The ship often has to be out of dock by certain times, due to scheduling for the ship and also other cruise ships may be scheduled to dock. I've seen videos on YouTube, showing people running up to the ship as it has already pulled away. I did not want to be one of those people!

I don't want to make this post too long so will end it here. I will be posting more about our Alaskan cruise, such as ship activities/shore excursions, dining on the ship, things we learned, and what to take on an Alaskan cruise (preview: we overpacked).

Thanks for stopping by!

FUNTASTIC FRIDAY LINK PARTY 557 AND FALL IDEAS GALORE

Howdy!

I've been working on a few blog posts regarding our recent Alaskan cruise. My husband and I took a LOT of photos so going through those. We loved our cruise so much, we are planning another one, probably next summer. We also have a Caribbean cruise that we won from Holland American Line while on our Alaskan cruise to schedule. What a horrible dilemma to have.

😅😅😅

How is your end of summer going? We've been busy with outdoor projects--today my husband is caulking some areas on the back of the house so we can do the doors and trim. It has cooled down here in Nevada significantly, from the 90s last week to 70 for a high today. Better get out outside chores done! Actually, it will probably warm up again--we've seen some pretty hot Octobers (till Halloween lol. I've seen it be shorts weather on the 30th and on Halloween, it has snowed).

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CHEESY SQUASH AND PASTA CASSEROLE

Another Sunday, another day to decide what to make for dinner. I did have some zucchini and yellow squash on hand, as I am sure many of you do at this time of the year. Some days I forego meat, just because. So, I looked though the pantry and found pasta and decided to see what I could do with pasta, squash, and cheese. Here's what I came up with:

CHEESY SQUASH AND PASTA CASSEROLE (VEGETARIAN-FRIENDLY)

ONE BOX OF PASTA, ANY STYLE, 8 OUNCES (I ONLY FED 5 PEOPLE)

2 TO 3 ZUCCHINI AND/OR ZUCCHINI/SUMMER SQUASH, SLICED THIN AND IN HALF

ONE TABLESPOON MINCED GARLIC (I USED KIRKLAND'S)

1 CUBE BUTTER

HALF CUP TO ONE CUP WHOLE MILK (USE MORE IF SAUCE IS TOO THICK)

TWO CUPS SHREDDED SHARP CHEDDAR CHEESE

SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE

 1/2 CUP ITALIAN SEASONED BREADCRUMBS

1/2 CUBE BUTTER

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish and set aside.

Add pasta to salted boiling water and boil till tender. Drain and add to large mixing bowl.

Wash and slice squash and add to pasta in mixing bowl. Also add garlic, salt and pepper, stir.

Melt butter in saucepan. Add flour to thicken, stir, then add milk and stir to fully mix. Add cheese and mix till all combined and smooth. Remove from heat. 

Pour cheese mixture over the pasta/squash in the mixing bowl and fold together. Add more milk if it seems too thick but add small amounts (tablespoon) at a time. Place in prepared baking dish, cover with lid or foil and bake at 375 for 15 minutes (I like the vegetables to be a bit al dente).

Melt butter (1/2 cube) and add the bread crumbs in and stir.

Check the tenderness of the squash to your liking and either bake 5 more minutes if you like or sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top of the casserole and bake 2 to 3 more minutes without lid.

Remove from oven and serve. 

Creamy and cheesy!

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Thanks for stopping by! Happy eating!