ALASKAN CRUISE 2025 AND JUNEAU SHORE EXCURSION

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Hi and welcome to my second post focusing on our recent (August 2025) Holland America Inner Passage cruise.  I hope you find it interesting and worth your time!

With this being our very first cruise experience, I wasn't sure what to expect and I didn't want my husband and I to miss out on anything. I knew there would be things to do on the ship (daily activities, which populate on the Holland America Navigator app, but not till you are onboard the ship! I also wanted to visit new areas of Alaska (daughter Staci lived in Kodiak for several years so that was all we really knew, aside from the Anchorage airport lol). 

We booked our cruise through Costco Travel, booked a special dining experience through them, too, the Costco Travel rep called Holland America (HAL) rep and stayed on the phone while I let the HAL rep know what we were celebrating and which specialty restaurant I would like. That was helpful and I felt a bit more at ease as I navigated the HAL website and app. I did purchase two shore excursions from HAL and two from Costco Travel. Shore excursions are guided tours or activities that you can schedule at each port the ship docks in. Typically, our ship would dock at 0700 in the morning and often leave by 3 pm, with everyone needing to be back onboard 30 minutes prior to disembarkation of the ship. When you check in at boarding, you are given a ship keycard that also acts as your ship ID. When you leave the ship at a port, your card is scanned and scanned again once you return to the ship. This allows for easy tracking of who is on or off the ship. The times would vary depending on the port.

JUNEAU

Juneau, AK was our first port on the 3rd day of our cruise (first day began at 3pm when we set sail, the second day was a "sea day"). We had wanted to book a Juneau shore excursion to take a summer sled ride on an Iditarod sled! I actually had one booked for both Larry and I but then received a message that only one ticket was available. Bye, Larry! No, I didn't do that. If we go again, I want to book far enough in advance that I do get us with the Iditarod dogs--at the end of the sled ride/tour, you get to meet the puppies who will train to be Iditarod sled dogs! That was my main reason for wanting that excursion.

My second choice was whale watching, which we did schedule.  It was a sunny and warm day in Juneau. Our shuttle driver was very friendly and pretty good with jokes and local information. He drove us out to the marina to board our whale watching boat (crew of 3 with a captain and two marine biologists) and seated 45 passengers.

A quick pic of our ship, the Westerdam. Those are lifeboats on the 4th deck. 

A view from our ship after reaching Juneau.

You can see a tramway here in Juneau that leads to the Timberline Restaurant. We didn't go on that excursion, but I am sure the views are awesome!

Once we reached our shuttle, the driver drove us to the marina to board our whale watching boat. I did have scopolamine patches in case we needed them but never needed them the entire week.  

The captain headed out to more open sea and the biologists gave us info regarding humpback whales. HAL also had a presentation the day before regarding "Pacific Giants,' such as humpbacks and orcas. Very informative. 

Photo of a catalog which includes photos of the many humpbacks who have been seen in the Juneau area. Did you know that the coloring on the flukes is individual to each whale, much like fingerprints are specific to each human? I didn't know this till this excursion!

A National Geographic research vessel was in port.

These cute seals were the first wildlife we saw once we left port! The crew of the whale watching ship referred to them as "bowling balls"--I can see the resemblance!

Our first humpback sighting! There were several whale watching vessels in the area but also a total of seven humpbacks were active!

Mama and calf--pretty exciting to see them breach the water together!

Our guides, both being marine biologists, were very informative during the approx. 3-hour excursion. We would stop in areas where the whales were active and have a chance to take photos and learn info from the guides. Humpback whales who summer and feed in Alaska, return to the Hawaiian Islands to breed and birth their calves. As the calves age, they migrate back to Alaska with their mothers, learning whale behaviors along the way.

It does help on a journey such as this to have good quality, waterproof binoculars to view the beauty of Alaska. You can find a pair, such as these, at Amazon.

Taking it easy.

Stellar sea lions

 

We had quite a cruise--lots of info, lots of beautiful scenery and stunning wildlife. So many magnificent creatures that God has created.  It was educational also on our ship, the Holland America Westerdam. My husband and I spent an hour in a presentation in the World Stage (3 decks high with stadium-style seating, entertainment shows, and informational presentations) regarding humpback whales and orcas. It was an hour well-spent! I would encourage you to take advantage of the various presentations that HAL or any cruise line may offer. 

Ending our Juneau shore excursion, on our way back to the ship, out shuttle driver stopped by the Mendenhall Glacier for us to view.

It is quite impressive in person! Per Wikipedia, the glacier is approx. 13.6 miles in size and approx. 12 miles from downtown Juneau. Over the years, the glacier has been known to flood at times, as the temperatures rise. The glacier sits behind Mendenhall Lake, which formed due to run-off from the glacier.

Side notes about Juneau: it is the state capital of Alaska and has NO road system leading to it. Flying or boating in is the only way into Juneau. The year-round population is approximately 32,000 residents but when it is cruising season, that can easily increase the amount of people in town daily by thousands.

Also, did you know that Juneau is the home to the world's smallest Costco? Our shuttle driver told us that but unfortunately, driving by it wasn't an option lol. Here's a LINK

if you want to read more on that.

I would suggest, being out on the water such as on the whale watching ship, to have waterproof items on hand. We ordered POLARIZED SUNGLASSES to cut down on the glare of the water; a LIGHT HOODED RAINCOAT for myself, and one for MY HUSBAND. The weather can change quickly in Alaska so good to be prepared (the HAL ships do provide umbrellas for each passenger in the staterooms).  The jackets were also lightweight so not to warm and easily wrapped around out waists. 

Thanks for stopping by and visiting our post about Juneau! More to come about our Alaskan cruise!

FUNTASTIC FRIDAY LINK PARTY 558 AND END OF SEPTEMBER

Welcome to the last link party of September 2025! This month seemed to go by so fast. I feel like I just put my Fall decor out and now it's time for Halloween!

Speaking of Halloween, HERE is a quick and easy Halloween wreath to make, with some items you might have at home. 

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FUNTASTIC FRIDAY LINK PARTY CRUISE SHIP AND FALL IDEAS

Hello! I finally got around to posting about our Alaskan cruise that my husband and I took in August. It's the first part of a series, since I have so much to share! The first post is an overview of the ship, Holland America's Westerdam. We had a great time and were certainly well-taken care of during our seven days onboard. If you would like to check it out, you find the link HERE.

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

Photo credit to Holland America Line

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!

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