FUNTASTIC FRIDAY LINK PARTY 578 AND VALENTINE IDEAS

Welcome to the party! Hope all is well and, if you were in the path of the snow and ice storm, that al is well with you are yours!

This week on the blog, I shared a post about our Holland America Cruise through the Inside Passage of Alaska and our day in Ketchikan. If you haven't cruised before or have never been to Alaska, I highly recommend. My husband and I had a great time, on the ship and at the ports we docked in. The crew of the Westerdam were so attentive and our stewards were AWESOME! Here is a link to the KETCHIKAN SHORE EXCURSION.

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HOLLAND AMERICA SHIP DINING AND ACTIVITIES

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I will earn a small commission, which will not affect the pricing for you. 

When we booked our cruise to Alaska aboard the Holland American Line ship, the Westerdam, I wasn't sure what to expect dining-wise. I knew there was the Lido Buffet on the Lido Deck (deck 9) and also several more expensive restaurants that you needed to make reservations for. As I was looking through our cruise details, I found that my husband and I had reservations in the main dining room at 7:30 each evening. Mind you, we had never cruised before. The main dining room was amazing! We had our same waiter, Anggara and assistant waiter, Edi, each night. That was a treat as they get to know you and even your preferences. Same table, too. The main dining room is quite elegant but no need to dress up. The HAL cruise ships have two dressy nights on most of their ships so those nights we did wear at least "Sunday Best" but not everyone did. 

 I had one dress that I only had worn for my daughter Ali's wedding (which was in the backyard, during COVID, with 10 people present) so I took that along. I did not, however, have an evening purse so opted for this elegant but inexpensive BLACK CLUTCH. It came with a detachable chain shoulder strap, too. I felt so fancy JK. It also comes in several other colors.

Main dining room aboard the Westerdam. Photo credit to HAL.

There are several appetizers, main courses and desserts to choose from each night. There are vegan selections and a kids menu, too. The main dining room, the Lido Buffet, and the Dive-In are included with your cruise passage (though you can order more expensive fare at the main dining room, which would be billed to your room). 

Those pics are just a sampling of the fare we enjoyed on our cruise. Typically, you will have an assigned dining time or you can choose to do walk-in, in which case you will need to wait till a table is free. We had a set time of 7:30 pm each evening. We did make reservations for the Pinnacle Grill one evening and another for Canaletto; both restaurants were not included in the price of our cruise, so the cost was billed to our room.  I did speak to a HAL agent on the phone ahead of out cruise ad make Pinnacle Grill reservations to celebrate my husband and my anniversary (also, his retirement and my being cancer-free but we chose the anniversary to celebrate). 

I forgot to take a photo of the anniversary cake slice they brought us before we cut it (we didn't want a piece each after eating dinner).

Entrance to the Pinnacle Grill.

Menu to peruse outside the Pinnacle Grill.

The Lido Market (Buffet) had multiple food stations, all manned by servers and chefs. Italian, American, Asian, desserts, salads, breads--anything you could imagine. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, closing at 9 pm if I recall correctly. But don't worry! Room service is available 24 hours a day (with limited menu). 

The Rolling Stone Lounge features live music each night. Some ships also have a Billboard Lounge with live music, too, but I had read that HAL may be doing away with that particular venue? BB King's All-Star Band also may be on most ships. The World Stage has entertainment from talented musicians. We went to two shows by famed pianist virtuoso, Hyperion Knight. He played from Bach to the Beatles and more. He is quite a storyteller as well. The World Stage also has ship's crew, such as the entertainment director and cruise director, tell you about the workings of these "cities on the sea" and it was so interesting to learn about everything from how the ship makes its own potable water out of sea water, to compacting leftover food to almost nothing, to how the ships are powered. Highly recommend if you go on a cruise to attend one of these presentations. 

We did dock in Victoria, B.C. but only for 3 hours. My husband I took a walking tour but it was dark by then so I didn't take many photos. 

This cute sweets shop was at the beginning of the tour so i couldn't resist taking a photo of that, what with it being in the water and so colorful!

While the shore excursions are varied and many to choose from, not everyone may want to pay the extra cost for an excursion or maybe they want to just stay on the ship. Well, there are plenty of things to do on the cruise ships and most are included in your fare!

Each evening, passengers get a printed "daily bulletin" in their cabins (stewards leave this at evening room "sprucing"). The bulletin has a list of the next day's activities. You can also find the list/schedule on your HAL Navigator App, which you MUST download before leaving port or even before that. There is not much in the way of Internet connection at sea, though you can purchase an Internet package. We did not but gave our family members the ship's at-sea number and HAL main phone number, to be used in an emergency. We only had a couple of full days at sea so as soon as we got to our next port, I checked in with family, checked emails, etc.

Here is an incomplete list of FREE daily activities that we participated in or knew of on the Westerdam:

Pickleball lessons and games

Line dancing lessons

Morning Stretch class

Morning mile walk on the 3rd deck

Gym with cardio machines, weight machines, free weights and more

Art and Crafts 

Trivia games (my favorite), bingo, card games

Casino 

A large and spacious game room with board games galore

Library 

Cooking classes

Live music in the various lounges (usually in the evenings)

Educational presentations by the crew

Two pools on the Lido Deck, plus hot tubs

Sauna

Whale watching from the Lido Deck (lots of small tables and chairs near the windows)

There are also paid activities, too. Some fitness classes, such as yoga or Spin classes, 

If you are sailing with kids, there is a Kids' Club that children and even Teens can attend while you go do your own thing. The clubs are separated into ages, say 7 to 10, etc. and have activities and games with full supervision.

Take full advantage of your Navigator app--it also will keep you updated on weather, changes in schedule, etc. The TV in each cabin also has ongoing info and you can switch the view of the ship's camera and see the ocean/scenery from various angles. 

Expect to hear from the captain and the cruise director from time to time on the overhead speakers. I would advise paying attention lol. Also, when you first board the ship, you will have info on where your MUSTER station is (where you would go in case of an emergency). It is required that you check in at the location to a member of the crew can scan your ship ID BEFORE the ship leaves port. The cruise director on our ship came on the loudspeaker and said "If you haven't checked in at the muster station, do so now. We know who you are!" 😄😄😄 Seriously, it is for your safety.

Oh, another fun tradition on Holland America cruises is the "Orange Day" festivities. Orange is the color of the Dutch royal family so HAL honors that. My husband and I didn't take any orange clothing or accessories along (not my best color) but we are going on a Caribbean cruise this April (we WON a free cruise on our Alaskan cruise in a drawing!) so I am prepared to be somewhat orange this time. Staci and her kids, Parker and Oakli, will be going along. If you want to be a "little" orange as we will be, I did order some fun items from Amazon:

2 Piece Orange Feather Boa w/ orange glasses for Staci and I

80s Orange Costume w. tutu, leg warmers, glasses, headband bow, fishnet gloves, 4 orange necklaces for 8 YO Oakli

Orange bowtie and suspenders for Larry and 10 YO Parker

The ship's photographers are also stationed throughout the ship, not just on Orange Day or Dressy Nights but on port days as you disembark the ship to snap a casual photo! You can see all the photos the last couple of days of the cruise and choose to purchase, if you like.

All in all, we had a wonderful time on the Alaskan Inside Passage on HAL's Westerdam ship. Highly recommend! I would add that unless you really want a massage or to have your hair done, those services are extra and somewhat expensive, at least in my opinion. So, while that is an individual choice, just know that the service price usually says something like, "services starting at $...." so will most likely cost you more.

Thanks for stopping by! Any questions, please leave in the comments.

ALASKAN CRUISE SHORE EXCURSION KETCHIKAN

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I will earn a small commission, which will not affect the pricing for you. 

Hi and welcome to our blog. Today I am going to finish up our Alaskan cruise posts that I started in the Fall. our Holland America Line 7-day cruise to Alaska's Inside Passage was fun, exciting, and relaxing. We visited Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. Ketchikan was quite rainy the day we were there, but all was well--it wasn't a downpour so not terrible. 

Ketchikan is known as being "Alaska's Frist City," in that it is the first city reached when sailing through the Inner Passage of Alaska. However, our ship, the Westerdam, first sailed to Juneau, then Sitka, then Ketchikan. As you can see from my photo above it was a rainy day the day we visited Ketchikan in August 2025. 

Ketchikan is also, obviously, known as the "Salmon Capital of the World". It's first cannery opened in 1885, which is why the city was founded. Logging was another important industry for this area. Now, cruise ships and the visitors they bring can easily increase Ketchikan's population of 8192 (2020 census) to 15,000 to 20,000 on port days for those cruise ships!

Our day in port included a shore excursion that we had booked. My husband and I wanted to get the most out of our port days, so shore excursions seemed the way to go. Here I booked a short tour of Ketchikan and then our bus proceeded to Saxman Village, which I will speak to shortly.

Sorry the photos are dark--it really was raining!

The above photos are located near the dock as we came off the ship. The Rock is a bronze sculpture, honoring those people and industries who contributed to the growth of Ketchikan. Ketchikan is home to the indigenous people: Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian. The Rock does pay tribute to the Tlingit, as well as miners, fishermen, loggers, pioneer women, and aviators--those who contributed to the founding and growth of Ketchikan. I found this informative WEBSITE that gives more info on The Rock and the people it represents.

Oh, just a note so you can plan accordingly. Holland American Line (HAL) cruise ships, at least the Alaskan cruises, have umbrellas for each passenger, in their cabins! So if you do happen upon a rainy port day, you are covered. My husband and I opted to have rain gear to wear, as southeast Alaska is known for rain. I opted for this cute LIGTHWEIGHT RAIN JACKET IN ARMY GREEN and ordered this RAIN JACKET IN ROYAL BLUE for him. Both have hoods so that was handy, too.

Our first stop was The Saxman Village and to learn a bit about the Tlingit tribe and the totem poles. Most of the totem poles there are replicas of totem poles left in abandoned villages; the replicas were mainly carved in the 1940s. When visiting Saxman Village, you can at times see Native artisans working on wood carvings and totem poles. Each section of the totem pole tells a story and these poles were created to honor individuals, commemorate significant events, or to show one's lineage.

To learn more about the Saxman Village, here is an informative LINK.

 

This totem pole is quite obviously, Abe Lincoln. The pole itself is quite tall, maybe 50 feet. Poor Pres. Lincoln is depicted as being somewhat short. Per our guide for the day, the Tlingit people had never seen Abe himself and only had a photo that was cut off just about thigh level, thus the very short legs. I found that amusing. If they had seen him in person, I am sure the result would have been much more favorable!

As we drove back into town, we stopped at the Native Interpretive Center, which is located in town. The staff member there gave us a brief history of the exhibits and also a history of Ketchikan. Our tour guides at all three of our ports (Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan) were very knowledgeable and added a bit of humor to some of the stops. 

Fishing, is of course, a big part of Alaska culture and industry. Below is a whale baleen at the center. Some whales, such as blue whales and humpbacks, use baleen plates (made of keratin) to filter out water and retain small prey. The baleen plates hang from the upper jaw. The whale baleen, when dried, is very stiff and was at one time used in consumer products such as umbrellas, corsets, and buggy whips!

All in all, we enjoyed our time in Ketchikan a great deal. Despite the rain, it was not too cool (I am the world's coldest person lol) and I stayed warm and dry. The tour guide drove us around the city a bit before heading out to Saxman Village. During the drive, he would point out certain buildings to give us background or history. 

For more info on visiting Ketchikan, visit this LINK.

Some items that I would suggest on an Alaskan cruise would be as follows:

Waterproof FANNY PACK. It is beneficial to have hands-free. I didn't want to carry my backpack on shore excursions (and some shops frown on those being brought in), so when I needed more than just my HAL ID (which I carried in a lanyard) I opted for the fanny pack. I also used that during our Juneau whale excursion, which you can find HERE. 

I did use this WATERPROOF PHONE POUCH/LANYARD for my Samsung phone to keep my phone dry and handy. It kept my phone dry and handy to use.

WATERPROOF HIKING BOOTS are a must in Alaska, especially if you are choosing a shore excursion that includes hiking or walking up trails or in the rain. Holland America Line has a variety of shore excursions to choose from for any cruise you choose. I did not need hiking waterproof boots on the ship LOL. We actually booked our cruise through Costco and a couple of the shore excursions, too, and two were booked through HAL.

Thanks for stopping by! If you have any questions, please feel free to drop us a comment below!

FUNTASTIC FRIDAY LINK PARTY 577 AND GOODBYE JANUARY

Let's get this PARTY started!

Happy almost-February! Walmart will be putting out the summer items in no time lol.

Have you been caught in the cold spell as many states have been? Here in northern Nevada, we missed the snow and ice but our evening temps dropped down to single digits and up to 35 or 40 during the day. I do long for Spring days.

Here's an oldie but goodie of a VALENTINE'S DAY COOKIE AND BAKERY-STYLE ICING RECIPE. That icing recipe is very easy to make and is smooth and glossy when added.

Below, you can find the link to another Valentine's Day Cookie recipe.