Four Weeks Later, I’m Back at Sea Now Heading for Alaska

Day 1, 2024 Ultimate Alaska

Sunday, June 9, 2024; Seattle, Washington

With its rugged beauty and abundant wildlife, it’s no surprise that Alaska is one of the most popular cruise destinations. Ports like Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Sitka can host as many as 10,000 cruise ship passengers a day. So in early 2023, when Holland America announced a 28-day Ultimate Alaska cruise that goes much farther afield, I joined my sisters Eloise and Elaine in signing up.

Today we joined about 1,800 fellow passengers aboard the Westerdam for this epic journey – round trip from Seattle all the way to Nome in the Bering Sea. For the second year in a row, I will spend the summer solstice north of the Arctic Circle and truly be in the land of the midnight sun.

It’s part of a new category of Holland America cruises — a Legendary Voyage. These are shorter than a grand cruise, but usually at least a month long and generally round trip from the United States. (Stay tuned: I am booked on two more Legendary Voyages this year.)

During the four weeks since our grand world voyage ended, I’ve unpacked and repacked while staying with Eloise in Fort Smith, Ark. I’m not much of a birder, but during my early mornings on Eloise’s screened porch I’m amazed by how many birds I hear. My Merlin Bird app listens and has identified everything from American robins, house finches, northern cardinals, blue-gray gnatcatchers, Carolina wrens, tufted titmice, blue jays, red-bellied woodpeckers, eastern wood-pewees to fish crows. They tend to be hidden in the trees.

Given travel delays caused by weather and airline problems, we flew to Seattle two days ago and spent yesterday shopping at the nearby mall, getting a pedicure (Eloise) and a haircut (Elaine). We relaxed over a soup dumpling dinner at Din Tai Fung. I ate at the Singapore location a few months ago, but my favorite memory is of learning to make dumplings at its Taipei 101 location in 2018.

At the pier this morning, Holland America’s boarding process was painless. We waited 10 or 20 minutes to enter the terminal, joined by a surprising number of people we know. After passing through security, it took about two minutes to check in at a kiosk with facial recognition. Another short wait and we boarded before 11 a.m. Not much need to explore the ship, as the Westerdam is a sister ship to the world cruise’s Zuiderdam. Our Seattle-based travel agency (Cruise Specialists) hosted a reception on board the ship, giving us a chance to see our agents in person and chat with our voyage hosts, Wendy and Steve.

After lunch, the afternoon was filled with greeting friends from previous cruises – both passengers and staff. As much as I like the itineraries, it is the friends that draw me back for cruise after cruise.

By dinner I had unpacked. I know a 28-day cruise is long for most people, but as I am usually on a ship for anywhere from five to nine months, I challenged myself to see how little I could bring for this shorter cruise. I didn’t achieve my goal of a single checked bag, in part because I brought some things for other people. I’m prepared for cooler weather, particularly on the small-boat excursions I’ve booked, so I leaned toward warmer and bulkier clothes.

My stateroom has an up-close view of a ship tender just outside the window. I’ve booked an obstructed ocean view, which means instead of the approximately four-foot-by-four-foot window over the beds, I have a wall of full-sized windows, but no balcony. The tender fills most of the view. I think it is a good compromise — lots of light, but cheaper than an ocean view.

Sure, I would prefer a verandah cabin, but as this ship is pretty full, the upsell Holland America offered for it was more than I wanted to pay. It’s one of those compromises that allows me to spend most of the year at sea.

As expected on a full ship, there was a line for dinner in the main dining room, but once we were seated, the service was smooth and the meal very good. This is the first time I booked the “Have It All” promotion, which includes more drinks than I will consume. We were pleased to see our favorite sauvignon blanc available by the glass.

Instead of the usual first night Origin Story presentation on the World Stage about Holland America’s history, our cruise director Stone narrated an overview of the cruise line’s 75 years cruising in Alaska. It certainly whetted our appetite for the 28 days ahead.