Alaskan Cruise on Holland America Westerdam

[DizBelle]

Anyone been on this cruise on this ship?

Or any Holland America Alaskan cruise?

 

[crjack]

We did a cruise to Alaska back in 2009 but it was on the NCL Pearl. We picked a ship that specifically went into Glacier Bay as part of their itinerary.

We had great weather and had a wonderful trip.

 

[tasha99]

We took a HAL southbound cruise 4-5 years ago--I think it was the Vaandam. There was an older clientele, but the price was right. We were actually moving from Alaska, and it was worth it to us to ship our car, fly our pets, but take the cruise down. At the time, we were allowed to bring a couple of bottles of wine for our room (they tolerated me bringing a box). I bought a couple double sized bottles of cheap wine and paid the $18 corkage fee at the time, and was able to drink in the dining rooms as well. Other than buying a couple of lattes, those were our on ship expenses (wait--we did go to Italian and Steakhouse specialty restaurants once each and enjoyed them.)

Not a lot of kids on the cruise, but my son made some friends and on the last half, abandoned me for the teen lounge (where he played video games and ate the buffet food he took to go).

This was an end of May cruise, and we had an inside cabin (350 pp!). I felt a balcony would have been a waste of money, because I sat out on the aft of the ship constantly and NO ONE ELSE DID! It was bizarre to me--people occasionally came out and shivered for a minute and went inside. It really wasn't that cold (50's and a bit windy--I had a jacket and a hat), but maybe for someone with temperature issues, being by their room would be preferable. For me, it was like having my own giant balcony--I even brought my meals out there.

Can't say anything about shore excursions or shows as we didn't do them. It was really was all about being out at sea and watching nature/wildlife for me. Hope you have a great trip!

Editing to add: There are a lot of inexpensive cruises to Alaska end of May. I think they're great, but be aware that this is not the most beautiful time in Alaska's summer. If you're going up to Southcentral AK or the Kenai Penninsula, later in summer is better because there is a certain amount of mud and cleanup needed as things thaw. Plus, the wildflowers are gorgeous. I would go any time (and plan to go this year on some inexpensive/last minute booking) but if you have a vision in your head of Alaskan summers, it's likely a picture of July/August.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Anyone been on this cruise on this ship?

Or any Holland America Alaskan cruise?

Been on two Alaska cruise on Holland America. Zaandam and Zuiderdam. Zuiderdam is a sister ship to the Westerdam.

Loved both cruises. Zuiderdam (1st Alaska cruise) roundtrip out of Vancouver (Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway, and cruising Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay). Zaandam one-way cruise from Seward to Vancouver (after 12 day land tour) Juneau, Ketchikan, Haines, cruising Glacier Bay.

Westerdam is about the same size as the DCL Magic class ships.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Cruised on Princess. They are also excellent in Alaska, with great itineraries.
(Had a premium Ocean View with the huge picture window, almost just like a balcony cabin.
Choose a cruise that includes Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage.
A North/South bound cruise is well worth it.
We also loved the Phillip's 26 Glacier cruise of the College Fjord and Surprise Glacier area!!!!
You really should get off the big ship for the best experience!
It is considered a must-do to book the small boat tour of Tracy Arm Fjord if this is possible on your itinerary.

We cruised late May, and I can highly recommend this.
It is just so much more beautiful when there is still snow on the Alaskan Mountains!
I think they had much more snow this past year than they did during the unusually warm winter before we cruised.

 

[antmaril]

I have cruised to Alaska twice. The first time was in 2009 on Holland America's Zaandam. We went to Glacier Bay (a must), Ketchikan, Sitka and Juneau. The clientele is older on HAL, (I felt young at age 58), but we had a great time. It was a nice mid-sized ship, food was very good and Alaska was amazing. I loved it so much, I went again in 2012 on Princess. Again, a great experience.

I encourage you to visit cruisecritic.com. It's like The Dis for cruisers. Lots of great information there.

Enjoy!

 

[sonnyjane]

Did that cruise on Westerdam in 2013. Great boat and cruise. Would absolutely go again!

 

[Meriweather]

Cruised Alaska 3 times now.
Holland, Princess and RCCL
Holland was the first and the best. Amsterdam
Loved it

 

[xlxo]

Was on the Zuiderdam in 2013.... differences....

• no pixie dust
• HAL is significantly cheaper sailing on the same week as DCL
• Some HAL sailings include Glacier Bay.... popular option for glacier seekers. Important choice compared to Tracy Arm's Sawyer that continues to melt.

 

[tvguy]

We did Alaska on the Westerdam in 2012. And we did Alaska on the Amsterdam in 2002, exact same itinerary.
Awesome ship, ports, staff, food.
If you have kids, they have kids clubs. Our kids on the 2002 didn't care for them, (but they also didn't like Disney's kids clubs in 2003). They were adults in 2012, so no issue there, other than our bar tab was higher! But full disclosure, our cruises are vacations where we SPEND time with out kids. When they were kids, we "checked" our mom and dad roles at the gangway, and just hung out with our kids for a week.

One thing that did change in the 10 years between cruises is the passengers got a whole lot younger on HAL, and lots more kids. Because of that, the ship was pretty dead after 10 pm. We always have late seating for dinner, and the bars were pretty empty......well, not pretty empty, we were the ONLY ones in the bar the HALCats were playing in every night. Very much like Disney in that regard, where they roll up the sidewalks at 10 pm
Kind of different that my first cruise in 1980 where the night club didn't even open until 130 am!

 

[Boardwalk Jedi]

DH did HA Alaska for our honeymoon twenty years ago. We did the Inside Passage and Glacier Bay, ported and docked in Vancouver. If we were to do it again, we would have done the cruise from Vancouver to Seward at least...maybe would have thrown in Denali. Our cruise was fine, but it was mostly a senior cruise with only a few young people and families.

 

[DaisyJ]

Clientele on HAL skews MUCH older than the other cruise lines.

 

[tvguy]

Clientele on HAL skews MUCH older than the other cruise lines.

Not anymore. Certainly not as young as Disney, but no older than RCL, NCL and Princess are these days.

 

[Gigi22]

Anyone been on this cruise on this ship?

Or any Holland America Alaskan cruise?

I have sailed with Holland America 30+ times. I have been on the Westerdam a number of times. Lovely ship. What did you want to know?

Can't help you with Alaska, as I have yet to sail there. FYI, HAL is one of the original cruise lines sailing to Alaska, so they should have everything well organized.

As to the demographics, HAL passengers are generally older than those on DCL, with fewer children sailing. There are more kids on holiday sailings, not sure about summer Alaska cruises.

 

[Erzengel]

Any advice for excursions?

Any must dos?

 

[tvguy]

I have sailed with Holland America 30+ times. I have been on the Westerdam a number of times. Lovely ship. What did you want to know?

Can't help you with Alaska, as I have yet to sail there. FYI, HAL is one of the original cruise lines sailing to Alaska, so they should have everything well organized.

As to the demographics, HAL passengers are generally older than those on DCL, with fewer children sailing. There are more kids on holiday sailings, not sure about summer Alaska cruises.

Lots of kids on summer Alaskan cruises, both our cruises were in June. Not as many as Disney, but as many as other lines.

 

[jdb in AZ]

When the Westerdam was built some 20 years ago she was the pride and joy of HAL. She was featured in a Walter Matthau Jack Lemmon movie called "Out to Sea." Assuming she's been carefully upgraded/maintained, she should still be a great ship.

 

[xlxo]

Any advice for excursions?

Check these vids for ideas.....

• you might need to make more than one trip....
• consider combo cruises that offers more than one activity to maximize your port time.

 

[Gigi22]

When the Westerdam was built some 20 years ago she was the pride and joy of HAL. She was featured in a Walter Matthau Jack Lemmon movie called "Out to Sea." Assuming she's been carefully upgraded/maintained, she should still be a great ship.

I love that movie too. "Out to Sea" was issued in 1997, the current Westerdam was launched in 2004. The Westerdam featured in the movie was an earlier ship by the same name. HAL frequently re-uses ship names.

 

[NFLDERS]

Deleted my post...