Alaska - Inside Passage


Thirty years ago I took a cruise through the inside passage to Alaska with my mother and sister. It was time to return, and time for Deborah to see the only one of the fifty states she had yet to visit. I had considered making the trip via the Alaska Marine Highway System but the ferries are surprisingly expensive and the scheduling can be problematic (do we really want to arrive at a ferry terminal five miles from town at 2am?). The best cruise experience in this area is undoubtedly the small cruise boats that get you up close and personal with glaciers and whales and seals. But those are much more expensive than the typical behemoth type vessel that we eventually chose, especially when you book at the last minute for a reduced price as we did. So we ended up on the Holland America Westerdam and were very happy with our choice.

Our cruise started in Vancouver and wound its way through the islands and channels that dot the Pacific coast of British Columbia and southeast Alaska, ending up in Seward. This glacier carved coastal route has the advantage of protected waters, which makes for a smooth ride, and the nearness of land, which makes for interesting scenery all along the way. This stands in stark contrast to the relocation cruise from Australia to Hawaii that we took ten years ago where we had to fight boredom from too many “at sea” days where there was nothing but endless ocean to see in every direction. With the inside passage route, “at sea” days are a pleasure.

At the Canada Place cruise terminal in Vancouver. This isn't our cruise ship (ours was on the other side of the dock), but it's similarly large.


View of downtown Vancouver as we pull away from the dock.













Our cabin was an "obstructed ocean view," so we got a nice big window and light in the room, but the view was of a lifeboat. An unobstructed view costs considerably more. Not worth it in our opinion given that you can just go out to the deck to see the view.
(photo by Deborah)


(photo by Deborah)



(photo by Deborah)



Creative towel folding is apparently required of the room stewards.



































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