Alaska Trip Report: Cruising the Inside Passage

Between the writing assignments on this sailing and producing Cruise News Today onboard, I quickly realized that doing a daily trip report for this seven-night Alaska cruise on Holland America would be impossible without working around the clock. 

So, instead, I took a lot of mental notes. Now, back home and with a little breathing room, I can gather my thoughts and share details about my sailing on the MS Koningsdam. 

Speaking of working while at sea, the Starlink high-speed internet service was quite impressive. The speeds were great for basic use, such as email, reading news websites, or posting to social media. They were also sufficient for online heavy lifting (uploading, streaming, or downloading work media files). I had the four-device package for my work computer, iPad, and iPhone, and the signal/speeds met my needs.

As the last trip report mentioned, the northern lights were like nothing I’d ever seen. Sitting on my balcony and taking it all in was surreal; it gave me chills (and not just because it was a windy 43 degrees).

What is the Inside Passage?

The Inside Passage is a scenic route that stretches from the Pacific Northwest to Southeast Alaska, offering cruisers views through a network of fjords, islands, and coastal towns.

Many Alaska cruises include the Inside Passage in their itineraries, offering stops in popular ports like Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway. These sailings often depart from Seattle or Vancouver.

Ships may take alternate routes to the Gulf of Alaska, which typically include crossing the open ocean to visit ports like Anchorage and Seward, or even longer voyages to the Aleutian Islands or Arctic Circle. That rough is a bit rougher, as I learned the hard way back in 2019.

A balcony cabin in Alaska

This brings me to this next point: If a balcony cabin fits your budget, do it! Sure, the ship has views outside your stateroom, but having your little slice of privacy on your voyage is priceless. This is true in general, but particularly when sailing in Alaska. 

Alaska offers stunning natural landscapes, including some of the best glaciers in Alaska, fjords, and lots of wildlife (we saw bears, dolphins, sea otters, bald eagles, and mountain goats), all of which can be viewed from the comfort of your balcony cabin.

Just pack a hoodie or jacket because Alaska does get cold on the open water, no matter when you’re sailing.

I forgot to mention one thing in yesterday’s trip report when talking about the room: the motion-activated floor lighting in the cabin. Countless times throughout the week, it saved me from kicking the bedpost in the middle of the night. I know it’s something small, but sometimes things like that make a big difference.

Alaska Sea Day Brunch

We woke up this morning and went to the Alaska Sea Day brunch, where we sat with a family of three. We could have waited for a table for two, but because we hit brunch at peak time, that would have meant a 45-minute wait, and we were starving. Plus, back-to-back cruisers have told us that the brunch is a not-to-miss experience. They were right!

This was my first time sitting with people who weren’t at my party since the cruise industry restarted, and I realized I missed sitting and talking with people outside of my circle. One of the great things about cruising is the opportunity to meet people you might not otherwise.

The family we sat with was from Kentucky. They are normally Royal Caribbean and Carnival guests, but they wanted to try something different, so they opted for Holland America.

I went with goat cheese and assorted fresh berries, a fried halibut sandwich, and a wild berry crisp. It was all spot on, and I thought the menu was thoughtfully planned for our itinerary. It offered enough selection so that if you didn’t like seafood, there were breakfast options like yogurt and parfaits.

The brunch menu had a nice selection of options, including fresh halibut and reindeer sausage. (And yes, one of the ingredients is, in fact, reindeer. I wonder how many kids are traumatized when they find that out?)

The meal took about an hour, but we could have left earlier. Since we were sitting with another family, getting feedback and seeing what everyone else thought of the sailing was good.

My thoughts? Fresh seafood and Alaska go hand-in-hand. Holland America’s recently launched Fresh Seafood program is the real deal. I’ve been on many cruises and can say that this has been top-notch as a lover of fresh seafood. I’d go so far as to say it’s maybe the best I’ve ever had on a ship.

Quiet days at sea

It was nice to hear the entertainment host (cruise director) speak only briefly during the day to echo that sentiment. It might seem small, but something must be said about being on vacation and not having to hear about the latest bingo game or slot pull. This cruise line appears to understand that if their guests want to know what is happening, they will open the Navigator app or look at the daily program in the stateroom.

Speaking of the Navigator app, it does come in handy but there is room for improvement. One miss with the app is a planner and times for what is happening around the ship. If venue hours of operation are a thing with the Navigator app, it wasn’t working on our sailing.

Because it was a cloudy sea day as we made our way to our first port of Juneau, I spent most of the day working in the Crow’s Nest. What I love about this space is its 270-degree unrestricted views, and on an Alaska cruise, you want that.

For instance, at one point, the watch officer announced that a whale pod was on the ship’s port side, directly off the bridge and in the distance.

Since our stateroom was on the starboard side, I wouldn’t have been able to see them from the balcony. Because I spent so much time in the Crow’s Nest, I could walk 50 feet and see the whales off in the distance, as promised.

Plus, since I had the Quench Beverage package (soda, water, and coffee), having a coffee shop on the starboard side and a bar on the port side was convenient. I probably drank more coffee than I should have on this cruise.

Dinner at the Pinnacle Grill

On the first sea day, we ate dinner at Pinnacle Grill. The steakhouse on deck two on the Koningsdam is popular, so reservations are highly recommended. Depending on the voyage’s itinerary, it’s also open for lunch and sometimes brunch on select days. On our sailing, they had a special Mother’s Day Brunch.

We only did the dinner at Pinnacle Grill on this voyage, and it was a delicious experience. You get one appetizer, an entree with sides, and a dessert. I started with the jumbo shrimp as the appetizer, the Porterhouse (medium rare), and the not-so-classic Baked Alaska for dessert.

One of my friends wasn’t hungry, so I had him order the clothesline candied bacon for his appetizer, which took center stage for the entire meal. It came out hanging on a rack on hooks with little tongs to grab them. This is bacon overload, which is also why I take the stairs on cruise ships.

Between the conversation, food, and wine selections, it was a value for $46.

Nighttime Entertainment on Holland America

The nighttime entertainment is in one area called Music Walk, where the Rolling Stone Lounge (rock music), Billboard Onboard (piano), and the B.B. King Blues Club are located. All were lively throughout the night. The house band at B.B. King’s is the real deal and always had the crowd on the dance floor. I couldn’t tell you which would’ve won a popularity contest; they would have all tied for first place. 

We also hit the Rolling Stone Lounge, where the talent pulls out all the stops. They did an Aerosmith cover of “Dream On” that had everyone in the place rocking out. By the way, big props to the guy who mixed the live sound; it’s not easy to mix levels in a room that is not shaped like your typical concert venue.

I’m a huge music fan, so seeing everything performed throughout the week in all the venues was refreshing. You weren’t limited to hearing Journey or the Eagles’ covers all week—everything from the 80s and 90s to the country and more. 

I have to say that I was very impressed with my first time back in Southeast Alaska with Holland America in a decade.

In my next report, we’ll look all the ports we visited and what we did in them. We visited three ports and spent a full day in Glacier Bay National Park, before moving onto more food and onboard programming.