A lionfish at the Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans, Louisiana
Our Time in Kodiak, Alaska
Trip Introduction – Alaska Cruise on Holland America
Lodging Review: Element Seattle Downtown
Our Time in Seattle
Ship Review: Holland America ms Noordam
Our Time in Kodiak, Alaska
Our Time in Anchorage, Alaska
Our Time in Valdez, Alaska
Our Time in Juneau, Alaska
Our Time in Ketchikan, Alaska
Our Time in Prince Rupert, British Columbia
Hullo Ferry Between Nanaimo and Vancouver
Our first port of call was the town of Kodiak, Alaska. It’s a small town of around 5,500 people at the last census and is one of seven communities on Kodiak Island. Our ship anchored out in Saint Paul Harbor and we had to take tenders to reach the town. If you are mobility-challenged and cannot stand long enough to step from the ship’s dock to the tender, you will not be able to visit any port where tenders are required. We saw a number of people with rolling walkers, and that worked fine, but motorized scooters did not make it aboard the tender.
Our first stop was the Kodiak National Wildlife Visitors Center. You can start your visit there with a short film about the area and then visit the exhibits. The lower level has details about the brown bears in the area.
Ship Review: Holland America ms Noordam
Trip Introduction – Alaska Cruise on Holland America
Lodging Review: Element Seattle Downtown
Our Time in Seattle
Ship Review: Holland America ms Noordam
Our Time in Kodiak, Alaska
Our Time in Anchorage, Alaska
Our Time in Valdez, Alaska
Our Time in Juneau, Alaska
Our Time in Ketchikan, Alaska
Our Time in Prince Rupert, British Columbia
Hullo Ferry Between Nanaimo and Vancouver
This installment took the longest to write because the ship is just so big I hardly know where to start. So feel free to scroll down through the photos if that’s what you want to do.
The Holland America Line (HAL) ms Noordam was originally launched in 2006, making the ship 20 years old. It underwent a significant remodeling in 2024 and, from the parts of the ship I visited, still felt fairly fresh, even two years later. It has 11 decks and a capacity of 1916 passengers and has a crew of about 800. This ship sails Alaska and the Pacific Northwest during the northern hemisphere summers before heading down south to Australia and New Zealand for the northern hemisphere winter.
It has five dining venues, eight bars/lounges, six shopping venues, and 19 activities venues – so there’s always something to do on board! There are eleven passenger-accessible decks as well as Deck A, which is below Deck 1. This is a strictly utilitarian deck. The only time we were ever on it was as we were boarding or leaving the ship as the gangway location varied depending on tides and port facilities.
The ship offers 986 staterooms ranging from inside cabins, ocean view cabins, and balcony cabins to 162 full-on suites.
I’ll have more detail on the individual decks below. Continue reading
Categories: Cruises, Holland America, Ship Review, Trip Report
Tags: Cruise, Holland America, ms Noordam, Ocean Cruise, Ship Review
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Our Time in Seattle
Trip Introduction – Alaska Cruise on Holland America
Lodging Review: Element Seattle Downtown
Our Time in Seattle
Ship Review: Holland America ms Noordam
Our Time in Kodiak, Alaska
Our Time in Anchorage, Alaska
Our Time in Valdez, Alaska
Our Time in Juneau, Alaska
Our Time in Ketchikan, Alaska
Our Time in Prince Rupert, British Columbia
Hullo Ferry Between Nanaimo and Vancouver
I hadn’t done any real planning for things to see in Seattle other than asking AI to give me some suggestions of things to photograph. I knew that we’d be sleeping in since we arrived so late and that proved to be the case.
It was a gloomy morning when we set out and I decided to wear jeans instead of the shorts I’d packed – a decision I came to regret. Later in the day it was sunny and gorgeous and I was hot. Live and learn. Here are some things we saw while exploring the city.
The Troll Under the Bridge
My roomie on this trip loves to find the off-beat tourist things and she read about the Troll Under the Bridge, so naturally we had to hunt it down.
The Fremont Troll
Not only did we find that, we also found the three Billy Goats Gruff!
Continue reading
Categories: Award Travel, North America, Trip Report, United States, Washington
Tags: Fremont Troll, Photo Essay, Pike Place Market, Seattle, Space Needle, Trip Report, Troll, Washington
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Lodging Review: Element Seattle Downtown
Trip Introduction – Alaska Cruise on Holland America
Lodging Review: Element Seattle Downtown
Our Time in Seattle
Ship Review: Holland America ms Noordam
Our Time in Kodiak, Alaska
Our Time in Anchorage, Alaska
Our Time in Valdez, Alaska
Our Time in Juneau, Alaska
Our Time in Ketchikan, Alaska
Our Time in Prince Rupert, British Columbia
Hullo Ferry Between Nanaimo and Vancouver
Since I was departing Memphis on a Friday evening and we couldn’t board our ship until Sunday, we needed two nights’ lodging in Seattle. We eventually settled on the Element Seattle Downtown which was about a 30-minute walk from Pike Place Market and other attractions along the waterfront. While it would have been nice to be closer, the hotel offered free breakfast and as it turned out there were loads of other folks there ahead of their own cruises, so it was a popular choice. I had a free night certificate thanks to my Chase Marriott credit card. The free night certificate only covered the first 25K points but I was able to add 9K points to it to cover that first night and then 34K points for the second night.
Categories: Award Travel, Element, Hotel, Lodging Review, Marriott, North America, Trip Report, United States, Washington
Tags: Element, Hotel, Hotel Review, Lodging Review, Marriott, Seattle, Trip Report, Washington
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Trip Introduction – Alaska Cruise on Holland America
Trip Introduction – Alaska Cruise on Holland America
Lodging Review: Element Seattle Downtown
Our Time in Seattle
Ship Review: Holland America ms Noordam
Our Time in Kodiak, Alaska
Our Time in Anchorage, Alaska
Our Time in Valdez, Alaska
Our Time in Juneau, Alaska
Our Time in Ketchikan, Alaska
Our Time in Prince Rupert, British Columbia
Hullo Ferry Between Nanaimo and Vancouver
Welcome to my next trip report where I’ll cover my late-summer cruise, which was round-trip from Seattle to Alaska.
A friend from Australia already had this cruise booked, so when my Los Angeles-based friend – who had never been to Alaska – suggested we join her, it sounded like a great idea. My only visit to Alaska was a cruise in 2005 so I was happy to go back.
Categories: Alaska, Award Travel, British Columbia, Canada, Cruises, Element, Holland America, Hotel, Marriott, North America, Trip Report, United States, Washington
Tags: Alaska, Anchorage, Award Travel, British Columbia, Canada, Cruise, Element, Ferry, Holland America, Hotel, Juneau, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Marriott, Nanaimo, Noordam, North America, Prince Rupert, Seattle, Trip Report, Valdez, Vancouver, Washington
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Travel Tuesday Photo: Vlacherna Monastery and Mouse Island
The Vlacherna Monastery (foreground) and Mouse Island in the background, just off the coast of Corfu, Greece
Categories: Europe, Greece, Picture of the Week
Tags: Corfu, Greece, Mouse Island, Picture of the Week, Travel Tuesday Photo, Vlacherna Monastery
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Travel Tuesday Photo: Courtroom 600 at Nuremberg
Courtroom 600 at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, Germany where the trials of senior Nazi officials took place. The courtroom was rearranged a bit for the trial due to the number of spectators and press in attendance. The box behind the table had to be extended to the left to accommodate all those on trial.
Categories: Europe, Germany, Picture of the Week
Tags: Courtroom, Germany, Nuremberg, Palace of Justice, Picture of the Week, Travel Tuesday Photo
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Travel Tuesday Photo: Grey Whale Skeleton
The dead grey whale was found by a local science teacher on a beach in Kodiak. Recognizing the significance that a full-sized skeleton could be, the town worked quickly to bury the whale on the beach for four years and let nature take its course. Once the whale was exhumed, there was very little meat left to debride and the skeleton now hangs at the Kodiak National Wildlife Visitors Center in Kodiak, Alaska.
Grey whale skeleton at Kodiak National Wildlife Visitors Center
Categories: Alaska, North America, Picture of the Week, United States
Tags: Alaska, Grey Whale, Kodiak, Picture of the Week, Travel Tuesday Photo
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Travel Tuesday Photo: Kneeling Elephant at the Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs
A kneeling elephant at the Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs in Beijing, China. Notice anything odd about how the elephant is kneeling?
Categories: Asia, China, Historical Site
Tags: Asia, China, Historical Site, Picture of the Week, Travel Tuesday Photo
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