Posts Tagged With: Cruise

Our Time in Juneau, Alaska

Posted on October 30, 2026 by 2btravel

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

Juneau was the only port where we had booked a shore excursion. The ship docks right in the city so you can walk right off the boat and into town. One of the most popular attractions is the Mt. Roberts Tramway which is a cable car that departs from the city street nearly straight up the mountain and offers great views. Unfortunately, the tram was down for repairs during our visit.

We had booked our excursion using the same company we did for our cruise, and snagged a 10% discount on an excursion that included whale watching and a visit to Mendenhall Glacier.
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Categories: Alaska, Cruises, Holland America, North America, Trip Report, United States | Tags: Alaska, Cruise, Glacier, Grey Whale, Holland America, Juneau, Mendenhall Glacier, Ocean Cruise, Trip Report, Whale Watching | Leave a comment

Our Time in Valdez, Alaska

Posted on October 29, 2026 by 2btravel

Valdez was the prettiest port on our cruise. When we arrived, the ship couldn’t even send any tenders out because the fog (or cloud) was so thick. But once the fog burned off, oh my goodness, was it gorgeous. My photos don’t do it justice.

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Categories: Alaska, Cruises, Holland America, North America, Trip Report, United States | Tags: Alaska, Cruise, Holland America, Ocean Cruise, Trip Report, Valdez | Leave a comment

Our Time in Anchorage, Alaska

Posted on October 28, 2026 by 2btravel

Anchorage is a much larger city than Kodiak and we were blessed with great weather for the second day in a row. While we did not have to use the tenders to leave the ship, we were docked in an industrial area so there were motorcoaches waiting to drive us downtown to the convention center.

Our first stop was the visitors’ center which allows you to fill out post cards for free and they’ll mail them for you (within the US). We sent several to friends and family. I loved this Air Crossroads sign outside!

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Categories: Alaska, Cruises, Holland America, North America, Trip Report, United States | Tags: Alaska, Anchorage, Cruise, Holland America, Mushing District, Ocean Cruise, Street Art | Leave a comment

Our Time in Kodiak, Alaska

Posted on October 27, 2026 by 2btravel

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.

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Categories: Alaska, Cruises, Holland America, North America, Trip Report, United States | Tags: Alaska, Brown Bear, Cruise, Grey Whale, Grizzly Bear, Holland America, Kodiak, North America, Ocean Cruise, Russian Orthodox Church, Trip Report | Leave a comment

Ship Review: Holland America ms Noordam

Posted on October 26, 2026 by 2btravel

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 | Leave a comment

Trip Introduction – Alaska Cruise on Holland America

Posted on October 21, 2026 by 2btravel

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.

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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 | Leave a comment

Our Time in Venice, Italy

Posted on January 5, 2024 by 2btravel

Trip Report: Athens and a Mediterranean Cruise
Lounge Reviews: The Club CLT and Centurion Lounge Charlotte Airport
Flight Review: Lufthansa A340-600 Charlotte-Munich
Lodging Review: Academias Hotel, Autograph Collection, Athens
Our Time in Athens, Part I (Acropolis and Museum)
Our Time in Athens, Part II (Roman Agora, Hadrian’s Library, Ancient Agora)
Our Time in Athens, Part III (Kerameikos, Temple of Zeus, Panathenaic Stadium)
Our Time in Athens, Part IV (Restaurants and Observations)
Ship Review: Viking Neptune
Our Time in Ancient Olympia (Katakalon, Greece)
Our Time in Corfu, Greece
Our Time in Kotor, Montenegro
Our Time in Dubrovnik, Croatia
Our Time in Zadar, Croatia
Our Time in Venice, Italy
Flight Review: Iberia A330-300 Madrid-Chicago

As is usual on Viking cruises, they try to sell you on another cruise while you’re on the current one, offering special incentives to do so. My friends and I have a system for selecting our international vacations: whoever has a birthday ending in a 5 or 0 gets to pick the destination. That covers six out of every 10 years, so it works for us. 2025 is my choice and I’d had my eye on Viking’s Passage to Eastern Europe river cruise which runs between Budapest, Hungary and Bucharest, Romania. When we checked with the on-board travel consultant we learned that we could book this cruise for just $25 down and it didn’t have to be paid off until six months before the sailing. That was huge for me as normally the cruises have to be paid off in 2-3 months. So we went ahead and booked this cruise for $25 and that gave us 18 months to pay. When we added in our past-traveler discounts and our on-board booking discounts, that took another $600 off the price. Plus we got shipboard credit for our current cruise and additional shipboard credit for the one we’d just booked. Want to join us? Click on the link at the top of the page for more info.

Since we’d had an overnight port of call in Venice on our previous Mediterranean cruise back in 2008, our original plan was to skip the included tour and just wander around ourselves. That was something we’d really enjoyed doing the first time around. But now we had shipboard credit to spend. We could have stuck to the plan and used the credits to cover crew tips and some small purchases but where’s the fun in that? Instead we used it to book The Island and the Abbey tour, which took us to the island of Murano and then to the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore as we’d not visited either of time in our previous time in the area. Continue reading →

Categories: Cruises, Europe, Historical Site, Italy, Tours, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking | Tags: Cruise, Europe, Italy, Murano, Tours, Trip Report, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Venice, Viking | Leave a comment

Ship Review: Viking Neptune

Posted on December 28, 2023 by 2btravel

While this was our fifth cruise with Viking, three of our trips had been on their iconic European longships and the other had been in China on a larger river ship that was basically like the longships, only with more decks. But this would be our first cruise on one of their larger boats. I had done three cruises back in the mid-to-late 2000s on ocean-going vessels. Two of these were quite large boats from Royal Caribbean and Carnival but our Viking ship would be a bit smaller than those. I was curious in the differences between larger boats and versus the longships.

Viking Neptune

The Viking Neptune only launched in November 2022, so it is still quite a new boat. Shortly before our trip I began looking for reviews and found this extremely helpful one from MJ. While she had a different itinerary (it was actually very similar to the Carnival cruise I took in 2008) I thought she did a great job in a very thorough post. She included all the ports of call in this single post so it’s a long one but worth your time if you want even more detail than I provide and/or want to read about the ports on that trip. Continue reading →

Categories: Cruises, Europe, Ship Review, Trip Report, Viking | Tags: Cruise, Europe, Ocean Cruise, Ship Review, Trip Report, Viking, Viking Neptune | 3 Comments

Shanghai: Old Shanghai and Yuyan Gardens

Posted on June 5, 2018 by 2btravel

Exploring Asia Overview
Cathay Pacific B777-300ER Business Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific Lounge Review: The Cabin at HKG
Cathay Dragon A330-300 Business Class Hong Kong to Beijing
Lodging Review: Regent Beijing Hotel
Beijing: Dongcheng District
Beijing: The Great Wall
Beijing: Run-ze Jade Garden
Beijing: The Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs
Beijing: The Legend of Kung Fu
Beijing: Tiananmen Square
Beijing: The Forbidden City
Beijing: Hutong Tour via Rickshaw, Tea Tasting, Flying to Xi’an
Lodging Review: Hotel Shangri-La Xi’an
Xi’an: Qing Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors
Xi’an: Tang Dynasty Dinner and Show
Xi’an Wrap-Up, Flying to Lhasa, Lhasa Home Visit
Lodging Review: Shangri-La Hotel Lhasa
Lhasa: Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Market
Lhasa: Canggu Nunnery and Sera Monastery
Lhasa: Potala Palace
Leaving Lhasa and Flying to Chongqing
Viking Emerald
Shibaozhai Temple
Cruising the Three Gorges
Three Gorges Dam
Jingzhou City Walls Tour
Wuhan: Hubei Bells Performance and Provincial Museum
Shanghai: Shanghai Museum
Lodging Review: Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai
Shanghai: Old Shanghai and Yuyan Gardens
Lodging Review: The New Otani Tokyo Hotel
Tokyo: City Tour
Mt. Fuji and Hakone Tour Returning by Shinkansen
ANA Suites Lounge Review, Tokyo Narita
All Nippon Airways B777-300ER First Class Tokyo Narita to Houston

Yuyuan Garden

The final day of the main part of the Roof of the World Tour began bright and early as we walked through sections of Old Shanghai on our way to the Yuyuan Garden. This garden dates back to the Ming Dynasty when it was first built in 1559 as a retirement gift from a son to his father. But before it was completed the son was appointed governor of Sichuan and that postponed further construction until 1577. At the time this was the largest and most prestigious garden in the city though its expense eventually ruined the family that built it.

By the 1700s the gardens had fallen into disrepair and a group of merchants purchased it and in 1780 the West Garden was opened to the general public. During parts of the next two centuries some of the buildings were used as headquarters by invaders or leaders of rebellions and the original structures inside the garden walls had nearly been destroyed. In the late 1950s the government appointed someone to restore the buildings. The gardens were fully opened to the public in 1961 and declared a national monument in 1982.

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Categories: Asia, China, Cruises, Tours, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, Cruise, Tours, Viking | Leave a comment

Danube Trip: Vienna, Austria

Posted on April 4, 2017 by 2btravel

Danube Trip: Chicago to Brussels
Danube Trip: Brussels Adventures and Getting to Prague
Danube Trip: Marriott Courtyard Prague
Danube Trip: Prague, Czech Republic
Danube Trip: Boscolo, Autograph Collection
Danube Trip: Prague to Nuremberg
Danube Trip: Viking River Cruise Boats – the Njord and the Bestla
Danube Trip: Nuremberg, Germany
Danube Trip: Weltenburg Abbey and Danube Narrows
Danube Trip: Regensburg, Germany
Danube Trip: Passau, Germany
Danube Trip: Wachau Valley and Göttweig Abbey
Danube Trip: Vienna, Austria
Danube Trip: Budapest, Hungary
Danube Trip: Hilton Budapest (Castle District)
Danube Trip: Budapest to Chicago

Our penultimate stop was the place I most wished we could have spent more time. Of course, that just gives me a reason to return to Vienna. Included with our trip was a morning tour of the city and the afternoon brought optional excursions to the Schönbrunn Palace, the Fine Arts Museum or accompanying the chef, Marcus, to the Farmer’s Market.

The first part of our tour was a motorcoach ride along the Ringstraße, the boulevard that encircles the city, and gaze at the gorgeous architecture. From our bus windows we viewed many of the city’s famous buildings, like the Opera House and the Parliament building. We also cruised by the Hotel Imperial, the grande dame of hotels in Vienna. Its presidential suite is typically the home of visiting US Presidents. However, in 2006 the Rolling Stones had that suite booked so when George W. Bush came to visit, he had to stay elsewhere!

We eventually stopped at Maria-Theresien-Platz, named in honor of Maria Theresa, who was the last of the Austrian Habsburg line. Though she died in 1780, her influence is still widely felt. She reigned for 40 years and was the ruler of 10 regions on her own and by marriage was the Holy Roman Empress. Naturally there was a statue of her at her namesake plaza.

Maria-Theresa Statue

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Categories: Austria, Cruises, Europe, River Cruise, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking | Tags: Austria, Cruise, Europe, River Cruise, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Vienna, Viking | Leave a comment

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Posts Tagged With: Cruise

Our Time in Juneau, Alaska

Our Time in Valdez, Alaska

Our Time in Anchorage, Alaska

Our Time in Kodiak, Alaska

Ship Review: Holland America ms Noordam

Trip Introduction – Alaska Cruise on Holland America

Our Time in Venice, Italy

Ship Review: Viking Neptune

Shanghai: Old Shanghai and Yuyan Gardens

Yuyuan Garden

Danube Trip: Vienna, Austria

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