Trips

Holland America: 14-day Alaska Cruise

June 5 - 19, 2017

      On June 4 we flew to Seattle to embark Holland America's MS Amsterdam from Pier 91 on Monday afternoon, June 5. We arrived in Seattle in the morning, rented a car, found our hotel and checked-in, and then went off exploring. Our afternoon found us at the REI flagship store in downtown Seattle where we spent considerable time wandering around looking at all of the goodies. We found a nice Italian restaurant for dinner, turned the car back in at the airport, and got to bed at an early hour. In the morning we got our luggage all ready for transfer to the ship and just hung out until time to take the shuttle from the hotel, south of the airport, to the pier, a ways north of downtown Seattle. When we arrived at the pier around noon, we were pleasantly surprised to find that not only could we board the ship right away but also our cabin was already available for us. As soon as the cabin was located and the hand-carried luggage dropped off, we headed off to EAT - what else are you supposed to do on a cruise?

Itinerary

Trip Map
6/4	Fly to Seattle; explore Seattle
6/5	Board the MS Amsterdam and begin cruise out of Puget Sound and through the Strait of Juan de Fuca
6/6	Day at sea
6/7	Ketchikan
6/8	Day at sea and cruising the Endicott Arm and the Dawes Glacier
6/9	Juneau: the melting Mendenhall Glacier
6/10	Icy Strait Point
6/11	Day at sea
6/12	Anchorage
6/13	Homer
6/14	Kodiak
6/15	Day at sea and cruising at the Hubbard Glacier
6/16	Sitka
6/17	Day at sea
6/18	Victoria
6/19	Seattle - Disembark; Drive to Forks, WA
6/20	Forks: Olympic National Park
6/21	Sequim, WA and Seattle
6/22	Return to Estes Park

Map of our cruise. We went to the Endicott Arm instead of the Tracy Arm because of too much ice.

      Mount Rainier was out in all its glory every day we were in Seattle - A real treat!

Mount Rainier
Space Needle	MS Amsterdam
The dining group: Sue, Don, Gale, Marge	We departed from Seattle on time and cruised out through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and eventually headed north for Ketchikan. Having the first day be at sea is always nice as it gives you time to settle in and locate everything on the ship.
Alaska's new license plate	Flag of Alaska
Metropolis of Ketchikan	We have been to Ketchikan before so we just got off the ship and wandered around town to see the sights. These included another stroll along Creek Street, the former "Red Light" district of Ketchikan. A several block hike brought us to the Totem Heritage Center, a great museum filled with totem poles and lots of information about how they are made and what they mean.
	Chief Johnson Totem Pole
Bee in flower	Sculpture
Creek Street	Creek Street
	Totem poles at the Totem Heritage Center
Totem poles at the Totem Heritage Center	Low speed vehicle and its special license plate - cute
June 8 was a "day at sea" that included sailing into the Endicott Arm to see the Dawes Glacier. We were scheduled to go to the Tracy Arm but the captain said there was still too much floating ice to get close enough to the Sawyer Glacier. As it was, he was able to get quite close to the Dawes Glacier. It was a sunny day and the ice was beautiful. There was also some calving activity to watch. On the sail out, we saw lots of harbour (I think) seals sunning themselves of the chunks of ice floating in the water - lots of mommies and babies!
Map showing the location of the Endicott Arm	Spouting whale - first one of many that we saw on the cruise
Beautiful blue ice berg - probably just a "growler"	Mountains above the Endicott Arm
Dawes Glacier at the end of the Endicott Arm
Dawes Glacier	Dawes Glacier
In the Endicott Arm	Falls in the Endicott Arm
Harbour seals	Mothers and babies
Harbour seal	Mother and baby

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