Amsterdam - Alaska Explorer - July 1-8

We just returned from this cruise last week. It was OUTSTANDING! I will share my review soon.

Very much looking forward to your review!! I'll be on Amsterdam August 12 for same itinerary. Hope you had good weather for Hubbard?

Looking forward to your review.

I just submitted my review for our recent cruise. I rated it 5 stars out of 5:

This is a quick and concise review compared to most of my previous ones. We have been to Alaska several times so I will not share the port reviews.

The Wife and I were looking for a relaxing getaway and we chose this Alaskan Cruise based on timing and price. 4th of July fell on a Wednesday this year and business-wise, it made a lot of sense for us to take this cruise during a very slow work week. When we shopped around for cruises during this time period, several months ago, we noticed that the Alaska Cruises were quite a bit pricier than past Alaskan seasons. Good economy? Lots of demand? Who knows. But Travelocity seemed to have quite a good deal and gave us $200 On-board Credit. Our Cruise price was a real bargain in comparison..

We chose an outside cabin in the front of the ship on the lower deck. Stateroom 1805 is designed for handicapped people but is about twice as big as a regular OV (DW is disabled) The stateroom was excellent in our opinion. Odd shape but well over 300 square feet. Plenty of storage space. Excellent room!

We had an excellent stateroom attendant (Yusaf) and his assistant. They did a great job. As an example, we needed the beds rearranged and told them before the Muster Drill. We get back from the Muster Drill and the room is totally made up! We are earlyy diners and without telling Yusaf, he knew and made our rooms up quickly every night. Spotlessly! They both deserved the extra tips we gave them at the end of the cruise.

Food and service was excellent. We stuck primarily to the Lido Buffet. There was fresh Salmon every day. They are also serving little Tapas style plates for dinner that were great...couscous salad, marinated vegetables, prawn salad and the like.

Pinnacle Lunch is a great secret. Do not miss it. I'm telling you. Apparently the Rudy's Special Meal for $49pp for only one night is also a winner. We unfortunately did not get a chance to try it though.

Amsterdam was spotless. Service was outstanding. Approx 1350 passengers are easier to manage than the massive megaships that abound. Our last Cruise was Emerald Princess over Thanksgiving with over 3500 pax and 700 children. Enough said on the comparison to this cruise!

Tip: Do not try using the ship's internet while in port. For some reason it slows to a crawl. Works better out at sea. DW was on for 10 minutes in Ketchikan and could not even get into her e-mail account. It was that slow. We brought it up to the front desk who immediately re-credited her 10 minute session. No questions asked! Satellite works fine while we are not in port. Tip for you all!

Embarkation and Disembarkation were a breeze.

All in all, a great cruise and we got what we wanted. Relaxation and a reboot before going back to work the a day after disembarkation.

Let me know if you have any questions.

-Curtis

SO glad you had such a positive experience on the Amsterdam! Thanks for your review!

SO glad you had such a positive experience on the Amsterdam! Thanks for your review!

You are welcome! Amsterdam is now one of our favorite ships. We plan to cruise her again next season for Alaska!

One other suggestion. This year Seattle is doing something called "port valet". Essentially for free, your luggage will be magically transported from outside your stateroom on final night to your final destination airport baggage claim. They also print up your boarding passes without you having to queue in the internet café.

We did have the HAL transfers to the SEATAC airport. You would be responsible for any baggage fees, but we were on Jet Blue and had already paid for the single bag in our originally fare. So you just fill in the flight info on the HAL letter and you get the free perk of not having to drag your luggage off a bus, wait in line, work with slow ship internet to print boarding passes. You just walk off the ship and onto the transfer bus. No brainer!

Unbelievably awesome!

Thank you for your review.

Glad you liked the Amsterdam. We have sailed on her quite a few times.

Thank you for your review.

Glad you liked the Amsterdam. We have sailed on her quite a few times.

We last cruised Amsterdam in 2003 when she was barely 3 years old. We love the wood tones and elegant art. She is a beautiful ship and as nice as we remember. The refurb a few weeks ago made her even more pleasant. HAL did a great job of bringing her some new life. We had a nearly flawless cruise experience!

Thank you for reviewing your cruise.

Thanks for you review! Can you post any pictures of the ship?

Thanks for you review! Can you post any pictures of the ship?

Sorry, we left the camera and cell phone @ home. A true vacation. :cool:

We just returned from this cruise last week. It was OUTSTANDING! I will share my review soon.

Such fantastic news! I will be on this cruise next month and can't wait!