A trip report from clients who enjoyed a 7-night Inside Passage cruise (from Seattle) in August 2009:
Annie,
We had a wonderful time on the cruise and would recommend an Alaska voyage to anyone.
Sleep Inn was very cordial. They picked us up at the airport in about 10 minutes and gave us adjoining rooms with Suzie and John for the evening. Breakfast was a buffet with eggs, waffles, cereal and pastries with coffee and juice.
I programmed my cell phone with the numbers of Sleep Inn and Seattle Express which made it easy to contact them. I seem to know where my cell would be and not the paper work. It takes about an hour from Sleep Inn to Pier. Seattle Express was waiting for us when we got off the ship. Great Idea, thank you.
Our impressions of the Zaandam…It was clean and the service was okay, except for lunch at the Pinnacle Grill. We would like to thank you for that treat. I hate to say it didn’t seem that great for the extra money. The waiter was arrogant and we had to wait for John’s salad for about 5 minutes and had to ask for more water. Food was so-so, main dining room was just as good if not better.
Our Stateroom was roomy, didn’t have to walk around bed, lots of closet space.
Juneau is a great little town we enjoyed the bike ride because we felt like we saw more of the locals and the back areas. Went through the college and saw totem poles and then to Auke lake. It was beautiful and the Church had a window looking out over the lake. We then saw Mendenhall glacier up closes and personal. We had hot drinks and energy bars there. We were on a bike path thru the forest and then arrived at pick up point which had another view of Mendenhall glacier. We also saw a bear trying his hand at fishing. Then to the Alaskan Brewery to have some great beers, loved the Alaskan white. As a recommendation, the bikes could have been kept inside. We all had very wet butts for some time.
As we arrived at Sitka I was working out and I could see all the small isles with houses on them. It was spectacular. We walked around and went to the National Historic park, (lots of totems) several churches and the quaint downtown area. Beautiful Russian buildings mixed in with native culture.
At Ketchikan, we left the ship early and did the city walking tour. (maps at visitor center) We didn’t have a map the first hour but used the one from the ship. Found most all the high points and again we walked a lot of streets the locals use. Great pictures of salmon going upstream, the stream or creek goes right thru town.
Victoria we need to go back to because we didn’t get there until dusk. Bus driver very knowledgeable about city and Butchart Gardens. You do need to see the gardens in the daylight, not at night. (Not very good lighting in gardens) Would not recommend as a tour unless you could stay at least 3 hours at the gardens during the daylight.
Thanks for everything!
Sandy and Chuck
