Eph60

Seeing it is going to be my first time on Holland America and the Westerdam this coming summer I have been doing a lot of research. That research has included video's. While checking video's I have run into several video's stating Westerdams award winning horn blow. My odd question is what award has the Westerdam won for blowing its horn? I never heard of a horn blowing competion as a passenger or crew member on cruise ships. I have found a lot of videos with many ships blowing their horns and some where one ship is blowing horns in somewhat of a competition while being near each other. I have not heard anything extroardinary about the Westerdam horn. I know it is an odd question I just wondered what makes it award winning?

Many times when you do a land sea package through Princess one of the lodges they use for the land portion is Princess Mt. McKinley Lodge. This lodge is located at mile marker 133 on Parks Highway just inside Denali State Park. This lodge faces Mt. McKinley or as the local natives call it Denali. The lodge is 40 miles from Denali but believe me Denali stands out amongst the other mountains. The drawback is that Denali is so tall that it creates its own weather system with clouds most of the time. In fact if you see Denali you are considered a part of the 30% club. The lodge will call you, if you request it, anytime day or night if the mountain is visible. It is an amazing site when it is out. The lodge is a series of many buildings that house the guests as well as the main lodge building and an extra restaurant. There are several hiking trails on the property but none are very long but some are very steep. The main lodge has a bar in it, a restaurant, a coffee bar, a tour desk, a gift shop and a small meeting room they call a theater. There is also internet computers available for guest use. The main deck on the lodge does face Mt. McKinley. The guest housing is spread out over the property. There is shuttle service that runs around the property to take guests all over the property. You will see a small bus go by every 10 to 15 minutes. This shuttle service runs from early morning until around 11:00 P.M. The lodge power comes from generators on the property, there is no power from any town or power company. There are artesian wells that provide water for the lodge. This water is very clean and very good drinking water. There is an antena that provides cell service, however if you get about a mile away you sill have no service. The guest rooms do provide television through a satellite. The guest rooms do NOT have coffee machines in them. If you want coffee you must go to the lodge to purchase it. In the theater they do have several different lectures provided by local rangers about the area and the wildlife. There are also several lectures on things like the big earthquake in the 60's and WWII battles in Alaska. These are all free. There are some lectures that do have a fee so be aware of what you are seeing. There is a small playground on the property for kids. You may see moose and bear on the property. Be aware they are wild and are dagerous. They will block off certain areas of the property if bears and moose are seen. These areas will stay blocked off until the area is safe. The lodge will hold several events every summer to depict the various holidays throughout the year, such as Halloween or Christmas. There will be a shuttle bus to the town of Talkeetna. There is a charge for this suttle and the ride will take about an hour. Talkeetna is a small town with some nice shops and good restaurants. Talkeetna is where mountain climbers must sign in and prove they can climb a mountain before they ever try to climb Denali. There are some tours provided from the lodge. Tours include gold panning, flight tours, river tours and an old western chuckwagon and lunch trip. Of course because of where you are the prices can get a little high for some of the tours. The lodge does NOT have a medical facility like on a ship. There is a couple people that if they are there working do have EMT training. If there is a medical emergancy it will be quite a wait before help will arrive.

Welcome aboard!

Demoten have your camera ready for the White Pass Rail trip. There are some fantastic views. One picture that is especially great is you will cross a railroad bridge high in the mountains. When on that bridge you can see all the way back into Skagway to where the ships dock. this view through the valley and back to the sea is a do not miss photo op.

Dmoten what type of excursion are you looking for? Do you want something active or just easy going? One of my favorite active tours in Ketchikan is kayaking. I like this because you get up close with some of the sea life and the views from the kayak of the various islands are great. A flight tour is always great but expensive. For easier going tours a trip to one of the totem parks is both educational and beautiful. You are in a rainforest so you will see some great plant life as well as seeing totem poles, lodges and learning the history of the totem pole and lodge. If you have a little time going to the lumberjack show is fun for a family and does not take that long. This is near the ship right in town.

Cruising during hurricane season can cause some problems for a cruise, such as waves, rain and winds. Having said that one of the best views I have had from a ship deck was during hurricane season. The ship does change course to try to avoid as much trouble as possible and because of that on one of our trips in the Caribbean the ship was trying to avoid a hurricane. We actually had great weather and calm seas but in the distance at night you could see the storm off in the distance. The light show it provided for us while sitting out on the deck at night was worth taking the cruise all by itself. In otherwords storms can provide a beautiful site if the ship is positioned right.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

I have done the Panama Canal several times and I am sure I will do it again sometime in the future. Even though the Canal area is to hot an humid for me I find going through the canal facinating. I do feel it is better to do a full transit of the canal. Just doing a partial transit just does not give you the true Panama Canal experience, at least for me. I actually have some great photos and video of the raising and lowering of the ships that I enjoy looking at quite often. I did not like the heat and humidity but I loved the locks.

I understand that Holland America is known for having older passengers but older doesn't mean dead, I mean no offense. I know many older people that a lot of young people cannot keep up with. In my mind older people would be able to write some great reviews and comments because they actually learned how to write, unlike many younger people that write in short text type messages. I'm sorry if I sound a little rude but I have alwyas felt that many older people have a more interesting point of view and I have learned more from elderly people then young people. I guess that may sound like a snob so I am sorry if I have offended anyone. Once I cruise on Holland America this summer I will try to help others with information. By the way I am older and a great grandfather.

We look at the smaller cruise ships and the river cruises more and more. The newer bigger ships just do not suit us. We look at the small ships that get to go where the larger ships cannot go and look at the river cruise ships to get at ports more inland. These things make it more interesting to us.

Thanks for sharing your review!