We have not had very good experiences with Holland America before this cruise. This time proved the exception. The food was great, the ship was beautiful, all of the staff were very cheerful and helpful. All in all very nice. This late in the season the weather in Alaska is iffy. The first two days of our cruise it was foggy, cold and rainy. We could still see beautiful Glacier Bay but most of it we watched from inside. After that the weather improved. Wednesday in Juneau the guides told was the first time they had seen the sun in 6 weeks. It was also their warmest day of the year. It got up to 60. In Juneau we took a whale watching and salmon bake trip. Saw a few whales and seals. The lodge for the salmon bake lunch was out on a small island and was beautiful. In Sitka we took a trip by boat across the Sitka Bay to a Salmon Hatchery. The Hatchery was interesting in that it, and 29 others, are voluntarily funded by the commercial salmon fisherman. The state of Alaska only funds 4 hatcheries. In Ketchikan the ship was only staying the morning so we just got up late and walked around the town. In Victoria we didn't dock until 6pm and were leaving at midnight. Since we have seen Victoria several times we didn't get off the ship. When we arrived in Seattle we caught a cab back to the hotel. On Monday morning we took the hotel shuttle to the airport and then got on the bus that would take us to Vancouver. We then got on the Island Princess for a leisurely cruise down the coast to San Pedro.

Robbert Van Bloemendaal of our Golden Circle Group put this great set of pictures together. Its 22 minutes long but a beautiful reminder of our Alaskan Memories.

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