Alaska Cruise day 1, 2 and 3 - Seattle and Ketchikan

Days 1, 2 and 3 - Seattle embarkation, day At Sea, and Ketchikan

After driving to Seattle around 11 to drop off my spouse and kids at the cruise terminal, I made my way back towards Seattle Center to return our rental car at Avis.  This is the closest rental retail location to the Smith Cove Cruise Terminal where HAL, Princess, RCL, X and many smaller lines start their voyages. If you are renting from this location after a cruise, advance reservations are recommended.

Utilizing Metro Transit in Seattle is pretty easy and this day I used "D-line RapidRide" service from a stop at 3rd and Vine (a few stops from the Avis location).  RapidRide is Seattle's version of fast and frequent bus service and the front half of the buses have lots of room for luggage.

The closest stop to the port is the Galer St. Stop.  Once there, cross Elliot Way and use a ramp structure to get over the railroad tracks and on the port access road.  Once there, there are crosswalk markings guiding passengers all the way to the cruise terminal entrance. Total distance is about 0.8 miles.  There is an alternative bus route that gets you even closer but comes less frequently and requires navigating some stairs which isn't ideal with luggage.

The year 2000 built Ms Amsterdam is a co-flagship in Holland America's fleet and features detailed style and a sense roominess not found on other Holland America Line ships.  Compared to the larger ships of HAL and Princess, it's refreshing to only have to climb 7 decks of the ship from top to bottom. Walking from end to end takes less than 2 minutes at a leisurely pace, and all the venues feel a comfortable size, with the Dining Room being probably the largest by interior volume.

Decks 4, 5 and 8 hold the majority of the public venues and offer a nice balance between larger spaces regularly programmed into the daily schedule, and more informal and introspective corners.  The ship layout is thoughtfully laid out and throughout deck 5, offer parallel paths from forward to rear elevator lobbies, something which is very rare on ships these days. Passenger volumes rarely overwhelm any of the venues on the ship and entrance and egress are low stress affairs.  As mentioned previously, all venues are right sized and this is perhaps best experienced in the Lido cafe which does not evoke the feeling of an aircraft hangar, like on so many other ships, where one strains to see the far end. The Explorations Lounge and Cafe is an excellent venue that serves the role of coffee shop, library, and game area and has been one of our favorite places to visit.

Passenger cabins are generally larger than other HAL cabins and almost all feature an extra sitting area with a couch.  This is not the case on many of the lower category HAL cabins on later ships, and non existant on Princess cabins below deluxe balcony.

Today in Ketchikan under sunny skies, we took a trip on a duck tour of the town an harbor and I'll be going for a run and brewery "inspection" later this afternoon.  Bye for now. More photos to come later.

Some tips:

• Playing cards are available at the casino for $1 a deck.  These are used but high quality cards and are a nice notion back to when Cruise lines gave cards for free.
• Self service laundry is $2 (quarters only) and is a bargain that includes soap and dryer use