Adventure traveler and Dutch TV personality Charlotte Van Hoorn was on board Zaandam for an Alaska cruise and will be sharing her adventure with us.

No one who took the Dog Sledding on the Mendenhall Glacier by Helicopter tour wanted to leave the ice field … There is taking a ride behind sled dogs, calling to mind Capt. Preston of the Yukon on B&W tv, then there was this … Starting with suiting up at the helicopter hanger for glacier trekking, we then watched a safety briefing about the helicopter before climbing aboard (4 plus the pilot – all with good viewing and earphones). We were piloted directly above the Mendenhall Glacier and followed it up the valley below the rim of the sidewalls, it was breathtaking. Our pilot described many glacial and geologic features and we took pictures like mad. Later we strained to spot the camp, all in white, and the 200 dogs summering on the ice field for their continued Ididarod training pulling dead weight like us!

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Here are a few shots of Geiranger Fjord and its waterfalls, taken from the ms Rotterdam at sailaway on a beautiful sunny afternoon in Norway.

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Thanks to Robert Matthew, Amsterdam’s 2nd engineer, for sending in this cool time lapse video of the ship at Glacier Bay, Alaska! If you look close enough, you’ll catch a glimpse of ms Volendam.

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Thanks to guest Clarissa for sending in these incredible pictures from her Alaska cruise.

We had a wonderful time a board of the Westerdam cruising to Alaska this past month. As a photographer enthusiast I was pleasantly surprised by the beauty and diversity of Alaska but mostly the high quality cruise experience my husband and I had. Please enjoy some of my best shots….from Juneau and
Sitka.

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Adventure traveler and Dutch TV personality Charlotte Van Hoorn was on board Zaandam for an Alaska cruise and will be sharing her adventure with us.

All agreed, this was the complete package…On board, on shore, on the water in small craft, in the sky, in smaller aircraft and even by dogsled…this cruise was the perfect HAL choice for a group of first timers and seasoned Mariner Society members. Beyond my usual “relax with the ship’s premium wine tasting amenity after snorkelling or a cultural visit ashore” routine, my goal was to experience the pricey, but peak experiences offered in the Special Collection of HAL excursions. To enjoy the ship’s  On Location programming as well, I chose to sail both up and back the itinerary to fit in the Encore and Wonders of the World tours. A revisit to a port meant spending the day entirely differently, although most of my chums left in Seward to explore with the Land Tour options.

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Topics: Alaska, Cruise Diary, ms Zaandam, Shore Excursions, Videos | | 1 Comment

“Albania? Are We Allowed to Go there?”

The answer is yes. A few years ago Albania was taken off the restricted countries list that was on our U.S. passports for so long. The Albanian Adventure shore excursion departs from Corfu by hydrofoil and the ride is about 45 minutes to the port of Sarana. The town is “under construction” to say the least. There are hundreds of unfinished buildings that will turn the town into a proper resort town. Albania has only had about 20 years of freedom since communist rule so in that sense it’s a really young country. Building has stopped because the money has run out for some projects but they expect it to start again.

We traveled a few miles out of town up on winding roads to the UNESCO site of Butrint National Park. The sites covers centuries of building from 4th C BC to the 19th century with its lovely church. The views and history make it worth visiting. I came away with a hopeful feeling that Albania’s tourism will continue to grow and the country will come into its own.

Mussel beds.

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Thanks to guest Cheryl Kaufenberg for sending in these stunning photos from her South America and Antarctica cruise.

We sailed on the last of the winter 2013 South America/Antarctica cruises out of Buenos Aires on HAL’s Veendam. Weather the entire time was absolutely fantastic allowing us first of all to spend a day in Stanley in the Falkland Islands before sailing on to Antarctica. A trip to Bluff Cove to see king and gentoo penguins made the day a hit. The four days sailing around the Antarctic Peninsula were filled with plentiful opportunities to experience and photograph both the landscape and the wildlife while the seminars presented by antarctic specialists were highly valuable. There were ample choices of excursions at all ports of call with opportunities plentiful for experiencing what is unique about Uruguay, Southern Argentina, and Chile. For a once-in-a-lifetime experience consider sailing 60 degrees south with Holland America Lines! We really enjoy sailing with Holland America, as it is our favorite cruise line. The captain we had on the Veendam for this particular trip was especially exemplary. — Cheryl Kaufenberg

Antarctica.

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Guest Lynda Gavigan Halttunen and her husband Don sent us several great posts from their 30-day South Pacific cruise on Westerdam. Enjoy “cruising” with them!

We arrived in Papeete, Tahiti, at 9:00 p.m. We sat on the top deck and watched the “sail-in.” We over-nighted on the dock, but didn’t go into town until the following morning. I bought a few souvenirs/gifts at the open-air market. The vanilla beans were $42! I loved that everyone spoke French and that the town/island had a very French sea-side feel. We returned to the ship for an early sailaway.

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Topics: Cruise Diary, ms Westerdam, South Pacific | | No Comments