My husband and I cruised on the August 10 sailing on the Amsterdam to Alaska. It was intended to be a complete relaxation cruise as we had been to the ports before though had not cruised the Tracey Arm Fjord. Embarkation was a dream. Even though we arrived at “prime time” around 11:30, it took us about 15 minutes from the time the car dropped us off to arriving in our Stateroom.

We took advantage of bringing our own wine onboard paying the corkage fee up front for our additional bottles. This was included in our 15 minutes to board time! While we mourn the passing of unlimited wine for the stateroom, we quickly got over this. A quick stop to the Neptune Lounge to introduce ourselves to Jersey and her team and we were off to the Mariner’s Lunch in the MDR. The choices for lunch were somewhat limited and we were surprised to see that there were no wines by the glass that met our $7.00 cap for our beverage cards. We met very nice people at our shared table. It is true that once you meet on board, you will meet many times after that.

Our bags were delivered to our room by 1:30 (possibly earlier, but we weren’t there!) and we were unpacked by 2. Plenty of storage space with multiple closets, drawers, etc. (note to others, make sure to check all of those spaces before you leave as the prior tenants left several t-shirts and things from the shop in the room). We had one of the Neptune suites (Deluxe Verandahs) located at mid-ship. It was perfect. Nicely maintained, close to the midship elevators which we NEVER heard. Only when you were on the balcony could you hear anything from any of the other rooms and only when they were on the balcony. Note to fellow passengers: If you want to play your saxophone on the balcony and you are not particularly good at playing, please don’t do it! We were very lucky as no one smoked in the adjacent rooms. We only smelled smoke once on the balcony and it was very faint. Even the casino was not overly smoky. Read more