Our first cruise with Holland America was to South America and Antarctica on Zaandam in January 2017. We were very happy with life on board and were particularly impressed by the Lido Market, the informal food outlet, where food is often cooked to order.
Therefore, we were pleased to come across back-to-back cruises, including a Pacific crossing, on Westerdam in April and May this year. The first cruise took us around the Japanese Islands, a location we would not normally have considered, while the second, repositioning, cruise completed the Japanese itinerary before crossing the sea to Alaska, a place we have visited on two previous occasions and were very happy to revisit.
We flew into Narita Airport directly from Manchester and stayed overnight in the Hilton Tokyo Narita Airport hotel before a private taxi took us into Yokohama the next day to commence our cruise.
The room was much larger than our usual choice, for extra comfort on the four week voyage. It had more storage than we could fill, USB points near the bed and sockets on the desk. We requested an extension lead, which was useful. The TV screen was much larger than the one we have at home and offered a good selection of viewing choices.
The twin-basin bathroom also had a jacuzzi bath, but we found it created too much humidity and didn't use it.
Its location was just aft of midship and very close to stairs and lifts.