I’m not a cruiser, but I can admit that certain cruises have an unmistakable appeal. A once-in-a-lifetime trip to Antarctica. A river cruise down the Nile. For me, the allure of Alaska proved irresistible, in part because it meant the opportunity to visit my 50th state, after having several prior plans canceled for one reason or another. And by hopping aboard Holland America Line‘s MS Koningsdam, there was the promise of a stylish sailing replete with abundant viewings, as well as the prospect of adventure thanks to anticipated excursions such as a helicopter ride landing atop a glacier. It was time to embark upon The Last Frontier.
The Ship
The Pinnacle Class comprises Holland America’s three newest and largest ships, including the 975-foot, 2,650-passenger Koningsdam. Its immensity was somewhat of a surprise to me, though in the world of cruising, she’s firmly in the mid-size category and won several awards for that classification upon its debut in 2016.
My cabin was in the ship’s Veranda Stateroom category on the 10th deck. An itinerary such as this one is built around soaking up as much of the splendor of the Inside Passage as possible, and so the room’s highlight was a private balcony that offered the ability to do just that.
The ship’s main atrium includes an indoor pool, and there’s also a smaller outdoor pool deck, a large fitness center along with several open air sports courts, and a lineup of onboard, duty-free shops. Elsewhere aboard the ship there’s a casino as well as three large venues offering entertainment in the form of bands and performers.
A key amenity for those looking to sprinkle in as much indulgence and relaxation as possible while sailing is the Greenhouse Spa & Salon. Signature massage treatments are available, in addition to its Thermal Suite, consisting of steam rooms and saunas, hydrotherapy pools, heated stone lounge chairs, and assorted other amenities. For the latter, a package is available that includes unlimited, trip-long access without any need to book or make a reservation, with a limited number of slots open per sailing to ensure a proper sense of serenity is preserved.
Another of the ship’s strengths is its abundance of food and beverage outlets beyond its two core offerings, the dining room and Lido Market, its expansive buffet. There were a handful of cafes aboard, as well as casual, quick-service fare in the form of Dive In, serving burgers, hot dogs, and fries, and New York Pizza, a pizzeria and deli which doubled as my go-to for a post-gym breakfast sandwich most mornings.
Premium dinner venues included the Pinnacle Grill, a steakhouse which also offered caviar service; Italian restaurant, Canaletto; and Rudi’s Sel De Mer, with a French-leaning take on seafood, with dishes such as escargot or a whole Dover sole deboned tableside. The best of the bunch was Tamarind, a pan-Asian restaurant with dishes such as Panang red curry coconut chicken and a wasabi and soy crusted tenderloin.
Available once per sailing is Morimoto by Sea. It’s where signature dishes from “Iron Chef” Masaharu Morimoto, who works with Holland America as the line’s global fish ambassador, are served up. Highlights here include options such as Pacific yellowtail cooked tableside in a hot stone bowl, a famed Morimoto staple.
Chef Morimoto isn’t the only ringer calling some of the shots aboard the Koningsdam. There’s also Sam Ross, a renowned Australian bartender who plied his trade in New York City at the dawn of the cocktail renaissance, creating several modern cocktail classics, such as the Penicillin and Paper Plane. On board, he came up with a range of premium libations using regional spirits from the Pacific Northwest and Alaska that are made using veritable glacial ice chunks, taken (safely and in an eco-friendly manner) from the sea.
In addition to uncountable bars, drinking-centric opportunities include wine, beer, and spirits tastings, a guided bar crawl, and a mixology class. Holland America also pours its own signature Brut sparkling wine, as well as its own gin, De Lijn Gin.
A Trip to The Last Frontier
Holland America’s 7-day Inside Passage trip is a Vancouver-to-Vancouver voyage with several scenic sailing days along with stops in Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan. The trip wasted little time, as with a welcome toast of Champagne in hand, initial whale sightings were made within hours and panoramic views began unfolding before us as soon as the ship got moving. The promise, though, was of so much more to come, a tantalizing and near-boundless array of glaciers, wildlife, unspoiled wilderness, and historic towns.
Approaching Skagway early one morning, the mist cleared away and a jaw-dropping landscape revealed itself as the ship pulled into a picturesque inlet from within one of the deepest fjords on the continent, closely hemmed in on both sides by soaring mountains criss-crossed with narrow, rushing waterfalls. Skagway is known today as the home of the White Pass Summit Scenic Railroad, a weaving 20-mile ride up and into the mountains following the harrowing path that was once undertaken by intrepid gold rushers on foot and with pack animals.
A day at sea spent traversing Glacier Bay National Park was even more spectacular. Park rangers were brought aboard the ship to offer narration and education of the sights along the way, helped by an indigenous Tlingit, whose people call this entrancing locale their ancestral homeland.
The gigantic area is 3.3 million acres in size, and is itself part of an even larger swath of pristine land and sea recognized as a UNESCO heritage site. Within Glacier Bay there are seven tidewater glaciers, and the exact course you take and viewings you have depend on weather and ice conditions. Our sailing viewed the Reid, Lamplugh, and Johns Hopkins glaciers en route to the Margerie Glacier, standing one-mile wide and 200-feet above sea level.
The captain lingered there, making a pinpoint rotation of the ship to ensure that everyone on board got their allotment of slack-jawed sightseeing. An up-close viewing of a glacier such as this is about the colors and contrast: pale, milky-teal waters, the vibrant turquoise of upended ice chunks floating by, the stark, black mountains in the distance topped with blinding white ice and snow. It’s sheer size and spectacle. Raw power. A chance to commune with the old gods for a few hours, with ancient forces still at play, made all the more palpable by the drop in temperature as you approach it.
That was about as lives-up-to-the-hype and on-the-nose Alaska I could have asked for, but there was another experience that was yet more special. And it was right at the start of the sailing with my first planned excursion while the ship docked in Juneau. You didn’t forget that part about the helicopter ride, did you?
I know I didn’t, and I don’t think I ever will. I channeled nearly every drop of my anticipation into this solitary bucket… and it was almost all for naught. Due to flying conditions, a different helicopter tour heading to an alternate destination was canceled.
Until I was safely strapped into the seat on my chopper, I thought we would meet the same fate, but our ride went off without a hitch, taking a small crew to land atop the Mendenhall Glacier. It was like landing on the moon. Or at least I think.
A color palette of white and black and cobalt and slate amid an inhospitable, but almost achingly beautiful environment. After an adrenaline-filled flight taking us close over the sharp, steep ravines and crevices of the glacier, our helicopter crunched down onto the uneven ice beneath its landing skids. We hopped out and walked around, taking in the sights, the only other signs of humanity being the scant few other people in our tour group and the guides ensuring we didn’t do anything stupid along the way.
Now that you’re up there, though, you may as well take advantage of a very special opportunity. With small, super fresh melt streams running past your boots, there’s nothing stopping you from reaching down, cupping your hands, and taking a sip or two. When’s your next chance going to be, huh?
It was what every premium bottled water commercial always promised you that their product would be like, but could never pull off, because there’s no way to imitate or create even a modest facsimile of this. You have to be here for this. You have to capture such an ephemeral essence amid its origins. This was unadulterated, pure perfection. Magic. Bliss. Angels sang and butterflies flapped their wings and the heavens smiled down upon thee.
This is the type of moment you travel here to have. It cannot be replicated elsewhere. There is no ready-made stand-in. This is what makes it worthwhile. And it’s just one taste of what The Last Frontier might offer you on your own journey.
Feature image courtesy of Holland America.
