Alaska: Just as good the 2nd time around?

I recently returned from my “free” (see this post) Alaska cruise a few days ago. Not to be confused with Leana’s recent Alaska cruise (see her trip report here).

This was my second Alaska cruise. My first trip to Alaska was in 2017 on Disney Cruise Line with my entire family of five (see my trip report here). This time, I traveled with a good friend of mine that I’ve known since kindergarten. We were on Holland America’s Eurodam ship, and my entire experience was night and day different from my experience on DCL in 2017.

The Destination, not the Ship

A huge difference between this trip and my 2017 trip is that this trip was more about seeing Alaska and less about the cruise ship. Eurodam had fewer bells and whistles than the Disney Wonder, but the food and and programming were heavily Alaska themed. I’ll review the Eurodam in a future post.

Travel Companion

While I normally travel with my family of five or a subset of them, this year I’ve been branching out. In March, we traveled with another family around Portugal. And this trip, I spent a week with a life-long friend. We haven’t spent this much quality together since high school! I warned her in advance to bring earplugs to drown out my snoring.

Scenery and Excursions

The scenery in Alaska was just as amazing as it was the first time. The cruise itinerary included 3 places I didn’t visit on my 2017 cruise: Glacier Bay, Sitka and Icy Strait Point. I also did a few adventurous excursions that I probably wouldn’t have done with my family of five due to the cost. We saw a lot more whales than I did on my first cruise. I’m not even exaggerating when I say we saw over 50 whales on this trip!

The Souvenir I didn’t Want

I’ve traveled a lot since the pandemic, and I’ve managed to avoid Covid. But, my luck finally ran out. The night I got back home, I started to get a stuffy and runny nose that worsened throughout the night. The next morning, I tested positive for Covid. According to my cruise’s Facebook group, many people on our cruise returned home with Covid. But, at least I wasn’t feeling bad on the cruise.

Yes, yes, yes!

While this trip to Alaska was quite different from my first trip to Alaska, it was just as good or maybe even better the second time around. Alaska is not necessarily a one and done destination. Your experience can vary depending on the week you visit, what activities you do, where you visit and what wildlife you see. Stay tuned for more posts from my Alaska cruise.