Alaska Cruise On Holland America Koningsdam: Glaciers, Wildlife, History
Summary: Contributor Jackie Sheckler Finch recounts her Alaska cruise on Holland America Koningsdam. The trip’s shore excursions provide unforgettable encounters with Alaska’s rugged past. Highlights include panning for gold in Juneau, riding the historic White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad in Skagway, and enjoying the high-energy Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show in Ketchikan. Ultimately, the Koningsdam proves to be an ideal vessel for exploring Alaska, blending luxury with authentic adventure.
When I was in grade school, I was intrigued by reading Jack London’s novel Call of the Wild.
Published in 1903, the adventure was set during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush and the main character was a big dog named Buck.
Now, my suitcase is packed for a seven-day visit to awesome Alaska for a cruise aboard the beautiful Holland America Koningsdam. I’ve already signed up for a shore excursion train ride to learn more about the Klondike Gold Rush.
My Koningsdam itinerary showcases some of the best of our 49th state. And Holland America is the ideal line to showcase Alaska. The longest-operating cruise line in Alaska, Holland America has been hosting travelers to Alaska since 1947, a dozen years before Alaska became a state.
My cruise starts off in Vancouver, Canada, then heads to Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan before returning to Vancouver for a flight home.
Titled “The Alaska Inside Passage,” my trip includes three days of cruising the Inside Passage and Glacier Bay National Park, where Park Rangers will come onboard for scenic narration.
Heading to Alaska: An Overnight at Azur Legacy Collection
Flying into Vancouver, I spent a night at the Azur Legacy Collection Hotel in downtown Vancouver. Not only is the 5-star boutique hotel grand with its Art-Déco-inspired lobby, but it is also quiet and comfortable.
I enjoyed a fish sandwich for early dinner in the elegant Dahlia lobby restaurant, then took a stroll around the area before bedtime. One of the big advantages of the Azur is that the hotel is less than a 10-minute walk from the cruise port to board my ship.
With level streets and crosswalks, I easily wheeled my suitcase and backpack to the Koningsdam the next morning. With flights being canceled and delayed, I always recommend that travelers arrive at least one day before a cruise.
Boarding Holland America Koningsdam
Launched in 2016 as Holland America Line’s first Pinnacle-class ship, Koningsdam was the largest vessel for the line. Nearly a decade later, the ship was refurbished in March 2026 with careful updates rather than a complete redo, which was not necessary.
The multi-million-dollar refresh introduced new family-focused staterooms, an expanded casino, and updated entertainment and retail venues. With elegant décor and wonderful works of art, the 12-deck Koningsdam offers luxury without being overdone.
Of course, the ship has pools, hot tubs, a fitness center, casino, shops, beauty salon, restaurants, cafes and bars, library, impressive World Stage Theater and so much more. The 2,650-passenger Koningsdam has 1,331 staterooms across 13 cabin categories.
My Comfy Stateroom 4199 on Koningsdam
Seeing the verandah on my stateroom made me happy. Large with two chairs and a table, the verandah was a wonderful place to watch the sea flow.
A peaceful white, beige and grey décor with light wood welcomed me each time I opened the stateroom door. The bed was large and comfy, with nightstands on each side. Plenty of storage space and outlets.
My spacious bathroom had a huge walk-in shower with glass doors. A robe and slippers waited in the closet. A sofa, coffee table, desk, chair, mini-fridge, hairdryer and safe completed the stateroom with a large screen TV fixed to the wall across from my bed.
Cabin attendant DeeDee was excellent. He knew my name the first time I saw him and kept my stateroom tidy and welcoming with towel critters and snacks. In fact, the whole Koningsdam crew helped make this cruise a real joy. No matter how beautiful a ship is, if the crew is not up to par, that can ruin the journey. The Koningsdam crew was top-notch.
A Wide Choice of Dining Options
Koningsdam offers 11 main dining venues, including casual dining at the Lido Market buffet on Deck 9, which features many choices from early morning to late at night. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer fantastic views.
My tip to cruisers on their first visit to the Lido Market is to walk the whole buffet before making choices. I was adding some fruit to my plate of sushi and Japanese noodles when a woman standing next to me asked where I got the delicious-looking seafood.
Her plate was already full. But the woman said she would find the sushi station before her next Lido Market meal. Several diners also asked me where I got my strawberry ice cream in a waffle cone. In the sweets section, you have to look for it.
And it is not self-serve, thank goodness. I’ve been on ships where children help themselves by pulling the self-serve ice cream lever until the melting mess is puddling on the floor. On Koningsdam, a crew member serves the ice cream and does it very quickly and efficiently.
The New York Deli & Pizza on Deck 10 and the Dive-in on Deck 9 are popular spots near the swimming pools for quick snacks or light meals. The Grand Dutch Café on Deck 3 is a wonderful place to stop and take a break.
Five dining venues have an additional cost: Tamarind, Canaletto, Pinnacle Grill, Rudi’s Sel de Mer and Morimoto by Sea Sushi Bar. Except for Rudy’s, I ate at all the extra-price restaurants and they were well worth it.
Tamarind
Probably the loveliest dining spot on Koningsdam, Tamarind is also less crowded and more peaceful. The cuisine is Pan-Asian. The bar area is a nice off-the-beaten-path spot on Deck 10 to enjoy a cocktail.
Canaletto
Located in a differently decorated section of the Lido Market, Canaletto serves scrumptious Italian cuisine. My choice was an antipasti plate for an appetizer and spaghetti with shrimp and clams for the main course. Dessert was baked lemon ricotta cheesecake. So good, I would order it all again.
Pinnacle Grill
I probably could have stopped with the famous Clothesline Candied Bacon, slices of thick bacon hung vertically on a metal clothesline with metal hooks. The bacon appetizer was sweet, savory and caramelized. Kind of cute, too.
Couldn’t pass up the steak for which Pinnacle Grill is known. Had a New York strip steak, perfectly done and topped with red wine bordelaise. And dessert? Baked Alaska.
Morimoto by Sea Sushi Bar
For sushi lovers, Morimoto by Sea Sushi Bar in Tamarind offers heavenly seafood by the cruise line’s Global Fresh Fish Ambassador, Chef Masaharu Morimoto. The sushi is excellent as is the tuna pizza featuring anchovy aioli, Kalamata olives, red onions, tuna and jalapeños.
Abundant Onboard Activities
Every night, my cabin attendant DeeDee placed a six-page The Daily newsletter in my cabin. The newsletter was filled with onboard activities, from an early-morning sunrise stretch, tai chi, and Pilates to pickleball instructions and learning to line dance.
Or join the shuffleboard challenge, golf putting and ping pong. Maybe an art scavenger hunt, team trivia challenge, mahjong game, origami folding, bridge, photography, karaoke, cooking lessons and cornhole are more to your liking.
Fosse and Verdon – The Duet That Changed Broadway
With places like B.B. King’s, the Rolling Stone Lounge and Billboard Onboard, the music flowed until late night on Koningsdam. The audience-embracing World Stage featured a magician, comedian, ship orchestra, singers and dancers.
But one of the best musical shows I’ve ever seen on a cruise ship was presented on the World Stage. “Fosse and Verdon – The Duet That Changed Broadway.”
A long- time fan of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon, I think the ship’s performers were fantastic in the live production and I’m sure that wasn’t easy to do.
Fosse was a nine-time Tony Award-winning choreographer and director whose works include Damn Yankees, Sweet Charity, Chicago, Pippin and the Academy Award-winning film Cabaret.
Fosse remains the only director to have won the Oscar, Tony and Emmy in a single year. Verdon was a four-time Tony Award-winning actress and dancer who originated many of Fosse’s most iconic works.
Fosse and Verdon married in 1960 and, despite separating in 1971, they remained legally married until Fosse’s death of a heart attack in 1987. He was 60. The pair had one daughter together, Nicole Fosse, born in 1963. Verdon died in her sleep in 2000. She was 75.
Holland America Line worked with Nicole Fosse, founder and artistic director of the Verdon Fosse Legacy, to create the show. Along with the astonishing choreography, we also got to hear little tidbits about why Fosse used his self-perceived physical shortcomings in his unusual dance movements.
Fosse’s hat obsession came, he said, because he went bald early and started wearing hats, so he decided to put hats on his dancers, too. He was round-shouldered, so he exaggerated that in his dance movements. His feet were turned in, so, of course, his dance steps emphasized that.
The result is something you have to see to believe.
Shore Excursions
The Alaska cruise featured great shore excursions at every stop. My choices: the 3-hour Gold Panning and Alaska Salmon Bake in Juneau, the almost 3-hour White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad Train Ride in Skagway and the 75-minute Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show in Ketchikan.
Gold Panning and Alaska Salmon Bake
Tour guide Marlin was 11 years old when he moved to Alaska with his geologist mother in 1969. A colorful character, Marlin sure knows how to pan for gold. After swishing the creek water around in a pan, I found three flecks of gold, which were put in a tiny bottle to take home.
In fact, everyone found gold flecks. But Marlin’s stories made the shore excursion so much more interesting. The year was 1880, Marlin said, when Joe Juneau and Richard Harris discovered gold in a creek. Thus began Alaska’s first gold rush, 16 years before the Klondike version in the Yukon Territory in northwestern Canada, just east of the Alaskan border.
Then our small group loaded back into Marlin’s shuttle for a 20-minute ride to the salmon bake, which was cut short because the Koningsdam was due to depart.
White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad Train Ride
I’m riding on the wild side of “the railway built of gold” as it chugs through cliff-hanging turns and steep ravines with astonishing scenes. Prospectors and their animals were walking it during the gold rush. Unbelievable.
Our tour guide said many weary travelers went insane as they trekked the dangerous trails and waterways to find gold. An estimated 3,000 horses died and were left where they perished, earning White Pass the name “Dead Horse Trail.”
The area is also where 21-year-old Jack London got the inspiration for Call of the Wild while seeking his fortune in 1897. London left the following year with $4.50 in gold dust and suffering from scurvy.
Considered impossible to build, the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad was finished in just 26 months on July 29, 1900. It transported passengers and freight to the Yukon and the important mining industry.
Today, the scenic railway is a one-of-a-kind Alaska shore excursion. The fleet has a combo of 70 fully restored and replica parlor cars pulled by both steam and diesel-electric locomotives. Each of the cars is named after a Yukon river or lake with the oldest car, Lake Emerald, dating to 1883.
Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show
I thought the show would be a bit of fun but it was so much more. Just a short walk from where the Koningsdam was docked, the show’s host, Professor Pine Cones, kept the action moving quickly and humorously after dividing viewers and lumberjacks into two teams – Canada and America.
So much fast-paced action and these men were doing real tasks that helped shape this rugged land – axe throwing, log rolling, chopping, sawing, relay races and a 50-foot speed climb up a tall pole.
Heading Home, Too Soon
Too quickly, my Koningsdam cruise came to a close. Passengers were already talking about booking the very same cruise next year. I can certainly understand why Alaska is one of the most popular cruise destinations.
Alaska offers so many treasures and the Koningsdam is an ideal vessel for this cruise. A friend asked if I would recommend taking the Alaska Inside Passage voyage. Most definitely.
Disclosure: The author was a guest of Holland America Line but any opinions expressed in this post are her own.
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