Pacific Northwest 2026

This was the “Great Bear Rainforest” cruise on the Holland America Noordam. This is only the third cruise we’ve done on HAL, and we enjoyed this one just as much as the other two. These smaller ships are great. Nice, wide promenade deck, which is a big thing with us.

The food on this ship was outstanding. It was mostly big hits and very few misses. The service was also outstanding in all parts of the ship.

The Cake Walk

It’s an impressive sight to be sure, but the cakes (at least the few I’ve tried) look a lot better than they taste. We visited this event on the Eurodam last fall as well. Below are some of the cakes before the event opened. After they started serving, it quickly became a mess.

Prince Rupert Train and Bus

I’m an everlasting sucker for trains. We very seldom end up on one, but when we do I really like it. This train ride was no exception. I liked it a lot. The train followed a river for a couple of hours. Beautiful scenery. Then we boarded a bus. I’m frankly not sure where we went. You’d think I would have taken notes, wouldn’t you? Well. Not. We stopped at a First Nations location where we were treated to their singing and dancing. Very enjoyable! We had an excellent lunch, which has not always been the case on cruise excursions. Wonderful day.

The view from the first row of the dome car on the train.

First Nations dancers, singers and musicians

Malahat Skywalk

The Malahat Skywalk is a bit north of Victoria, BC. Funny thing – we’ve been to Victoria many times and have yet to make it to Buchert Gardens. We didn’t make it there this time either. The skywalk was a HAL excursion and it looked like something we would really like. It was! We were bussed out to the location and followed a nice, elevated boardwalk out to the skywalk spiral. It’s pretty tall, but the ramp is a gentle uphill so no problem for even old fossils like us. When you get to the top, you’re repaid with breathtaking views.

Miscellaneous Notable Notes

This is some pretty good duck breast. Not fantastic duck breast but actually pretty good.

This is how to get your checked luggage opened and searched by TSA. All you need to do is bring your collapsible cane collapsed. You won’t need it but it might as well come along. I think it certainly must have looked like a gun in the scanner machine. My bag had definitely been looked through and I can’t think of another reason why. Sorry, TSA.