Holland America Line is all about cruising.  No big surprise there; they have been doing it for nearly 150 years.   Taking that focus to land, Holland America’s Land + Sea Journeys brings a unique travel experience that goes beyond where we can go and have enough time to get back from before the ship leaves.  Why?  There is no ship.

As the name would imply, Holland America Land + Sea Journeys combine a standard cruise that goes where cruise ships can do with a pre- or post-cruise land extension.   Starting a day of exploration further inland enables travelers to see more of the destinations with few time constraints.

We experienced something similar on a Cruisetour with Princess Cruises in Alaska several years ago.  Choosing to begin in the North, we flew into Fairbanks much as we did on this trip to examine what Holland America Line has to offer.  A standard Princess Cruisetour or Holland America Land + Sea Journey goes from north to south, south to north or round-trip (somewhere).

Interestingly, between Holland America Line and Princess Cruises, more cruise travelers visit Alaska than all other cruise lines combined.  Their infrastructure in Alaska is one huge reason for that. Still, investigating Alaska without a cruise, we’re seeing a compelling amount of evidence that Holland America Line is the cruise line most invested in Alaska.

Here are a number of photos of our trip so far.  Arriving in Fairbanks, we spend the night before continuing along to Denali and the McKinley Chalet Resort.

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Just a few days before this trip, I was in Rotterdam for the dedication of new ms Koningsdam and went deep into the history that comes along with the Holland America name.  Still in the mentality to appreciate the Holland America influence at premiere travel destinations and now in Alaska, Holland America Line is hard to miss.