Dream Plan Do Travel

01/08/2025

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) train journey through the beautiful Cotswolds.

A train journey on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Heritage Railway through scenic Cotswolds countryside.

01/08/2025

During our trip to England in Sept/October, Malcolm got to ride on the footplate of a steam locomotive on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway line.

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Enjoy a footplate ride aboard the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) English heritage locomotive travelling in the the beautiful Cotswolds.

07/18/2024

Our stop in Sitka, Alaska. A very walkable town and quite pretty along the waterfront.

Join us for a walk around Sitka, Alaska. Sitka is a very walkable town with scenic areas to enjoy.

07/01/2024

Join us for a walk about in Juneau, Alaska. We walked a mile along the boardwalk to the beautiful whale fountain and then to the historic town before boarding the ship.

A day spent seeing the sights of Juneau. Join us as we walk about this vibrant town. We walked along the boardwalk to the whale fountain and through the hi...

06/27/2024

Goldbelt Tram excursion, Juneau, Alaska - The next in our series from our Alaska cruise aboard the Westerdam. We took the Goldbelt Tram excursion which brought us up Mt Roberts in Juneau. Join us for this scenic ride and views high above Juneau.

https://youtu.be/v4ZuozQFAr4

A 'must do' when visiting Juneau, Alaska. We took the Goldbelt Tram excursion while we were docked in Juneau. We obtained tickets through Holland America w...

06/26/2024

Take a few moments and sail with us into Stephens Passage on our way to Juneau, Alaska. Experience the docking procedure and see Juneau from the ship.

Join us aboard the Holland America, Westerdam for relaxing scenic cruising through Stephen's Passage as we sail towards Juneau, Alaska. See all the ships in...

06/25/2024

The first of our new series - our trip to Alaska. This is embarkation day, May 26th leaving Seattle. Video shows our room as well as views outside the on the deck. More videos to come (which will contain amazing views of the destinations we saw).

Join us for an Alaskan inside passage adventure aboard Holland America's Westerdam ship. This video is the first in the series of our 7 night journey which ...

06/09/2024

Technology and cell phones… by Greg Schwem on Holland America WESTERDAM

06/09/2024

Entertainment on the Holland America Line - ms Westerdam. Greg Schwem show was super. Enjoyed it a lot.

06/03/2024

Let’s talk food! On cruises, food (and drinks) rate up there with the destinations you see. On the Holland America Line - ms Westerdam ship, we found the food to be exceptional. In flavour, quality and presentation. The professional, friendly and hard working staff went above and beyond preparing and serving delicious meals to over 1,900 guests, 3 times (and more) and did it with smiles and grace.

In all venues, the food was fresh, well presented and made for a great dining experience. Even all the rolls and pastries were baked fresh on the ship.

Here is a sample of what we got to experience (with some pics of menus and locations) during our week on the Westerdam on our cruise to Alaska May 26-June 2. We ate in the main dining room, the specialty Pinnacle Grill, the Lido buffet, the Dive Inn snack bar and ordered room service.

As with all reviews, am sure people will pick at it and criticize, but frankly, I would like to see THEM put in a days work and do it as the staff on the Westerdam has done. I congratulate and thank all these people…. the ones serving us and the ones we never get to see. Too bad this post didn’t have taste. 😉. Luckily, our clothes aren’t any tighter! 🤣 Holland America Line, Holland America WESTERDAM, Holland America Line Fans Official, Holland America Line- Dining, Food, & Drinks

06/02/2024

Victoria, BC. Our last stop on the Alaskan cruise. It was a short stop lasting only 4 hours but we still managed to see some sights. We always do our own thing and rarely (never) take a tour. We used google maps and walked along the waterway to the Parliament buildings. The walk was beautiful and we actually passed 2 walking tours along the route 😉. If we hadn’t of taken a bit of a side track, we would not have seen some impressive sights along the way. Our walk was a little over 30 minutes and I couldn’t manage the walk back (got a new hip replacement end of January and we have been walking a lot during this trip), so we paid our fare for a return shuttle back to the ship. Victoria is really built up now and both Malcolm and I didn’t recognize anything from our visits there many years ago. This is one place we will put on our ‘return to’ list.

05/31/2024

Ketchikan, Alaska. Well, you can’t have everyday rain free and sunny… we found that today. A fact - Ketchikan only gets approx 100 rain free days per year! Ketchikan was very wet and windy but we ventured off the ship to take a stroll… and we had some fun too! Next time we come, we hope to have better weather to walk longer and see more sights in this pretty town. Holland America Line - ms Westerdam and Holland America Line

05/31/2024

Sitka, Alaska. Today was another shore day. We had originally thought we would just stay on the ship because you had to take busses to the town of Sitka. It was so organized and we quickly were shuttled to this beautiful town. We didn’t plan any excursions but rather just walked in town and around the shoreline. Shopping isn’t something we usually do when we are in port. It isn’t an activity (Malcolm loves the fact that I am not a shopper 😉). We were pleasantly surprised with the beauty of this town and loved the fact that flowers were blooming everywhere. Sitka’s temp today was 52F… warmer than Sarnia! Enjoying this Holland America Line - ms Westerdam cruise. Holland America Line

05/31/2024

Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier. An exciting day sailing into Endicott Arm to view Dawes Glacier. I was up bright and early and was on the bow at 7am and stood there till after 10am. It was chilly, misty, the sun came out, it rained briefly and was cloudy and a bit windy some of the time. Glad I was bundled up. The weather changes by the minute here in Alaska. Layers are key and rain gear a must but we have had excellent weather actually. The colour of the water and the ice was amazing and breathtaking. It truly was a wonderful experience with Holland America Line.

05/30/2024

Juneau, Alaska - Our first stop was in Juneau for the day with Holland America Line - ms Westerdam. There were 5 ships in port at one point but we seemed to manage to avoid the crowds at the gondola, getting there before the last ship disembarked. When we came down, the lineup was huge to go up! We had a super day visiting the town, riding up on the mountain gondola and walking to see the whale fountain statue that is located in a park along the shoreline. We also had time to visit a few shops before heading back to the ship. Hope you enjoy the pics of our super day. The weather constantly changes here in Alaska and we have been so lucky to be having great weather during this trip with Holland America Line

05/28/2024

Pinnacle Grill. Last night we ate at a specialty restaurant and it definitely didn’t disappoint. This specialty dining was part of the HAL (“Have it All” package which included drinks, specialty dining, excursion credit and Wifi). The service was excellent and the food L even better. Closeline bacon as an appetizer. One of their specialties and we had to try it. Wow.. delicious. You definitely have to try this if you are on a Holland America Line - ms Westerdam cruise and Holland America Line.

05/28/2024

05/28/2024

Sea Day. Day 2 of our cruise. It is a relaxing sea day. Slept in… totally missed breakfast but had a great latte in the Crows Nest on the Holland America Line - ms Westerdam. Just walked indoors and outdoors on this lovely ship as it rocked in the icy waters. Definitely getting my sea legs. Visited some new areas of the ship and took lots of photos (which I will post later). But this post is dedicated to the sea day and the act of doing nothing but still too busy to read a book! 😉. I think I like sea days and Holland America Line.