Holland America Line offers a scenic cruising experience in Alaska, with picturesque views, mountains and glaciers ideal for those clients who want to be out among nature.

For travel agents, the dramatic scenery offered by Alaska – made up of glaciers, fjords, inlets, rivers, forests and streams – is a major selling point.

What’s more, 2022 marks Holland America Line’s 75th year offering tours into Alaska, underlying the company’s expertise and experience in taking guests to this incredible land.

Alaska: Landscapes and expertise

Glacier Bay National Park, part of a 24-million-acre world heritage site as well as being a UNESCO-listed site, is a highlight of the area made up of stunning glaciers. Holland America Line offers seven-night Inside Passage cruises roundtrip Vancouver twice every week from May until September, which spend a full day sailing the glaciers of the bay.

Glacier Bay National Park is a stunning location.

Holland America Line goes further than other cruise lines and bring local experts to come on board to enhance guests’ understanding of the area.

In addition, the line offers guests even more of an insight into this diverse ecosystem and millennia-old culture thanks to its partnership with rangers and local Huna Tlingit guides. This is due to Holland America Line being an authorised concessioner for Glacier Bay National Park.

Holland America Line’s seven-night Alaska explorer cruises from Seattle enable guests to take in the Hubbard Glacier, the longest tidewater glacier in North America.

The glacier can advance up to seven feet in one day, earning the nickname ‘the Galloping Glacier’ with the major attraction being the icebergs cannoning into the water, also known as calving.

Moreover, another key selling point is a catamaran tour, which takes guests around this giant glacier. Guests can also absorb the scenery by taking a ride on ‘the railway built of gold’, which weaves through steep ravines and cliff-hanging turns.

The White Pass and Yukon Railroad gives guests a feel for what it was like to search for gold in the 19th century, with Holland America Line’s itineraries including a trip for guests to visit Skagway as a day excursion. The fleet is made up of 70 restored and replica parlour cars, with each car being named after a lake or river in the Yukon.

Alaska: Wilderness and Denali National Park

Another key selling point for Alaska is Denali National Park, home to North America’s tallest peak and six million acres of protected land, meaning guests can experience the wilderness in its truest form.

Alaska, Holland America Line
Denali National Park is a key selling point.

The Denali peak was previously referred to as ‘the tall one’ by native Alaskans, with Denali being the third tallest mountain in the world. Being surrounded by undisturbed land means that guests can explore a diverse sub-artic landscape.

Guests can see the grizzly and black bears, moose, Ball sheep, caribou, wolves and bald eagles, with the Denali National Park being home to more than 160 species of birds, 39 mammals and 1,500 species of plants, mosses and lichens.

How to become an Alaska expert