Setting off on a Cruise to Alaska

We've wanted to visit Alaska for a long time. When an 18 day cruise on Holland America's Zaandam with ports in Sitka, Valdez, Kodiak, Homer, Anchorage, Juneau, Wrangell, and Ketchikan came up, we decided it was time to go. This cruise also included scenic cruises through Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay National Park with a stop in Prince Rupert, B.C. We used the Van Nuys fly away parking and shuttle service to LAX. We parked our car in the parking structure and put our ticket in a safe place. You are charged for the parking when you leave. We paid about $6.00 per day. You can buy your shuttle ticket online or pay with a credit card when you enter the bus. The cost for the shuttle was $12.75 per person each way. On your way back, the shuttle return area is right outside baggage claim. Make sure you get on the correct bus as they shuttle to Van Nuys and Union Station. There are also several other airport shuttles (for other parking structures and Uber, taxi, etc.) We arrived in Vancouver a day before our cruise departed because we wanted to make sure that we got there on time. We took an Uber from the airport to the hotel. Hotels are expensive in Vancouver especially the ones that are near the cruise port. We waited six hours for our room to be ready. During that time we walked down to the port to get familiar with the embarkation area. The next day we took a taxi to the dock. It took us right up front. A person from Holland America took our tagged luggage and pointed us to the embarkation area. Here they verified our passports, took our photo for facial recognition, took us through customs and a security screening. After all of this, it was time to board the ship. Since our room wasn't ready, we went upstairs to the Lido deck. We also roamed around the parts of the ship that were open to us to get familiar with the layout. Alaska, here we come!