My experience on Holland America's new Great Bear Rainforest cruise

“Is this really necessary?” I asked the tour guide as he handed me an insulated full-body suit.

We — that is, me and about a dozen of my fellow cruise ship passengers, most of them around retirement age — were about to embark on a 90-minute scenic boat ride around the coast of British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest. The suits our guide was doling out, which would have looked more at home on a space shuttle, seemed like overkill.

But, as our guide explained, although we would be relatively close to land, we would still be sailing the deep, frigid waters of the North Pacific, weaving between uninhabited fragments of land with names like Devastation Island. If one of us somehow fell into the unforgiving water, these suits would give us a precious extra 15 minutes or so of survival time — hopefully enough to keep us alive until help arrived.

It was a startling reminder that, despite our cruise ship being moored perhaps a hundred yards away, we had stepped off the gangplank into a different world. Here, the nearest airport is reachable only by ferry. Indigenous communities live largely off the land and sea on remote islands. And fishermen and tour operators alike regularly serve their families dinner straight from their own crab traps — if local crab thieves don’t get there first.

Welcome to Prince Rupert Island, an uncommon but worthwhile cruise stop that I visited on Holland America’s newest itinerary known as "7-Day Great Bear Rainforest." This unconventional sailing promised to show 2,000 or so passengers of the ship Noordam a different route to Alaska, with scenery and ports of call that few cruisers get to experience.

A new (old) route to Alaska

Seventies fashion trends aren’t the only things starting to make a comeback (I’m looking at you, fanny packs). Holland America’s newest itinerary reaches way back to the gold rush of the 1800s, when the only (safe) way to reach Alaska by boat was through the Inside Passage, a series of channels weaving between scattered islands off Canada’s western coast.

Today’s cruise ships can handle the open ocean, so they typically bypass the Inside Passage in favor of a faster, more direct route to Alaska’s top sights and attractions. This is true for most itineraries used by Holland America, which has a fleet of 11 ships and runs over 500 sailings a year, including more than 100 cruises to Alaska.

With its newest itinerary, the line aims to give frequent Alaska cruisers something new. Instead of focusing on Alaska, we would take the open ocean from Seattle to Ketchikan, Alaska, then make our way back through the more scenic Inside Passage. This would not only give us a glimpse into the stunning scenery that gold rush passengers got to witness, but also allow us to visit lesser-known destinations — including some that can’t be reached by road.

And, of course, we would be exploring the titular Great Bear Rainforest, the world’s largest temperate rainforest, which covers much of the coastline along the itinerary. It’s named after the spirit bear (or Kermode bear), a rare white or yellow mutation of black bears that features prominently in the folklore and beliefs of First Nations peoples.

As a longtime Coloradan, I’m very much a landlubber. I have a long history of seasickness and a much shorter history of cruising, having taken only one cruise, a Carnival sailing to the Bahamas in 2024, before this.

Luckily, another advantage to sailing the Inside Passage is that the shallower, more protected waterways help minimize the rocking of the boat — perfect for nervous sailors like me. It seemed the ideal way for me to visit Alaska and British Columbia for the first time. So, I packed my layers and rain gear and hauled my overflowing suitcase aboard the Noordam.

Here are the highlights from my seven-day Great Bear Rainforest cruise and why I would go back in a heartbeat.

New and unusual port stops

Before we reached the Inside Passage, the Noordam carved a route through open ocean to Ketchikan on the southern tip of Alaska. This tourist-friendly cruise ship stop is so common that it has become old hat for frequent cruisers; many of my fellow passengers didn’t even bother disembarking from the ship.

The view of Ketchikan from my balcony. RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY

As for me, I wasn’t going to pass up a chance to set foot in Alaska for the first time. I had a blast exploring the town’s famous totems and the cute overwater shopping district of Creek Street.

But did Ketchikan provide an “authentic” Alaskan experience? Probably not. I could tell this town — at least, the part easily reached from port — was designed for tourists, with shops hawking totem magnets and salmon jerky at every turn. (Not that that stopped me from buying them. Who can say no to souvenir shopping in buildings raised on stilts?)

Prince Rupert, British Columbia

After we raised anchor in Ketchikan and headed into the Inside Passage, the port stops got a little more interesting. They started with Holland America’s first overnight call to the remote, rugged Prince Rupert Island.

Admittedly, there’s not much to see here beyond a few arts and crafts shops, a scenic coastal walking trail and perhaps the world’s tiniest Walmart — but that’s not what draws most tourists. Prince Rupert is known as a gateway to British Columbia’s vast and awe-inspiring outdoors, including the Great Bear Rainforest. (It also holds the title of rainiest city in Canada, though the weather was blessedly mild and sunny during our visit.)

This is where I donned my bright red spacesuit for the adults-only Northern Great Bear Rainforest by Zodiac excursion ($230 per person), in which we toured the rainforest’s meandering coastline by motorized raft. We didn’t spot any spirit bears, but we did see several bald eagles resting regally in the treetops, as well as harbor porpoises and sea lions bobbing through the water.

And, I’m happy to report, none of us put our protective suits to the test.

Where I come from, puddles are a rare sight — so it was fascinating to see just how much water is woven into the fabric of daily life here. We cruised past the Port of Prince Rupert, Canada’s third-busiest seaport, and Prince Rupert Airport (YPR), where a once-daily flight to Vancouver, British Columbia, connects residents to the outside world. We saw from afar the village of Metlakatla and learned how Indigenous communities there have been living off the land (and sea) since the mid-1800s. We even got to meet Dungeness and red rock crabs that our tour guides caught in underwater traps, destined for the dinner table.

Nanaimo, British Columbia

Our next stop was Nanaimo, a city on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island. This was Holland America’s maiden call at Nanaimo, and ours was the largest cruise ship the port had ever welcomed.

This became apparent during our shore excursion: Gallery Walk, Cranberry Farm, and City Sights ($80 per person). The tour operators clearly underestimated the number of cruise passengers who would clamor to see a cranberry farm. This led to long, dreary delays in the cold rain and caused us to miss the gallery walk and city sights portions of the tour entirely.

Although the shore excursions in Nanaimo are still finding their feet, it was apparent that this city — much larger than Prince Rupert and with a more authentic feel than Ketchikan — has a lot to offer to future cruise passengers. Before my afternoon cranberry farm debacle, I explored the town on foot and discovered hip vintage boutiques, magical bookstores, souvenir shops with local art for sale and, of course, bakeries offering every flavor of Nanaimo bar, a local layered no-bake treat.

It was the perfect combination: Conducive to tourists but not mobbed by them (yet). I would rather have spent the entire day exploring Nanaimo on my own than through a booked shore excursion.

Victoria, British Columbia

We spent our last day on land in Victoria, on the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island and just a stone’s throw from the U.S.-Canada border.

I spent the morning on the Malahat Skywalk & Victoria Highlights excursion ($100 per adult and $80 for kids 12 and under), where I enjoyed nature walks and spectacular views — and reconnected with my inner child on the 12-story slide.

Afterward, I explored Victoria's downtown. This city was by far the largest we visited on this cruise, with several museums, shopping and dining galore, quirky attractions like haunted miniature golf and Miniature World, a small Chinatown, and a surprisingly large number of Irish pubs.

Also, you'll find plenty of water taxis, my new obsession.

Aren't they cute? RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY

As it turns out, Victoria is a common cruise stop — but often a short-lived one. Most cruise ships only drop anchor here for a few hours, often late in the evening, making it hard for passengers to enjoy everything Victoria has to offer. Why? Because non-U.S.-flagged ships are required by law to stop at a non-U.S. port, and Victoria fits the bill for cruise ships headed to Alaska.

That’s a shame because my time in Victoria was one of the highlights of the cruise. I was glad to have a full day here, and I wouldn’t have minded staying longer to explore other attractions like The Butchart Gardens and Craigdarroch Castle.

An outdoor paradise

Another highlight was, as expected, the great outdoors. I could see it in all its glory from the ship on cruising days, when we passed through parts of the Inside Passage like the Grenville Channel, Johnstone Strait and Seymour Narrows — where you almost feel like you could reach out and touch the shore.

We shared the Inside Passage with pods upon pods of whales, making themselves known with blowhole spouts and the occasional tail slap. They were too far away for a whale-watching novice like me to distinguish, even with binoculars, but our onboard guide pointed out a variety of species, including orcas, right whales and pilot whales.

It was fun to see how many of my fellow passengers got excited about the whales. It was almost a bonding activity — at least, in the gym, where we enjoyed pointing out whale spouts to each other from neighboring treadmills. In the window-filled Crow’s Nest lounge, however, things got a little spicier. It's all fun and games until binocular-wielding retirees start fighting over chairs.

Of course, we got several chances to get closer to nature during the port calls. I took multiple outdoorsy shore excursions, including the Rainforest Island Nature Walk and Seahawk Adventure in Ketchikan ($195 per adult and $140 per child 12 and under). A short boat ride took our small group to the aptly named Rainforest Island, where our local guide — barefoot, T-shirt-clad and presumably superhuman — led us through the chilly rainforest, pointing out mushrooms, banana slugs and 800-year-old western red cedar trees.

Other adventurous options included e-bike tours, kayak and canoe excursions, backcountry Jeep rides and fishing trips.

Immersion in local history and culture

There were plenty of less outdoorsy shore excursions, too, from trolley tours and cultural museums to barhopping and cooking classes. There truly seemed to be something for everyone. What’s more, Holland America seemed keen to help guests dive into the history and culture of the destinations we visited — both on shore and aboard the ship.

Our cruise schedule was packed with educational activities. Tour guides gave port talks to packed audiences about the places we would visit, and guest lecturers delivered seminars on topics like the ghost towns of British Columbia. Wildlife guides taught guests how to spot whales and use binoculars. On our cruising days, commentators explained what we were seeing as we navigated the Inside Passage — and, occasionally, the captain would interrupt them to point out a pod of whales.

In Prince Rupert, the Noordam hosted a local Nisgaa First Nations dance group, who gave a performance of traditional dance, music and storytelling.

I was impressed by the amount of free programming Holland America provided to help passengers learn about these relatively lesser-known cruise areas. Although we didn’t spend much time on land at each stop, I felt much more connected to the Great Bear Rainforest region because I learned so much about its history, wildlife and people.

How (and why) to book it

Holland America introduced this new route on a trial basis, but it must have been well received because the line is bringing it back next year. There are currently three "7-Day Great Bear Rainforest" sailings on the calendar, including two in 2026 and one in 2027.

On the next sailing, which departs April 19, 2026, inside cabins start at $1,149 per person (double occupancy) and verandah cabins like mine start from $1,649 per person. Rates are lower for the Oct. 4, 2026, sailing, with inside rooms starting from $944 per person.

You can also book the "18-Day Great Bear Rainforest and Alaska Explorer" sailing — another new itinerary that covers the same route but with additional time in Alaska — starting from $3,189 per person. The next sailing departs Sept. 16, 2026. This page shows all of Holland America's options that include scenic cruising of the Great Bear Rainforest.

Who should book these cruises through the Inside Passage? They’re certainly a great fit for Alaska cruise veterans looking to tread some new ground or see this gorgeous area at a slower pace, with more time in each destination. However, cruise newbies like me will appreciate the trip just as much, especially adventurous travelers who can’t resist a chance to get their boots muddy in a far-flung wilderness.

Seaplanes taking off and landing are a common sight out here. RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY

Holland America’s demographic skews older, but younger travelers shouldn’t be deterred. As fairly active travelers, my husband and I worried the pace of this cruise might be a little too slow — but we ended up being exhausted at the end of each day.

If you have children, the packed schedule of onboard activities — pickleball, bingo, art classes and paper airplane contests, to name a few — and the complimentary kids club should keep them plenty busy. We saw several young families aboard the Noordam, and the kids seemed to enjoy having the pool mostly to themselves.

Ultimately, this is a choose-your-own-adventure cruise. Book your schedule full of outdoor activities, or spend most of your time in the onboard spa watching the scenery go by — whatever floats your boat. If a raging party scene is on your wish list, however, this probably won’t be your ideal vacation.

Bottom line

I’m happy to say that this landlubber got her sea legs under her and survived her first Alaska cruise.

On my previous cruise to the Bahamas, my only complaint was that I didn’t get to see much of, well, the Bahamas; between snorkeling excursions and lounging on the cruise line’s private beach, there wasn’t enough time to venture beyond the ports. This, to me, is the main limitation of cruising.

However, with its longer stops and thoughtful programming, the Great Bear Rainforest itinerary allowed me to not only see this lesser-visited region from a distance, but to experience it on a deeper level. I sailed back to Seattle with a sense of connection to the Great Bear Rainforest — and an eagerness to go back and see more of it.

“Is this really necessary?” I asked the tour guide as he handed me an insulated full-body suit.

A new (old) route to Alaska

Here are the highlights from my seven-day Great Bear Rainforest cruise and why I would go back in a heartbeat.

New and unusual port stops

As for me, I wasn’t going to pass up a chance to set foot in Alaska for the first time. I had a blast exploring the town’s famous totems and the cute overwater shopping district of Creek Street.