Whittier is one of our turnaround ports. Although you can’t talk about a town due the size and the number of people living in this village, this place is a hidden gem. It is literally the end of the road, it looks like the end of the world but I love this place. Since the cruise ends in Whittier, some take the transportation to Anchorage to fly out of Alaska, but a large portion of guests stays in Alaska for an overland tour to various areas including Denali National Park and of the ways they travel is in the Holland America’s McKinley Explorer

Like, uber-cool this train. A glass domed train giving you the most amazing views.

as you can see on the photo below, the train stops next to the ship and the cool thing with technology is that the staff onboard the train is able to check these guests in for the cruise portion. in other words, once the train arrives, the guests can go straight thru security and direct onboard….no more checking in inside the terminal….

Anyway, back to the ship and Whittier: stunning day, stunning views and a good start of the cruise