Last-Minute Cruise Ends with New Port, Afternoon Painting

Days 12-15, 2026 Alaska Explorer

Thursday to Saturday, Sept. 3-6, 2026; Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada.

The theme of this Alaska cruise is turning out to be friendship. I just wrote about meeting two new friends in Juneau. Earlier we were disappointed to miss seeing friends in Anchorage due to health issues (they are recovering). And the night before boarding the Noordam, we met up in Seattle with long-time friends from a Dallas car club.

When I booked this cruise just two months earlier (last-minute for me), I was delighted to see that two of those friends, Paul and Jane, would be on board. They invited us to join a pre-cruise dinner in Seattle with Jerica and Sergio and Kristin and Juan. And they invited Eloise and me to join them during the cruise for dinner in the Pinnacle Grill, one of the Noordam’s specialty restaurants.

A daily highlight, whether in port or at sea, has been happy hour in the Ocean Bar. I didn’t buy the drink package, so my frugal nature steers me to enjoying a half-price gin and tonic at 4 p.m. Paul and Jane join us most days, and it is a fun opportunity to catch up on what we have seen and done.

They usually enjoy an excursion in port, and their descriptions of stunning views, diverse wildlife and sea creatures leave me jealous. I remind myself that just because I’ve been here before doesn’t mean there isn’t always more to see and experience.

Painting has filled my afternoons, either after a morning ashore or on a sea day. I can tell I’m out of practice, but the only fix is to stick with it.

One favorite Alaskan cruise memory isn’t from Alaska, but from Canada. During our boat excursion two years ago at Prince Rupert, British Columbia, we watched grizzly bears along the water’s edge of a protected wilderness. Breaching Orca whales and closeups of soaring bald eagles were just icing on the cake. That tour wasn’t available this year, so instead we walked along the town’s waterfront, browsing tourist shops and artist booths. I couldn’t resist buying a watercolor of puffins from the artist, even knowing it likely will end up in a box in my storage unit.

Our final sea day took us along the inland passage, with low hanging clouds covering the peaks as we quietly moved along.

Our final port of Nanaimo, British Columbia, is the only new one for me. The small city on Vancouver Island is striving to build status as a cruise port, and we are only the fifth ship to dock here this year. Nearby, floating logs are waiting to be sent off — I’m guessing to a mill.

We had left the cool temperatures of Alaska behind, and the mile-long walk through an industrial area to the town center under a hot sun was more than most of us wanted to make. The city offered shuttle bus service for $15 USD a person – a charge that caught many by surprise. I don’t think they realize that the shuttle in the more popular stop of Victoria is about the same amount.

Nanaimo volunteers met the shuttle with maps and information, and we took their suggestion to walk up the hill to an art center, where local artists sell everything from paintings and sculptures to scented candles and jewelry. Back on the main street, lined with thrift stores, boutiques and a library, we shared a wonderful and huge chicken salad in one of several coffee shops.

All the volunteers told us to make sure to try a Nanaimo Bar, a no-bake dessert bar consisting of three layers: a crumb base, topped by custard and then chocolate ganache. Every coffee shop seemed to sell them, and one of the rich treats was plenty to share.

Back on the ship, while looking for breaks from my least favorite task – packing — I grabbed a photo with our great cabin stewards, Gatoo and Nopi, and with crew I’ve known from previous cruises (beverage server Lance and barista Izrah).

I’m glad that the Port of Seattle offers Port Valet, a free luggage program in conjunction with the airlines that collects our checked luggage from the ship, adds airline tags and sends them with us to our final destinations, without a check-in line at the airport.

Of course, I’m always tempted to stay on for the next cruise, but in this case the Noordam is leaving for a 28-day Glaciers and Volcano cruise combining Alaska and Hawaii. Too long for us, as we will board the Volendam in three weeks in Montreal, Canada.

But speaking of friends, two of my best cruising buddies – Barbara and Richard – are on this next Noordam cruise. We met on a Grand Asia cruise almost a decade ago and have cruised together and visited each other back and forth ever since. But over the past two years our paths have diverged.

Luckily, our flight leaves in the late afternoon, and our travel agency was hosting a welcome-aboard reception on the ship at noon for its clients on the next cruise. They obtained visitor passes for us to reboard the ship, where we spent a wonderful hour or so with Barbara and Richard. There truly are friends throughout the cruising community.