Holland America has quietly launched one of the more unusual cruise itineraries of the year: a 28-night roundtrip sailing from Seattle that takes in both Alaska's Inside Passage and the Hawaiian islands. Called "Glaciers & Volcanoes: Alaska to Hawaii," the voyage is part of the line's Legendary Voyages program and is currently underway aboard the Noordam.
The route reads like a greatest-hits list of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Sailing from Seattle, the ship called at Vancouver before working through six Alaska stops, including the cruise classics Ketchikan and Sitka plus a scenic pass by Hubbard Glacier. Then comes the part that sets this sailing apart: instead of turning back, the Noordam pushed on to three ports most Alaska cruises skip entirely — Anchorage, Kodiak and remote Dutch Harbor out in the Aleutians.
From there it's a five-day ocean crossing down to Hawaii, where the itinerary picks up Nawiliwili on Kauai, Kahului on Maui and Hilo on the Big Island. The standout for many guests will be an overnight call in Honolulu, giving roughly 36 hours to actually explore Oahu rather than sprinting ashore for a few hours. After that, six days of Pacific cruising brings the ship back to Seattle on October 4, 2026.
Because these are long-haul "Legendary" sailings, Holland America builds in extra onboard programming — theme nights, sailaway celebrations and classic cruise events designed to keep things interesting across nearly a month at sea. The Legendary Voyages collection spans itineraries of 25 to 59 days, pairing far-flung ports with longer, slower exploration.
The Noordam, a 1,900-passenger ship built in 2006, has two more Legendary Voyages lined up in 2026 that are worth knowing about. In mid-October there's a 34-night Pacific crossing from Seattle to Sydney — doubling as a repositioning cruise, it stops in Hawaii and the South Pacific along the way. Then from mid-November, the ship runs a 35-night circumnavigation of Australia, roundtrip from Sydney, hitting 14 Australian ports plus two calls in Papua New Guinea.
Why does this matter for travellers? If you've ever wanted the Alaska glacier experience but couldn't face committing your whole holiday to it — or vice versa with Hawaii — this kind of combined itinerary solves the dilemma in one booking. It also suits the growing crowd of travellers who want sea days built in and ports that go beyond the standard cruise loop. Dutch Harbor and Kodiak are the kinds of places land-based travellers rarely reach, and an overnight in Honolulu beats the usual rushed port call hands down.
The trade-offs are obvious: it's a big chunk of time and a lot of consecutive days at sea, so it's best suited to retirees, remote workers or anyone with a genuinely flexible calendar. But for a once-in-a-while, sweep-of-the-Pacific trip, the Noordam's autumn schedule is one of the more interesting ways to do it.
