Travel Like an Architect

26/08/2026

Video Review of our cabin from our recent Alaska Cruise on Holland America Line Noordam.

Cabin 4139 on Holland America Noordam August 2026
This is a Veranda Stateroom on deck 4. Nicely located vertically to floors below. A bit of a walk up to the Lido deck. This is an aft cabin - and convenient to REAR activities. It is near the stair/elevators, but we did not have a noise issue. It is easy to get to the dining. But LONG haul to Explorer’s Lounge or even the theater.
Comfortable room. Plenty of plugs for electronics, including a receptacle in the bathroom.
BATHTUB!! This is unique for us. Made for a roomie shower.
Lots of storage, easy to get around. There are a couple curtain dividers that we did not use, but for a non-couple traveling together they might be a nice amenity.
ROOMY Balcony. Chairs with footstools, ALMOST a lounger.
CAUTION: At about 3am EVERY morning the cabin would stink like old cooked bacon. I assume it was cooking of bacon. But it is that smell that you get the day after cooking a bunch of bacon. NOT a good one.

Cabin 4139 on Holland America Noordam August 2026This is a Veranda...

21/08/2026

One our (ROB's) most favorite Cruise Lines. The BEST entertainment at sea. DM or call 815-516-0300 if you need a cruise.

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17/08/2026

Down the chute…

17/08/2026

Down the chute at the Public Market in Seattle - we found the disgustingly gross and super famous chewing gum, wall.. and some other content…. A shout out to follower Brenda Lee Parmiter Cooper for the experience tip - glad we didn’t miss it!

17/08/2026

Underground Seattle

The Seattle Underground is a network of subterranean passageways and basements in the Pioneer Square neighborhood.

It was created after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 destroyed 25 blocks. The city decided to rebuild on higher street grades to stop constant flooding and sewage backups from the tides, burying the original ground floors.

The city built high retaining walls along old roadways and filled the gaps, lifting streets roughly 12 to 22 feet higher. Merchants initially rebuilt ground-floor doors and windows facing the old sidewalks, using ladders for customers to reach the new upper streets until new elevated sidewalks were completed.

Concerns over bubonic plague led the city to condemn the underground spaces, sealing off the lower-level sidewalks. During the 1910s through Prohibition and the 1950s, the abandoned corridors became hidden hideouts for speakeasies, illegal gambling, o***m dens, and transients.

Local writer Bill Spidel rediscovered the forgotten corridors in the 1960s and launched Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour in 1965, letting visitors, like us, see original 1890s brickwork, old storefronts, and purple glass sidewalk skylights.

16/08/2026

The first half of Sunday.

16/08/2026

We got off the ship this morning and grabbed a taxi to our post cruise hotel… got checked in, to the Marriott at the airport, then turned right around and headed for the train platform and we are back in downtown Seattle bumming around & having lunch at the public market.. the Seattle Public market is everything every city wishes their public market was!Totally packed. I think everyone in town is here today. We gotta keep moving because the vacation isn’t over until it’s over. 

15/08/2026

Our deal of the week. Oceania a Luxury line owned by NCL Corp.