It had been almost 25 years since the last time I had a visit to this gorgeous state and although some things had changed, I had forgotten just how breathtakingly beautiful it really is.
I will admit when mentioning Alaska as a choice for our next vacation, I didn’t receive the normal jumping up and down response from Baby Bug that I usually get. I was instead met with “am I going to freeze to death?” and “isn’t Alaska boring and just for old people?” however, excitement gradually built in the research and planning stages. We had decided on a cruise for a number of reasons but mainly due to some soon to expire future cruise credits accumulated from the pandemic.
When choosing an itinerary there are several factors that we take into consideration; the cruise line, the ship, the itinerary, the availability, the price and where it begins and ends – not necessarily in this order. In our case, the credits were on Princess (which is our favourite line), due to Covid testing requirements and airfare affordability we wanted to do a roundtrip from Canada/Vancouver and we found an amazing itinerary and price – so we booked.
Embarkation
Back in the day I used to be a bit of a gambler when booking airfare and would often fly in on the day of the cruise but times have changed and with all of the recent delays and cancellations, we decided it was best to get there the day before. With a late arrival we decided to save some money by staying near the airport. We chose the Holiday Inn in Richmond for several reasons (good reviews on Trip Advisor, price, complimentary airport shuttle and onsite food). We were happy with our choice, nothing fancy but friendly and helpful staff, clean and everything we were looking for. Check out this post on the Sky Train for quick, easy and affordable transportation to the Canada Place port.
Juneau
After a relaxing first sea day, we were excited to get off the ship and do a little exploring. Juneau was one of the ports where we were a little unsure as to what we were going to do. Whale watching in Juneau is usually the recommendation however we had decided to do this later on in the trip at a different port. Having already been to Mendenhall Glacier and river rafting on a previous trip, we decided that we were fine with just winging it. It was a cool and rainy day but enjoyed our walk downtown. If it had been in our budget, we might have done a helicopter/dog sledding tour, however that excursion was priced higher than our entire cruise so maybe next time?
Another option for exploring on your own is the Goldbelt Tram which runs approx. $50 for an all day pass. You can hop on very close to where the ships dock and enjoy some beautiful views.
Icy Strait Point
It’s funny how sometimes the things or places you are least looking forward to end up being some of your favourites. When planning at the beginning of the cruise, we originally thought about not even getting off of the ship when docking at Icy Strait Point, however after doing a little research we learned that this was one of the best places to see whales. Further research led us to Glacier Wind Charters, a local family owned company with great reviews on both Trip Advisor and Cruise Critic. They picked us up right at the beautiful visitors centre and brought us to the local marina where they kept their boat. Would highly recommend this company! Saw some whales, lots of otters and even a bear from a distance. Very nice visitors centre also worth a visit and if you’re up for an adventure, Icy Strait Point is home of the world’s longest uninterrupted zipline.
Skagway
Pleasantly surprised with this neat little Gold Rush town, a short walking distance from the port. Lots of cute little shops to browse in but the real interest I had here was the White Pass Railroad. This was something I had always wanted to do and I was so glad I did. Spectacular scenery and once we got up really high there was still a great deal of snow which really added to the gorgeous views. An excursion could be booked through the ship or online through the company itself without much of a difference in cost. The trip was $140 and lasted approx. 2 1/2 hours.
One of the fun things to do once we got back onboard in Skagway was a meet and greet with some of the dog sled puppies ready to be trained.
Sitka
To be perfectly honest, this was the port that we least enjoyed. In all fairness, I had not done my homework and thought that we would just wing it but we were a little disappointed with the downtown area. This town was a fair distance from the where the ship was docked and with another ship also in port the line up to get on and off the shuttle bus was ridiculously long and took up a lot of our time there. Some pretty sights to see but if we were to do it again, we might stay on board or do more research for next time.
Ketchikan
Of all of our Alaska ports, this one seemed the most touristy and was our favourite. We loved all the souvenir shops, the colourful buildings of Creek Street and the best halibut and chips of our lives!
This is also a port that offers the highly recommended (and entertaining) Lumberjack Show – which we didn’t get to this time, but put on the list for the next one.
Ketchikan is a great port for wandering around and exploring and can be easily done on your own. It is also easily accessible by foot from where the ship docks.
Glacier Bay
Definitely the highlight of the trip! To sit on a lounger and be surrounded by the breathtaking beauty and peacefulness of the glaciers is something I will never forget. If you’re ever thinking of an Alaskan cruise, not every cruise line has access to Glacier Bay so definitely something to consider when in the planning stages.
