If you haven’t done an Alaska cruise before, I highly recommend you add it to your bucket list. The cruise we chose was roundtrip from Seattle, WA with Alaskan stops in Juneau, Skagway, Ketchican, Scenic Glacier Bay and Victoria, BC.

We flew into Seattle late Thursday night and arrived around midnight. For convenience, we booked a hotel directly across from the airport with complimentary shuttle service. Flying in late Thursday night afforded us an entire extra day to check out Seattle before the cruise. The cruise left Saturday morning. We reserved transportation from our hotel to the cruise port with Seattle Express for only $12 per person (now $20 per person). This was the cheapest I found and was great service! We would definitely use them again. We arrived at the cruise port around 10:30 and check-in/security was a breeze. Once onboard, we walked the ship to orient ourselves. After our walk it was time for some grub! We are not fans of buffets, so we headed straight for the dining hall. A fun fact that many do not know is that you can get a full-service meal in the dining hall for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Also, Princess offers tea time, although we did not get a chance to take advantage of it on this cruise (hopefully next time though!). The food in the dining hall is ten times better than the buffet food so save yourself the hassle of dealing with the crowds and enjoy a nice, relaxed meal in the dining hall. The food is superb!

One of our delicious dinners in the dining hall. Lobster!

Our first full day on the ship was a sea day. We used this day to sleep in, relax, and enjoy the offerings on the ship. Our favorite event was to take a soak in the hot tub after dinner while watching a movie on the big screen located on the lido deck. They serve milk and cookies too! If you don’t want to be in the hot tub, you can still enjoy the movie with warm blankets that are provided.

Outdoor movies on the lido deck

Our first port was Juneau, AK where we had booked a combo whale watching and glacier excursion with Juneau Whale Watch. The weather was not the best but the crew made the most of our time. While we did not see an orca whale, we did see quite a few humpback whales. What a sight! It was simply magical. We also saw our first bald eagle of the cruise at the marina. The next stop was Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls. Quite impressive to get our first glimpse of a glacier and left us excited to see more in Glacier Bay.

Whale watching excursion

Eagle spotting

Skagway was the next port of call. Here we had booked the Yukon Adventure tour with Chilkoot Charters and Tours. The tour company picked us up at the cruise port and loaded us on the small van for an epic drive through the gold rush White Pass Summit and into the Yukon Territory of Canada. While we thought it would be great to take the train on this parallel trail, we chose instead to do the van so we had more chances to stop off, enjoy the scenery, and take photos (it is also much cheaper). So glad we chose this option! The views were unmatched by anything we had seen before. The tour stopped in Carcross, Canada for a BBQ lunch. Here we were able to visit a dog musher camp and play and cuddle the musher puppies. On the way back to Skagway, we stopped at the world’s smallest desert.

Beautiful scenery on the bus tour in Canada

Scenic stop off on the bus tour in Canada

Once back in Skagway, we took some recommendations from our tour guide and hit up Skagway Brewing Company for some refreshments. It had a very laid-back feel with great food and even better drinks. Try the cream soda alcohol drink, I still fantasize about it. Next, we headed to the Red Onion Saloon. It was okay but not my favorite place, too touristy if you ask me. We did some window shopping and walked slowly back to the ship with just enough time to get ready for dinner.

Glacier Bay was our third location on the itinerary. Wow, talk about breathtaking! There are simply no words to accurately describe the feeling as the ship sails through this national park. Margerie Glacier was the highlight. While we did not get to experience a huge calving (breaking off of chunks of ice), we were able to experience a small one. It sounds like thunder. We hope to experience a bigger calving next time. The great thing about Margerie Glacier is that it is an active glacier which means it is stable, never growing nor receding, unlike many other glaciers.

Margerie Glacier

Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay

Ketchikan is known as the rain capital of Alaska and it definitely held up to its name while we were there. Pouring down rain. Thankfully we did not plan a tour at this port for this exact reason. I recommend everyone else do the same. Play it by ear and see how the weather is upon arrival. Since the weather was so bad, we took our time getting off of the ship and then strolled around the city.

Our final port of the cruise was Victoria, BC. My, what a beautiful city! The cruise port is quite a way from the city so be forewarned. We did not realize this and thought we would simply walk in to town. Oops! After walking for a bit, we stumbled upon a small water taxi and hopped on! We lucked out and caught a great sunset at the same time. We did not get to the city early enough to do any tours, so we simply walked around the city and took in the views.

The water taxi that saved our aching feet

Beautiful Victoria, BC

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and would highly recommend an Alaskan cruise be put on your bucket list if it is not already. Plan ahead for your cruise as they do book up quickly and let us know if you have any questions.