I turned 50 this summer and knew I would be ok if I could travel somewhere fun! 😂 I've been wanting to visit Alaska since college when I wrote a 40 page paper on it. It did not disappoint. We sailed from Seattle to Juneau, then onto Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan and Victoria.
Bon Voyage Seattle! *Sharing more tips at the end of this post.
First thing we did after settling into our cabin was to scout out the ice cream machine. 😂 Always one of our favorite spots on the any cruise. Next we went for a swim since we knew it would be the warmest day. It was, but that didn't stop our girls from swimming throughout the entire cruise. The day ended with face painting at the kids area.
We woke up early the next day to humpback whales and found the best views were in the front of the ship.
In JUNEAU we went to the Mendenhall Glacier. It's about 13 miles long and 12 miles from Juneau. We took a trail along the lake that brought us to a viewing point for pictures then ended our hike at Nugget Creek Falls. We also went to the visitor center and learned how the Alaskan Glaciers are vanishing. 😓 In Glacier Bay the ship get's close to the glaciers so you could skip this excursion. In New Zealand I was able to hike on the Franz Josef Glacier so seeing this in the distance was a little bit of a buzzkill.
Nugget Creek Falls
After visiting the glacier we took the tram up Mt. Roberts and hiked to Father Brown's Cross. This was my favorite part of the day. We passed totems and saw amazing views of Juneau and the surrounding area.
These Views! 🙌
Don't forget to pack binoculars... We used them a lot! We saw so many eagles in Juneau!
In SKAGWAY we took the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway. We boarded the train where our ship was docked and the train dropped us off in town on the way back. Sit on the left side on the way up and right on the way back for the best views, but my favorite spot was standing outside on the deck.
After our train ride we stopped by Klondike Doughboy for Alaskan fried bread with cinnamon & sugar. 😋 It was hot, fresh and delicious!!
Cruising Glacier Bay was the highlight of our cruise. It's the reason I picked this cruise. Seeing the glaciers and being so close was really dreamy!!
It was so peaceful in Glacier Bay! We saw seals, otters and icebergs floating by and also heard and saw glaciers calving. What an amazing sight to experience!
The highlight was having the park rangers on-board while in Glacier Bay National Park. They narrated what we were seeing and gave a presentation about the history of the glaciers.
😍!!!
I loved KETCHIKAN... Such a quaint town! We took a navy seal boat through Alaska Travel Adventures to Betton Island then went on a nature walk. Our guide was so great.
Breakfast with Stanley!
Our last stop on the cruise was Victoria, Canada. I was so excited to return to Butchart Gardens. I've been once during the day but never at night. It was so pretty to see everything lit up. In the summer they have live performances on the outdoor stage and a fireworks show on Saturday evenings.
I was impressed with the Victoria Butterfly Garden. There was a lot more to see than just butterflies! We just wish we had more time. Our boat was running late and we only had a few hours planned here to begin with. But gives me a reason to come back. 😁
Before our cruise started we spent two days in SEATTLE. We stayed at the Westin downtown near the Westlake shopping center... my oldest loved the shopping! Also it wasn't too far from Pikes Place Market.
Here's a post from another trip we took to Seattle and Olympic National Park.
Alaskan Cruise Tips:
-We took the Link Light Rail from Sea-Tac airport to downtown Seattle. It was so cheap and our girls enjoyed the ride. After our cruise we took Uber back to the airport.-Bring your kids! They'll love all of the activities and cruising with kids is so easy!
-The youth program staff on the Ruby Princess were excellent! The girls came home with all kids of souvenirs including crafts, t-shirts, hand-made jewelry, etc.
-Shop around for the best cruise deals. We booked this cruise through Vacations To Go and got a great Interline discount. They also offer other types of discounts.
-We had a late check-in time on this cruise and it was actually the easiest cruise check-in ever. There were no lines!
-Excursions on Alaskan cruises are pricey! You can spend more on the excursions than the cruise. We're used to cruising the Caribbean and Mexico where the excursions are more reasonably priced. You can save money by booking excursions through private companies rather than booking excursions through the cruise ship.
-Dress in layers! We were able to pack all the layers and still only bring our carry-on roller bag for each of us. We never check our bags when non-reving (flying standby).
-If you bring your carry-on roller bag (same size you take on an airplane) you can skip checking your bag when boarding the ship. Another bonus is you won't have to wait for them to bring your bags to your room (Or have them misplaced... I've met people on past cruises whose bags were lost 😱).
-Dress in layers! We were able to pack all the layers and still only bring our carry-on roller bag for each of us. We never check our bags when non-reving (flying standby).
-If you bring your carry-on roller bag (same size you take on an airplane) you can skip checking your bag when boarding the ship. Another bonus is you won't have to wait for them to bring your bags to your room (Or have them misplaced... I've met people on past cruises whose bags were lost 😱).
-We enjoyed the activities and guest speakers on our cruise. One lady kayaked the Inside passage from Seattle another lived in the Alaskan wilderness. We learned so much going to the lectures. Our daughters favorite was meeting sled dogs.
-I recommend cruising in July. We left on July 20th and had great weather with hardly any rain.
0 comments:
Post a Comment