A couple friends families and I had the wonderful experience to go to Alaska this summer (Total group was 20 people) . I have never been west of Denver, so I was looking forward to seeing some mountains and getting some cool weather in the middle of June (Orlando is hot 85% of the year). We were taking a 7 night cruise aboard the Radiance of the seas on the Royal Caribbean fleet. We started in Seward (near Anchorage) and will end in Vancouver, Canada. I love cruising, so being able to cruise somewhere other than the Caribbean was amazing and has definitely started an addiction.
Planning
Having zero experience in Alaska it was time to get to planning. One of my favorite ways to get ahold of tour operators is to find their emails on TripAdvisor and contact them directly. I started with that and got some great feedback right away. Since I am not 21, I couldn’t book a hotel, so I let the parents going do all that planning. Very thankful they figured out our flights and hotels, so that just left the excursions for me.
Icy Strait Point
This was the easiest to plan as there is no outside tour operators. Every excursion is done through the cruise line and this is a very small port, so it didn’t take too long to go through the RC website and find what we wanted to do. A couple of my friends and I ended up booking the worlds largest zipline.
Juneau
This was my next stop to research, the nice thing about Juneau is you can do anything Alaska has to offer there. You can whale watch, zipline, hike, visit a glacier, eat lobster; you can essentially do anything in Juneau. A big part of our list was whale watching and visiting the Mendenhall glacier. So I talked with a tour operator who was able to arrange a whale watch tour and then bus to to the glacier for our own exploration.
Skagway
This port was a littler harder, you could do some of the same stuff from Juneau, however we opted to find something different. In my research I have seen people rent a car and drive down the Klondike highway all the way to Lake Emerald. After a couple YouTube videos, I was able to rent 5 cars and talk to a musher and the suspension bridge company, so we had a day planned.
Ketichkan
Hiking is not only rewarding and fun, it is also free. I usually try to hike once a trip on my vacations where I am able to. We opted to hike Deer Mountain Trail.
Haines
It was too windy for us to dock, but we planned on kayaking, definitely something I would have enjoyed.
The Trip
Day 0-1
Flying out of Orlando, I highly recommend morning flights (This is good to do everywhere, but especially in Orlando where inclement weather hits everyday early afternoon). Now our flight out of Orlando was delayed to Dallas, so we missed our connection in Dallas to Anchorage. Instead of a day in Anchorage we got a night in Dallas and drove through the night once we landed to Seward. I did get to try In n Out and the Animal fries slap. Woke up early on cruise day (Very few feelings can compare to the morning you board a cruise), met up with some friends and we were getting hyped. Ate a good Alaska breakfast and got my first glimpse of the mountains in the morning, they are stunning. Boarded the boat early and spend the day drinking smoothies and really soaking in the cruise atmosphere with all my friends. Very few moments can compare to this, the vibes were immaculate and we were ready for an adventure. You know I had to wear my cruise shirt.
Day 2
This was a sea day where we got to get up close and view the glacier from our boat. Definitely our worst day weather wise, very rainy once we got to the glacier, however it did not take away from the stunning view we got and some amazing pictures.
After the glacier we spent the day on the boat doing onboard activities and eating way too much food.
Day 3
Woke up in Juneau for our first port day. Hit the gym bright and early and was off the boat by 9 AM to go see some whales. Being a group of 20 we booked our own private boat which was nice, everything went so smooth and quick since we didn’t have to wait for anyone else. This is where I am going to shoutout the tour company, they provided water and snacks for us on the boat, we had our own bus, and our driver was very knowledgeable and had great stories. Juneau Tours & Whale Watch (www.juneautours.com). Now they were great and we enjoyed our tour, but I will always be transparent. We were told we could stay at the glacier as long as we’d like, however once aboard the bus we were informed we would only have an hour. I had requested two and was told we could choose, but they were unable to hold up to this. Now we still had plenty of time to walk to nugget falls, but only two of us made it to the outlook since we were pushed for time.
We were able to walk around and explore the port area for a while, which is always fun, and we had some really good Alaskan King Crab. Once we got back on the boat we had a couple hours to wind down, watch some shows, and eat dinner.
Day 4
We woke up thinking this would be a double port day. Haines got cancelled once we were headed there from Skagway, so it ended up being Skagway only. We were off the boat early again and we had the rental cars delivered directly to the port. With 20 people we needed 5 cars, so I had to use two different companies to accommodate. Drive About Car Rental was one and Affordable Car Rental was the other. Both companies had cars ready at the port so we were able to take off immediately. We stopped at Bridal Falls (If you drink the water you supposedly get married within a year). Following the highway we crossed into Canada and that’s where we came onto our next stop. You can stop at the border in-between and it was our first opportunity to play in snow. Being from Florida everyone was excited, we were able to slide down part of it and throw snowballs at each other. We then continued to the Yukon Suspension Bridge where we crossed the bridge and got to take in the Canadian views. We then drove to Tutsi Dog Sled Tours, with little ones this was a huge hit and who doesn’t like seeing puppies. You are also able to ride on the sled if you choose to do so. We then stopped at the Worlds Smallest Desert (Carcross Dunes), where everyone was amazed there was an entire desert in the middle of Canada. Amazing how quickly it changes to the desert atmosphere. Then our final destination was Emerald lake, by far the most beautiful lake I have ever seen. We also stopped at the Yukon and Alaska signs on the way back as they were less busy.
If you do choose to rent a car, leave plenty of time to get gas and go through customs (only one gas station). After we got on the boat, we were relaxing and getting ready for kayaking when we got the unfortunate announcement that we were not docking, but it was for safety reasons. We ended up relaxing the rest of the night.
Day 5
It was Zip Line day. Woke up early (seems to be a trend on cruises) to make our zipline appointment. We weren’t in port for too long so we wanted time to do everything. Ziplining was so much fun, I definitely recommend it. Surreal experience for sure (I did forget to take off my hat, so I lost it forever). We also did a nature walk on top of the mountain. It was good preparation for our hike the following day. Had some good lobster and good drinks. Once onboard we just hung out together either rock climbing, in the hot tub, or cruising the ship. Look to book any Icy Strait excursion through your cruise line! This port is privatized and the only excursions you can buy are through the cruise.
Day 6
We woke up bright and early for our last port day in Ketchikan. Four of us took to the mountain and started our five mile endeavor. Be warned, this is NOT a hike, this is definitely a climb. However, it is 100% worth it. After what felt like forever, we had finally reached the first lookout, and they only got better from there. Once we reached the second spot we were hiking through snow. This was one of the coolest experiences ever. The mountain got ever so steep and I was digging snow holes and using a stick to carefully get up. After I got about 300ft from the peak it was too dangerous to continue. Not only did I have the wrong gear, but we were not experienced with any snowy climbing conditions. The way down was way easier than the way up, since it was all downhill. After getting back to the port town we had earned a wonderful lunch. The nice thing about this mountain is that it was all walkable, we were able to walk from our boat to the mountain. If your are at all adventurous and go to Ketchikan, it is worth the time and effort. The only other thing I would have done here is a lumberjack show. But nothing can beat memories from the hike.
Once back onboard our next stop was Vancouver. We spent the rest of our vacation playing bingo, eating food and really enjoying each others company.
Day 7-8
Last sea day was spent on cruise activities, then came Vancouver, We only had one night as we got a direct flight early the next day. We ended up renting bikes and going around Stanley Park. Saw the lighthouse and Canadian beach’s. Spent some time shopping, with the money conversion it felt like everything was on sale.
Wrap-up
Alaska was a huge success, all the excursions were a hit and for a once in a lifetime trip we made every memory possible of it. Now Alaska is not cheap, they have to make all their money in three months, but its also undoable. Most people will only go to Alaska once if at all, so you have to make the most of it. Royal Caribbean also did a phenomenal job, cruise was smooth sailing the entire time, and there was plenty to do on board. My next cruise isn’t until after the fall semester, but I have already started counting down the days. I highly recommend all the tour operators I linked throughout. Thanks for reading!
Travelers
Mason Smith – Conner Smith – Kelly Smith – Shawn Smith – Parker Smith – Ethan Stone – Emma Stone – Denise Carroll – Khloe Stone – Marty Stone – Ann Marie Stone – Tyler Frew – Ben Frew – Mark Frew – Melissa Frew – Rain Hughes – Adrianna Hughes – Kenneth Hughes – Grandma Frew