First time cruising to Alaska, what are the must see or must do's?

[crazycruzer68]

I have been on many Caribbean cruises and bought the silver, vanilla, alcohol, what will the shopping be like?

[doneinne]

If you go at the end of the season(September), a bunch of stuff will be on sale. Definitely get a few cans of smoked salmon if you like fish. It is pricey, but good.

 

We loved seeing glaciers, whales and sledding dogs. Get a really nice camera if you don't have one. The scenery is breath taking.

[Tapi]

I HIGHLY recommend that you take a peek at the Alaska board for information, JUST to start. Your "must see or do" list will vary based on your destinations and budget. I literally researched for 3 years before we sailed to Alaska!

 

About budget considerations, some of the "must do" activities will quickly add up to more than your actual cruise. For example, a helicopter ride to a glacier followed by a dogsledding excursion in Juneau can cost $500+ per person. A flight seeing excursion to Misty Fjord in Ketchikan can cost you another $250+ per person. The Yukon Pass railroad excursion in Skagway can cost you another $150 per person, etc etc. And if you're sailing to Tracy Arm, get ready to fork over another couple hundred dollars if you want to take a boat excursion that will take you to the actual Sawyer Glacier (which the ship most likely won't reach on its own).

 

But with all of that said, there are ways to do Alaska affordably and still have a fantastic time. When we sailed there a few years ago, I found ways to enjoy our cruise without breaking the bank. For example, we took the Glacier Express to Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau ($8pp), Hiked through the Sitka National Forest and visited the Alaska Raptor Center ($12pp) in Sitka, took a land and sea tour aboard a "Duck" in Ketchikan ($45pp) and took a cab to the Parliament and the waterfront in Victoria ($7). And our ship visited Glacier Bay (instead of Tracy Arm) which meant that the ship pulled right up to the glaciers without needing to purchase additional excursions.

 

About shopping, ports like Ketchikan and Juneau will have many stores lined up near the cruise docks. Lots of locally crafted items of native origin. Other towns like Sitka, with its Russian influence will feature Russian inspired items. Many edible commodities as well. In Ketchikan, browse the shops along Creek Street.

 

An Alaska cruise has A LOT to offer and about the only thing that it has in common with a Caribbean cruise is that you're reaching the destinations by ship (well, that and the Diamonds International store in Juneau [emoji6]). As mentioned above, research as much as you possible can, pick your personal "must do" activities and budget accordingly. Have fun!

Edited May 11, 2016 by Tapi

[deborahjo]

We went the first week of September last year. Everything was on deep discounts. Loved shopping.

 

White Pass Train ride in Skagway is awesome. It takes you up to the Canada border.

Edited May 11, 2016 by deborahjo

[Hotdog 52]

Whale watching in Juneau, we used Harv and Marv's. Only had 6 people on the boat.:)

[JaniceB]

If you go to Skagway do the train ride. That was a highlight of our trip. The scenery was the breathtaking at all the ports.

[crazycruzer68]

We are on the August 16th sailing. Hoping for at least 60's!

 

The excursion prices are crazy, I would love to do one of the helicopter tours, but they cost more than my last cruise did. I knew this trip was going to be expensive but didn't have any idea it would be this bad!

[summersigh]

Dress in layers with a water/wind resistant jacket. The temps in Alaska can vary wildly. We did a 1 week land tour and 7 night cruise going south in early July. We wore everything from jackets with gloves to short sleeves. :D

 

Don't pack sweat shirts - we bought them as souvenirs.

 

Do some research on when the whales are in Alaska before booking a whale-watching excursion. Most pods head to warmer waters, like Hawaii, for the winter. They were plentiful in Juneau in July but not sure about September.

 

If you go to Denali be sure to go on the longer of the 2 tours back into the park. It's awesome and you see more of the animals the farther you go back into the park. The Park Visitors Center has some good museum displays for free and we totally enjoyed the park dog sled show. We actually got to meet and pet the dogs the park uses in the winter to patrol.

[kctwinmommy]

Like someone else said, check the Alaska board on here. We're doing our first one this summer too. There are a bunch of threads there talking about different things to do. I already booked our stuff, for the most part. But we're still undecided about Ketchikan, so there are conversations there that are helping me decide.

[Dizzneefan]

I'm not sure of your stops, but if your are going to Tracy Arm, I HIGHLY recommend the small boat excursion on it. It was the best of our excursions. My next favorite was whale watching the Harv and Marv, followed by the all day trail/bus trip in Skagway.

[mara93]

I booked a last minute cruise to Alaska this summer. I've booked my excursions by word of mouth or by searching for Alaska reviews here.

 

Very excited, enjoy your cruise!

[crusinpsychRN]

Like someone else said, check the Alaska board on here. We're doing our first one this summer too. There are a bunch of threads there talking about different things to do. I already booked our stuff, for the most part. But we're still undecided about Ketchikan, so there are conversations there that are helping me decide.

 

Ketchikan is a great place to walk around. Don't bother with the lumberjack show, it's silly. Saw it on TV and it was better. There is a seafood restaurant there with swarms of people trying to get in. Had to leave before being served as it was time to board. Go early.

[crazycruzer68]

Thanks everyone, I will skip on over to the Alaska board!!

[teaach]

I have been on many Caribbean cruises and bought the silver, vanilla, alcohol, what will the shopping be like?

 

Loved Glacier Bay, Juneau whale watching. Must do the White Pass train at least one way and just enjoy everything b/c not everyone does it a second time. Loved, loved all of it.

[jdemps]

King crabs at tracy's crab shack in Juneau

Orca whales in Victoria

[MissyMac13]

We took an Alaska cruise last July and had a wonderful time. All of our excursions were booked through Carnival and we received a percentage off for doing so - I don't know if they are running a similar deal now.

In Skagway, we took the White Pass train. The views were spectacular. In Juneau, we went to Mendenhall Glacier in the morning and took the tramway in the afternoon. In Ketchikan, we went on a bus tour of the city and toured Potlatch Park. We enjoyed all of the excursions, especially Mendenhall Glacier. In Victoria, we took a bus downtown to shop and walked along the streets there.

We did a lot of shopping while there as we buy magnets everywhere. We also bought some smoked salmon, calendars and sweatshirts. One of the nicest things we bought that I use a great deal is an Alaska ice cream scoop!

[Hotdog 52]

$5 upstairs tour at the Red Onion.:)

[tamirpr]

Tracy Arm - the excursion is a must. The small boat took us up so close to the waterfalls that we got sprayed by them. Being close to the glaciers is breathtaking. It was worth every penny.

 

Skagway - We did the dog sledding/musher's camp in the morning and the White Pass rail in the afternoon. The dog sledding was so wonderful. If you love dogs, you would really enjoy this. You get to play with the puppies at the end. I don't know if it was the excitement of the dog sledding and then the train, but our party found the train ride waaaaay too long and fell asleep on the way back. A lot of people love it, though.

 

Juneau - We did the whale watching & Mendenhall combo tour. We did all of our excursions through the ship (which is something we never do). It is the same boat company that does Tracy Arm. They are fantastic. But really any whale excursion you do will take you to the same place. If you can walk fast, take the time to walk out to the waterfall at Mendenhall. It is beautiful up close.

 

Ketchikan - We just walked the town. It's a perfect city for just walking.

 

You will LOVE Alaska. We went for my parents' retirement, but we ended up loving it almost more than they did. :)

[A&Jfamily]

We loved renting a private boat and whale/sea life watching near Mendenhall glacier in Juneau - IHMO that is a must see because it is receding - rapidly. You will see in the visitor center exactly how far back it has retreated since it was built.

 

And the highlight of our trip, and the best decision we made, was not settling for the train ride in Skagway, but renting a car and driving into the Yukon. We could go at our own pace, saw a drunk grizzly truly upclose, went to Carcross desert (world's smallest) and Emerald Lake, just to name a few. We could see the train in places, just across the river, and then could go much farther than they did.