An Alaska cruise is like no other cruise. Forget your typical tropical beach ports and miles of ocean on a Caribbean cruise and prepare for chilly glacier days and stunning scenery in Alaska. You won’t regret leaving those beaches behind.
Cruise line matters.
I can’t tell you how many times I read that cruise line doesn’t matter in Alaska. “You go to Alaska for the scenery, not the cruise ship” the argument goes. I disagree. Yes, the primary purpose of taking an Alaskan cruise is to see Alaska in all its glory. But we still spent 7 nights on the ship and had 3 sea days. Especially if you have kids, the ship itself is important. Disney may not be for everyone, but I encourage you to evaluate both the itinerary and the ship itself. We found both to be equally important.
Balconies are nice to have but not necessary.
This is another area where my opinion varies from the standard advice. Lots of people will tell you that you HAVE to have a balcony room in Alaska. We had a deck 2 ocean view room and loved it. There is no shortage of comfortable places to go up on deck to relax and watch the scenery go by, and friendly staff will even hand you blankets and hot chocolate while you do it. Of course it would have been nice if I had gotten a magical free upgrade to a balcony, but to me it wasn’t worth the extra cost. Excursions in Alaska are super expensive and I was much happier putting our money towards those than a balcony room.
Pay attention to the seasons.
The Alaska cruise season is May to September, and each month offers different benefits. May and September are considered the “shoulder season” and cruises are cheaper in those months. The summer months (June, July, August) are warmer but have a higher chance of rain. Late summer (mid-July through late August) tends to have better chances of spotting wildlife, primarily due to the salmon run at that time of year. And September gives you a chance to see the Northern Lights. So again, it is a matter of balancing priorities and finances.
Book independent excursions.
Lots of people worry about booking excursions outside of the cruise line. They fear that the ship will leave them behind if their independent excursion is running late (whereas the ship will wait for the cruise line’s own excursions). While technically that is true, the risk is extremely low, especially in Alaska. In all my extensive research, I never came across a single case of someone missing the boat because an excursion ran late, and most companies guarantee you will be back in time. And with long port days in Alaska, all of our excursions (even the really long ones) were back hours before all aboard time. You will likely save money and have a smaller group experience if you book independently. And the options offered by independent companies are more varied than those through the cruise line.
If traveling with a large group, consider private excursions.
Our group was 13 people and anywhere from 10-13 of us were on the excursions together at each port. I found that in 2 of the 3 ports, it was cheaper to do a private tour for the group than to pay the individual prices for each of us. It was amazing to have our own tour guide and to be able to cater the excursions to what we were interested in most.
If you have any interest whatsoever in the Glacier Explorer excursion, book it early.
Disney offers a Glacier Explorer small-boat excursion on the day of your scenic cruising to Dawes Glacier. The ship doesn’t port here but slowly cruises up Endicott Arm. Disney offers an excursion where you board a small boat directly off the Wonder, and the small boat zooms off to get a close-up view of the glacier and its surroundings. I thought this sounded amazing but at $260 a person, it seemed sooo expensive for a 3 hour boat tour to just get a closer look at what we would be seeing already. I waffled and waffled and waffled, and then it was gone. It was fully booked (both excursion times) several months out. I 100% regret not doing this. The glacier was absolutely amazing and the idea of seeing it even closer gives me chills. So if you have any interest at all in doing this, book it. You don’t have to pay for it in advance and can cancel up to a few days ahead, making it low risk. So at least keep the option open for yourself. I wish I had.
Get off the ship and get out of the city.
In know in the Bahamas and some Caribbean ports, people opt to stay on the ship instead of exploring the port. They make it another “sea day” to enjoy the boat. DO NOT do this in Alaska. Not only should you get off the ship in every port, but you should explore beyond the city limits. There is so much amazing and varied scenery and so many unique experiences within a short drive of each port, you would really be missing out if you didn’t venture beyond the city limits. If you aren’t interested in or can’t afford an excursion, rent a car and go explore on your own.
Watch out for time changes.
Alaska is on Alaska Standard Time, while Vancouver is on Pacific Standard Time. We set our clocks back an hour the night we crossed into Alaska, and then set them ahead again when we crossed back into Canada on the way home. The ship was great about reminding us – they told us before the nightly show, over announcements, in the Navigator, and our room host left a note on our clock during turn-down service. Note that if you are keeping your phone in airplane mode, you will have to manually adjust your time.
Be prepared for changing weather.
Layers, layers, layers! The day we left Vancouver the boys were in bathing suits riding down the Twist ‘n’ Spout water slide. On glacier day they were wearing fleeces and winter hats. The temperature can vary dramatically even within the same day so be sure to wear layers so you can peel off or add on as needed.
Bring binoculars and a camera with a good zoom.
When cruising the Inside Passage, you are within sight of land the entire time. Wildlife abounds both on land and in the sea, and a good pair of binoculars and a camera with a zoom are worth traveling with. We saw a bald eagle sitting on an iceberg, mountain goats perched high in the mountainside, whales spouting off in the distance, and sea lions playing in the water. On glacier day we just sat on the deck with our binoculars and cameras, ready for whatever show mother nature was going to put on for us.
