Alaska is so much more beautiful and bigger than I imagined. There is something so peaceful yet profound about viewing a piece of earth that is almost completely untouched by humans. A few weeks ago, I went on a cruise to Alaska with my mom and little sister. We flew to Vancouver, Ca and boarded the cruise ship in Vancouver’s pier. The next few days were spent sailing and I didn’t have phone or internet signal- it was so nice to disconnect for a few days. We visited Tracy Arm Fjord and Ketchikan, the first city in Alaska, but mainly spent a lot of time on the cruise ship. This was the second cruise that I had been on and I kept mesmerizing memories of my first cruise ship. Read on about details from every city we visited:
Vancouver, Canada
Before visiting Vancouver, a friend described it as a combination of New York and San Fransisco and he was right. Vancouver has a bustling downtown, amazing skyline, a beach, a metropolitan park, so much culture and food options. Although I was only there for about 15 hours, I fell in love with the city. We arrived after dark, spent the night in West Vancouver and woke up at 6 am (yay! time difference) the next day to sightsee as much as possible.
We took a cab to Gainsville Island. Once there, we visited the public market and enjoyed breakfast and all of the cool vendors. Before boarding on the cruise ship, we walked over to Gastown and one of the world’s only steam clock. The clock blows steam every hour and we magically arrived at exactly noon.
Once sailing from Vancouver, the view from the cruise ship was magical- filled with mountains and bright blue ocean water. We spent an entire day inside the cruise, where I spent it eating as much seafood as possible, taking a yoga class, a health seminar and reading A new earth.
Tracy Arm Fjord
The next day we sailed to Tracy Arm Fjord to view a glacier, however, the path was filled with ice so we couldn’t get close enough to view the glacier, but the views were pretty incredible, filled with waterfalls cascading down the mountain and a few wildlife- we saw a few dolphins swimming. A “fjord” is a Nordic term meaning a narrow waterway surrounded by sharp cliffs.
Ketchikan:
After another full day of eating as much seafood as humanly possible and reading, we arrived at Ketchikan- Alaska’s first city. Our luck was turned around because Ketchikan only has 100 sunny days, and we just so happened to visit on a beautiful sunny day. Once there we meet our excursion group, ready to hike the rainforest followed by a crab leg feast.
The excursion began with a short drive to Alaska’s Rainforest Sanctuary, where we hiked with a tour guide, who gave us so many fun facts about black bears and their hibernating habits. (Fun fact: black bears hibernate not because they are lazy but because there isn’t any food during the winter to survive, so they spend most of August and October eating salmon by the shore.)
After our excursion, we grabbed some ice cream- it was such a warm day and explored beautiful Ketchikan. The town is very small, we explored most of downtown in less than 2 hours and we stopped to take pictures and peruse shops. Ketchikan has a lot of totem poles, in fact, it has the largest collection of Native American totem poles in the world.
Tips for Cruise Ships:
This cruise was the second cruise ship that I have been on. If you’ve never been on a cruise before, know that it is huge every floor is filled with something for everyone- swimming, rock climbing, mini-golf, a dance club, a casino, specialty restaurants, a gym, a spa, a comedy room, wine bars, an arcade. Most people spend the entire cruise without knowing just how much there is to do. I would suggest spending the first day scoping every floor of the cruise and prioritizing what you want to definitely want to do, there are also a ton of activities and the schedule for each day is passed out the night before in your room, be sure to read it every night to plan out the next day’s activities. Take advantage of the classes offered, I attended a yoga class where I signed up to win a raffle- where I won a gift card to the spa!
How to Pack for an Alaska Cruise:
Packing for an Alaska Cruise was probably one of the hardest vacations I had to pack for because I had to account for all types of weather: low temperatures, rain, swim gear, loungewear, and nights out. The temperature outside the cruise fluctuated between 60- 45 degrees, however inside the cruise ship was a comfortable indoor weather, so I wore sundresses to dinner most nights without needing a cardigan or jacket. I ended up packing a lot more winter clothes than I ended up using. However, for a 5-day cruise, I suggest packing a daily casual outfit for daytime/sightseeing and a bit dressier outfit ( for dinner), along with a swimsuit, a few sweaters, a coat, boots, and tennis shoes.
If you’re visiting Alaska soon or are going on a cruise, I’d love to know and help answer any questions.
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