Back in 2004, I went on an interior passage Alaskan cruise – and it was highly memorable. After several enjoyable Caribbean cruises with Chris over the past few years, I wanted to share with him the Alaskan cruising experience.. it’s really like no other.
When we started considering coming up to Alaska this summer by non-RV travels – the timing was perfect.Only this time, the cruise wouldn’t be just vacation, it would also be transportation to the interior portion of our Alaskan adventure.
There are two types of Alaskan cruises – interior passage with are typically 7-day round-trip cruises that turn around after Skagway/Haines, and one-way 7-day cruises that reach much further north to Whittier or Seward via the Gulf of Alaska.
The Coral Princess
We were just starting with a vague idea that we wanted to spend a few weeks away while the bus was undergoing renovations this summer – and hadn’t locked down any specifics dates or goals.
Our agent gave us a general run down of the northbound one-way cruise options, which all leave out of Vancouver, BC. (For legal reasons, cruises leaving out of the US can only return to the same port.)
Since our last two cruises were on Holland America, we narrowed it down to Princess (that’s the class of ship I tend to prefer)
We also decided that the cruise portion of this adventure would be the very first vacation we had taken in many years (past cruises we actually worked quite a bit while at sea).
While we could have gotten an interior cabin for about $500 per person (plus ports/taxes and gratuities – for a total of about $1600, inclusive of all food and entertainment ) .. it was time to splurge with a balcony cabin.
Alaskan cruises are very scenic – mostly in view of land, glaciers and sea life the entire way. If you’re homebodies introverts like us who would prefer being in your own space – this is the place to splurge on a balcony. Because you really can spend most the cruise in your cabin and enjoy the reason for being here.
Based on the dates and value of pricing, we selected the June 10 sailing a board the Coral Princess, and selected a cabin on the aft Starboard side
We caught a special pricing at $1649 per person, which brought our total to about $3800 for the vacation portion of our trip including everything. I tracked the pricing all the way up to sailing, and similar cabins were consistently sold for $1899+ pp, while interior cabins continued to come down.
We chose the aft of the ship because we were particularly attracted to the big open rear deck that would be right outside our cabin door – and proximity to the laundromat, which we knew we’d need.
The Itinerary
The one-way northbound cruises start with the same stops the interior passage cruises start with – Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway or Haines. And then they continue northward, generally with cruising days up a fjord for upclose glacier viewing… ending in either Whittier or Seward.
First Day – At Sea
I love embarkation day on a cruise, the excitement of arriving, settling into our cabin, unpacking and exploring the ship. Grabbing lunch at the buffet, and looking over the schedule.
Embarkation itself out of Vancouver is particularly exhilarating sailing under the Lionsgate Bridge.
And then.. you’re at sea.
The relaxation sets in as the realization sets in that you’re being taken away from it all. Everything now is at your choice. No obligations, no commitments, no scheduled calls and all business contacts notified to not expect to hear from you.
We were also careful to not go crazy booking up shore excursions, and instead keeping our options open – knowing that relaxation was more important to us than hurried adventures at this juncture.
We trusted that serendipity would guide at each point to manifest the adventures that were meant to be.
We selected Anytime Dining so that we could eat when we wanted, and made no expectations that we attend anything on the cruise schedule unless we wanted to.
So what’d we do during our first day at sea?
We basically put the do not disturb sign on the door.. and we napped. The longest nap we’ve taken in forever. And it felt fantastic.
We went up on deck when we wanted food. We strolled around. We watched for whales (and did see Dahl porpoises, Menke and Humpback whales). And didn’t do much of anything else.
In fact, we almost didn’t even put on formal wear’ and go to dinner. But then we decided to at the last minute. And so glad we did! We got seated at a small 6 person table with another couple… and then…
… they seated a lumberjack with us!
When we first boarded we noticed a lumberjack taking pictures with guests. We thought it was kinda like Jack Sparrow characters on the Disney ships.
But boy were we wrong.. this was THE lumberjack himself – Rob Scheer.
Multi-time world champion and founder of the Alaskan Lumberjack Show in Ketchikan, our first port of call. He was onboard to promote his show, and would be competing the next day in town against his son.
By the time we were done telling stories for hours, we had witnessed an amazing double rainbow out our dining room window and shut down the restaurant. What a genuinely awesome and inspiring guy Rob is. And what a treat to be seated for a private dinner with him.
Ketchikan Day
Our first port of call is the small town of Ketchikan, built mostly on stilts. It was just a short stop, leaving port around 1pm.
We did a quick walking tour around town, checking out Canal St where the bordellos used to be, and took the Funicular cable car up for a view.
After our evening with Rob we had decided we’d check out the Lumberjack Show – something we would not have considered otherwise. While the show is a show, it’s also a real competition – the winners aren’t pre-scripted, and the matches count in the world rankings.
It was fun to witness and definitely worth the time to check out. At the end, Rob took on his son in log rolling (and lost).
Juneau Day
The capital of Alaska is only accessible by boat or plane, there are no roads leading into the city. There are lots of excursions one can book to explore the area, the most popular being whale watching cruises and expeditions out to Mendenhall Glacier.
Knowing that glaciers and whales could be quite abundant in the coming days, we kept it low key instead.
We spent the morning walking around town, and then returned to the ship enjoying it being mostly empty (something I recommend for any cruise at least once on a port day – there’s nothing quite like enjoying the boat to yourself.)
Skagway Day
The next day is a full day in port at Skagway – pulling in at 6:30 and not leaving until 8pm.
We had been contacted by a blog reader and fellow full time RVer who works seasonally at the White Pass Summit Excursion railroad in town – inviting us for a rail and hike expedition.
Suzanne joined us on her day off for a 14-mile ride up the White Pass Summit train, dropping us off in the middle of a field while the train heads on. We hiked out about 2.5 miles to the rock field beneath Laughton Glacier – a fabulous view.
And, probably the nicest and most scenic outhouse… ever.
We returned to that little patch of field, and the train picked us up around noon on its return to Skagway.
And then we picked up her husband Jim and headed out to Dyea sharing some snacks and drinks.
It was super fun getting to know them both – they sold it all and hit the road in their early 40s, back in 1992! They’ve been working seasonally in Skagway for 15 years, and then travel the rest of the year in the lower 48.
We’re so very thankful for an opportunity to share our port time in a less-toursity way, and getting a bit of a behind the scenes looks from a semi-local. Thanks again Suzanne & Jim!
Glacier Bay National Park
Glacier Bay National Park only permits two cruise ships a day into the fjord, and Holland America and Princess are the current permit holders. Our itinerary included a day cruising the glaciers – which have long since mostly receded.
We picked up some rangers in the morning, and they led several educational programs narrating the fjord. Once we reached the end, where Marjorie Glacier is calving, the ship stayed still for about an hour.
It was enchanting to watch ice bolders calve off the glacier. The sound is intense moaning, creaking and cracking – and it’s amazing how much of a splash is made. We watched several areas chip away, and then an entire section splashed into the ocean before us. Amazing!
We took some video, and will try to remember to integrate it into our monthly video wrap-up travelogue (sorry, too lazy to do it now *grin*) ).
And then.. upon exiting the park and heading out into the open waters of the Gulf of Alaska – we were strolling the promenade deck. Commotion was going on, and we quickly understood why – we’re in the middle of a pod of Orcas (aka Killer Whales’). Several were surfacing not too far off the ship – I was in disbelief. A lifelong wish of mine to see them in the wild!
We strolled a bit more, and my mouth hit the deck before I realized what was coming next – an orca about a 1/4 mile from the ship breached right in front us, did a 1/2 spin and went kerplash!
What an incredible and awe inspiring moment that I’ll always remember!
Day at Sea / College Fjord
In talking with crew on ship, the sailing before us had 30 foot swells in the Gulf of Alaska, and it’s quite common to experience sea sickness in this area.
But on our passing, it was smooth as glass the entire way. It was a delightful and calm day spotting whales and enjoying the views. It was also unseasonably warm, and lots of folks were out on deck in swimsuits.
At the end of the day, the ship cruised up College Fjord to see many more glaciers. No big calving this time, but still great to see so many while sipping fruity tropical drinks onboard.
At midnight, the ship docked in Whittier – which was already closed down. We slept one last night in our cruise cabin before an early morning disembarkation.
We had booked a shore excursion around Portage Lake & Glacier tha included transportation back to Anchorage. At this point, I have to admit, we were a bit glaciered out.
But this is where our interior Alaskan adventure would begin…
Cruise Notes
Despite now having done close to 20 cruises, I have always had a love/hate relationship with cruising.
What I like:
- A room with a moving view – Cruising is like having a hotel room and transportation all at once. Someone else is doing the driving, you have no unpacking at each stop. You just arrive, explore and return to a cleaned cabin and someone serving your food.
- All Inclusive – I do enjoy getting away from the daily mundanity of cooking & cleaning. Cruises include dining and room cleaning, and it is a luxury.
-
Naturalist presentation on whales. Entertainment Options – Cruises generally have several cover bands on board, entertainers and sometimes even educational programming. You can stroll from venue to venue, finding what suits you best. On this particular cruise, we enjoyed the naturist presentations on whales, glaciers and bears the most.
What I don’t like:
- Shopping – I’ve never been much of a shopper. So the abundance of shopping both on ship and at ports is lost of me. Especially traveling by backpack and home’ being an RV – we just don’t have room for it anyway.
- Casinos – I’ve never been a gambler, so the casino experience has limited appeal.
- Hit or Miss Entertainment – Thankfully there are lots of options for entertainment, because some of it can be quite hit or miss for us. On this cruise, we had a comedian that just didn’t mesh with us, and we had non-stop Love Boat re-runs in room.
- Age Disparity – The quality of cruise lines I prefer tend to attract an older crowd than us. We’re of course used to being amongst the youngest in RV Parks, so this is nothing new. But it does skew the entertainment and activity offerings.
- Fine Dining – I’m also not a foodie, and really prefer simple meals that are within my dietary needs of being ‘mostly’ vegetarian and gluten free. For me, luxury is having multiple options that meet those needs without it being treated as special. Difficult to do in an environment where fine dining tends towards being very meat and gluten centric.
- Food Restrictions are Difficult – No cruise line I’ve encountered labels their food ingredients well, especially on the buffet. Princess I found particularly difficult. In the dining rooms they would give me the menus a day in advance, and I could request a dish to be made Gluten Free – but they only offered one vegetarian option each evening. And, that meant committing to a dining room experience the day before. (The head waiter did reveal to me that there is always an Indian curry dish that is not on the menu – which I did enjoy.) On the buffet, many dishes that could have easily been vegetarian & GF frequently had superfluous meat added. And nothing was marked – such as what kind of stock was used for soups. I’ve had much better luck with Holland America in the past, as they have a 20+ item vegetarian menu in the dining rooms.
All and all… taking a one-way cruise to Alaska was awesome. We both came off the ship relaxed after disconnecting for several days, and ready to explore Alaska by land!
What’s Up Next: We just completed a week of traveling to Fairbanks and Denali by train, which we’ll update you on soon! We’ve now picked up our rental RV back in Anchorage for a week of touring the Kenai Peninsula.
Follow our Summer 2015 Alaskan Adventure:
- Planning Our Great Alaskan Adventure
- Phase 1 — Alaskan 2015 Adventure: Amtrak Train Travel from St. Louis to Vancouver, BC
- Phase 2 — Alaskan 2015 Adventure: Touring Vancouver, BC
Bus Update: Updates from Master Tech RV are coming in at a rapid pace this week. The past few days they have been stripping off all of the exterior accessories – gutters, bumpers, lenses, wipers, air conditioners, solar panels and more. They’ve all been carefully wrapped and stored away. Early next week, the bus will undergo blasting to remove the old paint. They are also starting on some of the other projects, including plumbing.
Live Video Announcement: Can Renting an RV Prepare you for Full Time RVing?
Just scheduled to be broadcast live from Alaska:
When considering RVing as a lifestyle, renting an RV can be a great way to check out if RVing is for you.
In this live video cast we’ll share a bit about renting an RV, but will mainly focus on sharing what renting an RV can and can’t prepare you for in considering full time RVing.
And we’ll of course be broadcasting from our Alaskan Rental RV — and can share a bit about our experience in renting and RVing in Alaska.
As usual, we will host an open Q&A at the end. Can’t make it? All of our live video chats are archived to our YouTube Channel and can also be accessed on our Live Video Chat page.
Thanks for the heads up on the lack of gluten free options on the cruise, Cherie. Boy, you would think they would figure that one out, with the uptick in food allergies the last few years. With that being said, I am amazed at how many ‘hole-in-the-wall’ joints are educated and are celiac friendly now.
Loved the late night Homer pic of Chris on Instagram. Can’t wait to hear if you made it to the Salty Dawg Saloon. Have fun! 🙂
What a fantastic rundown of an epic trip. So glad you two got some R&R and it looks like you’re having a blast. Thanks so much for sharing. Two weeks ago, just days before our scheduled departure for Jasper, we had a potentially serious health scare (we’re both okay… fill you in later). With travel plans temporarily on hold, we’re still here in the Fraser Valley, probably for another few weeks. We’d love to see you again while your in Vancouver. Drop us a note if you’re available and maybe we’ll drive into town for the day, or the evening for dinner or something? We’d like that. 🙂 Maybe we’ll even pick a restaurant in advance. LOL Safe travels. P&J
Note dropped 🙂 It would be awesome to hook-up again (but no reason to get all crazy picking our restaurants in advance… half the fun was wandering around aimlessly ).
Hi there.
I discovered your website several months ago, but haven’t commented before. I’ve explored many sites on RVing. (My definition or RVing = traveling in any live-aboard vehicle.) Your site is in the top five for me. You combine hands-on experience with a professional level of technical information. You present information clearly and concisely. It’s been invaluable to me, as a novice. So, that’s just some feedback from an appreciative reader.
I’d like to watch your upcoming RV Rental livestream, but will not be free at the time. Do your broadcasts appear later on your YouTube channel?
Thanks again for your work.
Lissa
Hi Lissa.. thanks so much for the humbling comments, we love stuff like that!
Yes, all of our videos are archived for viewing later. You can see them all at https://www.technomadia.com/video . Thanks.. and enjoy!
BRAVO, Y’all!! Looking forward to Monday’s video chat! Be well… Be safe… Keep th’ greasy side down and keep it ‘tweeeeeeeeeeeeen th’ ditches!
See ya tonight!
I eagerly look in my email hoping for your next installment. So much fun to tag along after you. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for following along!
I am so enjoying your trip with you. Thanks
Wish we could take everyone along in person.. but glad the virtual sharing is being enjoyed!
The Orcas had to be an amazing experience at sea! Your time with the lumberjack was definitely serendipity, and then seeing him compete the next day a real bonus 🙂 So glad you truly relaxed and enjoyed your vacation, it sounds perfect.
It truly has been an amazing journey so far!