It’s that time of year when clients are enjoying Alaska cruises and I’m wishing I were right there with them. Alaska is one of my all-time favorite places, and a “bucket list” destination that everyone needs to see and experience at least once in their lifetime. Check out what Terry had to say about her recent Alaska cruise, and let me know if you want to start planning your own!

Hi Ann

The trip was fantastic, we absolutely loved the cruise and Alaska. It is so beautiful there.

The ship [Norwegian Pearl] was very nice, things are very organized and ran very smoothly including boarding and disembarking.  We never felt like we were on a ship with thousands of other people.  For the Alaskan cruise I would highly recommend a balcony room –  we spent a lot of time out on the balcony.  We really lucked out with the weather not a drop of rain the entire time we were gone, and it was in the 80s a few days in Alaska, which we heard is not normal.

We really enjoyed our time in Seattle, and the Sheraton was very nice especially at the discount price I was able to get through my employer.  We went to Pikes Place Market, very fun, then we did the Emerald Trolley tour which was very nice.  We stopped at the Space Needle, I went up while Bob waited on the ground :), then we went the Blown Glass Garden display which is right next door to the Space Needle, it was great, so beautiful, worth the price of admission which was only around $20, you  get a discount if you by the Needle and Glass ticket combo.

In Juneau we took the helicopter ride out over the glaciers and landed on the Ice Field where there is a summer dog sled camp.  We went on the dog sleds, where everyone is able to drive the sled as well as ride.  They actually tow a sled behind the main sled that you drive, while the musher is driving the main sled.  That was amazing, we loved it.  The dogs are so excited when you get there just barking and jumping they can’t wait to pull the sled.  After the ride you get to go up and meet and pet the dogs.  This excursion was expensive but we are dog lovers and we felt it was totally worth it.  Bob even said the helicopter ride was worth it and he doesn’t like heights.  On the helicopter they brought us in one way and explained everything we were seeing, lots of glaciers, and they took a different way out, and again explained what we were seeing so it was a great tour along with the dog sled ride

 

In Skagway we did the Eagle Preserve float.  This was a very leisurely ride down a river that is fed from the glaciers.  A very beautiful and peaceful ride.  We did see some eagles but they were at a distance, as the salmon were not running in that area at the time.  We enjoyed this, but people should know what this entails.  It’s a 6 hour excursion, but only an hour and a half float.  You take about a 10 min bus ride from the boat over to a Ferry.  Then you take a 40 min Ferry ride which was very pretty, to another bus.  Then you take about a 40 min bus ride up to where you get in the rafts.  Of course they don’t tell you this in the description of the excursion, so we had assumed it as a 6 hour float.  They do provide lunch at the end of the float before you board the bus to go back to the Ferry.  Lunch could be better it was cold cut sandwiches, and chips.  We enjoyed it, but I probably would not do it again.

If people want to see eagles, they should wait and do the Totems, Lighthouse and Eagle Tour in Ketchikan.  We did this one and it was great.  We saw a lot of eagles and were pretty close to them.  They provide binoculars for you to use, and we could see a mother eagle feeding her babies in the nest, it was amazing.  We also stopped near the Totem Village that is there and saw the Totems, and went up to an island and saw the lighthouse (we love lighthouses).  We saw some Harbor Seals out sunning themselves, and a few deer on one of the islands.  The boat crew, who were very nice, said they often see whales but we didn’t get that lucky that day.  The boat crew served us drinks – very yummy hot chocolate and they had snacks on board, including salmon dip.  There were only around 20 people on our trip so it was nice the boat was not crowded at all.

Our favorite town was Ketchikan it had many small shops besides the jewelry stores.  Unfortunately this was the town we had the least amount of time at.  We would have really liked to have had more time there.  Others that we talked to on the ship said the same thing.

We didn’t book anything for Victoria, we just went and walked around the town.  It is very pretty there, but it was also very busy, as 3 cruise ships all pulled in at the same time.

We LOVED Glacier Bay – that is an amazing place.  They took us right up to the Glaciers and would turn the boat so people on both sides could view them, so we were able to enjoy them right from our balcony.

Also we took advantage of the service that is offered to check your luggage from the boat all the way home, so we didn’t have to deal with that at all, which was great.  The service is 19.95 per person, and we felt it was totally worth it.  We were very happy to see that our luggage arrived in RI on time right along with us.

Thanks for your help in planning this trip, we totally loved it.  An experience we will never forgot.  I’m already starting to think about our next trip and will reach out to you again, after we save up some money for it.

Thanks again

Terry