It has officially been two months since we were in Alaska. No better day to catch up than a day I can’t access Facebook to work!
So why did we choose Alaska?
Like most trips we do, it was a great deal. I had just been approved for both Southwest credit cards and my dream of a companion pass was finally seeming inevitable. For the first time in at least 2 years there were no travel plans on the table and I was itching to book something.
I am ALWAYS planning a trip and had played around with Alaska for a while. We’re big fans of cooler vacations and the wildlife and scenery in Alaska looked too epic to pass up. I had heard lots of good things about shoulder season, especially the spring when animals are more active and the prices are cheaper. At first I really felt like I needed to make it to Anchorage to really say I’d been to Alaska. But the prices for flights to/from Seattle (in the middle of the night no less) were pricy and the cruises left on strange weekdays which made it so Adam had to use more vacation time. We could do the larger portion of Alaska on our own later.
In December I came across a deal on Carnival leaving from Vancouver (Bonus! Another city we wanted to see) and returning to Seattle (No extra travel afterwards!) and the price was a couple hundred dollars cheaper than anything I had priced out. Done deal.
Seattle Overnight & Train
Our first stop was Seattle. Our original late afternoon flight was cancelled because of the MAX 8 issues, so we flew out later Friday night after work. Adam had recently received his Chase Sapphire Reserve so we tried out our flashy new TSA Pre Check and the Lufthansa Lounge we now had access to in North Terminal. We ate free dinner and headed to Denver where, to our great excitement, our next flight was delayed by 1 hour. We finally arrived to a deserted Sea-Tac and settled into our cheapy cheap motel at 4am Eastern.
We woke up at a cheery 5:40a Pacific to catch an Amtrak to Vancouver. It was such a pretty ride! This was my first time on a train with an observation car or seats so roomy! Way more enjoyable than flying. We even saw a Bald Eagle in a majestic parking lot. But there are downsides to train travel, winds knocked a tree across the tracks and left us stranded for an hour.
Vancouver
When we finally arrived we were HANGRY. Ok I was hangry, Adam was mostly tired. But luckily I did my homework and had a list of hipster restaurants queued up. After dropping our backpacks at the AirBnb we ate bao and attempted to stay awake enough to get our first taste of Vancouver. Again, this was a me problem.
We stayed in the perfect location for food and accessing the rest of the city. We were near the Emily Carr University of Art + Design and no less than 10 breweries. It was not far outside the main downtown which was a perfectly peaceful place for us. Also, our host provided Netflix and a huge shoutout goes to whoever was watching Instant Hotel before we got there!
On Sunday we spent the day eating donuts & walking Vancouver. In total we did 14 miles from our AirBnb to Stanley Park and back. I fell in love with West End and how active everyone was! We were also introduced to SMAK which has been added to my list of all time favorite fast casual restaurants. And as any good Detroiter does, I located the supposedly sketchiest part of town to see if I thought it was REALLY that bad. Meh. 😉
We ended our Vancouver adventure Monday by taking the Skytrain to the cruise port. Another city with great public transit that made getting around just a little bit easier. My one complaint was while it connects the suburbs to the city it doesn’t service much of the city itself so was only really useful for us to get to the cruise port.
Carnival Legend
This was our second Carnival Cruise and our 4th cruise in total. Our very first cruise in 2013 was Carnival and I left it saying I would never cruise again. Somehow we took 2 Royal Caribbean cruises after that. Our main focus now is always on the itinerary and I think that combined with anti nausea drugs & Sea Bands has helped us enjoy them more.
The ship wasn’t that large, was undergoing maintenance after transitioning from spending the winter in Australia and overall I wasn’t impressed with the food. But, we were always fed and it gave us a traveling place to stay that often doubled as an excursion. Our favorite thing to do was bundle up, find a lounger or chair in the adult only area on the back of the boat and wait for announcements from the naturalist about animal sightings. For that reason we would tell anyone that a balcony is not necessary. We weren’t confined to one side of the ship or the other. We could view from the back and both sides from adults only pool deck. Plus, it was attached to the buffet for quick snacks/lunch.
Juneau
This was our first stop after a day of cruising. We were only the second cruise ship to arrive in Juneau this year. We were the only ship in port. 3 weeks later it would not be uncommon to see 6 ships in port on any given day. THIS was the biggest benefit of going at the end of April.
An extremely expensive part of any cruise can end up being the excursion. Take that number and multiply by 5 for Alaska. Flight seeing, zip lines, ATV rides, trains, sled dogs, glaciers, and fishing tours are a few of the awesome but expensive activities you can sign up for. But if you’re into a little hiking or exploring on your own, Alaska can be a great place to keep it cheap. In Juneau you can pay to ride up & down the Tramway for a great viewpoint. Or you can hike up, buy something from the gift shop equal to a one way ticket, and get your ride comped. I am the proud owner of a new Alaska hoodie.
We chose to hike up, which was pretty strenuous. Even their city streets are quite steep. I blame part of the difficulty on 1. Constantly fearing running into a bear 2. Starting just behind a woman doing her morning run up the trail. I needed to keep up! The views were breathtaking, but the best part of this hike was getting higher and starting to see snow. It was nearly 60 degrees out and once were were past the tramway there were a couple feet of snow. I had never experienced hiking in snow before. And better yet, the crew that had the day off had never experience snow EVER. Their excitement and laughs were contagious and hiking in the snow without worrying about getting wet or cold gave me some childlike exuberance.
Skagway
I’m hesitant to say this was my favorite stop because every single day was magical. But spending time somewhere so peaceful & quiet you can’t hear a single noise was absolutely awe-inspiring.
In Skagway we scheduled a rental car and ran off the boat the minute we docked to get on the road ahead of everyone. Being the only ship in port again that was probably unnecessary. I had a few places on a list, but the idea was just to drive and stop when we felt like it. Avis provided us with an amazing map and driving directions to hit all the interesting spots. The best service I’ve received on a car rental, even if they were running credit cards through an old school imprinter.
My mind is racing with all the things we got to experience! We headed towards Canada and the Yukon Territory. Everything was extremely foggy and you couldn’t see much in the mountains. Then, as we were in this strange no mans land between the US and CA, we experienced moonscape. The most bizarre landscape I have ever seen. It almost gave me a Dr. Seuss vibe. The fog finally cleared as the sun rose and we dropped a little in altitude. This gave way to amazing snowcapped mountain ranges and frozen lakes. There was a period of time while we were stopped at a turn out where you heard nothing. Seriously, nothing. No wind. No cars. Nothing. Magical.
Next we arrived at Carcross which was this lovely picture perfect Yukon town surrounded by water, mountains and desert? Well, they call it a desert anyways. Lots of the tour trains run through town but the only souls we saw were at the visitor center & bathrooms. It’s also home to the longest operating store in the Yukon. It was closed for the winter.
We continued on to Emerald Lake and out to Whitehorse for lunch then made the trek back. Our last stop once back in Skagway was the Lower Reid Falls. The most accessible yet impressive water fall I’ve seen. Even if you’re not venturing out of town, it’s not a very far walk from the port.
Glacier Bay National Park
A US National Park that is only accessible by sea or air, this was truly a unique experience! I think only 3 ships can be in the park at one time, so it’s not something all the Alaskan cruises do. In the wee hours of the morning a small boat pulled up alongside our ship and 3 people boarded. No, they were not Alaskan pirates, but US Park Rangers! Wide brim hats and all. They narrated our entire day as we drove around the fjords telling us about the history and science of the glaciers, the bay itself and the native Tlingit people. For no extra cost!
We saw 6 glaciers up close and personal. After our first glacier experience in New Zealand, I did not have high expectations that we would get very close. The bay depth had recently been measured so we pulled right up next to Margerie and the Grand Pacific Glacier that created the entire bay! Even with all the crowds of people on the boat there were still many places, on lower decks especially, where we could be alone with the grandiosity that is a glacier. Plus, it was 40° that day and all the southerners retreated back inside after a while.
Ketchikan
Our final stop of the cruise took us to Ketchikan. Again the plan was to do some free hiking. We took a 2 mile walk across town to get to the Rainbird trailhead where we saw some sea stars and crabs along the dock. It was a lot of stairs but the hike itself wasn’t extremely strenuous so it evened out. A quick, well maintained trail with lots of rocks it was an easy hike for a nice view! We thought it was a return trip, but turned out it ended along the highway. We decided to just follow that back to town.
On a whim we happened upon the coolest and most touristy area on our way back for lunch. Tucked back behind some of the main streets is Creek Street. The lovely colorful buildings and creek I’ve had to have seen in promotional materials. In real life it was the town’s red light district for fishermen from 1903-1954. Colorful in many ways. Now most of the buildings are shops, but you can visit Dolly’s House Museum to see how one of the many working women lived.
After lunch we ventured out for another hike up Deer Mountain. The markings weren’t the greatest once on the trail, so we ventured a little farther than we were initially thinking but it was truly a fun hike. Tons of rocks to navigate, cute bridges and some good views. With the time we had and cooler temps the week before leaving some snow, we didn’t venture to the top for the big payout. Still two thumbs up! We boarded the ship 100% tuckered out.
Seattle
We had done a lot of the touristy things a couple years back when we cruised the Pacific NW, so our main goal this time was hitting up an Amazon Go. They are test concept convenience stores where you scan in with your phone/Amazon account, grab the items you need and just leave with them. No checking out. No scanning items. It was everything I wanted. And more because now I want some of that exclusive chocolate again! We spent some time enjoying a SUNNY Seattle from the Amazon Spheres and then hit up our second airport lounge in SeaTac for free dinner. Also used one of the boarding pass upgrades from Southwest because we missed check-in on the boat. It would have cost us $80 without the credit card to go from C50 to A3, but instead it was free!
Final Thoughts
Of all our trips so far, I think this one has attracted the most attention as far as people I know wanting to do it. It is definitely more accessible than say New Zealand and, as much as I was skeptical before hand, just as magical nature wise. If you are really interested in going and not doing Anchorage & Denali, then this Norwegian itinerary on their brand new ship is IDEAL. You don’t need to spend a ton of money to get out there and see it! This trip will definitely fuel us to do an Alaska trip again on our own. There is so much left to see and do!
As our first introduction to using our Priority Pass, TSA Pre-Check and our second time using our companion pass, it is definitely the coolest I’ve felt while traveling. I am now a sucker for all the travel hacking tips and tricks to get the most out of our adventures!
Next Up: We visited Colorado for a week in May/June to explore and work from the mountains in Granby! And visited our first and second Priority Pass Restaurants!
Cost Breakdown
10 Days, 10 Nights
