Alaska

Our trip to Alaska checked off a big bucket list vacation for our family. We had such an AMAZING vacation. It did not start out the best... Our first flight was delayed which eventually would cause us to miss our connecting flight. We scrambled searching for flights that would get us there on time. In the end my spouse was the winner! He found a flight that would get us there on time with enough time to take a nap before our train ride that took us to our cruise the next morning. I could write a whole post around our cancelled flight and our 24 hr. adventure to get to our destination but maybe another time. Just know that Alaska air saved us! They also have some amazing buttery pretzels and Denli looks beautiful from above!

Thankfully we had a hotel lined up for the night since we were supposed to arrive the night before. We arrived at 6:00 am to our hotel and needed to catch our train at 9:00. So we had enough time to take a 2 hour nap, which was most needed! At 8:00 we were up taking showers and calling an Uber to take us to the train station. Our boat left from Whitter about an hour away so the train was a great way to take in the scenery and relax. We booked through the Alaska Railroad which was celebrating their 100th Birthday, that day! The train was perfect and the views were breathtaking. Whittier was established during WWII as a military supply port. The tunnel into Whittier runs 2.5 miles through Maynard Mountains and serves both a one way roadway and a railway. The traffic alternates directions every half hour. Traffic leaves Whittier on the top of the hour and inbound traffic can enter at the bottom of the hour. We did not explore Whittier at all. We were so tired and hungry we decided to go straight to the ship. Looking back I wish we would've walked around a little, it looked like such a cute little town. We sailed with Princess Cruise Lines one of the top Alaskan cruise lines and one of the few lines that are allowed to sail into Glacier Bay National Park. We sailed on the Majestic Princess, it was a beautiful ship with the friendliest staff. We opted for a room with a balcony and it was perfect! Our trip was the Voyage of the Glaciers with Glacier Bay southbound route.

Our first day we were in Yakutat Bay for a scenic cruising day, which was wonderful! We saw the Hubbard Glacier and had a nice relaxing day. One of the coolest things offered on the cruise was a Naturalist that lives onboard. They host programs, answer any questions that you have, and eat and drink from the buffet like every other passager. While sailing through different areas they would give commentary from the bridge of the ship, they also gave presentations that were very educational. The first presentation our Naturalist did was all about whales and we enjoyed it as a family. We learned how to spot all the different whales in the water and about all the different species of whales in Alaska. The second presentation was all about Glaciers which was very informative. Having the balcony in our stateroom was great! It allowed us to just chill and enjoy the scenery!

The second day we enjoyed another scenic cruise through Glacier Bay. This was the reason I picked this cruise! The Park Rangers from Glacier Bay boarded the ship as soon as we entered the bay. They gave presentations and did a tour of Glacier Bay from the bridge, it was very informative and fun to have them on board with us. They even did special presentations in the kids club were all the kids became Jr. Rangers! We were able to see the Redu Glacier, Reid Glacier, Margerie Glacier, Grand Pacific Glacier, Jaw Point-Johns Hopkins Glacier and the Lamplugh Glacier. Plus so much sea life; whales, seals, and otters. I was expecting this to be our coldest day but it wasn't too bad it was around 55 degrees. In the afternoon the rangers left and we were on our way to our first port of call.

That night we docked at Icy Straight Point we weren't allowed off the ship yet. In the morning we were allowed to leave the ship to explore the town. Icy Straight Point is a privately owned cruise destination. It is the only privately owned port in Alaska. The owners are all Alaskan natives with ties to Hoonah and the Glacier Bay area. It was my favorite port! The Tlingit have done a great job preserving the character of the local village and culture. The Hoonah Packing Company that was there has been converted into a museum , restaurant, and shops and all 100% Alaskan owned! It was just so nicely set up and everything was walkable. There were campfires, trails and a beach to explore. We could've honestly spent the day wondering around Icy Straight, but I booked us a whale watching cruise. I did not book through the cruise ship. Honestly I rarely book through the cruise line. The whale watching tour did not disappoint! It was a small company with only 5 of us on the tour. We saw Humpbacks, and a family of Orca's. The baby of the Orca family crested for us several times and it was one of the best things that happened on our trip. After whale watching we found some food and let our little boy play at the playground in Hoonah. We slowly walked back to Icy Straight were our ship was it was a 1.5 mile walk back since our excursion left from the next town over. It was such a beautiful walk. We boarded the ship and that night we set sail for our second port of call.

We woke up in Juneau the capital of cruise ships and Alaska. There were so many cruise ships at this port it was kind of crazy! I booked an excursion through the cruise line here, it was a self guided Jeep tour. It was fun but not something I would book again. The first stop of the tour was closed so we didn't even get to see it. The second stop was Eagle Beach. I'm sure on a sunny day this place would be incredible. It had lots of walking trails by the river and eagles were everywhere but they were all hunkered down because it was raining. Since it was drizzling and foggy it was hard to see but I'm sure on a day with better weather it would've been gorgeous. We were impressed with the amount of eagles that were perched all around. The next stop was Mendenhall Glacier, it was perfection! The rain and fog all lifted and a rainbow came out across the valley. We only walked out to the observation area and it was stunning! We made another bad choice and instead of walking out to Nugget Falls which takes you very close to the glacier, we decided to finish our Jeep tour. We left and made our way to Douglas Island and explored the beach there. It was nice but I would've preferred the hike to Nugget Falls. We made a pit stop by the Juneau Humpback Whale sculpture which is very beautiful. We returned our Jeep and decided to grab some lunch and explore a little. With 5 cruise ships in port it made it miserable to find something without a line. We finally found a restaurant and all I can tell you is it was very expensive, with a limited menu, and not very good or kid friendly at all. So we headed back to the ship as the city was just too crowded.

The next day we were in Ketchikan. We walked around and enjoyed the cute down town with totem poles all around. The city is located within Alaska's inside passage and is surrounded by the Tongass National Forest. Creek St. is great to walk around and it just looks post card perfect! The area used to be the Red Light district in the city's early years. After lunch we set sail on the Aleatian Ballad a ship from the Deadliest Catch Alaska. This was such a fun excursion with the best crew. They've converted the into a stage with stadium seating. The stage is a huge glass tank with a variety of sea life from the Alaskan sea. We were able to see how a crab boat operates and how hard it can be making a living in that profession. The highlight was feeding the eagles. We made a stop in a very densely populated area for eagles and feed them trimmings from some of the catches they had made. Our little boy even got to feed a few! It was just awesome to see them swoop down and grab a fish in the air. At the end of the tour we got lucky and just happened to be in the right place at the right time and saw a humpback whale bubble feed, TWICE!!! We returned to the ship for our final night onboard. We packed our bags up and set off to enjoy the last night onboard.

Overall the Majestic Princess was great! It was very low key and honestly didn't have a ton of things going on during the day. Watching the scenery was enough for us! The food was ok and yes there was some variety it seemed to cater to an older crowd. Our little boy seemed to have the same meal every meal.... I did LOVE the indoor swimming area, the Hollywood Conservatory. We still had all you could eat soft serve ice cream. Our little boy enjoyed the kids club and they kept the little ones busy with activities and a daily craft. But it was not open all day, they close during meal times and during port stops. This was not a problem with us but I could see how it would be a problem to others. I did love that the ship had so many multi-generation families traveling together. We would walk around the ship and there would be pockets of families enjoying board and card games all around. The entertainment we saw was great, but we didn't make it to too many of the shows. We found a little bar in the middle of the ship and most nights we stayed there listening to the musicians.

We did love Alaska and can not wait to go back! Our week in July was definitely a core memory for us! It's just an amazing place to see and visit.