Cruising the Last Frontier

“I’ve always wanted to do one of those Alaskan Cruises…” I think every one of us has heard or said that at least once before. I was guilty of doing both. With no real plans to go to Alaska, it was just something I wanted to do some day. My husband surprised me with an Alaskan Cruise for Christmas last year, and seeing as we normally figure out our travel plans within a month of a departure, waiting five months seemed like forever. Despite knowing that it was coming, all online shopping was still left to the last minute. Who doesn’t love a little pre-travel packing stress?

As we packed our things, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Starting off with the fact that I’m not a frequent “cruiser”, I had been on one cruise before and I could have lived in the same bikini for the whole five days of the journey, that wouldn’t be the case here. As I packed as many layers as possible, I was really looking forward to an active, outdoorsy trip, a trip that would take us to one end of the earth. 

Our first flight was to Seattle, we then had to sprint in the middle of the night to catch our next flight to Anchorage. I was more than certain that our bags would never make it on to the next flight, and was pleasantly surprised to see them on the conveyor from the plane window. The pilot came on the speaker with the normal pre-flight information, something that caught my attention was that we would need to be seated for the entire last hour of our three hour flight, due to the “bumpy” descent, that was something to look forward to. As the seatbelt sign switched on a little half way through the flight we started some light turbulence, when we opened our window blind there was the strangest rain outside in the dark sky - frozen rain. Alaskans mentioned it many times, it was kind of terrifying so we closed the window blind and just pretended it was a normal night outside, this frozen rain followed us on our whole descent. 

Touch down in Anchorage was much smoother than I was expecting. Landing at night gave that uneasy feeling of  “when will the runway start”, thankfully it did! The airport was filled with local trinkets and wildlife, much like most airports have their own identity reflecting on their respective cities, Anchorage was no exception, it was just, more. We collected our bags, got into our Uber - which arrived in less than a minute, as did every Uber the whole time we were here. She explained how there were a lot of moose starting to come out, and more importantly what to do if you saw a moose, what to do if you saw a moose with a baby, how to hide from a moose if it charges at you, all those things were said in a very casual tone, thankfully it was dark in the back seat so no one could notice my face and quite how terrifying it all sounded. My true feelings might have been revealed when we arrived at the accommodation and I begged the driver to not leave until we were inside in case a bear or moose came out of the woods, she laughed and obliged. 

We arrived on the first day of the start of the 2025 season, which officially started May 15th. That day was our time to catch our breath before the real adventure began. Anchorage had some aspects of a small American city, but was also quite different from most I’ve ever been to. I was able to pop into the mall and get socks for my boots, the mall had all of the normal stores you would find in a city mall. The breweries and restaurants were delicious. We rented e-bikes at Pablo’s Bicycle rentals, from there we took off on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail - known as the Coastal Trail amongst the locals. The trail was 11-miles of different landscapes and beauty. Riding past lakes, through the woods, alongside the Pacific Ocean and the mud flats that hugged the shoreline. I was so happy to see a moose on our first day, it ended up being the only moose we saw in Alaska, I was also happy to have e-bike acceleration after last night’s stories. Once our afternoon exploring the beautiful trails was over we freshened up and headed to dinner at Whiskey and Ramen, a fantastic restaurant with lots of buzz and delicious food. 

Finally the proper adventure had arrived, it was time to head 2 hours south to Seward, Alaska. There are two popular ways to get to Seward from Anchorage. The most popular is by train on the Coastal Classic Railway - we didn’t do this because we were late to the party when booking, but later found out this could be done directly with the cruise line. We went over to the Captain Cook hotel and had breakfast while we waited for our bus to arrive. The bus is a faster way of arriving to Seward, with only one stop at the Wildlife Conservation. The road was beautiful, and our young driver, Will, was so passionate about telling us all about his home state. He went into detail about the different types of salmon, which creeks he likes to fish in, what some of the dangers are, things that might seem so bizarre to someone who is experiencing it for the first time. The Seward Port was small to anyone living in a port city, especially one like Miami in our case. The town is cute and quaint, a glimpse of what was to come over the next few days.

As we approached the port there was only one ship there, our home for the next few days, Celebrity Summit. The boarding process was incredibly easy, quick, and friendly. We aren’t avid cruisers, for anyone who doesn’t know already, it’s best to download your bag tags for any checked bags you may have, that was our only extra step. We were in our stateroom within 10-15 minutes from when we arrived at the port. Getting acquainted with the ship is an interesting experience, the food court/restaurants, terrace, and lounge areas with the best view are always a great starting point. Next time, one thing I would do differently is find nice nooks and lounge bars with live music. We only discovered the theatre and some more elegant areas half way through the voyage. This particular trip can generally be an older demographic, not that many people in their 20s/30s/40s, many more people in their 60s/70s/80; that didn’t bother us at all, however I think next time going in a group would be really fun. One of the huge bonuses about the age group is that the more adventurous shore excursions didn’t have as many people in them. 

Before long we were setting sail off, leaving Seward behind us and heading over to our first stop, the Hubbard Glacier. I’ve spent a lot of time in the mountains but Alaska is really just so unique in its landscape and environment, beautiful while being extremely intimidating. After doing some of the first “ship admin” of safety and unpacking, we headed to get a cocktail and found our spot while we headed out to sea. Our first morning was relaxing with a book in hand, blankets, on the rooftop terrace passing the trees and mountains. My friend sent me The Great Alone before leaving, I highly recommend taking that book with you, it’s a perfect Alaska read. All of a sudden the temperature dropped more and more and floating ice surrounded the ship. We began our approach to the Hubbard Glacier. The bright blue ice at the bottom and change of color to the dusty dirt layer on top is impressive to witness in real life. The immense size of even just the ice that was joining us as we inched forward was humbling. Once we got as close as we could get we headed down to the helipad at the very front of the ship to get the best view - you don’t need to be the first one down, but it’s worth heading over and seeing it clearly front on. 

As we turned away from the glacier we left the fjord the same way we entered, en route to the Alaskan capital, Juneau. I didn’t realize Juneau is only reachable by air, sea or birth, as our tour guide joked, you’ve got to love the cheesy lines. The city, more like the size of a small town, is proud to have a McDonalds, Costco, Home Depot and a few other big chains that many of us may take for granted. Although access is quite limited, we would go on to discover over the next few days that many surrounding towns really rely on Juneau for supplies. We quickly got off the ship and grabbed a delicious smash burger and Alaska White beer before meeting our group around the corner and headed to the marina where we boarded our boat and started looking for some whales. Our Captain, Mac, naturalist, Lena, and skipper Brock, oh and whale finding dog, Kuiper, headed out about twenty minutes; all the while Lena, taught us about the area and gave us some background on the humpback whales we were going to be looking for. I quickly asked about the orca population in Alaska and she explained that since orca’s travel in pods they are quite difficult to spot, whereas humpbacks are spread across the whole area and can be found much more easily. It was less than five minutes later that we had our first sighting, we couldn’t believe it when we came across a pod of over ten orcas. We followed the “bull” Orca for a while, it was one of the most special experiences I’ve ever had. After a while of stalking from a distance, we left the pod and headed over to some humpbacks that were close by. In hindsight, the tour was fantastic and seeing these animals was wonderful, you do however see them quite often from the ship, and we had another few excursions that allowed us to experience them. Getting to see the orcas made the whole experience worth it. Upon arrival back into town we picked up a few souvenirs, there was quite a long queue to get into the Red Dog Saloon, we didn’t wait but it was the “it” place to be in town. Back aboard we enjoyed the evening departing the dock at Juneau to our next stop: Skagway.

Looking back on the trip, we agreed that Skagway was our favorite stop. The town is so cute, it looks like a movie set. With really only main street, it was easy to do an activity that lasted a few hours while not missing out on the town. At this stop we decided we wanted to do a scooter tour, it was amazing. We only had our guide, Axton, and another couple from the cruise on our tour, we had the chance to get out of town and explore some of the lesser known spots in and around Skagway. We wandered up windy roads and stopped at a few different viewpoints where we could see some amazing lakes, fjords, rivers, all while enjoying the adventure of riding the scooters. You don’t need a motorbike license to use these scooters, but there is a minimum age requirement, all the gear is provided for you including a helmet, gloves, and wind/rain breaker pants should you want them, it did help keep warm. This ride ended in the Skagway cemetery where some of the most famed names in the area’s history are buried, there was also a short climb up to a gorgeous waterfall. 

After dropping the scooters back, we had a short drive back into town, and it was time to try the famous doughboy. We went to Klondike Doughboy, this sweet fried bread was incredible, the queue also moves really quickly. A short wander in town, there really isn’t an extensive amount of options to explore so we headed back to the ship to enjoy a cocktail on the terrace before leaving. Next stop, Hoona, also known as Icy Point. 

We knew we wanted to do some kind of water activity, and we read quite a few recommendations that said Icy Point was the place to do them. I found a smaller kayaking company and booked two kayaks for us. All the tours we did were not booked directly with the ship, we tried our best to find small businesses and book directly with them or use a different booking platform. It also helps with keeping the price down when adding the extra step and not going with what the cruise has to offer. Most companies cater to cruise-goers anyway and have the timings down so we didn’t have to stress at all about missing the ship. We joined Cody, a young local entrepreneur who started Fairweather Kayaks. We booked a group tour but were lucky enough that it ended up being a private tour for my husband and I. We saw humpback whales, sea lions, bald eagles and my personal favorite, sea otters! We were accompanied by a safety boat that kept their distance but took lots of photos of us in HD and sent us all of them after the tour. They also helped with spotting wildlife and of course, staying close by in case of an emergency, change of weather, or if anyone got too tired to continue. Cody was great at explaining the history of the land, explaining the polarity of the different seasons in Alaska, and coordinating the best routes for us and our level of kayaking to ensure it was enjoyable the whole time. We snuck into the gift shop, which was my favorite of all the stops, before catching our transfer back to the ship. A few points worth mentioning, in Hoonah there is an adventure park including a long zipline that goes over the forest below. I wish we could have planned our day better to have included that. Another recommendation we got was to eat at the Oso Gordito, our transfer had arrived but is apparently known for amazing fish tacos, smashburgers, and Texas inspired barbecue. 

After saying goodbye to beautiful Hoonah, we set sail for our final stop, Ketchikan, "Alaska's first town". We had spent a long time trying to figure out what we were going to do on this stop. There seems to be so much online in general, but Alaska is definitely one of those places that makes more sense once you get there. A few days before arriving we switched our activity for the day and decided on an off-road adventure. The town of Ketchikan is much bigger than I expected, especially coming from Hoonah at our previous stop. There are a lot of shops and restaurants, a tourist office, it gives off more “Juneau vibes”. We had some time to explore a little bit of the town while people disembarked the ship. Our van then met us at a very easy to find meeting point where the excursion started and headed into the mountains. It wasn’t a long drive, but you could feel the adventure as we left the town and entered much more wild terrain and had the roads change from concrete to dirt.

Upon arrival you see what seemed to be hundreds of these off-road buggies, it was a port-a-potty situation so a last bathroom run in town is definitely recommended. This activity is perfect for families, solo travelers or couples, most buggies are for two or four people, but only require one driver. After a short demonstration on how to work the vehicles and some safety rules we were off. We headed down an off-road trail, you do end up driving in a line which has some downside as it can feel a bit like “follow the leader”, but the terrain was fun enough that you felt like you’re on an adventure, and the views are truly breathtaking. For the first half we were stuck behind a slow driver, that changed our experience a bit, the guides noticed and helped us overtake, being able to speed up was the game changer. Soon we were speeding behind the other cars, most of the time the group seemed to break off into mini groups of two to four cars, which was amazing. Our half way point allowed us to get out, stretch our legs and walk down a trail, all the while a gentle creek accompanied us the whole way down.

The sounds of the natural environment here were straight out of a fairytale. Once we got down to the open lake, it was even more breathtaking. We skipped rocks along the calm surface, and enjoyed pure fresh air in the calm wilderness. After walking back to our buggies the second half of the tour began and we switched so it was my turn to drive. The ride back was muddier and bumpier, I personally thought it was even more fun, my husband may disagree… We wrapped up our final day in Alaska with our last Alaskan White beer overlooking the small harbour. 

Once everyone was back on board the ship we set sail through the inside passage, en route to Vancouver, Canada. Unlike other “days at sea” on most cruises, the day at sea through Alaska is so special because you aren’t in open waters, you are surrounded on both sides by endless mountain ranges, covered in countless enormous trees. Its vastness is simply incredible. Every so often we passed a small island with a single house or a pair of houses, I couldn’t help but wonder who lives there. Who chooses that kind of isolation, were they born into it? Did they choose it? Are they hiding from something? Is it their responsibility? The stories and lifestyle in this corner of the world are unlike any other I’ve experienced. In my previous travels or even back home in Miami, when people fish it’s to enjoy their catch that evening, or sell it at the local market later that day. People in Alaska enjoy a day out with their friends or family fishing in the lakes and rivers, but not with the intention of enjoying it that day necessarily, they are stocking up for winter. That is a perfect example of how harsh the environment can be, and how planning isn’t just clever, it’s survival. Arriving at some of the stops we got to enjoy on our week cruise, we welcomed new towns with an aperol spritz on the terrace and taking in the crisp summer air and calm waters, the same air and sea that will become a dangerous, and on some days, an impossible feat, in just a few months. I can’t wait to come back to Alaska and explore other parts of this mysterious, exotic, and simply stunning place on earth.