Before my husband and I were married, we decided to book an Alaskan cruise as one of our vacations. Cruises to Alaska usually set sail from May through September, when the weather isn’t as cold. It was not only a state we wanted to visit, but it was also a good excuse to escape the summer heat in Arizona 🙂 And what better way to experience Alaska than by cruise ship, especially when it’s time to see the glaciers.
Have you ever read a book by Jack London? If so, I felt like the pages of some of his books were coming to life as we toured Alaska, from dog sledding, to taking a train ride through the Yukon. The scenery was spectacular.
There are two things I look for when deciding on a particular cruise.
- The itinerary
- Price
I ended up finding a great deal with Norwegian Cruise Line. I especially liked it because it set sail from Seattle and returned to Seattle after stopping at several ports in Alaska as well as a port in Victoria, British Columbia.
There were several advantages to this itinerary. We did not have to pay for our flights because we used Southwest points, and we were able to explore a new city (neither of us had ever visited Seattle before).
We had a great time in Seattle - we walked around, took a boat tour, toured Pike Place Market, and we watched a baseball game at Safeco Field.
From there, we boarded our cruise ship and left to Alaska, stopping at Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan. In Juneau, we took a helicopter ride and went dog sledding on a glacier, and in Skagway we took a train ride to the Yukon. I love landscape photography, so you can imagine that the whole trip was a dream come true for me.
You might be wondering what’s with the sunglasses. Surprisingly, it was very bright on the glacier.
The train ride to the Yukon was spectacular!
In Ketchikan, we took a tour of the fjords, and walked around the city before getting back on the cruise ship.
We also stopped off in Victoria, British Columbia. While I had been there before, my husband had not. And Victoria is such a beautiful place to visit.
One of the highlights of our cruise was seeing glaciers up-close.
I really wasn’t expecting it to be as bright as it was. It was also unusually warm for that time of the year.
I’d love to return to Alaska someday with my son. But while my husband and I enjoy taking him to different places, I think we’ll wait until he’s older so he can enjoy all the outdoor activities.
In the meantime, I’ll enjoy looking at the pictures while we battle triple digits this summer in Arizona!