Alaskan Cruise
- jennylynncotton
- Oct 24
- 9 min read
Trip Date - August 2025
Number of Days - 8
Who went - Jenn (51) & Terry (52)
I am on a quest to visit all 50 states, and checking Alaska off the list was epic. This was our first cruise together - and we both agree it was the perfect way to see Alaska. We opted to spend a few days in Vancouver/Whistler before the trip, which was a great decision!
Tips for planning a similar cruise:
I've heard it said that you should not cruise Alaska without a balcony... and we agree. We loved spending mornings and afternoons in our private outdoor space.
Plan ahead! I found several cruises to be sold out of balcony suites almost a year in advance. This is a popular trip (for good reason!)
If you're starting from Vancouver, take advantage of the Cruise Package at the Pan Pacific Vancouver the night before you depart. They will take your luggage from your hotel room to your cruise cabin. This allowed us to spend a leisurely afternoon in Vancouver and avoid dragging our luggage through the terminal. I think we were some of the most relaxed people in the boarding line!
Make sure you choose an itinerary that includes a day in Glacier Bay National Park. Definitely one of the best days of our trip.
Choosing an Alaska Cruise I found this to be overwhelming, as the options are plenty. The finalists for us were Holland, Princess and SilverSea. I originally landed on SilverSea, thinking the smaller ship + having the excursions included in the cost would make it worth the extra $$. However, once we booked I learned that most of the excursions we would chose were already sold out. We ultimately cancelled that trip and opted to go with Holland. I would consider Holland and Princess comparable - with Holland having slightly smaller ships and less children. The average age was considerably older than us (mid 60s at least). We would definitely recommend Holland, but are also considering trying Princess for our next ocean adventure.
Overall thoughts on Holland Simply put - we would easily recommend an Alaskan cruise with Holland (and this itinerary specifically). We cruised the inside passage on the Nieuw Amsterdam from Vancouver to Whittier (Anchorage). We loved this itinerary and thought it gave us a great sampling of Alaskan adventure. I had read that parts of the ship were dated, but we did not find that to be the case. We booked a Verandah suite (5144) with the Have it All Package and felt like we got everything we needed.
The food was a highlight (more below), and there was a good variety of activities. We enjoyed the casino & trivia contests, but our favorite time was playing board games (they have a selection to borrow) at the Crow's Nest at the top of the ship. Here we also enjoyed relaxing, wild life watching and just watching the world go by.
There were very few kids on the trip (a plus!) I don't think this would be my choice if I was looking for entertaining options for the kiddos. The age group definitely skewed older (mid-60s average at least), which wasn't a big issue for us. We are not late-night partiers and don't need to be constantly entertained.
Our only real challenge/issue was the speed of the drink service, which could definitely be slow at times. We never found a spot on the ship that had consistent service. It seemed that everyone had the drink package, but the Holland system requires the bartenders to ring each drink on each individual person's room key. This meant that every drink had to be rung up (and signed for) in a separate transaction which definitely slowed things down. Ports of Call Vancouver - We embarked from Vancouver on a Sunday after spending 3.5 days in Vancouver & nearby Whistler. This was a great way to start our trip!
Ketchikan - This charming little town (very walkable from port) provided us an opportunity to get up-close to the Alaskan wildlife.
By the time I booked the cruise, I was super disappointed that the Alaskan Bear Adventure by Floatplane was sold out. Not to worry, after some research I found Seawind Aviation and was able to book an adventure direct with the company.
The flight plane to Traitor's Cove was such a cool experience, I highly recommend finding at least one chance to experience this type of travel in Alaska.
We got to watch a bear fishing for salmon (unfortunately only one), which was really cool. For us, the salmon stole the show - we were fascinated by their determination to get upstream. We were super fortunate to have a very knowledgeable guide on this tour, who was able to explain to us why they were working so hard. Without this knowledge, we would not have had enough respect for the salmon. I highly recommend researching the life of salmon before you take this trip... unless you already know their story!
Once back in the town, we ventured to Creek Street, which is the quaint historic district of Ketchikan (easily walkable from port). The area had a ton of charm and is worth a stroll. The salmon ladder here was one of the most active we saw on the trip.
We also booked the Lumberjack Show - very touristy, extremely cheesy but definitely a ton of fun!
Lunch at the Alaskan Fish House is a MUST DO. Right next to the Lumberjack Show, expect to wait in line (we waited about 30 minutes) for this amazing fresh seafood. We both had the local halibut fish & chips which was delicious.
If you're looking for a fun, unique souvenir - swing by the Ketchikan Fire Department's T-Shirt vending machine. They can easily sell out, so make it an early stop!
Juneau - Juneau was the largest of our 3 stops, and probably our favorite. This is one of those days we will be talking about for years.
We happened to be in Juneau during a record-setting glacier lake outburst, which caused significant flooding in the surrounding area (didn't impact city center). Several excursions to the Mendenhall Glacier had to be cancelled, as the area was not reachable by road. Fortunately, the town is well prepared for these events (no fatalities or major injuries reported).
We were fortunate to have booked the Helicopter Glacier Trek (BOOK THIS!), which proved to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was amazing (and a little terrifying) to fly to Mendenhall and get a chance to walk around this magnificent wonder. It was also fascinating to see the empty glacier basin. Everything about this excursion was top notch.
We had originally planned an evening whale-watching adventure, but decided that we would rather take the time to enjoy Juneau - and this was the right choice for us. Some people put whale watching at the top of their checklist in Alaska... we were happy enough (and lucky enough) to see the Orcas from the ship.
It's not a trip to Juneau without a stop at Tracy's King Crab Shack, which is one of our favorite meals... ever. Even though we did this later in the day (after the glacier trek), we still had to wait in line (but the line did move quickly). We were surprised by how pricey it was (over $200 for the two of us - we got the crab shack combo), but don't regret the splurge.
Both varieties were simply prepared to perfection. I preferred the golden, Terry preferred the red.
We had also been told that no trip to Juneau was complete without a stop at the Red Dog Saloon for some live music and duck fart shots!
Skagway - Our final port before Whittier was the smallest. We opted to get away from the crowds and hike the lower dewey lake trail which was walkable from port and a great way to start the day. Just enough of a challenge to keep it interesting, but not enough to wipe us out. We opted to go around the lake counter-clockwise, but both ways are an option.
After our hike, we made the short walk into town to explore the shops in the historic downtown district. We found this great Alaskan Art shop and fell in love with this whale tail made out of a moose's antler. We had it shipped home and love having this piece of Alaska in Charlotte.
The store owner suggested we try Woadie's for lunch... which was a great recommendation! The cod fish & chips were outstanding, and this was my favorite salmon chowder of the trip. The local root beer on tap was perfection.
There's always room for dessert on vacation. And in Skagway, that means Klondike Doughboy Alaskan Fry Bread! Don't miss this amazing treat!
The most popular excursion is Skagway is a the White Pass & Yukon Railroad, which we didn't want to miss. We opted for the luxury experience, which provided a less-crowded car, private viewing platform, comfy chairs and drinks + snacks. A fun, informative experience!
Whittier/Anchorage - After experiencing the beauty and charm of Alaska, the city of Anchorage was a little underwhelming. The ship docked in Whittier (about 90 minutes from Anchorage by car). Holland offered plenty of transfer options, but we like to explore on our own, so we rented a car. Whittier itself is tiny, but Avis does have a location (in a bait shop!) that is walkable to the ship. They did allow us to pick up in Whittier and drop off at the Anchorage airport. Be mindful of the schedule for the Whittier Tunnel when planning your day.
We stopped on our way to Anchorage at Alyeska and took the tram to the viewpoint. The views were beautiful, but there wasn't much else to do. This ended up being a quick stop.
We had a great lunch at The Deck of Lake Hood, which was a neat experience. The patio sits right on Lake Hood - which is the world's busiest seaplane base. It was really cool to sit and watch the planes take off and land on the lake!
We spent an hour or so wandering the downtown area, which was mostly comprised of tacky souvenir shops and tourists. We didn't find it much worth the trip.
The one thing I wanted to do near Anchorage was to see Denali. And with only one day in town, the only option was by floatplane. We were blessed with gorgeous weather (we were told that weather causes them to cancel over 50% of the Denali flight seeing trips) for our trip with Regal Air. It was a perfectly clear day which provided stunning views of Denali from the air. This was definitely the highlight of Anchorage and an unforgettable experience!
We got to end the day on a high note with some of the best pizza we've had at Moose's Tooth. The place was packed for dinner (we got lucky and found a seat at the bar), so be prepared to wait. Great pizza and a huge selection of beers on tap! Tip - you can order half and half and try two pizzas...
Onboard the Ship
We truly enjoyed our time on the ship. There's really no wrong way to cruise, here are some of the things I took away from our experience:
We decided to try all of the specialty restaurants on our cruise (we never visited the main dining room). All were good - our favorite was Morimoto. If we were going to skip one the next time, it would probably be Pinnacle - not bad, but not exceptional.
We also enjoyed the seafood boil experience on the ship.
I would recommend getting up early on your day in Glacier Bay - the best seats at the Crow's Nest will fill up early. And it's simply a gorgeous place to sit and relax while taking it all in. We saw otters, sea lions, goats, bears and even some orcas on this day.
Would also recommend dinner reservations at either Morimoto or Tamarind on the day you visit College Fjord (this was a happy accident for us). We did an ended up eating dinner with a stunning view of Harvard Glacier.
Hunting wildlife from the ship was not a priority for us - but we found that it didn't need to be. There were plenty of people perched by the windows looking (mostly for whales) - and they were great about letting everyone know when they did! We got lucky and saw Orcas from our table at Canaletto. We never needed our binoculars and just kept our eyes peeled.
If you like relax in a hot tub, seriously consider adding the Thermal Suite pass to your trip. We visited daily and enjoyed the hydro pool and the heated loungers. It was definitely worth the cost. We also booked a couples massage which was lovely.
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