Back in August, we joined my husband’s parents on a Discovery Princess Cruise to Alaska. It was such a great time! We sailed out of Seattle and spent 7 days between visiting towns in Alaska and Canada and hanging out on the cruise ship.
The Cruise Ship
The ship itself was beautiful and the service was fantastic. Our group stayed in two rooms next to each other, each with two bunkbeds. We reserved a dinner time ahead of time so that we could eat dinner in the same restaurant at the same time each day (of course we didn’t have to keep that reservation each day, but it was nice to have something planned). Onboard, the ship had amenities such as several pools, mini golf, a basketball court, multiple restaurants, and a kids club.
Our girls especially loved the kids’ club, but our three year old wasn’t quite as excited. He went one morning and then was happy to stick with us for the remainder of the time. When we were at sea, our daughters usually spent a couple of hours each day at the kids’ club where there were special activities for them to enjoy.
Beyond that, there were also multiple musical shows, a magician, onboard movies, and naturalist talks that our family all enjoyed. Our favorites were watching Luca poolside, the magic show, and a cover of Billy Joel. We also enjoyed learning about life in Alaska with one of the speakers.
On our cruise we stopped in 4 ports, three in Alaska and one in Canada.
Ketchikan
Our first stop was in Ketchikan. It’s a beautiful little town full of nature and history. We did a bus tour (and saw a bear!) around the area and over to Saxman Native Village. While the tour was great, I really wish we would have had more time at the Saxman Native Village. There’s so much to see there and because of our guide’s schedule, we only saw a fraction of it. I would love to come back someday and spend more time at the village and to also check out some of the nature parks and coastline.
After our tour, we walked around the town itself and headed over to Creek Street to see the salmon and the old historical buildings. We bought a few souvenirs and then headed back to the ship.
Juneau
Before heading into port at Juneau, we were supposed to spend the morning onboard cruising through Glacier Bay National Park, but unfortunately we had really terrible fog and the ship couldn’t make it up the passage safely. This meant that we landed in Juneau earlier, but did not get to see any glaciers up close.
Juneau itself was beautiful, but the weather was against us during our visit. Our Goldbelt Tram experience got canceled due to the bad weather and we got soaked hiking to Nugget Falls at Mendenhall Glacier. Luckily our kids are used to lots of rain (thanks Washington) and amazingly none of them complained the entire hike. They earned Jr. Ranger badges at the visitor’s center and then we headed back to the ship to dry off and warm up.
Skagway
Probably our favorite stop was Skagway. It was such a charming town and a great place to learn about the Klondike Gold Rush. We also took a ride on the White Pass Summit train. The train ride was amazing! I absolutely recommend it. The kids loved it, the views were gorgeous, and the tour guide on board was super informative. Learning more about the gold rush was fascinating and we continued after the train ride by going to the visitor’s center where our kids earned another Jr. Ranger badge.
Victoria
Our last stop was Victoria, B.C. We’ve been here before and I just adore this city. We only had a couple hours in the evening, but we made the most of it by walking around the parliament building and enjoying the sights.
The next morning, we arrived back in Seattle. It was a fantastic trip and one that we all enjoyed!
Have you been on a cruise before? Where have you gone and what did you like/dislike about it?
Daley Family Travels 