Most cruisers only go on an Alaskan Inside Passage cruise once.
So, every day must be special and memorable.
That’s where I come in, as from my multiple cruises there, I think I know what you can
do to make it so.
As some of these activities can be costly, I also have an “Exploring Alaska's Ports
Without Breaking the Bank” video that will help balance your budget if these are a bit
too much.
More on that later.
Meantime, welcome aboard I am Gary Bembridge, and let’s start with the three ports you
almost certainly will be calling on.
And let’s start in Juneau.
Juneau is the capital of Alaska.
It was founded by two prospectors, Richard Harris and Joseph Juneau, who discovered gold
there.
They triggered a major gold rush and people flooded into what first was called Harrisburg
and eventually became known as Juneau.
About 30,000 people live there, the gold mines closed in 1940 and its main business now is
being the administrative capital of Alaska and tourism.
What epic things should you do in Juneau?
While many people think going to view the Mendenhall Glacier just outside Juneau is
incredible, which it is, but going dog sledding on the glacier trumps it.
It is the best trip I have ever done.
A helicopter whisked me over Juneau and Juneau Ice Field, before landing on Norris Glacier.
There were around 150 racing husky dogs there, which train and spend the summer season here.
I then went on a dog sledding adventure.
It was an incredible experience.
After the ride, I had time to interact with the dogs before the helicopters returned with
the next set of guests and to fly me back to Juneau.
While it was a phenomenal experience, it is very pricey.
Around $630 per person.
That’s why on a return visit instead I went for the next best thing, which was a helicopter
up onto the Mendenhall Glacier to walk across the surface.
This too was memorable and thrilling, and about half the cost.
If those eye-watering sums are a no go, I guarantee you and your family will find visiting
the Mendenhall Glacier face and Nugget Falls up close a stunning experience.
They’re 12 miles out of town and I explain the best ways to do that in my “Exploring
Alaska's Ports Without Going Broke” video.
Another epic thing to do in Juneau is going up the Goldbelt Mount Roberts Tramway.
It's one of the steepest cable car rides in the world, and at the top of the mountain
you’ll see views across the area that you’ll cherish forever up there.
I always go when I am in Juneau.
There is another adventure I do every time I go to Alaska, and this one is in Skagway.
It is so fantastic, and I will never tire of doing it!
Skagway became famous as the gateway to the Klondike in the Yukon, Canada.
When gold was discovered there, going via Skagway was the easiest way of reaching the
gold fields, even though they were many hundreds of miles away.
30,000 prospectors headed to Skagway using the Chilkoot or the White Pass behind the
city to get to the Yukon.
The White Pass and Yukon Railway was built to make it easier for prospectors get to the
goldfields, and to transport ore and the cargo back.
The railway ran from 1900 until 1982.
In the late 1990s it was resurrected as a tourist attraction, travelling from Skagway
up many thousands of feet right up to the White Pass summit.
While you can go further into Canada, the best trip, in my view, is the 40-mile return
trip to the summit and back.
The views are incredible as the train twists and turns up the mountain, there is live commentary
about the route and history and the train itself is just brilliant.
Whilst the regular carriages are great, on some trips I’ve been on there was a Luxury
Palour Car option.
But it cost almost three times standard carriage price of around $140.
It holds 14 people in big comfy seats, and a dedicated guide who serves drinks and food.
If booking as an excursion with your line, the railway usually allocates a train per
ship, and you board right next to your ship.
Either before or after the train do spend time exploring the town itself, and it still
mostly has the original buildings with many stories.
In my budget exploring video, I have tips on how to get the most when exploring the
town.
In the next port, Ketchikan, there is one of the most fun things to do in Alaska.
Ketchikan started as an indigenous peoples’ fishing camp, and rapidly grew after a salmon
cannery was founded in the 1800s.
It is the self-declared “Salmon Capital of the World”, although forestry and lumberjacking
were a major industry for a time.
Nowadays, tourism is the main activity.
So, what should you do in Ketchikan?
The most spectacular activity is a floatplane sightseeing flight over the Tongass National
Forest to The Misty Fjords National Monument (https://youtu.be/4RMe-0qm0uI @scottsdaletravelchick
), where millennia ago volcanos and ice carved the stunning scenery and, in theory, they
claim you have a chance to see eagles, bears, deer, mountain goats, seals, or maybe even
whales.
But from a plane not really!
These are costly, around $300 for an hour.
So, there are though three fun things I usually do instead.
First of these is such a laugh.
It's the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show on the site of the old Ketchikan Spruce Mill.
Two lumberjack teams, United States and Canada, battle it out in increasingly spectacular
and crowd-pleasing wood chopping competitions.
It's done tongue-in-cheek and a really fun activity.
Not far away is Creek Street.
These are original and colourful wooden buildings on stilts built over the Ketchikan Creek.
It was Red Light District from the early 1900s right up until 1954.
Each building has a story, and now they are mostly craft and souvenir shops, and one is
Dolly’s House Museum, home of one of the infamous Madams there.
Ketchikan is also renowned for the around 80 totem poles in the city and surrounds.
My favourite place to see them us at the 11-acre Totem Bight State Historical Park, which was
created in the 1930s.
As many indigenous native people were moving into the centres for work, there was concern
that some of the heritage and the culture would be lost, particularly the beautiful
storytelling totems.
So, they were collected and preserved these.
The entrance fee includes a guided tour telling all about the history and story of each pole.
It's not far out of Ketchikan, and you can get there on a trolley bus that has tours
of the city or by taxi.
While there are three main ports on most Alaskan Inside Passage cruise, there is one destination
that is crucial to making any Alaska experience epic.
It is also one that you're not going to get off the ship when you get there, and this
is Glacier Bay.
If you're planning an Alaska Inside Passage cruise, makes sure it is one that will be
going into Glacier Bay.
Not many do as only two cruise ships per day are allowed in.
The three lines that have most access are Holland America and Princess, as they have
been going to Alaska longer than other lines, and Norwegian Cruise Line.
Other lines will go to other areas, like Tracy Arm which is great but lacks the scale and
range of Glaciers in Glacier Bay.
I have been to Glacier Bay on both Holland America and Princess cruises.
Glacier Bay National Park and Reserve is a magical and important place to see glaciers.
It's 3.2 million acres large, and you will get to see several impressive tidewater glaciers,
including the Reid Glacier, John Hopkins Glacier, and the most impressible of all, the Margerie
Glacier.
The cruise spends hours cruising between the different glaciers, and National Park Rangers
join the ship to give talks and commentary while in the bay.
At Margerie Glacier, the ship will spend time there, with everyone out on deck hoping to
see the glacier calving, which it often does in the summer.
In my view, nothing beats Glacier Bay, and you are going to be shortchanged if you are
on a cruise that does not go here.
Depending on when you are cruising, whale spotting and sightseeing is likely on an Inside
Passage cruise.
It is a memorable and humbling experience.
On my last Holland America Alaska cruise, I was told that over 500 humpback whales are
in Alaska’s Inside Passage for part of the season, with June and July being the key months.
As I discovered then, the first sign of a whale near the ship is a plume of steam that
springs up from the water.
Orcas who feed on salmon in the Alaska Inside Passage can also be spotted earlier in the
season (early May to early June) around Ketchikan and Juneau.
I have not seen them though!
If you really want to see whales, the best ports for boat excursions to find whales are
Juneau and Ketchikan, and the lines will usually have options.
They start from around $175 per person.
As Inside Passage cruises are increasingly starting to call on Sitka as the region grows
in popularity, I do have some great low-cost activities to do there in my “Exploring
Alaska Without Breaking the Bank” video along with amazing ideas of things to do in
the other ports for no or low cost.
So, watch that now to find out what they are.
See you over there.