Taking a roundtrip to Alaska the end of May 2027 from Vancouver. 3 port stops are Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan.

I've cruised before and have booked excursions outside of the cruise line. However, I'm a little more nervous doing that on this trip, given weather considerations, and the need for tendering, should that become an issue.

I did book our Ketchikan excursion through Princess since I had some shipboard credit to use (from Costco).

Considering a whale watching trip in Juneau, but would like a smaller boat than what Princess offers.

Probably will do one of the train trips in Skagway.

Any advice would be appreciated.

My family just got off a round-trip 7 night cruise from Vancouver and had a fabulous time. I'd definitely recommend for multigenerational travel (we had ages 3-71).

1. Getting to Vancouver from the East Coast is not easy. We had a lot of flight issues and ended up driving from PDX to Vancouver overnight to make embarkation. Fortunately we had buffered a whole 24 hours because we would have missed the boat otherwise.

2. The balcony was worth it for my retirement aged parents and my siblings with small kids who went to bed early. We could have skipped it as we just weren't in the room much.

3. The Crows Nest is the best hangout.

4. If you enjoy live music the offerings are good. If you want a Broadway show, less so.

5. The kids enjoyed the kids club, the pool, and the sports deck. All the kids I saw seemed to be enjoying themselves. Don't be afraid to book this for a family.

6. If you are a hiker at all Laughton Glacier from Skagway was great. We did not book a tour and did it ourselves. It's an easy hike and if you bring microspikes you can hike up on the Glacier which is great. There are tour operators that do the hike, but as my spouse and I are pretty experienced hikers I didn't feel like I needed a tour. We booked the White Pass Rail tickets ourselves but book early because they sold out several months in advance as they sell out.

7. We did the Endicott Arm excursion which was lovely and really cool, but I wouldn't want it to replace Glacier Bay. Whichever itinerary you choose, choose Glacier Bay. I'm glad I ruled out all cruises that didn't go there.

8. Alaska is for classic cruising, not waterslides. That being said the lido pool being covered is a godsend for kids. Sorry adults with no kids.

9. I did a day pass to the thermal suite and highly recommend doing it at least once. What great views.

Anyone have experiences with The Boat Company?

It will be our first cruise and we will be 60 at that point. We're probably in average shape for people our age; worst physical problem is my knee that doesn't bend much more than 90 degrees (and only a new knee will fix it). We're looking for a smaller boat, and we're much more interested in learning than in shows, dressing up for dinner, and the like. We're also looking into Lindblad, Uncruise and some other lines. Thanks in advance!

Packed and came in handy: Very good binoculars with a neck strap, umbrella with carabiner attachment for belt or cross body purse. Imodium because they don’t sell it on ship. *we also brought zofran and 3 of 4 needed it the first night in Seattle. Maybe picked up something on plane. Maybe from market food. Jut glad we had it. Hand sanitizer. Pack of Clorox wipes to hit plane seat and tray and I quickly did cabin. Dial pump hand soap so you don’t have to use little bar provided. Windbreaker with hood, scarf, sunglasses, hoodie, long sleeve T-shirts and puffer jacket, beanie, disposable hand warmers and gloves and pair fleece lined joggers. Birkenstocks, trainers, cozy slippers and fleece lined crocs one dress outfit and heels. Cruise friendly extension cord and fan. Power bank. Travel Yahtzee for sea days. $50 in singles to tip for drinks and room service. (On top of pre-paid tip)

Seattle
Fly in day before and stay downtown. Ask for city view room. Settle is stunning at night. Walk to Lida’s for breakfast. Get the Ude pancakes with your eggs.

*As soon as you get on ship when room steward comes give them a $20 and ask for robes, outside blankets for each person, an extra topper put on bed tomorrow and ice daily. If you have an early flight home pick 7:00am time to disembark, you get right off without crowds.

Skagway: do train ride, sit on left side facing front. They provide water. Buy postcards and mail at post office in center of town, super convenient. We wish we got more whale souvenirs get here for grandkids. Not much whale stuff at other ports.

Endicott: bring outdoor blankets, binoculars to a chair. We ordered coffee and snacks to our chairs here. This was the most beautiful and amazing place. Just awe inspiring. Don’t bother with excursion to glacier.

Juneau: We chose Juneau Whale watching and Mendenhall glacier Tour. 5 stars!!! Book 8:30am trip and wear hiking shoes/trainers to do the nugget falls trail. Super cute beach and place for kids to collect rocks. Book from website. They are amazing and easily reachable.

Ketchikan: guys did fishing tour and loved it. We went straight to Creek street. There is a t-shirt outlet with great prices all the way to the right when you get off the ship. If you need supplies or a pharmacy there is a shuttle to and from Walmart.

Victoria: 8p to 11p for our ship so things were closed. We booked horse drawn carriage tour and it was perfect.

Doing the 12-Day Denali & Yukon Y4l with Holland America on Koningsdam in August 2027, headed south to disembark at Vancouver. I'm willing to pay the $250 for the Vista Suite aft room on the fourth deck if any of you experienced cruisers can vouch for it.

My research seems to indicate mixed views: Most everybody likes the panoramic view of aft cabins, and apparently aft gets extra time at Glacier bay as you depart slowly, but some feel like the fourth deck is too close to motors. AI even mentioned soot and dust can be an issue with aft deck on cruise liners? (I've never heard of that and don't trust AI 100% but maybe it's a thing????). My other choice is a portside room on the eighth deck(8106). Both are locked in for 3 days while I make up my mind and pay the deposit..

Thanks in advance!

Small edit for clarity

My kids are saying September works better for them. Is it too cold and misty then? Is August better weather and visibility wise?

Now that we’re almost at the end of our Alaska cruise, here’s my take on excursions with kids and what I would do differently if we did it again.

My biggest excursion regret is not doing the helicopter + dog sledding. I went back and forth on it because of the price, but looking back, Alaska is probably the place to splurge on something you can’t easily do anywhere else. If we came back, that would be at the top of my list.

Juneau: We rented a car and did Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls. It was nice, but honestly, with kids I would skip it next time and put that time/money toward a bigger experience. I also really wish we had booked a dedicated whale-watching tour in one of the ports. We saw lots of whales from the ship throughout the cruise, but it’s mostly spotting them swimming by or seeing a blow/tail in the distance. I would have loved to get closer and actually spend time watching them.

Skagway: The town itself was much smaller than I expected and very touristy—lots of souvenir-type stores. I wouldn’t plan a ton of time just wandering around town. Definitely get some good crab though! We ate at Olivia’s and really enjoyed it.
We did the 3-hour White Pass train and that was absolutely worth doing. The scenery was beautiful and I’m glad we chose the longer ride. After the train, we were pretty much done and headed back to the ship.

Ketchikan: We did the ATV excursion. The kids had fun and overall it was a good activity, but because there had been basically no rain, it was SO dusty. We were covered in dust, and that definitely took away from it for me. In wetter weather I think I would have enjoyed it much more.

Glacier Bay: Hands down one of the best parts of the entire cruise. If Glacier Bay is an option when choosing an Alaska itinerary, I would absolutely choose a sailing that includes it. It was the part of Alaska that really felt like what I had imagined this trip would be.
And my biggest overall regret? I kind of wish we had done

Disney Cruise Line with the kids. Norwegian Encore is a beautiful ship and we’ve had a great trip, but traveling with kids, I think Disney may have been a better fit for us.
If I could redo the trip, I’d spend less time on the “we should see this because we’re here” stops and put more of the budget toward the big Alaska experiences: helicopter/dog sledding, whale watching, White Pass train and Glacier Bay.
Those are the things I think my kids—and I—would remember most.

What shoes are necessary for excursions in June? I’m not sure we will be doing any hiking but I do have hiking boots. Are waterproof tennis shoes enough?

Just experienced Glacier Bay on our Alaska cruise and I genuinely don’t think pictures or videos can capture what it’s like to actually be there.
The mountains, glaciers, ice floating through the water, seals, otters and the absolute scale of everything… it was unreal. We spent hours outside just watching the scenery change as the ship moved through the bay. Every time I thought we had seen the best view, we’d turn a corner and somehow it got better.
We’ve already done Juneau, Mendenhall Glacier, Nugget Falls, Skagway and the White Pass train, and this entire Alaska trip has been incredible — but Glacier Bay was the moment that really made me understand why people say an Alaska cruise is different from any other cruise.
And experiencing it with our kids made it even better. One of those family trips I know we’ll be talking about years from now.
If you’re debating an Alaska cruise because you’re wondering whether the scenery really lives up to the hype: it does. Glacier Bay alone was worth the trip**.**

Six of us will be flying in a few days early for a cruise, other than the light rail, what would be some suggestions ? We’ll have plenty of luggage and our hotels are next to each other. I searched the page but there is a lot of outdated posts.

Next week we are arriving in Anchorage a couple of days ahead of our cruise. We had transport from the airport directly to Seward booked with the Alaska Bus Company but they just cancelled it. We land around 1pm and have to check in at our hotel by 7pm. Anyone got any other suggestions? I have an uber reservation right now but concerned no driver will actually take that 1 way trip. Other private transfers are double/triple the cost of our original transport. Would prefer to be picked up at the airport but not a requirement.

For anyone who has sailed out of Vancouver, can you help me decide on a pre-cruise hotel? I currently have a couple of hotels booked which I can cancel, but we have decided to rent a car for 2 days to drive around Vancouver. The two hotels booked are the Westin Waterfront Coal Harbour ($1600 for 2 nights) and Coast Coal Harbour Hotel ($1100 for 2 nights). The downtown hotels are obviously crazy expensive, so I have been looking at staying in Richmond instead to lower the cost. I am looking at both the Radissons near the airport:

Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport Hotel & Marina,

Radisson Hotel Vancouver Airport

Sandman Signature Vancouver Airport Hotel & Resort

I can get these hotels for under $800 for two nights and have a car to drive around for a total of $1000. We can drop the car off near the cruise terminal at Hertz the morning of the cruise. So my question for seasoned cruisers who have cruised out of Vancouver - would you recommend spending the extra money to stay in Coal Harbour for 2 nights and skip the car? Or stay in Richmond to save some money and have a car to drive around for 2 days pre-cruise? Also, out of the 3 Richmond hotels, which one would you suggest is better, in terms of updated rooms and overall cleanliness? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated - thanks!

First week of September, we’re in Skagway for a day.
We’ve done the train, so we booked a Chilkoot Lake Wildlife Viewing excursion via Rainbow
Has anyone done this?

Guessing if there’s brown bears, it could be epic… without bears, it’s just the fast ferry to Haines,
and a disappointing van to the lake parking lots?

Also looked at Skagway rental cars, and we’re on a wait list for one…

I’m deciding between two dates. I know they are super close to each other, but my husband and I are looking for wildlife (orcas and whales specifically) and are trying to find a date with the best historical weather. I know weather is constantly changing and you can never be certain, but I’ve seen many people go on whale watching excursions and the fog was so bad the visibility was basically zero.

Vancouver, inside passage cruising, Sitka, Endicott Arm, icy strait point, Juneau, Hubbard glacier, Seward. On celebrity solstice. Either June 18-25 or July 2-9.

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!

We cruise on Discovery Princess June 2027. We start in Vancouver and end in Whittier then do the land portion in Denali.
We are traveling with my mother and father in law, brother in law, husband, and our 2 children ages 8 and 10.

Right now, we have all booked the "EXPERIENCE THE YUKON & SUSPENSION BRIDGE" tour through Princess.

From what I gather, it follows the same route as the train and you stop at a place with sled dogs and gold panning as well as the suspension bridge and some other places to take pictures. It's 8.25 hrs long.

My mother in law is really excited about it. She likes that she can see nice views and that our kids can have fun with the dogs. We picked this over the train because we will already be doing a train ride from Whittier to Denali.

My concern is that it's SUCH a long time on a bus. We will be visiting a suspension bridge or 2 in Vancouver already. And the videos I've seen online of the sled dog place looks not great in my opinion. (The petting zoo is just goats and my kids won't eat the food and I'm not a fan of taxidermy)

BUT I also don't really have an alternative excursion to offer her. I'd love to do something similar that doesn't last as long. I just hate the idea of bringing my kids iPads on what's supposed to be a great excursion exploring Alaska but also it's unrealistic for me to think they will be interested in looking out a bus window on and off for 5 hrs (the amount of time the website says we will be traveling) no matter how pretty it is.

Any suggestions on an excursion that will fulfill my mother in laws desire to "see it all" but also keep my kids entertained in Skagway? Originally I wanted to rent our own car but they didn't want to do that.

8/11/2026 Update

We have received the National Weather Service (NWS) alert that the Suicide Basin has reached capacity, and a flood release is pending. Officials anticipate that release into Mendenhall Lake and subsequent flooding will occur in 1-6 days.

IF EXCURSIONS ARE IMPACTED, GUESTS WILL HEAR DIRECTLY FROM THE OPERATORS. We anticipate that only excursions in the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area will be impacted.

Both City & Borough of Juneau and Travel Juneau remind visitors to avoid neighborhoods near the Mendenhall River that may be impacted by flooding.

Flood stage will be monitored for potential further closures in Visitor Center area. Keep on an eye on the NWS updates at https://www.weather.gov/ajk/suicideBasin, and Travel Juneau will post USFS updates.

I was wondering what people carry when they go on excursions? Do you carry a backpack or just a crossbody?

8/12/2026 Update 

The National Weather Service and USFS have alerted us that flooding is occurring, with the Mendenhall Lake and River cresting around 7:00AM AKDT on Thursday. Impacts from flooding may last through the weekend, depending on severity. 

From the U.S. Forest Service:

• The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center (MGVC) building, parking lots, and roads will be closing Wednesday (Aug 12) afternoon/evening, depending on flood progression.
• MGVC shoreline trails are closed (Nugget Falls, Photo Point, Steep Creek).
• West Glacier trails and roads are closed. 
• Mendenhall Campground is closed and evacuated, and Skater ’s Cabin Road is barricaded at the Forest Service boundary.

Trails and closure areas will reopen post-flood as soon as the Forest Service is able to assess the conditions of the trails, bridges, and walkways. Once the trails are clear and safe to use, they will be reopened. 

If your excursion is impacted, you will be notified by the operator. Individuals or organizations who enter the area while officially closed are subject to steep fines and jail time. 

Travel Juneau will have the latest information; when you arrive in Juneau, stop by one of our visitor centers on the dock for the latest information.

Share your Vancouver port arrival experiences for the 2026 season! Did you drop your luggage in the underground parking or in the check-in hall? How long did it take from joining the your PAT line to getting on the ship?

I’ll be sailing with Disney in September and we’ll be the only ship in port that day. I'm boarding group 19 with a PAT of 12:45 on my upcoming sailing.