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Before booking a cruise to Alaska, here is what you need to know about picking the perfect Alaska cruise for your family. If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly way to spot brown bears, consider a visit to Fortress of the Bear, a bear rescue facility and sanctuary located in Sitka. For only $15, you can visit the sanctuary and learn about how the facility rescues orphaned bears that may otherwise have died in the wild.
What to bring on an Alaska cruise excursion
To ensure you don’t miss out, consider booking a later dinner time, or simply eat dinner elsewhere on the nights the sailaway overlaps with your dining time. The Windjammer buffet can be an excellent place to enjoy dinner in Alaska, as the buffet has floor-to-ceiling windows throughout the venue, in addition to outdoor seating on select ships. One of the best ways to become acquainted with Royal Caribbean’s cruise ships is to watch a full tour of the ship on YouTube. On our YouTube channel, we have full, high definition tours of each Royal Caribbean ship sailing to Alaska.
Night 7 Nt Northbound Alaska & Hubbard GlacierDetails
Depending on your cruise itinerary, you’ll be visiting 3-4 different ports on an Alaska cruise, each of which offers plenty of shore excursions to book. While you can find excursions like whale watching, hiking, and kayaking in several ports, certain ports are better suited for these activities than others. While there is no “best itinerary” for an Alaska cruise, it’s important to have an understanding of what options are available. It’s always a better idea to book excursions as far in advance as possible to ensure you can pay the lowest price and secure a spot on the chance the excursion sells out. Because shore excursions are so popular on an Alaska cruise, it’s not uncommon to see popular tours like whale watching, glacier visits, and helicopter tours sell out.
Book excursions in advance
The caveat is that you cannot see the hotel name and are only given the number of stars and approximate location of the hotel, thus leading to a “blind” booking. As soon as your ship leaves port and enters international waters, the casino will open. Alaska cruises often have a reputation of being for adults, but they can be a wonderful vacation for families with kids, too. Our local Alaska expert Mollie wrote a great piece about where to eat like a local on your Alaska cruise.
While Alaska cruises are famous for providing stunning views, don’t miss the opportunity to learn more about Alaska’s history and culture while visiting the state. In Sitka, consider visiting the Fortress of the Bear, a bear rescue center located near the city center. In Ketchikan, walk around Creek Street for the chance to spot sea otters playing in the creek. When you’re on a bus tour or walking through town, be sure to look up in the trees to see if you can spot any eagles. Another thing you should do on the first day of your Alaska cruise is double check your Main Dining Room preferences. When you booked your cruise, you should have selected a dining time and either Traditional or My Time Dining.
While it isn’t the cheapest laundry service in the world, the convenience of washing clothes midway through the cruise and packing lighter can be worth the cost. As soon as you get onboard, connect to the ship’s wifi and open the Royal Caribbean app (you do not need to purchase a wifi package to access the Royal Caribbean app). Then scroll through the calendar to reserve any entertainment you are interested in. However, it is important to remain flexible and understand that your itinerary can change. Your cruise will stop at a variety of ports in Alaska (with some stopping in Canada as well).
Book the North Star and RipCord by iFLY
Because of their unpredictability, we wouldn’t recommend getting your hopes up about seeing the northern lights. The key to packing for Alaska is to pack layers, as you never know what type of weather conditions you will encounter on your cruise. Both classes of ships also have a thermal suite available at an extra cost, which includes hot stone loungers, saunas, and steam rooms—all of which are perfect for Alaska’s chilly weather. Radiance Class ships have an indoor Solarium for adults, an indoor movie theater, and lounges with floor to ceiling windows looking toward the ocean. Quantum Class ships also have plenty of indoor areas, including an indoor pool for all ages, adults-only indoor Solarium, and indoor sports court.
Get a taste of Alaska’s Russian history
If you’re visiting smaller ports like Icy Strait Point and Haines, however, we advise researching and booking tours ahead of time. Located on the way to Skagway along the Chilkoot Inlet, Haines is a small port accommodating just one large cruise ship at a time. Kayaking, hiking, hunting, and wildlife viewing are all popular activities in Haines. Flightseeing tours can be booked from Haines to visit sights like Glacier Bay, one of the most beautiful glaciers in Alaska. The itineraries of both Radiance-class ships go a bit farther north than the larger ships, allowing both ships time at Hubbard Glacier on at least some of the sailings. On its one-way route, Radiance has two sea days -- the least sea days of all the itineraries.
While it can be tempting to book a full day of fun activities onboard, don’t forget to spend some time relaxing in a comfy chair or on the pool deck to watch the scenery pass by. A Royal Caribbean Cruise Tour will take you to incredible destinations that no cruise ship can visit. From the coastline to the heart of the frontier, a Royal Caribbean Alaska Cruise Tour land and sea package delivers all the must-see sights on land.
The vast majority of cruises are 7-night roundtrip sailings, although one ship will offer one-way cruises to and from Alaska. Cruise Critic is not a booking agent and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. When you book with one of our partners, please be sure to check their site for a full disclosure of all applicable fees as required by the U.S. Jenna DeLaurentis enjoys exploring new ports of call around the world on a cruise ship, learning about new cultures, discovering beautiful landscapes, and trying diverse cuisine. She loves to get active while at port, whether cycling through mountains in the Caribbean or scuba diving under the sea. This provides enough time to travel to the Inside Passage, visit 3-4 ports in Alaska, and travel back to Seattle.
There are many considerations when choosing an Alaska cruise, but ultimately the decision may come down to budget, convenience, and time. Bringing a waterproof or water-resistant daypack on an Alaska cruise is essential to ensure your electronics, identification, and any other valuables remain protected throughout the excursion. From saloons to historic hiking trails and Ketchikan’s red-light district, you don’t need to travel very far off the ship to spot remnants of the gold rush era. Here’s what you need to know about Alaska cruise excursions before deciding what (and when) to book.
Quantum of the Seas is a large cruise ship, with a capacity of around 4,900 passengers at double capacity. Because of this, she offers an impressive amount of onboard activities, dining options, and entertainment to fit any cruising style. Depending on the month you sail, Alaska cruises can vary greatly in terms of weather, crowds, wildlife viewing opportunities, daylight hours, and cost.
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Alaska cruises tend to favor outdoor activities, whether getting active on a hike or taking a relaxing canoe ride down a river. Exploring the state’s mountains, glaciers, trails, and lakes is a fantastic way to spend a day in port, although choosing the best tour to book can be a tough decision. Being flexible on an Alaska cruise is important, especially when it comes to your cruise itinerary. You may end up enjoying the replacement port even more than you would have enjoyed the original itinerary.
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One-way Alaska cruises start in Vancouver, British Columbia and travel north to Seward, Alaska (and vice versa). Like other Alaska cruises, these itineraries are 7-nights, but traveling in one direction allows guests to visit four Alaska cruise ports instead of just three. Kayaking is another popular active shore excursion in Alaska, bringing visitors to picturesque destinations along the coastline. Some kayaking excursions allow guests to get close to glaciers and you may even spot wildlife while on the tour. Finally, make sure to book pre-cruise add-ons as soon as possible for a 2024 or 2025 Alaska cruise. From dining packages to shore excursions, it's always better to book in advance before add-ons increase in price or sell out.
It is important to note that the Quantum Class ships have two indoor pools, one for adults and one for all ages. Cruises from Seattle tend to visit the more common ports, such as Juneau and Skagway, whereas cruises that begin in Anchorage or Vancouver get to visit more remote ports. If you have never cruised to Alaska before, you may find the decision of which ship, embarkation port, and itinerary a tough decision.
No matter where in the world your cruise departs from, it is important to arrive to your departure city at least one day prior to the cruise. Flight delays and cancellations, missed connections, traffic, unexpected car issues, and weather can negatively affect your chance of getting to the cruise port on time. Arriving one day ahead of time and staying in a hotel the night before your cruise will give you buffer time in the chance you encounter unexpected delays. Just like any Royal Caribbean cruise, it’s important to pre-book any dining or drink packages for your cruise via Royal Caribbean’s Cruise Planner website.
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