This is how to do Alaska!

A complete cruise travel guide covering boarding in Seattle through Victoria, Canada — with honest tips, food reviews, and excursion breakdowns.

Embarkation Day: Seattle to the Sea

We kicked off our 10-day Alaskan adventure aboard Norwegian Joy, departing from Seattle’s Pier 66 — and right out of the gate, things went smoothly. From the moment we stepped out of the car to the moment we had our key cards in hand was less than 15 minutes. Pier 66 is genuinely one of the easiest cruise terminals we’ve ever used.

Pro tip #1: As soon as you board any Norwegian cruise, head straight to the dining reservations desk — usually located in or near Tanyaki. Pre-cruise booking windows can be frustratingly limited online, but walk-on availability is much better. We had six dining credits and knocked out all six reservations within minutes of boarding. Don’t forget to book show reservations at the same time.

After securing our dining slots, we wandered up to the Garden Café for the embarkation lunch buffet. Standout items: the beef goulash (tender, flavorful, highly recommend), bourbon chicken, and carved beef. The view of the Seattle Space Needle from our table was a bonus.

Ship Highlights: Norwegian Joy

Joy went through a significant dry dock refit since its days in the Asian market, and the upgrades show. A few things worth knowing:

• The Thermal Suite (Spa): Arguably the best feature on the ship. It includes heated stone loungers, a cold plunge, ice room, aromatic steam room, salt room, sauna, and multi-setting experience showers. We purchased the full 10-day pass and used it almost every single day — often closing it down at 10 p.m. More on this throughout.
• Vibe Beach Club: The adults-only deck at the stern, complete with padded loungers, a private hot tub, bar service, and blankets. Only 33 people purchased Vibe access for our sailing — a 170-person capacity space. A no-brainer for Alaska itineraries where crowds flock to the main pool deck on Glacier Day.
• American Diner: Previously an upcharge venue, now fully complimentary. The meatloaf, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken salad sandwich, and white bean chicken chili are all worth a visit.
• Spice H2O: The adults-only aft deck has a jumbotron, bar, and hot tub. Great for sailaways.
• The Local: A casual pub-style restaurant included in your cruise fare. Great burgers and buffalo wings.
• Q Texas Smokehouse: Our first specialty dinner and a great call for night one. Deviled eggs, brisket sliders, fried okra, and fall-off-the-bone barbecue chicken. Pro tip: go on night one — main dining has a line out the door while Q is nearly empty.

Sailaway from Seattle

We watched the city fade from Vibe Beach Club, drinks in hand, as the ship slipped out through Elliott Bay and into Puget Sound. The views of Seattle from the water — with the skyline glowing in the late afternoon sun — were stunning. Sailing from a downtown port like Seattle is something special. You don’t feel like you’re in a port. You feel like you’re in the city.

Sea Days: Pure Relaxation

With two sea days between Seattle and Juneau, we leaned into ship life hard. Mornings started with the gym and outdoor walking track (56° and glorious — you never overheat), followed by hours in the thermal suite. Afternoons in the Vibe Beach Club hot tub. Evenings at the specialty restaurants.

Day 2 Dinner — Ristorante Cagney’s (Italian): Highlights included a lasagna appetizer that was so good it could have been the entire meal, and an ossobuco (braised lamb shank over saffron risotto) that was fall-apart tender. The tiramisu was a revelation. Jason went with salmon — lighter, healthy, beautifully cooked.

Day 3: The Inside Passage begins. Sailing through the Stevens Passage toward Juneau with mountains still snow-capped in July. Whale spouts visible from the observation lounge — probably a dozen in the first five minutes. The observation lounge also has complimentary light breakfast items (pastries, yogurt, fruit, cereal) and a Starbucks if you need your fix.

Port 1: Juneau, Alaska

Weather: Spectacular — 70°F and sunny. Unusual for Juneau, which sits in the Tongass National Rainforest (second-largest rainforest in the world after the Amazon).

Where we went first: The Red Dog Saloon, right at the dock. If you arrive midday you’ll walk right in — evenings get much busier. Duck farts and a local cider. Classic Juneau.

Excursion: Mendenhall Glacier Explorer

Cost: $119/person ($50 off with Free at Sea Excursion discount) Duration: 3 hours total, ~30-minute drive each way, 2 hours at the site

You’re dropped at the visitor center (ours was closed, but bathrooms were open) and given free time to explore the trails. Our strong recommendation: do all three routes if you can.

1. Photo Point Trail — Short walk, best overall view of the glacier and Nugget Falls waterfall together. Better than what you see from the visitor center.
2. Nugget Falls Trail — About 15 minutes at a brisk pace. The roar of the falls gets louder as you approach. Getting close means getting misted — your legs will get soaked. Totally worth it.
3. Steep Creek Trail — This is where the magic happened. We waited by the creek hoping to see salmon. We didn’t see salmon at first — but a mama bear and three cubs walked right through the creek under the bridge where we were standing. If we’d left five minutes earlier, we’d have missed it entirely. Stayed longer and saw two salmon swim through as well.

Lesson: on open-ended excursions, slow down. Be present. Let the wildlife come to you.

Other top Juneau excursions: Whale watching (we’ve done it twice — phenomenal humpback encounters). First-timers should absolutely prioritize whale watching. Glacier helicopters will take you right onto the ice if that’s your thing.

Dinner back on ship — Le Bistro (French specialty restaurant): Always a Norwegian staple, always reliably delicious. Dessert was the highlight.

Glacier Day: Hubbard Glacier

Hubbard Glacier is the largest glacier in Alaska — bigger than anything you’ll see in Glacier Bay. We spent the entire day in Vibe Beach Club for glacier viewing, and it was the right call.

Highlights of the day:

• Vibe hot tub at the glacier. Hot chocolate and cookies were provided. Blankets on the loungers. Only a handful of other guests in the entire space.
• The weather was bizarre in the best way: dark storm clouds wrapping the mountains on all sides, with a shaft of direct sunlight illuminating the glacier itself.
• The ship did a full rotation so every side gets equal viewing time. The bow of the ship is opened exclusively on Glacier Day — normally off-limits.
• A small tender boat transported guests from our ship all the way up to the glacier face (a surprise excursion that sold out almost immediately — keep your eyes open for it when booking).
• Jason had a spa massage scheduled for 2 p.m. — timed almost perfectly to coincide with our glacier arrival. The spa has glacier views, too.

The ice field prevented the ship from getting closer than a certain point, but the size of the floating chunks was impressive even from a distance — much bigger than they appear on camera.

Port 2: Skagway, Alaska

Weather: Clear skies, 70°F. One of the warmest Skagway days we’ve experienced across multiple trips.

Our recommendation for first-timers: The White Pass Summit Railway is a must-do. It follows the historic Gold Rush route up the mountain. Options range from a simple roundtrip train ride ($229/person, 2.5 hours) up to combination train-and-bus packages around $379/person. All are excellent.

What We Did: Self-Drive to the Yukon

Since we’ve done the railway twice, we joined friends who rented a car from Affordable Car Rental ($350 for the day, 9 a.m.–6 p.m.) and drove the White Pass Summit ourselves.

Important: You will cross into Canada, so bring your passport.

Stops along the way:

• Summit Creek pulloffs — Multiple scenic overlooks with waterfalls, mountain views, and glacial-silt colored water (that distinctive blue-green tint).
• Tutshi Lake — Crystal-clear, remote, beautiful. We skipped rocks and soaked it in.
• British Columbia / Yukon Territory border sign — A photo stop you don’t want to miss.
• Emerald Lake — The turquoise color comes from marl (calcium carbonate clay) on the lake bed reflecting sunlight. Accessible only from an overlook, but stunning.
• Carcross Desert — We were not expecting this. Literally a desert — sand dunes formed from the bed of an ancient dried lake — surrounded by lush green mountains. Wild.
• Carcross town — Lunch at the local restaurant (burger and poutine, because you’re in Canada). The historic general store dates to 1909. Don’t miss the ice cream shop that makes fresh waffle cones.
• Grizzly bear sighting — On the roadside, on the way back. Just casually there.
• Yukon Suspension Bridge — Class 5 rapids below, bouncy bridge, panoramic views. A quick stop but a great one.
• Roadside glacier-fed waterfall — Drinkable, cold, and refreshing after a warm day.

Dinner on ship — Cagney’s Steakhouse: Norwegian’s signature steakhouse, on every ship, consistently excellent. Go for the wedge salad, petite filet or ribeye, and — most importantly — the OMG Butterscotch Cheesecake. Finished the night in the thermal suite, watching sailaway from Skagway through the spa windows.

Port 3: Icy Straight Point, Alaska — First Visit

Weather: Overcast, low clouds, typical for the area. Not raining — a win.

Icy Straight Point was brand new to us, and it immediately impressed. Wildlife was abundant: bald eagles spotted from our balcony before we even left the ship, whale watching available, and the sounds of eagles calling throughout the day.

Excursion: The Zip Rider (World’s Largest Zipline)

This is the headline attraction at Icy Straight Point, and it lives up to the hype. Here’s the logistics:

• Take the green gondola from Huna Cannery to Wilderness Landing.
• Then take the red Sky Peak Gondola (Alaska’s only high-speed gondola) to the mountaintop.
• You literally go through the clouds on the way up.
• The zipline itself is 1.5 miles long. You travel at 60 mph. The ride takes 90 seconds.
• Up to six riders can zip simultaneously — which is why they claim the title of “world’s largest” (a Dubai zipline is technically 2 feet longer, but can’t send six riders at once).

At the top: fire pits, food trucks (caribou tacos! halibut tacos!), beer, and views above the cloud line. It’s cold. It’s exhilarating. It’s worth every penny.

After the zip, we walked the half-mile Tongass Rainforest nature trail — thick old-growth trees, squishy moss, a bald eagle perched right at its nest, gondolas floating silently overhead through the canopy. 15 minutes of walking but totally worth it.

Down at the dock area: the Icy Straight Museum in the old cannery, the Crab House bar (famous for their Alaska Krabby Bloody Mary), gift shops, and salmon products to take home.

Dinner on ship: We kept it casual at The Local — buffalo wings and a cheeseburger. Perfect after an action-packed day.

Evening: Comedy show in the theater.

Port 4: Sitka, Alaska — First Visit

Weather: Light rain at first, cleared up.

Excursion: Wilderness Sea Kayaking Adventure

Cost: $259/person ($50 off per cabin with Free at Sea Excursion discount) Duration: 3 hours, includes snack

This excursion picked us up at port and took us by boat to a remote wilderness cove — far better than the kayaking tours that depart directly from the dock. We paddled through calm, shallow waters with:

• Bald eagles perched nearby and flying directly overhead (wingspan was staggering up close)
• Salmon jumping all around us — literally splashing beside our kayaks
• Jellyfish in the shallows
• Starfish visible through the crystal-clear water
• Ravens calling through the trees
• White spruce forest rising up the hillsides

The splash skirts (spray skirts) are essential — paddle drip without them and you’ll get soaked. Wear them. Hot potato soup was waiting when we returned to the boat. Perfect ending.

We slept in that morning and didn’t catch much of Sitka’s downtown — that’s on us. Norwegian was in port from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., so there was plenty of time. Note: the free shuttle into downtown requires pre-registration online for your inbound time; the return shuttle runs until about an hour before all-aboard.

Port 5: Ketchikan, Alaska

Weather: Rainy. Welcome to Ketchikan.

Norwegian docks at Ward Cove, their private port terminal — a well-designed area with souvenir shops, food options, and easy access to excursion meeting points. A longer itinerary makes a big difference here: the Norwegian Encore (a shorter itinerary) was in port from 6 a.m. to around 1 p.m. We had until 8 p.m.

Excursion: Salmon Fishing

Cost: $429/person ($50 off with Free at Sea Excursion discount) Duration: 4 hours, includes snack Group size: We had only 4 people on our boat — some boats carry up to 8

The fishing boat picked us up and dropped us off directly outside the ship. Our captain Chris was fantastic. We were catching pink salmon (the “pinky finger” of the five salmon species — the guide’s trick for remembering them: thumb = chum, index = sockeye, middle = king, ring finger = silver, pinky = pink).

Final tally: six salmon in the hold. We caught more — several broke off — but six made it. I (Alisa) caught three of the six, which felt pretty good being the only woman on board. The fish were sent to a processor at the dock, filleted, and shipped to our house at home.

Tip: Fishing in the rain is actually kind of magical. Don’t let it stop you.

Evening: Pre-dinner espresso martinis at Mix Bar on Deck 6, then Tanyaki for dinner (loud, lively, fun — the chef performs tableside), followed by the “Bring Back the ’90s” show in the theater (Blockbuster transformation, ’90s TV highlights, fantastic choreography — we laughed through the whole thing).

Final Port: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Hours: 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. — a full day, which is rare. Most Alaska itineraries only give you a late-night stop in Victoria (8 p.m. to midnight).

The shuttle drops you off at the corner of Wharf and Government Street, right in the heart of downtown. Cost: ~$15 USD per person roundtrip, unlimited rides.

What We Did

• Morning on the ship: Massages in the spa (pro tip: spa services are discounted on port days — around $50 off per treatment).
• Bastion Square Market: A weekend artisan market we stumbled into — local art, crafts, and freeze-dried candy (Skittles that puff up into crunchy little pillows — we bought them for our granddaughter).
• Chinatown: Canada’s oldest Chinatown, complete with a winding alley of incense shops, galleries, a record store, and a Chinatown museum.
• Latin America Fest: Happening right next to Chinatown — live music, food, a total surprise.
• Lunch at Little Hunan: 4.5 stars on Yelp, and it deserved every one. Braised beef rice noodle soup with a marinated quail egg, braised chicken wings, and pan-fried shrimp and pork dumplings (made to order). The broth was exceptional.
• Evening walk on the Ogden Point Breakwater: A long pier walk out to a lighthouse with our ship visible the entire time. Chilly and windy but worth it.
• Final night show — The Beatles: Performed in the main theater rather than the Cavern Club (where the band plays certain nights throughout the cruise). A beautiful send-off to the trip.
• Closed out the cruise in the thermal suite. Again. Obviously.

The Bottom Line: Is a 10-Day Alaska Itinerary Worth It?

Absolutely yes — and here’s why the extra days matter:

You get ports others don’t. Icy Straight Point and Sitka were both new to us and became two of the most memorable stops of the trip. The 7-day itinerary misses both.

You get more time in every port. While shorter itineraries had ships leaving Ketchikan in the early afternoon, we stayed until 8 p.m. In Victoria, we had a full daytime visit while others arrive at night.

You get real sea days. The thermal suite, the hot tub, the Vibe Beach Club, the spa — these all become part of your Alaska experience, not just things to do between ports.

Quick Reference: Excursion Costs

Final Tips for Norwegian Joy Alaska Cruisers

1. Book the Thermal Suite pass. If you’re in Alaska, you need somewhere warm and restorative after cold, active port days. This is it.
2. Consider Vibe Beach Club. On a July Alaska sailing, only 33 of 170 spots were sold. You’ll essentially have a private hot tub and uncrowded loungers for Glacier Day.
3. Pre-book excursions for anything you can’t miss. Sea kayaking in Juneau sold out before we could book it onboard. We pivoted to Sitka, but don’t leave it to chance.
4. Get to dining reservations the moment you board.
5. Always bring rain gear. Every port. Every day. And embrace the rain — some of our best moments happened in it.
6. The American Diner is free and legitimately good. Don’t overlook it.
7. Sailing from Seattle is wonderful. Downtown views, easy access, and a beautiful departure through Puget Sound into open water.

Alaska by cruise ship is one of the most spectacular travel experiences available. The wildlife, the glaciers, the rainforests, the fishing — it layers in ways that are hard to describe until you’ve seen a mama bear and three cubs walk under your feet, or a bald eagle bank six feet above your kayak paddle. Go. Do the longer itinerary if you can. And spend at least one afternoon in that thermal suite watching the scenery pass by.

See you on the next adventure.