Anyone have tips on Alaskan cruises? Specifically Princess 7-day cruise from Seattle.

Many cruise companies are not registered in the USA because of our stringent waste containment requirements. I hate the way so many cruise lines contribute to the pollution of our oceans. For that reason, I would make sure any cruise I took was stationed in the USA..

@snowberry They have ports in several places along the US coastline, so I think they would have to abide by our regulations. Princess cruise line is the specific one and the ship we’d be on is the Golden Princess

I did an Alaskan vacation/cruise with Princess lines in 2002. The first cruise of the year and the last cruise of the year are typically the cheapest. If you are going to add the extra week in Alaska, I would suggest you fly to Alaska and take the return cruise to Seattle.

That is how we did it, the people we talked to that went the other way were so tired by the end of the trip that they couldn’t enjoy the last couple of days. We went in June-July and had a 2 week package.

@WestRiverrat Thank you! I don’t think we have enough money or PTO time to take the 2 week option but that sounds lovely! Did you overall enjoy the cruise with Princess? I have only cruised with Carnival and would rate it Fair.

I enjoyed it, there are activities scheduled throughout the day. Or you can just sit on your balcony and watch the scenery go by. There were not a lot of kids on the cruise, so my nephews were not so thrilled with the cruise part of the trip.

If you take the cruise going north, get a cabin on the right side of the ship if you can. Opposite if going southbound.

I would recommend trying the Alaskan Breweries Brown Nut Ale if you like beer.

@WestRiverrat Since our cruise departs from and arrives back at Seattle, I guess the side we get wouldn’t matter, right? Because either way we’d have a land view one way and an ocean view the other? I saw the ones that start and end at different ports and that is a VERY good tip for those cruises! THANK YOU!

What shore trips were you looking at doing? If they were the ones I did, I can rate them for you. If you have the same stops anyway.

The stops are at Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay Nat’l Park, and Ketchikan Alaska and Victoria, British Colombia. I haven’t decided on any excusions but do you have any you recommend doing/bypassing?

Without knowing what you enjoy, I can’t really give you any recommendations. They are serious about the fitness level you need for some of the excursions however. My nephews and their dad really enjoyed the zip lines and kayaking. My sister enjoyed the cooking classes and the whorehouse tour.

Take extra memory for you cameras, you will take lots of pictures.

Sign up for as many excursions as you can afford! I was sadly disappointed in my time on the boat, but off ship was wonderful! There we were, in one of the most amazing places in the world, full of culture, history, geology, and wildlife, and the only presentations on board were about how to line dance, playing bingo, and buy diamonds.