Our Family's First Cruise to...Alaska

My family recently went on an Alaskan Cruise through Holland America aboard the Eurodam. My parents (and tons of our friends) have been traveling to Alaska for years...and it seemed to be on everyone's bucket list, but being someone who worked in the hotel industry, the thought of taking a cruise had just never crossed our mind. First off...who could turn down free hotel rooms, second who wanted to take a cruise to see a bunch of ice, and finally who would want to do this with three little boys? I can tell you that I am now a changed man and the moment we returned from our trip, my wife Katie was already researching where we were going to go on our next cruise (FYI it is probably the Mediterranean).

Alaska is sometimes thought of as America’s last frontier, with the state’s rugged mountains covering huge amounts of land, and much of it largely untouched by humans.

Alaska is also home to glaciers and wide waterways, referred to as passages, bordering the thick majestic mountains. Our cruise ventured through the inside passage and allowed us to get a firsthand look at wildlife, vistas and glaciers that most people on earth will never be able to experience. It truly was breathtaking. Below is a quick overview of not only the "ins and outs" of taking a cruise, but some of our favorite things we did while in each port with a family.

OUR SHIP

As mentioned above, we were on the Holland America Eurodam which was launched in 2008, but just recently rehabbed. It was definitely a 4 star experience with regards to the ship amenities, activities and food and beverage....but the staff was 5-star all around (think Ritz Carlton). I have never seen such a superior level of customer service. WOW.

The Eurodam was one of the smaller ships we saw during our cruise only housing about 2,100 guests vs some of the new cruse behemoths that have recently launched which look like floating office buildings. While the Eurodam didn't have some of the amenities that the other ships did (i.e., water slides, FlowRiders, etc) it had plenty of places for the boys to explore on their own, for us to sneak away, and was just right when we all had to come together for some quality family time.

One of the cool things about our trip was when we entered Glacier Bay National Park, and because of a partnership with Holland America, we had a handful of naturalists and park rangers board the ship to gave us updates as we sailed through the park. The ship also had some pretty cool partnerships with the Lincoln Center, BB Kings's Blues Club, Cook's Illustrated Test Kitchen, Alaskan Brewery, Oprah and more. These partners definitely lended itself to providing some branded content that was on point and enjoyable for guest of all ages.

TIME TO VISIT

Alaska has a very short cruise season running from May to September. Our cruise was the first week in June and to be honest, it might have been better to go a couple of weeks later in the season. We had friends that did the same itinerary two weeks before us and my cousins did the same itinerary about three weeks after us. And, while we had great weather, great seas and truly enjoyed ourselves...we were a bit too early to see the salmon swimming upstream to spawn in Ketchikan. One thing to call out was that the sun was out - a lot. Sunrise was around 4am and sunset was just before 11pm....so this light pattern definitely played havoc on the boys' sleeping patterns. But it definitely was cool to have it light at 11p. Below is a picture from Juneau at 11p.

OUR ITINERARY

Below is what our 7 day itinerary looked like. Overall, we felt that 7 days was the perfect amount of time for this cruise...although I have heard that doing a one way Alaska cruise is a great option too in that you can fit in an extra port or two on that itinerary.

• Departed from Seattle

• Day at Sea

• Juneau, Alaska

• Glacier Bay National Park (this was a day at sea where we saw the glaciers)

• Sitka, Alaska

• Ketchikan, Alaska

• Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

• Arrived back in Seattle

While there were some pretty awesome (AKA pricey) shore excursions (think helicopter and seaplane tours) we opted to explore the ports on our own except for Sitka where we did the Sea Otter and Wildlife Quest. The Sea Otter and Wildlife Quest allowed us to get out on the water for about 3 hours to explore the Sitka Sound. We ended up seeing sea otters, bald eagles, sea lions, porpoises, harbor seals and humpback whales (a lot of them) and everything was in their natural habitat...which was pretty spectacular. Now part of the experience of visiting Alaska is getting to hike up a glacier, get pulled by a dog sled or go out on a king crab fishing vessel....so make sure you do what you can...as several of these trips I am sure will provide lasting memories.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

I have been traveling to Seattle for years, and always enjoy visiting this hustling and bustling metropolis. It has certainly grown over the years with Amazon World taking shape, but it was fun to be a tourist in this city. Our hub for our pre and post cruise was the Grand Hyatt Seattle. Located right in the heart of downtown and steps from the Metro and Pike Market, this was a great place to call home. But even though we were centrally located we definitely got our steps in the days we were in town...and packed a ton into our visit.

We were able to eat and drink our way through the city noshing on the freshest fish, crispest beers (never drinking more than one particular beer two times) and got to enjoy some of the best coffee. Some of our favorites were Moore's Coffee which had the best coffee and waffles plus inserted spectacular designs into the latte foam, Pike Place Chowder which served up a number of award winning Chowders and the dark horse of the bunch was The Cyclopes which frightened the boys when they walked in the door and frightened us when one of the waters for the boys turned out to be the bartender' s "shift drink" which was 100% gin, but the food was absolutely delicious. Another favorite of mine was visiting Top Pot doughnuts and the original Starbucks down at the Public Market...but the lines have gotten much longer over the years and we had to skip this visit.

As mentioned, the City of Seattle is definitely a walkable city, but has its fair share of hills. The city was actually built on a hill and originally called New York, but over the years adopted its name from an Indian leader who befriended the original settlers. A great tour to learn the history of the city was the Underground Tour which took you through the bowels of downtown Seattle and allowed you to see firsthand the original storefronts of 1890 era Seattle. The tour guide educated us on the seamstress circles/prostitutes, politics, logging industry, politics, corruption and more. This was a fun tour for a rainy day, but not sure this would be at the top of my list if I had to visit again.

We also had time to explore the Pacific Science Center which was a pretty awesome kids museum bankrolled by the Gates Foundation and other friends of the city. Not our favorite kids museum ever visited, but this place went on forever and had plenty of rooms to explore and activities to partake in. Our favorites were the butterfly garden and the insect village complete with a naked mole-rat housing complex. Definitely fun with a Laser Dome and IMAX add-ons, but there are better out there.

As you are out exploring you are sure to hit all the famous stops like the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass, the Seattle Art Museum, Public Market and more. The Public Market was so fun to explore with the farmers market and fresh fish always on display and being thrown around. This was by far the favorite destination for the boys.

All in all, Seattle is a fantastic city to escape - with either your favorite someone or your favorite family. We only had about 2 days to explore, but there was so much more.

JUNEAU, ALASKA

After being on the ship 30 hours, our first port of call was Juneau, Alaska’s capital city and the only capitol city in the United States which isn't accessible by car. Juneau was also one of the wackiest cities out there in that I almost felt like I was walking into a Swiss Village rather than a state capital. It is located on a inside passage/waterway that never freezes and adjacent to a glacier that never melts. Once disembarked you are right in the heart of Juneau - Franklin Street - which was lined with shops, bars and restaurants...many adorned with themes and decor from Juneau's gold-rush past. Some of our favorite attractions were visiting the Alaskan Brewing Company - located just outside the city, walking in and then out of the Red Dog Saloon where they had some famous drink called the Duck Fart (this is overrated in my opinion), and visiting the capital building which was camouflaged as a four story office building. A lot of our time in Juneau was spent walking around and trying to figure out what to do. We thought all the places you wanted to see were going to be right there once you got off the ship. However this wasn't the case. Just walking around Juneau wasn't the best idea, so plan ahead so you have some sort of agenda. Thinking back, it would have been a good idea to either take a tour to visit the Mount Roberts Tram which took you 1,800 ft up to the top of Mount Roberts or going on an excursion to the Mendenhall Glacier which is the only glacier out there you can hike on and known for its deep blue colors that appear when it is sunny out. Unfortunately the day we were in Juneau it was cold, cloudy and gloomy, so we passed on these two top attractions.

GLACIER BAY NATIONAL PARK, ALASKA

Our third day at sea was spent trekking through Glacier Bay National Park and enjoying a truly majestic place. Founded by Captain James Cook (the famed British Explorer) in 1778...there is no place quite like this on earth. Only two cruise ships are let into the park each day which covers over 3.2 million acres of forest, inlet and shore. As you venture down the inlet you are surrounded by mountains - some with peaks over 15,000 feet. It truly was breathtaking. Besides seeing a handful of glaciers (eight if you are keeping track), including Margerie

Glacier which is almost 1 mile wide and 13 stories tall, one of our favorite activities was just hanging out in the Crows Nest playing games and taking in the magnificent vistas. There also was plenty of wildlife to spot along the shore from eagles to mountain goats. There weren't any whales up in Glacier Bay given the silt that was melting into the ocean from the glaciers. But make sure you check this place out as the glaciers are melting at a record pace and predicted to be gone in the next 25 years.

SITKA, ALASKA

I will be honest, the only time I had ever heard of Sitka before this trip was from the movie The Proposal with Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock. And I will have to say, I sure am glad that we had a shore excursion booked for Sitka, as there wasn't much to this town. From the guide books, this city sounded like it was going to be pretty cool given it was once the capital city while it was part of the Russian Empire back in the late 1700s, prospering by the sale of Sea Otter pelts. Fun fact, Sea Otters have over

1 million hairs in a one inch square on their body. While there were quite a few things to do outside the city including the Fortress of the Bear wildlife preserve and Alaska Raptor Center, we stayed central and just did a large lap around the city. Now there were come cool things to see like Totem Square which had some authentic totem poles paying homage to Sitka's Russian heritage, visiting Saint Michael's Cathedral smack dab in the center of the city featuring a very beautiful collection of Russian Orthodox art and church treasures. Built in 1844, this church had some gorgeous icons, but that was about it. There wasn't much else. The main drag - Lincoln Street- was filled with souvenir shops and local stores and galleries. Overall this city was there for its great weather and access to wildlife, but there really wasn't much else to do.

KETCHIKAN, ALASKA

Probably our favorite port to visit during this trip, Ketchikan made visiting their gorgeous city easy. They had designated walking tours of the city already laid out so you could see all that they had to offer. Ketchikan was founded in 1885 as a salmon cannery site and over the years has built itself out into the "Salmon Capital of the World." Ketchikan is also known as the "Rain Capital of the World" with over 200 inches of rain a year...but not a drop fell from the sky while we were in town. But fish and rain aside, most people came to this great city back in the day to visit some of its more famous attractions and residents who resided within the Creek Street "red-light district." This zigzagged boardwalk built above Ketchikan Creek supported over 30 "sporting houses" during its heyday. Today those houses have been converted into private shops and business. Even "Dolly's House" where

the famous Madam Dolly Copeland Arthur lived is now a museum.

This city was very well laid out and felt it was the most active of the ports we had visited. There were lots of stores and restaurants that filled the streets, but places you actually wanted to explore vs tourists traps selling the same things. There were plenty of joints to buy your fresh caught Salmon...and watch the Salmon climbing the ladder to spawn (but we were two weeks early). Did you know there are five types of Salmon which all have their own distinct flavor, texture and character? The most popular is King Salmon known for its silky texture and flavor. Silver/Coho salmon is known for its "fighting ability" by local fisherman, Sockeye Salmon is the more high end of the bunch, Pink Salmon and Chum Salmon are the more low end blends used for sauces and canning. All in all, this was a very walkable city to explore and kept the boy's attention as we hit all the city treasures over the course of a 2 hour walk.

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA

Victoria was a gorgeous city and again very walkable. For some reason there is a rule that all Alaskan cruises need to port in Victoria. Not sure why, but this is one city I wish we would have had more time in. Typically the last port on the itinerary before heading back to Seattle you only had around 4 hours to explore, docking at 6p and departing at 10p. Luckily there, daylight was still in our favor being so far north, we had plenty of time to walk about the city. Now the walk from the cruise port to downtown was definitely a hike, but it was well worth it taking you through a park and through their Fisherman's Wharf, a cute area with 30 or so restaurants, bars all floating on the harbor. Also there were a handful of houseboats that were super cute...and they should be for

$1.5m. Once you got into the city you were greeted with a gorgeous view of downtown with the Fairmont Empress Hotel (which is known for its high tea) to the left and the British Columbia Parliament Buildings to the right which were built around 1897. Nicknamed the "City of Gardens," Victoria was a clean, well laid out and beautiful city. If we lived in the Pacific Northwest, I certainly would have this on my weekend getaway list.

All in all, our first cruise was definitely well worth the effort and we can't wait to pick out where we are going on our next one. Happy Traveling.