Here’s 10 Things I Wish I Knew Before Taking My First Cruise to Alaska

If you’re planning to cruise to Alaska, it’s important to know that a cruise to this part of the world is very different to a cruise to almost anywhere else. Before taking my first cruise to Alaska, I didn’t realise this, and so I would love to rewind time to do some things differently.

In this article, I’m going to share with you 10 things that I really wish I’d known before taking my first cruise to Alaska. If I’d known about these things, I’d undoubtably have had a much better cruise experience. Hopefully this page can help you to avoid making some of the mistakes that I did on my cruise, and also help you with your general planning.

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Before I tell you the 10 things that I wish I’d known before taking my cruise, I do want to stress that if you’re planning to cruise to Alaska, you really need to spend some time thinking specifically about which cruise line and cruise ship you’d like to experience it on.

This is an important task for any cruise, but it’s even more important for an itinerary like this. For many, Alaska is a ‘bucket list’ cruise destination, and it’s a trip that many will only make once. For that reason, don’t choose the wrong ship!

Some cruise lines are considered to be more ‘expert’ than others in this region, and some have been cruising the Alaskan waters for years now. Over the last few years, Alaska has grown massively in popularity, meaning that cruise competition here is now more fierce than ever.

It’s not just the cruise line that you need to think about - you really should spend some time making sure that your cruise ship is ‘Alaska-proof’. That’s not an official term, but it’s a term that I use to suggest that you should make sure you’re booking on a ship that’s prepared for what a region like Alaska’s going to throw at it. Think about booking a ship with facilities like an indoor swimming pool for inclement weather (if you’d like to reliably use the pool, of course), and public venues with lots of glass to allow you to enjoy the scenery from the comfort of the inside of the ship.

I chose to take my first Alaskan cruise with Princess Cruises. At the point of my cruise, I was reading nothing but very positive reviews, and I knew that they were also among the most experienced in this part of the world. I’m delighted to report that they certainly didn’t disappoint - they did an incredible job of showing us somewhere that so many won’t ever get to see!

I chose Discovery Princess, one of the huge cruise ships from Princess Cruises, for my first cruise to Alaska. © Fraser at Sea

So, what are the 10 things that I wish I’d known before taking my first cruise to Alaska? Let’s get started!

1. I Wish I’d Known about the Potential Sea State between Seattle and Alaska!

My first cruise to Alaska wasn’t just my first cruise to that region - it was also my first ever cruise from the West coast of the USA. Many cruises heading to Alaska will depart from Seattle or Vancouver, which means that you’re going to be in a pretty open (or exposed) body of water from the point of your departure until you arrive at the Inside Passage.

Once you reach the Inside Passage (which is where most Alaskan cruises will sail), the water conditions are usually pretty calm as you’re protected on both sides by land. However, the same can’t be said for your time cruising the Pacific to head North.

I wasn’t affected by seasickness during my cruise, but my two friends who I was travelling with were. They spent most of the first day in their cabin trying to recover, and so we lost most of our first day onboard together as a result. Had I known that the conditions could be rough out there, I’d have packed medication - a complete oversight on my part!

Your weather conditions cruising to Seattle can be calm, but they can also be choppy! © Fraser at Sea

2. I Wish I’d Known how BUSY Alaska would be…

Before taking this cruise, I’d seen lots of brochures and countless websites advertising cruises to Alaska. They showed people out exploring the ports of call, taking walks into the wilderness, and escaping the ‘crowds’ that are often associated with cruising.

However, the reality was really quite different in some places.

We were never the only cruise ship docked in any of our ports - there was always at least one other cruise ship docked with us. This not only made the ports themselves much busier, but it also made them much louder places to spend time - far from the calm and serene pictures I’d seen before the trip.

One aspect that did surprise me about cruising to Alaska was how easy it was to leave the crowds behind once you left the immediate port area. So many people would stay local to the ship, so the simple task of taking a bus, or going for a longer walk, would allow you to experience a more ‘real’ feeling port, rather than one full of tourists. You’d quickly leave the typical ‘tourist trap’ eateries too, which allowed you to support local businesses much better just a few streets away.

My top tip to you if you’re cruising to Alaska in the future is to leave the cruise ship early to explore the area local to the port, and then aim to head further out. You’ll not only see more doing this, but you’ll also leave the crowds behind.

We were joined by other cruise ships in every Alaskan port, making them busy places to explore! © Fraser at Sea

In some ports, we had multiple cruise ships nearby. Here’s Holland America Line’s Noordam and also Ruby Princess, another of the cruise ships from Princess Cruises, docked in Ketchikan. © Fraser at Sea

3. I Wish I’d Known That I Didn’t Need to Worry about Packing!

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably worrying about packing for your cruise to Alaska. Have you packed enough clothes? Are you packing the right things? What if you run out of clothes while you’re away because you’re wearing more than you normally would on a cruise?

Honestly, I’d love to take your hand and reassure you not to worry. There are so many videos online stressing that packing for a cruise to Alaska is a really difficult task to get right, and I found the opposite to be the case.

Perhaps it’s because I don’t live in a warm country, but I honestly found that you simply needed to apply ‘common sense’ to the act of packing, and you’d be absolutely fine. My biggest tip is to pack for it being cooler rather than warmer - I’d always rather be too warm than too cold… Besides, warm weather clothes are basically just the base layers of your cold weather outfits - you’re going to be packing t-shirts etc anyway.

Rather than spending energy focussing on clothes, I’d suggest you spend some time thinking about items that you might want to take that can specifically enhance an Alaskan cruise. For example, do you have binoculars packed? These can help you scan the land during your ‘scenic cruising’ periods for wildlife - I’d really recommend packing a pair of these!

The below YouTube video, from Ilana at ‘Life Well Cruised’ dives into detail on some more of the items that you can pack to really improve your cruise experience.

4. I Wish I’d Spent More Time Planning What to do When Docked in Port…

One thing I discovered pretty quickly when it comes to Alaskan ports of call is that many of them are very different to their Caribbean or Mediterranean equivalents. At lots of the cruise ports I’d visited previously, I’d simply walk off of the cruise ship, and many of the main attractions would be nearby. In Alaska, the story can be quite different.

If you’re hoping to go and glacier spot, for example, these aren’t going to be in the downtown areas that the ships dock in. Instead, you’ll be required to take public transport, or cruise line-organised Shore Excursions, to get there. I didn’t realise this until I was already on the ship, and so my time to research beforehand had already run out!

Let’s move on to the next point, because that explains why I struggled to do much port research before arriving at the first port of call…

5. I Wish I’d Known that Phone Signal and WiFi Connectivity (including Ship Internet) can be MUCH More Unreliable on Alaskan Cruises.

I really enjoy when a cruise has a sea day relatively close to the start of the itinerary. This day allows me the rare opportunity to sit with a coffee and research my upcoming ports before we arrive.

Shortly after we left Seattle onboard Discovery Princess, it became clear that connectivity was going to be a major issue on this cruise.

I’d assumed that connectivity in somewhere like Alaska would be similar to my experiences in places like Norway, but it was nowhere near as reliable. I’d struggle to connect my devices to the onboard network, and then when they would connect the signal would be so weak that even a simple webpage would take such a long time to load.

This made port research, which I’d usually do while on the ship, almost impossible. I was able to attend some lectures about our upcoming ports, and I was able to figure out from these how I’d be able to see what I wanted to see, but it wasn’t the easiest task.

My big learning here - if I’m visiting new ports on a cruise, I’ll always aim to do my research BEFORE heading to the cruise port - it’s simply not worth taking the risk with onboard WiFi!

The onboard lectures were incredibly useful to find out about the best things to see and do when ‘in port’ throughout the cruise. © Fraser at Sea

We had a number of guest speakers onboard Discovery Princess - be sure to check your Daily Schedule to avoid missing out on these! © Fraser at Sea

6. I Wish I’d Known how Varied the Weather can be in Alaska!

In all of my cruises (I’ve now taken well over 50, at the point of writing this article), I’ve never experienced somewhere with more varied weather than Alaska. We had multiple days on our trip that started off cold in the morning (cold enough to be wearing a hat and gloves), that would then turn warm enough to be wearing shorts and a t-shirt in the afternoon.

Not only does this make packing for the trip itself interesting, but it also means that packing your day bag for going ashore each day a little more challenging than on most other trips.

For your reference, I cruised in July, and managed to get a good level of usage out of my hats, gloves, scarves and also shorts!

Our weather in Alaska would often start like this image: cold with fog. As the day went on, it would often burn off and we’d be left with blue skies and sunshine! © Fraser at Sea

7. I Wish I’d Known that the Popular Shore Tours and Excursions would SELL OUT Before the Cruise!

That’s right - you’re going to find that many of the most popular shore excursions offered by the cruise line are going to sell out well in advance of the cruise. In some cases, they’ll sell out months before the cruise is scheduled to depart. Crazy, isn’t it?

I learned this lesson the hard way when we arrived in Skagway, Alaska. I had really wanted to experience the ‘White Pass & Yukon Route’ railway, but spaces on the tour organised by the cruise line sold out months before. I assumed that I’d be able to simply purchase a ticket when I arrived at the port. However, I was so wrong!

With the most popular attractions, the cruise lines will often book the entirety of the offering, so that no additional public tickets can be sold. In the example of the train, each cruise ship had reserved multiple carriages, meaning that there weren’t any spaces on the train for the public to ride.

Other ‘big ticket’ excursions that will book up quickly, and likely sell out before the cruise, include: helicopter tours, seaplane rides, whale watching boat trips, scenic mountain tours, glacier trips and more - be cautious if you’re hoping to do any of these that you don’t leave it too late!

If you’re planning to cruise to Alaska and the excursion you’re looking for has sold out, don’t worry. I recommend checking Viator, a third-party tour site, for availability. I’ve used Viator in multiple cities around the world, and have had nothing but positive experiences with them. The best part is that their tours often come at a fraction of the cost of the cruise lines!

To check out Viator’s offering now for yourself, just click here, or click the image below!

Third party sites like Viator can be a great way to book on to tours at a fraction of the cost of those being offered by the cruise lines. Click the image above to find out more! (ad)

8. I Wish I’d Known that Wildlife Sightings are SO Likely on Cruises to Alaska!

If you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of an eagle, a whale, a bear or maybe even something else on your future cruise, then you’re going to be delighted with this one. I really wish I’d known before taking this cruise how likely I’d be to spot wildlife, as I’d have made a few adjustments to my packing to give myself the best chance possible.

If you’re going to be ‘scenic cruising’ at any point of your itinerary, you’re likely going to have land very close to your cruise ship - perhaps even on both sides. This means that you’re going to have the opportunity to not just spot wildlife up close to the ship in the water, but also wildlife on land by scanning along the shoreline.

Think about things like bears - you’ll often find them close to the water, so now’s your chance!

I mentioned binoculars earlier - you’re not going to be close enough to land to spot things like bears with the naked eye unless you’ve got really good eyesight, but things like binoculars will really help you. These can be picked up relatively inexpensively from websites like Amazon, so you really don’t have any reason to not pack a pair into your luggage!

Does ‘Scenic Cruising’ feature on your itinerary? If so, prepare to spot some wildlife! © Fraser at Sea

9. I Wish I’d Known how Scenic our ‘Scenic Cruising’ Time Would be…

I know what you’re thinking - the clue’s in the name, isn’t it? Well, I suspected that our scenic cruising time would be pretty, but I didn’t expect it to look anything like it did.

When I woke up, our ship was cruising up towards a glacier, and we had little icebergs drifting down either side of the ship. I couldn’t believe my eyes - I’d never seen anything like this before!

I did set an alarm to wake up early, and was out on deck at around 6am. However, had I known it was going to be as picturesque out there as it was, I’d probably have skipped my evening meal in the dining room the night before, and got up even earlier.

I didn’t watch any YouTube videos before my cruise, as I wanted to be fully surprised with what I’d be met with in the morning, but perhaps that’s a good way of figuring out if it’s worth the (really) early rise, or not…

We ended scenic cruising along Endicott Arm - well worth the early wake-up call! © Fraser at Sea

I didn’t expect the scenery along Endicott Arm to be as spectacular as it was. © Fraser at Sea

10. I Wish I’d Known that Alaskan Cruise Ports Would be More EXPENSIVE Than I Was Used to…

This one caught me very much ‘off guard’ throughout my cruise. Before this trip, I’d cruised in the Caribbean and also over in Europe, and so I assumed that Alaskan ports would probably be priced in the range that I was used to from both of these regions.

However, I found myself to be completely wrong - it was much more expensive than I’d thought it was going to be!

One port that I found to be much more expensive than I’d expected was Juneau. An example I’d give here is that there’s a cable car close to where the ships dock - the price for a return day ticket on that cable car was $60 (USD) per person - yes, per person! For a family, that price point very quickly makes it unachievable - I can’t imagine spending that price for multiple people to go up and admire the views…

It wasn’t just attractions that were more expensive - restaurants and cafes also demanded a price premium. I don’t have any issues with this, and do always try to support the local economy when I cruise. The simple task of buying a coffee in port can put some money in local people’s pockets - it’s well worth doing! That said, on future cruises to this part of the world, I’d pack a little extra cash and would recommend you do so, too!

Alaskan cruise ports might be more expensive than what you’re used to! © Fraser at Sea

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the 10 things that I wish I’d known before cruising to Alaska. If you have, then why not support my content by checking out another of my posts below, or by coming over to check out my YouTube channel?

Here’s a link to another of my YouTube videos, and you’ll find more of my website posts directly underneath. This video shows what it was like to embark Discovery Princess in Seattle to begin our cruise to Alaska. Note: this is one of my older videos, but I figured you’d probably enjoy it if you’ve made it this far through this post!

Happy Cruising!