I came to Alaska expecting to see some breathtaking scenery and wildlife. While I anticipated scenic beauty I had no idea that the entire state would be so incredibly beautiful!

When you cruise Alaska you simply must spend the extra money for a private veranda. The public deck area will probably be terribly crowded with passengers from inside and outside cabins. With your own veranda you can sit back and take in the scenery in privacy and un-crowded comfort.

We chose to fly into Seattle and take the three hour long bus ride to Vancouver to pick up our ship. This was, in our opinion, a big mistake. Fly into Vancouver instead. The bus from Seattle did pass through some pretty country but the ride was long and boring otherwise.

For us the highlight of the entire trip was Auke bay in Juneau – don’t miss it! We found Ketchikan not very interesting. We took a boat tour there that was a waste of time and money. It was boring in the extreme and when we boarded the bus for the return to the ship the bus was unable to climb the hill to the main highway! So we had to get off the bus and climb up the hill in a pouring cold rain so the unloaded bus could struggle up the hill. The shops in Ketchikan were nice.

 

When we entered the Ketchikan port we saw many eagles flying overhead. I videoed two eagles flying parallel to the ship and it was wonderful! One actually flew so close he turned his head to look at me! And I caught it all on video.

We took our cruise in mid June which is a great time to go. The weather was wonderful with the high temps averaging around 60. We had several sunny days when the mercury climbed into the low 70s. It only rained that one day in Ketchikan. The days were very long - around 18 hours or so.

The Hubbard Glacier was incredible. Our ship (Radiance of the Seas) moved into position in front of the glacier. It sat there for twenty minutes or so, and then the ship slowly rotated 180 degrees and sat there for another twenty minutes to the folks on the other side of the ship could get a good look.

The water was cold, blue and full of beautiful white ice. The whole scene was surreal and breathtaking. You’ll never forget it!

We had a "Naturalist" on board who provided a running commentary on the glacier area as we passed through – very interesting. Take plenty of film, video tapes or memory chips! You’ll take lots and lots of pictures.