Catch as Ketchikan

Ketchikan is known as Alaska's First City, because she is the first one encountered heading north along the coast, but for the Princess itinerary we've been following, she comes as the last port in Alaska.

I'd have to call "city" a gross exaggeration. Ketchikan is quite small, and I wouldn't plan on spending a full day just browsing the town. That can be done easily in an hour or two max. Still, this is a quaint town in a gorgeous setting, and if you want to lounge away the day nursing an Alaskan Amber or hot cocoa, you can anchor into a table for the duration. If you've been extremely active in the other ports, that could be a nice change of pace.



In any case, you'll want to stroll along clapboard sidwalks through the quaint village at some point, perhaps combining that with a hike through the largest temperate rainforest in the world located just outside of Ketchikan or attending the The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show.

Of course, you can explore on your own if you like, although you should keep an eye out for bears and slippery rocks if you hike through the rainforest on your own, as Julie and I did on a prior trip. While no bears came around to scare us, realizing that no taxi would be returning to pick us up and wondering if we could hike back to the ship before it sailed did put a good scare into us, so I would recommend going with a tour if you head out of downtown.

Princess offers an incredibly diverse menu of excursions for those ready to spend more freely. How about exploring Misty Fjords by Seaplane, spotfishing for salmon or ziplining through 17 1/2 million acre Tongass National Forest, the largest park in North America?

Better service leads to better trips!

Tracy Arm Fjord or Glacier Bay?

All of the cruise lines do a wonderful job describing unique features of their cruises, or more often positioning their cruises in a way that highlights features which are implied to be unique but may be found on other cruises.  A question that comes up frequently for Alaska cruises is, "Which glacier is best?"

Glacier Bay certainly has a great reputation.  It is listed as one of the top reasons for visiting Alaska in surveys, and so cruise lines that visit Glacier Bay, including Princess, trumpet its inclusion.  However, not all Alaska cruises visit Glacier Bay.  Does this mean they should be avoided?

I certainly understand the desire to see Glacier Bay.  The otherworldy calving of glaciers into pristine turquoise waters makes quite an impression, and since it is one of the most visited glaciers, it receives kudos from past visitors, who undoubtedly check its box as a reason for visiting Alaska.

That does not mean other glaciers won't be as impressive, and other glaciers will be visited because there are simply too many ships in Alaska during the summer to avoid congestion if all went to Glacier Bay.

For most of us, all glaciers are pretty awesome, but we'd have as much trouble differentiating which is best as we would choosing the best flavor of gelato if we tasted them all, as opposed to ordering strawberry every time, as some travelers do in Italy.

On some itineraries, including the Golden Princess itinerary we have been following, beautiful Tracy Arm replaces Glacier Bay.

Admittedly, Glacier Bay is bigger, with more glaciers, whereas Tracy Arm is more narrow, more of a fjord for much of it. 

I recently have been reading "Innocents Abroad" by Mark Twain, wherein he talks about how Lake Como pales in comparison to Lake Tahoe, because of the fact that Tahoe is so much wider.  However, I assume many people who have visited Lake Como would say that it was better than Lake Tahoe for other reasons. 

While Glacier Bay is amazing, you may not get as close to the glaciers as to the cliffs of Tracy Arm, or at least that is my assumption based on descriptions I have heard.  If you are going in August, after melting for most of the summer, Tracy Arm should be a pretty good bet for a big ship to penetrate deep and reach the twin Sawyer Glaciers. 

I haven't been to either Galcier Bay or Tracy Arm, although I had to double check my notes to be sure.  My Celebrity cruise went to Hubbard Glacier, which the Royal Caribbean brands tout just as Princess and Holland America tout Glacier Bay.

Hubbard Bay is similar to Glacier Bay, however, and I have also been to Fjordland National Park, which would be most similar to Tracy Arm Fjord.  I was personally as impressed by the fjords as the glaciers, if not more so.  My good friends Mike and Linda Rood, upon returning from a cruise tour that went through College Fjord (once again, this is not Tracy Arm but another fjord) and Glacier Bay, came back most impressed with College Fjord.

I never want to dissuade anyone from doing exactly what they want, but I also see it as my job to offer as much information as necessary to make an informed choice.  I wouldn't choose one cruise over another based strictly on the glacier cruising unless you are a repeat Alaska visitor wanting to either see one you didn't see previously for comparison or definitely taste exactly that same great strawberry gelato...I mean see that same great glacier again.

Better service leads to better trips!

Skagway Excursions

The second stop for Golden Princess is another popular port, Skagway. 

Once again, there are lots of great excursions available with Princess or whatever cruise line you're on. 

To save money, you can light out on your own.  There are some great hiking trails to explore. An amazing activity for bike riders is easy to find. Or, take yourself on a low impact walking tour.

What I do suggest is to mix it up, regardless of whether you're in Alaska or any other destination, so that you hold distinct memories for each place you visit.

While I think the great hiking and biking are hard to beat for active minded people, what you might call Skagway's signature event seems to be the White Pass Railway, whether on its own or in combination with other activities. This is a fully narrated tour through Klondike Gold Rush country in a restored locomotive from that era.

And wherever you go in Alaska, you'll want to be alert for wildlife amid the beautiful scenery.

Juneau Excursions

I frequently tell clients how easy it is to explore Alaskan ports on your own. There's no language barrier, and lots of friendly people, whether fellow passengers or residents, will help you find what you seek.  When traveling with family, this is definitely a way to save money.

However, if you are going out in nature, remember this is not a Disney movie.  A bear can kill you if she's protecting a cub, and there are other ways you could get yourself injured or in trouble.  Go on your own at your own risk!

In Juneau, you can take a bus to Mendenhall Glacier and probably see some eagles and other wildlife on the drive, or you can take Mount Roberts Tramway to breathtaking views at a lovely park. The city has lots to see, including Red Dog Saloon.

Many excursionists, however, may visit any given port only once in their lives, so why not make it a great port by doing exactly what you would most like to do accompanied by an expert?

To that end, allow me to recommend a few excursions for a specific Inside Passage itinerary for Princess, prefacing my remarks by saying Princess like other lines pays no commissions for selling shore excursions to agents, so it will not hurt my feelings in the least if you choose to book an excursion with an independent vendor at the dock or find the destination on your own.

At this hotlink you can find Princess shore excursions in Juneau.

My good friends Chris and Patti enjoyed a Salmon Bake excursion last time and praised the wonderful meal and beautiful scenery. You can choose this a la carte, or do a combination with Mendenhall Glacier or some other activity for an additional fee.

For something more active, how about a guided bike tour?

The exhilerating sport of Ziplining became popular first in the Caribbean, but now you can zip through the rainforests of Alaska, too.

If you want to get even higher off the ground than a zipline, consider taking to the air in a seaplane or helicopter.

These are just a few of the great options you'll find for shore excursions in Juneau.

Oh, and for people like my brother-in-law Mike who would never consider going anywhere without golf, consider playing a quick round at Mendenhall Golf Course. What it lacks in length it makes up for in unique, beautiful views.

Seattle To Go

A few days ago---or has it been weeks?---I said I would go into more details about some of the great things to do on an Inside Passage cruise from Seattle.

Golden Princess is a gorgeous, comfortable ship that offers wonderful value on this itinerary.  Before getting on the ship, however, you should start your vacation with at least a day or two in the Seattle area. 

People who love cities will find much to love in the Emerald City, where trees and water enhance the skyline views.

The signature monument is the Space Needle, built for the 1962 Century 21 Expo (Seattle World's Fair), an event I attended as a boy with my family that I remember well.  If you've never been to Seattle, you need to have a meal up there in the rotating restaurant, or at least go up to see the view, even if it is a bit of a tourist ripoff. 

At Pike Place Market, fish mongers throw around the catch of the day like the Seahawks toss the pigskin, with only slightly less crowd noise for the long, arcing tosses and graceful receptions.  And the admission is free.

Of course, Seattle is the home of Starbucks and Seattle's Best Coffee, plus countless other coffee houses, so you'll want to have a cup or two, even if you don't think you're at all like Frasier Crane or his brother Niles.

There are islands to visit too, which you can reach by ferries and sometimes bridges, plus water activities including amphibius Ducks.

I recommend taking a drive through the beautiful countryside and visiting some of the parks of the surrounding region.  And while you're out in the country, why not head to Snohomish County for some real fun: river rafting?

This is one of the best places for family rafting.  There are lots of companies to choose from, and it is a blast.  You hit some good rapids, and when it slows down, you might have a guide who gives you the chance to try "rodeo," which is where you stand on the inflated rim, hold onto a rope, and lean back while the rest of the rowers rotate the raft until you fly off.

As you can see, there's something for everyone to do before you even step onto the cruise ship.

Small World

Most of us probably rarely think about what a small world this has become.  Not only do we fly across the country in a few hours, we can arrive in the distant continents of Australia, Asia, Europe, South America and Africa in well under a day.  We went from horses to trains to cars to jet planes.

We blasted through the age of Pony Express and telegraphs to telephones and television. We now Skype video calls around the world without leaving home.   We become friends with people on the other side of the world over the internet.  Our progress over the last 150 years dwarfs that which Mark Twain wrote about in “Innocents Abroad” with such amazement as having progressed from the beginning of recorded history to his "present" in the 1860s.   

“Dan was the northern and Beersheba the southern limit of Palestine—hence the expression ‘from Dan to Beersheba.’  It is equivalent to our phrases ‘from Maine to Texas’—‘from Baltimore to San Francisco.’  Our expression and that of the Israelites both mean the same—great distance. 

With their slow camels and asses, it was about seven days’ journey from Dan to Beersheba—say a hundred and fifty or sixty miles—it was the entire length of a country, and was not to be undertaken without great preparation and much ceremony.-- When the Prodicgal traveled to 'a far country,' it is not likely that he went more than eighty or ninety miles.  Palestine is only from forty to sixty miles wide.  The State of Missouri could be split into three Palestines, and there would then be enough material left for part of another--possibly a whole one.  From Baltimore to San Francisco is several thousand miles, but it wil be only a seven days' journey in the cars when I am two or three years older.--(The railroad has been completed since the above was written.)—If I live I shall necessarily have to go across the continent every now and then in those cars, but one journey from Dan to Beersheba will be sufficient, no doubt.  It must be the most trying of the two.” 

Twain's mode of transportation for his overland Holy Land excursion of several days in blistering heat was on the back of old, lame horses over rocky roads.

It’s good to reflect upon how fortunate we are, and what amazing opportunities we have in the 21^st Century.  Not everyone in the world enjoys our privileged perch, and in fact some still live pre-agricultural lives, like the nomadic Bedouins in the Middle East to this day, but I assume if you are reading this blog, you aren’t living in a cave illuminated and warmed by burning dung.

At this time and place, we live with greater dining and entertainment choices than royalty throughout most of history.  And as far as travel goes, the vast majority of ancient peoples never journeyed as far as that Prodigal Son referenced by Mr. Twain.  The question has ceased being "if" it is possible to go somewhere but rather "when?"

Where in the world would you like to go?  Once you decide, it’s just a matter of saving enough to do so in an acceptable style.  Once you have your goal, you’ll be surprised how quickly your focused subconscious mind will find ways to make it happen, and probably sooner than you would have imagined.  Take the first step today by setting a goal.  Better service leads to better trips!