Princess Alaska Cruise Itinerary and Ports
We share itinerary and port details from our Princess Alaska Cruise. We sailed a one-way seven night inside passage cruise from Whittier, Alaska to Vancouver, British Columbia with stops at Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan.
This cruise was the second half of our Princess cruise tour. We started our adventure in Fairbanks and visited both the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge and the McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge. A train ride from Talkeetna to Whittier marked the transition from the land portion of our Alaska adventure to the cruise.
Why Take an Alaska Cruise Tour
Visiting Alaska is a bucket list item for us. We would love to see the best of what the United States has to offer and Alaska is that rugged frontier that is a must visit place. We knew that there would be so much to see and wanted to experience things both on land and by sea. A cruise tour seemed like the perfect way to get some of each.
We are trying to visit all of the national parks. This adventure enabled us to visit two. We experienced Denali National Park and had the good fortune to have clear weather to see North America’s tallest mountain. And we had the opportunity to visit Glacier Bay National Park, which is best experienced from the water. But, there was so much more to Alaska. We are trying to cover the best of what we saw, so be sure to check out our series of posts and videos from this amazing Alaska adventure
Be sure to check out the rest of our Alaska adventure series of posts and videos where we share what we learned and help you plan your adventure.
Princess Alaska Cruise Overview
When we started planning our Alaska cruise tour, we had to select which line we wanted to sail on. Most of the cruise lines offer Alaska sailings and they all likely have good offerings. We wanted to have an easy package that would combine both a land and sea itinerary. We wanted to visit national parks like Denali and Glacier Bay. And we wanted to ensure we had as much time in port as possible so that we could really enjoy the places we planned to visit.
For this adventure, the itinerary was the key driver. While we enjoy the amenities a cruise ship can offer, the Alaska adventure was more about ensuring we could experience the best of what Alaska had to offer.
When we compared how long ships stayed in port and where they docked, along with the offering of a cruise tour, our list narrowed to Princess and Holland America. We sailed with Princess before, on the Ruby, and it was a great experience. We opted to use them again.
Itinerary
There are a few options for cruises in Alaska. Do you want a round trip that starts and ends in the same port? Would you prefer the calmer inside passage to a more ocean-like outside passage? If you are doing a cruise tour, do you start on the cruise or start on land?
We opted for a cruise tour with the land portion first followed by a one-way southbound inside passage cruise. On the land portion of a cruise tour you’ll be moving every day or two. We felt like it would be good to do the frequent move portion of the journey first, then relax the rest of the trip on the cruise. That worked well.
The tour we booked was the IB5 12-Day Denali Explorer. We started in Fairbanks and added two days to explore on our own. We then stayed two nights each at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge and the McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge. A train journey brought us down to Whittier to board the cruise.
At sea, we visited the Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park, Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan. A cruise through the inside passage brought us to Vancouver where our cruise ended. We added two nights in Vancouver so that we could explore Vancouver and Victoria before flying home.
For the cruise, we found the sea days and glacier visits to be wonderful. At the ports, we always seemed to have the best berth with easy access to port amenities.
Whittier
We arrived in Whitter later in the day. The train dropped us off with an easy walk to board the ship. With this itinerary, we unfortunately didn’t get to explore Whittier. Before we knew it, we were sailing away and Whittier disappeared into the horizon.
Hubbard Glacier
Our first full day on the ship was described as scenic cruising in Yakutat Bay and Hubbard Glacier. The day was filled with amazing views. We spent much of the day just enjoying the water and mountain views as we steamed toward the glacier. However, we wouldn’t arrive at Hubbard until about 3 so we had plenty of time to explore and enjoy the ship.
After an early breakfast, we headed to the Princess Theater to hear a presentation from Sandra the naturalist. She gave several talks during the cruise which were really good. She shared about some of the abundant wildlife that we might be able to see during our cruise.
The main reason we took this itinerary was to see some of Alaska’s natural beauty. We spent a fair amount of time on deck. However, with a temperature of 45F/7C and a forecast of light rain, it was a bit chilly. Glad we packed hats & gloves. We arrived at the glacier around 3:00 in the afternoon and spent several hours in the area.
Water in the area was filled with floating ice and seagulls were flying in the sky. Once reached the glacier, the ship did a full 360 degree turn so that people could enjoy the view. Then, the ship headed back out from Yakutat Bay and set sail for the next destination.
While the pictures show a cloudy day, we enjoyed having the opportunity to visit Hubbard Glacier. It was amazing getting close enough to see this incredible glacier.
It was pretty amazing seeing the Hubbard Glacier. In a large cruise ship, we could get close but not too close. If we are lucky enough to return, we’d consider booking the Hubbard Glacier & Wilderness Exploration excursion. On that one, you transfer to a smaller boat that can get extremely close to the glacier and affords a better opportunity for wildlife watching.
Glacier Bay
Our second full day on the cruise was a visit to Glacier Bay National Park. As part of our goal to visit all of the national parks, it was great to have the opportunity to visit this amazing place. One thing that Princess does differently from most cruise lines is that they bring park rangers on board. They arrived by boat in the morning and were available throughout the day for questions.
The ship made the trip up Glacier Bay and arrived at the Margerie Glacier around 1:00. It was pretty amazing. We even saw a bit of ice fall from the glacier. After getting a 360 view of this glacier, the ship made its way to the Lamplugh Glacier for more beautiful scenery.
It was a fairly wet, windy, and chilly day. But, there is no such thing as bad weather, right? So we spent quite a bit of the day outside.
The views were amazing! This is a place where you will likely want to have a good set of binoculars and we were glad we brought a pair. While we didn’t see a ton of wildlife on this day, we both saw Kittiwake birds flying, seals swimming, and I did spot a quick view of a humpback whale. Amazing!
There was a pop-up park store in Skywalker’s Lounge. We headed up to check out the merchandise. Unfortunately, it was pretty limited. But we were able to get our national park stamp showing the date of our visit.
Skagway
After two days of cruising, our first port visit was Skagway. We were packed are ready to get off the ship early as we had a train to catch. The While Pass Scenic Railway, that is. We booked the early train that departed at 8:00 am. Our ship docked at a prime location in town so we could just step off the ship and board the train.
This was a must-do excursion and we really enjoyed it. The almost three hour train ride made its way up the mountains and even briefly into Yukon Territory. At times it seemed like we were right on the edge of a cliff. While seating in the car is wooden benches, there is a small observation deck at the end of each car.
As we made our way up the mountain, it got a bit colder. But, braving it for the views was worth it. We had great views of mountains and waterfalls. As it was early in the tourist season, we also saw a lot of snow.
As we returned to Skagway, they made announcements that it would be faster to get off the train in town rather than back at the ship. As we wanted to explore, that is what we did. We got some really tasty coffee, a White Pass Mocha, and then got a dough boy to enjoy it with. There was a good line out the door for both places, but both were great.
With energy from our coffee and fried dough, it was time for a hike. We made our way out of town toward the Gold Rush Cemetery and then hiked up to Reid Falls. It was a short hike from the cemetery to the waterfall, but had numerous roots that might be challenging for some. The waterfall was beautiful and we’re glad we made the trek.
After the long walk back to the ship, we were pretty tired. But, there was more to see. We explored some historic buildings and the interesting town of Skagway. And, then we headed on another hike. We passed the small airport and headed toward Yakutania Point. After crossing a bridge, there is some nice hiking which is pretty easy at first but may be challenging toward the end. As we walked, we could see helicopters taking off and landing as people took excursions to explore the area by air.
Juneau
We were pretty excited for our day in Juneau as we were going to try something new and adventurous. We had another early start so we could take part in the Mendenhall Glacier Helicopter & Guided Walk. A helicopter ride! And the opportunity to walk on a glacier! We had never done either before and it was exciting.
This was another rainy day. We weren’t sure if our helicopter ride would happen as there were low thick clouds. But, we got lucky, boarded the helicopter, and took the short flight to the glacier. A helicopter ride is hard to describe, but we had a great time.
After the helicopter touched down, we had about 30 minutes to explore the glacier. There were several guides on hand to answer questions and we learned a bit about the Mendenhall Glacier.
Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the helicopter base and take the bus ride back to the ship. All I can say is Wow!
While it was a short trip, it was exciting and glad we did this one. Back on the ship, we had lunch and then opted to relax for the rest of the day. As much as we wanted to explore Juneau, it was pretty rainy so we had a quiet afternoon. All aboard was 3:30 and the ship departed for our next destination.
Ketchikan
The cruise was going fast. Our third and final port of call was Ketchikan. We didn’t book any excursions for Ketchikan, thinking that it looked like an interesting place just to explore. While we had researched a few hikes in the area, we arrived mid-morning to a rainy day.
The small town of Ketchikan was easy to access from the ship. Our Princess ship seemed to get the best berths in each port. We spent the morning exploring, but found that it was pretty busy. However, after a break for lunch, the rain stopped. We decided to explore some more and found that it was much less crowded.
We got to see Creek Street with its wooden boardwalk along the river, the salmon lift, saw totems, beautiful flowers, and a few interesting buildings like Dolly’s. Overall, this was a fun place to walk and it was nice to have an unplanned day. However, if we are lucky enough to return, we might try a fishing excursion.
Sea Day
After an amazing week on the Sapphire Princess, we had one relaxing day left of our Princess Alaska Cruise. We spent the day enjoying the view as the ship cruised the inside passage on its way south to Vancouver. We took in one more naturalist talk. Sandra gave a nice presentation on glaciers. Later in the day, Sandra invited everyone to join her on deck for wildlife watching.
Land was close on both sides and the views were beautiful. We saw some ocean life, but it moved pretty quick. While it was hard to get one of those iconic shots of a whale. at least we got to experience it.
Arrival in Vancouver
After a week of enjoying our Princess Alaska Cruise, it was time to disembark. We had a time assigned – and then waited. It seemed like there was a bit of delay. After a pretty significant wait, our group was cleared to leave. It was an easy process to get our luggage and we had a bus waiting to take us to our Vancouver hotel. Overall, disembarkation was very easy.
Princess Alaska Cruise YouTube Video
Check out our Princess Alaska Cruise YouTube video where we show the highlights of the cruise portion of our Alaskan adventure.
Leave a Comment
Have you taken an Alaska cruise? What was your experience like? Do you have tips to share? We’d love to hear all about it. Please leave us a comment.
If you like this, be sure to watch for our the rest of our Alaska Adventure series.
Pike’s Waterfront Lodge Fairbanks
Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge
McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge
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