In mid-to-late August, hubs and I took an Alaska cruisetour with Princess. Our cruise on the Island Princess started in Vancouver, went to Icy Strait Point, Skagway, Juneau, thru Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve and College Fjord, and ended in Whittier. The land portion started in Whittier and went to the Mt McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge (Talkeetna/ southeastern Denali), to Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge (northeastern Denali), and to Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge. This time of year was ideal, IMHO. The tourism season was dying down. The weather was pleasantly cool, there were no mosquitoes to speak of, wildlife was active, and we had very little rain. I do have a few after-the-fact considerations.
TRAVEL TIPS
- Getting Around – One benefit of booking the trip with Princess was they coordinated our travel and luggage transport between all locations (e.g., airport to hotel, hotel to cruise ship, hotel to hotel). Alaska is an enormous state, travel time between sites was considerable, and I didn’t have to worry about any of it. Sure, I could have organized my own land and sea travel, but it was nice not to have the hassle. In most places, traffic was light, but infrastructure was limited. We were told there are only three ways to get to Juneau- by boat, plane, or birth canal.
- It’s Expensive. – Roughly half of Alaska’s population lives in Fairbanks, Juneau, and Anchorage. These cities are major supply cities and where stuff is cheapest. Even in Fairbanks, food, souvenirs, and Uber were about 20-25% more expensive than in Florida. Cruise excursions were also more expensive than they were for other cruises we’ve done. I recommend booking excursions before you go so you know what to expect, costwise, and adding a little extra padding to the budget for this trip.
- Built-In Excursions – There were a handful of activities pre-built into the cost of our trip that we really enjoyed. The cruise thru Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve and College Fjord with a naturalist guide, the four-hour bus tour thru Denali, and the dog-sled demo led by the National Park Service (NPS) were among our favorite activities, and we did not incur any additional charges for them. These were optional activities automatically scheduled for us by Princess or made available by the NPS, and I highly recommend future cruisers take advantage of them. Don’t forget to bring your binoculars!
- Go Beyond Princess-Hosted Activities – We did a few activities on our own that we really enjoyed and that were not hosted by Princess. We asked folks who knew the area or poked around online for things to do when we knew were going to have extra time. Also, our best meals were not in the Princess restaurants or on the ship but rather stuff we found off-site. Side note, you’ll get your fill of fresh salmon, crab, and reindeer.
- Appropriate Ensemble – I started each day wearing a long sleeve shirt, a hoodie, a waterproof jacket (Recommend!), a hat, and gloves. By noon, I had shed everything but my long sleeve shirt. I was bundled up again after dinner. Bring layers.
- Wear a Led Zeppelin Hoodie. Make Friends. – Most of the Alaska cruisers were senior citizens, and most of them were ready to initiate a conversation with little-to-no provocation. If you are the kind of person who loves talking to folks, then this is an ideal trip for you. Case in point, I wore a Led Zeppelin hoodie, and lots of random folks needed to tell me how much they love Led Zeppelin. But hey, maybe you won’t need this icebreaker. This isn’t the Titanic.
Soup Dumplings, Dinesty Dumpling House, Vancouver, BC 
Capilano Suspension Bridge, Vancouver, BC 
Breakfast!, The Black Bear, Denali, AK 
Moldovan Food, Soba, Fairbanks, AK 
Pioneer Air Museum, Fairbanks, AK 
Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum, Fairbanks, AK
The mid-to-late August weather was gorgeous – cool in the shade, warm in the sun, with very occasional drizzles and fog. If we saw no wildlife, then we still would have had gorgeous views of the inlets and bays, islands, glaciers, mountains, waterfalls, rivers, the taiga, and the boreal forest. We were fortunate enough to get a great list of wildlife sightings – orcas, humpback whales, Dall’s porpoises, Steller sea lions, otters, black bear, brown (grizzly) bear, Dall sheep, moose, caribou, trumpeter swans, varied thrush, black-billed magpies, and gray jays (banded). We also rode a train (slowly) through the smouldering remains of a wildfire and had a jet boat excursion cancelled due to drought, but hey, that’s nature. Also, I have no idea why this list is fun to me, but modes of transportation on this trip included airplane, taxi, Uber, cruise ship, tramway, train (Alaska Railroad and White Pass & Yukon Route), bus/ shuttle (HOHO, Princess, Airlink, and The Parking Spot), river boat, ATV, and APM. All in all, this is certainly a trip you could do several times and see something new each time. Remember to bring a waterproof jacket, binoculars, your camera, and extra spending money!