An Alaskan cruise is a once in a lifetime trip for us. Now, there are different options when choosing your Alaskan Cruise – so you may have more port stops, or different lengths at each Alaska port stop. We booked our Alaskan Cruise via Princess. Our port stops included: Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan.
Port Stop: Skagway
Review
We had the most time at this Alaska port stop, however, it is our least favorite Alaska port stop. The downtown area, with all the shops and restaurants was fairly small and easily walkable. With that being said, there is a shuttle that will take you from the cruise ship docks to and from town. However, if you’re able, we recommend walking. The walk is only 5-10 minutes, and it’ll save you a return ticket price. This price was $5 USD for an unlimited pass. One way passes were also available. We opted to not purchase tickets and walk. The shuttle driver, or at least ours, did not mention pricing until the end of the shuttle trip. Therefore your first trip into town is technically free.
From our experience, if you disembark the ship first thing, Skagway will be a ghost town. We arrived at port in the early morning. By the time we got back from our excursion at around 3pm, Skagway was filled with people exploring. It was such a difference. Skagway is a great place for an excursion because of all the time alotted there.
This port stop was also a little chilly. We were here beginning of July, and wore long pants, rain coats, and winter hats.
Itinerary
The Morning
Of course we started our day off with some coffee. We stopped at The Sittin’ Sasquatch for some delicious warm beverages. They also serve breakfast, and though we did not get any, given how good their coffee was I’m sure their breakfast was just as good. The staff was also very friendly. After getting some coffee we took a walk around the town. With it being so early not all the shops and storefronts were open but it was nice to get an idea of what was in town for later. We did notice a lot of jewelry stores about. Afterwards, we took a walk around the more rural parts to explore the surrounding areas.
We then found a beautiful hiking trail closer to where the cruise ships dock.
This is where we decided to have one of our excursions – dog sledding! And it was a blast. Check out our excursions post for more deets on that. The excursion took about 3 hours, so after that we returned to town – que alllll the people up and ready to explore. Town was very busy.
The Afternoon
We stopped at Skagway brewing for a snack and a pint and it was delicious! We also surprisingly got a table right away. However, I do believe that their bar area and dining area may have different menus. We did sit in the bar area. We both got a bowl of their chili, which was perfect for the day. The beers were also great. We highly recommend their stout, and our server was super friendly. This is also a stop on one of the beer and food excursions.
Afterwards I did a little shopping since we had a few more hours before we needed to be back on the cruise ship. I stopped back at The Sittin’ Sasquatch to purchase some coffee beans to take home. I also was able to find a simple Alaska crew neck for a decent price at one of the touristy stores.
One of my favorite shops I found was a jewelry store, that also sold hats. The owners are local to Skagway, and all jewelry there is hand made, along with all the hats. Made by the owners; the wife also had the same name as me so naturally I had to purchase a cute pair of earrings from them. Excited to have that added to my jewelry collection. I do love to purchase jewelry pieces while travelling as I think it makes for a unique souvenir. I always try and make sure I purchase locally made. This particular shop, which was super aesthetically pleasing and came with very friendly owners, was called Wild Yukon Furs, Inc. Make sure to stop in when you port in Skagway.
Skagway is well known for The Onion, a former brothel turned bar and brothel museum. We did not stop in here as by the time it was open and we made our way back to town it was so busy. The line to get in was a little too long for us. So, we opted to take a picture of the outside and add it to our bucket list for our next trip to Skagway. It does come highly recommended by many others though, so if you have the time be sure to check it out.
Port Stop: Juneau
Review
Juneau was the second Alaska port stop of our trip. Overall, we wish we had more time here. It’s a much bigger city than Skagway, and had a much more city vibe. Though it was bigger, it however, still felt very walkable. There are plenty of excursion options here. And when you disembark you’ll notice a row of booths eager to help you with said excursions. During our particular trip, we also had to take a tender into port, as there was not enough room for our ship on the docks. Keep this in mind for any handicap persons, as it may make it a little difficult to visit Juneau.
Itinerary
The Morning
First things first, visit Mendenhall Glacier. Now you’ll read all sorts of things on how to get here – the number one is probably via an excursion. Where they pick you up right at the dock and take you to the glaciers. Though I don’t know what else the excursions entail, I would say other than convenience, you’re going to be paying way more than you have to, to get to the Glaciers. There’s also the blue bus, which use to be $45 but this year (2024) the price has gone up almost double to $80. Which again convenient it may be, we opted for a way cheaper route here.
Though it doesn’t take you direct to Mendenhall and you have to walk a mile to get there – this way cost us $2 per person. Be sure to bring cash, as that is all the buses take. All we did was walk from the dock to the public transit station, maybe a 10 minute walk. There are many route options from there to get to the glaciers but we decided to go with the blue line which we thought would be the fastest way there. It’s number 4, or the Mendenhall Valley Clockwise. Though we have no other routes to compare it to, this route took us about 45 minutes as it is a local transit so there are other stops and people getting on and off at different places.
It got us to about a mile away from the entrance to Mendenhall Glacier. Now obviously this way is the best for everyone as it does require lots more walking so keep that in mind. We were warned about potential bear crossings – however we figured we have a decent group and we wouldn’t be the only ones walking. Also we did not see a bear. Kind of wish we had, but also kind of glad we didn’t.
From the bus stop you’ll walk to the corner behind where the bus drops you off, make a left, and take that road the whole way there. Now we spent about 2 hours probably viewing the Glacier and walking around. You’ll also find Nugget Falls here. It’s beautiful, and you can walk all the way up to them. After we got all the views of this gorgeous Glacier and waterfall in, we made our walk back to where the buses stop and got on the bus back to town.
Now the important thing to remember is all buses that stop here will head back to town, but some will take longer than others so keep that in mind when choosing which bus to take back.
The Afternoon
We got back to town with plenty of time to walk around a little and grab a snack. Everywhere was packed as you can imagine with multiple cruise ships porting here at the same time. We stopped at Alaskan Brewing company because it was the only place, literally, without a line. This was also not because it wasn’t busy but because they were self seating and we managed to spot an open table right away.
Now those that are familiar with craft beers probably are familiar with Alaskan Brewing. Their beers were good and we got two shareable items from their menu, which was pretty tasty as well. By the time we finished there it was about time to head back to the cruise ship to make our way to our last port – Ketchikan.
Port Stop: Ketchikan
Review
This was our last Alaska port stop, and honestly probably our favorite. It was a fun fisherman vibe town, and the weather was impeccable. We also docked here on the Fourth of July, so we were able to witness their parade. We were told that this holiday in Ketchikan is quite the big deal. The parade was a lot of fun, and almost all of the floats throw candy at you. Anyways, a really fun, local, experience.
Itinerary
The Morning
We did opt to do an excursion at this port and that was to take a sea plane ride. We were picked up at our dock and shuttled to home base – Sea Wind Aviation. The sea plane ride was incredible and we highly recommend you consider this as an excursion. The views and experience are incredible. More about that here.
When we were done we did have to walk back to town which we absolutely did not mind since it was so beautiful, and it was not a long walk. We had to walk because of road closures due to the parade. Typically, you can get a shuttle back if you choose. So, on our walk back into town, we picked up our fair share of candy off the streets, and headed back to explore.
The Afternoon
We then got a table at a restaurant for a bite to eat before walking around town some more and seeing what we could get into. We ate at Annabelle’s Famous Keg and Chowder House. And while I enjoyed a classic caesar salad, the table also got the burger, king crab legs, and some soup. Everyone enjoyed their meals.
We walked to Creek Street. This boardwalk full of cute little shops is set up atop of a Salmon Creek. Unfortunately, the salmon were not running at this time; but I’m sure if they were it would be a really cool site. We were also told, when running, your chances of seeing a bear significantly increase.
Then we walked along the water looking at the boats, and checking out a few totem poles throughout. We did not find the totem pole park, as we got distracted by a very cool bald eagle. He was huge, and perched up on a hand rail maybe 10 feet away from us, and others. It was incredible to see him just sitting there observing us as we were observing him. We wanted to see him take off in flight, but after about 30 minutes of just watching him in awe, and taking a million and one pictures, we realized that he was not going anywhere. He was so content there, and we needed to get back to our ship.
So we walked back and stopped at a few local shops for some souvenirs before getting back on the ship.
We hope you enjoyed our Alaska port stop reviews and itineraries. Thanks for joining! Be sure to check out our post solely dedicated to Alaskan Excursions.
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