As a kid growing up in Belarus, I was fascinated by stories written by Jack London. I imagined myself in the wilderness of Alaska, but figured that reading his books was as close as I would ever get to it in real life.
Jack London’s photo in a museum in Skagway
And yet, here I was, thirty years later, visiting the state for the third time. I sure hope it’s not the last. It’s impossible to do Alaska justice via photos or videos, you simply have to go and see it for yourself.
In addition to viewing the majestic mountains and glaciers, we also spotted wildlife like whales, bald eagles and otters.
I do wish we brought binoculars, as our neighbors spotted a bear on the shore from their balcony.
In short, my husband and I had an amazing time cruising the Inside Passage on Discovery Princess. I will do a separate in-depth review of the ship at a later time, but needless to say, we were not disappointed. Holland America is still my overall favorite, but I would place Princess as close second when it comes to quality of food, entertainment and overall vibe. My personal opinion, of course.
The absolute highlight of the cruise was Glacier Bay National park. If you are planning to book an Alaska cruise and are relatively sure it will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I highly recommend choosing an itinerary that includes it. Trust me on that one.
If a cruise line removes Glacier Bay (as NCL started doing for 2025 sailings), I would cancel and rebook. Apparently, only two ships per day are allowed in the park, and Holland America and Princess get the priority. Again, do not miss Glacier Bay.
One of the glaciers
Since we went at the end of May, the weather was pretty chilly, barely above freezing. But it was more than OK with these two Floridians. If you prefer warmer weather, you may want to schedule your cruise in July. But keep in mind that when it comes to Alaska, there are no guarantees.
Holland America ship entering Glacier Bay
We were incredibly fortunate to have very clear days for most of the cruise. Out of all of our ports, it only rained in Ketchikan. Seriously, we couldn’t have asked for a better weather.
How much money we spent
As some of you may know, a few months ago I leveraged my husband’s MGM Gold status (before it expired) to get several free-ish cruises. Originally, Princess offered us an interior room, but I emailed them our Carnival balcony offer and they matched it. This was a deal I simply couldn’t refuse. Btw, just a week ago, my cousin-in-law sent her free Carnival balcony offer to Princess and they matched it as well. It’s the case of YMMV, but it’s still possible to take advantage of status match opportunities and use them towards cruises.
I had to pay $700 in port taxes, plus $400 nonrefundable deposit that would be returned to us via onboard credit. We were planning to buy internet ($179 for a weeklong sailing) and cover tips anyway, so it was essentially free money. I wasn’t sure if the onboard credit would work towards tips, but it did.
We did splurge on a day pass to a spa ($98 for two people). The timing was perfect as we walked three miles the day before. I don’t regret it and in fact, I wish I bought it for the whole week. But we were on a budget due to some recent financial setbacks. I will review the spa in more detail at a later time.
Other than that, my husband bought a few non-alcoholic drinks ($20 total) and we paid for a professional portrait ($25). Our total bill at the end of the cruise was $150 after we used up $400 credit. I also gave out $100 in tips on top of what was charged to our account automatically.
I used to think that paying for cruise portraits is a waste of money, but changed my mind. If you think about it, $25 is a bargain since our photographer took shots from a bunch of different angles. Out of ten photos he took, this is the only one I didn’t totally hate. I just don’t photograph that well. I didn’t really want to pack a fancy dress, as I very much prefer stretchy pants for working out, going out and everything in-between.
But I figured we shouldn’t waste this opportunity. Plus, it’s as good as we will ever look. It’s all downhill from here. Am I right, my fellow middle-aged friends? My husband asked if he could keep his Australian hat on. Well, there is no rule saying you can’t, though we did get some funny looks from other passengers.
Originally, I booked an evening excursion to Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC. However, the cruise line canceled it a month before sailing and I got $260 refund to my credit card as a result. This is why I’m leery of buying cruise line gift cards and being locked into that specific currency in case things go wrong.
I’ve decided not to purchase any other excursions due to high cost. Instead, we used Turo.com to book an electric car in Juneau for the day ($107 total) and visited a few museums and gardens in different ports ($150). I do plan to review our activities in a separate post. As mentioned earlier, we have done an Alaska cruise before, so I didn’t feel compelled to splurge.
If this is your first (and possibly last) time or if you are bringing an elderly relative, you may want to shell out extra money. I didn’t book White Pass Railroad tour in Skagway due to high cost ($146 per person) because we did a land tour last time that had the same exact views. Turns out, my husband really wanted to do the train, but didn’t say anything to me because he knew we need to conserve cash. But honestly, $300 won’t make that much difference in our overall financial situation, so I wished he spoke up. Next time, I guess…
That said, I truly believe that even if you spend zero dollars on port activities, Alaska cruise won’t disappoint.
Aside from cruise costs, I used Alaska miles to fly to/from Seattle. The miles were obtained via signup bonuses and I paid $20 in taxes. I also spent about $200 on Uber and Lyft transfers, a bit more than expected. At least I was able to buy Uber gift card at 20% off, and used Amex offer for one of our Lyft rides.
We did have to spend one night in Hyatt Regency Lake Washington before the cruise and I used 12k Hyatt points on that. It’s a bit out of the way, but I have no regrets. If you don’t mind paying for an extra Uber ride, I highly recommend staying here before your cruise. The pool area alone is worth the detour. Stay tuned for a separate review post.
So, our total comes up to $1827, with $1350 out of it associated with the cruise itself. Since I previously transferred Chase UR points to Hyatt, that’s another $120 in opportunity cost. We also spent extra by buying food at the airports, so it’s fair to round it up to $2k total.
One of our readers has mentioned that with taxes, tips and all the extra costs, these cruise deals are anything but free. That’s totally fair, and I agree with him completely. If you don’t like the idea of cruising, this may not be a bargain after all. You can simply fly to Alaska and try to use hotel points for an epic road trip.
On the other hand, if you want to visit Glacier Bay national park, you have very few options and none of them are cheap. Aside from going there via one of big cruise lines, you can book a day trip from Juneau for $840 per person ($690 per child). All of a sudden, doing a Princess cruise looks like a bargain even if you don’t get in on status match deals.
As for me, I feel like we got a fantastic value for $2k all-in. Frankly, for what we paid for the cruise I would have been happy just to get peanut butter sandwiches for food every day and a windowless bunk to sleep. But we got so much more than that.
All the time in the world
My husband loves cruises because they allow him to get decent rest and relaxation. Especially on sea days there isn’t much to do but eat, sleep and watch the ocean waves. I’m an antsy person, so cruising isn’t my favorite type of vacation. However, I’ve come to appreciate not having an agenda and not constantly rushing to see new things. I have a fear of missing out, so tend to over-schedule. Cruising forces me to slow down, and that’s a good thing. I also have a rule not to follow the news while I’m on the ship. I figure I’ll find out about WWIII if that happens. So far so good.
Something else I love about cruising is forcing my husband to watch shows I’ve previously enjoyed on my own. For example, I’ve been after him to see 2016 “War and Peace” mini-series As someone who has read the book (all of it), I can say that it’s by far the best adaptation, though with a definite British flair. That includes the pretentious and boring Soviet version that won an Oscar back in the day.
Anyway, since we had several days at sea, my husband couldn’t come up with an excuse not to watch it. And he ended up loving it! In fact, at dinner he told me how he did some research on Leo Tolstoy and found it ironic that bolsheviks embraced his works despite the fact that he was a pacifist.
We never get to do this sort of thing at home because there are always places to go and commitments to take care of. And well, we have kids who require constant attention. If you are looking to disconnect and spend quality time with your spouse, I recommend you give cruising a try.
Not all of it was smooth sailing
The cruise itself was great once we got on the ship, but getting to Seattle was another story. I used miles for economy flights from Tampa/returning to Fort Myers, and both were rather challenging. Flying to Seattle I ended up in the middle seat, next to a big guy who decided to invade my personal space. He put his giant backpack between his knees, so I was squished the entire six hours. Pure misery. I’ll let you use your imagination.
In addition, his phone kept flashing every few minutes for whatever reason. I was about to say something, but then the flight attendant asked him to cut it out. The guy wasn’t trying to be a jerk, it just never occurred to him that there was a person sitting next to him.
On the way back we were fortunate to get an empty middle seat, which was much appreciated. But this time there was a toddler a few rows behind who screamed almost the entire flight. And I mean an ear-peircing scream the likes of which I haven’t experienced before, and I have two kids.
Anyway, we survived, and I would do it again. After all, it’s only six hours of our life each way. My husband asked me how much it would cost to get business class, and I told him it was an extra 50k miles per person. He agreed that it’s way too much and said I did the right thing. We managed, plus, there is no guarantee that business class won’t have screaming kids. However, I can see the wisdom of booking an extra economy seat via miles when traveling as a couple in order to avoid these types of neighbors.
Another nasty surprise is how much harder it’s getting for me to deal with jet lag. I ended up waking up at 3 or 4 AM every morning due to difference in time. Yet another annoying part of getting older. But that won’t stop me from traveling.
Overall, we had an amazing time and I look forward to our next “free” cruise as a couple next year, on Holland America this time. Southern Caribbean, here we come!
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
@Aleks Completely understand you wanting to keep things relatively simple. While Alaska land tour+cruise sounds cool, I’ll have to really think about it. But I do want the rest of my family to visit Denali. Speaking of, we saw quite a few moose in the area. And of course, we spotted mountain goats, bears and other species in Denali park. But it was a complicated itinerary, for sure. This time I booked a roundtrip cruise from Seattle, since I could use Alaska miles on nonstop flights from/to Florida.
I would love to do a Canada/ New England cruise someday, specifically one that stops in Quebec City. I have so much on my “ to do “ list, I’m afraid one lifetime isn’t enough.
I think most folks would prefer Princess, my husband and I are a bit odd. The older demographic doesn’t bother me at all, in fact I prefer it. But I get why some would find HAL a bit boring. There isn’t a whole lot to do on the ships, which is ok by me.
Yes, agree – Denali is a great park and a highlight of Alaskan journeys. I’ve camped there with a tent (was younger) and in RV (more comforts) and it was amazing. One of my main goals on the last trip was to see moose – and had many encounters with them in their natural habitat, up close and uninterrupted. They are the largest land mammals of Americas (along with bison), but rarely seen in other parts of the US. In spring you can encounter moose cows with their calves – typically 2 or 3. And it’s fun to watch like big mamma teaching babies how to eat and how to hide. I found that in spring most animals are less worry about the people nearby as they scavenge for food. In summer and fall animals hiding more often and tend to be solitary and triggered by noise.
We had a chance to do a “free” Alaska Cruise with a land extension – which would be very good in terms of covering a lot of places. But the switching between airplanes, ship, train, bus and somewhat in between kept us from booking it – too much hassle in a short period. I would’ve done it in a heartbeat given the opportunity 15-20 years ago, but now want a balance of leisure and adventure on my travel trips. And not too much switching between the hotels.
By your definitions I think we’ll like the Princess ship’s offerings. Our New England & Canada cruise with Holland was in mid-September, hence the most clientele were retired couple and almost no kids (school time). Nevertheless it worked out for us as not many of them used the pools, and the mood was settled and relaxing (what we wanted). We visited several places in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland that otherwise are very hard to reach – it was a lifetime opportunity to go there (another reason we picked it over Alaska). The scenery and atmosphere of small Canadian towns are very relaxing and enjoyable. The cruise was sold out but with smaller ship it was OK, especially as it has new ports daily. I must say that the crew was very accommodating – that what I also like about Holland America line.
One thing I wish all cruise lines takes into consideration is to offer free or cheap internet service. In modern times, its more a necessity then a luxury. $20/day for 1 device is not a bargain, I would settle for $5/day to cover their cost+some!
@Sara That’s neat that you went on the same ship! We really enjoyed it, though I normally prefer smaller ships. I certainly would not hesitate to go on Princess again, hopefully something along the lines of Sapphire Princess (2600 passengers). But it wasn’t an option for roundtrip cruise from Seattle, and Discovery is certainly a beautiful ship. No complaints.
We didn’t do the sanctuary because it was quite cold. My husband got pneumonia on our last cruise to Alaska, so I was paranoid about it happening again. As a result, I probably overdressed him in ports to be on a safe side.
I have heard good things about Hubbard glacier, so hope to check it out next time.
I’m so glad you shared this! I got to go on the Discovery Princess to Alaska a couple yrs ago and loved it also! The spa IS worth the price, but did you try to special Sanctuary at the top front of the ship?! we did it to whale watch on sea day and worth every penny! They helped us spot whales and brought us special treats and teas all day! FYI, if you cant get an itinerary w/ Glacier Bay, your best alternative is HUBBARD glacier. it calves frequently and is magnificent as well.
Your portrait looked great and i loved the hat! ;D It’s weird about Butchart Gardens, same thing happened to me- they always have it as excursion option but i’ve rarely heard of anyone actually getting to go as it’s always cancelled. weird. last thing- you MUST DO the white pass railway as it’s one of the all time best excursions you can do in alaska. Go back just for that 🙂
@Aleks Thanks for your comment!
I loved touring the interior of Alaska 16 years ago, with Denali park being the highlight. In fact, I told my husband we should fly to Anchorage next time and drive to Denali for few nights, then take a southbound Princess cruise back to Vancouver. He hasn’t been to Denali, as I went with my SIL before we had kids. So that’s something on my to-do list, though it may take us 5 or more years to circle back to it. The good news is, those one-way southbound cruises tend to be relatively cheap. To me, the most compelling reason for taking Alaska cruise is visiting Glacier Bay. Quite possibly the most spectacular place I’ve ever been to, though weather definitely can make or break one’s experience there.
I also prefer exploring on my own, though logistics can be complicated at times. For example, we really wanted to visit Butchart Gardens, but it was only possible to do so by booking an excursion via ship. The gardens were supposed to stay open late specifically for cruise passengers. Sadly, the plan was scrapped in the end. Not enough time in the port, I guess.
As for food on HAL vs. Princess, I would have to give a slight edge to HAL. More variety at breakfast buffet and more interesting options at dinner. Also, HAL has servers handling buffet food, which is more hygienic. That said, Princess serves lobster one night at no additional cost, while HAL does not. But honestly, the food quality is very close and I wouldn’t let that be the determining factor. Entertainment is more varied on Princess, for sure. But we are low-key people, and rarely attend Vegas-type shows on cruises. I’ll do an in-depth post and try to highlight key differences. Bottom line: if booking a cruise with my kids and MIL, I would be inclined to go with Princess. For a couple’s cruise, HAL all the way.
Thanks for the detailed review of your trip.
Alaska’s nature is beautiful as well as wildlife.
I’ve contemplated a cruise on Holland a couple years ago, but at the end decided to go on the land tour instead (in RV mostly) – for us it was right decision. But the Inside Passage is a great stretch to explore on the ship. We did a full-day cruise from Seward and saw a bunch of sea wildlife, and one glacier up close. We hiked to another glacier (Exit I believe) to find out that its greatly receded in the past 15 years (from last visit) and no longer can be accessed/touched.
Being there in May twice, I confer that the weather in Alaska can be challenging sometimes: can be +75F and sunny, or +45F and drizzling. Wildlife viewing is greatly affected by that!
Glad you had nice experience at the spa, I’d like to try it on the Princess cruise next time. Although not certain about the food variety: was it better on Princess or Holland in your view? Last time on Holland’s New England & Canada cruise the best part of culinary scene were the pastries and cakes, with the main dishes lacking variety and juice. Entertainment was lackluster too.
Your trip cost is about the average of what I experience with “free” cruise offers, and I find company’s tours overpriced 50% most of the time (they charge for convenience of cause). Plus I don’t like of being bussed around with a large group and have no control of time and places I plan to visit. So self-touring is almost a must for me.
Will wait for more reviews from the trip.
Happy travel!