8th Princess Cruise, First Time to Alaska: What a Cruise Specialist Actually Books

This is my 8th Princess sailing in five years. I already have three more on the calendar. At a certain point that stops being a coincidence and starts being a professional opinion — Princess is the cruise line I trust with my own vacation, which is exactly why I trust it with yours.

This time, we're headed to Alaska on the Inside Passage. And because I book this itinerary for clients constantly, I figured I'd walk through what's actually on it — the parts that make it onto a brochure, and the parts that don't.

The Ports: Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan

These three show up on almost every Inside Passage itinerary, and for good reason — they're the workhorses of an Alaska cruise, each with a completely different personality.

Juneau is Alaska's capital, and it's the only state capital in the country you can't drive to. Everyone and everything gets there by boat or plane, which tells you a lot about the town before you even step off the ship. It's also your easiest access point to Mendenhall Glacier, which is close enough to the port that you don't need a full-day commitment to see it.

Mendenhall Glacier

This is a must see in Juneau and the Mendenhall Visitors Center also includes an easy to access hiking path to see Nugget Falls.

Skagway is smaller and feels like it — a Gold Rush-era town that leaned all the way into its history instead of sanding it down for tourists. If you've ever wanted to ride a narrow-gauge railway through mountain passes actual prospectors used in 1898, this is the stop where that happens.

Skagway has something for everyone.

My Skagway day allowed me to take a ride on the White Pass Railroad and visit a Musher’s camp! So much to see and do.

Ketchikan calls itself the Salmon Capital of the World, and it's not being modest. It's also home to the largest collection of standing totem poles anywhere, which is a very different kind of souvenir than the shot glasses. And the people I am traveling with are going fishing for Salmon on an excursion where Princess Chefs will cook your catch!

We don’t have any plans.

My husband and I are looking forward to checking out the list of activities I keep on file for clients and see where the day takes us!

Three ports, three completely different vacations packed into one week. That's part of why Alaska is one of the destinations people underestimate until they're actually standing in it.

The Part Most Travelers Miss Completely

Here's what doesn't make it onto the itinerary summary: on scenic cruising day, when the ship is quietly gliding past the glaciers instead of docking anywhere, there's a small-boat excursion that gets you close enough to actually feel the scale of the ice — not just photograph it from a deck rail eight stories up.

The catch is that this excursion doesn't work like the others. Most shore excursions have a clear booking window that opens the moment you book your cruise and stays open until it fills. This one doesn't. It appears, briefly, and then it's gone — no announcement, no countdown, no warning. If you're not watching for it at the right moment, you simply miss it, and you won't get a second chance once the ship sails.

This is the exact kind of detail that separates "I looked up an Alaska cruise" from "I planned an Alaska cruise correctly." It's not information you're missing because you didn't do enough research. It's information that isn't published anywhere for you to find.

The Endicott Arm Fjord will be best seen up close!

Why the Ship Itself Almost Didn't Happen

I wasn't originally supposed to sail this itinerary on the Emerald Princess. I was booked on the Star Princess — until my husband and I sailed the Emerald last summer and completely changed our minds.

The Emerald is a smaller ship, and "smaller" ended up meaning something specific: everything felt like it was exactly where it should be. Shorter walks, easier navigation, less of that at-sea-in-a-shopping-mall feeling that bigger ships can lean into. I've sailed the Sun and the Star Princess ships and loved them for different reasons. But I wanted to sail into these small Alasks ports on the Emerald. The Emerald also has a lot of traditional outside access that has been taken away on some of the newer ships that I want to have even though I have a Balcony Stateroom. After the Emerald experience, we tore up the original plan and rebooked without a second thought.

Ship size isn't a small detail on an Alaska sailing. Ship design also matters. You are there to see what is around you and it might not always be outside your balcony. What if there is a group of whales on the otherside of the ship? Scenic cruising, glacier viewing, and the more intimate port towns all feel different depending on what you're standing on, and it's one of the first things I walk through with anyone planning this itinerary. Also, I know all these ships intimately regardless of cruise line and will give you the onboard tips you need before your cruise on where to go.

Planning Your Own Alaska Cruise

Between the ports, the ship classes, and excursions that open and close without warning, Alaska is one of the more deceptively complicated cruises to plan well — even though it looks straightforward on paper.

I put together a full Alaska Cruise Planning Guide that walks through exactly this kind of thing: itineraries, ports, land tours, when to go. It is not cruise line specific because that is something we can get to as we talk through what you want most from your Alaska experience.

Grab the guide, and let's get your Alaska trip planned right the first time.