Thinking about an Alaskan cruise. We've been to Anchorage before, but a cruise seems like a nice trip & get away. Ideas? Suggestions on cruise lines to avoid? Likely leaving from Central Texas by air to some port.

Can't offer advice on my behalf, but my parents enjoyed their Princess cruise enough to do another one. They loved it.

Went on princess in aug 2011 out of Seattle. Glacier bay was the highlight. Juneau & Victoria were nice stops. I was also very happy to get away from TX heat for a week in Aug.

Kids or no kids? Disney sales out of Vancouver to Alaska during the summer months. My mom took my daughter (10) and niece (11) to Alaska on the Disney Wonder last summer and they had a blast.

We did holland America out of Vancouver. It was awesome. Very few kids on the boat. The Statendaam is a smaller boat so it can go deeper into glacier bay than the larger ones.

My favorite trip so far. Did the cruise, then 1 week on land on our own.

From 2008, but a trip report on my experience with Princess and two weeks ashore.

http://texags.com/forums/54/topics/1185062

We went on a Princess cruise / land package out of Vancouver for our 25thwedding anniversary and it was great. The wife said she would even go back to Alaska again. It was amazing. We went in mid June. Light weight jackets most of the time.

Did Princess out of Seattle August 2013. We will be going back. No complaints about Princess but also nothing that really stood out.

AgDaddy, we are doing the same thing (on Princess) for our 25th this June. Any experiences to share/recommend as far as shore activities on the cruise portion? Looking at Salmon fishing at Ketchikan, a seaplane tour at Juneau and touring the area in a rental car at Skagway. What did you do and how was it?

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Any experiences to share/recommend as far as shore activities on the cruise portion? Looking at Salmon fishing at Ketchikan, a seaplane tour at Juneau and touring the area in a rental car at Skagway. What did you do and how was it?

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I did the same cruise on Princess a few years ago.

In Ketchikan, definitely do something that gets you out on the water so you can see some wildlife. I'd avoid any excursion having to do with Deadliest Catch.

In Juneau, Mendenhall Glacier is a cool excursion but a seaplane tour should be a good one too. I'd avoid the salmon hatchery excursion here. Hit up the Red Dog Saloon and Twisted Fish near the cruise pier.

In Skagway, do a helicopter tour to a glacier or the White Pass/Yukon R.R. excursion. I'm not sure renting a car would be a wise choice unless you have somewhere specific you'd like to go.

We went zip lining in Ketchikan it was lots of fun and is actually offered at several of the cruise city stops.

In Juneau we went whale watching and then a salmon bake. Boat guide said it was a so so day as far as sightings go but I believe we saw a total of six or seven whales they don't get that close to them but it was a neat experience.

In Skagway we took the Yukon Expedition &White Pass Scenic Railway tour (sit on tthe left side) then went to the Red Onion Saloon.

We really enjoyed the train rides. On a portion the the land package was a 174 mile 5 1/2 hour wilderness train ride to Talkeetna, amazing sights.