And if you depart from Seattle, you might want to reserve some time to explore the city! Happy birthday. 
Yes, Seattle is a fun city to explore, as is Vanvouver, another port city. Iâd try to get to the city a day or few early, so you have time to explore and can be relaxed when boarding and not stress that you may miss your cruise due to any travel delays to your port city where your cruise is beginning.
We loved, loved, loved our Alaskan cruise! We went in early July five years ago and had pretty cold, rainy weather in some places, but otherwise just beautiful! One of our favorite excursions was the White Pass & Yukon railroad trip out of Skagway. We took the train up, and then a bus back. It was spectacular and we had some of our best weather of the trip there! Skagway was a wonderful little town, and we had some of the best Thai food there at a restaurant called Starfireâa delicious surprise! We also really enjoyed Juneau, despite the cold and rain. We ate wonderful, fresh seafood at a little stand on the dock, rode the tram up the mountain there and also took a bus to Mendenhall glacier. We did all of our excursions on our own and not through the ship. I definitely recommend having plenty of layersâwe each had long-sleeved shirts, sweatshirts, fleece jackets and rain gear, including waterproof hiking shoes and warm socks. Of course, being from Southern California, we thought it was pretty cold!
Our cruise left from Vancouver, so we flew there a few days early to spend some time thereâso well worth it. Beautiful weather, wonderful foodâI wish weâd had even more time there. Our cruise ended in Seward, so from there we took a train to Anchorage, rented a car and then drove up to Denali to spend a few days at the end of our trip before flying back out of Anchorage. We went as a family (2 adults and 2 teenagers) for my husbandâs 50th birthday, and it was one of our favorite family vacations.
Been on lost of cruises, love Cruising
Alaska cruise on the Holland Oesterdam was great
Water resistant wind breaker, small umbrella for each person so when on excursion can stay dry if raining (we got lucky our year only like 20min rain at one stop)
Bring a real camera. An iphone or ipad is NOT a camera
Agree with binoculars
Helicopter ride to Glacier in was the best excursion, donât miss it
Sweater is all you need for warmth
Have an amazing time.
Next time have them surprise you with Baltic cruise to St Petersburg, also AWESOME
If you are worried about gaining weight with all the food, avoid the dessert cases in the dining halls and just have dessert at dinner. They are much better anyway, and those cases are satanic.
On our Alaska cruise, I still needed to be in contact by email, and checked my accounts in the local libraries at every stop. Not sure what the wifi situation is on board now, but it was expensive to get online then.
Also, be prepared for rain, which is common.
Adding: Many of the excursions offered by the cruiselines (as well as ones you can book for yourself) are better than others. I found that reading online reviews (trip advisor & yelp) of those excursions really helped us to choose a few good ones that suited our family. Not sure where you are going, but some things we enjoyed were: White Pass Rail trip in Skagway, snorkeling in Ketchikan (yes, really!), and a kayak trip across Mendenhall lake followed by ice climbing up on the glacier. There are many, many options out there depending on just how adventurous you want to get on the trip.
Unlike other cruises, we found there was always something pretty to see on our Alaskan cruise, from pretty islands to waterfalls, trees, birds, and wildlife. We took a good camera and took a ton of pictures. Enjoy!
The kids made me zipline. Iâm afraid of heights.
On my Alaska cruise (June) I was worried about seasickness and wore the scopolomine patch. I do not recommend it. I was SO sick. Would have been better off with Dramamine. Good to know that you can get an antidote shot from on board doc, but I missed a good 24 hours of cruise. Our rain gear (pants and jacket) were helpful.
Wonderful advice already given. As mentioned above but worth reiterating is that, while youâre always welcome to go on the cruise-sponsored excursions, you can also book yourself both on the day or, by using sites like tripadvisor and cruisecritic, ahead of time. Can save yourself some significant money. Downside is that, if anything goes wrong, the cruise takes responsibility if, for example,youâre delayed and are late returning to the ship and youâre responsible if youâve made your own arrangements. Having said that, the independent tour operators know what theyâre doing and, assuming you book with a reputable company, itâs unlikely youâd encounter a problem.
The only other thing I can think of is that, if you have an inside cabin, they are completely dark at night. You may want to bring some type of nightlight or very small lantern. The one time we had an inside cabin, Iâd wake up and not be able to tell what time it was or feel comfortable stumbling around for the bathroom.
Have a great time!
I was going to recommend cruisecritic.com. It is just as much fun as CC.
I also recommend both cruisecritic.com and tripadvisor.com. Both were incredibly helpful in planning our trip.
Alaska resident here. First, the less pleasant (and occasionally scary) bits I wish more tourists knew:
Rain: Bring a (light, breathable) rain jacket. Southeast Alaska (the panhandle that includes the Inside Passage, which many cruise lines take) is very, very rainy. Many parts of it are boreal rainforest, in fact. In addition, Anchorage will be at its peak for rain. If you go to the Aleutians (rarer for cruise ships, but some do) youâre almost certain to get wind-driven rain. That said, rain in Alaska (except sometimes in the Aleutians) is only very rarely the heavy thunderstormy rain you might get in, say, the Great Plains or the Southeast of the lower 48âa heavy rain in Anchorage means that we have to actually commit the nearly-unheard-of act of switching our wipers from intermittent all the way to steady-but-low.
Temperatures: People expect Alaska to be cold. Yes, itâs generally cooler than the lower 48, but summers arenât ever properly cold (well, except for the far north, like in Barrow). Temperatures in Anchorage generally top out in the upper 60s to low 70s (though things hit the low 80s recently there, which is incredibly rare, and we were all hating life). Things are similar in Southeast Alaska and the Aleutians in the summer. This is because the Pacific Ocean moderates our temperatures. In Interior Alaska (e.g., Fairbanks), however, there is no nearby ocean, and so the swings are greater, allowing summer temperatures to regularly hit the mid-80s, and occasionally even the low 90s. Before you begin rejoicing about how much nicer itâll be than in the lower 48, remember that air conditioning is much rarer in Alaska than elsewhere, and our buildings are built to retain heatâso that should be kept in mind.
Smoke: For a place as wet as Alaska, itâs somewhat surprising that we have forest fires, and a lot of them. Right now, in fact, the only road heading southish out of Anchorage is in danger of being closed down by a pretty massive fire. The bulk of the fires are in the Interior, though. It shouldnât really effect you, unless youâre prone to, say, asthma or some other respiratory ailments, in which case youâll want to be prepared.
Earthquakes: Alaska, taken as a whole, is easily the most seismically active area in the United States. Earthquakes there are generally fun rather than scary (and our buildings are built to withstand even very big ones), but you should be aware of general safety rules for what to do if one hits. (The big thing to remember: If you are inside during an earthquake, do not run outside. Repeat: Do not run outside.)
Wildlife: We haveâeven in urban environmentsâbears, moose, and occasionally wolves. Wolves are rare anywhere youâre likely to be, but as long as youâre with other people, youâre probably okay. Bears are generally okay (though if youâre in an area where you might run into one alone, listen to the safety rules), because as long as you recognize them as an apex predator, theyâre smart enough to recognize you as an apex predator, and you can both respect each other and go about your business. (Unless you get between a mother and her cub. If you do, you are already dead. Do not approach bear cubs, no matter how cute they are.) Moose, on the other hand, are scary. Theyâre unpredictable. Every couple years, somebody gets stomped by a moose because they were dumb enough to go up to it and take pictures. 49 times out of 50, there are no problems with that (unless she has a calf, in which case youâre taking an idiotic risk). You canât predict when the one exceptional case will be, though, and theyâre faster than they look.
Mosquitos: Yes, theyâre that big. And most of them are silentâno warning from a buzzing sound to let you know oneâs in the room. Wear mosquito repellent.
The sun: Itâs oblique and non-intense, but itâs around for long enough that itâs still easier than youâd think to get burnedânot as easy as, say, Florida, but still, more people get sunburns up here than youâd think. Wear sunscreen.
Now, the non-scary parts: The oblique sun? Long, slow, often spectacular sunrises and sunsets. The mosquitos are slow, and we have no endemic mosquito-borne diseases (or tick-borne diseases, for that matter, nor do we have any snakes)ânone of the usual disease-vectoring mosquitos can, as far as we are aware, survive our winters. You will see amazing wildlifeâbears and wolves tend to stay hidden, but moose sightings are likely (and never get old, even after years around them), and you will see more bald eagles than you could imagine were even alive. The people are generally quite friendlyâI feel like itâs the positive bits of Midwestern nice and Southern hospitality rolled together in one. And all that rain I complained talked about in the beginning? Lush greenery, with forested fjords wrapping around you along the coast and stunning green mountainsides as you head up toward Denali.
Enjoy what weâve got here. It really is a different world.
And one of the useful aspects of cruise critic is Rollcall, where you can join a message board for your specific cruise. Get to virtually know some of the people youâll be cruising with, maybe plan excursions with them. And the major cruise lines often host an onboard reception/get together for the Rollcall during the cruise so you can meet in person.
My cruise back from Alaska was 35 years ago at the end of a land tour so I donât think I can help there!
Thank you for all of the wonderful advice. There is so much to do in the next 3 weeks. It is so exciting.
Oh my goodness, how wonderful! DH and I cruised to Alaska last September, and I fell head over heels in love with the place. âMagnificentâ is the best word I can think of to describe it.
Youâve gotten great advice. The only thing Iâll add is this: If one of your ports is Ketchikan, have lunch here. Best fish and chips, and chowder, Iâve ever had. Itâs a very easy walk from the pier:
When we used to cruise a lot (kids were young), I would bring this sea band with me for motion sickness. I have weathered through ship rocking/rolling motions with these bands. It may not work for everyone, but it was much better than drugs for me.
http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/sea-band-wristband/ID=prod2662944-product
OP - you are a very lucky woman. Have a great trip.
Roll call is for extroverts, lol. My MIL would be horrified by it :).
We make an effort to exercise more on the ship to offset all those amazing desserts-we never take elevators, as a rule.
If you want something for motion sickness get some Bonine (meclizine) rather than Dramamine (dimenhydrinate) which can make you sleepy. May have to ask at pharmacy counter to get it but it is non-prescription. Worth taking some with you just in case.
Donât try to tough out seasickness like I did on our cruise. It was smooth sailing until the 4th day when there was ast storm stiffing up the ocean waves. I felt fine until then and I was so sick I had to walk out on DH our anniversary dinner!
Iâve heard that for dramamine to be effective you should take it before you get sick. Someone here might confirm this.
Thatâs right, lilmom. If you wait till youâre already sick, dramamine wonât do anything. Take it before sailing time for best results.