7-Night Alaska Dawes Glacier Cruise

After spending a few days exploring all of the amazing things Seattle had to offer, it was time to board the Celebrity Solstice. We set sail in the late afternoon and enjoyed amazing views in every direction. We spent the rest of our day getting to know our way around the ship and enjoyed a pitstop for a pre-dinner ice cream cone.

It's a long journey from Seattle to the first port in Alaska and the 2800 passenger Celebrity Solstice offered many activities to keep us busy for the trip north. Some of the highlights our family enjoyed included swimming in the solarium during family swim time, making friends with our "neighbors" in the main dining room, and relaxing on our deluxe verandah in our stateroom.

Ketchikan, AK may be small in population, but it is big in adventure. It is known as the salmon capital of the world and is also home to the world's largest collection of totem poles. We disembarked the ship and couldn't wait to see what was in store for us. Our first excursion was a trolley tour throughout town to see some of the totem poles. We also had the bonus experience of seeing a black bear fishing with her two cubs. The main highlight for our family was the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show, located within walking distance of the port. We enjoyed watching two teams of lumberjacks compete in a variety of competitions from log rolling to log climbing. It was an energetic and entertaining show! After the show, we enjoyed a delicious crab lunch at a restaurant nearby before it was time to reboard the ship.

Juneau is the capital of Alaska and was the largest town we visited during our cruise. Despite being a timid flyer, I decided to be brave and we took a Wings Airway seaplane ride to the Taku Lodge. The lodge was a short flight from downtown Juneau, but it was packed with more beauty than we expected. On the way to the lodge, the pilots take you over five different glaciers along the Taku River. Once landing at the lodge, we were treated to the best salmon dinner of our life. The salmon was freshly caught, the side dishes were delicious, and our drinks included ice straight from the Taku Glacier, which was two miles from the lodge. After such an enjoyable time at the Taku Lodge, we were sad to have to get back on the seaplane and head back to Juneau to board the ship once again.

Skagway is another small town located along Alaska's Inside Passage. Skagway was an important town during the Klondike Gold Rush and has many gold-rush-era buildings that are now preserved as part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park. It is also home to the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad. During our time in Skagway, our first stop was to snuggle sled dog puppies at a training facility. We heard a former Iditorod contestant speak about the famous dogsled race and saw a mini-demonstration from some current sled dogs. After the puppy love, our bus tour continued up the mountains to the Alaska-Canada border. Here we boarded a vintage railcar for sweeping views of the mountains during the steep descent into Skagway.

After leaving the town of Skagway, the ship turned around to head back towards the mainland. On our journey south, we saw icebergs galore, pods of Commerson's dolphins and dozens of waterfalls flowing down the mountainsides. The sights were so incredible that we spent a lot of time in the Sky Observation Lounge enjoying the plentiful sunshine and endless views.

Day 7: Victoria, BC, Canada

On the last evening of the cruise, we made a quick stop in Victoria, British Columbia, which is located on Vancouver Island. While we didn't have much time to explore the capital city of BC, we did enjoy a short walk around Fisherman's Wharf Park. It is home to some adorable, colorful houseboats and some delicious restaurants.

Day 8: Return to Seattle