Early September Alaska Cruise

Explorer of the Seas Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

kermitwallace

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 21

Overall rating:

4.6 out of 5

7 Night Alaska Glacier (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 31, 2018

Ship: Explorer of the Seas

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 1584

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

This was our 2nd time on Explorer of the Seas (previously was ~6 years ago to Bermuda and the Caribbean). The ship is still impressive even though it's not one of their new mega 'oasis'-class. Embarkation from Seattle was relatively painless, although there was confusion at the port about where to go first to get your luggage tagged before you were able to check-in. Juneau and Skagway are stunning. We got VERY lucky with amazing weather (blue skies and temps in the mid-60's) and were told that previous weeks weren't so lucky. Excursions in both ports were great and really showed off the natural beauty of the areas. We did whale watching and visited the Mendenhall lake/glacier in Juneau, then did a helicopter trip to the Chilkoot glacier and the White Pass / Yukon Route train in Skagway. The trip to Tracy Arm Fjord was a nice relaxing day - the captain got us very close to the glacier and the weather was again agreeable making for some great pictures. After the sea days we arrived in Victoria, BC which was just OK in comparison. There's plenty to walk around and see around the harbor and the little shops - it's called the 'City of Gardens' and you'll understand why as there are flowers everywhere - but following the two Alaskan ports that were just jaw-dropping gorgeous for natural scenery, it didn't compare. We were in suite 1584 and our room attendant was so nice as to be almost unbelievable, but he was genuinely a very nice man, always checking in on us. We found staff throughout the ship to be very helpful and truly enjoyed being onboard. We ironically hadn't cruised since our last trip on this ship, but we had such a good time we booked our next cruise for next summer while onboard.