2022 Celebrity Alaskan Cruise

2022 Celebrity Alaskan Cruise

Hey Guys!

If you follow me on IG, you likely saw that in the middle of August I did a 7 night cruise to Alaska. Honestly something that has always been on my bucket list and there was just so much to write about that it has taken me a while to get this up and running. I completely disconnected while I was away so that slowed the launch of this post as well.

This was actually my first ever cruise, and honestly I am so glad it was on Celebrity. If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I typically go boujee when I travel so this lined up with my expectations, haha! But there are a TON of affordable options on other cruise lines, and even just lower levels of celebrity. I’m going to do an entire other post on choosing the best cruise for you because that is a whole post in itself.

Let’s talk about this cruise! It was a 7 night cruise from Vancouver, BC through 3 Alaska ports and back to Vancouver. I’ll dive into each port and what I chose to do. Comment your favorite section below!

Itinerary

  • Starting Port: Vancouver
  • Day 2: at Sea
  • Day 3: Sitka
  • Day 4: Hubbard Glacier (cruising)
  • Day 5: Juneau
  • Day 6: Ketchican
  • Day 7: at Sea
  • Departure in Vancouver

Board Vancouver

Vancouver needs its entire own blog post, so click the link here to read more detail on what to do, where to go and what to eat. HOWEVER, a few things you need to know when going for a cruise specifically… 

The airport is about 30 miutes outside the city, however Public transportation is very easy to navigate in vancouver. A train ride from the airport to the city is only about 25-35 minutes max. We ended up staying in a casino 10 min from the airport and had no issues getting in or out of the city. 

The main transit line runs right through the center of the city. It actually drops you off close to the cruise terminal if you take it to waterfront. 

If you want to save money but still have access to the city, I recommend staying at Rock Hill Casino in Richmond. We had a great time at this hotel and still feel we were able to explore quite a bit for the few days were were there. 

Day 2: At Sea

One thing I want to note for at sea days in Alaska, even in the summer, PACK WARM! We were in leggings and a sweat shirt the entire time. I was a little nervous given that it was an alaskan cruise and we wouldn’t be outside much while at sea that it would be super crowded inside, but honestly, celebrity does a great job designing their ships. We had plenty of space to go to the gym, sit in the solarium, and hang out at bars with out crazy crowds. I will say, we had an amazing drink package and drank quite a bit of wine when we got on the cruise in Vancouver at 10:30 am day 1. Given that this was my first cruise, that was likely a bad idea. I had to take some dramamine and put sea sickness bands on even though I grew up on boats. Bring it all just in case! Alaska at sea when outside of the inside passage is one of the more rocky cruises I’ve heard.

Day 3: Sitka

Sitka was my favorite stop by far(it’s where the proposal with Sandra Bullock was filmed!). Absolutely breathtaking! We did not book an exception this day, which I’m honestly glad we didn’t. The downtown area is super cute and they have a tone of small local shops to visit, great food as well. We had lunch at Beak which has some great local beers and cider. I had their salmon chowder and it did not disappoint.

Day 4: Hubbard Glacier (Cruising)

This was an amazing experience. While cruising we were able to get extremely close to Hubbard Glacier while still on the cruise ship. It was DOWN POURING thank god we had hiking boots to roam the decks because watching seeing the glacier from the top deck was amazing. There were excursions to get closer, but our captain was able to get close enough that I am so glad we didn’t spend the $250 to get maybe 100 yards closer.

Day 5: Juneau

Juneau the capital of Alaska? Juneau we had an excursion booked, but honestly you didn’t need one if you want to limit your excursions. Like Sitka, tons of shopping and food. For this port tho we did a whale watching tour which did not disappoint! We saw about 8 whales including a few babies, seals, and dolphins! The second half of this excursion brought us to Mendenhall Glacier which is absolutely beautiful to walk around, much warmer weather than Hubbard. When we got back from the tour, we had about an hour so we grabbed a drink at this cute “open air” bar called Griz Bar. Again, local brew’s, ciders and next to it is an amazing Taco food truck that honestly was some of the best Taco’s I’ve ever had.

Day 6: Ketchikan

As soon as we got off the ship to Ketchikan, I said it was my favorite port. Turn the corner and head towards the Salmon run and I changed my mind. There is a huge homeless and addict/half way house population in Alaska and they seemed to have all be in downtown Ketchikan. Keep this in mind if you are traveling alone. I am a city girl and will navigagte almost any part of a city – no matter how bad- but this area made me slightly uncomfortable. Fortunately for us, we were able to head to the Tongas Rainforest for a 3 mile hike and it was BEAUTIFUL! Our guide was born and raised with tribal roots and really took the time to answer questions and make sure we really saw the nature in front of us.

Day 7: at Sea

This day, we just relaxed! We made trips to the spa, we read books, and ate food. They had some pretty good activities at night This night so we did go out for a while (till about 1 am). I will note, Celebrity is geared towards adults, by this I mean old people. If you are looking for a clubby cruise, maybe not celebrity. This cruise was much more Zen and focused on relaxation, exploring nature, etc.

Day 8: Depart in Vancouver

We spend two days on the front end in Vancouver and we spent an additional night on the back end. We got in around 8am, went back to the first hotel, and then explored the city. Given we were heading back to the east coast, I am so glad we go off the boat that day and decided to stay one more night rather than rushing to the airport. However, the airport is relatively close to the cruise terminal (about 30 min by bus) and the cruise line has shuttles. We decided to do our own thing.

I am currently in process of working on a Vancouver post – because that in its self was amazing. Let me know any questions or comments you have below/follow up posts your thinking of!

XOXO

Tay

Portland Maine

Portland Maine

I am a New Englander Born and Raised, however I was born on the Southern side of New England. I have explored much of the Cape and southern parts of MA and I know the streets of Boston like the back of my hand. Portland Maine has been on my bucket list for a while and one of my closest fiends and I decided to make it happen.

Out side of the beautiful scenery, Maine in my opinion has some of the best eats – not just sea food. Not to mention that the little shops are adorable and SUPER affordable.

Where to stay?

We got a double queen room for two nights at the Hampton Inn Portland Waterfront. They actually upgraded us and we ended up having a beautiful view of the water and sunrise. I chose the hotel because it was super affordable, updated, and close to all the cute shots. Valet parking is $20 a night, there is free continental breakfast and coffee all day. I can be quite a hotel snob from my 6 years working in Luxury hotels – and this hotel met my high standards! Service was as to be expected but we didn’t need much on this trip.

Where to Shop?

The location of the hotel put us in the perfect area to shop. We were right on the corner of Fore Street and Franklin St. Fore Street has a ton of tiny shops including our favorite that we found Siempre Mas which as the CUTEST trinkets – we had a bit of a shopping spree. Around this area you can find some smaller shops down all the small streets.

Where to Eat?

You KNOW I couldn’t do a post with out talking about food! We went up on Good Friday, she had worked all day, we got up there around 6pm. All we wanted was wine and Pizza. The WEIRDEST thing about Portland is they have amazing pizza and Slab Pizza did NOT dissapoint. This pizza is Sicilian style pizza (we actually are both Sicilian) and we were salivating over this pie. Highly recommend if you are ever in the Portland area for lunch.

LOBSTER ROLLSSSSSSSSS – if you go to Maine without getting a lobster role, did you even go to maine? A lot of business was hit pretty had with the pandemic. Portland Lobster Company is DEF the place to go, but unfortunately they were closed when we were there. When researching other top options we came across The Highroller Lobster Co. What I loved about their options was that you can dress up your lobster roll in a number of ways, or have it traditional!

For dinner we ended up going to Old Port Sea Grill and Raw Bar – oh mannn. This meal was amazing and the Vibe was all there. Michelle got Salmon and I ended up getting Steak and Truffle Fries. The Highlight of the meal tho was the Clam Chowder as an app. This was the best clam chowder I have ever consumed. It had a twist on traditional clam chowder and had a little kick to it. HIGHLY RECCOMEND

What to see?

On our way home we took a trip to Cape Elizabeth to see the Portland Head Lighthouse. It was BEAUTIFUL. There are walking trails around it that go along the water and there’s a ton of History in that area as well. I recommend stopping by on your way up/down.

I hope this post was helpful. If you are in New England I highly recommend you take a weekend trip up. There is still so much more I want to see so look out for another post!

XOXO

Tay