Newbie taking April Alaska cruise on Norwegian Bliss needs advice

March 31, 2023 6:55 AM

My son (18yo) and I are taking an unexpected cruise to Alaska in 3 weeks to celebrate his upcoming exit from high school. We are VERY price sensitive so need some advice on excursions, cool/fun things to do on this specific ship, and any cruise secrets or advice that will make this a memorable trip for us both without increasing our out of pocket costs significantly. We'll be on the Norwegian Bliss.

My son has always wanted to see Alaska and since he has spring break in April and got some cash to celebrate his upcoming graduation, it seemed like the stars aligned to make it happen so we are sailing on the Norwegian Bliss leaving Seattle on the 22nd and flying into Seattle on the 20th. Our ports are Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan & Victoria.

My son and I are both pretty mellow travelers...so mainly want to relax and see amazing things but not be super scheduled. I think we'll have fun exploring the ship together so anyone that has been on the Bliss ship and can share cool things would be super helpful.

Re: excursions - He loves animals so I think some kind of whale watching or visiting a bear sanctuary might be things he'd like. I don't want to do a crazy hard hike but a bike tour might be fun. I've heard differing advice on booking the excursions through the cruise line versus using independent providers located onsite. Here is a link to all the excursions at each port.

Re: clothing - We both get chilly easily so it's important that we are dressed appropriately. We live in New England...so can we just dress like we do for January weather in New England and we'll be okay in April Weather in Alaska?

Thank you!!!

posted by victoriab to Travel & Transportation (9 answers total)

Skagway and Ketchikan are both very walkable cities so you can easily have a fun day just exploring those cities without spending a lot of money. For watching animals, make sure you spend the morning on the fantail (back of the boat) as you come into Juneau. I have a very happy memory of doing this and seeing several pods of killer whales, eagles, puffins, and other wildlife while having my morning latte.
posted by eleslie at 7:04 AM on March 31, 2023 [3 favorites]

Looks like you'll be in Seattle for a couple days. There are some incredible whale watching opportunities here that don't cost any money beyond a car and gas. If you're interested, dm me and I can point you in the right direction. A close family member of mine is a pretty well known naturalist in the area that follows them and shares sightings.
posted by coldbabyshrimp at 7:54 AM on March 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Take the bus to Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau - you can book it with the cruise company or on your own. There's free walking tours available like this one from Frommer's

Free walking tours are available most of these places, or they're so small there's no need. That's what my parents did to save money when they still travelled. That being said, if there's a must do activity you should probably spring for it, with the cruise line or not.

There's money to be saved by booking things privately with a small group. Cruise Critic has "Roll Calls" you can join that are cruise specific so you might find some likeminded people looking to share. There's probably advice in there too about which things to avoid.
posted by fiercekitten at 7:55 AM on March 31, 2023 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: Oh my gosh...thanks so much for the Cruise Critic Roll Call suggestion Fiercekitten. I just signed up for the Meet and Greet! I had no idea that was even a thing.
posted by victoriab at 8:49 AM on March 31, 2023

Response by poster: For future travelers...just found a Facebook group for our specific ship & cruise date where folks are sharing packing lists, best activities, updates on things being cancelled etc. Very useful....although suggestions from Mefites carry more weight of course!
posted by victoriab at 9:03 AM on March 31, 2023 [5 favorites]

For clothing, east coast winter clothes will be fine from a warmth perspective, but you might want to up your rain shell game - AK in the spring can be really, really wet. Good rain pants and a hardshell rain jacket may be really worth it and will allow you to enjoy some of the outdoor activities without feeling like you need to run back to the ship.
posted by Pantengliopoli at 9:10 AM on March 31, 2023 [3 favorites]

regarding cruise critic, you might be able find excursions people loved that aren't through the cruise line and therefore are cheaper. there used to be a section in their forum dedicated to each port of call and what there was to do there.
posted by domino at 9:40 AM on March 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

previously
posted by latkes at 12:22 PM on March 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

My kids and I took a cruise when they were your son’s age. On the ship, we checked out many of the scheduled activities like cooking demonstrations and art classes. We found the nicest lounges and played cards in deep window seats. The kids got to know every nook and cranny of the ship (that they were allowed in). We loved the coffee shop pastries so that became a regular stop.
posted by Sukey Says at 4:42 AM on April 1, 2023 [1 favorite]