Everything You Need to Know About the Alaska Cruise with Norwegian Joy

It’s been a long time coming and I’ll catch up with my blog posts, I promise. But first, ALASKA!

This has been a trip my parents have been wanting to take for TEN years and it’s OFFICIALLY happened!!! 

Some BTS (behind the scenes): Usually my sister and I plan everything to the point of outfits for our trips… but because this trip happened a year earlier than anticipated, we winged the trip entirely! We made it through our anxiety and pushed through to a true spontaneous adventure!

Before I go into the details of the trip, packing is important! I made a goal to just bring a carry on (I know I’m crazy) but it worked out. I brought four sweaters, two pairs of leggings, two pairs of jeans, two pairs of boots, a jean jacket and a coat because my mom wouldn’t let me otherwise. It wasn’t too cold but Miami-ans would probably beg to differ! It was about 25 degrees but the sun was out every day… so a little colder than Miami’s type of winter (if you’ve been). 

Transition Across the States

Our travel agent, which by the way was extremely nice and patient with all our questions, recommended we fly into Seattle a day before and save a day after the cruise to Alaska. She knew others have missed their flight or have been delayed and didn’t want us to risk it! 

I don’t know if your family is the same but mine likes to travel on different flights. Basically all the plane crashes have scared my dad and he’s comfortable this way. So we usually split up, my mom and I on one flight, and my brother, dad and sister on another. (We have to stick one of the girls with the guys because we know the airports better!) 

Made it to Seattle

After flying a whole day, plus a layover, we made it to Seattle. We got on a ‘Ride the Ducks’ land and water tour to see the city before making our pit stops. The Emerald City was beautiful!

First stop: the Space Needle & Chihuly Garden and Glass

The elevator in the Space Needle was sky high! But as one of Seattle’s iconic symbol, it was a must do. We learned it was built in 1962 and recently remodeled. There’s no restaurant anymore, but might be rebuilt in the future!

The Chihuly Garden and Glass is a museum dedicated to the art of glass blowing by Dale Chihuly. But did you know the glass sculptor is an award-winning artist? Now you do! The garden was so cute and they even had a small presentation of someone glass blowing.

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Second stop: Pike Place Market

We stopped by the famous Pike Place Market, a farmer’s market that first opened in the early 1900’s. They have a cool tradition to throw the fish before packaging it for their customers. Who knew fish throwing could be normal? I recommend going early to the market because there’s still so much to explore! A MUST-DO is buy a coffee at the FIRST (well second…) Starbucks! I recently found out that it’s the second because the original was shut down and moved locations to Pike Place. So technically, it’s the second Starbucks but first building!

And to top it off, we walked through the original gum wall! The tradition began in the early 1990’s, but didn’t become an attraction until a couple of years later. The wall has been cleaned so many times but people still place their gum! Ew!

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Traveling with Norwegian Joy

It was our second time traveling with Norwegian and boy, did we have fun! From the first moment we got on the boat, we were famous. My family has a tradition to go to the top deck every time the boat sails away and there just so happened to be a camera crew from Discovery Channel filming the Mighty Cruise Ships series that came up to my mom, sister and I asking us to interview! What what what!! 

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First city: Ketchikan, Alaska

Today’s the day where I spent half my paycheck on this excursion! Zip-lining was the start to our adventures and it was only the siblings. We were paired with two ladies from Texas, and oh man, they were a trip! To zip-line at 65/66 years old is insane but I want to be just like them when I grow up! We went first thing in the morning and then explored the city after. 

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Second City: Juneau, Alaska

This is where I cross off “take a tour in a helicopter” and “dog sled in Alaska” from my bucket list! Two in one!!!

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We caught a train to the helipad area and were split again (same reason as the flight). I appreciate that the workers were so nice and accommodating. The view was breathtaking…like no pictures could do it justice. There was snow everywhere and glaciers. So beautiful! 

The helicopter flew us to the site specifically for dog sledding. The family that owned the dog sledding site was the first family to own that type of business in Alaska. It’s still flourishing and they were so kind. We got on the dog sleds and woah! It was love at first sight because this excursion just became my second favorite of all time! (First is skydiving, of course). 

The dogs were all so snuggly and cute. We took so many photos and even got our Christmas card from it! (It’s the featured photo). I would recommend dog sledding to everyone as of this point! Must do!!!

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After what felt like the best day ever, the captain took us around some glaciers, because who wouldn’t want to see glaciers in Alaska? My dad sure didn’t want to miss it. 

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Third city: City of Hoonah, Alaska

What an interesting city… with only about 760 inhabitants, 100 students at a time and 5 graduates, this city is the smallest one I’ve traveled to yet! I think the tourists overpowered and are a huge reason the city thrives. One of the townspeople we visited carves totem poles for a living! Isn’t that cool? It usually takes almost a year to complete just one and by hand! That’s what I call talent. 

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Fourth city: Victoria, Canada

First time in Canada!!! We purchased a ticket for the tour bus and guess what? We walked three hours to different stops trying to catch it but it was full EVERY TIME! So we complained and got a refund. The experience was awful and I don’t recommend it. We made up for it by walking and trying to lose the calories we had gained all week. Wishful thinking!

Chinatown was under construction but cute! *If you can find my dad in the photo, then you’re great at Where’s Waldo*. We walked through and had lunch in Beacon Hill Park, where the flowers were so beautiful and soft. 

My sister and I split from my parents and brother because we thought exploring was more important than the shops. (Only by preference, but some people prefer exploring the ‘very affordable’ shops, like my dad). 

I can’t begin to tell you how much we walked and explored. And thank goodness for my sister’s phone carrier because we had google maps everywhere! We visited the Christ Church Cathedral and the Craigdarroch Castle, which was closed half an hour before we got there. So we took photos outside. I’d look at times before visiting, just in case the same happens to you and you want to visit.

Our meeting point was the Fisherman’s Wharf, just before the port. So pretty! It was basically a pier with floating restaurants and homes. A business owner was telling us that everyone in the pier, and mostly in Canada, work only from April to September and have the rest of the time off! Incredible! Guess who’s moving to Canada…this girl!

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What a great cruise!!! Here’s another family shot before our last day in Seattle.

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Seattle, then Home

Our last day in Seattle was too good to be true. We toured Boeing, and if you know me, you know how much I love planes! I felt like a little kid at the candy shop. We weren’t allowed any electronics or bags or basically anything in the factory, so we took photos after. 

And our last stop before the airport was at Snoqualmie Falls. It was honestly a very unexpected choice of place but very beautiful! The waterfall, landscape and all the greenery definitely made it even more beautiful. 

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This was definitely one of the best trips we’ve had in a while!!! I absolutely loved Seattle, everything in Alaska and Victoria, Canada. 

Some tips for the trip:

• Specifically at Norwegian, we had to reserve every time we wanted to go to a show or musical… so I’d recommend either doing it online, as soon as you book the cruise or going to guest services the first day to book everything you want to see for your days in. 
• Bathing suit in the Alaska cruise was a big no… unless 25 degrees is your heat, all power to you!
• If you want to see a town from a bus, I’d only recommend it if you choose to stay on it the whole circle. Tourists wouldn’t get off because their seat after wasn’t guaranteed. Choose wisely!
• Make sure at least one person in your group has amazing signal/bars on their phone because unless you’re old fashioned and carry a map, you’ll need a digital map to get around.
• If you’re traveling with family, I would bring some matching outfits to potentially take your Christmas card photo like we did.

If you ever need any other recommendations, I’d be happy to help! I know I skimmed through the trip, but hopefully it helps you for yours. So thank you if you truly read to the end. I really admire you for it!

XOXO, Mel

P.S. A good chunk of the photos from this trip were taken on a great quality camera, thanks to Giselle Cancio. Thank you for being my lifetime photographer and getting all the best angles!