Alaska 2025
Several people I know have traveled on cruises, but I have had concerns about being confined to a ship and not being able to move about leisurely in a city or change my route. I thought a short one-week cruise to Alaska, a destination I have been curious about for its scenery, would be a good first voyage. I chose Norwegian Cruise Lines which a friend had recommended. The booking process was cumbersome because of a myriad of options for cabins, eating, drinking, internet use, shore excursions, shows, etc. I felt nickeled and dimed, which was not a good start.
My ship, the colorfully painted Norwegian Encore, was commissioned in late 2019 and refurbished earlier in 2025, could accommodate 4,000 passengers. I booked a cabin with a balcony that gave me a land view on the way up from Seattle to Alaska and an ocean or islands view on the way back to Seattle. I was told that the cabin was mid-ship so would experience less motion. However, I took the precaution of taking Scopolamine patches to counter seasickness.
With so many passengers, boarding was staggered. Nevertheless, it was chaotic and slow. Once onboard, I placed my luggage in my cabin on the 13th of 17 floors. It was small, about 200 sq ft, but had all the amenities I would need for the trip. I took a long walk to scout the enormous ship and get the lay of the land—restaurants, lounges, show venues, gym, casino, slot machines, etc. The main floor was crowded with people lined up to get upgraded cabins, book land excursions and make reservations for the fancy restaurants. I thought the jogging track was narrow, wound around the pool and deck loungers, and not inviting. Although the exercise room had adequate machines, it felt cold and sterile. The small pool was already full of kids splashing around, not appropriate for lap swimming. I decided to take the week off from my exercise regimen which, in retrospect might have been a mistake.
Mendenhall Glacier
The ship left Seattle at 4 pm. I went up to the balcony on the 15 th. floor that was surrounded by glass to allow all-around views to see our ship leave the harbor. For such a huge vessel, its exit was smooth, and we were in open water in no time. I sipped a glass of wine and watched the ship gently glide up the coast. Later, I had a pleasant dinner in one of the several “complimentary” restaurants and then went hear a comedian, but his banter wasn’t particularly funny. I preferred to listen to the band in the 15th floor lounge.
Kelp 1
Kelp 2
A more careful review of the ship’s schedule revealed that the ship would dock at Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan for limited time periods. I had signed up for excursions in these ports, which left no time to walk around these Klondike goldrush towns. In Juneau, the excursion involved a bus ride to a boat ride to Orca Point Lodge, a rustic hotel, where we had a decent buffet lunch and boarded the boat again to watch a whale named Kelp dive in and out of the water. Its location was signaled by a flock of birds overhead competing for the same food. It felt like Kelp was domesticated and was putting on her expected performance. The highpoint of the excursion was the bus driver, a summer employee, who had a great sense of humor. Juneau had just recovered from a flood so excursions to the Mendenhall Glacier were canceled.
In Skagway, I opted to visit Dyea, a ghost goldrush town that had only one building face standing and several road signs. Its claim to fame was as a staging post for miners, who gathered their supplies there before setting off to Klondike in Canada. Our informative guide mentioned that more suppliers made money during the gold mining mania than miners. We also visited a nearby training center for huskies who raced in the Iditarod. I had imagined them to be big dogs, but they were lean and mid-sized. Nearby there was a stream where salmon could be seen swimming upstream. A brief walk-through downtown Skagway revealed its similarity to gold mining towns in California I had visited with refurbished saloons and general stores catering to tourists.
Skagway View
Skagway: Salmon swimming upstream
Skagway: Waterfall to Salmon stream
In Ketchikan, we were driven by another humorous guide, a summer employee like the other guides, to the Saxman Native Village where a tribe member gave us the history of the tribe in the clan house and some tribe members put on a traditional dance show. Later, we walked outside to view several totem poles and were explained the story they told. A workshop nearby showed a new pole under construction. Back in town, we attended a funny, slapstick lumberjack show with two teams competing on several functions for cutting down trees.
Saxman Clan House and Totem Poles
The ship then sailed in Glacier Bay with mountains on both sides that had patches of snow and came up very close to the magnificent Margerie Glacier, stopped for a while, and turned around for our journey back towards Seattle.
Margerie Glacier
There wasn’t much to see on the way back except a little excitement in the lounge when some people spotted a whale or sea lion and people rushed to the glass covered balconies to see them. We docked in Victoria, BC at 8 pm for four hours where I declined to visit the beautiful Butchart Gardens at night. We cruised overnight and were docked in Seattle by the time I awoke in the morning.
I dined in the two smaller complementary restaurants that offered a respectable level of international dishes and decent wines. I had my midday meal in the huge buffet restaurant that offered a variety of food that was lukewarm sitting under heat lamps. Instead, I joined a long line to get an omelet to order, which was palatable. With many people milling around the food and the difficulty of finding a table for a single person did not make lunches a pleasant experience. Notably, service staff, mainly Southeast and South Asian, in restaurants, and throughout the ship, were excellent.
With so much time on board and low quality of distracting shows, although a band playing Beatles music was not bad, at least brought up good memories of my youth, I spent most of my time reading in Balcony Lounge. Regular cruisers came with family or as a group of friends, and brought board game to keep engaged and enjoyed the copious food and drink offerings sometimes accompanied with music and singing in the background. I may enjoy a cruise under that circumstance, but otherwise this will be my first and last.