Y’all. Y’ALL. 

I don’t have enough adjectives for this trip. “Amazing,” “incredible,” “unbelievable” – nothing comes close enough. I am so, so thankful that we were able to take this trip, and it’ll be hard to top it in the future (although we’re definitely up for the challenge!).

During this trip, we visited Seattle, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, and Victoria. Each place had its own unique charm, but my favorite moments were sailing through Glacier Bay, hanging out with the Hightowers in Seattle, and pretty much the entire day we spent in Juneau!

Part I // Seattle & Exploring the Ship

Seattle has always been a “bucket list” city for me, what with all the parks, markets, food, and good views, and luckily we had some time to see the place! We flew into SeaTac in the early afternoon on Friday, took an Uber to our hotel, unpacked a little, and then went for a walk. I picked a perfectly-located hotel completely by accident – less than a mile walk from Pike Place Market and the waterfront! We ate at an urban chic seafood place called Etta’s (delish fried cod and shrimp!), got dessert from Piroshky Piroshky, and rode the Great Wheel.

The next morning, we explored the area around our hotel to find a coffee shop for breakfast, and I quickly discovered my favorite thing about the city – all the nature! Everywhere we looked, there were gorgeous gardens and parks, even in the middle of the city. I especially loved the juxtaposition of trees on the rooftops of buildings.

We took another Uber to the Seattle cruise port after checking out of our hotel. We had only been on one cruise before this trip – Honduras, Belize, and Cozumel with Royal Caribbean – so we weren’t completely sure what to expect, but Princess was pretty similar! Here’s our comparison:

WHO DID IT BETTER?

Cruise ship in general: Royal Caribbean.
Staterooms (interior): Princess. The bed was soooo comfy!
Food: Equal, but the waiters/service were better on Royal Caribbean.
Evening entertainment (shows): Royal Caribbean.
Port excursions: Princess. But we were also in Alaska, so…
Atmosphere: both were very chill and laid-back!
Drinks: packages were cheaper on Royal Caribbean.
Daytime activities:Royal Caribbean.
Hangout spots: Princess.

This was our gorgeous view while sailing out of Seattle!

One HUGE advantage to a Princess Alaska cruise – no crowds on the decks! It was chilly and frequently rainy, so most of the…ahem, *older* cruise passengers spent the whole time inside. We were plenty happy as long as we stayed wrapped up in our jackets and beanies, and we never struggled to find a good view of the scenery.

The second night on the ship was the first formal night, and we got to watch a Princess tradition before dinner – the champagne glass waterfall! The boat was crazy rocky that night, and we spent half of our watching time wondering if the champagne tower was going to fall over. I loved the fact that this cruise had so many company-specific traditions, though, like the balloon drop and the final night’s dessert parade at dinner!

Coming up in Part II – Juneau, Skagway, and Glacier Bay!