Alaskan Cruise Ports: Juneau Highlights

After a day and a half at sea, we arrived to our first port of the Alaskan Cruise -- Juneau! I'll admit, I knew very little about the city, aside from it being the capital of Alaska and that it's not actually accessible by road. We were lucky that we got off the ship right at a dock, but there are some ships that require you to tender to port. It'll be important to read through your itinerary and make sure you factor in time for the tender, if you need to. These can change from when you book, so don't rely on your confirmation emails. And of course, make sure you know what time you need to be back on ship by!

Juneau is definitely a city that you can explore on your own, taking public transit, or even renting a car. The most popular excursions include the tram, Mendenhall Glacier + Nugget Falls, dog sledding + plane tours, and whale watching. You can book all your excursions in advance, but there were also many booths and folks selling tickets directly when you walk off the ship.

Given that this was our first cruise, I elected to book all of our excursions directly with Princess Cruises, to give myself a little peace of mind. It ended up being beneficial - there were some issues getting off the ship and we were 30+ minutes late for our excursions. It was stressful, but they were still waiting for us at the port so that we could be on our way.

We chose to do an all-day excursion that took us whale watching + then a hike where we could see the Mendenhall Glacier. I cannot recommend doing a whale watching tour enough -- we had an absolutely amazing time and again lucked out with perfect weather (70s and not a cloud in the sky). It was earlier in the season for whales, but we did still manage to see quite a few and our guide was super knowledgeable and answered my (many!) questions. You could tell that she truly loved her job and whales -- she spent her winters in Hawaii.

From there, we went to Mendenhall Glacier -- we did a hike so we did not get right up close or get a chance to go to the Visitor Center which is something I'd love to do if I ever went again. However, visitors can explore the area through hiking trails that lead to breathtaking viewpoints or opt for a kayak adventure on the nearby Mendenhall Lake, where they may witness icebergs breaking off from the glacier. The glacier stretches more than 13 miles long and is part of the Juneau Icefield. Formed over thousands of years, the glacier's blue-tinted ice and crevasses offer a glimpse into the forces that shape our planet. It was absolutely stunning, but also shocking when the guide showed us just how far the glacier has retreated in our lifetime due to climate change. If you're going to see this Glacier, you may want to consider doing it via a tour -- due to so many visitors wanting to see it, they do have limits to the number of guests.

We still had time after the excursion was complete, so we wanted around the main streets, and did some shopping and exploring. My husband knew he wanted his Alaskan souvenir to be an Ulu knife, so he purchased one from Alaska Knifeworks. Everyone in the store was so knowledgeable and friendly, and each knife was Alaskan made, which was what we were looking for -- every one had a story behind it. We had the BEST fish + chips at Hanger on the Wharf -- and watched tons of sea plans take off right on the water in front of us! We then took our required photos in front of the Welcome to Juneau sign and made our way back to the ship.

What would I do differently if I went back to Juneau: If I had more time in Juneau, I'd check out Tracy's Crab Shack for crab, and would do a sea plane (if I could convince my husband to do it!). I also would look at some of the popular local whale watching excursions, like Jayleen's or Harv's. Otherwise, I was very happy with what we did and would not have changed much!