Sponsored by Princess Cruises.
No place I’ve traveled has captured my heart in quite the same way Alaska did. Ketchikan is a picturesque port fully aware of its own charm, yet unpretentious in its delivery of exactly what you’d expect from a rural tourist town with no roads leading in or out of it. It was our final farewell to Alaska as the last stop on our 7-day Inside Passage Alaskan cruise graciously hosted by Princess Cruises, and if I was already having a hard time choosing a favorite stop, Ketchikan made it officially impossible.
What made Ketchikan so memorable was our exclusive Rainforest Sanctuary Nature Walk excursion, without which I wouldn’t have been able to complete my life-long dream of seeing a family of bears in the wild. As much as I wish all of you could have experienced it with me, that’s all the more reason to book your own Alaskan cruise with Princess as travel plans make their way back onto your radar.
Peering out the sliding glass door of our mini-suite aboard Majestic Princess, I was already buzzing with excitement at my first glimpse of Ketchikan. Watching our arrival from our roomy balcony (complete with complimentary fleece blankets on our deck chairs) was the warm welcome I wished for as we drifted into the day’s locale. Dreamy cloud wisps surrounded the hills and you could smell the freshness of the layer of morning fog as it settled in throughout the thick pines and colorful sailboats bobbing in the marina. The mystic isolation that I felt setting foot in so many port cities only accessible by boat or plane was one I came to realize I constantly chase in my travels. I still can’t believe I live as close to Alaska as I do for as long as I have and never understood how remote of a destination it truly is.
The Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary was our early morning destination, and I can’t think of a better place to spend a few hours (or a lifetime—I may have asked for a job application). Our group of about twenty was welcomed by Savanna and Madison, two exceptional trail guides with as much enthusiasm as the group they were leading. The Sanctuary is a twenty-minute coach ride from the port, and after just a few minutes following the wooded path we entered a gated, elevated walkway and—I could hardly believe it—began our search to spot real and true bears in the wild.
My undying love for bears began a few years ago for no particular reason. Just about any picture of any bear makes my eyes well up from the combination of cuteness and majesty they demand, so put yourself in my shoes standing in the nearly silent forest, listening for rustling leaves amid the misting rain, worried my heart pounding was going to drown out the very sounds I was waiting to hear. Luckily for our group, we hadn’t been looking around five minutes and craning our necks right and left and down before we realized a family of two nine-month old cubs and their mama was napping on a tree stump directly under the path we were walking. After blindly pointing my camera at the trio from where I stood frozen in place from shock, I tiptoed a bit closer and watched these two babies squirming around adorably as young siblings do.
It would be a full understatement to say I was absolutely E-N-C-H-A-N-T-E-D, but what else do I have but words and letters?
Oh, pictures!
Our crew spent the better part of an hour observing these incredible animals in their natural habitat—at the Sanctuary, there are no fences or barriers guiding the bears where to go. Before you ask, it is absolutely not dangerous! Black bears are a very docile species, especially when they have access to abundant food and can stroll where they wish undisturbed. While each region I’ve cruised is worlds apart, I’m constantly blown away by Princess Cruises’ unmatched excursions that allowed me to have me such an intimate experience with my favorite animals. Although our days on the cruise were packed from morning until night, as soon as I got back to Seattle I started looking for spring MedallionClass voyages to get myself back to Ketchikan as soon as possible.
If bears are only part of the reason you’ve booked an Alaskan cruise with Princess, the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary is set up amidst a ton of other incredible opportunities. The Alaska Raptor Center has a station on site with incredible up-close experiences with Peregrine falcons, bald eagles, and hawks if birds of prey are your thing. The park also boasts dozens of Tlingit totem poles, including thirteen carved by the same artist! My brother and I were blown away by the facilities and came home with plenty of souvenirs to memorialize our Princess port day ashore in Ketchikan on the spectacular Revillagigedo Island.
After a quick coach ride back into town, we were spoiled for choice when it came to seafood lunch options. We opted for the classic and simply named Alaska Fish House—it looked full of locals and had a cozy wood stove in the corner on a perfect pier-view platform. I could have spent hours in there with a cozy lager watching the boats in the marina. While the fish tacos weren’t my Seattle style, you couldn’t beat the atmosphere—and let’s be real, I’m always eager to get back on the cruise ship for my world-class dining, particularly at Bistro Sur La Mer, which can’t be beat when it comes to seafood.
After four years and six trips, it should come as no surprise that here at truelane we have a bit of an obsession with cruising—every time I get off one itinerary, I’m ready to get on another one—but this trip to Alaska was on another level. Do I say that about every cruise? Somehow, it always rings true. I could run this 7-Day Inside Passage route a thousand times and never get tired of the incredible natural beauty of Alaska, the wonderfully kind locals that live in each special port city, and the spectacular service aboard Princess Cruises.
Come to think of it, Princess—think I could get a job application?
