An Unforgettable Alaska Adventure with Azamara
I have just returned from a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Alaska with Azamara and all I can say is WOW. Keep reading to find out more about my adventure.
Azamara Pursuit – Day 2
What. A. Day.
We started the morning with breakfast delivered to our stateroom – fresh fruit, hot coffee and croissants – before a quick blast on the treadmill, where we spotted our very first whale! Not a bad view for a morning workout.
After a shower, we headed to The Living Room for the morning quiz. We thought 9/20 was pretty respectable… turns out, we’re terrible! Thankfully, the views more than made up for our lack of general knowledge.
Azamara have brought a fantastic Naturalist onboard who gave an in-depth talk on Alaska, our ports of call and the best places to spot wildlife throughout the voyage.
One of the highlights of today was our route to Ketchikan. Rather than heading out to sea, our captain navigated through some spectacular inside fjords, giving us wall-to-wall scenery all day long. This is also where we saw our first humpback whale breaching alongside the ship – an experience I’ll never forget.
The afternoon was spent wildlife spotting, soaking up the views and enjoying some delicious food (the Alaskan salmon in Windows Café was incredible!).
This evening was Azamara’s signature White Night. I was intrigued to see how it would work on an Alaska sailing, given it’s usually held out on deck. Fantastic planning from the captain and cruise director meant we slowed right down and nestled into a sheltered fjord, protected from the wind and bathed in sunshine. We were treated to an amazing BBQ (the lobster was gorgeous!), followed by the Captain’s Welcome and a brilliant show from the entertainment team.
With the 9-hour time difference from the UK finally catching up with us, we made one last stop at Mosaic Café for a hot chocolate before calling it a night.
It’s now 6am and we’re just approaching Ketchikan, Alaska, where this evening the entire ship is heading ashore for an AzAmazing Evening at the famous Lumberjack Show!
If you’ve made it this far, thank you! Maybe I’ll do another overly detailed post tomorrow… who knows?
Azamara Pursuit - Day 3
We want to experience Alaska, not just see the jewellery shops.
That pretty much summed up our day in Ketchikan- we climbed a mountain…
After breakfast in Discoveries Restaurant, we met with Rachel, Azamara’s onboard naturalist, to talk about some local hikes. She was a fountain of knowledge and gave us some great recommendations.
One thing that’s really stood out so far is how easy everything feels onboard Azamara. At 9am we simply walked off the ship – no queues, no mad rush, just straight ashore.
Azamara docks just outside Ketchikan in a beautiful little cove that used to be an old pulp mill. Complimentary local shuttle buses run into town with a brilliant commentary along the way. We learnt that Ketchikan was Alaska’s first city and that many homes outside the city limits still rely on collecting rainwater.
There were five larger ships in port today, with an estimated 11,000+ passengers descending on Ketchikan. Most were sailing away by 4pm, but thanks to Azamara’s destination immersion, we weren’t leaving until 10pm.
Instead of joining the crowds, we snapped a quick photo at the famous Ketchikan sign and headed straight for Deer Mountain Trail through the Alaskan rainforest.
Wow.
The sounds, the smells, the scenery and the sheer size of the trees were incredible. After a decent climb, we reached the first viewpoint and it was worth every step – breathtaking views across the islands. This was the Alaska we’d come to see.
By the time we made it back into town, the crowds had disappeared. We wandered around Creek Street (sadly no salmon today!), had a look around the shops and soaked up the atmosphere of this picturesque little city. But if I’m honest, the real beauty of Ketchikan was up in the hills.
The evening was Azamara’s signature AzAmazing Evening – a private lumberjack show complete with welcome cocktails and local cuisine. Such a fantastic experience and a great way to end the day. Of course, there was a late-night buffet waiting for us back onboard because, let’s face it, food is an important part of cruising!
We skipped karaoke and called it a night instead. After walking 10 miles and climbing a mountain, we were absolutely goosed.
It’s now 7am, room service coffee is on its way, and we’re approaching Klawock.
Alaska, you’re pretty special.
More tomorrow…
Azamara Pursuit – Day 4
If there’s one thing we’ve learnt on this trip, it’s that Alaska isn’t just glaciers and wildlife – it’s the people and the places you would probably never visit if it weren’t for cruising.
The day started as usual with coffee delivered to the stateroom (because we’re simply not functioning human beings until caffeine has been consumed!). While Rennie enjoyed a leisurely morning in bed, I headed to the gym for a 7km run. I’m not normally a treadmill fan, but when you’re running past Alaskan scenery, it’s hard to complain.
Today we visited Klawock, a small remote island with a population of just 790 people – that’s only around 100 more than the number of guests onboard Azamara Pursuit. It’s our first tender port of the trip and one that feels a million miles away from the busy cruise ports we’re used to.
A quick five-minute tender ride took us ashore before we hopped on the complimentary shuttle to the neighbouring community of Craig. This is Alaskaat its most authentic. One road runs the length of the island, with dirt tracks branching off into the wilderness. There’s one supermarket, one school and one medical facility serving the local community.
Walking around, it felt like we’d stepped into everyday Alaskan life. The island is home to the only functioning sawmill still operating in Alaska and only opened to cruise tourism three years ago. In its first year, six ships visited. Last year it welcomed 20, and this year that number has jumped to 55. My advice? Visit sooner rather than later before the secret gets out!
We spent an hour or so wandering around, spotting bald eagles and taking far too many photos before heading back to the ship.
Lunch was a juicy burger at The Patio, followed by a well-earned soak in the hot tub. Alaska continues to surprise us – we’ve had sunshine and temperatures around 20°C most days! While I embraced the weather, Rennie wrapped himself up in the shade like an anxious little waxwork figure. Apparently, 20°C in Alaska is still too much for him!
Later in the afternoon, we were invited to cocktails with the senior officers and enjoyed a behind-the-scenes bridge tour. Watching the bridge team lift anchor and prepare the ship for departure while standing alongside them made the experience even more special.
We also attended another fascinating lecture from Rachel, Azamara’s onboard naturalist, this time all about our new friends – the humpback whales.
The day ended with a fantastic meal in Discoveries and another brilliant show in the Cabaret Lounge.
And now, we’re waking up in Sitka, where the weather is still warm, dry and continuing to make a mockery of everything we thought we knew about Alaska!
More tomorrow…
Azamara day 5 - Sitka
The town that only gets 8 days of sunshine a year, and we got one of them! I don’t want to jinx it, but we’ve not seen a drop of rain yet. Sunbathing in Alaska was not something I was expecting!
Anyway, here we are, halfway through our cruise in beautiful Sitka! This is a tender port, and Azamara do tenders better than any other line I’ve sailed with before – super organised. Those without excursions head to The Den to grab a tender ticket and are taken ashore in groups. Because the ship is small, there hasn’t been a wait longer than five minutes yet! We were joined in port by Ritz-Carlton Luminara, meaning there were only about 1,000 people going ashore.
Sitka is stunning and almost everything is walkable. We decided to head straight to Sitka National Historical Park for a leisurely stroll. We saw squirrels playing, eagles, salmon climbing the river, and went hunting for bears. Although we didn’t see any bears, we did see fresh brown bear poo, meaning there was at least one around!
After a wander around the park, we headed back towards town with the usual gift shops and lovely views of the mountains. Some people we spoke to went whale watching and saw humpbacks, orcas and bears – very jealous!
6 miles walked and it was time to head back to the ship for lunch in Windows Café. It always amazes me how they manage to serve such good quality food in a buffet! The afternoon was spent laying in the sun until we departed at 4pm, where we were treated to a show from the local whales.
After tea, we headed over to the Cabaret Lounge to watch the guest entertainer, Brandon Dooley, a comedy magician who was fantastically hilarious. Tonight, we managed to stay up slightly later and headed up to The Living Room for Crew-oke, where some of the crew took to the mic for karaoke.
We are sailing into Juneau right now, where we hope to see our first glacier, whales and maybe some bears. Fingers crossed!
Day 6 - Juneau - our first glacier sighting!
Today we are in Alaska’s capital, Juneau, and the day we found our first glacier!
As always, we started the day with coffee delivered to the room while sailing through the stunning fjords of Glacier Bay National Park, followed by breakfast in Discoveries Restaurant. I opted for the BLT salad and Rennie had steak and eggs.
Today was another tender port and it was a little more chaotic, with some people demanding to get off instantly. There were plenty of announcements explaining the process, which most people followed. Those who didn’t got a little stressed!
We’re still keen to get off the beaten track, so we decided to grab a Lyft to Mendenhall Glacier (top tip: a Lyft is around $50 each way and the two-hour shuttle tours are around $70 per person). Oh wow - these things are just breathtaking! Did you know that Mendenhall Glacier moves around 1.5 feet per day down the mountainside? They’re also melting incredibly quickly and have receded significantly over the years.
Anyhow, we took the short hike to Nugget Falls to see the incredible waterfall up close. Unsurprisingly, everyone else had the same idea!
From there, we took a trail off the beaten track up into the rainforest, where we got to see how the ice has shaped the landscape over millions of years, with waterfalls tumbling down the cliffs and wildlife thriving in its natural beauty. We still haven’t seen a bloody bear though!
One thing I’ve learnt on this trip is that if you step back ever so slightly from the more touristy sections, you really do get to see the real Alaska - and it’s stunning.
A quick Lyft ride back downtown gave us time for a wander around the streets of Juneau. I won’t lie, all of the port towns do seem fairly similar - jewellery shops, souvenir stores and the odd saloon. It was very pretty, but after a quick wander we were back on the ship for a snack in Mosaic Café.
We bumped into Rachel, the onboard naturalist, who highly recommended that we book a tour for tomorrow in Icy Strait Point as there’s not much to do otherwise. Watch this space - it could be the best day yet!
We met up with some friends for dinner in Discoveries Restaurant and, as always, it was great. We ended the night in the Cabaret Lounge where the entertainment team treated us to a bloody brilliant Beatles montage. They were insanely good!
Day 7 - Icy Strait
We were told that icy straight point or Hoonagh as it’s known the the local indigenous people is a purpose built port on a remote part of Alaska belonging to the local tribe. There isn’t much in the port area so a tour is recommended.
There is only 7 miles of pathed roadway on the island and as we headed out to our bear search and whale watch we quickly learned that most of the roads are gravel dirt tracks.
We were really hopeful we’d finally see a bear today with the island having the highest density of bears in Alaska….. Yogi bear had different ideas, unfortunately no bears were seen. However, the whale watch was incredible, we were treated to Orcas who are rarely seen in these waters, they were clearly out hunting and I managed to capture one of them jumping out the water to “Spy”.
We also go to see, eagles, sealions, sea otters (cuteness overload) mink and humpback whale- it was a very expensive trip, but was so good.
Back to the ship 30 minutes before departure and straight to the patio for burgers. The sun was out again and the pool deck was buzzing.
We were reliably informed that if we sat out on the starboard side of the ship we would spot a glacier from Glacier Bay National park….. we spotted some more Orca while sat out on deck 5 and 2 hours later there it was, standing in all its glory! Amazing.
As always, ended the night with some great entertainment and called it a night- today we are heading toward Hubbard Glacier!
Azamara Pursuit day 7 - Hubbard Glacier
Today was a special day, that’s for sure! Most cruises in Alaska will try and sail close to a glacier during their voyage, however, because Azamara isn’t part of one of the big cruise corporations and their ships are small, the Captain has the autonomy to make decisions and changes to the itinerary as he goes. Today really showed how that immerses you in the destination.
We left Icy Strait Point early, the Captain ramped up the engines and we sped towards Hubbard Glacier overnight, arriving at around 9.30am. The weather was incredible - according to the onboard naturalist, some of the best conditions they’ve seen in a long time. The air was ice cold, the wind was light but bitter, and the sun shone bright!
Because the ship is small and nimble, we worked our way through the ice and got right up close and personal with the glacier. We sat there in Disenchantment Bay, close to Yakutat, Alaska, for almost two hours while the Captain slowly spun the ship so everybody got an amazing view. Rachel, the naturalist, gave a fantastic commentary live from the bridge. Did you know Hubbard Glacier is one of the very few glaciers in the world that is still advancing?
We were that close that we got to see ice calve from the face of the glacier twice. The noise was unbelievably loud - it reminded me of thunder echoing around the bay!
I don’t think I have enough words to describe just how breathtakingly beautiful this was. If you’re coming to Alaska, I would highly recommend Azamara for this experience alone - and please, choose a small ship. Getting this close to somewhere so spectacular is something I’ll never forget.
Azamara Pursuit Day 8 - Valdez, Alaska
It’s our penultimate port of call today, and it’s gone far too quickly! We’ve enjoyed this cruise so much that we’re about to book onboard for next year - Alaska has really caught our attention and Azamara has been amazing!
Valdez is the oldest new town in Alaska, built in the 60s. It’s surrounded by snow-covered mountains - did you know that Valdez is known for being one of the snowiest towns in Alaska!?
There isn’t much to do in the town itself, although I was pleased not to see the repetitive gift shops and jewellers. There are two museums, a few breweries and one or two locally owned gift shops. Outside of town there are some beautiful trails, which we headed out on in the hope of spotting a bear… still no sign of these mythical creatures, I’m sure they don’t exist!
After 11km wandering the trails and town, we headed back to the ship to relax (do our laundry) and recoup. Rennie had a power nap and I headed back out for a quick run down another trail I’d spotted - it went right through a stunning dry river bed!
Back onboard, showered and changed ready for the pub quiz. We are getting better - 8 out of 20 yesterday and 18 out of 20 today (albeit with friends’ help) is practically elite level!
We then met with Rachel, the onboard naturalist, who very kindly gave me a copy of her book and marked our voyage on a map. I’ve learnt so much about Alaska, its wildlife and ecosystem on this trip!
We dined in Discoveries Restaurant again to end the night (we were exhausted so didn’t make the show!).
One last full day tomorrow and we’re hoping to make the hike to Exit Glacier - fingers crossed!
Azamara Pursuit day 9- Seward Alaska
Our final port of call on this incredible trip and we ended strong with a hike to Exit Glacier!! I never want it to end!
Seward sits in Resurrection Bay on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula and is the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park. Named after William H. Seward, who negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, it’s one of Alaska’s most scenic coastal towns.
We headed out around 9.30am to meet our driver who would take us the 12 miles to Kenai Fjords national park which is at the foot Exit Glacier surrounded by rugged mountains and Hubbard ice field.
Our aim today was to hike up to the view point of the glacier- I wish we’d had time to hike the ice field but unfortunately not on this trip. However, the views here were INSANE! We were so close to the river of ice- look at all the blues in it!
We head back to town just after lunch for a wander round this quaint picturesque town where I finally got my hands on some Alaska fudge- didn’t get the cap I'd been eyeing up though, regret that now! There was a free shuttle back to the ship but we chose to walk the coastal path back and it was stunning, we saw fisherman coming back in with their salmon.
Rennie wanted his last Azamara Burger from the Patio- (they’re delish) so we headed there before going back to the stateroom to pack (isn’t that the worst!)
Ended the night as always with a great dinner in Discoveries followed by an incredible show- one great touch I loved was the cruise director and video team had been secretly filing us all week and they put together a farewell screening together and played it back to us- small but mighty impactful end to the cruise!
We are sailing through some dense fog as we head to Whittier Alaska and the captain is sounding his horn every few minutes, let’s hope we get some sleep!
Azamara Pursuit day 10 - they kicked us off
The worst day of any cruise is disembarkation day. However, Azamara (as usual) made the day stress-free, seamless and somewhat enjoyable (if that’s a thing for the last day of vacay?!).
We had left our luggage out the night before and it was transferred straight to the airport. We had to be out of our stateroom by 8am and headed straight to Discoveries Restaurant for my final fix of smoked salmon. We grabbed a takeaway coffee at Mosaic Café and strolled off the ship around 9am, straight to our waiting coach.
The drive from Whittier to Anchorage is around 1 hour 45 minutes through a one-way tunnel that’s only open in each direction every 30 minutes – you can’t disembark here without a plan!
Our driver was like a tour guide, chatting us through all the sights along the way. It was a great drive. We arrived at the airport around 11.30am for our 2.15pm flight back to Vancouver.
We’ve never flown with Air Canada before, but they were great. We had plenty of leg room and in-flight entertainment on our three-hour hop from Anchorage to Vancouver, landing around 7pm. We have our red-eye tomorrow at 1pm (landing into Frankfurt at 8am), so we’re having a quick layover at the Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport – the food was epic, the view was great and the bed was comfy!
An early night is needed ahead of our 22-hour journey home tomorrow!
