My experience cruising Alaska solo on the Norwegian Spirit
Hey Fam!
I was online one day, reminiscing about my cruise in January 2022. I wanted to take another cruise in late summer or fall, so I hopped onto Norwegian’s website to see what I could find. I was looking for a Caribbean cruise but the price for an Alaskan cruise in June 2022 was only about $800 a person with my past guest discount. So, I booked it! Read on to learn more about my 7 day cruise to Alaska and Vancouver, Canada.
Pre Cruise Shenanigans: I flew into Seattle a day before the cruise departed. If this is not part of your regular cruise routine, I highly recommend it. It alleviates a lot of stress and ensures you will be in place to board on time. I got a direct flight to Seattle, arrived 9 a.m. PST and took an Uber to my hotel, the Courtyard Seattle Downtown. I chose this hotel because it accepted my free night certificate and because it was only a short 6 minute drive to Pier 66 and in walking distance of some of Seattle’s best sites.
The hotel was rather unassuming from the outside but beautiful on the inside. It’s housed in the Historic Alaska Building which was the tallest building in Washington when it was first built. Raul at the front desk took excellent care of me from the moment I walked in.
After I settled in, I walked 15 minutes to Pikes Place Market for the Taste Pike Place Market tour. I booked this tour with Viator but you can also book directly with Show Me Seattle. I love food, history and walking so this tour was a win win for me. Our friendly guide, Chip Woods, regaled us with stories of the market’s past while we visited different shops and munched on our sizable samples. Everything we ate was delish! So good in fact that after the tour, I went back to the Pike Place Fish Co. and Pike Place Chowder to buy dinner. And yes, I got to see the guys at Pike Place Fish Co. throw a fish!
Departure day: This hotel does not have a shuttle, but for $10 they can arrange for Seattle Shuttle to come pick you up. You can also get an uber or a cab. Or even walk. Pier 66 is literally a six minute drive or 23 minute walk away. My driver was a little late but I wasn’t worried since we were so close to the pier. I don’t know if he was rushing to make up for his lateness, but he pulled into oncoming traffic twice, nearly getting hit. Thankfully, the rest of the ride was smooth. Because there were so many cabs parked in front of the pier, the driver pulled into a parking lot across the street and let me out. After a short walk across the street, I was at the pier.
Embarkation was straight forward. I was on the ship in about an hour. I attended my muster drill and dropped off my bags in my room. Then I snagged a seat on deck and settled in to watch that beautiful Seattle skyline during sail away. After the sail away, I ran into a mob of people doing a tour of the ship. I typically do my own tour of the ship on the first day but this was a fun alternative. The crew member had amazing energy and kept us in stitches with his commentary. If you ever have the opportunity to do the group tour, take it. I highly recommend!
Cabin issues: The Norwegian Spirit was built in 1998 and refurbished in 2022. Even though it was refurbished, this ship does not have solo cabins. I paid for a standard inside cabin, on the 10th floor (room 10151) not far from Spice H2O pool deck. But it had a pole in the middle of the room, so my room steward wasn’t able to put the beds together to form one king size bed. Note to self, always look at the legend to confirm your room has what you want/need.
First sea day: My first sea day was a typical relaxing sea day. I went to breakfast at The Local. I loved the food but the portions seemed smaller than I remembered. The Local is near the promenade, so I ate and then walked several laps.
I like to scope out the quiet places on the ship. When I found the Spinnaker Lounge, I fell in love with its large windows that let in natural light and comfortable seating. It’s easily the best place on the ship to nap or curl up with a good book. The lounge holds game shows during the day and live music at night. I played a little cruise ship bingo that afternoon and won $340!
I had dinner at Cagney’s Steakhouse that evening. This is one of the specialty dining restaurants that you have to pay an additional fee for. My fee was covered under their Free at Sea promotion. The food was great but again, the portions seemed small.
First port day: Juneau was our first port. I had the Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Quest excursion that I booked through Norwegian. The excursion guaranteed that we would see a whale, and we did. But I didn’t get a single photo of it. I tried but I guess I wasn’t fast enough. For the second part of the excursion, we visited Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. The glacier part wasn’t frozen but there were chunks of ice in the water. I walked two of the walking trails – Photo Point Trail which led me to a picturesque area and Nugget Falls Trail which led me to the eponymous named falls that I could walk right up to. The trails were nice but the falls were definitely the highlight for me.
I had dinner at Silk, the complimentary Chinese restaurant on the ship. The food was so good that I asked for egg rolls to go. They wrapped them up for me and had a crew member carry them to my cabin. Talk about service.
Day 4: Our next port was Skagway. Skagway was cute and definitely giving western frontier town vibes. Most people who visit here take an excursion on the White Pass Railroad. But I wanted a photo of the welcome to Alaska sign (cuz I’m cheesy like that). So I booked the Skagway City and White Pass Summit tour through Shore Excursions. Best. Decision. Ever. The guide took us to several picturesque spots on our way up the summit and took our photos. And I got a photo of the Welcome to Alaska sign.
Day 5: Glacier Day in Holkham Bay! I skipped breakfast and went straight to Spice H20 to get a good seat to watch the glaciers go by. It was freezing initially but warmed up an hour later. Crew members brought us hot chocolate, tea, coffee and danishes. It was a perfect couple of hours, drinking hot chocolate, seeing the glaciers and snoozing in the sun. I was surprised to see that the glaciers were not covered in ice. I don’t know if that was due to it being summer or global warming.
Later that day, I went to the Spinnaker Lounge and read a book until dinner. Then I caught the high energy and entertaining Jose Figueroa in concert. If you ever have the opportunity to catch him live, do it.
Day 6: Our next port stop was in Ketchikan on the 4th of July. I think it’s important to learn about the history and culture of the place I’m visiting. So I booked the Alaskan Cultural excursion with Clan House Tours through Norwegian. Clan House Tours is family owned and Native owned. Our guides, father and son, took us to Totem Bight State Park where we went inside a replica clan house, tasted some local berries right off the bush, learned how Native Alaskans used venous plants and of course learned all about totem poles. At the end of our tour, we tried some of their smoked salmon dip and crackers. Each participant also received samples of the homemade products they sell. This was an excellent tour. If you’re into history or culture, I highly recommend it.
I spent a total of three hours in Ketchikan. I would have liked to do more but the city hosted a 4th of July parade that started at 11. Since the parade would close the main road, we had to be out of town and back at port before then. Next time, Ketchikan!
Day 7: Our last port was Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Since we didn’t dock until 7 p.m. that evening, we didn’t get much time here. It was just enough time to do a bus tour through Victoria that included a stop at Tim Horton’s (a hot drink was included in the price of the tour). Our guide was friendly, knowledgeable and did his best to help us make the most of the time we had. At the end of the tour, he gave everyone a goodie bag filled with products from Canada. You could just walk around Victoria on your own or catch an Uber somewhere. Since it was my first time there, I wanted to get an overview of the city. This tour provided that, so I recommend it.
I’ve talked about what I did but not much about how I felt solo cruising. Honestly, I was fine. Of the six cruises that I’ve taken, three were solo, so I’m used to doing my own thing on the ship. There were definitely moments that I would have liked to share with someone. But overall, I didn’t feel awkward or lonely. I would do this cruise again solo in a heartbeat!
What about you? Have you been to Alaska? Would you cruise it solo?
