Our 9 Night Alaska Wonder Trip- July 4-July 16, 2025

[Disnsyncey]

Hotels are booked...

Yup. You read that right...hotels. We truly did so much thinking about this. We watched videos, we looked at hotel reviews, we booked and cancelled and rebooked. DH and I have done an Alaskan cruise twice before which brought us to Vancouver. I wanted to do something new and still be able to show off this beautiful city to our kids.

We ran into a few obstacles. 1st... high prices. Staying near the port is certainly ideal for ease of touring the city and boarding the ship and YES... I want that! But those prices are crazy for 3 nights! 2nd... apparently there is a conference in town the weekend before our cruise and many hotels are unavailable on the Friday and Saturday nights of our stay.

So... in Disney terms... we are doing a split stay! We decided to book the Hampton Inn by Hilton Vancouver Airport for our first two nights and rent a car so that we can spend a n entire day driving the Sea to Sky Highway and visiting Whistler! That is something new for us and it looks absolutely stunning! This hotel also includes FREE breakfast! That's a plus!
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On our 3rd night we wanted to move to a hotel that is close to the port so after much searching and review reading we decided to book the Auberge Vancouver! Is it $$$? Sure it is... but I can we don't mind for just the one night since it will bring so much convenience to our trip. We will enjoy a free breakfast at the Hampton and take the Skytrain from the airport into Vancouver on Sunday so that we can check our luggage at the hotel and enjoy exploring and touring and the restaurants and all the great things this city has to offer. It will be great to spend the night so close to the ship and be within walking distance to the pier so we can watch her come in early in the morning and walk our luggage, which will be carryon only, when we are ready to board!

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We are happy with our decision to spend 2 nights at the Hampton near the airport so we can enjoy and adventure to Whistler and then 1 night at the Auberge giving us all the convenience for boarding day!

I stayed at the Auberge after my 1 way RC from Seward! It was nice! I mean, the folks were helpful and we didn't need much from them and it was close to the port and a cute hotel......

 

[Dizney73]

Victoria ... Finally!

I know that we are very lucky to be spending a good amount of time in Victoria. Most cruise ships just stop by the city, often in the evening. We will be in port from 11 am -6 pm. We have gone round and round as a family trying to figure out what to do here. I would love to go to Butchardt Gardens but my teens are not very excited to go see flower gardens. I love the idea of high tea but my picky eater son won't eat any of those expensive fancy sandwiches. Victoria is a great area to see Orcas but we are already going on a whale watch in Icy Strait Point. We haven't ever been to Victoria on any of our other Alaskan cruises so we thought we should see the city, explore, take in the sites and maybe try some of the local food!

So we decided on a tour that is called 2 hour City Highlights Private Luxury Tour. It's going to be a whirlwind 2 hour tour picking us up at the port and driving us around to see the sites inside and around the city. We love having a tour guide give us details and facts about what we are seeing and this tour will allow us to jump out of the car and see the sites, snap some photos and do what we wish. And... because it's just two hours it will leave us some time to return to some of the spots we want to take a closer look at the end of the tour!

And that's a wrap on the planning of our 9 night Alaskan cruise with a 3 night pre-cruise stay! Doesn't mean things won't change ... but at this point we have something planned for each port and our sea days!

 

[Disnsyncey]

Victoria ... Finally!

I know that we are very lucky to be spending a good amount of time in Victoria. Most cruise ships just stop by the city, often in the evening. We will be in port from 11 am -6 pm. We have gone round and round as a family trying to figure out what to do here. I would love to go to Butchardt Gardens but my teens are not very excited to go see flower gardens. I love the idea of high tea but my picky eater son won't eat any of those expensive fancy sandwiches. Victoria is a great area to see Orcas but we are already going on a whale watch in Icy Strait Point. We haven't ever been to Victoria on any of our other Alaskan cruises so we thought we should see the city, explore, take in the sites and maybe try some of the local food!

So we decided on a tour that is called 2 hour City Highlights Private Luxury Tour. It's going to be a whirlwind 2 hour tour picking us up at the port and driving us around to see the sites inside and around the city. We love having a tour guide give us details and facts about what we are seeing and this tour will allow us to jump out of the car and see the sites, snap some photos and do what we wish. And... because it's just two hours it will leave us some time to return to some of the spots we want to take a closer look at the end of the tour!
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And that's a wrap on the planning of our 9 night Alaskan cruise with a 3 night pre-cruise stay! Doesn't mean things won't change ... but at this point we have something planned for each port and our sea days!

I don't know what you like for food, but I was so impressed with the chain called Earl's Kitchen + Bar on the first go round (we went to the "test" kitchen and it had even more delicious food), that when my parents wanted to stay at the Empress to rest, I went and ordered takeout from Earl's and went and got it for them! They have a lot of options! They are all over downtown Vancouver and at least 1 in Victoria, just a few blocks from the harbor....

 

[Dizney73]

I don't know what you like for food, but I was so impressed with the chain called Earl's Kitchen + Bar on the first go round (we went to the "test" kitchen and it had even more delicious food), that when my parents wanted to stay at the Empress to rest, I went and ordered takeout from Earl's and went and got it for them! They have a lot of options! They are all over downtown Vancouver and at least 1 in Victoria, just a few blocks from the harbor....

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll put it on my list! I have to go look it up now!!!!

 

[Tink1987]

Hi, just wanted to say I have loved reading your pre-trippie as we are on this cruise too! You’ve done a lot of wonderful planning, I hope you have a great cruise!