Alaska With Kids - Cruise Edition (Part 2)

Alaska cruise planning for families: what it costs, which cruise line to pick, best ports, shore excursions, and more with expert Kim Tate.

Expert guest Kim Tate of Stuffed Suitcase has been on roughly 10 Alaska cruises and just published a book on the subject. She joins host Melissa Conn to break down everything families need to know about planning an Alaska cruise with kids — from choosing the right ship to managing excursion logistics to setting realistic expectations about wildlife and weather.

In this episode:

• Cruise vs. land: what each format does better for families
• Roundtrip vs. one-way Alaska itineraries — and the Gulf of Alaska crossing
• Glacier Bay vs. other glacier experiences: is it worth planning around?
• Best Alaska cruise lines for kids programming
• What a realistic Alaska cruise actually costs for a family 
• Shore excursions: cruise line vs. independent booking, and one third-party resource Kim trusts
• Seattle vs. Vancouver embarkation - including the two Seattle piers most families don't know about
• How to use companion passes to offset flight costs
• Lightning round: Kim's favorite SEA lounge, best Alaska wildlife sighting,  what she always eats and more!

Already explored Alaska by land? Melissa has too — listen to Episode 32 for the land trip breakdown, then come back to this one for the cruise deep dive.

00:00 Welcome and Meet Kim Tate
04:14 Alaska Cruise Planning Preliminaries
06:01 Cruise vs Land Experiences
07:03 Alaska Cruise Itineraries
11:36 What's the Best Alaska Cruise for Families and Kids?
15:24 Weather and Cancellations
18:55 Realistic Alaska Cruise Trip Costs
22:26 Choosing Your Ideal Alaska Cruise
30:37 Alaska Shore Excursions
37:14 Embarkation: Seattle vs Vancouver
39:54 Why Use a Travel Advisor
42:39 Lightning Round
48:17 Wrap Up

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Transcript

Melissa (2) 0:02

Hey there and welcome back to Family Travel Unpacked. I'm your host, Melissa, and in case you're new here, you can find tons of detailed destination guides, travel tips, hacks, and more on my website, thefamilyvoyage.com. And if you've been enjoying the show, be sure to hit follow wherever you're listening so you never miss an episode and drop a five star review- it really helps other families find the show. Now, a couple of weeks ago, in episode 32, I talked about visiting Alaska by land, how we planned our trip, what we did, what worked, and what we might do differently next time. If you haven't heard that one, be sure to go back and give it a listen, but today's episode is gonna be the next chapter because we've been dreaming about an Alaska cruise for a while now. I decided to bring in someone who really knows what she's talking about, my good friend Kim Tate. Kim's the founder of Stuffed Suitcase, a travel blog she's been running since 2012, a Yahoo travel writer, formerly the co-host of the Vacation Maven Podcast, and now she's a luxury travel advisor who specializes in among many other things, Alaska cruises. She actually just published an entire book about Alaska cruises, which I got in the mail today, and I can't wait to crack it open. I'm so looking forward to talking with her and getting lots of good info for all of us. Kim, welcome to the show.

Kim 1:12

Thanks much for having me. I'm happy to be here and talk about one of my favorite trips.

Melissa 1:17

Awesome. Well, to kick it off, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, how stuffed suitcase began, and also your new foray into the travel advisory side of the business.

Kim 1:26

I always like to say that I kind of took some ruby red slippers. I grew up in Kansas, didn't get to travel much. Uh, went away to college and that started the whole idea of I loved planning travel and planning my flights and figuring that all out. And then once I got married to my husband, I started planning some fun trips for us and we had the kids and never stopped. We just kept doing it and I started having people come to me and ask for my advice, like, Hey, how did you book this? What's the best deal? Where should we go next? And so, um, my husband's a techie guy and he said, you should start a blog about that. And in 2012 Stuffed Suitcase was born and it basically raised my kids in a life of travel'cause they are now off to college and they got to grow up with some really fun experiences over the years. So a little bit about me and yeah, evolving into now being a travel advisor as well. So I get to use all that love of travel planning and help others make their vacation dreams come true.

Melissa 2:20

That's great. And are you enjoying the advisory side of things?

Kim 2:23

I am, it's funny that I feel like I was on the right path because when I have clients and I'm working on stuff, I don't want to stop. I just keep going like, well, let me research this. Let me look into this and what about this? I've always been a researcher so that natural drive I have to look into stuff and research and figure things out, it helps. I think it's a perfect fit for that kind of job description.

Melissa 2:43

You and I have known each other for a bunch of years now. I can't even remember how many,

Kim 2:46

Yeah.

Melissa 2:47

and one thing I learned about you very early on is that you're super detailed and you really like to dive deep on subjects,

Kim 2:52

Yeah.

Melissa 2:53

I think it's a great new direction for you.

Kim 2:55

Thank you so much. Yeah. I'm looking, I'm, I'm enjoying it and looking forward to keeping it growing.

Melissa 2:59

Now, as I mentioned before on my doorstep right now is your brand new book all about Alaska Cruises. Can you tell us more about your relationship with Alaska and cruising and how did that happen?

Kim 3:09

Absolutely. So we moved out to Seattle in about 2001. And it was 2002 I realized, hey, right in our backyard, we can take this Alaska cruise. Let's do it for one of our trips. And so that was what we did. We did it on a Royal Caribbean ship. We had gone on a cruise for our honeymoon and so we liked cruising and I thought, let's do an Alaska cruise. So that's kinda where it started. And we look back at some of the photos, it's actually a little sad to look back at what even Mendenhall Glacier and Juno looked like from that trip. And now when we go, my husband, we were on a princess trip recently and he was like, wow, it's, it looks so different even to him from what you remember. So over the years I've been on about 10 cruises, and I have another one coming up again this year, and it's been on various cruise lines. My oldest daughter is now a fan of cruises. She's been on two Alaska cruises now on her own, with her own money that she's saved and earned over the years. Our family likes it. I think being based in the Pacific Northwest makes it extremely convenient.

Melissa 4:07

And so I know obviously you're based in Seattle, so for you guys it's a quick and easy getaway. You don't have to dedicate any extra time to the travel logistics. How would you help a Midwestern family like us think a little bit differently about that trip? Because obviously it's a much bigger investment of time and money trying to get to the West Coast first and then board a ship to explore Alaska.

Kim 4:26

Absolutely. And I think people don't even think about that. Even from Seattle, it's a four hour flight for us to get up to Anchorage. So, you know, Alaska is, is up there ways, and to get there and back, you're gonna need a good seven days, you know, on a boat. So when you start adding in the fact that you should always arrive a day early for any cruise or major vacation, you're gonna have, you really start adding those times on. And I think that's what throws off a lot of families that need to have that time. Especially coming from an east coast where you've got a three hour headstart on the day and then you land, you think you can get a little bit more in, but things can snowball fast. So it's not always that headstart that you think you had and getting there the day early really matters. I think. So that's something to keep in mind. So I think the biggest advice is summers perfect because that's when kids are outta school and that's the Alaska cruise season. But just know it is gonna be a very expensive vacation. And when you start adding on all those little extra days, my biggest advice is just make sure you have the amount of time you're gonna need. People think they could do it in a one week trip, but then they don't always think about that time zone change, the travel logistics of getting over to your embarkation port a day early, things like that. I think you could do nine days. You're also gonna have limited flights, I think would be the other thing. You might have trouble getting from some of your towns into some of the ports. Seattle might be a little easier for some people that are in the Midwest versus Vancouver. So flight logistics is also gonna be something to consider.

Melissa 5:51

I know that in the summertime we have oftentimes two nonstops a day to Seattle, but other times of year, it's only one nonstop a day, and the schedule varies depending on the season. now, I know you mentioned you've been on something like 10 Alaska cruises over the years. Have you visited by land?

Kim 6:07

Barely. Uh, so I've done a couple things where I've gotten off in Whittier and had to take a transfer to the airport to fly home. So I didn't even do much land exploration there, but last year I was able to go to Kenai Fjords and so I flew into Anchorage, spent a couple days in Anchorage, then we went to Seward and did a Kenai fjords tour on the water there. As well as staying on an island and kind of a private luxury resort that was really nice for a couple nights and then headed back.

Melissa 6:38

So you and I have kind of opposite Alaska experiences because I've done two land-based trips now, and you've done something like a dozen

Kim 6:46

Yeah.

Melissa 6:46

over the years.

Kim 6:48

basically only cruises And I've always been on the coast and I think interior Alaska's very different than Coast. Yeah.

Melissa 6:55

Yeah, as I mentioned in the previous episode, there's some super cool stuff that you can do even as day trips from Anchorage when you head north from the city. So what does a typical Alaska cruise look like since you mentioned that you've only stayed on the coast?

Kim 7:08

So I think it varies and that's where people get hung up. There's really two types of Alaska cruises. Those are round trip cruises that are seven to eight days. They typically leave outta Seattle or Vancouver, although you can find some California ones on certain lines out of San Francisco. And they'll go straight up and then come back down. Those are pretty standard I think, for families as well, because it's just more convenient, You can buy roundtrip airfare, you can make some logistics better. But the other ones are one-way cruises. They'll often say northbound or southbound, and those are where you're gonna embark in likely Vancouver and you head up and you're gonna get off in Whittier or Seward, which gives you some options to be able to expand to Denali, which is one of the most famous ones, or even Fairbanks. And that's the biggest thing I think people need to consider is how the cruises are different based on the itineraries and where you're getting on and off.

Melissa 8:03

And, uh one little shout out I wanted to make that I mentioned in the Alaska by Land episode two weeks ago is that as of this summer, Southwest is gonna be serving Anchorage as well. And for a lot of families, especially those of us based in the Midwest or people in Florida and Texas, this is great news because if you've got a companion pass, that means that you can do a one-way cruise and then use your Southwest companion Pass to fly back to the mainland from Anchorage or to fly up to Anchorage for your cruise, and your kids can come with you for free.

Kim 8:30

that's a great benefit. And Alaska flights are not cheap either. So definitely something for a consideration. If you're looking for a flight deal, you're gonna find those a lot less often in and out of Alaska versus Seattle.

Melissa 8:42

I also have the Alaska Atmos summit card, which includes a 25,000 point companion ticket which I've already used,

Kim 8:48

love that

Melissa 8:48

next year I'll use it for a trip to Alaska. And then their less expensive cards, as I'm sure you know, Kim, the Ascent card and the business card offer their companion fare discounts where you add a companion to a cash ticket for$99. And that can be for a round trip ticket. So in theory, even if you're buying kind of an expensive cash ticket,

Kim 9:05

Yeah, that would be a good one to use it on.

Melissa 9:07

so I know you've mostly focused on the cruising aspect, What would you say are some things that you can only get from cruising versus what you can only experience on land?

Kim 9:15

I think the biggest thing with Alaska cruises is the scenery. When you're going through the inside passage. When you're going through some of those channel ways and there's land around you and sometimes you've got like little icebergs when you start getting into some of the glacier areas and that experience, it's just a very different appearance of nature versus what you see on land. I do think wildlife viewing is sometimes better on land versus water. People will go on an Alaska cruise for wildlife, but that's often done through shore excursions. You'd kind of have to get a little bit off the coast, but you'll certainly see tons of bald eagles, whales occasionally from the ship depending on the season you're there. And then sea lions, little otters every once in a while, things like that. You can definitely see when you're on the ship, but you're not gonna see just moose. I've been on 10, I've seen a bear offshore from the cruise ship one time on one of my cruises, but it was a black bear. So I see those in Seattle and Canada, so,

Melissa 10:10

I think that it's good to set those expectations, right. Because when

Kim 10:14

yeah.

Melissa 10:15

we did see bears, from

Kim 10:18

Yeah,

Melissa 10:19

and

Kim 10:19

absolutely. Exactly. Did you see moose?

Melissa 10:24

I think I saw two moose maybe that

Kim 10:27

Yeah.

Melissa 10:28

I went out when I was out near Matanuska Glacier.

Kim 10:32

Okay. Yeah. I think that's the biggest thing. People wanna see moose when they go on an Alaska cruise. You're not gonna have that as much. You need to do a cruise tour where you extend into land based on my experience and knowledge, so

Melissa 10:44

you can actually see them in Anchorage in the city proper. If you bike down the

Kim 10:49

Right.

Melissa 10:49

bike Coastal Trail the way at the

Kim 10:51

Absolutely.

Melissa 10:53

watch Yeah.

Kim 10:54

Yep. But people, that's what you've gotta extend. That's what I'm saying. You gotta, you gotta get in land, um,'cause you're not gonna see it right on the coast there, so. Yep.

Melissa 11:02

in see

Kim 11:05

Yeah. Because I think it's an hour and a half to two hour transfer time between Seward to Anchorage, so gives people an idea like it's a bit inland. Does that seem right? I think that's right.

Melissa 11:16

the traffic is bad in the summer, it could even be three hours. Whittier's

Kim 11:21

Yeah, that's right. Whittier. Yeah. But Whittier has that, the tunnel that you have to deal with the timing on. And hopefully no accidents.

Melissa 11:30

Right. I mean that is, that is definitely consideration all over Alaska, especially in the summer. For families with busy kids, young kids who are really energetic, think about the cruise format versus, a land-based trip?

Kim 11:43

I think you have a benefit there because if you pick the right cruise line, you can get a kids' club with it. Um, so getting that break, giving them activities. Also, here's a little tip for families. Seven day cruises, especially round trips or more popular families versus the cruise tours. The longer, you know, 10, 14 day, uh, packages, those are gonna attract less families. So if your kids are social and like being in kids clubs with other kids, definitely target those round trip seven day cruises. I think for families, choosing the right cruise line and ship matters a lot. I would say for a lot of couples and other people, choosing your itinerary and your port times is important. But when you have, um, young kids and families, I think really knowing the right ship and what your kids are into.'cause not every kid is into the water slides. My kids definitely went on the Norwegian Bliss water slides in Alaska and it was cold and then they went and got in a hot tub and then they went and showered and it was a short little activity when they were tweens and teens. But I think that for most kids, you're not gonna get that pool time that people think about where you're just sitting on a lounge chair. So having the kids club activities, looking at what a sample itinerary, um, you know, like the daily. Activity lists that they send in cabins. Seeing if you can find any of those to really see what kind of activities are on board for kids, is gonna be a benefit for you guys. Although in Alaska, you do spend a lot of time going into ports and you have fewer at sea days, so you're not really trying to fill as many hours of the day. It's kind of like, go, go into port, come on, keep'em busy for a little while, maybe go get them at the buffet, and then give them to the kids club so you can have a nice dinner.

Melissa 13:18

A little bit of different pacing than a Caribbean itinerary would be.

Kim 13:21

Yep,

Melissa 13:23

Are there lines that you think do a particularly great job of providing that kids programming, whether that's naturalists coming on or kids club stuff

Kim 13:30

absolutely. I think that as much as the price point is not very friendly disney really does an amazing job in Alaska, um, with the kids programming and the naturalist talks that are tailored for families and kids. I think they've really nailed that. And they've recognized that things are different in Alaska versus Caribbean where a lot of cruise lines try to do the same kind of formatting and activities that they would do in the Caribbean and it's very different. So I would say Disney's definitely one that if your kids are into it, and if you don't mind being around other kids, if you're look like you're okay with that, then Disney's one to look into. They do an excellent job with that. And I would say Princess is the one that's really trying to start putting their foot in the door a little better with the kids programming, which is surprising. I think people think of. Princess is like the love boat and attracting an older clientele, and they're really, they've in 2026, they've pushed heavy into trying to make sure they have special kids programming and even tween and teen, um, programming that helps give them a little bit more, um, specialized learning while they're on the ship. So those would be the two that stand out the most. If you're going to look at like, celebrity and things like that. A lot of those, like celebrity in Norwegian, they have, um, Norwegian has great activities on board on some of their ships for kids, but, um, a lot of the kids club programming is gonna be similar and not so much the naturalist learning, but also some kids just aren't into that.

Melissa 14:54

Well, that's great intel because as you know, I now have a tween and a

Kim 14:57

Yep.

Melissa 14:58

They're not interested in Disney characters and diaper races anymore. It just wouldn't be their

Kim 15:02

Absolutely.

Melissa 15:03

maybe it would be a really fun experience for

Kim 15:05

Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly it. And their ships are surprisingly larger than I was expecting. So they're not just the small ships like you would think. And they have one of their newer ships, the star princess that's sailing there has kind of a really cool dome environment that lets people hang out and be in a co a little bit more covered. So,

Melissa 15:24

Well, we will talk more about specific cruise lines and ships in just a few minutes. Now, you mentioned that your girls enjoyed the water slides when you guys went up there when they were the same age as my

Kim 15:33

Mm-hmm.

Melissa 15:33

Obviously, weather is a huge wild card. Summer should be nice. But I'm curious about how weather disruptions go and also if you've only done summer or if you've done some shoulder season. And if you have any thoughts on that.

Kim 15:44

I have done some shoulder season, so I've done end of April right when the season had started was one of our recent MultiGen and we had amazingly gorgeous sunny day at Glacier Bay, like beautiful. And then I have a friend who was supposed to go to Glacier Bay in July and it got canceled because of weather. It's on the coast so you have to really be understanding that there can be difficulties with some of that. I would say the shoulder season typically is more problematic with storms and things like that, with getting into ports'cause that's one thing people don't realize is that a lot of times it'll be like, oh, it's not safe for us to actually navigate into the ports so we have to stay out at sea a little longer. And that can affect things and make some headaches that people don't always think about. But, um, definitely have been summer storms as well and that's hit people that weren't expecting it. I always think August is one of those tricky, like I've had, every time I've gone in August, I've had great weather, but I've seen people go in August and had surprisingly bad rain and socked in. My daughter and I were on a trip about three years ago and it was calling for rain and clouds the whole trip. And every day we'd wake up and it was sunny and nice and it just kept

Melissa 16:56

Amazing,

Kim 16:57

and burning off. So, and that's coastal weather for you, right? It looks like it's gonna be one way, but it can burn off. So that's one thing about the summer is even if it's calling for rain, it can burn off.

Melissa 17:06

Yeah, I mean, we went up in August for our family's land-based trip and the weather was amazing. We had a drizzle one day, But then when I was up with another one of our blogger friends in September, a couple years later, it was very

Kim 17:18

Yeah.

Melissa 17:19

our day crew out of Whittier into the Prince William Sound, it was raining and foggy the whole time

Kim 17:23

Oh.

Melissa 17:24

and it was still special, but I could just think about how, oh my gosh, this must look so amazing under those brilliant blue skies, and it's just not as photogenic when it's gray.

Kim 17:33

Yes, that's how my kenai Fjords cruise was, the day before was beautiful and sunny and then that day was just overcast and drizzly and nobody really wanted to just hang out on the deck in the boat. You wanted to be inside, so yeah, you just can't guarantee.

Melissa 17:49

Yeah. When we did Kenai fjords, it was totally crystal clear and stunning. It was awesome. There's so much variability, huh?

Kim 17:57

Yeah, so I think people just have to really be flexible and realize that you have to roll with it, unfortunately.

Melissa 18:03

Yeah

Kim 18:04

The other weather factor is it really can affect your excursions as well. I've seen so many people have that dream helicopter, glacier dog sledding trip booked, or even the float plane to go see bears and it gets canceled because of weather and they're really bummed. So it's definitely a big consideration.

Melissa 18:21

How does that work in terms of your costs if, say you book a helicopter tour and it gets canceled due to the weather.

Kim 18:27

almost all excursions are refunded if they aren't able to operate. I don't know of anyone who doesn't refund your money if they have to cancel due to weather.

Melissa 18:34

And that's for both third party as well as excursions booked through the cruise line.

Kim 18:38

Correct, Yeah. The cruise line itself will refund you if they have to cancel, they don't charge you. And then the third party that I always recommend is called Shore Excursions Group, and you can even cancel yourself. So if you start saying like, oh, it's looking cloudy, you have a timeline where you can choose to cancel beforehand as well.

Melissa 18:54

Okay, Now one question is the cost comparison of land versus cruise.

Kim 18:58

yeah.

Melissa 18:58

You know, you see all these really inexpensive Alaska cruises advertised like$77 per person per night. Obviously that's not gonna be anybody's all in cost.

Kim 19:07

Yeah,

Melissa 19:07

Let's say for a family of four, how much is it realistically gonna cost if you're going during summer break, let's say something like nine days, including your hotel on either end and your excursions and the cruises, of course.

Kim 19:19

I would say during the summer for a balcony cabin, you probably wanna look at around six to 7,000 for a family of four, assuming you get a deal on the third and fourth guest, which is pretty standard. The benefit here is gonna be booking early, like super early a year, you know, 12 to 18 months in advance because that's when you're gonna have the best cabin selection. I had someone who came to me recently was looking for something this summer, and all the balconies and ocean views are booked. You've gotta be in a mini suite or you've gotta be in an inside cabin. And inside cabins don't work for a family of four in all honesty. You can make it work, but it's not pleasant, you're not gonna have a great experience. So that's just something to consider, if you can be early in the booking phase. And then for the excursions, I would say, if you're not doing the big dream ones where you're on helicopters and float planes and things like that, you can probably budget about 150 to$200 per person per port. now, if you're gonna wanna do fishing or any of those more smaller group, you know, even whale watching can approach about the$200 mark. So for a family of four, you're probably gonna wanna budget almost a thousand dollars per port for excursions and taxes and stuff like that.

Melissa 20:30

Let's say typically you've got about four ports,

Kim 20:32

yeah, I would say three is more common. They throw Victoria in there because of a maritime law, if you're sailing from the US to Alaska, you have to make a foreign port if you're not a us flagged ship, which none of the ships are. So almost everyone stops into Victoria. It's almost become comical now. You stop in Victoria from like 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM these days. It used to be, you know, a little bit bigger of a chunk. So the Victoria stop really, there's not much, save for a taxi ride and maybe a meal in the harbor and stuff. People try to go to Butchart Gardens and they do have night viewing They know when the ships are coming in. So Butchart has tried to work on it, and that surprisingly is expensive because it's not right there. I don't know if you've ever been to Victoria, but yeah, it's beautiful. But Butchart Gardens is actually 45 minutes away from the inner harbor. So that taxi ride can be expensive and a lot of times they'll do bus tours that'll bus you out there and that works pretty well. But it can add up

Melissa 21:28

if you're only in that port for three hours and you wanna make sure that you've got a buffer so you don't miss the

Kim 21:32

exactly.

Melissa 21:34

getting really tight.

Kim 21:35

the nice thing about Alaska cruises is the third parties know when the ships are in port and they're on it. It's a really important income driver for them and their tours. So you're typically a little safer than just some random Caribbean where there's 10 other boats, they don't know which one's yours. But that is one where if you book it through the ship, you have a little bit more grace period and you can maybe relax a little bit and not be so stressed. When you have that tight window booking with the ship directly can be beneficial.

Melissa 22:00

It sounds like for families, typically the budget's gonna be about$10,000 plus airfare. I think that's

Kim 22:06

a fair,

Melissa 22:07

Hopefully you're using points for the hotel.

Kim 22:09

Yep.

Melissa 22:09

Plenty of good options Seattle and in Vancouver, and

Kim 22:13

There's a lot of good options.

Melissa 22:14

Anchorage does have a small number of hotels available on points, and some of them are quite reasonable, even if they're not the nicest.

Kim 22:20

yeah, they book out fast though. Anchorage Hotels do book and fill up fast, so it's something to keep in mind.

Melissa 22:26

So you did touch on a couple of the main cruise lines that are serving Alaska these days. I know Princess and Disney, of course. There's also Holland America, Royal Celebrity Norwegian. But what about expedition style options? Do you work with any of those and are there any that you'd recommend for a family?

Kim 22:42

I do think UN Cruise is one of the top ones that people typically, that are looking for more, adventurous, less cruise ship style. So I think that's important to know- what you're looking for, if you're wanting to see Alaska for Alaska and you're an adventurous, outgoing, nature loving family and you're not really cruisers, then UN Cruise might be a great fit for you'cause it feels a little more personalized and just kinda like you're on a boat with your hiking buds. So that works out well and Un Cruise tries to make sure they have stuff for kids and helps take care of kids.

Melissa 23:12

I've looked at their stuff before and it looks awesome. So if anybody from UN Cruise is listening, we'd love to come and join you and check out Alaska through your eyes.

Kim 23:19

Yeah,

Melissa 23:20

love to come too. So maybe two cabins for all five of us.

Kim 23:23

I always love seeing it. Their ships get so much closer to the shore versus when you're on the big ships and sometimes I've seen the UN cruise vessels and I'm like, oh, look at it. They're right there against the shore kayaking. meanwhile, I'm just on this big massive ship. I know Explora is a high-end luxury suite style, and they've really started making a push towards family. They actually have a kids' club that's almost like concierge, kind of a buddy, uh, it's very much screen oriented entertainment, but your kids host takes care of the kids and gets to know the kids. So if you are in the luxury side of things, explora is one that's an option for families if they're looking for more of that suite style cruising with a kids' club that a lot of small ships don't have. So that would be one I would throw out there. But I wanted to say for when you're comparing other lines, Holland is the number one, they've been cruising Alaska the longest and they have the best agreements with all the ports and piers and they get first dibs on the Glacier Bay licenses and permits. So if Glacier Bay is important to you and if port docking and pier location maybe for mobility issues, things like that, you might wanna really look at Holland. Princess comes in second there. A lot of times they have prime docking positions. And of course all of that is weather dependent. You know, Skagway, I was with Princess and we had to take a tender because of a landslide. So there's always, you know, weather dependent issues that might cause problems.

Melissa 24:48

Since you mentioned Glacier Bay, do you think it's worth planning your entire Alaska itinerary around going to Glacier Bay? Is it as special as people say, or is it better to look more holistically at the itinerary?

Kim 25:00

Absolutely. I think the biggest thing is if you care about national parks, like if you're a National Park lover, you love the Junior Ranger program, you wanna collect your stamp, you wanna listen to the naturalists, you wanna hear that audio commentary from the National Park Ranger the whole day on your TV and on the decks and stuff like that. Then yes, glacier Bay, you should definitely do, you have to do it. But if you do not, if you're not a National Park collector, you just wanna see pretty scenery and glaciers then Hubbard, Dawes, Tracy Arm Fjord, any of those are beautiful as well. And it's gonna give you that Glacier Fjord sailing experience. But you're not gonna get that national park, you're not gonna have the Rangers coming on board and giving you the audio commentary the whole time. You're gonna have a ship naturalist to explain stuff on the loudspeaker every once in a while while you're out on the deck viewing.

Melissa 25:49

Now, I presume that you've done both. So what's your take? What's your personal preference?

Kim 25:54

You know, it's so funny because I've only done Glacier Bay for my last probably five and I've actually was just recently thinking I almost want to go purposely back and not do a Glacier Bay, but there's just something about the Glacier Bay. The first thing I wake up, I turn on the TV in the room right away, and the Ranger's already talking and you get a robe or blanket on and walk out on your balcony. You can have your window open and you're just looking. And there's something really special about knowing there's a park ranger on board that I really enjoy about glacier Bay especially because if weather's not great, you still feel like you're hearing something cool and learning about things. And you get the Glacier Bay Park map, and we'd always follow, like as we're sailing, we're like, oh, that's where that glacier is, and Oh, what's that over there? And you can look on the map as you're going through. And so that aspect of it, if you're a nerd like that, then you know, I like the glacier bays,

Melissa 26:46

information junkies.

Kim 26:47

yeah, there you go.

Melissa 26:49

So if you're an information junkie, then that Glacier Bay experience is probably really gonna resonate for you.

Kim 26:54

Correct. I would agree. Yep. Good way of saying it.

Melissa 26:57

What about taking those one-way cruises versus the round trip?

Kim 27:01

I think the important thing is that when you're doing those round trip cruises, you're only going up as high as Juneau, kind of coming back to Skagway and Ketchikan. So you're going on that lower part of Alaska, whereas when you do the one-way cruises, you cross the Gulf of Alaska and you head up towards Anchorage. So you can get a little bit more of a cruising experience in Alaska versus the round trip cruises. You can only go up so far, which is just kind of in that tip of the lower part of Alaska and then you're using that time to come back on the coast, to get back to the Pacific Northwest versus when you're able to go across the Gulf of Alaska, more inland, which is Anchorage, closer to Katmai that whole area.

Melissa 27:40

Have you crossed through the Gulf of Alaska? And what kind of conditions did you have there? Because I've heard it's a little dicey sometimes.

Kim 27:46

Yeah, I have, thankfully on mine it has not been a problem. I actually suffer from motion sickness and so I'm used to taking stuff all the time. It's not been enough that I've noticed it. People complain also about going from Seattle crossing a little bit to get up to the inside passage can be kind of rough seas. But the two times I've done it, I haven't had anything noticeable, but I believe they were both summer cruises. So, not sure if, you know, time of season and storms make a difference.

Melissa 28:16

Okay. Now we mentioned the inside passage. For people like me who haven't been up there, I know there are a lot of different ports.

Kim 28:23

Yep.

Melissa 28:23

What do you think is the best that you absolutely can't miss on your first Alaska cruise versus the ones that maybe you could just swap one for the other and wouldn't really notice?

Kim 28:32

Yeah, I think it depends what your goal is. You know, wildlife viewing is very different. So if you're really wanting to see whales, you can do whale watching in Seattle and Vancouver. So if you're trying to knock something off, you could always plan an extra day there. But Juno and Icy Point are really the whale watching capitals. My best experience was on an August cruise. We went into Juno and I saw humpback whales bubble net feeding. Um, and it was just the most amazing experience. I mean, there was just humpback whales all over us. It was amazing. They've got this Mount Roberts Tramway as well, that gives you nice views. It's a really pretty port, and it's only reached by boat or plane. So Juneau is one of those tricky ones where you can't drive to it. So that would be one that I think kind of stands out.

Melissa 29:17

If we're being honest, are there any ports that you think people might be better off skipping?

Kim 29:21

I mean, I hate saying this, but for me, Skagway is the gold rush town and they have spruce tip ale at a brewery there, and then they have the famous White Pass Yukon Railroad. And so people either take the train up to the border and back, or they'll go up to the border and get off and take a bus back. You need a passport for that, by the way, which people don't always think about. But if you're not into trains and that history of the Gold Rush era, then Skagway can be a miss. But most of the inside passages you're gonna hit Juno, Skagway and Ketchikan Sometimes you'll throw in Sitka or icy point, but when you start getting into some of those, they start getting a little interchangeable. Ketchikan has amazing fishing. It's also a pretty inlet location, and I would say Ketchikan is probably one of the more popular for getting to Bears, although Juno, there's, um, a very popular bear location as well. Both those have to be reached by plane or boat. So if Bears are important for you, you need to consider that it's gonna be an investment for that kind of excursion. Whereas if you're doing the one-way cruise and you're going up to Anchorage and you can get to Katmai or any of those areas, Denali, you're gonna have a lot more options for a lower price point to be able to do a bear tour.

Melissa 30:36

that's great info. Since we were just talking about shore excursions, how do you approach planning those excursions? Like do you prefer to book through the cruise line versus independently, and how do you decide where to allocate your budget and things like that?

Kim 30:49

I think checking your independent options if possible is really smart. They know the ships are coming in, there're not that many in port at once. And these tour companies, like I said, they really rely on the tourism dollar. They know how to get people where they're going and back. There's not too many of the situations where you're gonna have an accident or something that's gonna stop your bus from getting through. They're gonna figure it out. So I would say I feel pretty safe when I book third party. The tricky thing with Alaska is sometimes you won't be able to book third party if they find out you're coming in on a cruise. They'll say, oh, you need to book through your cruise line. Because I think they have agreements or something with the cruise lines that prevent them from selling. I know there's Jeep Tour that I tried to book once in Juneau and then people have said the same thing with the white pass Yukon Railroad they'll be like, you need to book with your cruise line. But then if people just act like, Hey, this is what I wanna do, and really know their timing themselves, then they can book it and it's not like they're checking the cruise manifest to make sure you weren't on a cruise ship. But just be prepared for that, that some of the tour operators will say, oh, just book with your cruise line. But things like fishing in Ketchikan, you can definitely book they pick you up right there in port so you can book that independently and connect with them. I've been on some where the crews have gotten off on the cruise excursion and they've met up with people who were already there So they booked it separately themselves. So it is one where you might be able to save a little bit. Different cruise lines weirdly have different upcharges, so the same exact excursion on Holland is priced very differently on Norwegian. So that's another thing to always look at is who upcharges their fees a little bit. And then a third party outfitter that I use and trust, they're really good, and they only do cruise shore excursions is called Shore excursions Group. they have a return to ship guarantee. So like if something happens and you don't make it back to the ship, they will give you money and try to work out their arrangements. You have to read the rules and restrictions yourself. But they will get you to the next port so that you can re-catch your cruise ship And then, like I said, they have that really generous cancellation policy because I've known a lot of people that book it through the cruise line and then the weather's not great or somebody's not feeling well and the cruise line often won't let you cancel if it's not canceled on their own where shore excursion group has a little bit more of a flexible cancellation And then the other reason I really like them is because they clearly note the group size. So they have standard group size, small and private. And so you really know going into it, oh, it's 20 to 35 people, or it's gonna be 15 to 20. They clearly label that, whereas I've been on shore excursions with cruise lines and they put 80 of us on one bus and haul us somewhere, and then we're off and on and it's not enjoyable. And you don't always know that going in based on the cruise line. They don't always disclose what the group size might be.

Melissa 33:37

That's a great tip I wouldn't have thought about. So speaking of those bigger groups, what's your thought on ship size? you know the two cruises that we've done the last couple years are both Royal Caribbean mega ships, like seven or 8,000 passengers. And obviously Alaska doesn't get those, but what do you think is the sweet spot in terms of the size for accessibility to ports versus having enough to do when you're on sea days coming up from the Pacific Northwest?

Kim 34:01

I was shocked when I was recently on that Princess cruise and it was close to 4,000, which was shocking to me because I expected it to be more like the Holland size. Holland is a good mid size where there are around the 2000, 2,500 mark, of course, different ships for different lines all vary in size. The thing that people need to realize is those ports are small. So like on that Princess Cruise where there was a few more people, it was a little larger and waiting to get back on the ship was a huge line because it's not like they have two on-ramps, like people coming on at different points like the Caribbean, it just feels different. So when you have more people like that, you are gonna have a little bit more of that waiting to get back on the ship within that last hour. So that's one consideration. But the porting location is also a big factor. The bigger ships there are occasionally times I've seen having to tender in, I believe it might've been Juneau, it might've been Ketchikan, they have to bring the boats because there's just no spots for them in any of the docking ports. So that's also a consideration to keep in mind is those bigger ships often can't get next to these smaller ports in some of those locations.

Melissa 35:11

Have you tendered and is it as awful as it looks?

Kim 35:14

It's horrid. I did have to tender in Skagway after the landslide on our recent princess cruise but that was like a 10 minute little float, you know, just to get us in. And it's funny because some people were able to be bussed but we were given the tender slip, so we had to be tendered. But I think the biggest thing with that is if you're motion sick, those things move a lot and don't have great visibility. So that can be a big problem. And then you're just kind of stuck waiting. Like when we came back, we wanted to go eat, we were starving and one had just left, so now they needed to fill up the next tender. So we're sitting there waiting for 15 minutes for them to get more people filling up and then they can take us. So, that's the other thing is the timing, you can't do things at your own schedule.

Melissa 36:00

we've done those cruises, it's been with my husband's side of the family. So we're traveling as a group of, let's say, 12 to 14 people with everybody from a toddler up to grandma who has some mobility challenges And sometimes she uses a wheelchair in ports just so she can get around faster. and we've got two people who get pretty motion sick. One of them is a kid.

Kim 36:17

Yeah.

Melissa 36:18

tendering just sounds like an absolute nightmare. I would never knowingly book a cruise with a tender port on the itinerary. And if we ended up with one unexpectedly, we'd probably just bail on that day on shore.

Kim 36:31

Going back to the excursions thing, mobility issues would be another reason that you might wanna book through the cruise line, even though you're gonna pay a little bit more, because they can help with special arrangements, getting you off the ship early so that you can make that cruise in time and getting you transferred on the dock, which can be kind of beneficial versus you having to figure out when and how to get off the ship. And then figuring out where your meeting point is on the dock. Or if you're not very confident about navigation, then booking through the cruise lines themselves might be good. But the tendering with mobility issues is a big, big factor.

Melissa 37:03

Yeah, I would not wanna plan for it.

Kim 37:05

If that matters for you in Alaska, you definitely want, holland or Princess probably.'cause they're the ones that are gonna have the best locations.

Melissa 37:12

That's great. Intel.

Kim 37:13

Yeah.

Melissa 37:14

Now on the other side, talking about embarkation ports, obviously you're partial to Seattle because it's.

Kim 37:19

Not necessarily.

Melissa 37:20

Oh, well. So tell me more. Seattle versus Vancouver, if you're gonna be starting on the south end,

Kim 37:25

it's funny that people say this'cause I do love Seattle. I mean, I think Seattle's an amazing city to see. So you're right that I do have a partiality there. I think it's worth coming in a day or two early and getting to do some stuff around Seattle. But Seattle's tricky because we have two ports and people don't realize. So the main port that's downtown, that's by Pike Place Market, and easily accessible if you're staying in one of those downtown hotels, that is Pier 66. And that is basically only used by Norwegian and Oceania, whereas most of the Cruise lines go outta Pier 91, which is not downtown. It's up about three miles away from downtown in more of an industrial port area. You can't just easily walk to it with your luggage. You're gonna probably need to transfer. And so, uh, that's where Seattle gets to be a little bit of a hindrance. Whereas in Vancouver there's one port and it is right there in downtown. So that's one thing to keep in mind there. Now I mentioned that Norwegian is great if you're going outta Seattle because it's right there but Norwegian's one of those tricky ones where they just created their own port in Ketchikan called Wards Cove, which is seven miles north of town. So you have to book a spot on a shuttle bus that brings you into town. And so that just adds a whole logistics of, um, different things to keep in mind there.

Melissa 38:38

we're gonna talk more about this in a minute, but I think that working with somebody like you for planning an Alaska cruise makes a huge difference because obviously these are nuances that I would never know. You're just so deep in this world.

Kim 38:50

yeah, I'm so deep in it. Yeah. Like when I really start looking and researching it. Absolutely. Uh, another consideration with Vancouver is some people who do have motion sickness have thought that going from Seattle and make your way to the inside passage is a little rougher that first day than some people who leave from Vancouver. I don't totally agree with that because you still have to kind of go out and around, but it's possible. I mean, I have heard that from enough people that if you are really worried about that, then going out of a place like Vancouver might make you feel a little bit more confident on that first at sea day before you get into the inside passage.

Melissa 39:23

Yeah, that's a great point because as I mentioned, we do travel with two people who get pretty severely motion sick even when they take different medications to help

Kim 39:31

That's tough.

Melissa 39:31

they have issues on those smaller boats, and thankfully the huge cruise ships in the Caribbean that we've done are, things are pretty

Kim 39:38

Yeah.

Melissa 39:38

the ones going to Alaska. I know they are a lot smaller and you might feel the waves a little bit more.

Kim 39:42

Yeah, absolutely. Some of the modern ones have good stabilizers still, and going through the inside passage, you're protected on both sides. So it's normally pretty calm cruising, but every once in a while, if there's a bad storm, there's just nothing people can do about it.

Melissa 39:54

Yeah. So, you know, shifting gears to talking about what you do for clients, because we just mentioned that, what does it look like and what value do you add for somebody like me, who's typically a DIY traveler?

Kim 40:06

So I think a misconception is travel agents, um, advisors, we're not given like this special bucket of amazing deals. So if you're a deal shopper and you wanna get the lowest rate and you're gonna do all that research and planning yourself, it's not necessarily what travel advisors are for. We do occasionally have special perks that we can get on, like a little bit of onboard spending credit, some various things like that. But truly the reason you would wanna work with a travel advisor is what I've spilled today- our knowledge especially if we have knowledge in a certain niche area. You have any questions, you can ask us and we'll find the answer for you. I think we're ideal for people who don't want to sit at their computer doing all the research and figuring it all out themselves or who need that double check. Like, Hey, I'm thinking about this here's what we need, is this a good fit? Or they wanna just talk to us. So that's the reason why to use someone like me, is just for my knowledge and to help you get everything lined up. I can also help make sure everything's organized so you're not having to come up with it all in your head. For someone like you who's a DIyer it comes naturally to you, but not everyone travels like that. So it's a little bit more work. They might not realize, oh, you should arrive a day early and oh, you're going out of this pier, so let's find a hotel that's gonna be easier for you. Or you gotta arrange those transfers. So many people I see all the time, especially for East Coasters, I booked a 10:00 AM flight from Seattle' cause they see that you get in port at 7:00 AM and they're like, oh, a 10:00 AM flight's fine. No, it's not because by the time you get off and get your luggage and Yeah. Anyways. So that's the reason you would work with someone like me.

Melissa 41:33

So to be honest, even though I think I'm a super knowledgeable traveler, I've been to Alaska twice, I plan so many trips every single year that I've lost count, but I've still learned a ton talking to you about Alaska cruises. There's just so many little nuances that I never would've thought about

Kim 41:47

Absolutely.

Melissa 41:47

So thanks for sharing all those knowledge bombs with us.

Kim 41:51

I was gonna say, a benefit also is it doesn't cost you anything'cause with cruises, I don't charge a fee. If I'm making some big elaborate seven day trip around Europe with trains and stuff, there's a fee. But for cruising, it's my knowledge wheelhouse and there's no fee to use me. I make my money based on the commission from the cruise ship. So you might as well get some of that personalized knowledge and pay the same price as on your own.

Melissa 42:13

And if people wanna work with you, what's the best way to find you and connect?

Kim 42:16

You can find me at stuffedsuitcase.com, that's my website. There's a button on there that says Work with me. It shows all my specialties. You can also find me on social media, so you can send me a message on my Facebook page Stuffed Suitcase Travel, or you can find me at stuffed suitcase on Instagram. I'm on Instagram a lot, so sending me a DM there and I can send you an email

Melissa 42:34

awesome. I'll put Kim's contact info down in the show notes for anybody who wants to reach out. Now before we wrap up, I wanna end with what I like to call the lightning round. These are just super quick questions. I know I didn't send them to you in advance and that's'cause I just wanna hear what your answers are right off the

Kim 42:49

Okay.

Melissa 42:50

Alright. Balcony, cabin, or do you splurge on a suite?

Kim 42:53

Balcony is great.

Melissa 42:54

do you like to book an excursion every day or do you just wander around the port

Kim 42:58

If it's your only trip to Alaska, you're not gonna make it back. You need an excursion in every port. Absolutely.

Melissa 43:03

on a sea day will we find you relaxing on the deck or doing something active?

Kim 43:07

Ooh. Probably relaxing on the deck, but possibly relaxing on my balcony,

Melissa 43:12

Right? Too much peopleing. all right, glacier viewing: from the railing of the ship with a drink in your hand. Or from a helicopter looking down

Kim 43:19

railing of the ship with a drink of my hand. Yeah. I'm too scared of helicopters. I'm such a wimp. I've never done one.

Melissa 43:26

I'm right there with you. Especially the doors off thing. No, thank

Kim 43:30

Yeah,

Melissa 43:30

I'll do a float plane, but not a helicopter.

Kim 43:32

yeah.

Melissa 43:33

What is the most underrated cruise port in Alaska?

Kim 43:36

Oh wow. I think Seward because of Kenai fjords and the beauty of that The other ones aren't underrated. That's where I'm like, oh, I mean some people think Sitka is cool'cause it's got this Russian influence and people like if you're a big history buff, you know, that would maybe be something you'd be interested in. Um, but I would say I think Seward is pretty underrated and cool because it's like the jumping off point to be able to hit more of Alaska. So,

Melissa 44:02

yet? We actually spent three nights in Seward when we visited Alaska by land, and it was probably my favorite

Kim 44:07

Yeah.

Melissa 44:08

I wish we'd spent at least one more night there. I would for sure go back

Kim 44:11

Yeah. I mean the town itself is tiny, but when you start seeing things to do from the city and little trips to take and stuff it's pretty cool.

Melissa 44:18

There's the Alaska Sea Life Aquarium. There are some awesome hikes that we did. Uh, there also are two different units of Kenai Fjords National Park.

Kim 44:26

Yep.

Melissa 44:27

the Marine Unit, which we visited with Major Marine, and then there's also the Exit Glacier unit on land, which is cool, but also kind of depressing because they show you the markers of how the toe of the glacier has receded.

Kim 44:37

Yeah.

Melissa 44:38

But yeah, in general, I think Seward is super cool. I like it a lot

Kim 44:41

Yep.

Melissa 44:42

and great food. I think we ate better in Seward than we did anywhere else in Alaska.

Kim 44:46

Yeah.

Melissa 44:47

As a reminder, if you wanna hear more about Seward and other cool places to visit in that area, be sure to listen to episode 32 of the podcast. Down in the show notes i'll also link to my detailed itinerary for Alaska by Land, which has helped a lot of families make the most of their time exploring. Okay. What's one thing people always bring on an Alaska cruise that they really don't need,

Kim 45:07

Ooh, maybe a bathing suit, but that's tricky'cause I tell people to bring a bathing suit. It just depends on what you're into. Like if you're someone who loves the pool and hot tub, then you can make it work on an Alaska cruise.

Melissa 45:20

and what about one thing they always forget?

Kim 45:22

I think your own pair of binoculars. Some rooms have a pair of something, but when you're really looking, especially if you're a family, like two pair or something where you can move'em around.

Melissa 45:32

Yeah, it's the number one thing on my Alaska packing list. And we do travel typically with two pair for our family of

Kim 45:38

Yeah.

Melissa 45:38

link to the ones that we use down in the show notes as well as the ones that we're gonna buy for our upcoming Costa Rica return trip. Not that there's anything wrong with the ones that we currently have, but my husband is a total bird nerd. So I told him yesterday that I was gonna get these fancy ones,

Kim 45:52

Yep.

Melissa 45:52

the downside is that nice binoculars do get heavy.

Kim 45:55

Yep.

Melissa 45:55

So the ones that we use are kind of a nice compromise in that they're a little on the heavy side, but it's still manageable to bring two pairs and they're like 25 or 30 bucks each if you get'em on sale.

Kim 46:04

Oh, that's not bad. Yeah. there are some nicer ones though, that are still compact that I have with my cruising recommendation, And your husband's a bird nerd, he's definitely gonna wanna cruise those The glacier bays so many seabirds of different types.

Melissa 46:17

Okay. Speaking of wildlife, what's the best wildlife siding you've ever had in Alaska?

Kim 46:22

I think the bubble net feeding of the humpback whales is probably one of the best. Gotta say Yep. yeah, I mean, I've done whale watching and stuff in Seattle and it's just, it's just okay. Because you can't get that close if you're with the reputable people, so you're just sort of seeing it. But the bubble net feeding, right there in this little inlet we were in, they're just right there. And it was amazing just seeing how it worked and they all come up with their mouths and the funny thing is all the birds diving when they're doing it,

Melissa 46:50

Oh, that's super cool.

Kim 46:51

That's how the boat captain knew where the next net was gonna come up. He said like a split second before you start seeing all the birds congregate and get ready to start diving. So if you track the birds, that's where the next net is gonna come up.

Melissa 47:06

I wouldn't have realized that, but obviously it makes

Kim 47:08

Very cool.

Melissa 47:09

Speaking of feeding, what's the

Kim 47:11

yep.

Melissa 47:11

you always make a point of eating at least once every time you're in Alaska.

Kim 47:15

Definitely. Any of the seafood, especially, I don't know if many people know this, but Holland they have sustainable accreditation for their seafood. So I always try and enjoy seafood. My favorite excursion ever was a fishing excursion in Ketchikan I've done it three times because I love it so much and you catch rock fish, and salmon if you time the season right and then you pull it over to this little, uh, island where they've got a chef in an open fire pit going and they cook up your fish that you just caught. Your driver filets it and then they cook it up for you and you get this plate of, um, the fish you just caught and you get to eat it around the campfire. Absolutely best. Yep.

Melissa 47:52

We did that on our bear viewing and fishing excursion into Lake Clark National Park and it was super cool.

Kim 47:57

Yay. Yes. Did you have any rockfish? Probably, probably not a Did you have,

Melissa 48:02

eating Dolly Vardon

Kim 48:04

okay. Yeah, so we had rockfish and salmon and I almost like the rockfish more than, I mean, I get salmon all the time, so,

Melissa 48:10

Right.

Kim 48:11

was surprisingly delicious. It's a nice white fish. That was good.

Melissa 48:15

Nice. Okay. I just have two more questions. If you could only take one more Alaska Cruise, what are you booking?

Kim 48:22

I'm definitely gonna book a cruise tour'cause it's something I haven't done and I'm gonna get to Denali. I wanna do one way, cruise up, do Alaska Railroad. And I think I wanna do it that way. I think I'd wanna do the cruise up and then extend on and do Denali and then fly home

Melissa 48:38

My last question is only adjacent to Alaska cruising. I know you were a Sea-Tac airport ambassador and you know that airport better than most people know their living rooms. So what's your favorite lounge at Sea-Tac?

Kim 48:49

Oh, that's a a fabulous question. I would say the Alaska Airlines N Lounge is my favorite. But they're opening a brand new lounge on the New Concourse C which is opening just before World Cup, this June, you know, end of May, June. They're opening that up and it's gonna be one of the largest lounges in North America it's gonna be epic. So I'm looking forward to that C Lounge right now. I picked N because it's got a really fun, uh, runway view that's just fabulous. And I'm a plane watcher and I've had so much fun using my flight radar app and seeing what planes are taking off and where they're going. So.

Melissa 49:28

And actually on your recommendation. I went to that lounge last month when we saw each other in Seattle, and it did indeed have an amazing runway view. I've got some cool pictures of all the different planes lined up. It was actually really fun to see like 10 planes in line on the taxiway, because that's just not something we ever see in Columbus.

Kim 49:44

Exactly.

Melissa 49:47

Well, I think that wraps up our conversation about cruising Alaska. Kim, thank you so much for being here with us. I know I learned a ton during this time that we've spent together. So many things I never would've considered about the logistics of cruising Alaska, planning the right cruise, and I'm really excited for some of our listeners to connect with you and work on planning their family's Alaska Cruise. down in the show notes i've linked to Kim's contact information as well as my own Alaska Travel planning resources. I've got tons of them over on the Family Voyage. If this episode was helpful for you, be sure to like or follow wherever you're listening and drop a five star review to help other families find the show. I'll see you next time here on Family Travel Unpacked. Thanks for listening and safe travels.