– Ultimate 7-Day Alaskan Cruise Planner

Many people always dream of taking an Alaskan cruise, and many have it listed on their bucket lists. Well, make this the year to cross it off your list and get it done. Living in the SE part of Alaska and having taken an Alaskan cruise myself, I created this comprehensive 7-day Alaskan cruise planner to help future adventurers like you. This planner includes valuable tips, suggestions, and detailed lists to assist you in planning your trip, along with reminders for must-see sights and activities while you’re on your cruise. You’ll discover the best times to visit various ports, enjoy local cuisine, and experience breathtaking landscapes, all while creating unforgettable memories in the magnificent wilderness of Alaska. Whether you’re seeking thrilling excursions or simply wishing to relax and soak in the stunning scenery, this guide has everything you need to make the most out of your journey.

Please click the link below for more information and to order. Thank you.

https://sp8sstore.etsy.com/listing/4456966467

A large cruise ship docked at a port, featuring a red, black, and white exterior with a prominent flag mounted on the side.

Our newest ebook is ready

So living in a tourist town, Ketchikan Alaska, we receive many cruise ships almost every day from May until September. As a local photographer we have amassed many hundreds of pictures of cruise ships coming and leaving the area. So we created a ebook on some of them. This book displays pictures of over 25 ships, and provides some info on each ship. It’s on Amazon at:

https://www.amazon.com/Cruise-Ships-Through-Ketchikan-Alaska-ebook/dp/B07V7H8SV7/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Steve+Speights&qid=1563303633&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Also we wrote a brief article awhile back on some of the ships, published in May 2018.

Two minute tour of Ketchikan Alaska

Someone recently asked me to make a short video about Ketchikan Alaska about a minute or two. This is what I came up with. Hope you like it and feel like visiting SE Alaska sometime.

Mega yachts

Living in a tourist destination, we encounter yachts all the time, some time they are the mega yachts that the true top of the top travel in. Usually we only receive one of these visitors every few years, but when their here they are the talk of the town. Many people try to get the first pictures then share them in a FB page or group. Others post the where about sand track the yachts destination to destination. Still others try to find out the owner by searching for “M/V” then the yachts name. There are several sites out there for these traveling palaces, many show pictures of the inside of the ship. Pictured above is the mega yacht “A”.

M/V Serene

M/V Ice Bear

Some mega yachts can be sail boats also, like the one above.

M/V Luna

A bridge to no where

We have lived in Ketchikan Alaska for over ten years. The only way to get here is by a boat or a plane. Ketchikan is on an island. If you want to fly here, our airport, Ketchikan International Airport (KTN) is on another island.

006

So whether you coming or going to or from a plane, you have to catch a ferry. You can not drive directly to the airport without riding the ferry. Usually its about a 4 minute ride and it leaves both sides twice an hour. This is where there was so much talk about building “the bridge to no where” that was in the news many years back. It never passed so you must ride the ferry and work around its schedule. There are only two airports in the U.S that you can not drive directly to, one in Mass. the other in Alaska, this one.

Once at the airport the view is the best of any airport. There are incredible sunrises during the fall/winter months from it.

028

During the spring and summer months cruise ships pass right in front of it.

SONY DSC

You can watch float plane take off and land in front of it also.

SONY DSC

Alaska Airlines is the main air carrier, and Delta brings in a plane during the summer months.

003

From there you can also see the Ketchikan ship yard as well as Ketchikan.

SONY DSC

There are some hiking trails also on the airport island, as well as a lake that you can hike back to if you have the time.

Also both Orcas and humpback whales can be seen in the channel from the airport as well as various birds like bald eagles, Great Blue Herion and others.

So now you know the rest of the story about the bridge to no where.

Misty Fiords National Monument

In SE Alaska about 40 miles East from the city of Ketchikan is Misty Fjords National Monument. It is the second largest wilderness area in the U.S.A. and is composed of 2,294,343 acres. You can either get there by boat, floatplane or a combination of both. Tours usually start about $200 a person, though if you plan ahead and contact the Ketchikan visitors bureau they may have deals going on that they might suggest. Misty Fjords has 3000 foot granite walls straight up out of the ocean. It has long waterfalls. On the trip one can often see whales, mountain goats, deer, eagles and much more.

SONY DSC

On the way there is a good chance of seeing Eddystone which is roughly the entrance to Misty Fjords.

Some float plane tours land at the bottom of the granite walls and you can get out onto the plane’s floats, if you choose. If you take a plane, one word of advice, try not to look too much into your cameras viewfinder, as things zip by, or you may be leaving your lunch with the other passengers. Very beautiful, and is highly recommended if you make it to Ketchikan on a cruise or a vacation.

Cruise Ships

Our tourist season in SE Alaska has begun. It usually goes from May until Sep/Oct, this year it will end in Oct. When taking pictures of cruise ships, I try to not only get a picture of the whole ship, I try to get various angles or views.

Most of the time I try to get pictures without people in the way. A way that I found is once they are boarding and getting ready to leave or when they are pulling into port. Cruise ships, to me are really fun to take pictures of. I enjoy seeing and watching them. If you haven’t had a chance for a cruise, maybe this could be your year. As always, I would recommend one to SE Alaska on the inside passage.