Celebrity Solstice - Alaska Glacier Discovery

Where this cruise calls, day by day

6 ports and 2 sea days over 7 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Vancouver, BC

   CanadaDepart

   Canada Place is the rare cruise terminal that is genuinely in the middle of the city - white sail-roofs on the downtown waterfront, with Gastown five minutes away on foot. Most Vancouver calls are turnaround days for Alaska, which means customs queues and half a day rather than a whole one. Ships that don't fit or can't get a slot go to Ballantyne Pier, which is a shuttle ride out.

   • The Stanley Park seawall and the totem poles at Brockton Point
   • Granville Island Public Market, reached by the little rainbow ferries
   • Capilano Suspension Bridge and the Grouse Mountain gondola on the North Shore
   • Gastown's steam clock, then Chinatown and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden

   Getting ashore

   Docked. Canada Place opens onto the downtown waterfront beside the Waterfront SkyTrain station; the overflow berth at Ballantyne Pier is a few kilometres east and needs a taxi or shuttle.

   Best months

   May-Sep (Alaska season); Jul-Aug driest

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3

   Juneau

   United StatesPort

   The oddity of Juneau is that it is a US state capital with no road to anywhere - you arrive by ship or plane or not at all, and the legislature meets in a town hemmed between a mountain wall and the water. Ships tie up along the downtown waterfront, close enough that the Mount Roberts Tramway cabins lift off almost directly above the berths. The real draw is Mendenhall Glacier, a rare tidewater-fed icefield you can reach on a scheduled bus.

   • Mendenhall Glacier and the trail to Nugget Falls, about 12 miles from downtown
   • Mount Roberts Tramway from the cruise dock to an alpine trail system at 1,800 feet
   • Whale watching out of Auke Bay, where humpbacks feed reliably through summer
   • Helicopter landing on the Juneau Icefield for a walk on the ice or a dogsled camp

   Getting ashore

   Docks downtown on the waterfront, walkable to the tram and shops; Mendenhall Glacier is a 20-30 minute bus ride.

   Best months

   May-Sep (Jun-Jul best for icefield flights; expect rain in any month)

4. Day 4

   Skagway

   United StatesPort

   Skagway is a gold rush staging town that never stopped being one - the false-fronted Broadway storefronts are a National Historical Park, and roughly a thousand year-round residents host several thousand passengers a day in season. What sets it apart from every other Alaskan call is the White Pass and Yukon Route, a narrow-gauge railway that climbs from tidewater to a 2,865-foot pass on grades cut into the cliff in 1898.

   • White Pass and Yukon Route railway to the summit, boarding near the docks
   • Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park visitor center and the restored Broadway buildings
   • The first miles of the Chilkoot Trail from Dyea, the actual stampeders' route
   • Driving the Klondike Highway over the pass into British Columbia and the Yukon

   Getting ashore

   Docks in the harbour a 10-20 minute walk from Broadway depending on berth, with a shuttle from the furthest one.

   Best months

   May-Sep (Jun-Aug for full railway and highway access; Skagway is unusually dry and sunny for the region)

5. Day 5 · At sea

6. Day 6

   Ketchikan

   United StatesPort

   Ketchikan is built on pilings against a steep hillside, gets over 140 inches of rain a year, and holds the largest collection of standing totem poles anywhere. Creek Street, its most photographed lane, is a boardwalk of former brothels suspended over a salmon stream. Some ships berth right in town; others go to Ward Cove, a converted pulp mill site up the coast, which changes the whole shape of your day.

   • Creek Street boardwalk and Dolly's House, with salmon running below you in season
   • Totem Bight State Historical Park and the Totem Heritage Center's collection of unrestored 19th-century poles
   • Floatplane flightseeing over Misty Fjords National Monument
   • Saxman Native Village carving shed, where you can watch poles being cut

   Getting ashore

   Downtown berths put you steps from Creek Street, but the Ward Cove berth is roughly seven miles north and depends entirely on a shuttle bus into town.

   Best months

   May-Sep (Jul-Aug warmest; bring rain gear regardless)

7. Day 7

   Icy Strait Point

   United StatesPort

   Icy Strait Point is not a town - it is a destination built and owned by the Huna Totem Corporation around a restored 1930s salmon cannery, staffed largely by Tlingit residents of Hoonah a mile away. That ownership is the point of the place, and it shows in how the day is presented. Two floating docks take ships directly, and gondolas connect the landing to the upper site and the mountain.

   • Whale watching off Point Adolphus, one of the most reliable humpback feeding grounds in Southeast Alaska
   • The ZipRider, a 5,330-foot zipline dropping over 1,300 feet
   • The restored cannery museum, shops and Tlingit cultural performances
   • Brown bear searching along the Spasski River valley

   Getting ashore

   Ships berth alongside at one of two floating docks, with gondolas linking the landing to the cannery site and the ridge above.

   Best months

   May-Sep (Jun-Aug for whales; the site largely closes outside the cruise season)

8. Day 8

   Vancouver, BC

   CanadaArrive

   Canada Place is the rare cruise terminal that is genuinely in the middle of the city - white sail-roofs on the downtown waterfront, with Gastown five minutes away on foot. Most Vancouver calls are turnaround days for Alaska, which means customs queues and half a day rather than a whole one. Ships that don't fit or can't get a slot go to Ballantyne Pier, which is a shuttle ride out.

   • The Stanley Park seawall and the totem poles at Brockton Point
   • Granville Island Public Market, reached by the little rainbow ferries
   • Capilano Suspension Bridge and the Grouse Mountain gondola on the North Shore
   • Gastown's steam clock, then Chinatown and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden

   Getting ashore

   Docked. Canada Place opens onto the downtown waterfront beside the Waterfront SkyTrain station; the overflow berth at Ballantyne Pier is a few kilometres east and needs a taxi or shuttle.

   Best months

   May-Sep (Alaska season); Jul-Aug driest