Our Alaska cruise involved a day at sea, three port days, and another two days at sea – including one passing through Glacier Bay National Park – before ending in Whittier, which is near Anchorage. Most of the movement between the ports was done at night, giving us a reasonable amount of daytime in each port for shore excursions if we wanted.
We wanted. In fact, we managed to schedule four excursions across the three ports, without having to feel like we were rushing from one thing to another. In each port, we had some time to explore the area (mostly shopping) near the ship, including finding lunch twice. The photos below are from our shore excursions, grouped by port: Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway.
Ultimate Saxman Experience: Cultural Showcase, Native Crafts & Culinary Tasting
An eagle ornament and paint near the beginning of the painting process. 
Alaska Craft Soda from Forty-Ninth State Brewing – a root beer can stacked on a spruce tip soda can 
A trio of eagles carved onto branches of a pole 
Tlingit dancers displaying the back of their capes, identifying their family affiliations. 
The decorated front of the building where we saw the Tlingit dancers. 
View of the water from the Saxman Village. 
A totem pole in progress. 
D&D Mammoth Ivory Dice at the Saxman Village store. It’s a standard set of 7 dice, priced at $1000.
Best of Juneau: Whale Watching, Mendenhall Glacier & Orca Point Lodge Meal (yes, we saw whales, but they don’t show up well on the photos I took)
A mountain view near Mendenhall Glacier. 
Mendenhall Glacier across the water. 
Mendenhall Glacier across the water with some green between us and the glacier. 
Mendenhall Glacier across the water with some people for scale. 
Wandering the path near Mendenhall Glacier, alternating between talking and singing because continuous noise alerts bears of your presence. 
St. Yakov, the boat we took on our whale watching excursion. 
Orca Point Lodge, where we stopped for an early dinner during our whale watching excursion. 
A land bridge outside the Orca Point Lodge. We were warned that the land bridge would be underwater by the time we finished dinner. (It was.) 
Sea lions lounging on a buoy with raindrops on the windows. 
A great view of mountains and water on our whale watching excursion.
Kitchen Science Alaska: Garden-to-Table Skagway and Musher’s Camp & Sled Dog Experience
Alaska Kitchen Science excursion, the science part which involved beakers of mystery liquid and testing for acidity. 
Alaska Kitchen Science excursion, where we saw a Big Green Egg and another smoker. 
Alaska Kitchen Science excursion, raised garden beds growing mostly salad greens, which don’t travel to remote areas well. 
Alaska Kitchen Science excursion, feeding the sourdough. 
Alaska Kitchen Science excursion, assembling our own Baked Alaska desserts. 
Holland America’s Noordam in Skagway with a mountain in the background. 
Mountain views behind the Noordam while docked in Skagway. 
Amazing views near Skagway on our way up to the Musher’s Camp to meet sled dogs. 
Amazing views near Skagway on our way up to the Musher’s Camp to meet sled dogs. 
Me in front of an amazing view on our way up to the Musher’s Camp to meet sled dogs. 
A passenger view of the vehicle – a Unimog – we rode at Musher’s Camp to go up the mountain to see the sled dogs. 
An action shot of the sled dogs, just starting their run, from the front seat of the wheeled sled at Musher’s Camp near Skagway. 
An action shot of the sled dogs from the front seat of the wheeled sled at Musher’s Camp near Skagway.