travel planning

  3 Reasons You Need Travel Insurance for Your Alaska Cruise Disclosure number one: I live here in Ketchikan, so I have never been on an Alaska cruise. Disclosure number two:   have purchased travel insurance for every trip our family has ever taken and I’ve never (knock on wood) had to use it. While I have not personally had to use my travel insurance, I have worked in the travel industry my entire adult life and I have seen hundreds of cases of cancellations, delays, losses and illnesses that cause people tremendous grief but are completely covered by travel insurance for the lucky few who knew it was a good idea to purchase it. Depending on the policy, travel insurance can cover you for all kinds of travel problems from your wallet being stolen or luggage lost to being evacuated…

The internet has made vacation planning so much easier, hasn’t it? Well yes, in some ways… but sometimes the sheer volume of information available is overwhelming and it’s hard to know where to even begin to narrow down the choices. Between the excursions sold on board cruise ships and local companies like ours, there are literally hundreds of choices in shore excursions for Alaska cruises. Where do you begin? Start here: our list of the Alaska cruise port highlights is based on our own local knowledge and what our guests have shared about their own cruise experiences. Ketchikan is a great port for kayaking. If kayaking and a floatplane trip to the Misty Fjords are on your bucket list, check out the Orcas Cove/Misty Fjords Flight combination . Photo: Dan Kiely Ketchikan Ketchikan is the first or last stop on…