My absolute #1 Alaska cruise tip might sound obvious, but it is the one thing that, if you forget to do it, you'll spend a portion of your trip in a grumpy, regretful mood (as I know from experience), and nobody needs to be grumpy on their vacation.
So what is this earth-shattering advice? Make sure you bring WAY too much film. No matter how many pictures you THINK you will take, bring more film than you think you will use. Trust me, you will want to take many, many pictures on this trip.
If you are a digital camera owner, make sure to get two of the biggest cards you can get. Throw in a third for good measure. Or bring along a laptop to dump your pictures onto your hard drive.
Whatever you do, you don't want to have to buy film in one of the port towns, or worse yet, on ship.
It is incredibly expensive in Alaska (think of the price at a tourist trap in the lower 48, then double that price).
Digital camera cards are even more expensive - IF you can even find the right kind of card at all (and you probably won't even find one there).
So don't end up like me on my first trip, desperately running the streets of Ketchikan, trying to find film to take pictures of a bald eagle before it flew away (fortunately for me, the eagle stayed put long enough for me to buy film and then run back and take a whole bunch of blurry photos of it).
But the point is, you'll want to take tons and tons of pictures to share this amazing place with family and friends.
So pack lots and lots of film before you leave. Then pack another extra roll or two (or an extra camera card) for good measure.
So there you have it, my top Alaska cruise tip. It might sound obvious, but heed this advice, and you will be very thankful you did once you are in Alaska!
