Our Family Alaska Cruise

We set up our trip so that we'd have a cruise tour with a relaxing rail journey before our family Alaska cruise. In Anchorage, we boarded Alaska's famous glass-domed sightseeing train, the Wilderness Express. Through the large windows and the glass-domed ceiling, we watched Alaska's landscape roll by, including forests filled with spruce and hemlock, snowcapped mountains and small towns. We had lunch in the dining car and played gin rummy, a family favorite, after we ate.

We got off the train at Talkeetna, a funky little town filled with wooden storefronts and eateries. Located near Denali State Park, it is a gateway to flightseeing and fishing adventures. From the deck of the ridgetop Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge, about an hour from town, we savored views of the jagged slopes of the Alaskan Range. We dined on delicious grilled salmon and devoured blueberry tarts for dessert. And although clouds often envelop Denali's summit, the mist lifted one afternoon, revealing the majestic snow-capped peak of the mighty mountain.

We arrived early in Seward, the departure point for our Alaska cruise, so that we could experience more sights before we set sail. Exploring Kenai Fjords National Park — home to nearly 40 glaciers that are part of the 700 square miles of the Harding Icefield — in an expedition boat proved to be another highlight of our family vacation in Alaska. Just minutes after we left the dock, our naturalist guide pointed out otters floating, then rolling like logs, in the water. We sailed by spruce thickets, a sea lion colony sprawled on a rocky islet and a puffin rookery. When we heard "thar she blows," we ran to the port railing just in time to catch a glimpse of the bumpy head of a 40-foot humpback whale before he disappeared below the surface.

Floating slabs of ice dotted the sea as we cruised to about a half-mile of the glacier's terminus, a vantage point that gave us a sense of the massive formation that dwarfed our vessel. When the captain cut the engines, we listened. Soon, we heard cracks and a thunderous roar as the glacier calved huge chunks into the sea. It was another awe-inspiring moment on our Alaska travels.

On the way to the glacier, our warm hats and gloves were enough to keep us comfortable, but heading into the wind on the way back, we started to feel the chill. Most of the other passengers escaped to the windowed ship's interior, but we craved the fresh air so we huddled together on a bench, laughing as we wrapped ourselves like burritos in blankets we borrowed from the crew.

Over a dinner of sockeye salmon and crab legs in town, we talked about the obsession that motivated so many people to carry supplies along the arduous trail. Many perished in the process. A ruggedly steep stretch, Dead Horse Gulch, took its name from the 3,000 pack horses that died when prospectors tried to cross the pass. At the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Skagway's six-block historic district, a display of the supplies — tools, grain, blankets and clothing — made the climb seem impossible.

It was a beautiful family dinner to end the day with, and we were grateful for the time together. One of our best family vacations, our family Alaska cruise gave us days filled with Alaskan adventures and dinners over which to compare notes and share the stories. Most of all, we were grateful for the time with our children and a moment to enjoy them before they moved on to more adult lives.