The ultimate guide to Alaska cruise ports and attractions

An Alaska cruise is the adventure of a lifetime, offering the promise of frontier towns, impeccable scenery, cold beer, fresh seafood and a world of adventure to enjoy ashore.If you're cruising on a big ship, chances are good you'll be stopping at the "Big Three" ports: Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway, Alaska. But there are a plethora of smaller — though no less interesting — ports of call that ships big and small can call on during voyages to Alaska from both Vancouver, British Columbia, and Seattle. If you leave from the latter, you're guaranteed to stop in at least one Canadian port of call in order to satisfy U.S. cabotage laws.Here is our ultimate guide to Alaskan cruise ports of call.The big-name Alaska portsThese are the go-to ports of call. The standards. The "OG" ports, as the kids say. No first-time trip to Alaska is complete without a visit to one of these mainstay ports filled with history and adventure.KetchikanDORADALTON/GETTY IMAGESSometimes referred to as "Alaska's First City" due to its location on the Inside Passage just north of the Canadian border with the United States, Ketchikan instantly charms visitors with its houses and boardwalks built on stilts along the h...