The first port of call for our Alaska cruise was the city of Sitka. What appears to be a small city turned out to be a massive one. Sitka is the second largest incorporated area in the USA, coming in at 12,400 sq. km! This is a continuation of the Alaska Cruise on Holland America’s Niuew Amsterdam post.
I noted that in 2025, Holland America has replaced Sitka with Skagway. I assume this is because Sitka requires a short bus ride from the port to the city. I recall it’s about 5 km but when you’re on a cruise ship, having to disembark and then immediately get onto a bus is a hinderance that many don’t want to deal with.

I was one of the people that decided not to go into the city but instead went to the port area and had a lovely meal at Halibut Point Crab and Chowder. However, given my father had to disembark at Sitka to get a CT scan and MRI at the Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center, I would ultimately find myself spending a lot of time in Sitka in the coming days.
This series of photos and recommendations comes from the subsequent time I spent in Sitka and not from the day when the ship was at port. my family and I ended up spending about two weeks in Sitka and completely fell in love with the city and it’s loving people. We were in the city during the height of US election mania; we saw dually pickup trucks roaring down the road with Trump signs waving in the wind.

Our biases can be our worst enemy
Being a non-white family “stuck” in Sitka with a medical emergency, we felt a bit uncomfortable in this environment, however this turned out to be our own incorrect bias, rather than a true reflection of the people of Alaska. For example, my entire family walked into a small restaurant in the city center, and when we came through the door, everyone in the restaurant turned their heads and looked at us.

Initially it was intimidating, and we thought about leaving the restaurant because it felt like we were not welcome, but it turned out this was our own insecurity at play. As we were contemplating to leave the restaurant, one of the customers hollered, “What are you guys waiting for? Come on in!” in a warm and friendly tone. Several patrons of the restaurant came over to say hi and asked where we were from and how long we were staying in Sitka. They were incredibly friendly.
Restaurants
Over the two weeks we spent in Sitka, I think we went to each restaurant two to three times and got to know the people who worked there. Within a few days, it became apparent that the whole town knew that our father was in the hospital in a very bad situation and nearly every person we encountered offered some form of help, support or their good wishes. It really was a heartwarming experience that gave us new perspectives in life.

Some of the restaurants that really stood out and that we’d recommend:
Beak Restaurant – I never thought I’d have a Michelin Star level meal in Sitka, but there it was. They also have a sister restaurant with equally good food and service. Beak is more than just food, it’s an experience with super friendly staff. It’s closed Sunday to Tuesday and was super busy, so you need to time it right to get a table.
Mangiare Sitka – Sister restaurant to Beak, Mangiare has excellent steaks, a beautiful environment in the historic Sitka Hotel and friendly service. The cocktails were also excellent.

Halibut Point Crab and Chowder – Located right at the dock, they provide a hearty meal of excellent chowder and massive pieces of fish and chips. I went with the Alaskan halibut which was rich in taste and density.
Sitka’s Burger and Crab Shack – Probably one of the best burgers we had on the trip (there will be a better one later in the trip, but that’s for another post). Service was superb and the staff remembered us when we came back a second and third time.

Ernie’s Old Time Saloon – When we walked into this bar, we felt intimidated because the people inside were totally different than ourselves, but we couldn’t have stumbled onto a better group of people to have beers with. We had an absolute blast playing darts, drinking beers and getting to know the locals.
Highliner Coffee – Great coffee in a chill environment. They have excellent pastries and even a drive through window!
Mean Queen – While it wasn’t my favourite spot, several of my family members loved this restaurant’s thick pizza and easy-going vibe. My brother especially enjoyed hanging out there during the day with his laptop to catch up on work.

Hotels
There are essentially two hotels in Sitka of which one we would highly recommend which is the Aspen Suites Hotel. The rooms were clean and the staff incredibly friendly. The location is right in the middle of the town so you can walk to anything that you want to visit, including restaurants, cafés, the waterfront and in our case, the hospital.
As I’ve noted a few times, the people of Sitka were incredibly caring, and this hotel was no different. At check out, the staff at the front desk voluntarily gave us the “cruise ship staff rate” for our rooms because he heard that we were in town due to a medical emergency. This gesture helped my family save more than US $1000 at a time where thousands of dollars were being spent on unexpected medical expenses. This gesture was greatly appreciated.

Photo spots
The whole city is great for photo opportunities where every corner has a quaint shop or a historic building or a view of the sea. Two spots I particularly liked were at the O’Connell Bridge and the seafront where there were several opportunities for photos, especially at sunset. Because of our situation, I couldn’t focus too much time on photos, but I think the photos in this post capture some of the essence of this beautiful “little” city.

Hospital
We Canadians are very proud of our medical system and how we collectively pay for our fellow Canadian’s medical care. When I first walked into the hospital room that my father was stationed in, I was shocked at how spacious, clean, modern and hotel-like the room was. I was further shocked to hear that Sitka is already in progress to build a replacement hospital that’s going to be larger and even more modern. I think all Canadians should visit Sitka to see what a proper hospital is supposed to look like.
Like the condition of the room, the staff at the hospital were incredible. They would bring food for us to eat while we were there visiting my father. They would offer us coffee, tea and soda, without even asking for it. It felt like we were in a hotel rather than a hospital, and every person we encountered was incredibly empathetic with a sincere and genuine care for my family. When my father ultimately got back to Canada, the contrast in the hospital stays couldn’t have been greater; the hospital in Burnaby, British Columbia looked like a war zone with patients in the hallways in semi-permanent hall locations.

Thankfully, we had purchased medical insurance so we hope most of the expenses incurred will be covered. One cool thing is that my father got to experience a private jet as the Canadian government flew him from Alaska to Canada via a small, modified jet with four seats inside and the remainder left for the medical bed.
Several of you asked about my father’s current situation. He managed to hang on for another month in Canada but ultimately succumbed to a tumour at 85 years old. Our family learned an important lesson; five years ago, he went to see a neurologist who had recommended we bring him back in three months for further testing. Due to other more pressing medical conditions, the follow up to that neurologist meeting never happened. The neurologist didn’t remind us and we didn’t follow up.

It turns out that when a doctor tells you to come back in three months, it means that they’ve seen something serious but want to confirm before they alarm the individual or the family with the prognosis. The MRI in Sitka showed that my father had a tumour in the brain which had now progressed to the point where it was impacting his ability to live a normal life.
We had no idea he had a tumour, but when we obtained his medical records from Canada to help the doctors in Sitka, we found that the neurologist had identified a growth in 2019 and wanted to confirm it before sharing that information with the family. We don’t believe knowing about this would’ve changed the trajectory of dad’s life, but it’s something that we’ve now learned and want to share with others so that others don’t make the same mistake we did.

If a doctor says, “come back in three months”, make sure you go back in three months. It’s likely something very serious that they want to confirm.
Conclusion
Sitka now will forever hold a very near and dear place in my heart. The city is beautiful, the people have enormous hearts and there’s great food and lovely little cafés everywhere. There aren’t too many choices for hotels, but the ones that are there are more than good enough.

The whole city is walkable and full of interesting things to see and do. I would love to go back again as a real tourist and not a medical tourist. I hope you’ve enjoyed this post. The next stop will be Juneau where we had an incredible excursion whale watching experience.
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Always enjoy reading your perspective on things. The post above reminded me of how important it is for us to recognize biases and how our own internal insecurities could play a part in manifesting them.
Thanks Adeel. If we had let our biases hold us back, we would have missed out on the incredible hospitality of the Sitka people. I’m so glad that man welcomed us into the restaurant and opened our minds. Hope you’re doing well.