Cruising in Alaska

Alaska, the 49th state of America, is the largest and boasts eight National Parks.  Nearly a third of the total land area lies inside the Arctic Circle.  Its people are from mixed descent; the indigenous Indian tribes maintain much of their tradition and culture living alongside descendants of the gold prospectors who started to arrive at the end of the 19th Century.

A cruise into Alaska enables you to see areas that would be almost impossible to visit by land.  Alaska attracts cruise passengers from May to October, to see its vast and unspoilt landscape of mountains, forests, glaciers and fjords.  Its spectacular scenery and wildlife are the main attractions of the area which covers more than 580,000 miles.

Alaskan Itineraries

There are two basic Alaska itineraries:

• The "Inside Passage" cruise which begins and ends in Vancouver.  This is a round-trip one-week cruise, named because it lies within a long chain of coastal islands which act as a buffer from the open waters of the North Pacific/  The cruise usually includes visiting tidewater glaciers such as those at the head of narrow cliff-sided Tracy Arm, or those found in the many inlets of Glacier Bay.
• The Glacier Route.  This cruise includes the Gulf of Alaska in a one-way route between Vancouver and Anchorage.  Some of Alaska's most impressive tidewater glaciers, such as Hubbard Glacier in Yakutan Bay and Columbia Glacier in College Fjord, Prince William Sound are on this itinerary.

Shore Excursions

The Alaskan cruises offer a very wide range of shore excursions, which most passengers take in order to explore the relative wilderness of the area.  Excursions can include floatplane and helicopter flights over the glacier-filled valleys, flying low enough for passengers to see mountain goats and other wildlife such as bears; and rafting, boating and kayaking excursions.

Endemic wildlife includes killer, humpback and minkie whales, dolphins, porpoises, sea otters, bears and bald eagles.

Overland Stays

Many people combine their cruise with an overland stay.  Land tours available include plying the Yukon River on board a paddleboat, or taking a private railcar to Denali National Park to view North America's highest peak, Mt. McKinley.

Another overland tour out of Vancouver is a coach tour or rail journey to the Canadian Rockies, where the Banff and Jasper National Parks are famous for their alpine display. 

Ports of Call

Ports which  might be visited include:

• Anchorage, Alaska's largest city
• Juneau, the capital.  It is the second largest city in the world if measured by area, yet only has a population of under 25,000
• Ketchikan - on one of the many islands of the Alaskan Panhandle, which began as an Indian fishing village
• Skagway - one of Alaska's tiniest outposts, although 20,000 gold prospectors have visited it in the past
• Sitka - the former capital of Russian America, where the official transfer of Alaska to the USA tool place in 1867
• Seward, a fishing port on the Kenai Peninsula

General Information

Most of the voyages are on large ships offering traditional cruises.  There are also some smaller ships that can cruise into areas the larger ones can't.  In summer the climate is mild an moist, and it is possible to enjoy 21 hours of sunshine in a day.  The temperatures can rise to 28 degrees.

Most Alaskan cruises are fly cruises, flying from a UK airport to Vancouver, but a few do start in San Francisco, and others from Alaska's own ports of Seward and Anchorage.

These cruises are excellent value for money as food, accommodation, flights and all shipboard activities are included in the price.  Some companies even include shore excursions and onboard tips in the cost.

The following lines operate Alaskan cruises:

• Carnival - seven night cruises
• Celebrity Cruises - the Galaxy and Mercury, both of which have excellent observation lounges
• Crystal Cruises - Six-star Crystal Harmony
• Holland America - cruises from nine to 18 days
• Norwegian Cruise Lines - seven night cruises on Norwegian Dynasty and Norwegian Wind
• Princess Cruises - six luxury ships operate, with fares starting from £1596 for nine nights including flights
• Royal Caribbean International - on board Rhapsody and Vision of the Seas.  Can be combined with a five-night Canadian Rockies coach tour

For more information contact David Brown Travel

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