Five Amazing Alaskan Cruises
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Cruises Editor
Destinations
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Alaska is on most travellers’ bucket lists and cruising is the best way to take in its vast, magnificent wilderness areas. Most major cruise lines sail two main itineraries: seven-night round-trip voyages from Vancouver or Seattle through the spectacular Inside Passage, and seven-night one-way voyages through the Gulf of Alaska that sail from Vancouver or Seattle to Seward or Whittier (for Anchorage), also via the Inside Passage. There are also longer Alaskan cruises from San Francisco, options to add rail and land journeys to a cruise, plus expedition cruises that go off the beaten path – here’s our top selection.
Princess Cruises is the biggest operator in Alaska. It will have six ships sailing during the May to September 2016 season and offers a range of cruises and land options. The 10-day San Francisco round trip on Grand Princess or Golden Princess sails under the famous Golden Gate Bridge before heading north to visit Juneau (the capital of Alaska), Skagway, Glacier Bay National Park, Ketchikan and Victoria BC, Canada, before returning to San Francisco.
A typical seven-day round-trip from Vancouver on Holland America Line’s (HAL) MS Volendam includes two full days of scenic cruising in the Inside Passage, as well as visits to Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. Cruising through the Tracy Arm Fjord is another highlight; HAL offers catamaran tours right to the face of the spectacular North Sawyer Glacier, with onboard commentary from an expert naturalist and plenty of wildlife photo opportunities.
If you’re short of time or adding an Alaskan cruise to another trip, Royal Caribbean Cruises is offering a new five-night round trip from Vancouver aboard Radiance of the Seas in 2016. It cruises the Inside Passage and visits Ketchikan and Prince Rupert BC, a traditional fishing village and commercial centre on Kaien Island. From here you can visit Canada’s only grizzly bear sanctuary, Khutzeymateen, a 122,000-acre protected park that’s also home to wolves, moose and a variety of native birds.
Silversea Cruises operates seven-day Seward to Vancouver (and vice versa) cruises, while its expedition arm, Silversea Expeditions, offers an exciting 12-day itinerary from Nome (Alaska) to Seward in July 2016. Luxury expedition vessel Silver Discoverer crosses the Bering Sea to Russia, where passengers will visit remote communities in the Chukotka region, which is also home to rare seabird colonies. The ship sails to the rarely visited Pribilof and Aleutian Islands on a memorable voyage that will appeal to nature-lovers who enjoy a luxurious setting for their adventures.
For an eye-opening Alaskan expedition cruise without the luxury trimmings, Lindblad Expeditions’ seven-night Coastal Wilderness voyages between Sitka and Juneau take passengers to incredible places that are inaccessible to large ships. The 62-passenger National Geographic Sea Bird and Sea Lion’s itineraries include Southeast Alaska’s islands, bays and fjords, Point Adolphus, Inian Islands, Glacier Bay, Frederick Sound, Petersburg, Tracy Arm and Juneau. Lindblad’s expedition team are experts in marine biology, botany and geology and lead small Zodiac excursions that add a whole new dimension to the adventure.
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