Your Glacier Discovery cruise between Vancouver, B.C. and
 Seward/Anchorage is an eye-opening experience, seven days of one wonder after another. Here's a preview of the highlights. |
| Cruise The Inside Passage Every itinerary includes a leisurely voyage along this beautiful waterway. For a thousand miles, your ship threads its way among emerald islets, past rocky headlands, over still blue waters. From the moment when the sun rises over the peaks of distant mountains, to the most gorgeous sunsets you've ever seen, each day is a new revelation. Naturalists are on board to alert you to the wildlife -- eagles on the treetops, bears ambling along the shores, seabirds soaring and shrieking overhead, whales cavorting alongside. |
| See The Glacier Show The stars of the voyage are Hubbard Glacier and College Fjord. Giant Hubbard Glacier -- one of the longest in Alaska -- lies at the head of Yakutat Bay. At an unhurried pace, your ship cruises past the six-mile face while you watch the dramatic birth of icebergs. Watch and listen: first you hear a crack, then a pinnacle of ice, hundreds of feet tall, splits from the glacier face, tumbles with a thunderous boom into the bay, and sinks in a cloud of spray -- then slowly rises, to float as an iceberg. In College Fjord, still more dazzling
sights. Your ship enters the fjord and sails slowly, so you have ample time
to absorb the size and majesty of each glacier, before you find yourself
in front of another. Sixteen glaciers flow from the icy peaks that line
the bay. They're named for the colleges that financed the Harriman Expedition
to Alaska a century ago. |
| Your Ports Of Call Ketchikan, Alaska's first city, claims to be the salmon capital of the world. Its harbor shelters a colorful fleet of fishing boats and pleasure boats. Watch for eagles, swooping to snatch a fish for dinner. Ketchikan is also center of the ancient Tlingit culture, and proudly displays its heritage. Tour to see Alaska's largest collection of original totems. Walk through the forest to an authentic Indian community house, with awesome carvings. Go flightseeing to scenic Misty Fjords National Monument with its sheer granite walls, glacier-carved fjords and sky-blue alpine lakes. Go fishing. Shop for gold nugget jewelry or a soapstone carving. In scenic Juneau, consider
a tour to mighty Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau's drive-in glacier. Go by motorcoach
and learn about glacial activity at the visitor center. Find the perfect
spot for a photo of the massive cliffs of ice. Or choose a helicopter tour
and touch down to walk on the surface of the glacier. Visit Juneau's fine
Alaska State Museum, stroll the waterfront, dine on fresh-caught salmon.
Sitka still displays fascinating
relics of its Russian heritage -- it was once capital of the Russian fur
empire. Tour to Castle Hill, and at onion-domed St. Michael's Cathedral
see pre-1800 icons. Opt for a visit to the Raptor Rehabilitation Center,
where wounded eagles and other birds of prey are nursed back to health.
Or you could motorcoach to a quiet mountain lake, take a quick course in
canoeing, and with your fellow paddlers, explore its bays and islets. |
| Seward - Anchorage Your motorcoach journey along the Kenai Peninsula is one of Alaska's most scenic. Along the way, glacier-fed lakes and rushing rivers keep you company. Snowclad mountains with glaciers sweeping down their sides are visible along the way. Traveling on into the mountains, top Turnagain Pass in the Chugach National Forest. Near Anchorage skirt Turnagain Arm, a long mountain-bordered inlet. It was so named by Captain Cook because he entered what he thought was a river, came to a dead end and had to turn again. Some Glacier Discovery Cruise itineraries
also include a memorable day of cruising in Glacier Bay National Park. |
  |
|