Suggest Alaska to clients seeking a cruise destination packed with excitement and adventure, says Jane Archer
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It is the 49th state of the US, twice the size of Texas and a fifth the size of the ‘lower 48’, as the locals refer to the rest of the US. It is also an adrenaline junkie’s dream with everything from zip-lining to hiking, rock climbing and dog-sledding on the menu.
Welcome to Alaska, one of the last great wildernesses on earth, and a destination high on the bucket-list of most cruise passengers.
Some are drawn by the exciting activities, others by the scenery, which is an alluring mixture of craggy mountains, deep fjords and glaciers that are so huge they stretch almost 80 miles inland from the sea.
All are going for the fun and sense of adventure you just don’t get on a two-week cruise around the Mediterranean or Caribbean.
That’s because even now, despite the impact of humans and the influx of tourists, this place has not been tamed. Juneau is the only state capital in the US that cannot be reached by road, bears and moose roam free throughout the state and rivers turn into raging torrents as the winter snows melt.
The climate is also harsh, freezing in winter (a record -62C was set in northern Alaska in 1971) and warm-ish from mid-May to mid-September, when cruise ships visit.
Clients can expect temperatures from 15C to 26C, but with a good chance of rain, especially in August.
Spoilt for choice
Norwegian Cruise Line will have three ships in Alaska next year, Celebrity Cruises will have two and Oceania Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Carnival Cruise Line and Silversea will have one each.
But the market leaders are Holland America Line, which will have seven ships in the region next year, and Princess Cruises, with six, which offer extensive cruise-and-stay programmes using their own hotels, lodges and glass-domed trains.
Holland America, for instance, offers land-based tours that spend up to three days in Denali National Park, where clients can take a tour into the tundra or scoot around on an all-terrain vehicle. They can also combine the park with a trip to the Yukon and the former Gold Rush town of Dawson City.
The company is building a dining and entertainment area, Base Camp, at McKinley Chalet Resort, a property near the entrance to Denali that it acquired last year. It is expected to open for the start of the 2016 season and will have a two-storey restaurant and an amphitheatre that will be used for shows and talks by park rangers.
Image credit: State of Alaska Hage Photos
Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam moves to Alaska for the first time, to sail seven-night round-trip cruises from Vancouver in Canada that call at Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. Cruise-only prices start at £648.
The itinerary also includes scenic cruising in Glacier Bay, Tracy Arm Fjord and through the Inside Passage – the name given to the route to Alaska that cruise ships navigate, sailing between islands that dot the west coast of Canada and the US, where channels narrow to just a mile wide in places.
Princess Cruises will operate 106 Alaskan voyages in 2016, visiting 15 destinations. Itineraries depart from Seattle, Vancouver or San Francisco for either seven or 10 nights. Prices start at £599 for a seven-night Voyage of the Glaciers itinerary.
Among the excursions on offer are train tours of the Alaska Railroad in glass-domed rail cars, while land-stay options include wilderness lodges and visits to the top two attractions in Alaska – Glacier Bay and Denali national parks.
Whale and dolphin watching, stargazing and Gold Rush tours are also available, while local seafood dishes will be served onboard.
Princess has teamed up with Discovery Communications to create experiences based on the channel’s hit shows, with options on Alaska voyages including panning for gold and Animal Planet-themed activities on and off ship.
Standard itinerary
Most cruise lines follow a similar itinerary to Nieuw Amsterdam, but smaller vessels might alternatively visit Sitka or Wrangell, another Gold Rush boom town, where clients can fish, hike or kayak.
Some itineraries also offer scenic cruising in College Fjord, named after an 1899 expedition funded by the US’s Ivy League colleges, or the Hubbard Glacier, the cliff face of which is more than six miles wide and 700 feet high.
Cruises are generally for seven or 10 nights, sailing either one way or round-trip from Vancouver or Seattle, which can be linked with a pre or post-cruise journey on the Rocky Mountaineer train through Canada. Princess also has 10-night round-trip voyages from San Francisco.
However, companies do switch ships around quite a bit, often as it’s the easy way to increase capacity. Next year, for example, Royal Caribbean International’s 3,114-passenger Explorer of the Seas takes over seven-night round-trip Seattle cruises from Jewel of the Seas, which holds 1,000 fewer people. Cruise-only prices start at £1,169 a person, departing May 20.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ 700-passenger Seven Seas Mariner will take over one-week all-inclusive cruises between Vancouver and Seward from Seven Seas Navigator, which holds just 490. Prices start at £3,999 a person, including flights, departing May 18.
Crystal Cruises will operate in Alaska in 2016 for the first time in five years, with Crystal Serenity sailing its debut season in the 49th state. Cruise-only prices start at £2,080 a person for a seven-day sailing from Vancouver to Anchorage, departing June 19.
Tried & Tested: Golden princess
Jo Kessel cruised with the family around Alaska on Golden Princess
A trip to Alaska ranks high on most people’s bucket lists, but I didn’t want to wait until most people start ticking a trip like this off – retirement.
I wanted to visit this vast wilderness famed for its glaciers and bears with my children – 12-year-old twins Nathalie and Gabriel, and 10-year-old Hanna – to witness unforgettable scenery as a family. A cruise seemed the solution.
After a memorable two days in San Francisco to take in Alcatraz, Fisherman’s Wharf and ride the city’s vintage trams, we were ready to board Golden Princess for a 10-day round-trip.
The top deck buzzed as we sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge – a romantic start to the voyage – before finding our cabins. Marshmallow beds proved the perfect antidote to jet lag, and from our interconnecting balconies we spotted porpoises, dolphins and whales over the next three days at sea.
A fellow passenger asked if I was counting my sightings –he’d seen 17 humpbacks – but the truth is there were too many to tot up.
Sunny weather found us on pool deck (unlimited ice cream was a great perk) and the children flitted from swimming to Shockwaves, the club for eight to 12-year-olds where activities included ‘shark morning’ – digging for sharks’ teeth, making shark necklaces and learning shark trivia.
This was part of Princess’s Discovery at Sea programme, which has been launched in conjunction with TV’s Discovery Channel with the aim of mixing entertainment and education.
Also part of the initiative was Junior Chef at Sea, during which the ship’s patisserie chef taught Nathalie to ice a cake like a professional.
We weren’t yet in Alaska, but Alaskan crab cakes and fish tacos gave us a culinary glimpse into the destination, served alongside burgers at the poolside grill. Evenings were more formal (a kids’ menu was available), feasting on watermelon and feta cheese followed by Alaskan-style seafood soup and all-American meatloaf in the main dining room.
Our first port of call was Alaska’s capital Juneau. We booked a Discovery-branded ship excursion, paddling a canoe (which the children dubbed ‘oar-some’) between icebergs for two miles along a lake towards Mendenhall Glacier, an ethereal blue ice sheet 12 miles deep, spiked in angular formations.
The next stop was Skagway, gateway to 1897’s Gold Rush, through which thousands of prospectors passed in the hope of striking it rich.
In the morning, we enjoyed a three-hour hike around Lower Dewey Lake, which began at a creek packed with salmon jumping upstream to spawn. In the afternoon, my brood screeched with glee as they enjoyed zip-lining 60 feet above the rainforest floor.
Another highlight was a cruise in Glacier Bay National Park, during which park rangers delivered a live commentary. Watching glaciers ‘calving’, sending two-storey ice blocks crashing into the sea, was an incredible experience.
Our final stop in Alaska was Ketchikan. Downtown’s Lumberjack Show – think Chippendales with chainsaws wearing checked shirts – was brilliant family entertainment.
But the visual feasts kept on coming. On a nature trek in the Rainforest Sanctuary we witnessed black bears in the wild for the first time – mothers with their cubs and adults catching salmon in a stream. A magical sight on what was an unforgettable family holiday.
Book it: A 10-day Inside Passage with Glacier Bay itinerary on Grand Princess, cruising out of San Francisco, starts at £1,089 for departures on August 29, 2016. princess.com
