The Alaska Discount Cruise Guide

2012 Alaska Cruise Collection: Vancouver to Seward or Whittier

Who will enjoy this Cruise the most?

The Glacier Enthusiast: Enjoy a day visiting Glacier Bay National Park or Hubbard Glacier in fjord like Yakutat Bay. Either day, will be narrated by a US Park Service Ranger.

The History Buff: Retrace the route of the great Klondike Gold Rush of 1898 from the shores of Skagway or discover the Russian American Heritage of Alaska in beautiful Sitka.

The Independent Traveler: Ideal for guests who wish to extend their stay and visit the Interior of Alaska.

What’s included?

7 night cruise with all meals, accommodations, sea-going transportation and entertainment on ship.

Holland America Line

Statendam – 1,266 guests

Zaandam – 1,432 guests

Departs Weekly: May 13 – Sept. 9, 2012

NORTHBOUND

SAILING                               INSIDE                  OUTSIDE              VERANDAH

May 27                                 sold out                $699                       $1,499

June 10                                 $699                          799                      request

June 24                                   799                          899                      request

July 8                                        899                         999

 SOUTHBOUND

SAILING                               INSIDE                  OUTSIDE              VERANDAH

June 3                                   $699                       $799                       request

June 17                                   799                         899                       request

July 01                                    799                          899                     request

July 15                                    899                          999                       request

Princess Cruises

Coral or Island Princess – 1,970 guests

Diamond Princess – 2,670 guests

Coral & Diamond depart: Saturday

Island departs: Wednesday

NORTHBOUND

Departs: May 14 – Sept. 15,2012

SOUTHBOUND

Departs: May 21 – Sept. 19,2012

Celebrity Cruise Line

Millennium – 2,034 guests

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line

Radiance of the Seas – 2,501 guests

NORTHBOUND

Departs Weekly: May 11 – August 31, 2012

SOUTHBOUND

Departs Weekly: May 18 – Sept. 7, 2012

Ports of Call

Ketchikan – is home to the world’s largest collection of totem poles, which can be viewed at Saxman Native Village, Totem Bight State Park and the Totem Heritage Center. Totems can also be viewed at many other public locations around town, and even in front of local residences. South of town at Saxman Native Village, local carvers follow in the footsteps of their ancestors by demonstrating their sculpting skills as they work on poles, canoes, paddles and masks.

Your ship docks in “downtown” and within walking distance are many interesting attractions including Ketchikan Creek, who’s shoreline bends and curves past Creek Street, a wooden boardwalk. Beginning in the prohibition era, buildings on the creek housed bordellos. Today restaurants, museums, galleries and gift shops are popular stops along the creek. It’s a fun and interesting stroll along the boardwalk.

Juneau: Alaska’s Capital City. Juneau is a thriving community offering a great blend of city amenities and small-town hospitality, all in the heart of Alaska’s majestic mountains, rivers, glaciers, and forests. Nearly 31,000 people call Juneau home – many of them working in government, tourism, mining, and fishing industries. Fascinatingly, even today the only way to get to Juneau is by boat or airplane.

Your ship will conveniently dock in “downtown” within walking distance to many tourist sites including the Alaska State Museum and copious shopping. You can come and go from the ship as you please and enjoy dinner onboard or ashore. Possibly a salmon bake!

Skagway: The Gateway to the Klondike in 1898 the population surged to 8,000-10,000; since then has settled down nicely to 846 residents! The Northern terminus of the Inside Passage and jumping off point for the Klondike. It is one of two ports connecting commerce along the Inside Passage with the Alaska Highway and points further North. Its’ personality however, is totally rough and tumble Gold Rush! The past lives on in Skagway with the Historic Boardwalk of Broadway, false front buildings, saloons and a resilient pioneering spirit.

Haines: Haines was named in honor of Francina Haines of the Presbyterian Home Missions Board. Accompanied by his friend, John Muir, S. Hall Young, was the first missionary to the area in 1879. The purpose of their trip was to scout a location for a mission and a school. The first known meeting between white men and Tlingit took place in 1741 when a Russian ship anchored near Haines and started the fur trade in the area. In 1892, Jack Dalton established a toll road on the Tlingit trade route in to the interior to cash in on gold-seekers and others heading north into Canada. Parts of the Dalton Trail are now the Haines Highway.

Today, most visitors enjoy the abundance of wildlife, especially birds. Over 260 species of birds pass through the Chilkat Valley at one time or another during the year. You can “wing it’ on your own for birding in Haines but many tours optimize bird viewing opportunities with guides knowledgeable about the many species. The most popular is the Bald Eagle christening Haines as The Valley of the Eagles. Year-round resident eagles total approximately 400 but the population swells to at least 4,000 in the fall months of October through December when a late run of chum salmon in the Chilkat River provides a feast for the majestic birds.

Wilderness & Scenic Highlights

Tracy Arm is located 45 miles south of Juneau. It is named after a Civil War general named after Benjamin Franklin Tracy. The Tracy Arm area covers 653,179 acres and consists of two deep and narrow fjords. You will visit Tracy Arm which is approximately 30 miles long and one-fifth of the area is covered in ice. The twin Sawyer Glaciers, North Sawyer and South Sawyer, are located at the end of Tracy Arm. The wildlife in the area includes black and brown bears, deer, wolves, harbor seals and a variety of birds.

Or, Glacier Bay: The marine wilderness of Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve includes tidewater and alpine glaciers, snow-capped mountains ranges, ocean coastlines, deep fjords, freshwater rivers and lakes. It is part of one of the largest internationally protected Biospheres Reserves in the world, and is recognized by the United Nations as a World Heritage Site (UNESCO).

Or, Hubbard Glacier is the longest tidewater glacier Alaska. It originates in the Yukon Territory, 76 miles from its face (6 miles wide) in Yakutat Bay. Typically, it is a very active glacier with calving icebergs.

It takes about 400 years for ice to traverse the length of the glacier, meaning that the ice at the foot of the glacier is about 400 years old. The glacier routinely calves off icebergs size of a ten-story building. Where the glacier meets the shore, most of the ice is below the waterline, and newly calved icebergs can shoot up quite dramatically, so that ships must keep their distance from it as they ply their way up and down the coast.

Either Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier scenic visit, will be narrated by a US Park Service Ranger.