Fire-and-ice thrills await, from scenic cruising Alaska’s thunderous glaciers and Hawaii’s fiercest volcano to overnights in Anchorage and Honolulu and a Kodiak port call.
To book or for more information contact:
Maritime Travel – Surrey
Sullivan Square Centre, 110-15375 No.10 Highway
Surrey, British Columbia
Phone: (604) 575-5044
Email: surrey@maritimetravel.ca
OR
A fascinating destination in her own right, Westerdam has won multiple Best Cruise Ship awards and features superb bar, entertainment and dining venues. During the day, rejuvenate with a spa treatment at the heavenly Greenhouse Spa & Salon®. Head to the upper decks for a friendly game of Pickleball at Sea with top-deck views. Catch a performance at the World Stage or spend your evening on the dance floor at Rolling Stone Lounge.
Vancouver, B.C., CA
DEPARTS 04:00 PM
Once a trading post and a rough-and-tumble sawmilling settlement, today modern Vancouver, Canada is many things. Cruise to Vancouver and visit this bustling seaport. This city is a hub for outdoor enthusiasts looking for active things to do in Vancouver an ethnically diverse metropolis, and Hollywood of the North. Hemmed in by mountains and sea, Vancouver seduces visitors with its combination of urban sophistication and laid-back attitude against a backdrop of glass towers and modern sights and plentiful green spaces.
Enjoy enjoy local attractions, fun filled outdoor activities, and an innovative culinary scene on a Vancouver cruise excursion. Vancouver’s culinary and cocktail scene is on the rise—and its excellent restaurants and hopping bars have a distinctively local stamp on them. If you are looking for where to go in Vancouver for music, theater and the arts, they are thriving in the city’s many museums, galleries and performance venues. Beyond the downtown attractions in Vancouver, days of exploration and sightseeing await among the colorful suburbs, unspoiled islands and the vast, rugged wilderness.
Alaska’s Inside Passage is a protected network of waterways that wind through glacier-cut fjords and lush temperate rain forests along the rugged coast of Southeast Alaska. Arguably one of the greatest cruising routes in the world, the Inside Passage stretches through stunning landscapes, from Misty Fjords National Monument to famed Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve.
Sailing the Inside Passage offers opportunities to spot some of Alaska’s most iconic wildlife, with humpback whales and orca plying the bountiful waters alongside the ships, bald eagles soaring overhead and brown bears lumbering on the shoreline.
Numerous ports along the way recount Alaska’s colorful history. In Sitka, an onion-domed church marks Russia’s onetime foothold in the Americas; Ketchikan provides a glimpse of the Native Alaskan experience, with historic totem poles and native-arts galleries; and the legendary town center of Skagway bustles as it did at the turn of the 19th century, when it served as the rowdy Wild West gateway to the Klondike Gold Rush.
Sitka, Alaska, US
A storied past mixed with jaw-dropping scenery sets Sitka, Alaska apart from other ports. Located on Baranof Island surrounded by the Sitka Sound’s icy blue water, it not only boasts lush scenery and captivating wildlife, Sitka offers a unique glimpse into Alaska history. Russia controlled Alaska from the mid-1700s until the United States purchased it in 1867, and Sitka was settled as the capital of Russian America with the name New Archangel.
Sail to Sitka on an Alaska Cruise today and you’ll see vestiges of Russia’s influence. Stroll past the onion dome of St. Michael’s Cathedral and the Russian Bishop’s House, both National Historic Landmarks. On a Sitka, Alaska shore excursion, stop by the visitor center of the Sitka National Historical park to peruse fascinating collections of Russian and Native Alaskan artifacts, and then join a ranger-led tour of the battlefield where Russia fought the native Tlingit people.
Surrounded by the Tongass National rain forest, nature abounds in Sitka, Alaska. A walk up Castle Hill offers the ideal vantage point to take in Mount Edgecumbe, a dormant volcano. Visits to the Fortress of the Bear and Alaska Raptor Center are in order for any animal-lover. Both provide the opportunity to see Alaska wildlife, such as bears or raptors up-close, but safely.
An Alaska cruise toward Hubbard Glacier feels like you’re approaching another planet in a tiny space craft. It is that big and that otherworldly. Among all the vanishing Alaska glaciers, Hubbard has a rapidly advancing ice margin— up to seven feet in one day—earning it the nickname, “the Galloping Glacier.”
Hubbard Glacier cruises are so popular because of the glacier’s three-story icebergs that cannon into crystal waters, a process called calving. It’s also colorful. On clear days, Hubbard turns a stunning deep blue and on cloudy ones, its many ripples and icebergs shimmer in soft light.
This glacier dwarfs the other glaciers in Alaska. It is the longest tidewater glacier in North America and starts 122 kilometers (76 miles) back, pouring down off the shoulder of Mt. Walsh. It has an impressive terminal face that is 11 kilometers (7 miles) long and 106 meters (350 feet) above the water line, making its regular audience of Alaska cruise ships look like toy boats.
It’s a giant, but it’s not sleeping. Hubbard Glacier is one of the few Alaska glaciers that’s advancing and not succumbing to climate change. It sounds uplifting, but many fear that the expanding glacier will block the entrance to the fjord.
An Alaska glaciers cruise is the best way to see majestic, centuries-old rivers of ice cascading from the mountains to the sea. Glaciers have shaped many Alaska lakes, rivers and valleys one slow centimeter at a time. They’ve fascinated scientists and inspired artists for a long time. Scenic cruising College Fjord will bring you close to many glaciers—there’s even a spot where you can see eight at once. Your chances of watching ice thunder into the water is high, as the Prince William Sound is one of the most active areas for calving.
Out of all Alaska fjords, College Fjord is the most storied. The Harriman Expedition of 1899 with John Muir and other notable scientists traversed the College Fjord aboard the George W. Elder, funded by Ivy League colleges. All of the glaciers were named for various schools. As you travel into College Fjord, the glaciers on the left are named for women’s colleges and those on the right are named for men’s colleges. The names are Amherst, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Harvard, Smith, Vassar, and Yale).
Harvard Glacier is the biggest – its face is a mile and a half across. In case you’re wondering, it is rumored that the scientists snubbed Princeton.
A cruise to Prince William Sound offers one of the best possible opportunities to view massive Alaska glaciers—it boasts more than 150 with 17 tidewater glaciers known for thunderous ice calving. But that’s just the beginning. This large body of water encompasses countless fjords, cascading waterfalls, and spectacular vistas of the glaciated Chugach mountains. Alaska critters are often spotted lumbering the shore or floating along Prince William Sound’s icy coves and inlets. Depending on the season and time of day, you may see otters, puffins, humpback or killer whales, seals, bears, moose and eagles, so keep a lookout. Whittier, Alaska—known as the gateway to the sound—is perched on the banks. It’s an unusual place as nearly all its residents live in one building and it’s only accessed by boat or a tunnel. Many of the town’s residents work in tourism during summer. Prince William Sound offers calm, serene waters begging for an Alaska glaciers cruise or sea kayak tour. Be sure to bundle up as with all of the glaciers around, you can bet it is cold.
Seward (Anchorage), Alaska, US
To explore Seward on an Alaska cruise, select a cruisetour that includes overnight stays in this vibrant seaport. As a scenic gateway to the Kenai Fjords National Park and a laid-back burg steeped in history, there’s plenty of reason for to stop into Seward on an Alaska cruise adventure.
Seward is ground zero for the Klondike Gold Rush’s Iditarod National Historic Trail, a dogsled route that connected the Kenai Peninsula’s ice-free port with Nome during frontier-era winters. Though the modern race makes a ceremonial start in Anchorage, it’s inspired by the famous run of 1925, which dashed along parts of this older path. It allowed 20 mushers to carry urgently needed diphtheria vaccine more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) in just over 127 hours.
Native Alaskans and explorers from Russia, Britain and the United States frequented this area before Seward’s official founding in 1903. The early settlement included a colorful neighborhood known as Homebrew Alley which was erased by a 9.2-magnitude megathrust earthquake. Known as the Good Friday earthquake, it was the second most powerful ever recorded and dropped the shoreline nearly six feet in 1964.
Today this mellow town welcomes visitors to Resurrection Bay and Kenai Fjords National Park, along with the impressive 204-kilometer (127-mile) Seward Highway—honored as an All-American Road—stretching north to Anchorage. On a Seward cruise tour, visit some of the town’s most popular sites such as the Alaska SeaLife Center, a research aquarium open to the public, and the steep, stony 920-meter (3,018-foot) Mount Marathon, which hosts one of America’s oldest footraces each Fourth of July.
From ice-blue glaciers to beluga whales and the famous bore tide, a single cruise to Anchorage, Alaska will considerably shorten any nature-lover’s bucket list. Nestled between mountains and the Cook Inlet terminus, near many national and state parks, this hospitable haven is one of the best places to see Alaska wildlife. A city moose roaming the streets (there are about 1,500) is a regular sight and views of whales, puffins, otters, and Dall porpoises going about their days is just a short excursion away. Cruises to Anchorage are a must for those that want some of the most incredible bear viewing in the country.
Although the wildlife is reason alone to cruise to Anchorage Alaska, the culture of the city itself is worth exploring. Almost half of the state’s residents live in Anchorage, a population that largely comprises military members, Alaska Natives, adventurous transplants from the “lower 48,” and oil industry workers. Coffee and espresso huts dot every corner and fresh halibut, smoked salmon and reindeer dogs are among the local eats.
Anchorage is a year-round town. On some clear, dark nights during winter, the Northern Lights dance above. In spring, thousands of flowers planted by the city bloom to celebrate the season’s anticipated arrival. Summer brings the Midnight Sun where days can stretch to 19 hours. Take an Alaska cruise to Anchorage to discover national parks, scenic glaciers, unique landscapes and wildlife.
Outdoor activities abound in Anchorage. Adventurous locals (there are a lot of them in Alaska) enjoy skijoring, a sport where a person is pulled on skis by dogs or sometimes horses. The Tony Knowles Coastal Trail and Flattop Mountain Trail inside Chugach State Park offer hiking, biking, and wildlife sighting opportunities. Book an Anchorage cruise shore excursion and explore top destinations.
Kodiak, Alaska, US
Kodiak is all about bears. And what bears! This unique subspecies named for the Kodiak Archipelago where they are found evolved in isolation for around 12,000 years and can reach heights of 3 meters, or 10 feet, when standing on their hind legs. One of the world’s largest carnivores, the bears have a diet that goes far beyond meat (they can sleep for up to eight months, then wake up ravenous to feast predominantly on grass, plants, berries and fish). About 3,500 live on this tiny island, meaning you have a great chance of seeing one, if not many, from May through October!
Shrubs and bushes cover the rolling hills here, giving Kodiak its Emerald Isle nickname. It was once a prime native hunting ground for the Alutiit, but their population plummeted after Russian traders and fur trappers settled the area in the late 1700s. Bought by the United States in 1867, Kodiak grew into a commercial fishing center. Today both the island and the hardworking town that shares its name attract anglers, hunters, adventure travelers and nature photographers. Top highlights include the Baranov Museum, the Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Church and the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge.
Days At Sea
Dutch Harbor, Alaska, US
The volcanic Aleutian Islands stretch between the United States and Russia in the Bering Sea. The archipelago’s largest community goes by two names—Unalaska and Dutch Harbor—though you may hear really old-time Aleut speakers say “Ounalashka” too. Want to sound like one of the fishing port’s 4,300-odd residents? Just stick with “Dutch.”
In the easternmost arc—the Fox Island subgroup—this flourishing town depends more on the fish-processing industry than on tourism. In fact, Dutch Harbor netted 762 million pounds in 2014, maintaining its “most seafood landed” status for the 18th consecutive year. But visitors may be more familiar with its fame from Deadliest Catch, a TV series about the brutal struggle to harvest Alaskan king crabs—a task often called the world’s most dangerous job.
While its stark natural beauty is the main draw, Dutch woos tourists with the oldest Russian-Orthodox cruciform church in North America (note the darkened icons, damaged while locals were exiled to WWII internment camps). Learn more about the Aleutians’ war—Japanese forces invaded the area, making it the only occupied American soil during the conflict—at the National Historic Area.
Days At Sea
The oldest of the Hawaiian Islands, Kauai, sits under a steady blast of trade winds that sweep in abundant moisture. Expect a wet, tropical climate—especially in the eastern and central areas—complete with swamps and rain forests.
In 1778, when Captain James Cook discovered Hawaii—never mind that plenty of people already lived here—the British explorer sailed right past Oahu, the first island he sighted, and disembarked in Kauai. He and his men spread a few diseases, traded nails for provisions, and left, never to return to Waimea.
Kauai only gets about a quarter as many visitors per year as Oahu, yet it may be the island we all know best, thanks to its amazing topography, full of perfect waterfalls and lush knife-edged mountains. It’s called the Garden Isle for good reason and Hollywood can’t get enough of this backdrop, from White Heat in 1934, all the way through Jurassic Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark and the 1976 remake of King Kong. If you want to star in your own gorgeous tropical idyll, pack for Kauai.
Hawaii cruises whisk you to Oahu’s south shore. The capital of Hawaii—and gateway to the island chain—is a suitably laid-back Polynesian mash-up of influences and experiences. Away from the Waikiki crowds and glossy high-rise hotels, our Hawaii cruises give a taste of the ‘real’ Hawaii: brick Victorian buildings, including America’s only royal palace; thriving Chinatown nightlife; sacred temple remains on distant bluffs; and the wartime memories of the attack on Pearl Harbor, including the USS Arizona Memorial.
Of course, the “real” Hawaii can’t be quantified so easily. It’s everywhere—in the volcanic nature of the soil, in its lush bounteous flora, and in the positive spirit of the people, who know there’s raw magic in their gentle islands. Our cruises to Honolulu offer a deeper understanding of this amazing place.
Both culturally and geographically, Hawaii’s Big Island divides into exact halves. The east is jungly, dark and prone to lava flows. The other side, the Kona side, grows all the coffee, and everyone wakes up really, really early. You might even see someone break the speed limit there, which is inconceivable elsewhere in the islands.
Much of this drier region almost resembles a desert. But the shapes of the hills and the way rain snags on ridges means Kona holds hundreds of microclimates. That’s how the coffee growers have flourished: Variations of only a few feet in altitude can result in very different brews. Some farms cover barely an acre; others sprawl enough to encompass two or three varietals. Either way, the beans are babied—from bush to cup—by hand.
Thankfully, plenty of places exist to play and burn off a little caffeine around Kona. History lies thick on the ground, from Kamehameha’s heiau (temple) to the sacred buildings of Puuhonua O Honaunau (‘The Place of Refuge’) to the bay where Captain Cook breathed his last. Whales love the Kona side, spinner dolphins live up to their names, and giant mantas slowly barrel roll up from the depths. Half an island is world enough.
Water and fire reign here: This is a land of verdant rain forests bisected by sparkling falls. But the fiery element flares along the volcanic coast of Kohala and the roaring furnace of the Kilauea volcano: Lava has continued to seep from the crater since its last eruption in 1983.
Nature is Hilo’s blessing, as well as its challenge. The beautiful crescent bay served as a funnel to two major tsunamis that battered the city—tragedies that are never forgotten and hopefully never repeated. (Hilo’s Pacific Tsunami Museum remains a leader in safety education.)
Once a busy fishing and farming area, Hilo blossomed into a commercial center for the sugarcane industry in the 1800s. Today’s town—its waterfront rebuilt since the last destructive wall of water in 1960—flourishes as a hub of galleries, independent shops, farmers markets and homegrown destination restaurants. A world-class astronomy center has joined this mix, underlining the awe unfolding through the telescopes atop Mauna Kea (the world’s tallest peak from base to summit, outstripping Everest by 1,363 meters, or 4,472 feet!). Meanwhile, leafy Banyan Drive celebrates more earthbound stars with its arboreal Walk of Fame. Look up, look down: Wherever you glance, Hilo looks good.
Bounded by the Puget Sound to the west and Lake Washington to the east, and surrounded by forests and mountains, Seattle, Washington boasts a stunning location.
Cruise to Seattle and explore the largest city in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle is as much an homage to human ingenuity as it is to natural beauty. From logging to shipbuilding to aircraft manufacturing to modern-day software and biotech development, the Emerald City has worn a succession of industrial hats, birthing the likes of Amazon and Starbucks—not to mention music legends Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana—along the way.
Visitors are spoiled for choice of things to do in Seattle, Washington with iconic attractions, such as the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass, and Pike Place Market along a stunning, steel-gray waterfront with ferries gliding back and forth. Tour local attractions, go sightseeing, and explore the city’s museums Seattle on a shore excursion. ‘Local’ and ‘sustainable’ are words to live by in Seattle, an ethos reflected in the profusion of fresh-seafood restaurants, independent coffee roasters and quirky boutiques nestled among sleek skyscrapers. Whatever you end up doing, you’ll fall in love with the Emerald City. Seattle is a popular departing port for Alaska cruises.
B = BREAKFAST L = LUNCH D = DINNER
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