 Coal Harbour Vancouver |
Cruise Alaska
What can you expect from an Alaskan cruise?
Is it wonderful scenery, abundant wildlife or the pleasures of modern day cruise ships?
The wonderful thing is- it is all of these.
Follow our cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage and see the wonderful sights on the way.
First of all the beautiful city of Vancouver from where many of the cruise ships depart.
 The Radiance of the Seas |
The iconic Canada Place is the docking point for the cruise ships in Vancouver with a very efficient embarkation procedure. You can drive into the departure dock, unload you r bags and walk to the processing desks. As you are entering the US a check of documents by US officials gain entry to the ticket desk. After that it is onto the ship. On this trip it is the Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas.
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From Vancouver we head to the inside passage, a beautiful journey through the waters between British Columbia and Vancouver island and then to Ketchikan, Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Skagway, Hubbard Glacier and finally to Seward.
Leaving dock at Canada Place in Vancouver
The cruise leaves Vancouver following the Burrard inlet and out though the Strait of Georgia.
Sunset after leaving Vancouver
Then after a day cruising we reach the Hectate Strait and make our way to Ketchikan. Ketchikan is a city in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States, Ketchikan's economy is based upon tourism and fishing, and is known as the "Salmon Capital of the World."
Ketchikan Alaska Cruise ships in Ketchikan
Potlatch Park Ketchikan
http://www.visit-ketchikan.com/
A number of excursions are available, various whale watching tours, salmon bakes and visits to totem pole sites.
Later in the evening we leave for Icy Strait Point. Icy Strait Point is a facility built in 2001 specifically for the cruise ship industry, located a mile from the historic village of Hoonah and not far from Juneau Alaska. However, it is not commercialised and Icy Strait provides tourists with a true back to nature experience and is just down the road from Hoonah, Alaska's largest Huna Tlingit village, and 22 miles southeast of Glacier Bay National Park. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruise lines visit the unspoilt Icy Strait Point where one ship per day is permitted.
From Icy Strait the cruise continues to Juneau, the State capital of Alaska and home of the governor’s residence. Juneau is located on the Gastineau Channel and has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then-Alaska Territory was moved from Sitka. The city of Juneau merged with the city of Douglas in 1970.
Many tours are available in Juneau, including city tours, the Mendenhall Glacier, whale watching and others. A visit to the top of Mount Roberts using the tram car is a wonderful experience on a good day.
The next port of call is the wonderful Skagway, where during the gold rush many prospective gold hunters made their way to Dawson 
city through a number of treacherous passes. The port of Skagway is a popular stop for cruise ships and the White Pass and Yukon Route and narrow gauge railroad, reveals part of the area's mining past.
Leaving Skagway takes us through the most scenic and beautiful section of the cruise.
It is a magical journey and reveals snow capped mountains, light houses, whales, sunsets - all to die for.
We are nearing the end of our cruise around Vancouver – with a visit to the Hubbard Glacier, then finally to Seward. At Yakutat we enter Disenchantment Bay and see the magnificent Hubbard Glacier.
The cruise ship Pacific Venus is shown against the Hubbard Glacier and gives an idea of its vastness.
The final port of call in this Vancouver cruise is Seward a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough and was named after William H. Seward, United States Secretary of State who in 1867, negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia. Seward is located in Resurrection Bay a bay on the Kenai Peninsula. and is just stunning!
In Seward we leave our home, the wonderful Radiance of the Seas and say our farewells to ewfound friends on board. This is a journey if you can make, you should. The state of Alaska is like nothing else in the world and the US is so fortunate to have Alaska as a state in the union.
Images © David Dawson Photography
Article © David Dawson and System Alchemy Ltd