Alaska Cruise Tour: June 15 - June 28, 2009
Here are the details!
Day 1: June 15th: Fly to Fairbanks. When you arrive at FAI you'll be met by a
Holland America rep who will retrieve your luggage and get you on a coach
to The Fairbanks Westmark Hotel. For the rest of the day you'll relax, meet
with up with Monte and our Tour Director. Hopefully we'll all get
to bed early this night! (Sometimes easier said than done as Fairbanks has up to 21
hours of daylight in June…)
Day 2: June 16th: Our day will start with a tour of Fairbanks itself. The
Golden Heart City has wonderful history and you'll be fascinated by the
blend of urban culture and old trapper cabins within a few feet of each
other.
We'll see the Trans-Alaska pipeline just north of town (Monte actually worked on the pipeline so you'll get some special insight most other people don't get!). We'll go to a Holland
America exclusive, Gold Dredge #8 where we'll have lunch and tour the dredge. After the tour we'll get the opportunity to
pan for real gold! Almost everyone we know has gotten from $9.00 to
$16.00 worth of gold out of the "pokes" they are given to pan.
This afternoon we'll get a ride on one of my favorite excursions, The
Riverboat Discovery. This sternwheeler will take us down the Chena and
Tanana Rivers for a scenic, educational fun and funny experience. We'll
learn about fish camps, dog mushing, float plane flying and just plain old
Alaska bush living all from the comfort of the 2 story river boat. I've done
this trip a dozen times at least and would go again tomorrow if I could!
This evening we'll relax and have dinner at any number of good Fairbanks
restaurants. I can help you decide which one suits you best. See my page
on Fairbanks for more info.
Day 3: June 17th: All aboard! We're climbing on the Alaska Railroad for a
wonderful four hour ride to Denali National Park. Holland America's
exclusive domed railcars, "The McKinley Explorer" are an amazing way for
you to experience your first real views of Alaska's wilderness. As we head
south from Fairbanks in our assigned seats you'll begin to understand the
vastness, the wildness that is Alaska. You'll appreciate the dome that
starts about waist high and curls completely over your head allowing you
unparalleled 360 degree views of mountains, rivers and hopefully moose
and sheep and eagles. It's a great way to comfortably view this part of
Alaska.
Sometime around noon we arrive at Denali National Park. We'll have the
rest of the day to float a river or fly around the mountain or any number of
excursions that are available in the Denali area. Monte and/or the
Holland America Tour Director will have helped you choose what it is
you're going to do either the day before or this morning on the train.
Whatever you decide to do, you are in one of the most spectacular places
on Earth so enjoy!
Day 4: June 18th: After a leisurely early morning, sometime between
10AM and 1PM we'll get on a bus (and I do mean bus, this tour is run by
the Park Service contractor, NOT Holland America) and head into Denali
National Park for our Tundra Wilderness Tour. When we did this tour in June of 2008 we saw
13 Grizzly bear, I don't remember how many Caribou, a few Moose, a
couple of Golden Eagles and a partridge in a pear tree… Just kidding
about the partridge and pear tree… We got to see the mountain in all it's
glory from Stony Point overlook and had an all around amazing day! I
hope ours is that good, but I've done this trip at least 50 times and have
been disappointed only once when the weather just refused to cooperate. It's never the same, but always amazing!
Day 5: June 19th: Again, a relaxing morning, or a last chance to do a
flightseeing trip or river float. Around noon we'll re-board the McKinley
Explorer rail cars and head to Anchorage. The eight hour trip affords
some of the best views of Denali itself and is a wonderful way to spend a
day with nothing to do but take in the amazing Alaska scenery. Lunch
and Dinner are available down stairs in the dining area.
We'll spend the night downtown at the Anchorage Hilton hotel. See my
Anchorage page for restaurants and city tours, but remember I'll be with
you for any and all recommendations!
Day 6: June 20th: A relaxing and beautiful ride on a motor coach along a
"Designated Scenic Highway". We'll leave Anchorage and travel along
Turnagain Arm which has the 2nd highest tides in the world at 39 feet.
On one side is the Arm itself and on the other skyscraper mountains
jutting straight up. Moose, Dall sheep and Bald Eagles are common
sights along the way on land and Beluga Whales and sometimes even
Killer Whales are spotted in the water. We'll pass by or maybe even make
a stop at Portage Glacier at the end of Turnagain Arm and then onto the
Kenai Peninsula up and over Johnson Pass and down into Seward where
we'll have time to go either fishing, hiking, visit the Seward Sealife Center or just relax and take in the magnificent scenery of Resurrection Bay.
We'll spend the night in the beautiful Seward Windsong Lodge.
Day 7: June 21st: The longest day of the year, and we start the day by
doing one of my favorite trips on Earth, The Kenai Fjords National Park tour!!!!!
What I love about this is that our first opportunity on this trip to see
whales and glaciers and Puffins and Sea Otters and a jillion other birds
and marine mammals will take place on a relatively small vessel. We'll
spend time in front of Holgate Glacier and listen to her creak and crack
and groan, then all of a sudden a huge piece will calve off… Kenai Fjords
have the best onboard naturalists I've ever been around, so I always learn
something new on this trip. It is a spectacular introduction to Alaska's
pristine waters.
Later this day we'll board the MS Veendam and set sail on our 7 day
cruise. We are only half way done with this amazing trip!!!!!
Day 8: June 22nd: For a few hours this morning we cruise the College
Fjords in Prince William Sound. The fjords are so named because when
the Harriman expedition visited this area in 1898 they named the glaciers
after the Ivy League schools that funded the expedition. The waters of
Prince William Sound teem with wildlife and with luck we'll have ample
opportunities to see Killer Whales, Humpback Whales, sea otters and
Puffins. Later we'll sail out of Prince William Sound into the Gulf of
Alaska where we cruise down the coastline through the night. This is one
of the few times on this entire 7 day cruise where we are exposed to open
ocean and possibly rough seas.
Day 9: June 23rd: Scenic cruising Glacier Bay National Park. I could
write all day about this but I already have on the Glacier Bay National
Park page, so please go there for a full explanation of this day.
Day 10: June 24th: Haines/Skagway. One of our favorite ports because
the White Pass and Yukon Railroad is one of the best shore excursions
you can do anywhere! You'll notice that most itineraries that stop in
Haines or Skagway stay from early morning until 9PM or so. That is so
that all who want to have the opportunity to ride this wonderful railroad.
It is not just one of the most beautiful scenic rides you can take, but a
wonderful combination of history and scenery that makes for a full and
interesting day. It is a must-do on any Alaska trip.
Day 11: June 25th: Juneau. Alaska's state capital, Juneau is a fun port
for a variety of reasons. We advise all of our clients who REALLY want to
whale watch that Juneau is the place to do so. They rarely have to travel
far to find pods of Humpback, Grey or Killer whales and we have had good
experience after good experience with the folks there.
Juneau is the state capital with no road access. What makes Juneau
even more interesting is that it's the only city in the world that has a
glacier inside the city limits! Mendenhall Glacier makes for some great
touring. It's not uncommon to spot Black bears and Bald Eagles, and the
glacier and river are beautiful.
The Mount Roberts Tramway gives you a spectacular view of Juneau,
Gastineau Channel and your ship from high above. There is a wonderful
3.5 mile hike at the top of the tram that is not too strenuous and well
worth the effort!
Day 12: June 26th: Ketchikan. Flightseeing or small boat cruising back
into Misty Fjords National Park is an incredible way to spend your day.
For those of you who want to do some fishing in Alaska, Ketchikan is a
great choice. Full or half day combination Halibut and Salmon trips are
available depending on the season, and you usually don't have to travel
far from the small boat harbor to get to the fishing grounds.
Saxman Village and the Totem Park there are a wonderful and interesting
trip for Native culture.
Even if you do nothing but get off the ship and take a walk down Front
Street.
Day 13: June 27th: Scenic cruising down the Inside Passage. A
wonderful, relaxing day at sea. Remember, it's called the "Inside Passage"
because of the barrier islands that keep the "Big" waters at bay. This is
for the most part calm, scenic cruising, and a wonderful way to relax and
wrap up this amazing Alaskan adventure.
Day 14: June 28th: This morning we dock in beautiful Vancouver BC,
disembark the ship and fly home. Holland America makes the
disembarkation process so painless. You are allowed to stay in your
stateroom until your group is called. They determine which group you are
in by your flight time or, if you have booked a side excursion, by that
tours departure time.
Prices for this trip will start at $3149.00 per person, not including taxes
and port charges or airfare (since we don't know where you're flying
from…)
Just so you can get an idea of a total cost, this year when we added taxes
and airfare from DFW we averaged about $1050.00 per person so you're
looking at around $4199.00 for a basic inside stateroom.
Outside staterooms will be about $600.00 more and Verandah's about
$1400.00 more per person.
I truly believe this tour more than any other offers the very best Alaska
has to offer.
Please come with me and let me show you the land I love so much!!!
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