Cruises to Alaska Inside Passage, Alaska
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(home to Butchart Gardens and the storied Fairmont-Empress Hotel) or Vancouver. You're very likely to see some Alaskan wildlife on any Inside Passage itinerary, whether that be whales, bald eagles, sea lions, porpoises or spotted harbor seals. On Mediterranean cruises, we make it easy to schedule transfers between the airport and cruise ship.
THE 25 BEST Holland America Line Cruises to Alaska (with Prices) 2024 & 2025 on Cruise Critic - Cruise Critic
THE 25 BEST Holland America Line Cruises to Alaska (with Prices) 2024 & 2025 on Cruise Critic.
Posted: Fri, 19 Apr 2024 11:31:17 GMT [source]
How to Get from Anchorage to Your Cruise Ship
Glacier Bay National Park, or another scenic cruising area like Tracy Arm Fjord, is normally part of the itinerary. Visit a Native village, learn about the triumphs and tragedies of Alaska’s Gold Rush heyday or go dog sledding with a real musher. Touring the Inside Passage on an Alaska cruise is your gateway to the fascinating and colorful culture, history and sights of the Great Land. Read insider tips and recommendations for things to see and do in breathtaking Alaska. Choosing to depart for the cruise to Alaska’s Inside Passage from Seattle over Vancouver can save U.S. residents a little more money on airfare and enables them to take an Alaskan cruise without a passport. During the Klondike Gold Rush the passage was one of the sea routes from Seattle and California, carrying American prospectors northward.
Tourism
Features Alaska’s most historic ports and scenic natural wonderlands. Washington's portion of the route is made up almost entirely of the waterways of Puget Sound. Starting from the southernmost point of Budd Inlet, the waterway turns toward the northeast and broadens as it becomes the Nisqually Reach of Puget Sound. The waterway then continues northeast, through the Tacoma Narrows, northward toward the San Juan Islands just southeast of the border with Canada. During a two-year expedition through uncharted territory, Captain George Vancouver sailed into the still waters of what came to be known as the Inside Passage. Passing by luminous glaciers artfully carved by Mother Nature’s beaming summers and numbing winters, Captain Vancouver and his team charted over 1,000 miles from 1792 to 1794.
Alaska Inside Passage Cruises: The Most Convenient Alaska Cruise Options
The term "Inside Passage" is also often used to refer to the ocean and islands around the passage itself. Add a hotel package to your Mediterranean cruise and indulge in an unforgettable overnight departure or arrival city. As you’re booking your dream Alaskan cruise to the Inside Passage, consider what comforts, food and adventures you're seeking. Each cruise line offers unique programs and amenities, and some will be better suited for your budget and level of comfort.
You can arrive or depart on a different unique route – through Alaska’s glacier-lined, wildlife-filled, and smooth-sailing waterways of Alaska’s Inside Passage. Alaska’s Inside Passage is a water route between the Gulf of Alaska and Puget Sound. This popular Alaska cruise ship route usually features stops at a handful of Alaska and British Columbia ports and is known for its calm waters, boundless history, and spectacular scenery. The average cruise through the Inside Passage takes around seven days, but you can go beyond the cruise with shore excursions featuring an array of outdoor adventures (kayaking, fishing, and bear viewing, to name a few).
Alaska Inside Passage, Alaska
Feel the pioneer spirit of Alaska, from First Nations tribes to early Russian settlers to Gold Rush prospectors. These waters are also home to a huge population of whales, sea lions, seals, porpoises and puffins. Bald eagles and seabirds often fly overhead— and Admiralty Island is the best spot for glimpsing bears. Inside Passage cruisers can choose from mass-market lines with massive ships, including Royal Caribbean and Carnival.
Get an up-close view of Alaska’s wild seascapes, no matter which direction you look. Tongass National Park is filled with lofty spruce, hemlock and cedar trees, while giant calving glaciers pack Glacier Bay National Park. Alaska's Inside Passage is a renowned cruising route through a protected network of waterways, featuring glacier-cut fjords, lush rainforests, and diverse wildlife. Stops along the route showcase Alaska's rich history, including Native Alaskan culture in Ketchikan and Skagway's Gold Rush era legacy.
The area encompasses 1,000 islands and thousands of coves and bays. While the Alexander Archipelago in Alaska provides some protection from the Pacific Ocean weather, much of the area experiences strong semi-diurnal tides. History awaits you in the enchanting enclaves of the Inside Passage.
Best Shore Excursions On An Alaskan Cruise
Arrange ground transportation ahead of time and breeze to and from your Mediterranean cruise. Note that cross-gulf cruises almost always start or end in Vancouver, and flying in or out of Canada requires a passport, though arriving at a Canadian port via a cruise ship doesn't. If you look closely, you will also be treated to traces of Alaska history along the Inside Passage in totem poles, Russian-influenced architecture, and gold rush remnants. This Inside Passage cruise docks near Vancouver’s biggest attractions, so you can spend more time sightseeing and less time getting from place to place. Air travel is a breeze with a convenient roundtrip and Saturday or Sunday departures.
Wildlife viewing in the region ranges from birding to whale watching and bear viewing. Designated bear viewing is available at Anan Creek near Wrangell and at Pack Creek Bear Sanctuary on Admiralty Island near Juneau. Sailing with Princess, you’ll marvel at the breathtaking scenery and encounter ports of call like Gold Rush-era Skagway, Salmon Capital of the World Ketchikan, the capital city of Juneau and British-flavored Victoria. Simply put, cruisers aboard these sailings witness some of the most astounding wildlife and scenery. Along the Inside Passage, cruise passengers can see countless wildlife in the water (whales, orcas, sea lions, and seals), on the ground (bears), and in the air (eagles, raptors, and many water birds).
We have the answers so your first time will be nothing but smooth sailing. Small ships -- such as the five in the Alaskan Dream Cruises fleet, each carrying between 12 and 76 typically adventure-minded passengers -- are a lesser-known option. The high demand for Inside Passage cruises can be partly attributed to the convenience of ending a cruise in the same place you first set sail. Plus, they can be less expensive than cross-gulf cruises, which typically require a pricey flight to Anchorage (the gateway for nearby Seward and Whittier). Sometimes Sitka, with its heavy Russian influence and alpine meadows, or Haines, known for exceptional fishing and its bald eagle preserve, swaps in.
The largest national forest in the country, Tongass National Forest, blankets the entire southeast Alaska portion of the Inside Passage, and many glaciers can still be seen. Many adventurous cruisers join an Inside Passage Alaska cruise visit or view majestic glaciers. These cruises usually sail northbound or southbound between either Vancouver or Seattle and Anchorage (via the port towns of Whittier or Seward). Itineraries include many of the same stops that a round-trip Inside Passage cruise does, plus extras such as Valdez, Hubbard Glacier, College Fjord or another town in the gulf. You can also take some 14-day versions that depart from San Francisco or San Diego. Alaska's portion of the Inside Passage extends 500 miles (800 km) from north to south and 100 miles (160 km) from east to west.
It is generally accepted that the southernmost point of the Inside Passage is Olympia, Washington, which is also the southernmost point of Puget Sound. Moving north, the passage continues into the waters of the greater Salish Sea. It then passes through the Strait of Georgia and Johnstone Strait, between northeastern Vancouver Island and the coast of mainland British Columbia. From there it continues further northwest into the Alaska Panhandle.[1][2] The northernmost points of the Passage are Haines and Skagway at the head of the Lynn Canal. As a result of often uncertain weather, large tidal range, fast or unpredictable currents, and infrequent safe anchorages, navigating the Inside Passage can be difficult.
There are over a thousand islands, millions of trees, dozens of glaciers, and a handful of Alaska’s quieter or hard-to-reach communities – Ketchikan, Wrangell, Prince of Wales Island, Sitka, Juneau, Haines, Skagway, Glacier Bay, among others. In 1881, the first cruise drifted into the still waters of Alaska’s Inside Passage — but, these seafarers did not experience the wonder of modern-day cruises. In the height of the Klondike Gold Rush, these passengers were making history, not reliving it. Since then, journeys through these breathtaking lands have become more exhilarating. In Juneau, venture underground into historical gold mines and see for yourself just how treasure was extracted from rugged walls. Or, take a scenic railway tour up snow-capped mountains and through lush landscapes, retracing the footsteps of early explorers in Skagway.
Cruise past archaic, granite glaciers and step into protected lands. With exclusive access to some of the most famous glaciers — including Glacier Bay National Park — Princess offers a close-up, undisturbed view to spectacular scenery and adored wildlife. Sail into sheer serenity amidst the Inside Passage on an Alaska cruise from Princess. The alternative to an Inside Passage cruise is a Gulf of Alaska cruise. These cross-gulf cruises hit some Inside Passage stops but also ports farther north. They're usually one-way trips starting or ending in Seward or Whittier, Alaska.
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