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Alaska Cruise Review

Why visit Alaska? Conjure up some postcard images: towering mountains, mountainous glaciers, sky-blue icebergs, leaping whales, lumbering moose, rain-forested fjords, endless tundra, bears and bald eagles, ravens as big as pug dogs, ice fields as big as cities, lumberjacks as big as . . . lumberjacks.

Sail the Caribbean and your megaship may completely dwarf the islands it visits, visible from miles away. Sail Alaska and that same megaship looks like a matchstick, completely overawed by the mountains, the expansive sky, and wilderness that seems to go on forever.

Visit the towns and meet people who embody the frontier spirit that brought them or their ancestors here. Add Alaskas rich Native culture, its Russian colonial history, its gold rush mythology, and its North to the Future?attitude, and you have one of the worlds great cruise destinations.

Most Alaska cruises concentrate on the Southeast Alaska panhandle, a string of islands linked by the waterway known as the Inside Passage. Some stay entirely within this region, sailing round-trip from Vancouver, British Columbia, or Seattle, Washington. Others sail north- or southbound cruises between one of those ports and the northern towns of Seward or Whittier, the ports nearest to Alaskas biggest city, Anchorage.

In addition to the Inside Passage, those cruises also sail through the Gulf of Alaska and sometimes Prince William Sound.

Luxury lines Crystal and Silversea offer Alaska cruises that sail roundtrip from San Francisco. Most of the small-ship lines sail from one of the port towns in southeast Alaska (primarily Juneau, but also Ketchikan and Sitka), though some also operate out of Anchorage and Seattle.

If possible, plan to arrive a day or two before your sailing date, especially if you have to travel a long distance. You can use that extra day to recover from jet lag and explore your port of embarkation, all of which have much to recommend them.

Marleny is dedicated to writing about Alaska cruises. Find the best information and tips for your trip at Alaska Cruise Vacation.

posted by selangor8835 @ 11:24 PM