Journey to the Last Frontier

Our second edition of Ship to Shore newsletter has been distributed to our email subscribers. For more than a year the pause button has been pushed keeping travel to a minimum across the globe.   

We have been fortunate to travel across the globe for more than 30 years collecting memories and stories.   We've shared many of our stories here in this blog and also in person as often as possible over the years.   This newsletter is another opportunity to share our travel stories about some of our favorite destinations with our readers.

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Here is a taste of what you'll read about in our monthly newsletter.

Ahoy Mates! Come aboard and gather 'round as we tell you about our next adventure on the high seas and land that takes us to distant shores. Last time we visited a land beyond expectations - Galapagos Islands. For those just joining us this journey, visit the Expedition to Galapagos captains log.

This is the captain; our plans call for us to shove off from Seattle, Washington headed to the Last Frontier.  On this voyage you will sail aboard Royal Caribbean Ovation of the Seas. From the North Star observation capsule, which rises 300 feet in the air, you will have a 360-degree view of our surroundings. It’s all hands-on deck watching for diverse wildlife. Orca, Mountain Goats, Bald Eagles, Bears, Puffins, Sea Otters, and Humpback Whales which have been spotted in these waters.  You will make your way through the Inside Passage arriving at our first port of call in Juneau, Alaska. Here you will go ashore to have a meal of fresh-caught salmon baked on an open fire pit.  Once you are fed, we set sail for Skagway. Half of you will board a vintage rail car to travel along the White Pass and Yukon Route narrow-gauge railway to Bridal Veil Falls, Dead Horse Gulch, and Glacier Gorge. The rest of you will search for Klondike Gold before returning to the ship. Back onboard we sail for Sitka. When we arrive, there will be two landing parties. One group will explore the volcanic coast by ocean raft while the second group will explore the wilderness sea by kayak.  Following your exploration, we will be cruising Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier. Endicott Arm is one of the largest breeding grounds for harbor seals on the planet. Keep your eyes peeled for these creatures splashing in icy waters near the ship. Along the shore you might also glimpse brown bears, bald eagles, sea ducks, deer, moose, and wolves. This completes our exploration of the Last Frontier so we will set a course back to Seattle.

We are planning additional voyages for this year. They must conclude by October because the winter weather will set in and travel by ship will be impossible. Sign up for these voyages here.

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There is much to explore of the Last Frontier.   

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Time to Explore Alaska by Land and Sea

Experience first-hand the majesty of Alaska and meet the people. Alaska comprises 591,004 square miles of some of the most diverse and spectacular landscapes in the world. It is a vast territory, almost a fifth the size of mainland USA, or to put it in a worldly perspective, it is as large as the combined areas of England, France, Spain, and Italy. Nature has painted this landscape with broad strokes, majestic mountains, awe inspiring fjords, massive glaciers, dense forests, and open tundra. Here you will find 17 of the 20 highest peaks in North America, with Denali (Mt. McKinley) towering to 20,306 feet. Over 100,000 glaciers cover 28,000 miles of territory. Alaska is home to the largest population of brown and black bears in the United States. It is also home to moose, caribou, musk ox, Dall sheep, black tail deer, wolves, and fox as well as a variety of small mammals. Over 90% of all bald eagles in the United States call Alaska their home. Welcome to Alaska - the last frontier

Alaska Cruise Season 

May - September

There are four types of Alaska Cruise Vacations:

Alaska - Roundtrip: These are cruises that begin and end in the same port city. They are very popular because they are often 7 days long and leave from either Seattle or Vancouver which both offer a number of affordable flight schedules for the cruise passenger.

Alaska - Northbound: These are one-way Glacier Intensive cruises. They begin in Seattle or Vancouver and cruise North to Anchorage/Seward.

Alaska - Southbound: These are also one-way Glacier Intensive cruises. They begin in Anchorage/Seward and cruise South to Vancouver or Seattle.

Alaska - Cruise and Land: This is the most popular way to see Alaska. These cruise/tours give you the opportunity to combine an Alaska Cruise with a scenic land tour that takes you into the Interior of Alaska. These are the packages that often include the domed cars of the Alaska Railroad to Denali National Park and Mt. McKinley. Click for Featured Alaska Cruises

Alaska Cruise Season May - September Click to Enlarge Vancouver Vancouver Photo Album Alaska cruises often begin / end in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The largest metropolitan center in western Canada and the country's third largest city, Vancouver is the Canadian jewel of Puget Sound.  It was the host city for the 2010 Winter Olympic games. Allow some time before or after your cruise to see the bustling center of Vancouver, Chinatown, Gastown, Stanley Park, and experience the treetop adventure at the Capilano Suspension Bridge.  Seattle Click to Enlarge Many Alaskan cruises begin and / or end in Seattle, Washington. Visitors to the Emerald City find a fusion of American, Asian and Native American cultures, set against a backdrop of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. Sample the freshest seafood to be found along the Pacific Rim, as well as a cup of Seattle's famous coffee. Also tour Seattle's famous Underground, including the world famous Pike Place Market, and ascend to the top of the Space Needle to view the entire city. Ketchikan Ketchikan Album Near the southernmost tip of Alaska's panhandle sits a sleepy little town with a very dramatic title. Squeezed between mountain and sea, it is hard to imagine how the town got the Tlingit Indian name which means "Thundering Wings of an Eagle". Ketchikan is the salmon capital of the world and home to the world's largest collections of totem poles. This small town's main street skirts a waterfront built on pilings over the seas. A few blocks from the downtown area you will find Creek Street, a former red-light district popular during the mining days.

Hubbard Glacier  Cruising Hubbard Glacier Stretching over 90 miles from the core of the 12 million acre Wrangell-St. Elias National Park to the head of the Yakutat Bay, the mighty Hubbard is one of Alaska's largest and most unpredictable glaciers. This is one of the highlights of your cruise as the ship enters Disenchantment Bay and carefully navigates through icebergs to get as close to the glacier as possible. Those who purchased balcony cabins will be glad that they did during this part of the cruise. Millions of tons of ice, gravel, and broken rock slide down the mountain carving a path to the sea. Juneau Juneau Photos Nestled deep within the norther reaches of the Inside Passage is Alaska's first truly American city. Founded 13 years after the purchase of Alaska, it was Juneau, and more importantly its gold, that captured the imagination of the American public. Here we highly recommend Orca Enterprises Whale Watching boat tour. Captain Larry guarantees you will see whales, eagles, and other sea mammals during this tour. Sitka Sitka Photo Album Almost every city or town in the United States can trace its formation back to an European immigration or conquest. English, Spanish, French, and German are common heritages, but few can claim Russian roots. However, Sitka is one of those rare exceptions, with Russians first arriving in 1741. This town can easily be explored on foot. It will be your last chance for Alaskan souvenirs and your only chance for Russian souvenirs during the cruise. Victoria Butchart Gardens Album Situated on the sunny southern tip of Vancouver Island, Victoria basks in one of Canada's mildest climates. This intimate, sophisticated seaside city with its English charm, gentle weather, and dramatic scenery draws close to two million visitors every year - earning it the title of the most visited vacation spot in Western Canada. Victoria is known as the "City of Gardens". A short drive north of the city will bring you to the 130 acre Butchart Gardens where you can walk among some of the most gorgeous flower gardens in the world.

 

National Plan A Cruise Month Promotions 

Cruise lines are offering special promotions and pricing on popular cruises to encourage consumers to plan their next cruise vacation now. We'll be featuring promotions on our website and social media.

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Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us every Wednesday night for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat 

Cruises Skip Sitka Due to Weather

  Alaska Cruise Season Ends Early  

Weather has been plaguing cruise ship schedules the past few days with the latest impact occurring this week in Sitka.   Two ships, Holland America  Westerdam and Oosterdam were scheduled to make calls in Sitka, but those calls have been cancelled.  Calls by the same ships were cancelled last week as well.

 

The current weather forecast calls for rainy and windy conditions for the next few days, prompting the cancellations.  These would have been the final ships to call in the port town for the 2013 Alaska Cruise season which begins in May and runs through the end of September.

 

In other weather, we need to keep an eye on a potential storm that might develop on the east coast of the United States in the next few days.

 

While this is disappointing for the passengers who had hoped to get into the Alaskan port of Sitka, cruise lines always take security of passengers, crew, and ships into consideration when making changes like this.