From the Travel Office: Experiencing the Real Alaska

Midnight Sun, Alaska

All the large cruise ships follow similar Alaskan itineraries, calling at popular ports such as Ketchikan and Skagway. As enjoyable as these visits may be, they only scratch the surface of what Alaska can offer. A journey with the intimate vessels of Un-Cruises or a private charter of the Midnight Sun allows you to really experience the glories of pristine Alaskan scenery and get up close to the remarkable wildlife. Many of the favorite moments we’ve had with these travel partners are unfortunately quite difficult for most cruise ship passengers to enjoy:

1. Watching as our yacht floated into the middle of a pod of killer whales as they fed on a school of salmon.
2. Weaving around icebergs in our inflatable motorboat.
3. Kayaking inside Glacier Bay.
4. Observing grizzly bears (from a safe distance!) as they fished for salmon at the base of a waterfall.
5. Dining on fresh-from-the-sea crab, caught in our own crab pot.
6. Cruising past long-abandoned mining boom towns.
7. Marveling as humpback whales breached near our boat.
8. Fishing right off the back of our yacht, and then barbecuing the halibut we caught for dinner.
9. Getting close enough to the face of a glacier to feel the waves when it calved.
10. Hiking through unspoiled temperate rain forest to some secluded hot springs for a relaxing soak. And perhaps most important (at least to one person in our party): Cruising almost exclusively within the calm waters of the Inside Passage, ensuring that seasickness was never an issue. If you don’t have enough people to charter the three-cabin

Midnight Sun, a journey with Un-Cruises is the best bet. This seven-night itinerary shows off the best of the Inside Passage, but if you have more time, the 14-night experience would be absolutely unforgettable. After the cruise, Andrew Harper members who booked through the Travel Office receive a large-format coffee table book filled with pictures taken by the on-board photographer. Our travel partner Entrée Alaska can help make arrangements to explore inland treasures such as Denali National Park before or after a cruise.