Archive for the 'Cruise West' Category

I was fortunate to have cruised on Cruise West several times before the company’s demise.

Cruise West’s up-close-and-personal approach immersed guests into Alaskan culture and nature. The video below, captured in 2006, is characteristic of Cruise West’s tour leaders and the experiences offered to its guests.

From moose to porcupine to caribou to eagles, Cruise West guests saw lots of wildlife in Denali.

From gazing at a lone bald-head eagle perched in a tree in Sitka to admiring calving glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska cruise vacations create memorable moments that last a lifetime.

MISSED YOUR CHANCE TO CRUISE IN ALASKA THIS YEAR? Perhaps not.

While Alaska cruises fill fast for the summer months, you can often find space available during the spring and late summer.

There are a number of reasons to cruise Alaska during the off-peak season.  Read more... (169 words, 1 image, estimated 41 secs reading time)

On a Cruise West “D Tour” we go deep into Denali, 90 miles from the National Park’s Entrance and up close and personal to Denali itself. Want to get away while getting close? Take a look.

From moose to porcupine to caribou to eagles, Cruise West guests saw lots of wildlife in Denali.

Narrating on Cruise West’s Spirit of Endeavour in Glacier Bay National Park, native Tlingit speaker John Martin recites a passage in his ancestoral language. Martin, who spends the day and evening with Cruise West passengers, says he is one of only 12 fluent speakers of the Tlingit language.

While docked in tiny Haines, Alaska, the self-proclaimed “Valley of the Eagles,” we walked to the old Western-style movie set of “White Fang” for a visit to the Haines Brewing Company and a taste of some really good beer.

Our cruisetour had only nine people. For the summer of ‘06, Cruise West cruisetour groups averaged only 17. The small numbers make for a true “up close and personal” experience.

Only 25 percent of the people who come to Alaska to see Denali get to see it. But you can improve your chances. If the weather down below is lousy, take to the sky on a fly-by Denali flight.

He’s been on top of Denali five times and plans to summit North America’s tallest mountain again – ambitious, he admits, seeing that he is 72 years old. Tom Choate talks about the mountain he loves.