I am taking my mom on a cruiseship thru the inside passage of Alaska, sailing June 10-17th. For those that have taken such a cruise either by passenger ship or personal yacht any must see places at the ports that we shouldn't miss out on? I will be bringing my digital camera and binoculars to hopefully catch some wildlife in action and if also lucky do some yacht spotting along the way. Not sure what the weather is like this time of year but we do have a balcony for enjoying the views. Besides a rain coat I guess I will pack something warm to wear, I am used to the warmth of sunny Florida and the Fijian Islands where I go back and forth most of the year. I will be sure to post some pictures of interest to this forum when I return, any and all suggestions of what to do and where to go for resturants, side trips, nature and yacht spotting will be gratefully enjoyed.
Trip to Alaska Interesting that you should post this at this time. I have a very good friend who just days ago returned from Seattle where he purchased a nice 44' steel dutch motoryacht, anticipating the same trip next summer. I intend to do some portion of that passage. I will let him know of this subject thread, and I will watch for updates myself. Hope you send lots of photos and descriptions.
Cruising to Alaska Having just dialed in, I hope this reaches you before your departure. First, I'll assume that your cruiseship will originate in Vancouver, B.C....a sensational city and worth some time sight-seeing. If you're a "yachty" the inner harbour around the Bayshore Inn attracts the big ones as does False Creek and the not to be missed market area. Once cruising, various itineraries have stops but they are few and generally far between. I'd recommend you pick up one of the many cruising guides used by yachtsmen (yachtspersons?) and a tide book. You'll be passing through some remarkable tidal waters and will gain some insight to the difficulties....errr...challenges faced even by the cruiseships. Inasfar as the weather goes....yes, a raincoat/jacket/wind-breaker is pretty well a must. At the ports enroute, there's lots of "crap" but equal amounts of good things to purchase or see. If you get the opportunity and the weather co-operates, check out float-plane and helicopter sight-seeing. Dollar shock but worth every penny! Lastly...beware of the buffets and the casinos on the ships...a real danger to waistlines and pocketbooks. Above all, enjoy. Cheers, Richard.
Sorry to dig up an old one, but this is something that I am very interested in. I live in Fairbanks, AK now and plan to move to anywhere south of Seward along the coast that has an open slip. However, Seward is the farthest south that I have made it so far, and it is gorgeous. So I know that I am not making the wrong decision. My purpose for continuance... How did your trip go? Did you see any wildlife and which ones? What were the typical yachts that you saw en route, if any? What conditions were the docks in? Which ports did you make it to? Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, Wrangel, Haines, Homer... Did you not finish this thread because you got to Alaska, fell in love with it, and moved into a bus in the woods?
We did the inside passage a few years back via cruise ship from Vancouver with stops in Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Glacier Bay, and Seward. On land we climbed Mt. Juneau, took a side strip over to B.C. for a day, did some whale watching and saw tons of other wildlife (bears, moose, bald eagles, etc.). Didn't see many private yachts along the way although probably could have missed a 200 footer for concentrating on that magnificent scenery. What a state you have. Beautiful. Weatherwise, we were warned not to bring a camera we didn't want ruined by rain. Thankfully we didn't follow that advice. Instead, we got sunburned, shot 11 hours of video and several hundred stills. I'm not too much of a world traveler, but it was the most amazing place I've ever been. I've set my retirement dream to buying an RV, driving slowly across Canada to Vancouver; Sell the RV, buy a trawler and cruise the inside passage. Move into a bus in the woods? Hmmmm.
inside passage i am taking my daughter and 3 grand daughters this year up the in side this is my 10 th trip i love it in the cold wet north west , are there any particure photos that any one would like to see travler
Inside Passage We did Alaska 2 yrs ago on our 70 footer from home base in Vancouver, fab. trip, this year we are heading back up the inside passage and crossing Hecate Strait at Banks Island over to The Queen Charlotte Islands and then cruising south form there along the east side visiting Unesco's world heritage site on the way. The biggest issue with the cruise liners is that you miss lots of scenery and great stopping off places full of history and folklore, those you who have stopped at "Myers Chuck" and "klemtu" etc will know what I mean. Best to all for the summer though ours is late, really, really late.
Of all the beautiful places to cruise, the inside passage tops my list. The closest I've come was by car, en route to Whistler, BC after my tour of yards in the PacNW last summer. No wait, that's not true. I flew up to Roche Harbor from Lake Union one weekend. Does that count? Anyhow, here's one of the many pics we took on the drive up to Whistler. A few of them became my favorite desktop wallpapers. If you get a chance to photo-document the cruise, I would really enjoy it. However with 3 grandkids in tow, I doubt you'll have time. Safe travels Travler!
2 birds with one stone Give (cheap) cameras to each of the grandkids. Even if they can't aim and shoot you'll still get great shots in that place.
If you live in Fairbanks you are in a perfect position to take advantage of the Alaska Marine Highway ships. Hop on in Seward, run down to Kodiak, visit the Aleutians and see places and meet people the cruise ship crowd will never even know exists. Go down to Southeast and see Sergius Narrows like no one other than fishermen and a fortunate few yachties willl ever see. Visit all those wonderful places the cruise ship operators haven't installed trinket shops. Go online and look at what the "Highway" has to offer. It is a hoot, young people and old literally camp out on deck, the ships have designated locations under cover to setup tents but if you prefer, there are cabins available, a bar, naturalists to interpret everything you see, and when there are whales or other things of interest the ship will slow or stop to let you enjoy it more. The view you see on my avatar is the view from the wheelhouse of an AMHS ship running up the inside. And that was only picked because the rules here say it has to be nautical in nature so I showed a bow instead of something more spectacular.
A good summer trip is take the BC Ferry from Vancouver to Nanaimo and than drive up to Port Hardy and take the BC Ferry to Prince Rupert. The latter route is the inside passage. If you want than continue on using the Alaskan Ferry system Prince Rupert to Ketchikan. You get cruise ship scenery at a much lower cost and have your own car to explore places on land.
Is that why you are known as "Ladies choice"? In all seriousness, I love the inside passage and hope to take my future yacht there one day.
When I was a kid, my family spent a couple summers going up the Inside Passage, but only as far as the north end of Vancouver Island. But it was on a Cal 27 sailboat, with 2 adults and 4 kids (now I realize how brave or crazy my parents were!), so that was as far as we could get in a month or so. Even going only that far, there are so many inlets, islands, archipelagos, etc. to explore that you could keep busy for years. I'm glad we got to see the remains of an Indian village (Mamalilicula) before it completely went back to nature, I'd love to visit Blunden Harbor again, I still get a kick of looking at Nakwakto Rapids (entrance to Seymour Inlet), the fastest tidal rapids in the world in Google Maps and seeing the wake of the island in the middle of the channel. I remember digging clams with our hands form the beach on Savary Island, while enjoying the hot water as the tide came in over the sun-heated sand... Yeah, I've got to get back there before I die... Marmot: I think you're referring to your previous avatar, now you've got what I assume is that wave-piercing solar speeder.
i have been going to A K for almost 40 years and every year i see places i didn't know existed last year i took my middle daughter and three grand kids (3 grand daughters ) they have been asking since we got back when we are going again if i was more computer savay i would post some pictures of last year enjoy travler
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