Follow me: North to Alaska

//Follow me: North to Alaska

There may be a short break in transmission over the next couple of days, as I’ll be on my way to Alaska tomorrow. Well, to Canada first, for a land tour in the Rockies, before joining the Diamond Princess in Vancouver next Saturday for a seven-night cruise north to Whittier.
After becoming used to a ship taking me seamlessly from one destination to another, I’m not sure how I’m going to handle travelling by coach and train between Calgary, Banff and Jasper, but friends tell me that the Rocky Mountaineer train is a truly spectacular experience.
Once on the Diamond Princess, we’ll be heading for Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway before taking in the sights of Glacier Bay and College Fjord.
I was last in Alaska in 2003, and took advantage of some superb excursions, by helicopter to land on a glacier; by boat to see humpback whales leaping from the sea; and by float plane into the Misty Fjords national park.
It was on that trip that a fellow passenger, no doubt confused by the fact that we had been flying for some time over steep mountain ridges and snow-clad peaks, clearly forgot what a fjord is, and thought that when the plane put down on water we must have been on a large lake.
As we clambered out of the seven-seat cabin and onto the pontoons he turned to the pilot, who was holding on to the propeller with one hand and smoking a cigarette held in the other, and asked: “How far are we above sea level now?”
The pilot looked down at his feet, looked down at the water, took a long draw on his cigarette, looked up at the passenger and answered laconically: “About two feet.” In the interest of international relations, we both resisted adding: “Which you would have realised if you’d been listening to the commentary during the flight.”
This time I may be less extravagant; I’m planning to take the bus from Juneau to the Mendenhall Glacier, and I’ll probably give the White Pass Railroad from Skagway a miss. But I’m looking forward to setting out from Ketchikan in search of black bears feeding on salmon.
Throughout the trip I will be updating the blog with my impressions and pictures – internet access permitting. And if there’s anything else happening in the cruise world while I’m away, I’ll do my best to keep you up to date.

By | 2017-06-15T16:00:23+00:00 7 August 2010|Cruise Destinations|1 Comment

About the Author:

John Honeywell is a travel writer specialising in cruise ships and cruise travel. Winner of CLIA UK's Contribution to Cruise award 2017.

One Comment

  1. J.A. 7 August 2010 at 8:58 pm - Reply

    Have a great time Captain I’m sure your ready for a break

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