ms Volendam Alaska Cruise

Day 1 - Sail from Vancouver

Your cruise from Vancouver will allow you to spend a few days before or (if you are disembarking) after to explore this city. Visit the galleries, boutiques, public markets, and restaurants of every flavour. Stroll the wonderful parks in this beautiful city

Day 2 - Scenic Cruising the Inside Passage

Today cruise one of the most scenic sea-lanes in the world - the Inside Passage - where ships can sail close to steep mountain walls, giving magnificent views of the unbelievable scenery from forests to evocative towns.

Day 3 - Tracy Arm and Juneau

The narrow Tracy Arm Fjord twists is way through the Tongass National Forest, surrounded by 300 foot high granite walls! The melting snowcaps create waterfalls which dot the shoreline, along with trees growing at odd angles from the rocky outcroppings. Catch a glimpse of the varied wildlife that make their home in and around the fjord’s icy waters, including black & brown bears, wolves, deer, moose, seals and whales At the end of the Fjord, view the dramatic Sawyer glaciers which are framed by the mountains.

Juneau, the capital of Alaska, has an air of mystique – a town you cannot reach by road, you need to fly or come by sea! Juneau delights with an abundance of water, forests and mountains. Situated between the Coast Mountains and the Gastineau Channel, Juneau offers a lot of variety, with the immense Mendenhall Glacier and the Juneau Icefields at its back door and the Tongass National Forest stretching out to the northeast. Juneau offers a variety of activities from shopping downtown to dogsledging, hiking, whale-watching and so much more.

Day 4 - Skagway

Skagway was the gateway to the Klondike gold rush in 1898 and the glory days still resound through the town. Stroll through Skagway and browse the restored buildings and wooden boardwalks at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park or take a ride on the White Pass & Yukon narrow-guage railway and finish up in the Red Onion Saloon!

Day 5 - Glacier Bay

Glacier Bay National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that protects a unique ecosystem of plants and animals living in concert with an ever-changing glacial landscape. It has more actively calving tidewater glaciers than any place else in the world. Watch as monumental chunks of ice split off a glacier and thunder into the sea - the impact sending water hundreds of feet into the air. Hold your breath, catch the moment on film. Then wait for it all to happen again. As it always does….

Day 6 - Ketchikan

With shops and houses built out over the water, Ketchikan clings to the shoreline of the Tongass Narrows.  The stairways are weathered and the vibe is cheerful in the town that calls itself the Salmon Capital of the World. Besides the main attractions – Creek Street, the Tongass Historical Museum, Totem Bight State Park and Saxman Village – try a flight sightseeing trip to Misty Fjords National Monument. These deepwater fjords were gouged out by retreating glaciers, leaving granite cliffs towering thousands of feet above the sea and countless waterfalls plunging into placid waters.

Day 7 - Scenic Cruising the Inside Passage

Cruise back along the Inside Passage and take in the breath-taking wilderness coastline, with snow capped mountain peaks, glaciers, and rain forests. You may see whales, eagles, sea lions, sea otters, and mountain sheep

Day 8 - Vancouver

End your cruise back in Vancouver with time to explore more of this wonderful city at your leisure. Walk through the Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden’s in vibrant Chinatown or visit Stanley Park, with its 1,000 acres of forests, gardens, lakes and lawns – right in the heart of the city.