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Today it’s home to the Alyeska Resort, and the short, mild summer is filled with wildflowers and vistas of snowy peaks. The resort lends bikes for short rides around town, down to the Turnagain Arm (ask about timing of the daily Bore Tide) or tackle one of the steeper trails, easily accessed by the resort’s scenic tram ascending Mt. Alyeska. As the most discerning, up-to-the-minute voice in all things travel, Condé Nast Traveler is the global citizen’s bible and muse, offering both inspiration and vital intel. We understand that time is the greatest luxury, which is why Condé Nast Traveler mines its network of experts and influencers so that you never waste a meal, a drink, or a hotel stay wherever you are in the world. Whittier is closer to Anchorage, and some itineraries even take disembarking passengers directly to Denali or Talkeetna the same day.
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There are diamond-blue icebergs, rushing mountain streams, waterfalls and flowers of every colour. Here you'll find the biggest bears, the largest gathering of bald eagles anywhere, and more than half of the world's entire population of humpback whales. Experience Alaska's grandeur up close and in person aboard an intimate Silversea Alaska cruise.
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All these wonderful creatures are just the start of the list of possible wildlife sightings in Alaska. It’s difficult to visit Alaska and not see quite a few of the animals above, especially when you take advantage of Silversea’s curated shore excursions run by wildlife experts. Alaska weather is famously temperamental but widely misunderstood. Skeptics derided it as a “frozen wasteland”when the U.S. bought it in 1867, but it is anything but that. The generally accepted record high temperature is 100 (in Fort Yukon, above the Arctic Circle, in 1919) but visitors will mostly experience moderate daytime highs, cool evenings, showers and sun. As an excursion guide in Juneau puts it, the all-purpose summer travel forecast is 67 degrees, partly sunny, chance of showers.
How big is Denali Park?
Will you see bears, glaciers, whales, eagles, and more? Savor Alaskan seafood that may be the best on the planet? Then it’s across the gulf to see the immense Hubbard Glacier, followed by a visit to Elfin Cove, the northernmost entrance to the Inside Passage. It’s a safe harbor for side trips to the uninhabited Inian Islands, which are renowned for wildlife, especially whales on their way to nearby Glacier Bay National Park. Our Alaska voyages are filled with enriching experiences and rare opportunities to immerse yourself in each destination, both offshore and onboard.
From here, it’s a very scenic 2.5-hour ride to the Anchorage airport for your flight home. There’s also a hike on Mendenhall Glacier, accessed by helicopter — you’ll stroll across the frozen blue river, passing crevasses and free-flowing streams and within eyesight of climbers tackling ice falls. Or visit Mendenhall from below — a kayak trip in the lake at the foot of the immense glacier is an exciting encounter with nature’s grandeur.
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Upcoming Cruise Ship Refurbishments - Cruise Critic
Upcoming Cruise Ship Refurbishments.
Posted: Tue, 16 Apr 2024 04:18:45 GMT [source]
Do people really make a point of having a dip in the Arctic Ocean? That way they can claim they may be able to claim they have in all the world’s oceans… something that, if it seems important to you, can be accomplished on Silversea journeys. Alaska glacier tours provide safety guidance and sometimes equipment, and it’s really no more difficult than any other moderate wilderness excursion. The views like the ones in the video below are incomparable.
There are numerous ways to see Alaska that give you both broad and narrow views. The deck of your ship may give you a perspective on its size and variety of its terrain, and, if you’re lucky, some of its wildlife, including bald eagles and numerous varieties of whales. Silver Whisper and Silver Muse are classic ships holding, respectively, 392 and 596 guests. Silver Wind is a specially outfitted expedition vessel that sails the Bering Sea in September, carrying 274 guests. Most Alaska journeys sail between Seward and Vancouver, Canada, comprising seven days one way or 14 days round trip. Find out more details about the Alaska luxury cruises Silversea offers.
Larry details the onboard entertainment, the type of passenger you will find, and comments on the fantastic service. These are journeys of breathtaking encounters with the natural world - after all, Alaska's great spectacles need little introduction. Adventure, culture, history and glaciers are just part of your Alaskan cruise vacation. This is a big state known for both its fabulous scenery and its rich history – dating back as early as 181,000 BC. Not forgetting the highlight of any Alaskan cruise, a train ride through the Alaska Kenai Peninsula. Silversea's luxury Alaska cruises take you on an insider's path along the Inside Passage.
Keep in mind, this is just a sample of the sights waiting for you on a luxurious Silversea Cruises Alaska cruise vacation. Beach greens are found in their namesake environment and lend weight to salads. Rarest of all is the legendary, semi-mythical nagoonberry, patches of which coastal residents guard knowledge like sorcery. If you somehow encounter this (in ice cream, maybe) treasure the experience. By the way, a sightseeing flight over glaciers is a fine way to see them — but not to experience them. Anchorage has one of the best urban bike trails in North America.
Gold panning attractions in Juneau, Ketchikan, Anchorage and Fairbanks all provide visitors a pan, rudimentary instruction along with history and humor, and a sack of so-called pay-dirt. Most of these venues “salt” the dirt with gold flecks — generations of Fairbanks teenagers have done this as a summer job — and most will provide a joke or two in response if you ask. Black bears can be seen in Southeast Alaska near ports of call such as Wrangell and Ketchikan. Brown bears are ubiquitous anywhere along the coast all the way to Nome, especially in Kodiak and (as grizzlies) in Denali National Park. Polar bears can only be seen along the Arctic coast, in Utqiagvik or Kaktovik or, sometimes, near Bethel. Alaska is one of just two places on the planet to see the three northern latitude ursids, and you can see all three in one trip if you are lucky, determined and select the right excursions and shore extensions well ahead of time.
Real Travel Expert Larry Jackson of Cruise Holidays of Viera joins Ken to review his recent cruise to Alaska aboard Silversea’s Silver Muse. Larry details the ports of call, the best time of year to cruise in Alaska, and some of the do-not-miss sights and sounds in Alaska. Ken and Larry spend time discussing Silversea Cruises, a luxury all inclusive cruise line, and their Door to Door all inclusive program.
On land, massive coastal Alaskan brown bears, the largest on Earth; moose, caribou and muskox, which are majestic herbivores; and wolves, among others. Alaska has 34,000 miles of ocean shoreline, more than the 49 other states combined. It has 3 million lakes, 3,000 rivers, thousands of glaciers and a half-dozen massive icefields. To bring the Russian theme full circle, Silver Wind calls on Sitka before heading to the southernmost areas of Alaska, including the Russian-founded community of Wrangell. Here, guests will have options for animal viewing, for an ambitious hike by boardwalk to high meadows or for simply exploring the quaint town. Today, although most of Nome’s Gold Rush-era buildings are long gone, you’ll get a sense of the history along Golden Sands Beach, where recreational miners still try their luck panning for nuggets.
Silversea Just Debuted the Silver Nova Ship - Travel + Leisure
Silversea Just Debuted the Silver Nova Ship.
Posted: Mon, 21 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
It had a rich history, of course, well before Vitus Bering, a Dane, arrived in 1741. Native tribes included the Tlingit, Haida, Aleuts and Inuit, among others. Russians began to colonize as early as the 1784, drawn by the rich opportunities to hunt fur-bearing animals. Eighty-three years later, Russia was having financial problems and sold Alaska to the U.S.. The population began to grow with the discovery of gold as early as 1861. The rush was over by the turn of the century, some having made a small fortune and others having made the trip to the north for nothing.
Australia has its Outback; Alaska has the Bush, the regions of the state that remain unconnected to the U.S. road network — that is, most of Alaska. The cruise starts in Nome, a dusty and desolate one-time boomtown with a backstory that far exceeds its trifling name. Some of Skagway’s buildings date to the gold rush, and the six-block historic district is worth exploring. The other must-see in Ketchikan is Misty Fjords National Monument, a spellbinding, 2.3-million-acre wilderness, where 3,000-foot glacier-carved cliffs are riven by waterfalls. \John Muir compared Misty Fjords to the glacial morphology of Yosemite Valley in California. Totem poles are Ketchikan’s icon; there are said to be more here than any other place on Earth, and you’ll find them at several parks on the outskirts of town, some standing for more than a century.
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