For the purposes of cruising, Alaska comprises essentially two separate and distinct areas, known generically as "The Inside Passage" and "The Gulf."
The Inside Passage
The Inside Passage runs through the area of Alaska known as Southeast (which the locals also call "the Panhandle"), that narrow strip of the state--islands, mainland coastal communities, and mountains--that runs from the Canadian border in the south to the start of the Gulf in the north, just above the Juneau/Haines/Skagway area. The islands on the western side of the area afford cruise ships a welcome degree of protection from the sea and its attendant rough waters (hence the name Inside Passage). Because of that shelter, such ports as Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, and others are reachable with less rocking and rolling and thus less risk of seasickness. Sitka is not on the Inside Passage (it's on the ocean side of Baranof Island) but is included in most cruise itineraries in that area.
Southeast encompasses the capital city, Juneau, and townships reflective of the days of Russian influence (Sitka, for instance), the Tlingit and Haida Native cultures (Ketchikan), and the great gold rush of 1898 (Skagway). It is a land of rain forests, mountains, inlets, and glaciers (including Margerie, John Hopkins, Muir, and the others contained within the boundaries of Glacier Bay National Park). The region is rich in wildlife, especially of the marine variety, and is a scenic delight. But then, what part of Alaska isn't?
Shore Excursions: The What, When & Why
Shore excursions offered by the cruise lines provide a chance for you to get off the ship and explore the sights close up, taking in the history and culture of the region, including the gold rush times and Native Alaskan traditions such as totem carving.
Some excursions are of the walking-tour or bus-tour variety, but many others are activity-oriented: Cruise passengers have the opportunity to go sea kayaking, mountain biking, and salmon fishing, and to see the sights by seaplane or helicopter--maybe even to land on a glacier and go for a walk. Occasionally, with some of the smaller lines, you'll find quirky excursions like a visit with local artists in their studios. Some lines even offer scuba diving and snorkeling, and most also make it easy for you to see some of inland Alaska by offering cruisetours that combine a cruise with a pre- or post-cruise trip over land by motorcoach or train.
With some lines, shore excursions are included in your cruise fare, but with most lines they are an added (though very worthwhile) expense. See chapters 9 and 10 for details on the excursions available at the various ports.
The Gulf of Alaska
The other major cruising area is the Southcentral region's Gulf of Alaska, usually referred to by the cruise lines as the "Glacier Discovery Route," or the "Voyage of the Glaciers," or some such catchy title. "Gulf of Alaska," after all, sounds pretty bland.
The coastline of the Gulf is that arc of land from just north of Glacier Bay to the Kenai Peninsula. Southcentral also takes in Prince William Sound; the Cook Inlet, on the northern side of the peninsula; Anchorage, Alaska's biggest city; the year-round Alyeska Resort at Girdwood, 40 miles from Anchorage; the Matanuska and Susitna Valleys (the Mat/Su), a fertile agricultural region renowned for the record size of some of its produce; and part of the Alaska Mountain Range.
The principal Southcentral ports of call are Valdez, Seward, and Anchorage (though few ships actually head for Anchorage, instead disembarking passengers in Seward and taking them to Anchorage by motorcoach). Going on a Gulf cruise does not mean that you get no Inside Passage, though. The big difference is that, whereas the more popular Inside Passage cruise itineraries run round-trip from Vancouver, the Gulf routing is one way--from Vancouver to Anchorage/Seward or the reverse--so a typical Gulf itinerary also visits such Inside Passage ports as Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka, and/or Skagway.
The Gulf's glaciers are quite dazzling and every bit as spectacular as their counterparts to the south. College Fjord, for instance, is lined with glaciers--16 of them, each one grander than the last. Our favorite part of a Gulf cruise, though, is not necessarily College Fjord. It's the visit to the gigantic Hubbard Glacier--at 6 miles, Alaska's longest--at the head of Yakutat Bay. In 1998 we saw the ice face at its best on a bright, sunny day during a Crystal Harmony cruise. As we stood on the deck in shirt sleeves, the glacier was hyperactive, popping and cracking and shedding tons of ice into the bay. The ship got so close to the face that passengers began speculating about just how near we might be. One awestruck golf enthusiast assured all within hearing, "It's not more than a nine-iron shot away." Now that's close!
Which Itinerary Is Better?
It's a matter of personal taste. Some people don't like open-jaw flights (flying into one city and out of another), and so prefer the round-trip Inside Passage route. Others don't mind that and enjoy the additional glacier visits of the Gulf cruise itineraries. It's entirely up to you.
It wasn't so long ago that you wouldn't have had a choice. A few years back, there were practically no Gulf crossings. Then Princess Cruises and its tour-operating affiliate decided to accelerate the development of its land infrastructure (lodges, rail cars, motorcoaches, and so on), particularly in the Kenai Peninsula and Denali National Park areas, for which Anchorage is a logical springboard. To feed these land services with cruisetour passengers, Princess beefed up the number of Gulf sailings it offered. This summer it will deploy four of its five Alaska ships on that route, with just one on Inside Passage duty. The other cruisetour giant, Holland America Line, will have three vessels in the Inside Passage and three across the Gulf. Each deployment is designed to complement the lines' areas of cruisetour expertise as much as anything else.