Agency alaska cruise discount travel

Cruising Alaska - sea cruises

Adjust your binoculars, settle into a comfy deck chair, and prepare to witness one of the greatest shows on earth.

Like a huge block of glacial ice, the 16-story Crown Princess is nudged out of the harbor by a tug appropriately named "Junior." Seward, Alaska, where the bowling alley is all of two lanes and the fish tales are as tall as the trees, fades into the horizon among a swirl of sea birds.

In the dusky evening light, clouds roil past the darkened mountains and give an almost ominous effect. The passengers, wined and dined, gather on deck to gaze at pockets of snow, small glaciers, and a vast land of wilderness stretching for hundreds of miles in all directions.

We anticipate sighting bald eagles, caribou, moose, and hungry bears as foghorns sound and the ship slips southward to the Alaska Inside Passage. The landscape will include Glacier Bay, Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Vancouver. Free of jangling telephones and fax machines, the next morning we watch tidewater glaciers and listen to the thunderclap of ice chunks tumbling into deep fjords. Clever seals hop aboard the floating cubes and use them like rafts. Snow-draped mountains, craggy cliffs, and bowls of ice fields make us realize that here the weather rules, and we are like ants drifting through its domain.

The ship seems to gather us in like a mountain cabin in a snowstorm, and we enjoy classic British afternoon tea followed by a video about early Alaskan history, the hardworking pioneers, and the short summers that bow to winter by mid-September.

Within this northern setting, formal night activities are reminiscent of a 1940s Fred Astaire movie. We expect to see passengers, dressed in their ritziest, draped over railings on three levels listening to the Captain's remarks and enjoying appetizers while the band plays on.

Our second day at sea finds us in the middle of Glacier Bay. Public ship announcements are on hold to heighten the moment as we sail past ravines and stands of Sitka Spruce that somehow survive in the rocky soil. The sighting of a black bear is a reminder that if a traveler left his field glasses at home, he ought to invest in a pair from the gift shop.

That evening the ship's crew celebrates "Italian Night" with festive dishes and a mood to match. From the dining-room windows, we watch the deep blue sky, lofty mountains, and glorious sunset. Suddenly the waiters point to the ocean and a large ripple. Streams of mist shoot into the air as a pod of killer whales swims by. Everyone applauds. It's a gala moment deep in southeastern Alaska.

Just when we think we're ready for a field trip, the preserved gold-mining town of Skagway and forest-covered fjords appear during breakfast. The ship's comedian jokes about the blocking town and a library that has only one book, the yellow pages. Cars are never stolen here, only missing for a few hours; if you have a toothache, you sign up with the dentist who drops in once a month with his trusty drill and big smile.

Passengers on shore leave share hot crab sandwiches and stop by the historic Red Onion Saloon, circa 1898, where the ship's musicians sit in with the locals. For contrast we also visit Juneau (pop. 30,000), which is filled with art galleries, hanging flowers, cozy restaurants, and hotels. Pioneering miners came here in search of gold and stayed to build a town.

Shore excursions transport passengers to a glacier via helicopter and take them on a remote river-rafting adventure. Visitors experience the essence of the frontier spirit when they spot, miles from civilization, a lone riverside cabin with smoke curling from its chimney and a barking husky wagging its tail.

Ketchikan, the state's southernmost city, is drenched in 13 feet of rain each year; many of its store signs read, "Don't drip on the books." The residents quip, "If you stand in one place too long, you could begin to rust." In the Tongass Historical Museum, passengers discover the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people's connections to the land and the sea; in the village of Saxman, they chat with master totem-pole carvers and photograph the largest collection of poles in the world.

The last day at sea, the decks are crowded with outdoor diners while hundreds of dolphins play in the wake of the ship. It is a lovely farewell to a proud region.

IF YOU GO

Princess Tours offers a number of Alaska land-cruise tour packages ranging in length from 4 to 13 days, with trips to Denali National Park, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Prudhoe Bay, the Kenai Peninsula, the Arctic, and the Canadian Yukon. Cruises depart on 7-and 12-day Inside Passage sailings from Vancouver. Cruise rates, widely discounted, depend upon the time of year, location of cabin, and value package. For information, brochures, and rates, see your travel agent.

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A Cruise for Every Budget

"Consumers have the opportunity for unprecedented cruise bargains from September through December 16, 1996," says Larry Fishkin, president of The Cruise Line, a Miami-based discount cruise agency. "New ships such as Princess Cruises' Sun Princess, Celebrity's Century, and Carnival's Inspiration continue to tip the balance between supply and demand in favor of the consumer."

In November, Carnival will introduce the Carnival Destiny, the largest cruise ship ever built, which will carry an average 2,600 passengers a week to the Caribbean. In December, Celebrity's new ship, Galaxy, debuts and will treat more than 1,800 passengers a week to the fun of island-hopping in the Caribbean. With 20 new ships scheduled to arrive by 1998, vacationers have more choices than ever before.

Flexibility often is the key to last-minute cruise bargains. When cruise lines can't fill their ships close to departure, they turn to discount-cruise agencies such as World Wide Cruises in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to book their unsold inventory at savings of up to 60 percent. These companies receive volume discounts and preferred rates from all the major cruise lines and pass the value on to the cruising public. Clients can take advantage of standby deals, unadvertised specials, off-season bargains, upgrades, and other incentives.

In addition to guiding travelers to available bargains, discount-cruise agents match vacationers with the type of cruise options best suited to them. These range from three- or four-day getaways, theme cruises, and cruises geared to families, honeymooners, singles, or the physically challenged.

Additional considerations are the sizes and styles of the various ships. Some liners resemble floating hotels and offer nonstop activity. Other ships specialize in total relaxation, with visits to out-of-the-way islands. For example, the magnificent three-masted Sir Francis Drake boasts that it employs no cruise director and sponsors no "funny-hat contests." Instead, its cruise line--Tall Ship Adventures--guarantees lots of water sports and leisurely stops at secluded beaches that the big liners must bypass.

For more cruise information, call The Cruise Line, Inc., 1-800-777-0707; World Wide Cruises, Inc., 1-800-882-9000; Tall Ship Adventures, Inc., 1-800-662-0090.