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Cruise Review: Spirit of Alaska

Glaciers of Prince William Sound - August, 2004

What a fabulous trip to Alaska.  The three night cruise on “Spirit of Alaska” in Prince William Sound was incredible.  

Our captain maneuvered between icebergs to take us practically “touching distance” to huge glaciers.  The trip close to Columbia glacier was a special treat for us.  It wasn’t even on our itinerary, but we found ourselves on evening approaching the moraine of the glacier.  I had visions of the last ice age!  The crew and 70 passengers all shared a spirit of adventure that was absolutely contagious.  The food on the ship was wonderful.  I am gluten-intolerant, and found specially baked wheat-free breads at every meal, and all sauces were especially made for me without flour.  Before we departed for Alaska, I was having second thoughts about how short the cruise portion of our adventure was, but it was so “action packed” and visually stunning- everything from the glaciers and mountains to the amazing sea life, sea otters, humpbacks, sea lions and thousands of sea birds and eagles – that I felt very satisfied with the 3 1/2 days in the Sound and happy for the land portion of our trip which followed.  

We were very lucky to have clear, bright, warm weather.  The temperatures in Alaska were actually warmer than at home in Massachusetts, which was a surprise to me.  We had a wonderful sighting of Denali (Mt. McKinley) on our morning motorcoach trip through the park, but the most thrilling experience for me was an “optional” trip.. a one hour jet prop trip one evening at 8:30 around and over Denali.  We had wonderful opportunities to take pictures from the plane.  Even mid/late August it’s not dark in Alaska until past 10:30.

I also appreciated that we never had to touch our luggage.  It would be in our rooms in each destination.

I had a digital camera with me and shot an amazing number of pictures (650).  My only regret was not having a good telephoto lens, especially when we spotted wildlife from afar.

John and I look forward to another small ship adventure in the not-too-distant future.

Thanks for all the arrangements.