SMALL SHIP CRUISING with CRUISE WEST -

Date	Days	From	To	Itinerary
Coastal Odyssey	13	Vancouver	Anchorage
Glacier Wonderland	4	Anchorage	Anchorage
Glacier Bay Highlights	5	Juneau	Juneau

About Cruise West

Leading uncommon journeys for over 50 years

When the West family, owners of Cruise West, began offering unique and personal travel experiences in Alaska more than 50 years ago, a philosophy prevailed that remains true to this day. To provide up-close travel that focuses on the destination, its scenery, wildlife, natural history and culture, all in the company of limited numbers of like-minded travellers. While magnificent sweeping views are certainly abundant in every one of their destinations, it's the glory of the details, viewed close up, that provides the most rewarding memories, such as an eagle in a tree on a tiny rocky islet, or the barnacles visible on a humpback's fin.

In many of the remote waterways visited, small ships are the only way to explore the area and with the casual style on board, encouraging relaxation and congenial interaction between guests and crew alike. The experience is personally enriching, through on-board narrative and lectures, special local guests from a wide variety of backgrounds and the library provided on each vessel. With Cruise West, you're not just a visitor, you're a participant, whether it be kayaking off a wilderness island along the Pacific Coastline, hiking through a rain forest in Alaska or enjoying a spectacular Spring garden in British Columbia, it is an engaging experience for all the senses.

Smaller is better

A cruise on a small ship is not filled with elaborate distractions, with sleek resorts and packaged tours, rather, small ships are perfect for intimate exploration of off-the-beaten track waterways, narrow channels and tiny ports that passengers on large ships will never see. When a Cruise West ship visit a small port in Alaska's Inside Passage, the people onboard don't overwhelm the local communities, with their largest vessel hosting just 102 guests. Time is spent wisely, too, rather than making a beeline from port to port, their Captains have the flexibility as well as the inclination, linger when whales are putting on a show, a glacier is calving spectacularly, or to seek out sea otters when a nearby fisherman radios the word.

With Cruise West you'll find a crew that enjoys the travel adventure as much as you. You're treated as a family member from the moment you step aboard. The Captain in his wheelhouse is often available for casual conversation, to view the depth finder and radar screens or pore over the charts. The Chef and his staff prepare delicious meals, fresh-baked breads and sumptuous dessert and the on-board Naturalist Guide is always at hand, eager to share insights and knowledge, answer your questions and organise the day's events.

Coastal Odyssey - 13 Day

The Coastal Odyssey voyage cruises over 1,600 miles between Vancouver, B.C. and Anchorage, exploring the entire Inside Passage between British Columbia and Glacier Bay National Park, and the spectacular Gulf of Alaska coast.

The graceful, all-suite Spirit of Oceanus, the flagship of Cruise West, takes you to ports other cruise lines don’t (or can’t) reach, and brings you close to shore to find puffins in Glacier Bay, seals and sea otters in the Kenai Fjords, and bears feeding along the shoreline of Admiralty Island.

Cruise Highlights
• On board the Spirit of Oceanus
• 11-night Inside Passage and Gulf of Alaska cruise
• 1 night hotel accommodation in Anchorage
• Port calls at Petersburg, Skagway, and Sitka
• Visit Misty Fjords, Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay National Park
• Cruise Prince William Sound


Cruise Itinerary
Day 1 Set sail from Vancouver
Day 2 Cruising the Inside Passage
Day 3 Cruising the Inside Passage
Day 4 Misty Fjords & Metlakatla
Day 5 Petersburg
Day 6 Tracy Arm Fjord and Frederick Sound
Day 7 Skagway
Day 8 Glacier Bay National Park
Day 9 Sitka
Day 10 Explore the Alaskan coast
Day 11 Prince William Sound
Day 12 Anchorage - overnight hotel
Day 13 End of arrangements

This operates the reverse itinerary - commencing in Anchorage on Day 1 & ending in Vancouver on Day 13.

Northbound 2007 - Vancouver to Anchorage

Southbound 2007 - Anchorage to Vanvouver

Day 1 - Arrive Juneau
Check in at the Goldbelt Hotel hospitality suite in preparation for your cruise. The hotel’s convenient waterfront locale is a perfect base for exploring Alaska’s beautiful capital city, one of the most popular cruise ship ports in Alaska. Accessible only by air or sea, Juneau sits in a rainforest with the Mendenhall Glacier in its backyard. Board your ship, Spirit of Alaska, to begin your cruise down the Gastineau Channel. Dinner included tonight.

Day 2 - Skagway And Haines
Relive the Gold Rush in the picturesque setting of Skagway, where many of the early gold seekers set off with dreams of becoming rich. Head down mountain-lined Lynn Canal for a visit to Haines, situated on a quiet bay under the Chilkat Mountains. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included today.

Day 3 - Glacier Bay
Enter a 3.3-million acre nature wonderland where a National Park Service Ranger will come onboard to offer information on the flora and fauna of this impressive region. Over 200 species of fish are found in Park waters, and around 220 species of birds have been recorded in the Park as well as large populations of land mammals. Have your binoculars and camera with you on deck as the Ranger helps you look for mountain goats, brown and black bears, coyote, wolverine, moose, harbour seals, puffins, and murres. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included today.

Day 4 - Icy Strait – Captain’s Choice Cruising
In Icy Strait there is a biological richness that attracts humpbacks and other marine mammals like sea lions and seals. Captain’s Choice cruising may also include inflatable excursion craft outings or bow landings from the Spirit of Alaska, to look for wildlife like brown bear, Sitka black-tailed deer and wolves in the old-growth forests of Sitka spruce and western hemlock. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included today.

Day 5 - Juneau
Disembark in Juneau. Transfer to the airport for your return flight home. Breakfast is included tonight.