Itinerary

Upon arrival in the state capital Juneau, transfer to your hotel and enjoy a relaxing start to your Alaskan adventure.

Today is free for you to do as much or as little as you wish. If the spirit of exploration takes you, there is plenty to see in this unique city. You can take the tram to a lookout point over the Chilkat Mountains to soak in the best views, before heading back down to roam the historical attractions, including the Alaska State Museum, the State Capitol building, Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, and the popular buildings and restaurants of South Franklin Street.

If hiking is more appealing, there are plenty of trails passing glaciers, ice fields and forests just outside the city.

Transfer to your vessel – either the National Geographic Sea Bird or the Sea Lion – to begin your expedition. These nimble vessels have capacity for just 62 passengers, providing an intimate experience, accompanied by expert scientists and photographers. There’s an excellent ratio of one staff member for every two guests.

Explore the three decks including an open bridge, where guests can meet the captain and learn about navigation. Enjoy wonderful views of the landscape from the observation deck and relax on the partially covered sun deck. Then settle into your cabin as you set sail through Alaska’s Inside Passage.

Enjoy some delicious local specialities for dinner, which has unassigned seating for more freedom to mingle with other guests.

On your first full day at sea, explore either Tracy Arm or LeConte Bay. Tracy Arm is a 30-mile-long fjord in Tongass National Forest with dramatic granite cliffs, crashing waterfalls and towering glaciers, including the immense Sawyer Glacier. You may see bears as well as mountain goats on the shoreline. LeConte Bay is equally stunning – six miles long, east of Frederick Sound, with its namesake gigantic glacier and populations of harbour seals, humpback whales and orcas.

Both areas contain some of the most active glaciers in Alaska, with icebergs regularly calving into the ocean and floating out of the bay. The captain will decide which area has the best glacial conditions to witness this amazing phenomenon and you’ll explore by Zodiac. Enjoy spectacular photo opportunities, receiving tips from your certified photo instructor.

Today, you will explore a remote treasure that is inaccessible to larger ships. Navigate through the stunning Wrangell Narrows into the Sumner Strait, which is rich in populations of orcas, humpback whales and sea otters.

The vessel has a fleet of six Zodiacs and 16 kayaks for exploring, as well as stand-up paddleboards. Scan the coastline for wildlife, then enjoy a guided hike ashore, tracing bear trails through forests bisected by crystalline salmon streams. Your expert National Geographic guides will enlighten you on Alaska’s rainforest and its inhabitants, so watch out for Sitka black-tailed deer, moose, black bears, wolves and bald eagles.

This morning, you will reach the small town of Wrangell on its namesake island, where the Tlingit community have lived for thousands of years. You can opt to take an optional jet boat trip up the Stikine River and explore the wildlife and scenery of the island. Alternatively, stay in town, visit Chief Shakes Tribal House and see the ancient rock carvings of Petroglyph Beach. In the afternoon, you cruise the serene Eastern Passage and Blake Channel, narrow waterways where larger ships rarely venture.

Subject to availability, you may also opt for a day trip to Anan Creek Bear Observatory to see black and brown bears feasting on salmon runs.

Wake up this morning to enjoy the sunrise and sail through the Behm Canal into Misty Fjords National Monument, over two million acres of dense forest and fjords overlooked by 1,000-metre rock walls. Part of the Tongass National Forest, the wildlife-rich Misty Fjords are stunningly beautiful with snow-capped peaks rolling down to deep, forested lowlands and waterfalls. Watch wisps of cloud drift down and cloak the green peaks.

Set out by Zodiac and kayak to drift past forested banks and dramatic waterfalls cascading down the cliffs. The region is also filled with wildlife, so you may see bears, moose, otters, seals and sea lions.

On the last day of your cruise, disembark in Ketchikan and transfer to the airport for your flight home.

You may choose to stay a day or two in Ketchikan though. The largest town at the southern end of the Inside Passage has an attractive harbour, proud indigenous history and stunning Creek Street, a boardwalk path built on stilts over Ketchikan Creek with colourful old buildings, art galleries and restaurants. Don’t miss the totem poles at the Totem Heritage Center, in the rainforest of Totem Bight State Historical Park and in Saxman Native Village Totem Park.