Alaska Fishing Vacation

One of our most popular voyage options, the Alaska Fishing Vacation and Sightseeing Cruise allows you to enjoy the phenomenal fishing we have here in Southcentral Alaska, in combination with our extraordinary scenery and wildlife.

Alaska is truly a fishing paradise and Southcentral Alaska is the mecca of that glory. Here we have everything to make your Alaska Fishing Vacation and sightseeing cruise unforgettable - the muscle burning, rod bending halibut, all five species of line peeling, reel screaming salmon, our ravenous predators of the deep, lingcod, numerous species of delicious rockfish and the powerful, fast and furious salmon shark. Add to that our breathtaking scenery - including magnificent glaciers, cascading waterfalls, and the aurora borealis, our incredible wildlife comprising everything from majestic marine mammals to dazzling birds and stunning land animals, you will have a vacation that is beyond compare.

Imagine cruising through magnificent deep water fjords, watching the mighty orcas and the acrobatic humpback whales as they frolic in the pristine waters of Prince William Sound – and then testing your angling skills with our athletic silver salmon! Our chef will expertly prepare your catch for you that evening while you and your family and friends enjoy gazing at an awe-inspiring tide-water glacier calving into the sea!

Explore black sand beaches, hike through untamed wilderness guided by our highly skilled and knowledgeable crew or take a walk through our northernmost temperate rainforest. Relax with family and friends in a breathtaking cove, then step out on the back deck to “wet a line.” FISH ON! You land a 60 pound halibut as bald eagles circle overhead to enjoy the show. The next day the overwhelming beauty continues to dazzle you as we cruise along, while the Dall Porpoise swim playfully alongside the bow.

We watch the Stellar Sea lions as they haul out onto rocky islands while we fish for some delicious lingcod and rockfish. As we cruise to our anchorage for the evening we spot bears dining on the plethora of pink salmon burgeoning from a nearby stream. You go to sleep that night thinking of the wonderful adventures you have shared; looking forward to tomorrow’s exciting explorations!

Article Source: http://www.alaskawildernessvoyages.com/alaska_fishing_vacation_and_sightseeing_cruise.asp

Cruise Activity - What Kind Of Activities Are Available On A Cruise?

By Ann Richter

When you get the information about your cruise, you will be given a list of practically every cruise activity imaginable. If your cruise is like most, you will not be able to do them all. There are two good ways to choose. One is to do all the activities of one kind, and the other is to do one activity of each of several different kinds.

Physical Activities
If you are an energetic person, you may want to take all your activities from this category. If you just want to keep in shape, you might try one. Sports on cruise ships are usually fairly laid back. People do not tend to be as competitive when they are surrounded by the beautiful open sea. However, your experience may be different.

A sports cruise activity can be anything from basketball to ice skating. You can play golf on many cruises and also get lessons from a golf pro right onboard. Many of the newer cruise ships have rock climbing walls built in for your use. Some of the physical activities are strictly for exercise. These may include Pilates, yoga, kickboxing, aerobics, and any other type of exercise.

Fine Living
A more sophisticated person will want a type of cruise activity that will include the arts and fine living. Even if this is not your only choice, you might enjoy a taste of luxurious living. Some of the activities are wine tasting, art auctions, and painting lessons.

There are also afternoon high teas, cigar and cognac hours, and a cocktail party with the captain. Dancing is encouraged, and there are many opportunities to learn a number of dances, from Latin dance to waltzes. Some ships have guest lecturers, while most will offer theater, possibly Broadway productions. Music varies from disco with a DJ to a stringed quartet.

Jewelry seminars are held to prepare buyers for the market where they may purchase gems. These are held by experts in the field. They give the buyers a chance to see up close the aspects of the gems they should be looking for before making their purchases.

Games
Cruise coordinators come up with dozens of crazy games every year. They are designed to create a party atmosphere. They also help people get to know each other better. One example is a take-off on an old game show. The cruise game is called: What's My Job? People ask the subject questions about his or her job. When they get the answers, they try to guess the job.

Of course, if you like casino games, you are in luck. Not only is the casino open all the time the ship is at sea. It is also filled with dealers who love to teach the games. This makes for a much more relaxed atmosphere.

Take your choice of the different types of cruise activity, or choose some from each. If your cruise is like most, you will not have trouble finding something to occupy your time.

For more cruises from New York secrets try visiting http://www.bestcruiseguideonline.com, a popular cruise website that offers ratings, reviews, tips and advice on beating the winter chill on a Royal Caribean cruise lines cruise

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ann_Richter

Why People Find Their Alaskan Cruise So Enticing

By Michael Klerck

I am not at all amazed to see so many articles on cruising in Alaska. While it is disturbing to see no fewer than 4 gigantic liners in the small port of Ketchikan at one time, for instance, they do seem to time their arrival so that our shore excursion into a tropical forest (yes tropical) was as memorable as promised.

There is simply nothing like cruising. When the aeroplane in the seventies threatening the industry and I watched the ships slowly disappear I was sad. Witnessing a resurgence in cruising and a plethora of wonderful ship being launched - more in the last five years than in decades before - I have been delighted to join the eager fraternity that sets sail regularly.

We chose Alaska because we wanted to visit North America for the first time. But also because it sounded so exotic - it would be, coming from South Africa.

It was nothing short of breathtaking. But it was also the ship itself - Holland America's Volendam that made it especially so. Imagine sitting in a leather chair nine storeys up in an observation lounge with 270 degree views. Imagine this in almost utter silence, while the ship glides through a narrow passage, with less than 100 metres on either side - we could hear the waterfalls, see the wildlife, and watch in amazement as whales and seals swam passed us. When she approach a 'corner' my naval instincts and ocean experience that goes back 30 years said no.
How was she going to negotiate what was literally a corner up ahead? Keep in mind this was the largest ship I had ever embarked - over 70 000 tonnes. I ran downstairs to call my wife, and we both watched in amazement as her engine pods (much like movable outboard motors) and bow thrusters allowed her to sail through effortlessly. I simply shook my head.

When we reached the glacier it was an experience that was quite simply humbling. All the statistics about the melting ice and the glacier itself retreating many metres each year were disturbing, but then again it was as a result of this that we could approach and enter what was now a 'modern' bay - not accessible 20 years ago. In fact because of the sophisticated engines and designs, few ships, even with much less tonnage, have been able to negotiate the narrow passages and actually turn around when they get there.

I delighted in videoing how the captain, by using a pencil sized joystick, was able to program the ship so that she turned so silently and slowly over a period of an hour, without any movement forwards or backwards. I wondered if my small frigate, of just 2500 tonnes, from the South African Navy in 1973 might have done this - I think not. Passengers on the bow, and those sitting astern were then afforded a view of the entire bay and the cathedral-like walls of the glacier itself as the ship turned slowly in the streaming sunshine of the Alaskan summer. The glacier itself was somewhat daunting - with pieces of ice ready to calve - we desperately hoped a large one would break off and crash with thunderous applause into the mottled green bay, but alas only slivers did so on that particular day. We were acutely aware that our very presence added to the environmental changes, but were somehow willing to compromise in order to live the moment - so much like most of us on our endangered planet.

In fact the entire cruising programme must be for many people, not excluding the planners and ships owners, somewhat of a dilemma - hundreds of summer cruises a year do take their toll - the air pollution itself is a factor. But owners and cruise operators do everything they can to minimize the effect - cigarette butts are a serious no-no, for example; don't even think of throwing one overboard, and I have do doubt that with technology, our gargantuan liner was probably less guilty of environmental impact than my teeny frigate all those years ago.

Skagway gives one a chance to take a memorable train ride up over the start of the Rockies and into Canada - one follows the path up the mountain on which hundreds of pack animals fell to their death as a result of their owner's greed for gold. We were simply delighted at the Humpback Whale food festival out in the bay at Juneau - Alaska's capital (the only one in the world that is not accessible by road). This 'shore excursion' of about three hours was well worth it - our small boat captain guaranteed, with typical American marketing gusto, that we would see them feed. And we did. What a feast! The glaciers retreated with the last ice age and carved a vertical passage down into the bay, meaning that the shoreline has a vertical drop of hundreds of metres into the sea. It was here that a family of Humpbacks secured their lunch with their sophisticated methods of diving and bubble netting their small prey.

Believe it or not, we experienced some disappointment with regard to wildlife. One can see more whales, and really up close, in October to January in Cape Town and surrounds than we did in Alaska. We were constantly reminded that on the multitude of islands we passed on the inside passage (essential method of cruising) that for each square kilometre there was one bear. Sadly, or luckily we encountered and saw not one. I turned to my wife one day and knew what she was thinking. For all the wilderness angle pursued by brochures and guides, we realized how privileged we were to live in a country with the greatest concentration of life on the planet.

Alaska seem almost desert-like, but from this aspect only.

We did visit a salmon farm and see beautiful eagles. The whale feeding-frenzy (not something we get back home - they entertain us back there with circus tricks in the water) is now edited and copied to a much viewed DVD back home, and we realized that Alaska was not necessarily (for us, that was) a memorable wildlife experience.

But boy, it sure put on another display. One cannot visit without feeling one has been transported to a world of sublime and inexorably, stark, and primordial beauty. It is here, as with other 'last frontiers' that the world of yester era can be experienced. The beauty is both harsh and delicate, a place where ancient forces: enemies and allies met and struggled. I shall not easily forget the sun dispersing dark and ominous clouds, just in time for us to bask in its rays and then literally gasp at the spectacularly beautiful colours that the sunshine itself was able to entice from the seemingly cold and austere glacier.

She, the sun, seemed to thrust herself down onto the orchestra of icy protrusions and phallic structures, like an excited conductor might charge at his musicians with his baton, evoking their hidden talents.

We found our very spirits dancing with every ray that fell and in some weird neurological space my brain did somersaults. I remembered the testimony of a LSD-taking friend years back, and his description of how he 'heard' a sunset and could see colours in sounds. Here Nature was the intoxicating influence, and I swore blind that night that I had smelt the very colours that danced on the back of the retreating glacier, and heard every moan of the pristine and exquisitely beautiful blue that shimmered in every crevice and corner of the dazzling bay!

It is a wonder that many of these cruises are so inexpensive (I hate to use the word cheap). On the cusp of summer - April/August, September one can find them for as little as $499 - an entire week of sublime luxury and relaxation.

Amazingly, with at least four meals a day, and at least one gourmet tray of delights at 2am, my wife and I actually lost weight! The food was nothing short of spectacular and while my wife faithfully journeyed through the entire menu each night, my waiter soon appeased my strange penchant for dining by serving no fewer than three small main courses from around the world. I would certainly not have been able to afford such delights in Paris of Vienna, some not even back home.

Choose your cruise line carefully; while Holland America's passenger list averaged around 45 in age, a small family of kids had the children's program and a full-time child minder to themselves - a distinct advantage. But if it's love, sex and rock 'n roll you're after you might like to take a peek at Carnival or a cruise line that majors in another kind of wildness. Personally I would prefer this type of party cruise in the Med, Caribbean or Mexico. Somehow the breathtaking setting of Alaska itself demands a quiet and humble respect, more in tune with sipping whiskies, and silently walking on the upper deck in the clean, ancient air.

Whatever your choice, go you must. You will not be the same again.

Michael Klerck is a freelance writer and winner of the coveted Mondi Paper Magazine Writer's Award for work in Men's Health, South Africa. His website,
http://www.luxurylinerholidays.com gives advise, tips, tricks and information on cruising the world's oceans.

Disney Cruise Ships Offer Something for the Entire Family

By Richie Wells

If you are looking for a different type of vacation that the entire family can enjoy, a Disney cruise is certainly one to consider. Of the many cruise lines that are on the ocean today, few can cater to every age and preference as well as the Disney Company can. Disney Cruises makes it possible for even families with young children to enjoy a vacation at sea with complete comfort and entertainment available for everyone. You can take a quick trek to the Bahamas or spend a week in the Caribbean and Mexico. For longer vacations, there are Mediterranean and transatlantic itineraries available as well. No matter where you want to go, Disney Cruises will get you there in plenty of style and fun.

The Ships of Disney Cruises
Currently, Disney Cruises has two ships in its fleet; the Wonder and the Magic. These two ships are sister ships meaning that they are similar in size and structure. The ships were created in the style of the classic cruise liner, and this timeless elegance is found throughout the interior and exterior of the ships. The only difference between the two ships is primarily the itinerary that you choose. In 2011 and 2012, Disney plans to add two more ships to its fleet that will be considerably larger than the current ships. While the Wonder and the Magic hold about 2400 guests, the new ships will hold up to 4000. There has not yet been information about what the itineraries will be for these new additions, but you can bet that there will be considerable excitement when these new Disney cruise ships make their debut.

Unusual Dining on Disney Cruises
One of the features that makes Disney cruises unique is their rotational dining system. Instead of one large dining room, or two matching dining areas, Disney provides three unique dining experiences that are all completely enhanced with the Disney magic. Each night, you get to try out a new dining room to enjoy the ambiance and menus that each area offers. The really exciting part of this rotational dining idea is that your wait staff travels with you to the various locations. So while you are checking out the splendor and beauty of each dining area, your wait staff will come right along side you, remembering your drinks of choice and exactly how you like your food cooked and served. It is truly an advantage for families traveling with children, since the kids never have time to get bored at meals with new things to look at every night!

Besides the beautiful ships and unique dining, Disney cruises has created an entire vacation at sea with the entire family in mind. State rooms are bigger, and there are family suites available to house groups of four or five. Entertainment is consistently up to the Disney standard, and is always family friendly. You will never be at a loss for things to do, or places to see. Try a Disney cruise for your next family vacation and watch the magic come alive.
Rich Wells runs his own online travel business. His particular specialty is cru
ises. Check these great Cruise Ships ideas and info.

Alaska Cruise Vacation - Top 10 Reasons for Taking an Alaskan Cruise Vacation

By George Alarcon

There are so many reasons to go on an Alaskan cruise. I have only listed what I consider the top 10.

1. Witness mountainous glaciers, huge sky-blue icebergs, killer whales, lumbering moose, rainforest fjords, grizzly bears, bald eagles, ice fields, lumberjacks, caribou, otters, seals, dolphins, and much more.

2. Visit towns and meet people who represent the frontier spirit of Alaska, as well as experience Alaska’s native culture, its gold rush mythology, and its Russian colonial history.

3. You’ll have anywhere from a week up to 14 days to enjoy Alaska’s amazing beauty.

4. An Alaskan cruise is great as a vacation for the entire family with the option of enjoying onboard activities and events as well as viewing Alaska’s unique wildlife and vast wilderness.

5. An Alaskan cruise vacation offers the following attractions: helicopter trips, train rides, off-road jeep rides, underwater explorations, bus trips to the Denali State Park, King salmon fishing, and bike riding.

6. You will have a chance to witness nature up close or from a distance. For example, you can view the glacier formations and incredible waterfront towns.

7. On an Alaskan cruise you’ll have all of your essential needs fulfilled such as your meals, accommodation, transportation, and the option of choosing the activities and events that you wish to participate in.

8. Many expect Alaska to become very famous and a favorite cruise vacation choice of all most cruisers.

9. An Alaskan cruise is cheaper than ever before! This means that about anyone can afford and enjoy Alaska and its countless wonders.

10. You have the option of witnessing the Alaskan state when cruising the Inner Passage.
Learn about booking an Alaskan cruise vacation at a discount