This article is part of a weekly series on cruising in The Sun Herald, Sydney. If you have done an interesting shore excursion and are interested in being featured, please send an email to jane@janeefraser.com.au.
WHO Peter Bogan from East Maitland in the Lower Hunter Valley, on his fourth cruise.
WHAT Exploring the Yukon territory of western Canada, via Alaska.
WHERE The shore excursion started and finished at the Alaskan port of Skagway, at the top of Alaska’s Inside Passage.
THE SHIP Peter cruised with his wife Thelma on a 33-day itinerary on Holland America Line’s MS Volendam (hollandamerica.com), boarding in Vancouver and cruising up Alaska’s Inside Passage before continuing on to the US west coast, Hawaii and Sydney.
“It was an unforgettable day. We got on a coach in Skagway and travelled up 3000 feet to the Canadian Yukon and then back down to Skagway aboard vintage carriages of the historic White Pass & Yukon rail line.
“There were other options, such as doing the train in both directions, but we thought we would see more with the bus trip as well. It was raining when we arrived in Skagway – they tell you it rains 368 days a year there! – but when we got up into the mountains there was no rain and the country was beautiful in its starkness. It’s very rocky and wild countryside and we were struck by the beauty of it.
“We stopped for lunch at a small tourist complex where there was a shop and a place where they were breeding husky dogs; they had… (click here to keep reading)
The cruise lines have expanded their Alaska shore excursions dramatically to accommodate the thousands of passengers they take to Alaska each week from May through September. On my 1995 Alaska cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Sun Viking, 37 excursions were offered, ranging in price from $23 to $205. In 2005, RCI is offered more than 108 shore excursions from $23.95 to $489 with additional excursions available for those booked on the line’s 19 different pre and post cruise-tours. Today there are more options than ever with all the cruise lines.