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Grex Travel Item 78: Cruise on Alaska's Inside Passage.
Entered by rcurl on Tue Sep 16 04:42:25 UTC 2008:

We have just returned from a cruise on Alaska's Inside Passage. While I 
took quite a few photos, and will eventually post them somewhere, you 
might enjoy a travelogue prepared by the Cruise West company at

http://www.cruisewest.com/destinations/alaska/inside_passage.aspx

Our cruise visited all the sites they show, though with some differences. 
In particular:

We could only go on one optional excursion ashore at each stop. We did see 
orcas, humpback whales and bears, and other wildlife, but not the ones 
shown. It was cloudy with intermittent rain for all but two days (which we 
expected - the video was constructed from takes from many cruises to get 
all that sunshine).

We were in a group that won the Alalka Trivia Game played on board one 
evening near the end of the cruise. Example question: how is it that the 
US agreed to pay Russia $7,000,000 for Alaska, but Russia then demanded an 
additional $ 200,000?

4 responses total.

#1 of 4 by mcnally on Tue Sep 16 05:07:40 2008:

 One thing I was curious about..  In Sitka, is the Sheldon Jackson
 Museum still open?  They shut down Sheldon Jackson College last year
 (which was sad -- it was a big blow to Sitka) but I'm not quite clear
 on how closely the museum is tied to the college.

 And I still say you should have called me for a personalized tour of
 Ketchikan when you were in town, even if your window was a fairly short
 one.  I live about three blocks away from the hotel where they took
 you to their "hospitality suite", btw.

 Sorry you got cloudy weather while you were here but that's pretty much
 been the luck of the draw for nearly everyone this summer. 

 Looking forward to hearing a trip report with details about the parts
 of SE Alaska I haven't been to yet.

#2 of 4 by rcurl on Tue Sep 16 17:05:29 2008:

We visited the Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka: quite a large collection 
of Alaskan native peoples artifacts and photographs.

http://www.sheldonmuseum.org/index.htm

I'm sorry I really couldn't contact you as I was with my wife and daughter 
who had agendas of their own. But I shared with them the informmation you 
had sent me befofre our trip, and they appreciated that.

For others: our arrival in Alaska was to the airport for Ketchikan on the 
island of Nowhere, as in "the bridge to Nowhere". We were taken into the 
town by a ferry ride on a bus. Sitka also has its airport on a (smaller) 
island, reached by a bridge. The span for the Sitka bridge is about 3/4 of 
what woujld be required at Ketchikan. We did hear some complaints from a 
resident about not getting the "bridge to Nowhere": he thought the $20 fee 
(for there and return) on the ferry to meet friends arriving at the 
airport was exccessive. Of course, he could meet his friends at the ferry 
dock in Ketchikan just as well.

Mike, can I answer any questions about other places we visited? I don't 
know when I'll get our travelogue made

#3 of 4 by jvmv on Tue Sep 16 17:46:55 2008:

I see that you enjoyed your trip to Alaska. I think alaska must be a
wonderful place to visit if you love the cold. I'm anxious to read & see
more about your trip!

I would very much like to know about this country. My sister was there
some years ago & she showed me pictures of beautiful places.

#4 of 4 by slynne on Tue Sep 16 18:36:09 2008:

I have a goal to get to Alaska in the next decade and I think a cruise
is probably the way to go for me :) Anyhow, I look forward to hearing
more about your trip.

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