"A cruise on the Discovery would be the prize of anyone's trip to Alaska!"
- Time Magazine
Finding the right fit for Alaskan tours
San Francisco Chronicle
Article by Spud Hilton and David Thompson
From toppling glaciers to belly-flopping humpbacks, many of Alaska's most stunning natural wonders are best marveled at from the deck of a ship. You can't even reach the state capital by land.
But what kind of ship? A big, mass-market cruise ship? A more intimate, education-oriented ship? Or the "poor man's cruise ship," the venerable Alaska ferries?
Each has its own joys and pitfalls, its own comforts and irritations. Chances are that one type of ship suits your travel style, and the others ... well, not so much. Read More...
Chosen as one of USA Today's
favorite summer tours!
USA Today
Article by Kitty Yancey
What an adrenaline rush to feel a 34-pound halibut on the line, plunging and tugging until you think your arm will fall off! Or marveling at hundreds of spawning, silver-scaled salmon fighting to make their way upstream, back to their birthplaces — flipping desperately at your feet or being scooped up by fat bears lying in wait in bushes by the waterside. Or trying to keep a foothold on a slippery glacier in the middle of summer, hearing the boom! as mounds of ice fall into the sound below (called "calving") and kayaking in frigid waters where seals and otters pop up to peek at visitors. I have been on a big-ship Alaska cruise where passengers gasped from afar at the wonders of Glacier Bay and we tried our skills at ice-walking on a carefully choreographed excursion. But it was nothing like sailing for a week on Whittier, Alaska-based Discovery, a six-cabin, 65-foot motor yacht with Alaska-based captain/naturalist Dean Rand, plus guides who know every nook and cranny of Prince William Sound and took us to some secret spots. You can take a day cruise on larger ships, such as those run by Cruise West, but on a smaller boat you disembark frequently to kayak and hike. At night you anchor in secluded coves.
NY Times Travel Section
"I could smell it, I could taste it, I could sit wet in it," she said of the ecosystem.
"
It's just not passive. You're vibrantly engaged."
- Jennifer Landsdale, quoted in New York Times
New York Times
For some passengers, taking a cruise means lounging on the open sea, ordering piña coladas and curling up with a book. The most exercise they get is walking around the buffet. But for Jennifer Lansdale and her family, going on a cruise means steering kayaks through ice-choked waterways, hiking up rocky hills and getting the exercise she doesn't get back home in Towson, Md. Read more...
Featured Location in Outdoor Photographer
"Instantly, everyone jumped up, grabbed cameras and knocked
over wine glasses, running out the door to capture the crashing ice.
In Alaska, photography trumps gourmet food every time!"
Outdoor Photographer
For a more intimate view of the sound and exceptional photography, take a trip with Dean Rand on the Discovery. Live aboard a comfortable boat for multiple days, cruising and photographing at a relaxed pace. You have the opportunity to go ashore numerous times to photograph beached icebergs and rocky coasts. Colorful starfish are found in the tide pools, and black bears forage below the tideline.
I’ll never forget eating a gourmet salmon dinner aboard the Discovery while we drifted in front of the Surprise Glacier. All at once an enormous piece of the glacier began to calve into the fjord. Instantly, everyone jumped up, grabbed cameras and knocked over wine glasses, running out the door to capture the crashing ice. In Alaska, photography trumps gourmet food every time!
The Alaska Moment
"The best trip of my life. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
- Pat Henry, quoted in The Honolulu Advertiser
The Honolulu Advertiser
Pat Henry's Alaska moment was eyeballing a bald eagle's eyrie through binoculars as the great predator visited its nest. But it could have been kayaking around the sea lions barking on nearby ice floes, or the puffins and orcas near Glacier Island. Then, there was the very long — and loud — moment when an apartment-size chunk of glacier calved just a quarter-mile from the ship deck, creating a boom and waves that rocked the ship. "Alaska was a truly great adventure," Henry said. "Every day was wonderful." Read More...
Cruising With Discovery
"My daughter's voice over the phone sounded excited--"Dad, I think I've found it. How about cruising Prince William Sound on a 12 passenger cruise ship?"
Needless to say, I was dubious, but intrigued..."
Associated Press
Article by Deane Manolis, AP (PDF)
We started looking for an Alaskan cruise in March 2006, and quickly found we were too late to book a cruise for six people on one of the smaller ships. We were locked into a specific time, as scheduling was difficult for my daughter and her husband, both physicians. We were thinking small, but not quite that small--as the 12-passenger, 65-foot Discovery turned out to be. But what an adventure ensued for the five of us... Read more... (PDF)
Plying the bays and fjords in a
land of stupendous beauty...
"The beauty of Alaska's Prince William Sound is in a class by itself."
Seattle Post Intelligencer
The beauty of Alaska's Prince William Sound is in a class by itself. Plying the bays and fjords in a land of stupendous beauty. Watching John Zilavy and Melissa Pailthorp take their wide-eyed, smiling 17-month-old daughter kayaking in Harriman Fjord, my only worry was that the experience might raise young Olivia's expectations beyond reasonable bounds. Read more...
Christmas Greetings
"After arriving and staying overnight in Anchorage, we explored the Prince William Sound aboard a small boat with only ten other passengers, the Captain and his fabulous crew of four – oh, and Happy, a black Labrador who lived onboard. It was an amazing trip... that we will treasure the memory of forever."
- Mike & Bonnie
Family Christmas Letter 2007
Dear Captain Dean & crew, the rush to get all our Christmas cards and shopping is almost over, but I nearly forgot to send you our Christmas greetings.... you all figured quite prominately in our greeting to friends and family. Please know that you gave us a wonderful gift last summer, that will stay with us forever, as we recall the wonderful time we had on the Discovery. Thank you. Read more... (PDF)
