Alaska with Viking Orion

Alaska & the Inside Passage

Who didn’t love the animated adventure film Balto about a husky who battles the ice and snow to bring medical supplies to children in Nome, Alaska? Our knowledge about destinations, especially in the USA, is often gained through popular culture, like films, music, books and TV. So it was, with me and Alaska. I also read Jack London’s Call of the Wild and White Fang, set in Alaska at the time of the Klondike gold rush.

But the incredible rugged reality of Alaska - especially in summer - was a complete unknown to me. An 11-day Alaska & the Inside Passage cruise with Viking Orion - one of Viking Cruises stunning Norwegian-owned and operated fleet of small ships was an adventure of discovery that revealed the true nature and exciting possibilities of this indescribably beautiful state.

Viking Knows!Viking Orion departing Seward

While many larger ships offer shorter cruises to only the most visited ports of the Inside Passage, we opted to start our experience in Anchorage, the state’s largest city (and biggest Native Village), travelling by the scenic Alaska Railroad coastline journey to Seward to join the more extensive Viking cruise option. We sailed from Seward south through the Inside Passage to Vancouver, visiting six other ports and Yakutat Bay for an up close and personal encounter with the breathtaking Hubbard Glacier.

Less is More

Boarding the beautifully appointed Viking Orion with its stylishly understated Nordic design interior, we were immediately struck by three key things that were lacking but which only enhanced the pleasure of our onboard experience: no kids, no casino, and no crowds!

Our spacious stateroom lacked nothing; with its own private balcony, super-comfy twin beds, generous ensuite and cleverly designed storage to more than cater to our lavish prepared-for-anything wardrobes. Thoughtful extras were a fold-out makeup mirror, a pair of binoculars and a minibar always freshly stocked with snacks, both healthy and indulgent. Good free Wi-Fi was available and surprisingly consistent, given our remote location.

Hanging Out, Viking Style

With plentiful deckchairs, comfy lounges, daybeds and library nooks to curl up in, electronic games tables, outdoor sports deck, gym and Nordic spa complete with thermal pools, steam room, sauna and ‘snow room’ plus an icy plunge pool for the game or foolhardy, it would have been easy (and delightful) to remain onboard the whole cruise. Fun nightly entertainment, dancing and enriching lectures and port talks rounded out a crazy-full onboard programme. But our adventurous choice of excursions, along with perfect summer weather and a daily changing scenic backdrop so astonishingly jaw-dropping that it seemed impossible to be real, enticed us to venture out at every port.

The gorgeous interior spaces and sheltered sports deck on Viking Orion

Food, Glorious Food

Dustin, Viking Orion’s star baristaAnd just as well, as the dining and beverage options could well have become our default “excursions’’. From our specially-requested tea service to the excellent cappuccino from our barista (thanks Dustin) at the Living Room Bar in the mornings, we usually breakfasted (read feasted!) in the international World Café. Lunch by the pool, scones and high tea in Wintergarden, cocktails in the Aquavit terrace or Explorer Lounge with solo singer/guitar player Zeus entertaining us with country to soft rock to current hits effortlessly. Actually, we had cocktails just about everywhere, thanks to our generous Silver Spirits beverage package!

My favourite for dinner was the sensational Italian menu at Manfredi’s (sublime pasta and the eggplant entrée: buonissimo!), but The Restaurant offers some sensational world-class wining and dining or head back to World Café for a seemingly endless buffet of seafood, Alaskan specialities (how much fresh salmon or Alaskan crab can anyone eat?) and diet-busting desserts to cry for. The always-friendly and knowledgeable stewards and wait staff anticipated our every need (cocktails…or coffee?).

All the crab you can eat and High Tea in Wintergarden

The Last Frontier

Luckily, we were able to offset this indulgence with an active schedule of experiences ashore from the long, considered list of tempting adventurous activities Viking had on offer each day. Curating your own Alaskan adventure to fit your interests and energy levels was easy. My tip here is to choose early (difficult though it is) and book the activities that interest and suit you, as some of the most popular excursions book out early.

Puffins at Alaska Sealife Center - cutest bird everIn Seward, we opted for a tour of the excellent Alaska Sealife Center, a conservation and rehabilitation centre for ocean-going wildlife. This extraordinary facility is a fascinating introduction to and opportunity to view and learn about the denizens of the Gulf from sea anemones (who will give you a hug) up to Steller sea-lions. But the stars of the show and major drawcard for visitors are the adorable Puffins. Seeing a Puffin up close is a memory (and insta-moment) to treasure right up there with whales and dolphins (just saying).

Sailing into Yakutat Bay, a catamaran took us close to the largest tidewater glacier in Alaska. Hubbard Glacier, nicknamed the Galloping Glacier, it spans 10.5 km wide and towers in ice-blue glory over 120 metres above the water line, calving 400-year-old icebergs with immense sonic booms as we watched in awe.

Hubbard Glacier, Disenchantment Bay

The salmon run is eagerly awaited by the wildlifeValdez, on beautiful Prince William Sound, was a spectacular introduction to Alaksa’s salmon industry. The major supplier of the world’s wild caught salmon, it is an integral part of the Alaskan way of life. The salmon run - when they return to their place of origin to spawn in their gazillions - also attracts and feeds, many of the higher occupants of the Alaskan food-chain, from seagulls to seals, sea-lions to bears. Watching a group of sea-lions gorge themselves on the thrashing frenzy of salmon at the mouth of the Salomon Gulch Fish Hatchery, and bears catch their own in the wild at the Neets Bay hatchery (salmon buffet to bears) were eye-opening, breath-holding, unforgettable spectacles of nature.

Kayaking near Chichagof IslandKayaking around Chichagof Island, off Icy Strait Point, we were accompanied by cruising humpbacks and passed rowdy sea lions fighting while bald eagles soared overhead. Seriously. But Black bears, which outnumbered people four to one on the island, were, this day anyway, hiding from us. Back on land we were entranced by the art and craft at the Indigenous Tlingit people’s museum reimagined from an old cannery building.

Skagway, for a time the largest town in Alaska and famous as the historic gateway to the Klondike goldfields in the Yukon via the arduous White Pass summit, was a fascinating and authentic glimpse into stampeders’ lives of hardship and the fortunes made from the goldrush during the boom of the late 1800s.

Alaska: a lasting impression

Each of the towns we visited were charming and hardy testaments to Alaska’s history, Indigenous people, settlement, dependence on the sea and harsh climate, documented by many fascinating local and Native Alaskan museums. Even now, many towns (including the capital of Juneau) remain inaccessible by road; instead, air and sea are the mainstream way to get around.

From astounding and prolific wildlife encounters to flightseeing over pristine wilderness and gleaming glaciers, each experience seemed to outdo the one before.

The immensity of the vast wilderness landscapes, imposing mountain ranges, icefields, extensive waterways, and endless pristine forests humbled us as we sailed southward day after awesome day, often escorted by orcas or humpbacks.

All I can say, is that you may have read the book, seen the movie, and even got the T-shirt, but until you have cruised Alaska with Viking Cruises, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!