
Back in 2000 when we decided to head to
Alaska on vacation we decided that we wanted to spit our time between a cruise
and a land portion. (You can see pix
from part of the land portion here.) We
began looking at “small ship” cruise lines as we didn’t want to be lost amongst
thousands of other travelers. A number
of companies with 70 – 100 passenger ships looked interesting and I was about
to call one of them when I came across the web site for Discovery Voyages.
Dean Rand captains the MV Discovery on 5
and 6 day cruises in Prince William Sound.
The MV discovery has a passenger capacity of 12, that’s right I said
12. The six cabins on the 65 foot boat
are small but the cruise and the experience of Prince William Sound are well
worth it. The food is wonderful and the
scenery is breathtaking. It is
admittedly a cruise for people who like people.
Each day we would take the zodiacs ashore
and explore the wild surroundings of the sound.
From Icebergs to waterfalls we explored them all.
The view from the deck of the boat was
magnificent and the view from land was often even better. Wildlife that we saw included humpback whales,
orcas, sea otters and black bears, all seen right from the deck of the
boat. The orcas were so close my
moderate telephoto lens was too long to capture the large mammal's face.
If you want a real adventure consider a
cruise on a small boat, a really small boat!
It is the best way to see Alaska.
© Tim Marks all rights reserved