Press Release

INSPIRATIONAL AND INNOVATIVE: CRUISE WEST’S NEW 2006 GLACIER BAY HIGHLIGHTS AND BEST OF BOTH WORLDS ITINERARIES MAKE ALASKA EASIER T0 EXPLORE

Guests can now sample Alaska’s awe-inspiring majesty on a shorter getaway or explore by yacht

“My holy of holies is the human body, health, intelligence, talent, inspiration, love and the most absolute freedom imaginable…” Anton Chekhov, 1888

Aug 17 2005 12:00AM

Seattle, WA, August 17, 2005 – Inspiration in life comes in many forms – a song, a poem, a heroic gesture, or, in the case of Cruise West’s new 2006 Glacier Bay Highlights and Best of Both Worlds cruises, from nature’s awesome power and beauty. Now inspiration is easier to achieve than ever before as Cruise West offers two new innovative Alaska itineraries for 2006.

Cruise West, the largest American-owned line, offers a choice of either a 3- or 4-night getaway sailing that allows guests the opportunity to sample the soaring sanctuary of Alaska’s stunning Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve on the Glacier Bay Highlights cruise; or 8- or 13-night voyages offering the Best of Both Worlds with daytime yachting exploration plus overnight cruising.

- Sampling Alaska in a Shorter Getaway Cruise -

Sailing roundtrip from Juneau, May through August 2006, the Glacier Bay Highlights cruise offers guests an opportunity to escape the hassle of their busy world – without the stress of being away too long. Beginning at $1,349 per person, double-occupancy, guests will arrive in Juneau, Alaska’s capital city, whose distinctive rainforest locale and Mendenhall Glacier backdrop serves as a fitting location to start the cruise down the Gastineau Channel. On the voyage, guests visit the charming ports of Skagway and Haines and experience the picturesque setting of the Glacier Bay. Cruise West travels to this 3.3-million-acre nature wonderland where a National Park Service Ranger boards to offer information on the flora and fauna of the region. More than 200 species of fish are found in the Park waters as well as 220 species of bird and large populations of land mammals. Cruise West provides a set of binoculars for each cabin to help guests spot brown and black bears, coyote, moose, harbor seals and more. 

GLACIER BAY HIGHLIGHTS & BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

Cruise West also offers longer Glacier Bay options of 8 or 12 nights and including, as applicable, land tours of Denali National Park and Preserve, Prince William Sound cruise and the Kantishna Roadhouse Wilderness Lodge land tour.

Cruise West travels Glacier Bay with expertise rarely practiced on other cruises, as they are the longest operating line to sail Glacier Bay National Park and were recently awarded with a permit from the National Park Service (NPS) allowing the most entries into the Park for the next 10 years. The NPS implemented a new procedure for vessels requesting access to Glacier Bay National Park for 2006 and beyond. Cruise West applied, receiving a permit allowing entry for all of its ships, accounting for a total of one-third of all the entries and more than double the entries of any other operator for June, July and August – the height of the wildlife season in Glacier Bay.

- Daylight Yachting plus Overnight Cruising -

On the Best of Both Worlds itinerary, beginning at $3,349 per person, double occupancy, guests experience everything the Glacier Bay Highlights itinerary offers, sailing on the nimble small ship, Spirit of Alaska, with an extension of daylight yachting aboard the Sheltered Seas. On the daylight yacht, boarding in Juneau, guests explore Tracy Arm – a 25-mile-long, cliff-walled fjord – sighting black bears, seals and mountain goats. They proceed through the 45-mile-long Frederick Sound, famous for its migratory populations of humpback whales. Guests cruise LeConte Bay, Alaska’s southernmost tidewater glacier, watching harbor seals and black bears, and journey through the Wrangell Narrows to Wrangell to view a traditional Tlingit tribal house surrounded by finely carved totem poles. Guests spend nights on land at two hotels, Petersburg’s Tides Inn and Ketchikan’s Westcoast Cape Fox Hotel, and have the option to travel the itinerary in reverse, beginning in Ketchikan.

At Cruise West, taxes, port charges, fees and onboard services are all included in itinerary prices. Guests are neither expected nor required to tip for onboard services.

- Up-Close, Casual and Personal Cruising -

Cruise West – a second-generation, family-owned business – offers the opportunity to explore remote, worldwide locales by providing distinctive, one-of-a-kind, personalized itineraries not offered by the traditional larger cruise lines. The casual style onboard encourages relaxation and congenial interaction between guests and crew alike. To make reservations or request the 2006 Alaska Brochure, visit www.cruisewest.com or call (800) 203-8306. .

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Cruise West – a second-generation, family-owned business based in Seattle – offers the opportunity to explore remote, worldwide locales by providing distinctive, one-of-a-kind, personalized itineraries not offered by the traditional larger cruise lines. Cruise West’s smaller ships – nine in all – hold between 78-138 people each, and the casual style onboard encourages relaxation and congenial interaction between guests and crew alike. The experience is personally enriching through expert Exploration Leaders providing onboard narrative and lectures, special local guests from a wide variety of backgrounds, and the library provided on each vessel. All have forward lounges and ample outdoor deck space for viewing and photographing wildlife and scenery. All vessels are also equipped with inflatable landing boats for close-up exploration of remote areas and shore landings.

Destinations served include: Alaska and the Bering Sea, British Columbia, Columbia & Snake Rivers, California Wine Country, Mexico's Sea of Cortés, Costa Rica & Panama, Japan, the South Pacific, and the Kuril Islands.