Alaska is a best tourist attraction and travel destination in US. Alaska is a land of superlatives and adventure. The Great Land consists of five distinct regions: Inside Passage, Southcentral, Interior, Far North and Southwest. An Alaskan Cruise Makes For An Unparalleled Travel Experience Whether your travel is for business or pleasure, the nature of the trip usually determines how long the trip will last. For those planning a vacation, a great choice for something new and different is an Alaskan cruise.You can fly up to Alaska and make side trips from the major airports, but you will find a cruise vacation to Alaska to be must more relaxing and enjoyable. Alaska has a broad range of cities, towns and communities that all have unique activities, cultures and attractions. Alaska's landscape has an astounding number of parks and public lands that offer outdoor adventures at every turn.
How To Reach
You can start from San Francisco or Los Angeles and make port calls in such places as Juneau, Sitka, Skagway, Haines, Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park and Ketchikan.The cruise ships have plenty of on-board activities so you can work out in the gym, cool off in the spa, dance, play the casino games, watch movies or live shows, drinking and eating are also favorite activities. You can also spend your time watching for such wildlife as humpback whales, dolphins, and sea lions.You can select from a wonderful array of international dishes including vegetarian, diabetic and low calorie foods.Once you’re reached Alaska, you can choose to stay at some of the luxury hotels while touring other locations where you can try dog sledding, hiking or climbing.
The large Alaskan cruise ships will have a passenger list of more than 2000 passengers. Room rates cost from $750 to over $3000 for the shortest trip of about 7 days. You may be able to get discounts for special events such as a wedding, birthday party or other celebration.If you don’t want to travel with so many people, try traveling on one of the smaller vessels which typically carry 120 passengers each trip.It is recommended that you make your reservations well ahead of time especially if you want to travel during the peak season from May to September. Your cruise will depart from either San Francisco or Los Angeles. Contact your travel agent to arrange not only for transfers from an airline to the ship, but for side trips and an interesting itinerary once you arrive in Alaska.The time spent on the ship and the time spent on side trips can be structured in such a way as to provide an enjoyable experience for everyone in the party.
Just be sure you allow for extra time in your schedule so that you can try other experiences on your vacation. You won’t regret taking a few extra hours here and there to fully explore your Alaskan vacation.An Alaskan cruise will provide you with the opportunity to view scenery of breathtaking beauty, and to see wildlife, and glaciers that you won’t see elsewhere. There are many activities which will please all members of your family both on the cruise ship itself and on the many side trips you can schedule.
The Northern Lights
The Northern Lights are curtains of colored light in the upper atmosphere, caused by magnetic disturbances from the sun collide with atoms there.
The Northern Lights can be seen to some extent anywhere above 60 degrees north latitude. At 65 degrees, Fairbanks is within the so-called "aurora oval," the area where Northern Lights occur most often and are brightest. In fact, the Fairbanks Visitors Bureau says you have an 80 percent chance of seeing them if you stay there for three nights. Denali, at 63 degrees north, is also a good spot to view the Northern Lights. Other Alaska places are far enough north for good for viewing, but are hard to get to and offer fewer accommodations. The next-best options are Nome (64 degrees) and Anchorage (61 degrees). However, the Northern Lights can sometimes be seen as far south as Juneau or Sitka.
When the Northern Lights visible
By the time you get far enough north to see the Northern Lights more reliably, you've entered the area of perpetual twilight from late April through September. Seasonal cloudiness is also worst in August.
What's the best time to see the Northern Lights? September 22 or March 22, on a new moon night, very late at night or early in the morning, a "perfect storm" that may not occur very often nor match your travel plans. These characteristics may help you decide when to make your trip to see the Northern Lights. They are:
- Most frequent around the spring and fall equinoxes (September 22 and March 22).
- Most active late at night or early in the morning.
- Most intense from December to March when nights are longer, the sky clearer and darker. This is also the coldest part of the year, reaching as low as -40 F.
- Brighter during the new moon.
