State of Alaska
Flag of Alaska
Date of trip:
July 18 - August 2
2002
We rate this trip a:
Trip Highlights:
 Princess cruise
Inner Passage
Visit Ketchikan
Visit Juneau
Visit Skagway
See glaciers
Tour Mt. McKinley
Visit Denali NP
Helicopter tours
Much wildlife
Ride Alaskan RR
Midnight sun
Scenic country
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| Alaska's Inner Passage
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View of a College Fjord Glacier
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| Visiting Vancouver, British Columbia |
 Vancouver is ... a cosmopolitan city. Old but vibrant, undergoing a metamorphosis of a kind. Clean and modern, it treats the international visitor to its many sights and sounds with a lack of pretention. Although we have explored but a smidgeon of its many attractions, the places and things we experienced here gave us a feeling that a return trip would be warranted.
Downtown Vancouver and its near proximity to Canada Place is a haven for the traveler who wishes to see the best that the city offers. Within strolling distances are some of the finest attractions: Stanley Park on the bay's shore, Chinatown with its bustling shops and markets and of course Granville Island, a true public market place that also serves as a gathering space for locals and visitors alike.
Vancouver should not be dismissed as yet another waystop before catching your cruise ship. It is a destination city that boasts many points of interest that would keep the average visitor occupied for days.
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| Site Gallery - Vancouver, British Columbia
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| City Views |
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| Chinatown |
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| Stanley Park |
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| Granville Island |
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| The Star Princess Experience |
 Year 2002 is the inaugural season for the Star Princess. Of Bermudan registry, this ship's particulars are exceptional. Operated by Princess Cruises, this ship boasts a number of interesting facts:
- Registered tonnage ... 108,999 tons
- Overall length ... 950 feet
- Total breath ... 165 feet
- Total height above keel ... 212 feet
- Draught ... 27.7 feet
- Passenger capacity ... 3,100
- Crew complement ... 1,120
- Crusing speed ... 21 knots
- Maximum speed ... 23.3 knots
On our Inner Passage cruise the total distance travelled was 1,769 nautical miles (2.034 statute miles).
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| Site Gallery - Star Princess Cruise Ship
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| The Star Princess Experience |
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| Alaska's Inner Passage Cities & Attractions |
 Ketchikan ... The Tlingit Indians originally settled in this area as a summer fishing camp, where five different species of salmon spawned every year. The natives called it "Kitchsk-hin" which means Kitchk's stream.
Until the late 1880s, the non-Natives who arrived in the area were sailors, explorers and traders who bartered with the Indians and then moved on.
The early 1900s were a boom time for Ketchikan, along with the rest of Alaska. Gold was discovered in the nearby hills and on Prince of Wales Island and copper was discovered a short time later. Ketchikan became the supply center for all the mines in the area.
By the mid-1930s, Ketchikan had aptly named itself "The Salmon Capital of the World". In 1936 alone, the city packed more than 1.5 million cases of salmon.
 Juneau ... In 1880, for Joe Juneau and Richard harris, the going was slow and frustrating as they searched for gold with the help of Indian guides. Finally, after climbing mountains, forging streams and facing countless difficulties, they found nuggets "as large as beans".
Out of their discovery came three of the largest goldmines in the world. By the end of WWII, more than $150 million in gold had been mined. Eventually the mines closed, but the town Joe Juneau founded became the capital of Alaska and the business of gold was replaced by the business of government.
Some 30,000 people live in Juneau and its total area makes it one of the largest town, in size, in the world. Only Kiruna, Sweden and Sitka, Alaska exceed Juneau's 3,248 square miles.
 Skagway ... was known to thousands of hopeful gold rushers as the gateway to the gold fields. Although it boasted the shortest route to the Klondike, it was far from the easiest. Over a hundred years ago, the White pass route through the Coast Mountains and the shortest, but steeper, Chilkoot Trail were used by countless stampeders.
The gold rush was a boon to Skagway -- by 1898 it was Alaska's largest town with a population of 20,000. But when the gold yield dwindled in 1900, so did the population of Skagway as the miners shifted to new finds in Nome.
Glacier Bay & College Fjord ... Visitors have been coming to Alaska since the 1880s to see Glacier bay. Here, massive glaciers stretch from the ice-draped St. Elias and fairweather Mountain ranges to sit at the end of majestic fjords. Tidewater glaciers are rare in the world. With a perfect recipe of ocean, mountain height and precipitation, we are graced with a dozen of them in Glacier bay.
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| Site Gallery - Inner Passage Cities
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| Ketchikan, Alaska |
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| Juneau, Alaska |
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| Skagway, Alaska |
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| Glacier Bay, Alaska |
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| College Fjord, Alaska |
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