Windstar Overview

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Seward (Anchorage) to Vancouver

Set sail on an Alaskan adventure of a lifetime. This 11-day cruise departs from Seward, and explores natural and remote settings throughout Prince William Sound inaccessible to larger cruise ships. It’s a journey optimized for small ship cruising, with stops in quaint and uncrowded small harbors like Valdez and Wrangell, along with isolated coastlines rich in waterfalls, lofty peaks, and roaming wildlife. Board a helicopter for coastal or inland flightseeing around Valdez. Cast a line for Chinook or sockeye salmon in the legendary Copper River. Master your ‘Gee’ and ‘Haw’ calls as you guide a dogsled team across the Mendelhall Glacier near Juneau. This journey explores Point Adolphus near Glacier Bay, one of the most highly regarded whale watching destinations on the planet, where you’ll observe humpback whales engaging in bubble-net feeding, a learned group behavior in which whales work as a team to hunt and trap schools of fish near the surface. In British Columbia’s Inside Passage, there will be countless opportunities to spot seals, whales, seabirds, and roving shoreline moose and bears before your memorable journey concludes at Vancouver’s cosmopolitan waterfront. Browse specialty shops and galleries in Gastown, take a walk along the breakwater trail surrounding Stanley Park, or if you’re not ready to return to your urban surroundings, escape on a gondola to the scenic alpine expanses surrounding nearby Grouse Mountain.

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Day 1: Seward (Anchorage)

Seward, (Anchorage’s gateway) is sandwiched between the Kenai Mountains and the Kenai Fjords National Park. It is one of Alaska’s oldest and most scenic communities, with Mount Marathon rising majestically behind the town. Even though Anchorage is Alaska’s largest city, it is also home to 1,500 moose, surrounded by national parks full of wildlife.

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Day 2: College Fjord

Located in the northern part of Prince William Sound, College Fjord was discovered during the 1899 Harriman Expedition and contains 5 tidewater glaciers, 5 large valley glaciers and dozens of smaller glaciers, most named after East Coast College, with women's colleges on the northwest side, and men's colleges on the southeast side. Harvard Glacier is the largest of the College Fjord Glaciers.

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Day 3: Valdez

Rarely visited Valdez sits at the mouth of the Port Valdez fjord about 11 miles inland from Prince William Sound. It is surrounded by the Chugach Mountains and numerous glaciers including the Columbia Glacier, Worthington Glacier, Valdez Glacier, and Meares Glaciers.

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Day 4: Hubbard Glacier

Hubbard Glacier is the largest tidewater glacier on the North American continent at 76 miles long, 7 miles wide and 30 stories tall at its face. It calves about every 15 minutes and was named after Gardiner Hubbard, the founder of the National Geographic Society.

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Day 5: Point Adolphus

Here is what is considered the mecca for humpback whale watching and where it is almost guaranteed you will see whales. Watch for their unique feeding method known as bubble-net feeding and their breaching from the water.

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Day 5: Icy Strait Point (Hoonah)

Privately owned Icy Strait Point is a tourist destination and the only privately owned cruise destination in Alaska. It is the property of 1,350 Alaskan natives with aboriginal ties to Hoonah and the Glacier Bay area. Visitors here enjoy an educational experience learning about Alaska's native cultures, and the natural history of the region. There is much to do here including a brown bear search, tram excursion, flightseeing over Glacier Bay and the biggest zipline in the United States.

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Day 6: Juneau

Located on the Gastineau Channel in the Alaskan panhandle, Juneau sits at sea level below steep mountains between 3,500-4,000 feet high. Atop these mountains is the Juneau Icefield, a large ice mass from which about 30 glaciers flow, and two of them – Mendenhall Glacier and Lemon Creek Glacier are visible from the local road. A unique feature of Juneau is that it is the only U.S. capital that has no roads connecting it to the rest of the state.

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Day 7: Tracy Arm / Endicott Arm

Stunningly beautiful Tracy Arm is a fjord 45 miles south of Juneau that actually consists of two deep and narrow fjords – Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm. Both fjords are over 30 miles long. At the end of Tracy Arm are the impressive twin Sawyer Glaciers. Wildlife in the area includes black and brown bears, deer, wolves, harbor seals and a variety of birds. What you'll be able to see today and how far we can travel up Tracy Arm is weather and ice dependent.

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Day 8: Petersburg

The island community of Petersburg with its strong Norwegian influence continues to thrive by fishing and living from the sea. The three beautiful harbors there are perfect for smaller cruise ships. Located on Frederick Sound, it boasts an abundant marine life and is near the summer feeding ground of hundreds of humpback whales and the spectacular LeConte Glacier.

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Day 9: Wrangell

One of the oldest towns in Alaska, Wrangell is located near the mouth of the Stikine River. Much of its history can be seen in the impressive collection of totems scattered throughout the town. Highlights here are the amazing Petroglyph Beach State Historic Park where you can find primitive rock carvings and just 30 miles away is the Anan Wildlife Observatory with the largest pink salmon runs in the Inside Passage, and a platform from which you can look for eagles, harbor seals and black bears.

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Day 10: Prince Rupert

Picturesque Prince Rupert, located on Kaien Island, just north of the mouth of the Skeena River is rich in culture and heritage. Prince Rupert was founded in 1910 on a site that has been inhabited by First Nations people for over 10,000 years. The area is rich with wildlife like whales, eagles, salmon and grizzly bears.

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Day 11: Canadian Inside Passage

Today we cruise the fjords of Canada’s Inside Passage boasting centuries-old coastal rainforests, beaches, waterfalls and mountains. Over 25,000 miles of rugged coastline lie in Canada’s Inside Passage, joining Alaska’s 15,000 miles of inside waters and provides a safe and sheltered West Coast waterway transit. In this isolated wilderness look for coastal First Nations longhouses fronted with proud totems and a variety of marine life, from orcas and porpoises to some of the largest populations of bald eagles in the world.

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Day 12: Vancouver

Vancouver’s location at the mouth of the Fraser River and on the waterways of the Strait of Georgia, Howe Sound, Burrard Inlet and all their tributaries makes this busy seaport an easy place for meeting. It is one of Canada’s most populated, most ethnically diverse cities that is a popular filming location. Visit the interesting neighborhoods of Gastown, Granville Island and Chinatown. Walk across the Capilano Suspension Bridge and stroll through Stanley Park. See the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Museum of Anthropology. There is an amazing variety of things to see and do here.