Highlights

Prices Per Person:

Rates vary with sail date – call your sales representative for pricing!!

2024 Dates:

June 5, June 12, July 10, July 31, August 7, & August 28

2025 Dates:

May 21, June 15, July 16, and August 13  More dates may be available! Call for more information.

Add a Tour Meal Plan.  Includes: 3 breakfasts, 1 lunch, and 2 dinners.

Itinerary

Day 1 – Anchorage, AK – Arrive in Anchorage and get settled in your hotel for an overnight stay.  You might enjoy getting out and seeing shops, restaurants, and cultural attractions of this metropolitan city.

Day 2 – Mt McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge – A scenic drive between the two lodges culminates incredible views of Denali, and with your arrival at the McKinley Princess Lodge, a relaxing haven in one of the most dazzling settings imaginable.  Sit and gaze at the majesty of “The Great One” from the lodge’s treehouse designed and built by Pete nelson of Animal Planet’s “Treehouse Masters”.  Hear stories about climbing Denali in the Hudson Theater or roast a marshmallow at the fireside patio.

Day 3 – Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge – You have a full day to get out into one of America’s best national parks.  This afternoon, a Natural History Tour serves as a wonderful introduction to the animals, plants, and geological features found there.  This evening would be a great night to book the Dinner of Denali Music Theater that takes place in the Lodge.

Day 4 – Whittier – After a morning enjoying the vistas, you’ll transfer to the historic town of Talkeetna to board the exclusive Direct to the Wilderness Rail for the journey to Whittier and the awaiting Princess cruise ship.  Upon arrival into Whittier, board the Grand Princess and set sail this evening for you southbound Alaska cruise.

Day 5 – Hubbard Glacier Scenic Cruising – Nicknamed the “Galloping Glacier,” this east Alaskan glacier is rapidly advancing toward the Gulf of Alaska into a pristine area known as Disenchantment Bay. In fact, its movement temporarily formed a natural dam that twice closed off nearby Russell Fjord from the bay, but the intense water pressure building within the fjord-turned-lake has thus far been enough to explode through the wall of ice.

The largest tidewater glacier in North America, Hubbard Glacier measures 76 miles long and plunges 1,200 feet into the depths of the bay. Its immense beauty and phenomenal blue hues are enchanting, even from afar. But it’s when your cruise ship draws closer that its towering surface really impresses, dwarfing even the uppermost deck on your ship at a whopping 40 stories high. There, with the snowcapped mountains serving as a glorious backdrop, you’ll have a prime viewing spot from which to witness the glacier calving, as it often expels icebergs the size of 10-story buildings-imagine the splash!

The area around Hubbard Glacier is also renowned for its wildlife, where whales, harbor seals and otters swim, brown bears, moose and black-tailed deer roam ashore, and a wide variety of seabirds soar gracefully across the sky.

Day 6 – Glacier Bay National Park Scenic Cruising – Princess Cruises is one of a select few cruise lines permitted to cruise the pristine waters of Glacier Bay, the highlight of your cruise. Just west of Juneau, this breathtaking national park and preserve boasts some of the world’s most spectacular tidewater glaciers, such as Margerie Glacier, which often drops colossal chunks of ice into the sea. Not surprisingly, Glacier Bay National Park and its epic ice giants are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising Alaska’s magnificent park system.

During your scenic cruise, friendly Park Rangers will join the ship to share their knowledge of this amazing place and host a fun Junior Ranger program for kids. They may even be able to help you identify Glacier Bay’s abundant wildlife, including humpback whales, sea otters, porpoises, harbor seals, black bears, mountain goats, bald eagles and large colonies of seabirds.

Take in the awe-inspiring scenery as you enjoy an unforgettable day of sailing through this dazzling park, where you’ll glide along emerald waters and past calving icebergs, and can breathe in the crisp, fresh air to your heart’s content.

Day 7 – Skagway – Skagway was the gateway to the gold fields for the thousands who flocked to Alaska and the Yukon with the hope of striking it rich. Skagway may have boasted the shortest route to the Klondike, but it wasn’t the easiest.  Over 100 years ago, the White Pass route through the Coast Mountains and the shorter but steeper Chilkoot Trail were used by countless stampeders. Many a would-be miner perished on the treacherous Chilkoot Trail.

The gold rush was a boon and by 1898, Skagway was Alaska’s largest town with a population of about 20,000. Hotels, saloons, dance halls and gambling houses prospered. But when the gold yield dwindled in 1900, so did the population as miners quickly shifted to new finds in Nome.  Today, Skagway has less than 1,000 residents. It still retains the flavor of the gold rush era.

Day 8 – Juneau – In 1880, it was slow going for Joe Juneau and Richard Harris as they searched for gold with the help of Native guides. After climbing mountains, forging streams and facing countless difficulties, they found nuggets “as large as beans.”

From their discovery came three of the largest gold mines in the world. By the end of World War II, 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. Its total area makes it one of the biggest towns, in size, in the world. Only Kiruna, Sweden, and Sitka, Alaska, exceed Juneau’s 3,248 square miles.

Today Juneau is famous not only for gold and government but also for its breathtakingly beautiful glaciers and stunning views of both water and mountains.

Day 9 – Ketchikan – Ketchikan is known as Alaska’s “First City” because it’s the first major community travelers come to as they journey north. Located on an island, Ketchikan began life as an Indian fishing camp. The name Ketchikan comes from a Tlingit phrase that means “eagle with spread-out wings,” a reference to a waterfall near town.  In the early 1900s, when gold was Alaska’s claim to fame, fishing and timber industries were established in Ketchikan. The growth of these industries helped make this Inside Passage port Alaska’s fourth-largest city.

You will be intrigued by its rich Native heritage, which includes the world’s oldest collection of totem poles at Totem Heritage Center. The Haida, Tlingit and Tsimshian are all a part of the city’s colorful history. Ketchikan, with its abundance of salmon, is also a sportfishing paradise. Sightseers will be impressed with both the scenic town and its surroundings, especially Misty Fjords National Monument.

Day 10 – Day At Sea – The last full day of your cruise will be spent sailing the Inside Passage.  Take your binoculars and camera and grab a chair on the deck or in the Sky Lounge and watch the wildlife and glaciers as you float by.

Day 11 – Vancouver & Depart for Home – This morning, bid the Grand Princess farewell as you disembark. Princess Cruises will provide transportation back to the airport for you journey home.