Helicopter Tour News

An Alaska cruise is probably the best way to experience all that the beautiful state of Alaska has to offer. You'll travel in luxury, and enjoy the best in onboard amenities. Many cruise ships offer amazing staterooms that are complete with television, DVD player, and fully stocked bar. You'll also have access to great entertainment, fine dining, world class spas and gyms, children's activities and daycares, stores and shops galore, and more!

Even though the ship itself is like a floating vacation, let's not forget about the point of an Alaska cruise. On one of these cruises, you'll see the majesty that is Alaska. Marvel at giant glaciers and breathtaking mountains. There are day tours you can take that involve adventures like sightseeing via helicopter or white water rafting. You'll have the opportunity to go inland and experience the history and culture of Alaska through museums and heritage centers.

An Alaska cruise gives you the opportunity for lots of fun and adventure. You can fish, hike, kayak, and more! You'll see wildlife like the brown bear, caribou, bald eagle, moose, wolf, puffin, and sea otter, to name a few!

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The vast bulk of tourism in Juneau (as well as Alaska as a whole) comes from the cruise ship industry. The inherent difficulty in reaching these destinations is probably the initial reason for this, as well as the attraction, for many, to traveling in a floating hotel one doesn’t need to check in or out of. Simply the sight of these cruise ships in port in Juneau is an odd thing. The small downtown section of the city hugs the sea to one side and two large mountains to the other. When the cruise ships are there they seem to dwarf the whole city, their height as tall, or taller, than the largest buildings. When there are four or five ships in on the same day (something the local paper keeps track of daily on the front page), the amount of people in the city doubles, or more. One would think, then, that the small city would seem over-run by tourists - but it isn’t. Most cruise ship tourists only trek along a strip of souvenir shops by the dock, are bused to helicopter tours of the glacier or day fishing expeditions. Very few rent cars, though Juneau is technically quite spaced out (until recently, I believe, it was the largest municipality in the country in terms of area - about the size of Delaware or Rhode Island). Many simply never even get off the boat, and the ones that do get off the boat are often dressed in identical, cruise ship-issued rain ponchos (even on bright, sunny days) - a very odd sight. Certainly, therefore, they are clearly set apart from the ‘locals’ by almost every stretch of the imagination.

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6. Soaking up the History - Alaska's unique culture has roots from as far away as Russia and France and as close as the natives who still live there today. Participate in a blanket toss, attend an authentic Eskimo crafts festival, learn how to carve your own totem pole, browse the intricate Russian iconography, or visit the many cultural and historical museums.

7. Sight-seeing by Air - "Flight-seeing", as it's called, has become an enormously popular way to explore some of the less accessible parts of the Alaskan wilderness. Helicopter tours are available everywhere, taking you to the peaks of glaciers. Or you can charter one of the country's many "bush pilots" for a tour in a small aircraft that's just right for getting into and out of the dense wilderness.

8. Bike Tours - A great way to see the sights and keep fit at the same time, while not being as strenuous as a day hike or a river raft. Alaskan bicycle tours are organized around a theme, which may be to explore points of interest related to the gold rush or visit places important to Alaskan native heritage.

9. Whale Watching - Whales are the largest life forms on our planet, and they're all only too happy to come up for a picture in Alaska. Until you've experienced it, you can't imagine how thrilling it is to be right next to a creature so massive that its tail fins are bigger than your car.

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