January 19th, 2012 
Tushar Mathur Alaska is amazing; a stunning, surreal smorgasbord of wild, rolling natural beauty perhaps unsurpassed anywhere else on the planet. It has everything from vast, impenetrable fjords to massive, slow moving ice floes. Mix in dense, unyielding tracts of pine forests. Add in an exhilarating mass of wildlife, from eagles to killer whales, and you have one of the most compelling vistas on show anywhere.
Nothing lets you see Alaska quite like a leisurely, luxurious cruise. Imagine lounging in a hot tub and savouring the shimmering Alaskan midnight sun, with a glass of champagne in your hand. Disembark at ports where the spirit of the Klondike is etched into every wooden frame and piece of timber, or soar in a seaplane above sun dappled expanses of pine. Look again- that might well have been a grizzly bear trudging gamely through the firs, heading towards the stream.
Savour freshly baked Alaskan salmon, newly caught and landed on your dinner table that same night. Take in the sight of enormous, impassive glaciers as the sun turns them a million different shades of arctic blue as they head out to sea like fleets of ghostly galleons.
Bask on your balcony in the shimmering glow of an endless summer night while eagles soar above you in the twilight. You might even catch the sight of vast blue whales breasting the glass still surface of the ocean, before their tails throw up fountains of spray with a resounding smack. Only a cruise ship allows you to see so much of this mesmerising landscape in such a short space of time, and from such a fantastic vantage point.
Adventures ashore are as rich and rewarding as the promise of ancient Alaskan gold. Hike through stunning tracts of magnificent rolling greenery, carpeted with amazing patchwork floral quilts. Take a kayak out into a still, stunning fjord and get up close and personal to a massive iceberg, reflected to mirror like perfection in the sea around you.
Alaska cruise tours give you the opportunity to explore amazing, cutting edge cities like Vancouver and cosmopolitan Seattle, and contrast their thrilling, space age architecture with the raw, rolling power of Mother Nature at her most extreme, colourful and vibrant.
From your ship you might see polar bears lunging into the sea as they attempt to catch the salmon heading upstate to spawn in the long summer days. The temperatures often come as a surprise; many people go home with a suntan gained from an hour or so spent gold prospecting ashore.
Like a fabulous floating feast for the senses, your cruise ship moves the scenery for you every day. Clapboard houses line spindly wooden piers that jut out into the pine fringed fjords. Seabirds wheel and circle like dive bombers as they swoop down on unsuspecting fish below.
From graceful cities to idly grazing Caribou, an will fill your days and nights with a sense of deep, profound awe and wonder that is simply priceless. Grand, raw and unforgettable, it is an adventure you will savour forever.
Written by Antony Nicolas for The Cruise Line, one of the leading retailers of luxury cruises in the UK.
