Small Ship ALASKA CRUISES

You’ll enjoy the company of eight onboard experts for the full length of your voyage. You can casually ask questions and visit with these authorities on marine biology, botany, history, glaciology, and more whenever your curiosity is aroused. In addition to scheduled presentations and getting to know our guests’ interests better, they lead small groups on hikes and on expeditions by kayak and Zodiac — sometimes launching straight from our yacht in remote places like Misty Fjords and Kenai Fjord where this type of excursion is rare and requires guests to go ashore first. That’s the intimate and engaging experience you get on a Windstar Signature Expedition.

FOLLOW SILENT DEER PATHS through lush coastal forest, find rivers churning with spawning salmon, and spot mountain goats perched precariously on mountain ledges the size of a quarter. Go where cities give way to tiny native villages and close-knit frontier communities. Cruise the cliff-walled fjords of Kenai Fjords listening for the “white thunder” of glaciers calving into nutrient-rich water, and idle off Point Adolphus watching humpback whales breach. From the lush island scenery of the Inside Passage to the wildlife-rich wilderness of Denali National Park, this is the Alaska you came to see.

Visit small and less-visited ports of call like Wrangell and Haines. Get closer to the twin Sawyer Glaciers on our yacht, which can navigate further up the narrow fjord.

This humble port city was once the capital of Russian America, and was where the official transfer of Alaska took place in 1867. Explore the Russian and Tlingit cultures that influenced its growth, capture an iconic photo of the Russian Orthodox church, or head to the Alaska Raptor Center for a close-up look at bald eagles and other birds of prey.

Alaska is awesome from any angle, but it’s especially amazing from the sky. Flying high above Juneau in your helicopter it’s all laid out like a quilt below you: The green velvet of Tongass National Forest, the white Juneau Ice Field, blue Gastineau Channel and Taku River. Landing at Taku Point, board a covered airboat for an exhilarating ride along the edge of Taku Glacier within an arm’s reach of the ice. Then it’s back to your helicopter for an effortless climb and landing on top of the glacier.