Itinerary

Day 1 - Arrive Juneau Alaska Embark Ship
Fly from Seattle to Juneau. See the Alaska State Museum and visit the Mendenhall Glacier with your Naturalists - an excellent introduction to the expedition staff and Alaska's natural history and indigenous culture. Settle into your cabin before dinner. Later, explore the port of Juneau on your own.

Accommodations: National Geographic Sea Bird or Sea Lion
Included Meals: dinner

Day 2 - Tracy Arm & Ford's Terror Wilderness
Voyage into Tracey or Endicott Arm, both spectacular fjords, with waterfalls cascading from glacially carved walls. See the soaring Dawes or South Sawyer Glacier up close and take a Zodiac cruise for an unbeatable view of sculpted icebergs. Keep an eye our for harbor seals and porpoises, Arctic terns and Bonaparte gulls.

Accommodations: National Geographic Sea Bird or Sea Lion
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 3 - Petersburg
Humpback whales blowing their spouts in the morning light are often spotted as we head toward Le Conte Bay, a virtual sculpture garden of grounded icebergs. Weather permitting, you’ll have the opportunity to kayak amid the ice. Or take advantage of the opportunity for an optional bike ride or flightseeing trip via float plane or helicopter over nearby Le Conte Glacier. Or for hikes on forest trails, accompanied by our natural history staff.
Around lunchtime, head in to the small town of Petersburg on Mitkof Island, our nimble ship slipping into the small harbor bustling with fishing activity and boats of all kinds — trawlers, purse seiners, gill-netters and more. Once docked, you’re free to explore the town, noticing the traditional floral painting called rosemaling that decorates the tidy homes and store fronts. The evening includes a visit from a local fishing family with their interesting stories of life in Petersburg. The ship remains at the dock until we’re called to dinner, featuring the catch of the day — perhaps fresh dungeness crab. Then, the lines are released and make our way out of the harbor into the star-studded Alaskan night.

Accommodations: National Geographic Sea Bird or Sea Lion
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 4 - Frederick Sound and Chatham Strait
These waters are prime areas for both killer whales and humpback whales. It is also fertile ground for the majestic bald eagle which you may see keeping watch atop a tall spruce. As for whales, it’s not uncommon here to see schools of up to 30 humpbacks or orcas. Observe their fascinating behavior — breaching, tail-slapping and variations on feeding — as we fill the deck, delighting in their activities and listening to the play-by-play from our expert naturalists, while our skilled Captain and crew keep us in perfect proximity. We may also see sea lions hauled out and dozing. Once ashore, take the opportunity to walk along a quiet forest trail, accompanied by our naturalists. The still waters are excellent for kayaking, offering another option for appreciating this area close up.

Accommodations: National Geographic Sea Bird or Sea Lion
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 5 - Point Adophus & Inian Pass
No need to wait to start seeing the animals you’ve come to Alaska to view since our day begins on the waters off Point Adolphus, a favored feeding area for humpback whales. The benefits of small ship cruising will be immediately apparent as you get your first exposure to the advantages of our nimble ship. Keep watch on deck and you may find yourself rushing to the side as a pod of whales begins feeding right off our port or starboard bow. Listen with awe as our naturalist lowers the hydrophone so you're not only watching the whales, you are hearing their communications. A sense of wonder pervades. When questions come up, as they surely will, our marine mammal expert can tell you everything you want to know and more. After some thrilling whale watching, you’ll cruise the Inian Pass looking for playful sea otters.

Accommodations: National Geographic Sea Bird or Sea Lion
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 6 - Glacier Bay National Park
Spend the entire day amidst the coves, fjords, tidewater glaciers, freshwater lakes and majestic mountains of Glacier Bay National Park — one of the best places on earth to observe the ebb and flow of glaciers. Here, accompanied by a National Park Ranger who gives us up-to-the-minute information about this ever-changing environment, you’ll see glaciers that end abruptly at the water’s edge and observe them “calving” — tons of ice crashing into the sea — accompanied by an exhilarating thunderous sound. Mountain goats scaling the peaks, harbor seals and Steller's sea lions are some of the creatures we may observe in these icy waters. These sea lions are a threatened species — although the population in Southeast Alaska is still robust, elsewhere in Alaska their population has declined almost 80% in the last 30 years.

Look up during the day and chances are, the sky will be filled with soaring sea birds. If you’ve never seen a puffin, you may have the opportunity to see not only one kind, but two: the tufted and the horned puffin. As you observe them flying to and from their nests, you’ll find the puffin to be both clumsy and graceful at the same time. Designed for underwater fishing, they paddle and flap their way into the air, then make a quick dive below the surface. A visit to Tidal Inlet may bring the sight of brown bears lumbering up the hillside. If the timing is right, a bear and her cub may be playing in the water. With our engines idling as to be as unobtrusive as possible, watch their interactions, knowing the cub will be on its own by the same time next year.

Accommodations: National Geographic Sea Bird or Sea Lion
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 7 - Southeast Alaska's Islands Bays and Fjords
Today, nature is our guide as we set forth without a specific plan. Stop at an isolated beach, where the tide pooling and beach combing are good and there are forest trails to walk. The landscape is often colored with swaths of wildflowers with names as curious as the flower’s ability to grow here: silverweed, chocolate lily, nagoonberry and cow parsnip. Maybe do some small ship cruising along the shoreline of Admiralty Island, where the massive brown bear is found. Later, as you walk on one of the many islands in the area, keep an eye out for old bear tracks worn into the soil as you move from forest to meadow. This area is home to the highest density of nesting bald eagles in the world, so sightings are very common. If conditions permit, enjoy some kayaking, always watching for marine and terrestrial life.

Accommodations: National Geographic Sea Bird or Sea Lion
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 8 - Sitka Disembarkation and Seattle
After breakfast disembark in Sitka, southeastern Alaska’s only oceanfront town. In the native Tlingit language, Sitka means the village behind the island and it has been home to various cultures for thousands of years. When visiting here, one can’t help but wonder about the ways in which cultures survive, passing down their characteristics from generation to generation.

Often, as you enter the harbor channel, dozens of bald eagles soar high above. This town has a strong Russian heritage, so readily apparent as you visit St. Michael’s Russian Orthodox Church with its onion domes. Gaze up at the grand totem poles that line the wooded trails through Sitka National Historic Park, and at the Raptor Rehabilitation Center, come face-to-face with bald eagles, hawks, falcons and owls. Sitka’s oceanfront setting is dominated by the volcanic peak of Mount Edgecumbe and surrounded by a string of small islands. The crystalline waters of Sitka Bay abound with sea stars and translucent moon jellyfish. After our visit, drive to the airport, just five minutes from town, for our afternoon flight to Seattle, arriving in the early evening.

Accommodations: n/a
Included Meals: breakfast

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