By
Elizabeth Robinson |
Windstar Cruises is to sail four new cruise tours in Alaska in May 2018, returning to the region for the first time in 20 years.
To be offered on the 212-guest Star Legend, the cruise tours will enable passengers to spend up to 20 days exploring Alaska by land and sea. Highlights will include kayaking, exploring glaciers with experienced glaciologists and marine biologists, and onboard lectures from Windstar’s expeditions experts.
“Our cruise tours coupled with our new Signature Expeditions will take our guests beyond the expected,” said John Delaney, president of Windstar. “Traveling in small groups with more freedom to explore and meet locals eager to share their world and discovering some of the most authentic corners of ‘The Last Frontier’ by small ship are just a few of the spectacular highlights of Windstar’s new cruise tours in Alaska.”
Star Legend’s 18-day ‘Denali and Alaskan Wilderness Cruise Tour’ will take guests from Fairbanks, Alaska to Vancouver, Canada. Guests will spend four days exploring Alaska’s Denali National Park and looking for wildlife, before cruising through Kenai Fjords National Park to spot sea lions, puffins and whales. The voyage continues in Prince Rupert, British Columbia where cruise passengers can take a tour of the old salmon cannery before sailing through the Inside Passage and arriving in Vancouver.
Meanwhile, the 15-day ‘Alaskan Explorations and Denali Cruise Tour’ will start in Vancouver and combine 11 days of cruising with four days on land in Alaska. Highlights will include a cruise through the Canadian Inside Passage, a visit to Ketchikan so guests can see artisans weaving baskets and carving totem poles, a trip to Icy Strait Point for whale-watching opportunities, a stop in Juneau, Kenai Fjords National Park and Seward, where guests will drive to Anchorage. Guests will conclude the tour in Fairbanks.
The ‘Pacific Crossing and Denali Cruise Tour’ from Tokyo, Japan to Fairbanks will enable guests to spend 13 days cruising in the North Pacific and four days onshore in Alaska. The first half of the trip will see guests enjoying Michelin-star restaurants, Kabuki theatre and Sumo wrestling in Tokyo, before continuing on to locations like Kushiro and Miyako. The second half of this trip explores Alaska, beginning in Seward and visiting Kenai Lake, mining town Talkeetna, Denali National Park, before concluding in Fairbanks. Here, guests will take a cruise down the Chena River to learn about the history of the pioneering community and meet champion sled dogs.
Star Legend’s three-week ‘Denali and Aleutians Cruise Tour’ from Fairbanks to Tokyo will enable Windstar’s guests to take a walk through historic downtown Fairbanks, before setting sail on a three-hour Riverboat Discovery cruise exploring an Athabascan village and arriving at Denali National Park for a welcome reception. Denali and Aleutians Cruise Tour also stops in the town of Homer. The remainder of the cruise will take place in Japan.