\u2022 Calving<\/strong> – When enormous chunks of ice break off from a glacier, it’s called calving or white thunder. The chunks are icebergs. One iceberg is as big as the state of Rhode Island, however, not all are that large. You can learn about an iceberg from its color. White has lots of bubbles inside, blue is very dense, greenish-black may be from a glacier bottom, and darkly-striped carry debris from the glacier.<\/p>\n \u2022 Cruise First, Land First, Northbound, Southbound<\/strong> – There are options when taking a cruise tour. Cruise First is when you take the cruise first followed by the land portion. Land First means the land portion of the vacation comes first and is followed by the cruise. Northbound cruises originate in the U.S. or Vancouver and sail one way north to Anchorage or Seward. Southbound refers to cruises departing from Anchorage or Seward and traveling south to Vancouver or U.S. ports.<\/p>\n \u2022 Cruisetour (cruise + land or land + cruise)<\/strong> – Cruisetours are very popular combination vacation packages. A portion of your vacation is a cruise, and the other portion allows you more time on land to explore destinations.<\/p>\n \u2022 Fjord<\/strong> – A fjord is a long and narrow by bordered by steep cliffs. Glacier erosion is believed to be responsible for their formation.<\/p>\n \u2022 Flightsee<\/strong> – You might want to take a flightsee which is a tour on a small plane or helicopter. These flights allow passengers to see vast areas of mountain ranges, glaciers, and wilderness.<\/p>\n \u2022 Floatplane\/Seaplane<\/strong> – These two planes are the same and have floats allowing them to take off and land on water. Most flightsee planes fall into this category.<\/p>\n \u2022 Glacier<\/strong> – Glaciers are slow-moving rivers of ice that accumulate from the compaction of snow on mountains. They may move only inches or feet per year.<\/p>\n \u2022 Glass-Domed Traincar<\/strong> – These double-decker train cars have panoramic domed windows on the upper level and a dining room and open-air viewing platform. Each cruise line operates their own train cars.<\/p>\n \u2022 Tour Guide<\/strong> – Expert tour guides, such as provided by Princess Cruises, can answer all your Alaska questions.<\/p>\n \u2022 Guided Tours<\/strong> – A guided tour is when a group of travelers chooses to take a tour with their own guide. The group remains together until the tour is completed.<\/p>\n \u2022 Wrangell-St. EliasHeli-Hiking<\/strong> – Your exciting hike experience begins when your helicopter transportation drops you off at a remote hiking area. It will return later to pick you up.<\/p>\n \u2022 Iditarod Dogs<\/strong> – These dogs are the huskies that compete in the Iditarod race in March of each year. Starting in downtown Anchorage, the race runs for 1,049 miles. The Iditarod dogs train year-round and can be visited during cruise season.<\/p>\n \u2022 Inside Passage<\/strong> – The Inside Passage is a coastal route for oceangoing vessels along with a network of passages that weave through the islands on the Pacific coast of North America. Alaska’s portion extends 500 miles from north to south and 100 miles from east to west and runs from Seattle WA to Alaska, passing through islands in Washington, British Columbia, and southeastern Alaska. The Alaska Inside Passage runs between Ketchikan and Skagway with 1500 miles of shoreline and thousands of islands, coves, and bays.<\/p>\n \u2022 Klondike Gold Rush Country<\/strong> – In the three years between 1896 and 1899 over 100,000 prospectors migrated to the Klondike region of the Yukon. It was a hard journey to the remote area and somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 finally arrived. Four thousand of them struck gold. Dawson City was the largest of the boomtowns, but once the gold was mined out, the town was abandoned and moved on to Nome when gold was discovered there.<\/p>\n Check out our guide to Alaska cruises here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n \u2022 Klondike Highway<\/strong> – This highway follows the original route created by the stampede of miners during the gold rush. The highway runs from Skagway to Dawson City in the Yukon. It’s called Yukon Highway 2 in Canada and Alaska Route 98 in Alaska.<\/p>\n \u2022 Mt. McKinley<\/strong> – Mt. McKinley is also known as Denali. It’s the highest mountain peak in North America and is located in Alaska in the Denali National Park. Its summit towers at 20,237 feet.<\/p>\n \u2022 Motorcoach or Coach<\/strong> – The motorcoach is a comfortable luxury bus for transporting passengers to and from their ship for shore excursions, cruise tours, and vacation packages. Snacks and beverages are provided.<\/p>\n \u2022 Aurora Borealis<\/strong> – Also known as the Northern Lights, the Aurora Borealis displays an amazing light show in the sky. The best time to see is when night hours are the longest, such s in September.<\/p>\n \u2022 Port\/Port of Call<\/strong> – The port stops where passengers can disembark and explore the destination. Cruises (depending on length) may have several ports of call.<\/p>\n \u2022 Scenic Cruising<\/strong> – When scenic cruising is listed on your itinerary, your ship will be sailing through the Inside Passage, a bay, or fjord on the way to its next destination. Amazing views of glaciers, cliffs, and marine life can be expected. Keep your camera handy.<\/p>\n \u2022 Shore (Optional) Excursion<\/strong> – You can book a shore or optional excursion at any time as long as it has not filled up. The excursion generally includes guides, transportation, and any required fees. Reserve early as popular excursions sells out first.<\/p>\n \u2022 Juneau, Alaska Tram<\/strong> – This is commonly a gondola ride up the side of a mountain, transporting skiers in the winter months. During the summer, visitors ride the tram for fantastic views.<\/p>\n \u2022 Transfer<\/strong> – Your transfer may be a luxurious motor coach or a comfortable van depending on group size. It will be stated when your transfer is included in the price of a tour. For a reasonable fee, you can also add a transfer from the airport to your cruise ship to be sure you arrive on time.<\/p>\n \u2022 Viewing Decks<\/strong> – Viewing Decks are public areas on the cruise ship where passengers can enjoy spectacular views.<\/p>\n \u2022 Train from White Pass to Skagway Alaska White Pass & Yukon Route Railway<\/strong> – Created during the Klondike Gold Rush, the train is now used for tourists. It’s one of the most popular shore excursions for all ages.<\/p>\n \u2022 Yukon<\/strong> – Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon, a wilderness region in northwest Canada.<\/p>\n \u2022 Zip Lining<\/strong> – A zip line is a stainless-steel rope that is mounted on an incline for a suspended, hanging, free-flowing ride across forests, canyons or rivers. The ZipRider at Icy Strait Point holds the record for the longest zip line stretching one mile long with a 1,150-foot vertical drop. The six side-by-side cables allow entire groups to fly at the same time. The SuperFly in Whistler is Canada’s newest long course, almost one mile long, with six tandem lines as well.<\/p>\n Discover even more about Alaska cruises in part 2 of our Alaska cruise guide.<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Call us at 1.888.804.CRUISE (2784)<\/a> to book your Alaska cruise. As with every cruise we book, we’ll get you the very best deals and discounts available with no charge ever for our services. We can answer all your questions, book plane flights (when needed), hotels, your cruise, excursions, and more. Our job is to lessen your workload, save you money and time, eliminate guesswork, and give you more time to enjoy your amazing cruise. We can help you with all your cruise-related questions, and we love doing it.<\/p>\n Visit our webpage at CruiseExperts.com<\/a><\/u>, and check out our <\/strong>Facebook page<\/a> <\/strong>and join the <\/strong>InnerCircle<\/a><\/strong> for exclusive offers. Our <\/strong>Resource Center<\/a> <\/strong>gives you all the “expert” knowledge you’ll need for your next cruise or cruise tour!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Learning proper cruise terminology before your cruise can help ensure you optimize your cruising activities. Are you planning an Alaska cruise soon? There is some cruise terminology that you should learn before you go. Understanding cruise ship lingo will you enjoy your Alaska vacation all the more. We’ve put together a glossary of cruise terminology … What Cruise Terminology Should I Learn Before My Alaska Cruise?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55685,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,30],"tags":[98,2079,2078],"class_list":["post-55684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alaska","category-informative","tag-alaska-cruise","tag-cruise-ship-lingo","tag-cruise-terminology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"alaska](\"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/alaska-cruise-200x200.avif "\\"alaska")
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