Here are a few articles about our Company and Alaska cruises and cruisetours.

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Travel scene: ALASKA The view is nothing but gorgeous
  Rochester Post-Bulletin - Minnesota
  Bob Retzlaff travel editor of the Post-Bulletin.
 
  March 14, 2010
 

  Alaska cruising continues to grow as a popular option for summer travel, but apparently at a slower pace than in the past several years.

  Cruises to the Last Frontier -- particularly through the scenic Inland Passage region along Alaska's southeastern coast -- have nearly quadrupled from 1990 to 2007, with double-digit growth the rule rather than the exception.
 
  This season, or so it appears, will find growth only in the 1 percent to 3 percent range, said officials of the Alaska Travel Industry Association in an interview in Travel Weekly.
 
  Local travel agents -- representing Bursch Travel and AAA Travel -- agree with this trend despite the fact that more than a dozen large and small cruise lines will ply Alaska's waters in 2010, and more itineraries and port stops are being offered than ever before.
 
  The number of cruisers who sailed to Alaska last year was just over a million, as compared to 235,000 in 1990, and that level of increase has been unmatched by any cruising region in the world.
 
  Donna Hoehne, an agent with Rochester AAA Travel, said that while cruise sales to Alaska are "not as high as usual," business overall for summer trips remains "very high."
 
  Group travel for Alaska cruises is "about normal," she said, with AAA's sponsored trip in August likely to attract some 30 to 40 persons, as usual. "Individual bookings are not as high as usual, though," she said.
 
  Similar results were noted by B.J. Peterson, manager of Bursch Travel here. "While some persons are booking cruises to Alaska, many others seem to be traveling elsewhere," she noted.
 
  Many of the large and small cruise lines that will be cruising in Alaskan waters this summer will offer combination land and sea options -- which are our favorites. We've cruised to Alaska four times and are convinced that the best ways to enjoy the landscapes and wilderness are to see them from both ship and shore.
 
  Giant Holland America and Princess lines together attract 90 percent of all passengers to Alaska and offer the majority of cruises and tours there.
 
  There are enough options with other lines to make your head spin, notes an article in the Chicago Tribune. All told, there are a handful of ships with capacities of less than 100 passengers, including a paddlewheeler, while dozens of vessels carry well over 2,000.
 
  The larger ships offer a host of amenities, dining options and entertainment, while smaller vessels go places where the bigger ships can't.
 
  "Smaller ships get closer to the glaciers and the wildlife," said Marty Trencher, owner of Travel Direct and Alaska Cruisetours, a 9-year-old national firm specializing in vacations to Alaska, to the Tribune.
 
  Depending on the cruise line, the itinerary and the shore excursions you choose, you can explore any one of 14 national parks and wilderness areas, the most noteworthy of which is Denali National Park, between Anchorage and Fairbanks.
 
  There are several unusual shore excursions or land trips that can be found only in Alaska, such as fishing off a seaplane from Ketchikan or Juneau, river rafting on the Haines or Skeena Rivers, joining a back-country safari or visiting massive Denali and towering Mt. McKinley.
 
  Our favorite off-beat trips include a helicopter ride to a glacier with a champagne toast on arrival and another helicopter trip to a dog-training camp, again to a glacier miles in the interior.
 
  Some travel experts point out that there is a downside to Alaska's popularity -- pricing. "There are no real bargains in Alaska as there are in the Caribbean," Trencher told the Chicago Tribune. On average, he said, a 13-day cruise tour in a balcony cabin on a larger ship will run about $2,700 per-person in the shoulder season (May or September) to about $3,000 in peak season. Pricing doesn't include air fares.
 
  In this writer's opinion, the cost is well worth it. We'll likely be sponsoring another Alaska cruise ourselves in the future -- not this summer, though -- since that region has a lot to offer.

  Book Alaska cruises early, ships are crowded
  Passengers think first of the last frontier
 
  Alaska cruises gaining in popularity
 
  Tourism sizzles on the "Last Frontier"
 
  Passengers, cruise lines love Alaska
 
  Alaska cruises are heating up

  BY ARLINE BLEECKER AND SAM BLEECKER
  January 20, 2010

 as read in these newspapers....
 
  Newsday
  Pittsburgh Post- Gazette
  Wichita Eagle
  Kentucky Star
  Alaska Magazine
  Winnipeg Free Press
 
  February 10, 2010
 
  Chicago Tribune
 
  March 01, 2010
 
  Orange Country Register ( California )
  Hartford Courant
 
  March 02, 2010
 
  Sydney Morning Herald
  South Florida Sun Sentinel
  Orlando Sentinel
 
  May 17, 2010
 
  Arkansas Democrat
  The Buffalo News
  ____________________________
 
  Alaska is hot.
  If that sounds counterintuitive, hang onto your mittens!
 
  As a tourist destination, the last frontier sizzles and, consequently, space aboard the flotilla of ships that call the 49th state home from May through September fill quickly.
 
  In the 17 years from 1990 to 2007, for example, the number of cruisers who've sailed there has nearly quadrupled from 235,000 to a tad more than a million, says Marty Trencher, owner and managing director of Travel Direct and Alaska Cruisetours Online, a 9-year-old firm specializing in vacations to the "Last Frontier."
 
  In total, a dozen large and small cruise lines will ply Alaska's waters in 2010 -- Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Carnival Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Cruise West, American Safari Cruises, Lindblad Expeditions, Majestic America Line, and Silversea Cruises.
 
  According to Trencher, Holland America and Princess together attract 90 percent of all passengers to Alaska and offer the majority of cruises and tours to this wilderness landscape.
 
  But there's more to Alaska cruising than just these two lines.
 
  Alaska is awash with "so many possibilities, so many ways to travel," Trencher says, that any vacation "requires research, research and more research," he advises.
 
  In fact, there are enough options to make your head spin. You can narrow your options by choosing from a handful of ships with less than a hundred passengers, including a paddlewheeler, to dozens of vessels that carry well over 2,000.
 
  The players sometimes change and a few lines occasionally play musical chairs with their vessels. Princess, for instance, adds the 2,600-passenger Star Princess to its Alaska flotilla this year as well as introduces its 670-passenger Tahiti Princess to the region, proving that even mass-market lines can have a small-ship offering. Silversea Cruises' 382-passenger Silver Shadow returns to the 49th state and Cruise West's 102-passenger Spirit of Nantucket (renamed the Spirit of Glacier Bay) joins the line's Alaska lineup.
 
  The larger ships offer a host of amenities, dining options, entertainments and "the excitement of crowds, which is impossible on smaller vessels," Trencher notes. On the other hand, "small ships go places where big ships can't. They get closer to the glaciers and the wildlife," he adds.
 
  Keep in mind, too, that you're not really seeing Alaska unless you step off the ship and get up close and personal with the wilderness.
 
  Here the possibilities seem endless.
 
  Most cruise ships not only sail Alaska's Inside Passage, featuring sailing in either Glacier Bay or Sawyer Glacier, but also visit quaint ports teeming with people (although many of those people will be cruise passengers pouring off of cruise ships) such as Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, Wrangell and Skaway, and lesser known stops like Petersburg. Essentially, these ports are gateways to snow-capped mountains and glacier riddled bays and to wilderness adventures that include whale watching, bear sighting, and bald eagle spotting.
 
  Depending on the cruise line, the itinerary and the shore excursions you choose, you also can explore any one of 14 national parks and wilderness areas, including Kenai Fjords, Gates of the Arctic, Klondike (Skagway), Wrangell-St. Elias and Sitka national parks, plus the Klondike Historic Site (Dawson City), Yukon Charley National Preserve, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Misty Fjords National Monument and Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge.
 
  To capitalize on the majesty of the state, many lines also offer cruisetours, which let you augment your cruise with a land stay. Holland America, for instance, offers vacation packages combining 3- or 4-night cruises with 6-, 8-, or 9-day land tours. In all, Holland America has 29 distinct cruisetours ranging from 10 to 20 days and Princess offers 24 ranging from 10 to 16. Celebrity, Regent and Royal Caribbean also offer escorted land tours, Trencher notes.
 
  According to Trencher the most unusual shore excursions are fishing off a float plane from Ketchikan or Juneau, river rafting on the Haines or Skeena Rivers, a backcountry safari and a visit to Denali Park, dog sledding without snow and on wheels in Whittier, and heli hiking, where passengers are flown by helicopter to a mountain top around Mt. McKinley and then hike down.
 
  The list doesn't end there, however. You can trek glaciers, take a mile-long zipline-canopy tour at Icy Strait Point, Klondike rock climb or rappel in Skagway, canoe or kayak almost anywhere, and even go underwater in semi-submersibles. In Campbell River, Regent passengers can accompany an authentic Alaskan mail floatplane making deliveries.
 
  There is a downside to popularity, however. Because of the state's allure, Trencher warns "There are no real bargains in Alaska as there are in the Caribbean."
 
  "Alaska is a once-in-a-lifetime vacation and high priced," he says. On average a 13-day cruise tour in a balcony cabin on a larger ship will run around $2,700 per person without airfare on the season's shoulders (May or September) and about $3,000 in peak season.
 
  But book early and some deals emerge. For example, Norwegian sails three ships (Norwegian Pearl, Norwegian Star and Norwegian Sun) at published fares ranging from $729 to $1,399 per person, based on double occupancy, for an inside stateroom. Prices drop dramatically if you book early and range from $599 to $699 for lower category accommodations. An early booking special from Holland America will take you on a 7-day Glacier Discovery cruise for $549. Carnival's 7-day Glacier Bay cruises start at $879.
 
  Of course, luxury comes at a price. Step up the gangway on Regent's Seven Seas Mariner and you'll lighten your wallet by $4,195 to $16,750 for 7-, 8- or 11-day cruises sailing between Seward, Alaska and Vancouver, B.C.