Alaska Discovery 5 Star Cruise

This narrow fjord is located approximately 50 miles southeast of Juneau and is part of the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness area. Breathtaking Endicott Arm extends over 30 miles long, with nearly one-fifth of its area covered in ice. At the head of the fjord, tidewater glaciers, such as the Dawes Glacier, regularly expel enormous chunks of ice into the waters below in a magnificent process known as calving. During the summer when Princess ships visit, icebergs float along the surface of the glistening water in an array of sizes, from just a few inches up to three stories wide.

Protected within the Tongass National Forest, Endicott Arm is a haven for wildlife. Black and brown bears, deer, wolves, harbor seals, mountain goats and a variety of seabirds have been spotted in the area.

As you glide through the pristine fjord, you’ll first pass by a lush forest where a number of beautiful waterfalls cascade down, and then you’ll be treated to views of snowcapped mountains and blue-tinged glaciers more spectacular than you could ever imagine.

Juneau is the capital of contrasts and conflicts. It borders a waterway that never freezes but lies beneath an ice field that never melts. It was the first community in the Southeast to slap a head tax on cruise-ship passengers but still draws more than a million a year. It’s the state capital but since the 1980s Alaskans have been trying to move it. It doesn’t have any roads that go anywhere, but half its residents and its mayor opposed a plan to build one that would.
Welcome to America’s strangest state capital. In the winter it’s a beehive of legislators, their loyal aides and lobbyists locked in political struggles. In summer it’s a launchpad for copious outdoor adventures. Superb hiking starts barely 10 minutes from downtown, a massive glacier calves into a lake 12 miles up the road, and boats and seaplanes take off from the waterfront bound for nearby bear-viewing, ziplining and whale-watching.

At first sight, Skagway appears to be solely an amusement park for cruise-ship day-trippers, a million of whom disgorge onto its sunny boardwalks every summer. But, haunted by Klondike ghosts and beautified by a tight grid of handsome false-fronted buildings, this is no northern Vegas. Skagway’s history is very real.
During the 1898 gold rush, 40,000 stampeders passed through the nascent settlement; they were a sometimes-unsavoury cast of characters who lived against a backdrop of brothels, gunfights and debauched entertainment wilder than the Wild West. Today, the main actors are seasonal workers, waitstaff posing in period costume and storytelling national-park rangers. Indeed, most of the town’s important buildings are managed by the National Park Service (NPS) and this, along with Skagway’s location on the cusp of a burly wilderness with trails (including the legendary Chilkoot) leading off in all directions, has saved it from overt Disneyfication. Dive in and join the show.

Victoria exudes old-world charm and fragrant and colorful flowers are everywhere. Founded in 1843 by James Douglas of the Hudson’s Bay Company, the city was first known as Fort Victoria. By 1848, Vancouver Island was a British colony and Victoria was its capital.

In 1858, Victoria was a tent city and the base for some 25,000 prospectors on their way to the Frasier River gold fields. When Vancouver Island was incorporated with mainland British Columbia in 1868, Victoria became the capital of the entire province.

Although it’s a port city, Victoria is not as industrially oriented as Vancouver. The harbors, especially Inner Harbour, are dotted with pleasure craft, ferries and floatplanes. The city is renowned for its beautiful gardens, charming houses and very British feel.

Following your departure from the Discovery Princess, you will be transferred to the airport to catch your flight home to Dublin.