SATURDAY – Arrival in Sitka (for Juneau to Sitka trips, simply reverse the itinerary)

Sitka is a remote fishing community located southwest of Juneau on Baranof Island, easily reached by scheduled commercial jet service. We suggest taking the day to explore the town and maybe get some shopping in. Your booking includes tonight’s stay at the Southeast Resort ahead of embarking on Sunday.

MONDAY – Salisbury Sound & Sergius Narrows

Not far from the night’s anchorage is a popular saltwater sportfishing area, Salisbury Sound, where an all-morning salmon trolling trip aboard one of the ship’s sturdy skiffs may be of interest to the angling enthusiast.

Crew can custom-process your catch, vacuum pack and freeze it on board, and advise you on the best methods for shipment. Alternatively, the ship’s Chef is happy to prepare your catch for dinner and share recipes as regulations allow.

If fishing does not interest you, join in a skiff tour along the rocky shoreline to spot sea otters in company with an on-board Naturalist who will share insights into the natural history of this region. We are in the heart of a coastal Alaskan wilderness so we will keep a lookout for brown bears, often seen grazing on lush beach grasses throughout summer…easy to spot from a skiff.

By lunchtime, we return to the ship to haul anchor and head through Sergius Narrows into Peril Strait. We cruise until dinnertime, when we find ourselves anchored in Saook Bay, another scenic Southeast Alaska harbor.

WEDNESDAY – Red Bluff & Pybus Bays, Admiralty Island

Early risers may go kayaking before breakfast with a guide, where you might see harbor seals and harlequin ducks. Neither species have much fear of stealthy paddlers in this secluded bay. Photographers, in particular, love these early morning outings.

Later, motoring south on the ship, we cruise along the “waterfall coast” of Baranof Island – one of the most scenic coastal wilderness areas in southeast Alaska.

When we get to Red Bluff Bay, we will divide the ship’s company into several groups to go ashore. Some may choose to fly fish in the river at the head of the bay. But the highlight of this place is the short but steep hike up onto the brick red bluffs, which give this place its name.

Here, wildflowers are dense in summer, and the natural rock gardens are resplendent with splashy displays of blue and yellow violets, columbine and fragrant meadow orchids.

After our hike, we return to the ship again and haul anchor, bound for Pybus Bay on Admiralty Island where we will spend the night.

The local Tlingit tribe’s name for Admiralty Island is Kootznoowoo, which means “fortress of the bears.”

FRIDAY – Glacier Day

Today is “Glacier Day” as crew members call it, when we are bound for either Tracy Arm or Endicott Arm; two spectacular fiords carved deep into the Coast Range by rivers of ice.

We head towards the face of a glacier by skiff where you can watch (at a safe distance) great chunks of ice, some the size of our ship, crash into the ocean in a frenzy of foam and spray.

The ship’s Chef outfits each skiff with hot cocoa and homemade cookies.

Harbor seals find abundant food in the nutrient-rich waters of these inlets and, for a period of time in summer, we can observe female seals hauling-out onto ice bergs in order to give birth to their young.

Late in the day we leave the fjords behind and anchor in Taku Harbor, not far from Juneau, where guests enjoy a particularly sumptuous cruise wrap-up dinner, followed by an “underground tour” of the ship’s engine room and a celebratory “roast & toast” with crew.