Need help on finding 4-5 day Glacier Bay Cruise

[gdible]

Does anyone know of a 4-5 day cruise I can take that will explore Glacier Bay (i.e. Skagway and Glacier Bay)? I'm planning a land portion trip as well, and 10 days is too long for my parents. They want to see both Denali and then take a short cruise, but I can't seem to locate any type of package. Everything on HAL or Princess Cruises is 7-day minimum. I I looked at the Cruise West site and wasn't impressed by the quality? Any suggestions?

[wolfie11]

Glacier Bay Cruise lines used to have a short tour of Glacier Bay on the Wilderness Explorer, but they went bankrupt - check their website, as I think they still have a couple of cruises. Cruise West is an excellent company, but is a small ship without the glitz and frenzy of the big ships. Emphasis is on ecotourism, small groups, and up-close experience. Otherwise you can bare-bones charter a boat out of Juneau or go with someone like the Kahsteen or Sea Wolf that do multi-day charters for small groups. Alternatives are flying to Gustavus and staying in a lodge, taking the day boat to the glaciers and doing some kayaking.

[Budget Queen]

Cruise West offers excellent small cruises. But if you are including Glacier Bay and interior Alaska even 10 days isn't a lot of time.

 

I suggested elsewhere that you may want to consider only an interior Alaska tour. Then include a couple boat tours with at least one going out of Whittier on their glacier tours. These actually are superior to Glacier Bay in my opinion since your viewing is much closer and extensive. They could take 2 different ones and would be ahead of Glacier Bay touring. Then they have plenty of time for Denali Park, Seward and Homer if of interest.