"I am not going on a cruise," I said. "All people do on cruises is sit around and eat." "But this one is different," said my wife, Kimberlee. "You get to go bicycling."
Immediately my interest was piqued.
For the past five years, Active Adventures, a company out of Colorado, has been teaming with World Explorer Cruises to offer 14-day cruise/bicycling packages in Alaska. The ship, the SS Universe Explorer, travels the waters of the Northwest's famous inside passage, from Vancouver to Seward and return. Unlike most cruises where passengers get only a couple of hours in each port and are schlepped around by tour bus, World Explorer Cruises many times allows passengers as much as a half-a-day at a port, and the time can be spent bicycling.
World Explorer's cruising/bicycling packages came about when Active Adventures' co-owner Ellen Kolovos took an Alaska cruise some years ago. In order to get around at the different ports she had brought her bicycle with her.
"It was so much fun I wanted to share the experience with other people." So she and her husband (they also lead bicycle trips in his native Greece) set up an Alaska cycling program with the blessing of the cruise line.
"Our market is people who want to keep exercising while they're on a ship," said Ellen. "The soft adventurist is not necessarily defined by age. I've had people who are 30 who can't ride as well as people who are 70 who can. It's people who want to exercise, stay healthy, yet take a cruise."
Someone like me, I thought. So Kimberlee and I signed up and went pedaling in practically all ports of call.
The ship didn't strive to be another Love Boat. It was a comfortable, no-frills ship that could accommodate a maximum of 731 guests on eight decks in six cabin types. The ship boasted the largest library afloat, with more than 15,000 volumes, and also featured two dining rooms, two bars, four lounges, a 150-seat theater, a small fitness center and sports court.
The atmosphere on board was casual. Only twice were we encouraged to "dress" for dinner during the two-week cruise, and unlike practically all other cruises to Alaska, the World Explorer philosophy focused on adventure and learning. Guest lecturers, from university professors to anthropologists to historians, provided daily seminars on Alaska art, customs, history and geology.
"We believe that seeing a totem pole means much more to you if you've learned something about Indian and Eskimo artifacts before you step ashore," said Dennis Myrick, World Explorer's vice president.
Lorne Lassiter, a passenger from Charlotte, N.C., agreed. "The educational part was really very good. The number of ports, the length of time at the ports, the lecture series were the most appealing aspects to me of the cruise."
Most dinners were good except for the first evening. Dinners featured five courses. Some of my favorites included grilled Alaska rock fish, Alaska salmon mousse canapes, shrimp and crabmeat cocktail, wild mushroom soup and German chocolate cake. Lunches, which we both agreed were too heavy, featured numerous hot dishes like New York hoagies and chicken in cream sauce. We usually skipped lunch on board and picked up something in port.
Our favorite ports were Valdez, Skagway, Sitka, Seward and Wrangle. They offered the most adventure and scenery and the least amount of motor traffic. At Valdez, we bicycled through marvelous Keystone Canyon then up Thompson Pass for incredible views of the countryside. Mountain peaks covered in snow, distant glaciers, waterfalls spilling over valley walls, frothy streams slicing through narrow canyons, Valdez had it all. And friendly people who helped us repair a flat tire and broken chain and pointed us to the best cappuccino and pizza in town.
In Skagway, again we climbed, this time to White Pass, one of the famous landmarks of the late 1800s gold rush. While low clouds spit at us on the way up, they parted during our descent just in time to reveal a marvelous emerald-green glacier-fed lake tucked inside a forested valley.
Eagles feeding on salmon topped our day in Sitka as well as juicy salmonberries and thimbleberries growing wild along our route. We pedaled to one end of the road, then turned around and bicycled to the other end. Another highlight included the Sitka National Historic National Park where dozens of totem poles stood guard along a wide path that cut through a thick forest of spruce trees. Fred Beltran, a carver at the park, told us he quit his job with the government four years ago to concentrate on carving. Now he has a one-year waiting list for his work which includes ceremonial masks and miniature (and full-size) totems.
While Wrangle boasted more wild berries, untrafficked cycling and Petroglyph Beach with its 8,000-year-old stone carvings, Seward featured a beautiful ride and hike out to the Exit Glacier.
"There were these wonderful rivers coming in from up these ravines, and the glacier itself was pretty," remarked Gary Ferraro, a professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. "And we did the fishery tour. We saw a lot that day, and we had a wonderful meal in town."
Our least favorite ports to bicycle, mostly because of intense traffic, were Ketchican and Juneau. Ketchican was so overrun with cruise boats and tourists, it was not even worth exploring except for the two totem parks outside of town. In Juneau, the cyclists were sent on a route to Mendenhall Glacier which included too much four-lane highway riding. Finally, Kimberlee and I turned around and explored nearby Douglas Island instead.
Some people signed up for only a day or two of cycling, but others, like Richard Titus, a 52-year-old university professor from Fort Collins, Colo., participated in the entire eight-day bicycle adventure.
"You see so much more by bicycle," he said. "Some of these places - the interesting sites - are 10 to 12 miles outside the city. You have no choice but to get on a bus or get on a bike. I prefer a bike."
Lorne had a different reason for cycling: "I was skeptical about coming on a cruise because I don't like to sit still. Once we discovered the bicycling it was an easy way to vent some of my energy. One of the things this taught me is that I now know I can bicycle 40 miles without any problem."IF YOU GO
Other port adventures: white-water rafting, kayaking, hiking, sport fishing, flight-seeing, nature walks and whale watching.
Cycling/cruising: Active Adventures offers the convenience of no worries about bike rentals, designing routes or getting lost. Just sign up and you are part of that day's cycling group. The "hybrid" bikes were adequate but uncomfortable (especially the saddles). Seasoned cyclists should ask for permission to bring personal bikes on board. Since the riding options at each port were limited to usually one or two roads, research beforehand could identify the routes and allow experienced cyclists to set out on their own, thereby saving Active Adventure's fee.
Another option would be to rent a bike at the different ports. Most towns had at least one bicycle shop that offered mountain bike rentals at about one-third the price of the daily rate charged by Active Adventures. Routes could also be discussed with bike shop personnel.
Costs: The full bicycling tour (seven-and-a-half days of cycling) is $475. A half tour package (four days) costs $285. The daily bicycling rate is $82.
The 14-day Alaska cruise is $1,845 to $3,850, a nine-day cruise is $1,145 to $2,465.
For more information:: World Explorer Cruises, 555 Montgomery St., San Francisco, CA 94111-2544; (800) 854-3835, fax, (415) 391-1145, Web site, http://www.WECruise.com.
Dan Gindling is a free-lance travel writer.
Visit Copley News Service at www.copleynews.com.
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