To See Alaska as Others Do

My wife, son and I had the privilege last week to enjoy a week off doing something I never really thought that we would ever do... take a cruise to Alaska. Somehow, a cruise vacation is not something we have ever thought about doing - most of our vacations tend to involve family or just 'doing our own thing'.

This year we decided to combine my need for a relaxing week away from work with a chance to enjoy a family vacation and, along the way, satisfy our innate curiousity about how the cruise ship industry works in Alaska. The experience was truly worth the investment.

We joined a Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship (Radiance of the Seas) that traveled from Vancouver to Seward and stopped along the way in Ketchikan, Skagway, Juneau and Hoonah.

Highlights included:

1. spending quality time together doing fun things - ships are great spaces to hang out and the Radiance offered a seemingly endless array of recreation, dining, relaxation and entertainment choices - I did not imagine that I would ever rockclimb 13 stories above the ocean in the middle of the Gulf of Alaska then participate in a 3 on 3 basketball tournament below the rock climb and then head downstairs for a gourmet meal all in the space of 2 hours and then not have to worry about driving back to a hotel!- such is the wonderful self-contained unreality of cruising!

2. just being at sea - there is no substitute for spending time on the water, even if that means being a little higher above the waterline than most of our usual sailing trips! We saw sea lions, whales and an amazing diversity of marine life at close quarters in parts of the Gulf that are very hard to access any other way!

3. seeing SE Alaska - I had not been to several of the towns/villages we visited and was very impressed with the way they are set up to deal with tourism. I was even able to see places I had been to previously (such as Juneau) in a completely different light! Hoonah is particularly impressive - a refurbished salmon cannery is now the core of a day trip destination that has a major focus on cultural and natural area tourism. The photo below shows some of the great architectural detailing that I believe we could learn (and benefit) from here in Seward.

Hoonah serves as a great example of how impacts of mass tourism can be limited and local communities really benefit from self-regulated tourism even at relatively large scales. The community only allows one ship per day and controls tourist access and activities carefully, but with a great emphasis on presenting local Tlingit culture and history and providing employment and business opportunities that range from guided nature walks such as the bear viewing trip to the world's longest zip line (featured below in photos). Both are truly world class experiences.

If there was one disappointment on the cruise it was my observation that we "under-interpret" what Alaska has to offer. Nearly everyone I talked with on the ship (not a true random sample, but good enough given I was on vacation!) anticipated this trip as a life highlight. I was reminded of the appeal and power of Alaska as a destination by an elderly couple from Texas who has saved for this trip as their major retirement activity. Despite mobility limits, they tried to undertake every activity that would bring them into contact with the places and cultures and history that they had grown up reading about in adventure books for 60 years! Their enthusiastic participation was mirrored by the hundreds who attended free on board hisitory lectures and who clung to outdoor audio posts to hear recorded stories about glaciers and whales! Most passengers seemed to have a seemingly insatiable appetite for knowledge that is presented by real people telling real stories - they want to know what they are seeing and what it means and why it matters and they want that information in real time. As the photo below indicates, there were numerous opportunities for passengers to be exposed to some really cool (excuse the pun!) Alaskan experiences - this photo is of an early morning visit to the Hubbard Glacier.

Unfortunately without a trained naturalist on board this ship ( a common challenge I gather), there were few opportunities for Alaska's natural and cultural heritage to be presented in ways that satisfied the curiosity of visitors.

Those of you who know about my background in interpretation can imagine the wheels that turned in my mind throughout the trip, rethinking how we might better meet the interests of passengers such as the Texan couple. I suspect that one of the reasons why our visitors like the SeaLife center experience is because of our emphasis on personalized interpretation. Based on my cruise experience, I will now be working even more closely with our marketing, education/interpretation and other staff and partners in the Alaskan marine tourism industry to ensure that the SeaLife Center plays a key role presenting Alaska's marine ecosystems in ways that meet the needs and interests of Alaska's million + cruise ship guests. I am also planning to work on new ways to engage with the cruise ship industry to help ensure we provide direct outreach to tourists and support for marine educators across the Gulf of Alaska.

I'd welcome your thoughts on what more can and should do to ensure that every visitor to Alaska leaves here with a proper understanding and renewed appreciation of the amazing marine ecosystems that are such a big part of an Alaskan cruise ship experience.