silver explorer alaska luxury cruise

ALASKA EXPEDITION CRUISE: Anchorage to Nome

  • Overview

    When Vitus Bering left to see whether a land bridge existed to the New World, he could not know that his expedition would open up an area rich in wildlife and spectacular scenery. For the adventurous traveller, this is one of the world’s great journeys that beckons nature lovers and the intrepid explorer within – a rare change to spot Northern fur seals, Brown bears, walrus plus huge colonies of seabirds. SEWARD (ANCHORAGE) TO NOME, ALASKA Join us to sail from Alaska to Russia and back across the Bering Sea, experiencing all the natural wonders these starkly beautiful places have to offer. In Alaska, cruise via Zodiac looking for bears at Geographic Harbor and Kukak Bay, and see Bald Eagles up close in Dutch Harbor. See the large population of Northern fur seals at St. Paul Island before crossing the Bering Sea to search for whales in Gabriela Bay, Russia. Hike to lakes and waterfalls in Peter Bay, look for the major walrus haul-out in Anastasiya Bay, and cruise the spectacular bird cliffs at Cape Kuyveveem. Learn about the culture of Anadyr, Russia and see incredible ivory, Mammoth tusk and stone carvings at the Chukotka Museum. Throughout the voyage, learn about the geology, wildlife and botany of these locations from lecture presentations offered by your knowledgeable on board Expedition Team.

    Duration: 17 days
    Passengers: 130 passengers
    Embarkation Point: Vancouver, Canada
    Disembarkation Point: Seward, Alaska
    Physical rating: Soft Adventure
    Fly/Cruise: Cruise only
    Single Supplement: 0.0x twin rate or share options
  • Itinerary
    • Day 1 - Seward (Anchorage), Alaska: Embarkation Day

      It is hard to believe that a place as beautiful as Seward exists. Surrounded on all sides by Kenai Fjords National Park, Chugach National Forest, and Resurrection Bay, Seward offers all the quaint realities of a small railroad town with the bonus of jaw-dropping scenery. This little town of about 2,750 citizens was founded in 1903, when survey crews arrived at the ice-free port and began planning a railroad to the Interior. Since its inception, Seward has relied heavily on tourism and commercial fishing.

    • Day 2 - Holgate Glacier & Chiswell Islands

      Kenai Fjords National Park’s famous Holgate Glacier is a spectacularly active river of ice. The surrounding glaciated landscape paints a dramatic portrait of the rugged mountains in contrast to the cold blue ice of the glacier. On approach, the waters leading up to Holgate Glacier may be peppered with bits of ice and the crackling noise of ancient air bubbles being released from small bergs. Periodically loud cannon-like blasts emanate from the glacier, and some are accompanied by calving events off the ice front.

      The Chiswell Islands are part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, and deservedly so. Small bays, inlets and sea cliffs are populated by innumerable seabirds including Black-legged Kittiwakes, Pelagic Cormorants, Horned and Tufted Puffins, as wells as guillemots, auklets and murrelets. The Chiswell Islands are blessed with towering cliffs and sea caves offering up spectacular scenery and a Steller sea lion rookery that bustles as the marine mammals commute to feeding grounds, socialize, and care for their pups.

    • Day 3 - Geographic Harbour

      Katmai National Park is located where the Alaskan Peninsula joins the continent, and Geographic Harbor, named for the National Geographic Society who funded five expeditions here in the early 1900’s, lies within the park.

      The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes gives a clue to the dramatic volcanic nature of the landscape, and with mountains rising to almost 915 meters (3,000 feet) there is snow too. Here we hope to find brown bears as they forage along the shore for clams, and lunch on berries or fish in the clear running waters of the mountain streams.

      *Please note some excursions may be at an additional cost.

    • Day 4 - Simidi

      This stunning and nearly uninhabited archipelago is home to some of the largest populations of native and undisturbed wildlife in the United States. There are 2.5 million birds here, almost half the breeding seabirds of the Alaska Peninsula. Large numbers of seabirds including Ancient Murrelets, Parakeet Auklets, Horned Puffins, Northern Fulmars and jaegers, and over a million murres are on hand here. The surrounding sea is home to sea otters, sea lions, seals, Dall’s porpoises, Pacific white-sided dolphins and whales.

    • Day 5 - Unga Island

      The Aleutian island of Unga holds an ancient petrified wood forest and a more recent ghost town that was the site of a small gold rush in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The village was eventually abandoned in the 1960’s and now has a somewhat somber appearance. Many of the houses have collapsed and are overgrown with brilliant fuchsia fireweed wildflowers. From a distance the church looks intact, but up closer it is apparent that the roof is standing on the ground, and the walls have completely collapsed.

    • Day 6 - Dutch Harbour, Unalaska

      The crumpled peaks, and tranquil scenery, of Dutch Harbor belies its history as one of the few places on American soil to have been directly attacked by the Japanese - who bombed the significant US military base here during the Second World War. Located on a string of islands, which loops down into the Pacific from Alaska, a visit to this Aleutian Island destination offers comprehensive military history, and extraordinary ocean scenery. Hike the volcanic, gloriously green landscapes, and look out for wonderful wildlife, like bald eagles, as they survey the surroundings.

    • Day 7 - ST Paul Island

      The city of Saint Paul is located on a narrow peninsula on the southern tip of St. Paul Island, the largest of five islands in the Pribilofs. These islands are located in the middle of the Bering Sea between the United States and Russia. St Paul’s lies 240 miles north of the Aleutian Islands, 300 miles west of the Alaska mainland, and 750 air miles west of Anchorage. The city of St. Paul is the only residential area on the island. The first non-natives to ‘discover’ St. Paul were Russian fur-traders in the late 1780’s, led by the navigator, Gavriil Pribylov.

    • Day 8 - St. Matthew Island & Hall Island

      St. Matthew Island is an extremely remote island in the middle of the Bering Sea, more than 200 miles from the nearest Alaska village. Even by Alaskan standards it is a lonely place. At the most southerly point of the 32 mile long island, at Cape Upright, the black sand and gravel beaches give way to massive sea cliffs that exceed heights of over 1000 ft. These are home to countless nesting murres, kittiwakes, cormorants and other sea birds. In fact, reports of the island’s wildlife by the Harriman Expedition in 1899 convinced Teddy Roosevelt to include St.

      Hall Island is one of the most remote islands in Alaska. Every summer this small rock island, in the middle of the Bering Sea, comes alive as about a million seabirds gather to breed and nest. They cling shoulder to shoulder on every available rock ledge. The most common seabirds include blacklegged kittiwakes, common and thick-billed murres, auklets, cormorants and northern fulmars.

    • Day 9/15 - At Sea

      While we're at sea, enjoy wine tastings, designer boutiques, language and dance classes. Take in a matinee movie, check the market or your e-mail in the Internet Point, slip away with a novel from the library to a sunny chaise or with a movie to your suite. Or just take in the sun pool side. The choice is yours.

    • Day 10 - Date Line - Lose a day

      Today we lose a day as we cross the international date line.

    • Day 11 - Anadyr

      Anadyr is the administrative center of Chukotka Autonomous Region and home to approximately 13,000 people. Like many northern towns that have short summers and very long winters, Anadyr is painted in all colors of the rainbow to lift the spirits of its inhabitants in winter. Under Governor Roman Abramovich, the well-known oligarch, big money had been invested to develop and revive local infrastructure and industries that had collapsed with the break-up of the Soviet era.

    • Day 12 - Gabriela Bay & Cape Navarin

      Gabriela Bay is located south and west of the Bering Strait along the coast of the federal subject Russian state of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (population ~52,000). The bay abuts wetlands that dot the coastline, which in warmer seasons are lush with wildflowers like dwarf azaleas and forget-me-nots that can completely cover the tundra in their peak. While animal sightings are not guaranteed, visitors may keep an eye peeled for occurrences of walruses, brown bears or beluga whales.

    • Day 13 - Anastasia Bay

      A U-shaped bay on the Bering Sea, Anastasia Bay appears to be carved out of the mountainous cliffs that make up the land that surrounds the tundra-like Koryak Mountains in Kamchatka Krai, Russia. The rare visitor comes to the bay hoping to walruses and seals, and birders search for Slaty-backed Gulls, Pelagic Cormorants, Horned Puffins, Tufted Puffins, Black-legged Kittiwakes, and White Wagtails, White-fronted Geese, Bean Geese and Whooper Swans.

    • Day 14 - Peter Bay & Bogoslav Island

      Peter Bay is a small inlet at the foot of the Koryak Mountain range well north of the Kamchatka Peninsula. At the entrance of the bay is a Largha seal haul-out site and a small hidden lagoon flanked by the ocean and the bay. The southern end of the bay has several small lakes that are dammed behind a moraine ridge; the remnant of an ancient glacier. The lakes feed a spectacular waterfall. The western and eastern sides of the bay have steep cliffs that seabirds favor for nesting sites. Their busy comings and goings from nest to ocean feeding grounds punctuate this Far Eastern Russian location.

      Six nautical miles south of the entrance to Natalii Bay are the spectacular sea cliffs of Bogoslav Island. The small island rises to 424 meters (1,391 feet) above sea level and is a perfect place to spot Pigeon, Brünnich’s, and Common Guillemots, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Harlequin Ducks, Horned Puffins, White Wagtails, Pelagic Cormorants and Slaty-backed Gulls. Walrus can also be seen at a nearby haul-out.

      Due west of Bogoslof Island, a mountain of 787 metres (2,582 feet) marks the entrance to Pavel Bay. Brown bears often walk along the slopes of the bay as it winds towards low-lying tundra dissected by tumbling mountain streams. This bay and others close by are used by nomadic reindeer herders who follow the cycles of life in Kamchatka. The people herd hundreds of reindeer over great distances from their inland grazing areas down to the coast. Here the reindeer graze on the salty coastal grasses that supplement their diet.

    • Day 16 - Cape Kuyvyveen

      Like bookends, towering cliffs composed of light-colored granite and streaked by darker rock stand on each side of a large sheltered bay in the spectacular scenery of Cape Kuyvyveen. The sandy beach lies at the head of the bay with rolling tundra behind. The sheer granite rocks, distinct basalt caves and arches of the cape are home to thousands of Tufted Puffins that nest in rocky crevasses. Despite the cliffs on either side of the bay being quite close together, the adjacent terrains are slightly different and each attracts different species of birds.

    • Day 17 - Date Line - Gain a day

      Today we gain a day as we cross the international date line.

    • Day 18 - Provideniya

      Provideniya is a former Soviet military port at the southern limit of the Arctic ice pack. With slightly less than 2000 inhabitants, many of whom are Yupik, it is the largest town and administrative center of the Providensky District. Started as a depot for the Northeast Passage traffic, it now is a port of entry to the Russian Far East and since the decline of the Soviet Union eco-tourism has boosted the local economy. The town has a Technical School and a fascinating museum with interesting and well-presented exhibits about the natural history and wildlife of the region.

    • Day 19 - Nome, Alaska; Disembarkation Day

      Nome is located on the edge of the Bering Sea, on the southwest side of the Seward Peninsula. Unlike other towns which are named for explorers, heroes or politicians, Nome was named as a result of a 50 year-old spelling error. In the 1850's an officer on a British ship off the coast of Alaska noted on a manuscript map that a nearby prominent point was not identified. He wrote "? Name" next to the point.

      Please note while 19 days are included in this itinerary, the voyage is in actual fact only 17 days in duration due to the crossing the international date line twice.

  • Adventure Activities

    Alaskan Wildlife

    We will go in search of some of Alaska most iconic locals including;

    • Bald Eagle, Steller’s Jay, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Common Raven, Barn Swallow, Belted Kingfisher, Northwestern Crow, Great Blue Heron, Marbled Murrelet, Pigeon Guillemot; Common, Bonaparte’s, Mew and Glaucous-winged Gulls
    • Brown and black bears
    • Humpback whales, orcas, harbor seals

    Please Note: Expedition highlights and wildlife listed here are possible experiences only and cannot be guaranteed.

    Alaskan Culture

    This voyage is not all nature and wildlife, our small expedition ship will allow us to visit a number of local communities and revel in the local cultures.

    • Visit Metlakatla, home of the indigenous Tsimshian people, famous for their emblematic Totem Poles.
    • Observe native cultural presentations and ceremonies.
    • Learn about the unique Coast Salish culture and values through a cultural presentation by the Snuneymuxw indigenous people in Nanaimo.

  • Inclusions

    Wifi

    100 minutes of Wifi access is provided for use on your personal devices free of charge.

    Complimentary Parka

    You voyages includes a complimentary Haglöfs expedition jacket.

    Inclusions / Exclusions

    Included in your Expedition

    - On board Gratuities
    - All shore excursions and lectures in the itinerary
    - In-suite dining and room service
    - Beverages including select wines / premium spirits / coffee / soft drinks and your own tailored mini-bar
    - Butler service
    - Personalised service with a butler

    Not included in your Expedition

  • Map
    962
  • Gallery
  • Vessel

    SILVER EXPLORER

    Purpose-built luxury Silver Explorer expedition cruise ship has been designed specifically for navigating waters in some of the world’s most remote destinations, including both of earth’s polar regions. A strengthened hull with a Lloyd’s Register ice-class notation (1A) for passenger vessels enables the Silver Explorer Expedition Cruise Ship to safely push through ice floes with ease. A fleet of Zodiac boats allows guests to visit even the most off-the-beaten path locations and an expert Expedition Team provides insight and understanding to each unforgettable Silver Explorer luxury cruise adventure.

    Features & Facilities
    • Luxury Accommodation
    • Library
    • Beauty Salon
    • Fitness Center
    • Observation Library
    • Internet Cafe
    • Panorama Lounge
    • Theatre
    • Spa
    Key Facts
    Luxury star rating: 6
    Guests #: 130
    Crew #: 117
    Ice Class: 1A
    Speed: 14
    Refurbished:
    Technical Specs
    Year built:
    Length: 108m
    Width: 15
    Draft:
    Tonnage: 6130
    Registry: Bahamas
    Elec Outlets: 220V / 2 Round Pin
Check Voyage Dates, Pricing and Availability
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Ready to book your expedition?

We understand that the trip of a lifetime takes planning, so we make the financial commitments easy to manage.

  • Confirm your booking today with just USD$ 1,000 per passenger.
  • Pay your 25% deposit 5 day later.
  • Final payment due 120 days prior to departure.
silver explorer vista suite

Vista Suite

25 Jul 2019 - 10 Aug 2019
Large picture window, sitting area, twin/queen bed and private facilities. Due to the Silver Explorer's dynamic pricing structure, please enquire now for exact cabin pricing details.
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silver explorer adventurer suite

Adventurer Suite

25 Jul 2019 - 10 Aug 2019
Twin portholes, sitting area, twin/queen bed and private facilities. Due to the Silver Explorer's dynamic pricing structure, please enquire now for exact cabin pricing details.
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silver explorer medalion suite

Medallion Suite

25 Jul 2019 - 10 Aug 2019
Teak style balcony, sitting area, twin/queen bed and private facilities. Due to the Silver Explorer's dynamic pricing structure, please enquire now for exact cabin pricing details.
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silver explorer owner's suite

Owner's Suite

25 Jul 2019 - 10 Aug 2019
Teak balcony, living room, twin/queen bed and private facilities and much more. Due to the Silver Explorer's dynamic pricing structure, please enquire now for exact cabin pricing details.
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silver explorer explorer suite

Explorer Suite

25 Jul 2019 - 10 Aug 2019
View window, sitting area, twin/queen bed and private facilities. Due to the Silver Explorer's dynamic pricing structure, please enquire now for exact cabin pricing details.
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silver explorer veranda suite

Veranda Suite

25 Jul 2019 - 10 Aug 2019
French balcony, sitting area, twin/queen bed and private facilities. Due to the Silver Explorer's dynamic pricing structure, please enquire now for exact cabin pricing details.
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silver explorer silver suite

Silver Suite

25 Jul 2019 - 10 Aug 2019
French balcony, living room, twin/queen bed and private facilities and much more. Due to the Silver Explorer's dynamic pricing structure, please enquire now for exact cabin pricing details.
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silver explorer grand suite

Grande Suite

25 Jul 2019 - 10 Aug 2019
Teak balcony, living room, twin/queen bed and private facilities and much more. Due to the Silver Explorer's dynamic pricing structure, please enquire now for exact cabin pricing details.
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