Cruise Line: Regent Seven Seas Cruises Ship: Seven Seas Mariner Region: Alaska and Canada West Departs: May 27, 2009 From: Vancouver, BC. Canada

7 Nights from 3895.00 USD

Itinerary

Description

7 Night Cruise sailing from Vancouver roundtrip aboard Mariner. 7 Night Cruise sailing from Vancouver roundtrip aboard Mariner.

Seven Seas Mariner is the world's first all-suite, all-balcony ship, as well as the first to offer dining by the famed Le Cordon Bleu® of Paris in Signatures, one of four single, open-seating restaurants. Catering to only 700 guests, she is one of the most spacious cruise ships afloat, and, her staff to guest ratio of 1 to 1.6 provides the highest level of personal service in the six-star tradition of Radisson Seven Seas.

Highlights of your Cruise Include:

Vancouver
It might seem unlikely that a character by the name of "Gassy Jack" Deighton was responsible for one of the most beautiful cities on the continent. But that's history. Many years ago, Gassy Jack saw a chance to make money from the hordes of miners on their way to the Yukon and the saloon he built became the focus of the shanty town that came to be known as Gastown. From the rag-tag group of shacks, modern Vancouver was born - Canada's third largest city, following Toronto and Montreal. The provincial government persuaded the settlers to change the name of the town to Vancouver, after Captain George Vancouver, who sailed the area's waters in 1792. Today Vancouver is a cosmopolitan city with a European feel and a personality all its own. It features a rich ethnic mix - including the second largest Chinatown in North America - and many beautiful parks.

Skagway
Skagway (population of 800), a place of many names, much history and little rain, is the northern terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway. The town lies in the narrow plain of the Skagway River at the head of the Lynn Canal and, at one time or another, has been called Skaguay, Shkagway, and Gateway to the Golden Interior. It is known as the Home of the North Wind, and residents tell visitors that it blows so much here you will never breathe the same air twice. Skagway was known to thousands of hopeful gold rushers as the gateway to the gold fields. Although it boasted the shortest route to the Klondike, it was far from being the easiest. Over a hundred years ago, the White Pass route through the Coast Mountains and the shorter, but steeper, Chilkoot Trail were used by countless stampeders. The treacherous Chilkoot Trail, combined with the area's cruel elements, left scores dead. The gold rush was a boon to Skagway - by 1898 it was Alaska's largest town with a population of about 20,000. The town's hotels, saloons, dance halls and gambling houses prospered, drawing Skagway residents as well as the 10,000 people living in the tent city of nearby Dyea. But when the gold yield dwindled in 1900, so did the population of Skagway as the miners quickly shifted to new finds in Nome. Skagway retains the flavor of the gold rush era, especially on Broadway, with its false-front buildings, and in the Trail of '98 Museum, with its outstanding collection of memorabilia.

Sitka
In 1799, the Russian explorer Alexander Baranof founded New Archangel, a settlement adjacent to the Tlingit village of Sitka, This was the beginning of the first permanent Russian government settlement in North America. But three years later the settlement was destroyed by the Tlingit Indians in an attempt to reclaim their ancestral home. Their brief victory ended when Baranof returned in 1804, accompanied by Russian warships, and retook Sitka in the Battle of Alaska. Sitka became the Russian capital of North America. In 1867, the Imperial Russian flag was replaced by the Stars and Stripes when the United States purchased Alaska. With the discovery of gold, and the rapid population growth that followed, Alaska's capital moved north to Juneau in 1906. Today, picturesque Sitka, across the water from snow-capped Mount Edgecombe, is known for its fishing industry, an annual summer classical music festival and, of course, its many historic visitor attractions. On a clear day Sitka, the only city in Southeast Alaska that actually fronts the Pacific Ocean, rivals Juneau for the sheer beauty of its surroundings.

Call Now 1300 308081 or email res@platinumcruising.com