Midway through your voyage, everyone in the family will be an amateur whale watcher and birder, searching for water spouts on the horizon and pointing up at eagles perched on spruce trees. And that’s while on board.
Ashore, several ports offer access to the Tongass, America’s largest national forest. At nearly 17 million acres it stretches the entire length of Alaska’s Inside Passage. True naturalists will want to take a guided hike with one of the forest’s experts to admire the ancient, giant trees, cascading waterfalls and even enjoy a salmonberry or blueberry right off of the stem. And of course, you’ll want to keep an eye out for deer and bears.