CRYSTAL HARMONY's first twelve-day cruise to Alaska and Canada sets sail May 30; the last departs September 15. Price (per person, based on double occupancy) from $5,090, for an Inside stateroom, to $21,800, for one of four 948-square-foot Crystal penthouses. Shore excursions from $22 to $387. 800-804-1500;
Alaska à la Carte
The Crystal Harmony is by no means the only ship making a splash in the waters along Alaska's southeastern coast. Among other high-end vessels with similar itineraries are Celebrity Cruises' three-year-old Summit ( celebrity.com) and Radisson's all-suite Seven Seas Mariner (www.rssc.com) . Good news for people who prefer smaller ships: Silversea's elegant 194-suite Silver Shadow (silversea.com) makes its inaugural Inside Passage run this summer.
Don't want to share your experience with hundreds of strangers? Consider chartering a boat, as did Jim and Joly Stewart, of Ambler, Pennsylvania, last June. They hosted sixteen relatives, aged eight to eighty, for a week aboard the M/V Liseron, a comfortable converted 1952 minesweeper. The Liseron is owned by the Seattle not-for-profit Boat Company (theboatcompany.com) , which was founded to promote awareness of Alaska's remarkable—and fragile—environment.
Maybe you want to travel beyond a boat's limited range. Lisa Lindblad runs a New York–based custom-travel company (212-876-2554; lisalindblad.com) that has sent families to Anchorage and the Arctic Circle—and to countless unspoiled attractions in between. "Alaska is a fantastic destination for families," she says. "Nature is a great leveler: all ages are humbled by the immensity of the state's natural wonders."
Off the Beaten Path, of Bozeman, Montana (www.offthebeatenpath.com) , another custom outfitter that specializes in upscale outdoor travel experiences, helped New Jersey's Marc Goldstein and Arlene Lauf-Goldstein plan a twelve-day trip across Alaska with their two teenaged sons last summer. "We stayed at wonderful wilderness lodges—I particularly liked Denali West Lodge—and went canoeing and fishing and clamming and mushing in the most remote areas, places that cruiseship passengers would never see," Lauf-Goldstein explains. "With no malls, no supermarkets, no television, the boys quickly learned how dark a dark night can be, and how quiet quiet can be."
