Alaska Cruise & Hawaii

Day 1: UK/Vancouver
You’ll depart on your scheduled flight to Vancouver, and on arrival, transfer to your hotel for an overnight stay.

Day 2: Vancouver/MS Zuiderdam
Depart 17:00
Today we have included a morning sightseeing tour of Vancouver, which boasts one of the most beautiful settings of any city in the world, surrounded by mountains, forests and beautiful islands. You’ll visit the city’s original historic core, known as ‘Gastown’, Chinatown, the remarkable 1,000-acre Stanley Park with its famous totem poles, and the magnificent harbour, from where you’ll transfer to Holland America Line’s magnificent MS Zuiderdam, to depart at 5pm for your cruise though the Inside Passage. Relax on board this evening, taking dinner in one of the ship’s three restaurants before enjoying the entertainment provided in the Show Lounge.

Day 3: The Inside Passage
Today we’ll cruise the Inside Passage, between the Canadian mainland and the many islands. From the comfort of your ship you’ll be able to watch for breaching whales, playful seals, soaring eagles, and even grizzly bears on the spectacular shoreline.

Day 4: Tracy Arm/Juneau
After cruising the scenic Tracy Arm and the Sawyer Glacier during the morning (weather permitting), we’ll arrive in the Alaskan capital, Juneau, early in the afternoon, where you’ll have time to explore the city for yourself, or visit the immense Mendenhall Glacier.

Day 5: Skagway
In the morning, we’ll arrive in Skagway, a lively relic of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898, whose wooden sidewalks and turn-of-the-century buildings will take you back to the riotous living of those pioneer days. Optional excursions will be available.

Day 6: Glacier Bay
Glacier Bay is one of the scenic highlights of your cruise – you’ll see enormous icebergs floating in the blue-green water, and if you’re lucky, watch as a glacier ‘calves’, sending thousands of tons of ice thundering into the mirror-calm bay.

Day 7: Ketchikan
This morning, you’ll arrive in Ketchikan, a quaint, weathered town clinging to the mountainside. You’ll have the option to take a seaplane flight over the spectacular Misty Fjords, explore the Totem Poles Park, or enjoy a lunch of fresh Alaskan salmon after exploring in your own time.

Day 8: The Inside Passage
Today we’ll cruise the Inside Passage back towards Vancouver, allowing you more time to appreciate the stunning natural scenery unfurling before you, or just to take advantage of the MS Zuiderdam’s fine restaurants and bars, swimming pool and fitness centre, or on-board entertainment.

Day 9: Vancouver/Honolulu
We’ll arrive in Vancouver in the morning, and transfer to the airport for your flight to Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. On arrival you will receive a traditional lei greeting and transfer to the Ohana East Hotel for a six-night stay. Oahu contains the world-famous Waikiki, an international resort with hotels, shops, restaurants and 24-hour nightlife. It is nevertheless a remarkably compact resort, and easily escaped if you fancy a quiet relaxing time in the Hawaiian sunshine.

Days 10 – 14: Waikiki
You’ll be free to enjoy the delights of Waikiki for yourself. As an introduction to your island paradise for the next five days, we have an included half-day sightseeing tour of Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, where you can view the memorial to the World War Two battleship USS Arizona. Afterwards, as well as lazing on the golden sands and bathing in the warm waters, you can take a scenic tour of the island, visiting the volcanic cone of Diamond Head, the nature park and botanical gardens of Waimea Valley, the famous surfing beaches, a display of native village life at the Polynesian Cultural Centre, and Sea Life Park. You can even take an optional scenic flight to the neighbouring main island of Hawaii to view an active volcano. Everywhere you go, you’ll be able to enjoy Hawaii’s unique mixture of Polynesian charm and American sophistication.

Day 15: Honolulu
Today you’ll transfer to the airport for your return flight to the UK.

Day 16: UK
Arrive in the UK.

Please note
To maximise your enjoyment of this holiday a certain amount of walking is essential.

Accommodation throughout is in hotels of a comfortable standard, typical of the hotels you will stay in are:

Best Western Plus Downtown Hotel in Vancouver
This hotel features a restaurant, lounge and fitness centre. The hotel also offers a complimentary bicycle service. Comfortable guest rooms feature TV, telephone, air-conditioning and en suite facilities.

Mirimar Hotel or similar in Hawaii
Situated just a few minutes’ walk from the beach, hotel facilities include three restaurants, a piano bar, outdoor pool and fitness centre. All rooms have en suite facilities, hairdryer, coffeemaker, TV, telephone and air-conditioning.

MS Zuiderdam
Holland America Line’s MS Zuiderdam is modern, elegant and has an on-board ambience that is timeless and refined. Zuiderdam offers a wonderful choice of dining experiences and entertainment, with facilities including three restaurants, a wide range of bars, a Show Lounge, three swimming pools and a fitness centre. Your accommodation will be in comfortable inside cabins with two lower beds and en suite facilities.
Hotels will be confirmed in your final documentation.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Included excursions and visits

Vancouver tour (half day)
Traditional Hawaiian lei greeting
Honolulu city tour including Pearl Harbor (half day)
Optional excursions

Misty Fjords seaplane tour (half day)
Your holiday includes

Scheduled flights
Overseas transfers and other transportation
7 nights’ hotel accommodation on a room-only basis
7 nights on board Holland America’s MS Zuiderdam on a full-board basis
Services of a Local Representative in Vancouver and Hawaii
Baggage handling (one bag per person)
All airport taxes and security charges
UK Airline Passenger Duty
All state and local taxes

With 50 years’ experience in arranging escorted tours to exciting destinations across the globe, Travelsphere have built an excellent reputation founded on quality and value.

By choosing a Travelsphere escorted holiday you can travel with confidence, knowing that every aspect of your holiday has been carefully planned and arranged from start to finish. Further to this they are ATOL bonded and members of ABTA.

Travelsphere’s thorough planning of travel arrangements, itineraries and accommodation combined with the unique insight of their knowledgeable Tour Managers and Local Guides will enable you to experience the culture, traditions and hidden away places less accessible to other travellers.

Our Opinion
“Travelsphere are one of the biggest names in the Escorted Tour market. Finely tuned over the last 50 years their tours have been tried, tested and refined by thousands of customers.”