The Alaska Cruise Handbook

My wife and I are planning our first Alaska cruise. To prepare, we have purchased and read a number of books during the past four months. We strongly agree this is one of the best! Unlike many books that cover cruise line/ship details or specific port points-of-interest and shore excursions, Joe's book mixes authentic slice of life observations with vivid pictures and relevant historical events. He covers the Inside Passage and Southeast Alaska in depth. There is sufficient coverage of the balance of the state, especially the coastal regions. I heartily recommend it to Alaskan cruisers, visitors and dreamers alike.

This book not only identifies what you will see as you travel from either Seattle or Vancouver to Alaska, a great many wonderful stories about historical experiences others who traveled this route have had. The photographs are also great. This book is not only for people who are planning an Alaska cruise, but anyone who is interested in Alaska.

This lavishly illustrated book, with an included map of the inside passage, is sold on cruise ships to supplement the sights the passengers are encountering along the way. It adds much detail about the history and culture of the splendid land from Seattle and Vancouver northward, particularly for the myriad coastal towns and harbors where cruise ships call or sail nearby. If you are looking for a dry listing of hotels, restaurants, and trinket shops, this is not the book for you. If you want to expand the sensory impact of your trip to Alaska, your money will be well spent on this companion guide.

I purchased copies of this handbook for both my husband and me as well as his brother and wife for our first time Alaskan cruise. It was interesting to follow our route on the included map and know what we were cruising by, as well as to anticipate what lie ahead. We were able to take wonderful photographs of lighthouses, etc. by knowing when to watch for them. We saw several people onboard with the books, and I would highly recommend it as a "must pack" item on an Alaskan cruise.

Planning a cruise to Alaska? This is a wonderful book to read both before you go and to take with you on the ship. It has many interesting stories about the state. Mr. Upton has been a resident of Alaska and offered tips on things that would have been unknown to the average tourist on a cruise ship. For instance, excursions may be bought on the ship but are usually rather expensive. He pointed out that sometimes you can go on the dock and find similar excursions at a better price by local vendors. He also said that sometimes cab drivers would give you a one-on-one tour for very little as well. We did this in Juneau and had a very interesting Klingit driver who told us many local stories and took us to some out of the way places for some great pictures. He also told which excursions were really worthwhile to spend your money on.(The Skagway RailRoad) A map comes with the book and shows you mile by mile where the ship is. Other helpful things that he talked about in the book were the background of each of the towns that the ship visited as well as the glaciers,etc. He also talked about the fishing and the wildlife in the different areas. If you can only afford one book for your trip to Alaska, this would definitely be the one to buy.