As seen on Apple TV's The Last Frontier: Discover Alaska the luxurious way
Want to explore wild Alaska without the fear of frostbite? A cosseting cruise offers hot tubs and fine dining alongside spectacular scenery.
“This is Alaska,” says local lawman Frank Remnick (Jason Clarke) to his CIA counterpart as they consider the difficulties of rounding up 18 convicts on the loose across the state’s frozen wastes in Apple TV’s The Last Frontier.
Daunting, sure, but “This is Alaska, too,” I think to myself as I accept some champagne and nibble a Princess Love Boat Dream – a “heart-shaped dessert with layers of chocolate-raspberry mousse and vanilla-raspberry cream on a shortbread cookie base” – on board the Grand Princess, where I’m experiencing Alaska in rather more comfort than Remnick or his 18 unwelcome guests.
While The Last Frontier’s frostbitten felons check in (and, in some cases, promptly check out) when their prisoner transport plane crash[1]lands in the middle of a snowy forest, my Air Canada jet glides safely into Vancouver. There I spend a few very pleasant days among its excellent food markets, parks and beaches before boarding Grand Princess for my Voyage of the Glaciers cruise, which will wind its delightfully unhurried way north to Anchorage.
Three ‘port days’ give me a flavour of the Last Frontier (also Alaska’s official state nickname); two ‘scenic cruising’ days provide spectacular views of glaciers and icebergs without my even having to leave the (extreme) comfort of my hot tub; and the itinerary’s single ‘sea day’ allows me to savour the ship’s spas, bars and even ‘Movies under the Stars’, where I happily goggle a Harry Potter on the open top deck’s huge screen, hunkered under a blanket with cookies.
Slightly more adventurous are the 150-odd excursions available through Grand Princess (similar ones can be booked independently, of course). Options range from mild to wild, but each one drops you deeper into the landscape or lifestyle of Alaska than the ship alone ever could.
Each port day, helicopters whisk passengers up to other-worldly icefields where huskies howl; floatplanes trace fjords and emerald inlets so narrow you swear the wings will brush the spruce. Whale-watching boats skim out from Juneau and return heavy with stories of humpbacks and orcas. In Skagway, the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway coils through the mountains, each bend offering another “surely not!” vista.
Me, I watch bears effortlessly pawing salmon from the stream outside Ketchikan; canoe to the sublimely silent toe of the Davidson Glacier; and watch whale tails hang in the air, like my held breath, as the great creatures submerge mere metres from my observation boat in the waters off Juneau.
The ports themselves are an odd mix of touristy tat shops and true frontier township. Shops peddling novelty reindeer-fur bikinis and moose-logo baseball caps sit between Gold Rush-era saloons and brothels – some preserved as little museums, others still serving (the saloons only). Seaplanes bounce from the water with the cheerful impatience of dragonflies, yachts nose against tugs, fishing skippers swear at cruise ships performing three-point turns with the circumference of small cities. And from each city, walking trails take me out among glassy lakes, see-forever views and pine forests smelling of resin and cool earth.
Still, the trip’s best days are spent adrift: those ‘scenic cruising’ days are showstopping. Glacier Bay is a theatre of ice. From the deck I watch an ever-changing carousel of cathedral-sized ice sculptures glide by like god-sized ghosts. The silence is immense: no roads, no chatter, just the occasional crack of calving ice, followed by a roar as a tower-block-sized slab collapses into the bay. Eagles circle overhead, seals lounge on floes, and suddenly you realise 2,500 passengers are standing shoulder to shoulder in reverent quiet, all hearing the same stillness.
College Fjord, meanwhile, is subtler but no less affecting. The glaciers here were named by a Harvard-and-Yale-led survey expedition, which is why today you can gaze at Princeton Glacier while sipping your artisan gin and tonic, or watch Harvard’s icefall while enjoying a hand-cut beef filet tartare with plancha sear and fried quail egg. The water is calm as slate, the air sharp as cut glass, and the glaciers that carved this craggy landscape drape themselves down the valleys in frozen ribbons.
- If you’re planning a trip abroad, read our financial expert's advice on what to consider before going on holiday
It’s an almost brutal beauty, and it’s strange to think how easily – how cossetingly, even – it’s available. This, after all, is Alaska.
The Last Frontier airs new episodes Fridays on Apple TV.
Check out more of our Travel coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
