There can be few more astonishing displays of the awesome power of nature than watching a glacier calve, the thunderous crash as a hundred tonnes of ice shears off its wall and plummets into the waves below.

Happily, getting to see some of the world’s wildest scenery can still be done in comfort, cruising past isolated frontier towns and spotting whales on an Alaska cruise. Setting sail from Vancouver, on Canada’s Pacific coast, Seabourn Odyssey proved the perfect ship for this too — not only luxurious, but at 650 feet long and 84 feet wide, able to navigate narrow fjords and iceberg-studded straits that bigger cruise ships cannot.

From the densely forested islands of British Columbia, we sailed north along the rugged coastline to our destination: the “Alaska panhandle”, the south-eastern stretch of America’s largest state. With both Glacier Bay National Park, the Tongass — North America’s largest National Forest — islands, passages, mountains and fjords to discover on our 11-day voyage, this region is the focus of most Alaska cruise itineraries.

Our first stops could hardly be further from the image of icy wilderness. Alaska’s most southerly town, Ketchikan, is widely known as colourful Ketchikan; the adjective is meant literally as well as being handily alliterative. Beneath a town sign in bright primary shades, are shop fronts and weatherboard houses painted an array of blues, greens, yellows and reds.

It is — or at least, was — “colourful” in other ways, too. The town’s official history notes that in the late 1800s, “entrepreneurial women” set up brothels in the main street for the miners, gold-prospectors and fur-trappers who flooded into the region.

With rain falling hard, we declined offers to fish or trek and stuck to exploring the offerings from some of Ketchikan’s current entrepreneurs, including Alaskan gemstones set in locally mined gold and silver — and tourist tat.

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Ketchikan, Alaska (Photo: Seabourn)

A Russian Orthodox church with onion dome at Sitka, the next port of call, provided a sharp reminder that Alaska was part of Russia until 1867 when the USA purchased it. The economy of Sitka, with its pretty harbour and waterside park is kept afloat mainly by cruise ships, as with many other towns in the area.

Here visitors find themselves tempted by items carved from local timber and vacuum-packed smoked salmon, while traditional, carb-heavy dishes in the restaurants are a further reminder of Sitka’s Russian heritage.

But before long, we were deep into the Alaskan wilds, where Odyssey anchored in eerily green water close to the magnificent Hubbard Glacier, the centrepiece of Glacier Bay National Park.

Some 76 miles long, seven miles wide and with 350 feet of its 600-foot height visible above the waterline, Hubbard is the largest tide-water glacier in North America. It is even defying the global trend by growing — albeit a meagre three miles in almost 50 years.

Startlingly blue and mesmerisingly beautiful, Hubbard alone is a compelling reason to visit Alaska. Swathed in blankets and clad in the unexpectedly stylish weatherproof jacket given to all guests on Odyssey, we sat on deck gazing at the glacier, watching sea lions and seals on icefloes and listened to the thunderous roar of the glacier calving.

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Hubbard Glacier (Photo: Unsplash)

This part of Alaska’s coast, known as the Inside Passage, is the place where icebergs are born.

You can get closer, with kayaking trips and expeditions by Zodiac and catamaran too, where guests were offered a drink on the rocks — those rocks being glacier ice fished straight from the sea.

There are more adventures to be had at Icy Strait Point in Alaska’s Inian Islands, where you can often spot whales in the waters nearby. Eschewing a zip-wire ride, we opted for a more sedate Sky Peak tour, which took us up a mountain by gondola and then on a road-train to explore this unique wilderness with its high-altitude lake.

And you’ll find more glaciers during the cruise too, including one near state capital Juneau, a city accessible only by plane or boat: if you wanted to come by road, you’d need to drive through some of the world’s wildest country, along the 1,500-mile Alaska-Canadian Highway before taking a ferry — the only “road” to the city is the Alaska Marine Highway.

Just outside Juneau sits the Mendenhall Glacier. Unlike majestic, secluded Hubbard, this glacier has a visitor’s centre, which not only lends it a slight theme-park air but illustrates quite how much Mendenhall has shrunk.

Photos from 1930 show the visitor centre just feet from the glacier, while today the glacier is on the horizon. This 13-mile long stretch of mottled ice is still almost unimaginably huge: more than 10,000 football pitches would fit on its face.

And from the cool green sea of Tracy Arm fjord, with its icefloes and snow-capped peaks, a catamaran trip gave us a close look at another two magnificent glaciers, Sawyer and South Sawyer both of which obligingly calved as we watched.

Our catamaran wove around icebergs and skirted between soaring granite cliffs, thickly wooded with firs and pines and bisected by waterfalls plunging into the icy waves. We saw eagles and mountain goats, while seals and sea-lions clambered on frozen shelves of ice.

Incidentally, Tracy Arm is inside — and no sniggering please — Stephen’s Passage. With all their grandeur, Alaska’s geographical features were evidently named in an era before Carry On films.

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Kayaking the fjords in Alaska (Photo: Seabourn)

When there are no whales to watch or kayaks to paddle, there’s lots to fill the time aboard Odyssey. Although small compared to some ocean-going leviathans, the ship never feels small or crowded. She carries a maximum 450 guests but has — if you’ll pardon the pun — oceans of space, with three airy lounge-bars, four restaurants, theatre, casino and more.

There’s ample outdoor space and big comfy couches indoors to watch the scenery, along with lectures, spa treatments and entertainment. Nightly shows in Seabourn’s Grand Salon included New York-based virtuoso pianist Tian Jiang, while a Friday-night kabbalat Shabbat was also provided with wine, challah and prayer books.

For those who observe kashrut, starters and mains at Odyssey’s elegant main restaurant always include vegetarian options and usually a permitted fish dish or two. The Classics menu on offer here and in the informal Colonnade restaurant features sole and salmon, along with vegetarian options.

Kosher food is always available on board too — the chef prepared us a dinner of matzo-ball soup, followed by lamb cutlets and steak accompanied by an excellent kosher Cabernet Sauvignon — although those wanting fully kosher meals should discuss their requirements in detail when booking.

Other dining options included the outdoor Earth & Ocean (with blankets and overhead heaters supplied) and the superb Grill by Thomas Keller where every dish has the delicious stamp of this leading Manhattan chef, including starters and mains appropriate for diners wanting kosher-friendly options.

Too soon, the final stage of our own Alaskan odyssey was approaching as we anchored in tranquil Rudyerd Bay, in the Tongass National Forest. This vast temperate rainforest is the largest in the USA, over three times the size of Wales, home to mist-haloed mountains and densely forested islands.

Setting sail aboard a catamaran to explore the misty fjords, our route snaked between tiny densely wooded islands, past eagles’ nests and cascading waterfalls; including one corner known as God’s Pocket, this unspoiled area really is a taste of heaven. And proof that you don’t need the frontier spirit to answer the call of the wild in Alaska.

Getting There

An 11-night Inside Passage & Alaska Fjords cruise with Seabourn costs from £5,999 per person for dates in 2023, excluding flights. Seven-day sailings are available from £2,999 or 14-day itineraries from £7,199.

You are currently required to show proof of vaccination and take a pre-departure Covid test for Seabourn’s Alaska cruises.

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