Alaska & Japan Cruise: Icy Strait, Seward & Tokyo

Vancouver is a sophisticated coastal city located to the south of British Columbia, Canada. The city is linguistically and ethnically diverse as reflected in the fact that 52 percent of its inhabitants do not speak English as their first language. Ranked highly in worldwide ‘liveable city’ rankings for many years and being surrounded by nature’s scenery at its best, makes tourism its second largest industry. Read more about Vancouver, Canada

Alaska’s ‘first city’ Ketchikan is situated along the shores of Alaska's Inside Passage within the heart of the Tongass National Forest. Evergreen mountains rise out of the water, the lush green landscape nurtured by the abundant rainfall of the temperate rainforest environment. Visitors are presented with a remarkable array of activities and attractions that highlight the town's history, industry and culture, and bring them up close to resident wildlife. Read more about Ketchikan, USA

Alaska’s newest cruise port, Icy Strait Point, is located just down the road from Hoonah, and 35 km S.E. of Glacier Bay National Park. It is the result of collaboration between the local communities and cruise corporations, to attract visitors eager to experience America’s ‘last wilderness.’ Millions of dollars have been invested in creating a facility that offers cruise travellers an authentic and refreshing Arctic experience. Read more about Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), USA

Standing out is the scenic beauty of Haines, probably the best of any Alaskan town. It is in the northern part of the Alaska Panhandle, near Glacier Bay National Park. Skagway is 25 km away further along the fjord. Read more about Haines, USA

Hubbard Glacier enters Disenchantment Bay near the top end of the Alaska panhandle. Marching to the beat of a different drum, Hubbard Glacier is advancing while the rest of Alaska's ice rivers are receding rapidly. In 1986 and again in 2002 the glacier protruded forward, blocking off Russell Fjord to create an entirely new lake. Read more about Hubbard Glacier, USA

Valdez is an important ice-free port (pop. 4000) in Alaska, at the head of a fjord 24 km from its mouth at Prince William Sound. It was at the mouth of the sound that Exxon Valdez hit Bligh Reef and spilled 40-120 thousand tonnes of oi in 1989. Read more about Valdez, USA

Seward is the most often used cruise ship port for Anchorage, Alaska. (Whittier is used by Princess Cruises.) It lies at the head of a fjord that enters the Gulf of Alaska in the North Pacific Ocean. Seward is a two to four hour trip by car, bus or train from Anchorage. Read more about Anchorage (Seward), USA

The City of Kodiak is situated on the second largest island in the United States, SW of Anchorage in the Gulf of Alaska. Kodiak Island is famous for huge Kodiak brown bears, elk, Sitka deer (black tail), and mountain goats, all of which invite tourists to the Kodiak Archipelago. The magnificent green that the island turns during the summer is why Kodiak is affectionately called Alaska's Emerald Isle. Read more about Kodiak, USA

Actually the peaks of a submarine mountain range, the Aleutian Islands, part of the U.S. state of Alaska, are now part of the National Wildlife Refuge. They were set aside in 1980 as a 3.3-million-acre unit of the 4.9-million-acre Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Read more about Aleutian Islands, USA

Miyako is a small city of 60,000 people on the eastern-most coast of Honshu, Japan's main island. The island of Miyako-jima is home to beautiful beaches, perfect for sunning, swimming and snorkelling. When you are ‘sun-spent’, migrate to the Miyako-jima City Tropical Plant Garden to marvel at over 1,500 species of exotic tropical plants. Read more about Miyako, Japan

Tokyo, located on the eastern side of the main island of Honshu, is the core of the most populated area in the world (urban area 38M). The small fishing village of Edo was fortified in 1457 with Edo Castle (The Imperial Palace now stands at this location) and became one of the largest cities in the world by the 18th C. Its stringent policy of seclusion ended in 1854 and opened Japan to outside trade. Read more about Tokyo, Japan