Alaska cruise: adrenaline kicks and natural beauty | Travel

There was no visible seasickness during my gentle cruise down Alaska’s coast, but I did notice a viral outbreak of expedition envy. Every evening we passengers gathered and listened to one another recount the grand adventures of the day, invariably wishing that we had chosen that excursion.

They described everything from sedate-sounding walking tours through woodland to hairy helicopter flights to Mendenhall Glacier, where they went dog-sledding (puppy-cuddling apparently included). They kayaked at dawn around misty islands among sea lions and otters, went whale watching from the comfort of a craft with a heated cabin and a loo, fished in rivers and flew in seaplanes. One widely envied outing came near the end, in British Columbia, when the fortunate few visited Canada’s only grizzly sanctuary…