Written by Sara Macefield
The far-reaching views from the Alaskan mountain top are pretty spectacular, but there’s no time to admire them because I’m about to be catapulted down at breakneck speed.
I’m strapped into a harness on the world’s largest zipwire at Icy Strait Point, a remote cruise port around 50 miles from Alaska’s capital, Juneau, and my heart starts pounding as I realise how terrifyingly steep it is.
Six of us are lined up at the starting gate, and as we wait, I can spy our ship in the distance looking like a tiny toy far beneath us, but before I can give it another thought, we simultaneously blast off for the 90-second descent.
As we plummet 1,330 ft downwards at speeds of up to 65mph, the wind screams past me and I shriek and whoop with unbounded excitement while the adrenaline flows.
For daredevils who love such high-octane thrills, Alaska is an adventure playground where against a backdrop of breath-takingly beautiful scenery and incredible wildlife encounters, you can have the time of your life on helicopter rides over the mountains, float-plane trips to spy bears catching salmon and train rides that evoke the pioneering spirit of early explorers.
The spirit of the Gold Rush lives on in the town of Skagway, guarded by soaring mountains on one side and the deep waters of a fjord on the other, with wide streets lined by Victorian-era wooden buildings, a testament to its Gold Rush roots when 19th century adventurers flooded here in search of their fortunes.
Today, the haunting whistle of the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway echoes across the town as a reminder, but I’m embarking on a different adventure aboard one of the helicopters buzzing through the skies.
We lift off from the heliport towards the jagged mass of snowy mountain tops, admiring incredible views of this icy wilderness as we soar towards the Denver Glacier, lolling like a vast icy tongue between craggy peaks swathed in curling wisps of cloud.
A few minutes later, we land at an Alaskan husky camp, where we learn about life as a dog musher and meet the four-legged steeds, before getting cuddles with some irresistibly cute pups just three weeks old.
I can see why Alaska has become such a cruising hot-spot, with most cruise companies offering sailings here, but I’m on a smaller ship - Oceania Cruises’ 1,250-passenger Riviera, which debuts in the region this summer.
There’s much to be said for sailing Alaskan waters on a vessel of this size, where you can squeeze into smaller ports, and if you’re the only ship in town, you’re surrounded by hundreds of other cruise visitors rather than thousands.
Our eight-night voyage to Vancouver started from Whittier, near Anchorage, where I stayed a couple of nights beforehand for a taste of America’s 49th state, known as the Last Frontier and, at a whopping 663,000 square miles, seven times larger than the UK.
The best attractions lie outside the city, most notably the Denali National Park, home to North America’s highest mountain, Mount McKinley, but we take a ride on the Wilderness Express, whose glass-roofed dome cars give perfect views of the forested plains and distant snow-dusted peaks.
With a cosy restaurant car, we tuck into breakfast while trundling to the arty town of Talkeetna, which we explore before enjoying a tasty dinner on our evening return.
The foodie theme continues courtesy of Oceania Cruises, which prides itself on serving up the Finest Cuisine At Sea and on our voyage, Alaska becomes a natural larder with local ingredients appearing on menus and a gut-busting Alaskan-themed buffet where giant crab legs, steamed mussels, and succulent salmon take pride of place.
At Riviera’s culinary centre, I join a class of gastronomic hopefuls to whip up creamy salmon rillettes and tender scallops that become my dinner, though we dine handsomely during other evenings too, taking our pick from the ship’s appetising mix of speciality dining spots - all included in the fare.
My favourite is Red Ginger, where we rhapsodise over Asian dishes of spicy duck and watermelon salad and miso-glazed seabass, though Gallic-inspired Jacques comes a close second with molten goat cheese souffles, herb-roasted lamb rack and mouth-watering crepes suzette.
With cuisine like this, it’s a good thing our daytime activities help to build up an appetite.
One boat trip from Sitka brings unforgettable sightings where we watch spouting whales and diving bald eagles, while another takes us past frolicking seals and endearing sea otters basking in kelp fields.
On another memorable day, we marvel at the icy cliff face of the Hubbard Glacier, stretching for seven miles, as vast chunks crash into the ocean, sending mini-tsunamis in our direction.
This is nature at its magnificent best, unspoilt and all-powerful and, like the rest of Alaska, ideally witnessed from the deck of a cruise ship.
