US Cruise on Royal Princess from Seattle (USA)

Seattle (USA)

Seattle is a major coastal seaport city and the seat of King County, in the U.S. state of Washington. A major gateway for trade with Asia, Seattle is the 8th largest port in the United States and 9th largest in North America in terms of container handling. Seattle has a noteworthy musical history. From 1918 to 1951, there were nearly two dozen jazz nightclubs along Jackson Street from the current Chinatown/International District to the Central District. The jazz scene developed the early careers of Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson and others. Seattle is also the birthplace of rock legend Jimi Hendrix and the rock music style. Places to visit: the Henry Art Gallery , the first public art museum in Washington. The Seattle Art Museum , the Frye Art Museum is a free museum on First Hill. Regional history collections are at the Loghouse Museum in Alki, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, the Museum of History and Industry and the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. Industry collections are at the Center for Wooden Boats and the adjacent Northwest Seaport, the Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum, and the Museum of Flight. Regional ethnic collections include the Nordic Heritage Museum, the Wing Luke Asian Museum and the Northwest African American Museum. Seattle has artist-run galleries, including 10-year veteran Soil Art Gallery,and the newer Crawl Space Gallery.Other significant events include numerous art and entretainment, music, religious and ethnic festivals. Since the middle 1990s, Seattle has experienced significant growth in the cruise industry, especially as a departure point for Alaska cruises.

Juneau (Alaska)

Juneau is Alaska´s capital, however you can´t get there by road, only by air or by sea. Juneau is a main port for the Alaska Marine Highway, Alaska´s ferry system. Downtown Juneau is compact and highly walkable, The most popular activities in Juneau for visitors are flight seeing, charter fishing, visiting the Mendendhall Glacier, hiking and shopping. Look for local shop with a sign on the window that says "This store is owned by an Alaskan family", that sell awesome pins, beads, carving arts, all done by local artists or customizable gifts for travelers who don´t want a boring, touristy-looking T-shirt. Highlights in Juneau include Mount Roberts Tramway, the Red Dog Saloon, the Alaska State Museum, the Gastineau Salmon Hatchery, the Governor´s Mansion, the Alaska Gastineau Mill, and the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center.

Hubbard Glacier (Alaska)

Hubbard Glacier is a glacier located in eastern Alaska and part of Canada and it is North America’s largest tidewater glacier. The ice you see at the terminal face is ap­proximately 450 years old and is over 2000 feet thick at some locations. The glacier was named in 1890 for Gardiner Hubbard, the first president of the National Geographic Society. The Hubbard Glacier is currently ad­vancing while most glaciers are retreating worldwide. The Hubbard Glacier will and does react in an opposite fashion to most glaciers in a warming climate. This is not in contradiction with current global tempera­ture increases.

College Fjord (Alaska)

College Fjord is located in the northern sector of Prince William Sound in the U.S. state of Alaska. It contains five tidewater glaciers (glaciers that terminate in water), five large valley glaciers, and dozens of smaller glaciers most of them named after renowned East Coast colleges. College Fjord was discovered in 1899 during the Harriman Expedition, at which time the glaciers were named. It is a popular destination for cruise ships. From one place, it is possible to see eight of College Fjords Glaciers at once. You will not be able to describe the feeling of being in the presence of these tidewater giants. A glacier calving is an incredible event: imagine thousands of tons of ice peel away from a glacier and hearing a sound like a massive detonation of high explosives, followed by a huge roar as newly born icebergs plunging into the sea.

Whittier (Alaska)

Crossing International Date Line

Yokohama (Japan)

Yokohama is located only half an hour away from Tokyo and effectively forms a part of the giant conurbation. Yokohama's Chinatown is the largest in Japan and dates back to the Opening of Japan in 1859. Tokyo is a huge, wealthy and fascinating metropolis that brings high-tech visions of the future side by side with glimpses of old Japan and has something for everyone.