Well, the bigger question is, is there even a gay Alaska cruise? Yes, lots!
There’s an Aquafest 7-night “gay explorer” cruise, which seems to take the Inside Pass, probably one of the best routes. How exactly a “gay” explorer is different from an explorer is anyone’s guess though.
Coda offers a gay group cruise from Vancouver to Seward, and it checks out some of the more interesting places like Sitka and the Hubbard Glacier. Apart from this, there are a few other gay group cruises you can take.
Now that we’ve established that you do in fact have the choice of taking a gay Alaska cruise, should you? Well, that depends on what you’re into. I would say that the Alaska cruises are for the more mature, serious couples, as well as the ones that are interested in wildlife, scenery and history over partying, beaches and drunken misadventures.
So what can you expect to see on an Alaskan cruise? The scenery is perhaps the first thing that comes to mind, and you’ll see some great rocky shores meeting some angry waves, making their way into beautiful 10,000 ft snow-topped mountain peaks. Little islands and deep bays dot the shoreline, and if you hit Alaska in summer, which you should, you’ll see very unique flora and fauna. The entire region from Vancouver all the way up is beautiful, but if and when you make it to certain regions, there are places where you can find such unique oddities as a flower that blooms for just one day in the year. Imagine giving your lover that flower (can you say get… some?).
When you finally tear your gaze away and glance back at the ocean, you’ll probably do a double take, because you’ll see killer whales, beluga whales, humpback whales and other amazing creatures. Bald eagles are in great numbers, and they’ll be circling over grizzly and black bears, which dot the slopes of the fjords. If you get lucky, you may even see them fishing for salmon (you could do the same on a day excursion). If you get to Anchorage, you’ll find that the city has a sizable population of moose.
There’s also the history. Nestled within Canada and belonging previously to Russia, Alaska has a very diverse population, and some unique settlements of Norwegian people where the culture has remained intact, others of Russian people, and others of native peoples.
One of my favorite things about the 49th state is the northern lights, or Aurora Borealis. There is nothing like this on earth. There’s a catch though. They’re most easily seen during the winter, and you have to be far enough north. You can get far enough with most cruises, but the chances of seeing them during the summer are lower.
All these reasons are plenty, but as you can see, Alaska is not exactly the partygoer’s hotspot. It’s closer to being the opposite, a serene, zen experience for the open-minded, but if not this year, everyone should check it out at some point.
