An “Inside” look at Alaska’s beauty and culture

The phrase “active exploration” can be both exciting and intimidating. Alaska is the Last Frontier, the largest state in the Union, home to many cultures, climates, and wildlife—how can a person experience a meaningful fraction of that during a single trip? How active does a person need to be?

Fortunately, Alaska Dream Cruises offers an experience that defines active exploration on their Alaska’s Inside Passage Sojourn itinerary. Aboard the Baranof Dream (and every Alaskan Dream Cruises vessel), passengers are more akin to voyagers than conventional visitors. Besides the stunning scenery, incredible wildlife, and glacier viewing, this cruise is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit, meet, and learn about Southeast Alaska Native Cultures, including the Haida people of Kasaan. What’s more, is that you are being truly guided, not just because staff are present, but because Alaska Dream Cruises is a family-owned company, with Tlingit heritage.

This is no walk past a glass-encased exhibit moment, but rather a chance to really be somewhere—to connect with the people and the land. This beautiful village on Prince of Wales Island, nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the panhandle of southern Alaska, continues to preserve the heritage of the Haida people. One such monument and testament to that heritage is the elaborate collection of totems of the Historic Totem District, deep in what can only be described as an enchanted portion of an already memorable forest (the Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the U.S. as well as the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world).

At the end of this two-third-mile forest path, you are met by the Chief Son-i-Hat Whale House— the only remaining traditional Haida longhouse in the United States. It is a challenge to not overuse the term “experience” here, but when visiting this site, the sacredness of it is undeniable.

Travelers can’t visit Kasaan on some traditional bus tour and nothing compares to the sense of adventure you have when your vessel turns that one last corner into a hidden cove and shows you a world of inspiring culture and beauty.

And that is just one stop on the Alaska’s Inside Passage Sojourn tour! This 9-day voyage from Alaska Dream Cruises still has so much to offer—from the 8 tidewater glaciers of Glacier Bay to the myriad of seabirds and waterfalls of Misty Fjords. We invite you to experience it all with us.