Your journey begins with a flight to Anchorage.

A morning tour of Anchorage includes a visit to the Alaska Native Heritage Center, and learn about Alaska’s indigenous people. Then, drive to the quaint community of Talkeetna. Your wonderfully rustic lodge here boasts an inviting lobby fireplace and view of Mt. McKinley.

Interior Alaska is America’s greatest cradle of wildlife and natural beauty. Experience it first hand as you drive north on the spectacular Parks Highway from Talkeetna. Your final destination is the interior hub, Fairbanks.

Take an included city tour of Fairbanks with a visit to the Museum of the University of Alaska and view the TransAlaska pipeline. Then, you’ll board asternwheel riverboat for a cruise along the gentle Chena and Tanana rivers. Disembark at a replicated Athabascan village to see a dogsled and bush plane demonstration. Then, enjoy a salmon bake at AlaskaLand!

Travel to Alaska’s treasure-trove of natural wonders — Denali National Park, a 6-million-acre wildlife sanctuary at the base of Mt. McKinley. You’ll enjoy a special full-day tour (with box lunch included) with an expert narrator-guide to take you across Alaska’s untouched wilderness as you draw ever closer to the 20,320-foot McKinley.

Today, you’ll wake up to an included breakfast and then drive to Seward with scenic views of the Chugach Mountains and Turnagain Arm. You’ll embark the ms Ryndam and set sail for the wilds of Alaska in the early evening.

Come face to face with a gigantic wall of ice that fills your view and extends for miles in either direction. Your onboard naturalist narrates and will help you spot seals, eagles, and other wildlife.

Historic Sitka sits on the edge of the scenic Inside Passage. Here you’ll find Native American and Russian czarist-era sites. Nearby is Mt. Edgecomb, an extinct volcano.

While in this northernmost Inside Passage port, you can celebrate the town’s key role in the gold rush years, peruse the quaint downtown, visit one of the museums or shops, or journey farther afield into the beautiful outlands.

In this mining town turned state capital, discover the city’s extensive gold rush heritage as captured in the well-preserved structures along S. Franklin Street, visit the grand Alaska State Capitol building, or venture to nearby Mendenhall Glacier, known as the “drive-in” glacier.

The town of Ketchikan, “the salmon capital of the world,” is built on docks and pilings at water’s edge. You can explore historic Creek Street or take and optional shore excursion, you can see the largest collection of totems in the world at Totem Bight State Historical Park.

Cruising the protected waters of the Inside Passage — which stretch 1,000 miles from Skagway to British Columbia — you’ll see cascading waterfalls, virgin forests, glacier-carved fjords, and perhaps even whales and seals, all with the commentary of your onboard naturalist.

Today you’ll disembark the ship and see the sights of Vancouver — Stanley Park, the Gastown district, Chinatown, and more — on a panoramic city tour.

After an included buffet breakfast, you’ll transfer to the airport for your return flight home. (B)

The day-by-day itinerary listed is for Southbound departures. Northbound departures operate in reverse and call on Haines, Alaska, instead of Skagway. Port times vary.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The above day-by-day itinerary is preliminary and therefore subject to change. If any major changes occur in advance of your departure, you’ll be notified in writing by Vantage Deluxe World Travel. If changes occur while on board ship or on tour, you’ll be notified by your Vantage Program Manager.

*These dates are northbound and operate in reverse and visit Haines instead of Skagway.