Seeing the Alaskan Coast

Looking for an Alaskan cruise? Think small.

A trip along Alaska's magnificent coast doesn't necessarily mean a week on a floating city. A variety of smaller vessels, from crewed yachts and sailboats that carry a dozen people to a 235-passenger sternwheeler, also ply northwest waters.

They won't have many of the lavish amenities or entertainment of big cruise ships, and they may actually cost significantly more. But passengers can see a different Alaska, one without the crowds, because small vessels can moor in out-of-way bays and ports, setting passengers ashore for visits and hikes, and are able to maneuver close to shore for in-your-face views of forested shorelines and glaciers.

Looking for an even cheaper way to go -- with the same glorious scenery as a cruise ship? Take a ferry.

Alaska Marine Highway System ferries sail from Bellingham, Wash., and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, to southeast Alaska. Sleep in one of the bunk-bed staterooms or in reclining chairs in the lounges; stretch out in your sleeping bag in the upper-deck solarium or pitch a tent on the deck. Or ferry-hop along the coast by combining British Columbia and Alaska ferries. B.C. Ferries sail from Port Hardy on northern Vancouver Island to Prince Rupert, where you can pick up an Alaska ferry and continue north.

Here's how to find out more about these cruise options:

The Web site of Small Ship Cruises, www.smallshipcruises. com, is a good place to find links to dozens of companies. Or call 1-800-290-0077.

Two of the larger small-ship cruise companies serving Alaska are the Seattle-based Cruise West (1-888-851-8133 or www.cruisewest.com) and Glacier Bay Cruiseline (1-800-451-5952 or www.glacierbaytours.com).

Adventure-travel companies, including Seattle-based REI Adventures (1-800-622-2236 or www.rei.com/adventures) or Wildland Adventures (1-800-345-4453 or www.wildland.com) also offer small-ship Alaska voyages.

American West Steamboat Co. has cruises to Alaska aboard its Empress of the North, an elegant replica of a 19th-century paddlewheeler. 1-800-434-1232 or www. americanweststeamboat.com.

Crewed yachts and sailboats sail within southeast Alaska or travel up the Inside Passage from Seattle, Port Townsend, Vancouver, and other ports. Do a Google search for "Alaska and yachts" to find dozens of options. One of the better-known vessels is the 65-foot Snow Goose, which offers San Juan Islands trips in spring and fall and nine- to 11-day cruises in southeast Alaska in summer (1-888-877-1770 or www. bluewateradventures.ca).

For information on ferries: Alaska Marine Highway System, 1-800-642-0066 or www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs.

For information on B.C. Ferries: 1-250-386-3431 or www.bcferries.bc.ca.

Canadian Arctic voyages

Nature cruises to the ends of the earth are out of this world -- or nearly. The downside of such remote places is travel time. Getting near either pole requires days of journeying, particularly for anyone departing from the East Coast.

This summer promises a less time-consuming option for visiting the Canadian Arctic, with the launch of an Inuit-owned cruise line, Cruise North Expeditions.

For cruisers, the benefits of a line run by the region's indigenous peoples will be access. Beginning July 10, when Cruise North debuts, passengers won't have to fly to Greenland and then travel across the sea to get to the Arctic. Instead, they'll be able to begin their Arctic adventure after a two-hour flight from Montreal.

The cruises depart from the port of Kuujjuaq and circle Hudson Straits. Because Inuits own Cruise North, the ship will be able to dock in places no other cruise vessels visit. Each trip also will feature a team of naturalists, historians and ornithologists to lecture on board and guide tours ashore to ancient Inuit archaeological sites, a traditional Inuit community feast, drum dancing and throat singing.

Cruise North's itineraries focus on the eastern sections of this region, where the mountains, fjords and glaciers create the most stunning scenery, and where the Arctic wildlife is most prolific and concentrated. Passengers are likely to glimpse polar bears, beluga whales, walrus, bearded seals and musk ox. Akpatok Island hosts the world's largest colony of thick-billed murres.

Built in 1970 as a research vessel for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the 66-passenger Ushuaia was designed with an ice-strengthened hull for polar travel and long stays at sea.

The ship was refurbished three years ago, and its public spaces include a large and airy dining room. There's also a library, observation lounge and lecture hall. Although accommodations are quite nice, 24 of the ship's 33 cabins have shared bathrooms.

Eight weeklong itineraries are planned through Sept. 4. Fares begin at $2,490 double occupancy for the land/sea packages, including air between Montreal and Kuujjuaq. For information, call 1-866-263-3220 or visit cruisenorthexpeditions.com.

Sailing Siberia

Fans of Russia won't be out in the cold if they want an Arctic adventure. Quark Expeditions, the venerable expedition line, sails the 108-passenger Kapitan Khlebnikov, an authentic Russian icebreaker, on several Arctic options of two weeks and longer:

Russia's Far East and Wrangel Island, from July 7 to 20. Passengers fly from Anchorage, Alaska, to Anadyr, Russia, to board the vessel, which sails south along the coast of Siberia and through the Bering Strait. Rates begin at $8,050 per person.

Northwest Passage, from July 18 to Aug. 5. Following in the footsteps of arctic explorer Roald Amundsen, this voyage also departs from Anadyr but this time heads for the remote Chukchi coast and Beaufort Sea on its way to Amundsen Gulf, Victoria Island and Cambridge Bay. The trip ends with a flight to Ottawa. Fares are from $10,250.

Tanquary Fiord, Ellesmere Island and Greenland, from Aug. 16 to 31. Passengers fly from Ottawa to Resolute high in the Arctic Circle. From there the voyage follows the route of 19th-century explorers to Greenland and Cape York, an important land to the Inuit. Breaking through thick ice, the vessel rams its way west toward Ellesmere Island in northernmost Canada. Fares are from $9,150.

For information about these voyages, call 1-800-356-5699 or visit www. quarkexpeditions.com.

Songwriters festival

It won't be all country music when more than 300 professional songwriters from near and far arrive in Nashville, Tenn., for the Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival from April 4 to 9.

Legends, hit makers and emerging talent in bluegrass, pop, folk, blues, alt-country, country and other musical styles will entertain in the largest annual U.S. festival devoted to songs and songwriters. Each night, dozens of songwriters will perform 70 showcases held at nine venues.

The festival is sponsored by the Nashville Songwriters Association International, which has 15,000 members in 50 states and four countries. For information: 1-800-321-6008 or www.tinpansouth.com or www.nashvillesongwriters.com.

Hiking guide

If you've dreamed of hiking a major trail from beginning to end but you lack the time and resources for a trek such as the Georgia-to-Maine Appalachian Trail, a new book called the "Thru Hiker's Guide to America" describes hikes you can take pride in -- without taking six months off work.

The $16.95 book, published by the Camden, Maine-based Ragged Mountain Press, lists 25 "incredible trails you can hike in one to eight weeks."

Author Erik Schlimmer, who uses "e. Schlimmer" as his nom de plume, looked for trails that are manageable for most hikers but that offer "a feeling of wildness." He included terrain that varies from hard to easy, from flat to mountainous. The book includes information on average temperatures throughout the year; terrain, including how much you'll have to climb; potential hazards, from bears to mud slides; points of interest; and whether you're likely to find solitude or crowds along the way.

In the mid-Atlantic region, the list includes Pennsylvania's Baker Trail, 140 miles long, and Mid State Trail, 260 miles; the Mason-Dixon Trail, 190 miles in Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania; and the 150-mile Tuscarora Trail in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

Understanding acts of God

Recent events have raised many questions about travel insurance and the coverage it provides during natural disasters and other "acts of God."

There's a wide variety of travel insurance policies, and most will respond to these types of emergencies. Perhaps the most common type of travel insurance is "package" plans, a pre-bundled group of coverages against various risks. The specifics vary from policy to policy, even within the same insurance company. Some pay for losses due to natural disasters, and others don't.

Here are some of the more popular insurance coverage packages and how they typically respond to particular risks because of natural disasters:

Trip cancellation/interruption: Acts of God usually are not covered. This is designated "peril" coverage, and most policies do not include the "peril" of natural disaster. Those that do will require that the disaster causes your home or destination to be uninhabitable. Natural disasters that are caused by weather are also covered by some policies, as long as your common carrier is delayed or canceled as a direct result.

Travel delay: Most policies will cover travel delays (additional living expenses) due to a natural disaster. This coverage is also named "peril" coverage, and most policies include natural disasters as a "peril."

Medical expense: Most travel medical coverages are broad coverages and will cover medical expenses due to injuries sustained as a result of a natural disaster.

Emergency medical evacuation: This is the same as medical expense. Generally this is a broad form of coverage that pays for emergency medical evacuations caused by either injuries or sicknesses that result from a natural disaster. This coverage usually also provides for the shipment of mortal remains and sometimes will pay for a family member to join an injured client.

Accidental death and dismemberment: Most policies that offer this coverage do so as a broad form that will provide benefits for injuries received as a result of a natural disaster. Some restrict coverage to accidents that occur to a passenger riding on a common carrier or on a scheduled airline.

Baggage: Usually this is broad coverage that pays for baggage and personal effects that were lost or damaged as result of a natural disaster.