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Show HE The Salt Lake Tribune TRAVEL Sunday, January 31, 19 99 Alaska Ferries Don't Pamper, But You Can Hop Off for a While BYALAN SOLOMON CHICAGO TRIBUNE in port just 45 minutes. Railed the woman: “How do PRINCE RUPERT, British Columbia — John Ritterbach, purs- you see Juneau in 45 minutes if it’s 13 miles away?” Responded the purser: “You don’t. This is not a cruise ship.” There youhave it. er on the MV Matanuska,likes to tell the story of the woman who was enraged when told downtown Thestate-owned Alaska Marine HighwaySystemis nine ferries(at last count) that sail Alaskan waters. They connect just about all of the state’s coastal towns, sail wonderfully close to glaciers, are often escorted by whales and bald eagles, and glide through the ma- jestic Inside Passage — in other words, the sameroutes that draw cruise ships from Princess and | Holland America and other Gift Certificates prime-timelines. The cruise ships charge thou- Great Gift Idea! sands. Alaska’s state ferries Drive vacations gift Certificates. Call for details. Give a gift of memories. | SNOWMOBILE| charge hundreds, and you can bring yourcar and your dog along Jackson Hole tm $210 graphs. West Yellowstone:.. $214 Sailing the Inside Passage from 2 nights, 1 day snowmobile rental, Park pass, rental clothes, breakfast Skagway in Alaska’s Gold Rush country or nearby Haines to Prince Rupert, just south of the 0 $135 Alaskanstate line in British Co- ‘ night & full day snowmobile on a Db Sied, 200 tiles of groomed trails Inn at Jackson So why doesn’t everyone hop the ferries? Well, there are reasons, and we'll get to them in a fewpara- nights in Jackson Hole full day snowmo- bile tour. Snowmobile clothing rental, lunch Daniel Summit for the ride. lumbia, is one of the great travel Mexico trom $210 ‘Ski in ski out 2 nights & 2 days skiing Inn on Center Street ion $80 InLogan, 2 nights & get free ski-rental Winter Getaways! 206g?otseceeanva$205 St trom $110 2 nights & 1 round golf + car, weekends additional , tom $95 nights in a Suite & 1 round golf Mesquite Cancun 2 nights & 1 round + cart or in August. Will Petrich is second mate/ na- “Our staterooms, ” said Ritter- Meals, for those who didn’t bach, the purser, “ “are compara- bring their own picnics, were ble to cruise ships’, without the served cafeteria-style and were candy on your pillow and a stew- adequate. Dinner onenight was a other information, call the Alaska Marine Highway System, 800-642-0066. experiences. The scenery is breathtaking. Snow-capped mountainsand bright blue waters. You've seen the pictures and yearned the yearnings. People of means and manners go in comfort and luxury. Therestof us doit like this. Ritterbach, the purser, explained the differenceas well as it can be explained. “Basically, this is a big black and gold Greyhound bus,” he said, meaning the Matanuska, “and this,” he said, nodding toward the passing passage, “is a road. And those barges are our semi-trailers.”” There are no waiters or stewards on the Matanuska. No orchestras. No Dan, Dan, the Bingo Man. No aerobics classes. No mid- nightbuffets. No organized shore excursions. Your every whim, needand desire areoflittle interest to anyone onboard but you. On the other hand, there’s no tipping. Everyone who works on the ship is a state employee, and anyonewho has ever applied for a driver's license knowsthat offer- ing moneyto a state employeefor services renderedis bad form. rthbound or be vigation officer on the Matanus- opT’ve beenhere, on andoff, for 25 years,” said Petrich, “and I can’t figure out the schedule.” Here’s a sample: “Petersburg’s harbor,” say: Sa Marine Highway brochure, “is, home to more than 160 fishiing vessels, manned by the grandchildren of Scandinavian pione .eTS who founded this ‘Little Nor- way.” Joann, a housekeeper (boatkeeper?) on the Matanuska, c on“If’sa lovely Norwegian town,” she said. “Got a Viking ship, lots es stuff. It's quite a quaintfishing most Romantic Inn. von $161 2 nights, Couples Massage, Breakfast ‘nn on Center St. jon $39)| © 26 North State Street #F2— Salt Lake City Subjectto change. Rates ovbleily.ccupancy. faxesséatona Then, when you're ready, you cancatch the next boat. You can’t do that on the Prince ofOslo. twinkling red and green traffic much closed. At 12:47 a.m., we were out of there. “We don’t make it easy for people,” said Christy Taylor, purser of the sister boat MV LeConte, who was on our ferry to visit with friends. “We drop people off in the middle of the Amongthose on this voyage — along with lots of retirees and family clusters plus their RVs — werean Australian backpacker,a British motorcyclist and his wife whohadcycled up from Califor- be a taxi for you.’ Sometimes we treat people horribly, schedulewise.” and a Michigan policeman who nightandtell them, ‘There might the good stuff. nia on his classic 1951 Vincent, took his 4x4 above the Arctic Circle, where roads are sometimes rumors. “Went through a wholeset of tires,” said the cop. ‘Worth every tire.” There was plenty of room on lowing eveningin Prince Rupert. everything go by. (Both our days werebrilliant and 60-ish.) Others preferred the recliner lounge, which featured large windows Escacted Tours San Francisco “Evita” 3 days » Feb 26 « Now replacing Phantom Book of Mormon Cruise 11 days + Mar 16 » Vemal Equinox * Mexico MexicanRiviera Cruise lights put on their own show. “Tt reminds meofa pinball machine,” said Joann, once again between drags. “‘It’s really neat.” Yes,there are frustrations. We docked in Ketchikan around noon on Thursday. The terminal is 2 miles out of town; there was no timeforus to do anything on shore but hit a conve- niencestore. Whenour ferry later slid past the actual town 45 minutes later, two cruise ships were in port and third was offshore, and they had disgorged their pas- sengers into frontier-like streets lined with shopsselling curios and nuggets and Inuit ivory. Those people came back to their boats with treasures. Our people came back with Cheetos. But our people could have stayed. @ Answers to Where Are You? The Photo:Thechurchis in Taos, N.M. Seerelated story on The Map: Thestate is Missouri. Look for Taos at bottom right. 7 days * May 1 + Cabo + Acapulco + PV Mazatlan + Hosted by KDYL’s Danny Kramer Pacific NW Temple Tour 7 days + May26 + Victoria to San Francisco Feb. 28 § DAYS § BUFFETS ~ ELATION.. Nauvoo & Winter Qtrs 7 days * June 17 Hill Cumorah Pageant days * July 8 or July 15 Palmyra, Independence 4 DAYS magnificent way the Mexican Riviera. & Nauve 410 days » Juiy 13 pLCRD Eee eA ucRagen CASSeae formerly FALDMO TOURS March 24-26, 1999 Join us for a 3-day art tour of 4 museums in Los Angeles including the van Gogh meals. C special warkybind disc Collection on loan from Amsterdam, SPECIALS" SPECIALSSPECIALS’ SPECIALS Canbbeary Cruises starting at oly $589/person (qovad occup) Including Ax! AlaskaInside Passage $900 per person, matanes double occupancy,includes: Air fare, hotel, all museums, cruise starting Discover Carnival’s ail breakfasts & dinners, one lunch, transfers, tips, and taxes. are subject to availability at time of booking Dozens of additional cruise departures at tremendous savings. Call for information. Prices above do not include port tax and Deposit of $450 due February 1, 1999. SuperLiner ELATION. Call Phil at Kimball Travel Consultants for details Call 261-1919 or, toll-free 1-800-748-4777| Destinations, Inc. 765 When it was dark, we eased 8 days + May 11 or June 11 6 Buffets $1 7.7 LDS Church History/Hill Cumorah Pageant Tour July 8-20th, 1999 We Se $15%pp. dbl We ore the bestCall orGl kayakor fish one of the world’s deck to sit in the sun and watch Fob. 26, 3 DAYS. MEAL #5 CASH Destinations, Inc.presents drive onto the boat, sail to isa Juneof last year. I drove my Jim- Hardware Park City CRUI SE & TRAVEL MASTERS| coolers. I saw no drunkenness. Whenthe sun was up — which, with the long Alaskan summer days, was mostof the time — the Nauvoo with Branson 268-4470 800-264-0557 ons Ritterbach. Translation: With little re Whenwegot there just before midnight, Petersburg was pretty 7 75 DAYS www.drivevacations.com brought their own refreshment in where an endless succession of $14 cash Brenda or Vicky 531-1556 800-695-4000 A Bud atthe bar was $3.50, $4 ~ for an Alaska Amber; J&B on the rocks was $2.25. Lots of folks “Thecost, though not cheap, affords you a chance to get where you can’t get any wayelse,” said ($683this year). through the Wrangell Narrows, - MORRIS- Call Wanda and also priced well. the second passenger ticket — bringingtheir total outlay to $674 to know Alaska and Alaskans. Sean Back fees & taxes(approx $5250) Charter air service provided by Sun Country salads, all reasonably priced. Breakfast was cooked to order ” great salmon streams or just get & Night retroactive Prices donot nciudeintemational poachedling cod with sides and burgers and deli sandwiches and “It's really pretty in the di: laylight.” T'll haveto take her wordforit. Every Day Airfhotel/transfers valid for 7nt nonstop Sat 2-3/20/99. Air only valid for 7nt nonstop Sat depts 1/2-3/20/99 Prices not choice of marinated flank steak or beverage ($8.25), or the standard * ests and glaciers wereas spectacular as they would have been from the deck of the Ile de Fjord. arette. myoff the Matanuskaat7 thefol- Buenaventura $549.95 (7 nts) it down.” chairs and large couches. views of the mountains and for- OK, that’s the bad news. Now, Air Only Sleigh Ride Dinner «.... $65 Horse-drawn Sleigh & Dinner ing Mycost: $118 for the ticket; $113 for the stateroom (which slept two); $325 for the car. Total: $556. (1999 price: $579.) A couple sharing the room and car would have paidan additional $118 for sation from comfortable swivel next stop, walk or drive off the boat, and then exploreor camp or I drove my GMC Jimmy onto the MV Matanuska in Haines at 10 a.m. on a Wednesdayin |. late Puerto Vallarta $249°° ard enjoying the scenery and conver- > ful planning, you can walk o1 The route maybe the same as on the Song of Tripoli, but where rest of my junk stayed in thecar. re took a drag from hercig- and when and for how long you stop on the ferries of the Alaska Marine Highway depends on Airthotevtransfers valid for 6nt Sun dept1/3: 2/21, 3/7-3/21/99. Air only valid for 6nt Sun depts 1/3-2/21, 47-3/21/99. Inn on the Creek i. $39 Mediterranean Soulbowl,ate orertyix May Laguna Verde $539.95 (6 nts) ‘ night at the Inn on the Creek, Jackson's line business-class recliners.Still others liked the observation deck, IF You Go heths Air Only | and soft chairs comparableto air- _ —_—-_ For schedules, fares and $299 trom $126 Brian Head I overnighted in a stateroom with a shower, toilet and a port- hole. The bed was comfortable. The room had a desk. There was ample space for my duffel; the Juneau was 13 miles from the ferty terminal and the boat would be (801) 994-9000 or e-mail phil@meet-am.com 4500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84107 She's huge. She's spectacular. She's the grandest ship sailing from Los Angeles to the coast of Mexico. As one ofthe latest Superlinersin the world’s newest and largest fleet of cruise ships, the “Fun Ship’ PRINCESS CRUISES OBE. PRINCESS TOURS: Travel Zone Gulf of Alaska Cruise Zone 7 Nights on the Crown Princess DKON May 24, 1999 Sailing 1-800- 7.1606 Als k aska 884... BFEoI 97< 801-531-1606 | wee travel zoe com . 11 Nights on the Sky Princess San Franciscoto S: ncisco on Tune Into KALL 910 Saturday February 6th 9-10 a.m. Srwepie Cruise Lines ‘Travel Zone Now Open Saturday 9am - 12 noon 5 doar Please ELATIONis setting a new standardfor vacation fun on the West Coast. Like all Carnival SuperLiners, she has three pools, a complete Nautica Spas program and a ship-long promenadeof clubs and lounges. She also boasts Vegas-style shows and one ofthe largest casinos at sea: the Moroccan-themed Casablanca Make your reservations now to experience a fabulous 7 day adventure to Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas aboard ELATION. And, remember, one low price includes everything, even Carnival’s Exclusive Vacation Guarantee.» One vacation Is just more fun. In addition to this exciting itinerary, Carnival offers a variety of 3, 4, 5 7 day andlonger cruises to The Bahamas, the Caribbean, C Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii and the Panama Canal. On a “Fun Ship” cruise vacation, you won't just be happy — you'll be positively elated. ‘ (7 4! Og Ace ~~ Carnival We The Most Popular Cruise Line in the World's vk SackS 3 & 4 day cruises from Los Angeles ads Cal 4100 Fe it te ats M With ininimum play Peta et trom Raton ore per guest Guost 7 day cruises from Los Angeles on ELATION 2699:. CARNIVAL PRICES INCLUDE PORT CHARGES. a by phn pve ngewe« to Cat the nearest Moms Travel locaton ib book your Utah » Wdaho » Nevada » Montana » Oregon » Washington You can beat the nearer! office on the bach page 0! ave For mone crue 08a hoe warm morritravel com 0 10 0% .MORR]s5. Travel |