Ah, the Alaska State Ferry. Gotta say, the marine highway is a great way to move through Canada; It's very much a cruise, and you still get to feel good about not being on a floating hotel with the, and I'm quoting someone here: "Nearlydeads, Newlyweds, and overfeds". Stopping in Juneau, with 3 docked cruiseships, I was forced to laugh at the --politically incorrect, to be sure-- not-entirely-inaccurate description of the population segment. For several bocks, the town was filled with jewelry and fur shops. Where, I have to ask, does Alaska fit in?
Those cruise ships are HUGE, and I prefer to not bring a city with me when I travel. Tent, yes. Quil-lo, yep. and maybe ONE traveling companion -- not 3000.
Anyway, there was no shuffleboard aboard, but they had a decent cafeteria (good breakfast), microwaves for warming your own meal (Thai), and a bar. If you want to camp, you can set up a tent on the deck, though I can't really picture pitching around in a tent; must be a really wierd experience. Also, there plenty of places to sit and watch the world float by. Works for me!
The ferry also stops in Petersburg, which, after a rainy quarter-mile walk past crabbing pots and liqueur store, you find a lovely Norwegian bakery. That's more like the Alaska *I* know and love.
