Alaska: Where the wild things are

By Brian Johnston
Updated September 25 2016 - 1:24am, first published 12:15am

One-upmanship is a shameless part of travel, and I have to say I'm feeling rather smug at four o'clock in the afternoon in the port of Seward. My compact ship Le Soleal is graced with a pale-grey hull and elegant white trim, and looks like a sleek shark in comparison to the great whale of a megaship at the adjacent dock. As wave after wave of passengers heaves onto the larger ship, a select few board Le Soleal for a different kind of cruise: nimbler, more adventurous, set to slide into remote bays and fiords that mainstream ships can't access.