A Highway on the Water
Posted on June 18, 2008
Filed Under Call us tourists |
Posted by Sierra
Beep! Hoooooooooonk! Toot-toot! Here come the cars on the Alaska Marine Highway System! What’s this—they’re boats? That’s right! The AMHS is a stretch of water around much of Alaska’s coast.
On the AMHS, the most common source of transportation is by ferry. No, not the magical flying kind with wands, the boat kind, although the AMHS can be magical once you get to know the system.
The ferry fleet consists of 11 marine vessels—the Aurora, Chenega, Columbia, Fairweather, Kennicott, LeConte, Lituya, Malaspina, Matanuska, Taku, and Tustamena. All but the Aurora, Chenega, Fairweather, LeConte, and Lituya have cabins. All the vessels also have a “Car Deck” on which you can park your car and ride the ferry. I have only had the privilege of riding on the Matanuska, Taku, Fairweather, and Malaspina.
The Matanuska is one of the larger vessels. It has a cocktail lounge, a foward observation lounge, a cafeteria, a recliner lounge/theater, a solarium, a gift shop, a small video arcade, and multiple public bathrooms and showers. It runs along the main Inside Passage route.
The Taku has a cocktail lounge, a forward observation lounge, a cafeteria, two recliner lounges, a theater, a writing area, an after lounge, a solarium, a gift shop, and multiple public showers and bathrooms. We got a room for 25 hours, and sleeping in it was like sleeping in my bed at home. Having a cabin is also helpful when it comes to keeping your stuff in place.
The Fairweather is one of the fast ferries. It only has a cafeteria, a gift shop, a solarium, bathrooms, and a children’s play room. Yes, it’s small. But, as I mentioned before, it’s fast! There are ups and downs.
The ups:
1. The Fairweather is great for casual trips.
2. It has a lovely design, complete with fake plants and stylish seats.
The downs:
1. The solarium isn’t heated.
2. It’s small!
3. Passengers who have ridden on other, bigger ferries might be disappointed by the size of the ferry.
The Malaspina was the last ferry we rode on. It was like the Matanuska and the Taku combined. However, it did only day trips when we were on it. Therefore, all the cabins were closed.
On board the ferries, I was allowed to walk around by myself. I made friends, read, watched movies, read, explored, and read. Did I mention I read? I had the time of my life! My favorite ferry was the Taku. I liked it because it showed plenty of movies. It also had two recliner lounges and staying in a cabin was so cool!
So, those are the marine vessels on the AMHS, or at least the ones we went on. All of you out there who are planning a trip to Alaska should at least try to include the AMHS in your plans.
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Next time you’re in the state, take the Tusty or the Kennicott out here to Kodiak, and then the Tusty down the chain to Unalaska. It’s some real wild Alaska.
Beer and leisurely RV travel…. That’s the life! Add in baseball and that might describe my retirement.
Cheers from The Rock (Kodiak)