NEED TO KNOW

Next up is the vast Glacier Bay, now a national park but put on the European map by Captain James Cook, who came in the 1770s trying to find the elusive North West Passage. A Native American of the Tlingit tribe gently added perspective when he reminded us: “My people came here 17,000 years ago.”

Then it’s another quantum leap, sailing south to Sitka, the old Russian capital during the days when the Tsar’s men ruled Alaska, until they ran out of fur supplies and sold it to the Americans for a bargain two cents an acre. That was in 1867, before gold, oil and gas were discovered!

However, the Russian legacy lives on. In Sitka’s Main Street is the classic ‘onion domed’ St Michael’s Russian Orthodox Church, complete with paintings and icons inside and still with an active congregation. Not only those of Russian lineage, but also members of the Tlingit tribe who chose to integrate. You can visit the Bishop’s House, used by the church until the 1970s, and ultimately bought and restored by the National Park Service.

What would President Putin make of that?

Another sea journey, and more sumptuous meals, and you’re in Ketchikan, a lively place where you can visit the Tlingit tribe’s Saxman Village and watch the carving of totem poles and traditional dancing.

A walk in the forest is another attraction, with the guide succumbing to that old Alaskan humour with the advice: “If you see a bear, run downhill and don’t stop until another person is between you and the bear.”

Final port of call is the delightful city of Victoria on Vancouver Island.

It’s in Canada, but you just have to sign a cruise temporary visit document to gain entry.

We opted for a two-hour guided walking tour, which was excellent to give you the heads up on the history of the place and the quirky offbeat stories. Six hours on shore was just a taster visit.

Definitely a place to come back to in the future.

Then an overnight voyage back to Seattle to dock at 7am and to disembark in orderly stages up to 9.30am. A taxi to your hotel, if staying on, and off to explore the city, courtesy of City Pass, well worth the investment.

Trip of a lifetime? You bet. ■ LINDSAY AND MO SUTTON ■ icelandair.co.uk ■ ■ hollandamerica.com (cedarbrooklodge.com)

travelled on Holland America Line’s 7-day Alaska Adventure cruise aboard Eurodam in an ocean view stateroom. Balcony cabins fare from £900 and inside cabins from £727 – see THEY flew Icelandair from Manchester to Reykyavik (two hours) and then direct...

St Michael’s Cathedral in the heart of modern Sitka, once the Russian capital of Alaska