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Discover what our guests have to say about their Glacier Bay small ship cruise experience with Pacific Catalyst—from breathtaking views and wildlife encounters to expert crew and gourmet cuisine.   “Glacier Bay Adventure” posted on Trip Advisor by: Camin292 “The absolute best way to see the natural beauty of Glacier Bay [national] park in Alaska….

To our wonderful patrons and team members, After nearly 30 seasons of adventures along the Pacific shores of North America, it is time for Tracie and I to plot a course into the remote and sublime archipelago known as retirement. When I bought M/V Catalyst and formed Pacific Catalyst around her, I was primarily motivated by a love for old wooden…

Catalyst and Westward were nearly fully booked for the entire 2021 Alaska season, which helped us rise from the almost universally negative financial impact due to Covid-19. It felt good to be able to pay back a good bit of the loans taken out to survive 2020. There was also enough left to replace Catalyst’s…

For some years now my husband Brian and I have explored remote places in Alaska and Baja on board Bill’s wonderful vintage ships – the Catalyst and the Westward. Brian is gone now, but I have continued to travel with Bill and Tracie both with my daughter-in-law (a previously confirmed big boat enthusiast) and solo….

I was fortunate to visit some of the cave paintings in Baja on the extension of one of Bill’s Baja tours shortly before the Corona Virus exploded in our lives, changing what we could and wanted to do. And further fortunate to have Don Chicho as one of my guides. Don Chicho was one of…

I was lying in my bunk with my head next to an open porthole, listening to the dawn. I had yet to open my eyes. The quiet darkness had been filled with the tiny murmurs of a large school of sardines sheltering beneath Westward’s wooden hull. The wet scurrying sounds of the fish had been…

Surpassed Expectations: Sitka to Petersburg on M/V Westward A Guest’s Review on TripAdvisor I’m chuckling as I write this. I just took a look at a mailing from one of those mega cruise lines in which they describe their Alaska and Inside Passage cruise for 930 people. No, thank you. I grew up in a…

The advantage of choosing a small ship cruise to explore the Inside Passage of Alaska is that you can reach places the big cruise ships can not get to. To boot, the captain is always willing, tides permitting, to alter course, allowing guests to observe whales and bears or other wildlife, as in this shot…

One of our guests was so kind to share his blog posts from his Photo Tour with us. Check out the links below to read about his adventures and to see some amazing photos: Alaska at a Civilized Pace Whales! So Many Bears… There are still some open cabins this season, don’t miss out on…

I finally have a few minutes to post a status report. Catalyst finishes her first trip of her Alaska season tomorrow. She had a well deserved spa retreat for most of the winter. She was massaged and manicured, made over and polished until she gleamed. In the course of her treatments she has had two…