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After listening to mountain biker across aisle on my Alaska Air flight from Seattle to Anchorage tell me in detail each biking trail he has ever been on, liked to be on, or read or heard about, I knew serenity of Prince William Sound on CruiseWest's Spirit of Glacier Bay was antidote.

After a night in imposing Sheraton Anchorage hotel overlooking pioneer Anchorage Memorial Cemetery, Prince William Sound was better envisioned.

The same company that owns CruiseWest also owns AlaskaSightseeing, staffing a guest desk inside Sheraton for planning complimentary dinner shuttles, tours, or Anchorage Museum of History and Art, four blocks away.

Other Anchorage Anchorge tour options include: Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, Performing Arts Center, and Alaska Experience Center. Bike coastal trail around Anchorage from Downtown Bicycle Rental (279-5293) for $20 half day or $30 full day.

THE ALASKA RAILROAD ADVENTURE -

The next morning I am met by a CruiseWest tour representative and we jumped on a bus for short ride to rail station. The rambling, rumbling reminiscent 1920's era rail cars slip out of station for two-hour, 51-mile jaunt to Whittier. A naturalist on board for duration of tour and cruise details natural elements we pass, including second largest tidal bore at 40+ feet in Turn Again Bay (2nd after Bay of Fundy tidal bores), and flats where many fishermen get trapped and drowned, sucked into glacial silt unable to pull out before next tide rolls in. Days before a lucky fisherman was saved from this fate by Anchorage fire department.

Three trains depart Anchorage daily: Whittier or Seward southbound, and Fairbanks northbound. The Glacier Discovery to Whittier train didn't rate as a panoramic domed liner, but it did have an expansive dining car in entourage, featuring Alaska gourmand choices of McKinley Breakfast, Bird Creek Chicken Sandwich, and Reindeer Sausage, Indian River Sandwiches, or Bristol Bay Grilled Pan-fried Salmon Filet.

Many passengers are taking pictures from caboose's rear open-air smoking platform. Rail service to Whittier is from mid-May to mid-September, with southbound leaving at 10 a.m. and arriving in Whittier at 12:30 p.m. Hand carry luggage only. The rail voucher is included in your CruiseWest trip, or call 800/544-0552. Round-trip is $51 and one-way is $26 if booked without a cruise.

The Alaska Railroad winds around Turn Again Arm Bay, named by Captain Cook on his 1779 voyage. He had to "turn again" to avoid sandbars, spits, glacial silt, low water and mud. Nothing much has changed across barren low tide mud flats. Fishermen along creeks casted flies amongst salmon heading up stream to spawn. There are five types of salmon in Alaska: chum, coho, silver, pink, and king.

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Since 1840 Cunard Line has been sailing seven seas, and for past six decades there has been a Queen amongst its fleet plying open ocean.

A New Queen Is About To Be Crowned.

The Cunard fleet has a classic British heritage and includes Queen Elizabeth 2 and Caronia. In December 2003 line welcomes Queen Mary 2, destined to recapture glamour of original Queen Mary, currently a hotel and attraction in Long Beach, California. Another new, as of yet unnamed, ship is expected to come online for Cunard in 2005.

The keel for new Queen Mary 2 was laid in Saint Nazaire, France on July 4, 2002, a commemorative day celebrating 162nd anniversary of maiden voyage of first Cunard ship - Britannia, sailing from Liverpool to Halifax and Boston.

The new $800-million Cunard flagship is expected to enter service in January 2004 and she will be largest, longest, and tallest and most expensive passenger ship ever built.

Stylistically, QM2 will recall grand ocean liners, with sweeping staircases, towering domed public rooms, five swimming pools, a grand ballroom and a 360-degree promenade deck. Yet she will be technologically advanced, with a four-pod propulsion system, sophisticated multi-media, conference and classroom facilities, and even world's first shipboard planetarium.

The first liner to be built since line's Queen Elizabeth 2 entered service in 1969, QM2 is first ship for Cunard by renowned French shipyard Alstom Chantiers de l'Atlantique, one of world's most technically advanced shipbuilders who have built such famous luxury liners as Normandie, France, and Ile de France.

Cunard officials marked keel-laying occasion by placing of coins under first section of keel. A commemorative £5 Queen's Golden Jubilee coin symbolizing Great Britain and a silver French Franc was chosen to represent France, country of her birth. The ceremonial gesture, believed to have originated in ancient Greece, is said to bring good luck to a ship.

In spirit of her predecessors, QM2 will be resplendent with grandeur and elegance, while at same time featuring contemporary style amenities and latest technological innovations. She will feature classic Cunard hallmarks such as sweeping staircases, expansive promenades, stylish restaurants and public rooms of an imposing scale. The sheer size of vessel, 150,000 tonnes, has enabled line to create a space ratio per passenger of 57.25, making her among grandest of world's larger passenger ships.

In A Royal League Of Her Own!

The 2,620-passenger QM2 is a prototype of unique design: multi-million-dollar project employs teams of naval architects, engineers and maritime experts, including marine interior design firms of SMC-Tillberg and "designteam", both based in London.