Locals have used the ferries since 1948, when the system was established to transport freight, vehicles, and passengers to otherwise inaccessible areas. But Aepelbacher is among the growing number of summer tourists choosing the ferry system as an alternative to big-ship cruising. While cruise lines eliminate the need for much planning, traveling by ferry requires passengers to create their own itinerary, charting a course among the 33 ports in Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington State, and arranging for their own transportation and hotels. Aepelbacher said the opportunity to create her own trip—and the ability to make changes along the way—outweighed the extra time spent working on an itinerary. "If we wanted to change our plans, we changed our plans," she says.

Ticket prices range from $56 for two people in a cabin on a ten-hour trip to $381 for a three-and-a-half-day run. More adventurous travelers can roll out sleeping bags in the heated solarium or pitch tents on the deck for less than half the price of a cabin. "We're probably the only floating campground," says Vernon Craig, marketing manager for the ferry system. Scott McMurren, publisher of the "Alaska Travel Gram" newsletter in Anchorage, has been taking the ferries with his family for 20 years. Ferry trips cost much less than a cruise (a typical Alaskan cruise is about $200 per person per night), but McMurren cautions that the ferries are utilitarian in comparison. Meals cost extra, are served cafeteria style, and include "meat and potatoes, basic stuff," he says. Cabins are small but come with bunk beds, bathrooms, and windows.

Ferries can accommodate cars, although summer travelers planning to bring one should book at least four months in advance. Onboard events are usually limited to movies and lectures by fish and wildlife experts. According to Odin Brudie, tourism planner for the Alaska Office of Economic Development, the diversions available to travelers once they leave the ferry outweigh any lack of onboard entertainment. "You don't get wined and dined," Brudie says. "But you can go a lot more places."
–Laura Schocker