Alaska
All About an Alaska Cruise with The Boat Company
The Itineraries Draw Plenty of Families and Father-Son Duos
Dining in the fantail on Mist Cove (Photo: Chris Gray Faust)
The Boat Company is owned by the McIntosh Foundation, a family-run charitable organization that has its roots in the A&P grocery store fortune. The cruise line’s founder, the late Michael McIntosh, fell in love with Alaska while working on a fishing boat to supply a family-run cannery; his son, Hunter McIntosh, is still the president of The Boat Company and sails on one of the ships at least once per season.
The Boat Company’s original passengers were very targeted guests that could donate to the McIntosh Foundation’s environmental projects, and the ship still draws a certain type that wealth managers would euphemistically call “high net worth individuals.” That’s partially because of the price tag – cabins on the boats start at $11,900 per person ($18,000 for a single) for the weeklong cruise.
Guests drinking port after dinner on Mist Cove (Photo: Chris Gray Faust)
And it’s also based on the experience itself, which came with more than a twinge of prep. On our sailing, at least two passengers had III after their last names; references to New England and British boarding schools were made. Plummy Southern accents dominated. The boat’s salon carried a clubby air, with worn leather sofas, dark tartan plaid chairs and an open self-serve bar heavy on scotch and whiskey. We took all our meals at a single table set up in the boat’s enclosed fantail; afterward, guests would retire for cigars on the top deck or port on the main level.
Couple hiking in Alaska on a Mist Cove cruise (Photo:Chris Gray Faust)
While this could be pretentious, I found my cruise anything but. Father-son duos (and the wives, daughters, sisters and fiancés who loved them) made up the bulk of the passengers on my sailing; the vibe leaned male. It was sweet to see the family bonding take place, particularly among men who might ordinarily stay taciturn outside a sporting environment.
What I liked about the couples and families on The Boat Company is that no one stayed clannish. One man from North Carolina, on his third Mist Cove cruise, almost served as the ship’s mayor; although he was with his wife, son and soon-to-be daughter-in-law, he made it a point to include every passenger in the conversation. Another family came together from Maine, Florida and New Hampshire to bond, yet they too were enthusiastic group cheerleaders.
Polar plunge from an Alaskan beach with Mist Cove (Photo: Chris Gray Faust)
I joined that family’s 40something siblings, along with a few fellow 50somethings in Mist Cove’s famed polar plunge. Led by the youngest member of the crew, Annie Haglin, we were driven by skiff to a rocky beach in Hamas Bay, which gave us some time to psych ourselves up.
Laying our ship-provided towels on a long log, we shucked down to bathing suits and shorts, socks and water shoes. As a group, we charged into the bay, laughing and screaming as the chilly Alaska water hit us.
Celebratory whiskey after an Alaskan polar plunge with Mist Cove (Photo: Chris Gray Faust)
Once out, we celebrated our bravery with shots of Bulleit 95, a “frontier whiskey” that seemed oh-so appropriate for our week onboard Mist Cove.
HB 281 mirrors legislation in other states due to shortage of pennies resulting from Trump administration’s halt in production
Suzanne Cohen says she hasn’t had trouble coming up with enough pennies when making cash purchases. But since the copper coins are no longer being minted she doesn’t object if future purchases are rounded off to the nearest nickel.
“If they’ve gotten rid of it it seems like it’s only a matter of time, so this is probably the right thing to do eventually,” she said during the noon hour on Monday at Rainbow Foods.
A hour earlier and a block away at the Alaska State Capitol, a bill was introduced rounding cash purchases to the nearest five-cent sum by Rep. Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River. House Bill 281 is similar to legislation introduced in other states following the Trump administration’s decision last year to stop making new pennies.
“After the U.S. Treasury decided last fall to stop minting pennies, they’re disappearing from circulation faster than they expected,” Saddler stated in an email to the Juneau Independent on Monday. “As pennies get more scarce, we should make sure businesses can’t round transactions up or down to their advantage. My HB 281 simply sets consistent, fair standards for how cash transactions should be rounded to the nearest nickel, to protect Alaska consumers and businesses.”
Practically applied, it means a shopper handing $2 to a cashier would get no change back from a $1.98 purchase, but a nickel back from a $1.97 purchase.
“If the total ends in one cent, two cents, six cents, or seven cents, the total is rounded down to the nearest amount divisible by five cents; (2) if the total ends in three cents, four cents, eight cents, or nine cents, the total is rounded up to the nearest amount divisible by five cents,” the text of HB 281 states.
Dyoni Smith, a section manager at Rainbow Foods who was working at one of the registers on Monday, said there hasn’t been a noticeable shortage of pennies yet either at the store or for the cash purchases she still makes regularly.
“We have a few people who actually pay to the penny with cash,” she said. “And then we have some, like one guy who comes in and he’ll pay cash, and he’ll put the remainder in the donation jar. And then another guy who comes in and sometimes he’ll pay to the penny — sometimes he’ll get change out of the change jar. So there’s quite a few people who I see who use cash.”
President Donald Trump last February ordered the U.S. Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies — something long discussed by other policymakers since the coins cost more to make than they are worth. The U.S. Mint reported that a penny cost about 3.7 cents to make in fiscal 2024, up from 3.1 cents the previous year.
Among the factors to be considered in states implementing rounding laws are possible legal challenges, impacts to retailers and what happened when Canada stopped distributing its penny in 2012, according to a policy summary by the National Conference of State Legislatures. But generally the organization states such laws are worth supporting.
“While states may approach this issue differently due to their own unique circumstances, there is a growing consensus among retailers, economists, and other stakeholders, recognizing symmetrical rounding, (up or down) to the nearest nickel, as the fairest method to all parties when applying to cash transaction,” the policy summary notes.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The Transportation Security Administration has begun accepting Alaska Mobile ID’s at security checkpoints in the Anchorage and Juneau airports. The digital ID’s, which were introduced in the state about a year ago, are just starting to catch on, according to Lauren Whiteside, Division Operations Manager for the Alaskan DMV.
Whiteside said the Division has been working closely with partners for months to prepare Alaska’s Mobile IDs for use at TSA checkpoints in both airports.
“This is a really modernized movement that we are really excited to be a part of,” Whiteside said.
The IDs are obtained through an app that can be downloaded for free. The DMV website has links to the app stores as well as other information on how to obtain a mobile ID.
Whiteside said there are lots of advantages to having your state approved identification on your phone. At the airport, she said, it’s convenience.
“You know sometimes you have your kids with you, sometimes you are balancing carry-on luggage, and if you can do all of your check-ins just using your phone, that’s really appealing to people.”
But Whiteside said the main appeal is privacy. No information can be shared from a mobile ID without the user’s consent, and people can select how much information they wish to share depending on the circumstances.
“I can opt to send everything, which you would likely always want to do with law enforcement, but you have all these options on what you choose to send and what you don’t choose to send,” she said.
Whiteside said it’s important to remember that mobile IDs don’t replace physical IDs, instead, they’re considered a companion to a regular ID and people will need to carry both in case a physical ID is requested.
Although TSA acceptance is limited to just the Anchorage and Juneau airports, Whiteside said she fully expects the program will expand to other airports and other industries.
“As time goes on it’s going to become more and more common, so we recommend anyone who wants to have it- it is not a requirement -but anyone who wants it, we encourage you to go ahead and download,” she said.
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Copyright 2026 KTUU. All rights reserved.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – As the run-up to the 2026 Iditarod continues, two of Alaska’s most prestigious sled dog races saw their winners cross the finish lines Sunday.
The 2026 Knik 200 went to Eddie Burke Jr., who also won the race in 2023. The former Iditarod Rookie of the Year finished in 20 hours, 18 minutes and 51 seconds, nearly a full hour faster than his closest competition.
Meanwhile, out in western Alaska, 2019 Iditarod winner Pete Kaiser continued his dominance in the Kuskokwim 300 with his 10th career win at the event. The victory breaks a tie with Jeff King for the most Kuskokwim 300 wins in a career.
The two races do not normally fall on the same weekend, but the Knik 200 had been postponed three weeks due to poor trail conditions.
You can find full results for both the Knik 200 and Kuskokwim 300 here.
The 2026 running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race begins on March 8, one day after the ceremonial start.
See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com
Copyright 2026 KTUU. All rights reserved.
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