Jess219I

Hello! I'm planning an Alaska trip that will involve both mine and my husband's first cruise, and Seabourn's 7 Day option from Juneau to Vancouver (https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/find-a-cruise/A4S07B/4442.html) is on my list of possibilities! We are both active and in our early 30's and our priorities for this trip are both learning about and getting up close with Alaska's beautiful scenery and wildlife, and actively exploring these places. What attracted me to this itinerary was the smaller boat that's able to get to more remote locations and ports and the Ventures by Seabourn program. The excursions themselves seem pretty straightforward to incorporate, but I was wondering how prominent the expedition team members are on the ship and how frequently the "Seabourn Conversations" programs occur? Lastly, I'm on the side of being thrilled that they are no longer banning "elegant jeans" from the dining room, but reading through the comments on that post on here made me worried that our travel style/demographic would not be welcomed on board and we would not be surrounded by like-minded travelers, so I'm hoping to hear from someone who had similar goals and if they feel that Seabourn is the right choice?

Thank you both for your detailed replies! This sounds like exactly what we would be interested in! My additional worry on these options other than their newness is just that the longer itineraries will leave us with less time to do land based exploration before embarking on the cruise on this trip. In an ideal world I think I would like the boat experience of the Ocean Victory or Hurtigruten ship on the Alaskan Dreams itinerary (and with the HAL price tag if I'm being greedy haha). What attracted me to the Seabourn option was their "Ventures by Seabourn" program that allows for zodiak and kayak excursions off the boat and a team on board to lead those excursions, answer questions and do science-y lectures in a more condensed itinerary. How do you feel this affects the cruise experience? Just dated décor? Less comfortable cabins? Or does it affect their ability to reliably get you where the itinerary promises? Do you know if not being American-flagged affects their ability to do zodiak landings in Alaska? I think I remember seeing that that was a problem on the Hurtigruten ship...

My husband and I (early 30s, active, somewhat prone to seasickness) are looking to incorporate our first cruise into our summer 2024 Alaska itinerary. I've spent a lot of time dissecting different itineraries and reading reviews, from which I think I've narrowed it down to 5 options: Alaskan Dream: https://www.alaskandreamcruises.com/cruises/2024-alaskas-inside-passage-sojourn/ American Queen: https://www.aqvoyages.com/expedition-cruises/alaska-british-columbia/sitka-to-vancouver/ Hurtigruten: https://www.hurtigruten.com/en-us/expeditions/cruises/alaska-and-british-columbia-wilderness-glaciers-and-culture-southbound3/ Seabourn: https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/find-a-cruise/A4S07B/4442.html Holland America: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/find-a-cruise/A3S07A/I340.html?destcode=A&csvfilename=cmpgn_AWAVE23&ICID=INTHWEB20221214DFPGNFWHZY&priceType=halbest I recognize that the Holland America option is much more of a standard cruise, but its price tag makes it at least a little tempting compared to the others. For the Alaskan Dream cruise, I'm concerned about the size of the boat with respect to seasickness and was unsure if the culture focus would take away from the active adventure opportunities. Both Hurtigruten and American Queen sound like the exact vibe we'd be interested in, but their newness comes with a general lack of reviews. It sounds like Hurtigruten had a rough first season and American Queen has a lot of poor customer service reviews on their other itineraries. Hurtigruten also does not stop in Glacier Bay and wouldn't offer us the opportunity to do a day trip before embarking. Lastly, Seabourn seems to have great reviews and the Ventures by Seabourn seem to offer that expedition feel, but it seems too fancy for us and would definitely end up being the most expensive, with none of the kayak/zodiac ventures being included. UnCruise was actually where I first started my search, but even though everyone swears it's worth it, I'm not sure I could stomach the ~$900 a day/person that it would set us back... And without spending 14 days, it didn't seem like any of their itineraries got you both up to Glacier Bay and down to Misty Fjords. For the non-cruise portion of our trip, we will spend time in Wrangell St Elias, Valdez, Glacier Bay and/or Kenai fjords depending on the itinerary we select. We will plan to hit Denali and anything else we miss on a future trip, after Denali Park road is open again. Sorry this ended up being such a long read, and thank you in advance for any insight you might have on any of these options! TLDR Young adults looking for advice on active Southeast Alaska Expedition style cruise focused on scenery and wildlife!