Shazzah

You did a wonderful job outlining your planning process!!!  I hope you all safe a trip report upon completion and tell us about your experience. 

No problem linking the other report. Actually this one was very similar, just more family oriented.

We have scheduled another cruise on a small boat - with UnCruise again - to The Galapagos next summer. Our only other cruising experience has been on Disney Cruises with the grandkids.

Thank you, AryMay, for posting the link to the completed Trip Report :)

My intentions were good when I started this one, and I do hope to finish, perhaps in an abbreviated form. I've actually started working on the rest of the photos now, after much prodding from the family.

Hi! Sounds like a fun trip.

From our experience on 5 different weeks of UnCruise Adventures, the boat should have plenty of rubber boots for you do rent. You will need them if you go onshore on a skiff and you need to step in water to get on/off the skiff. Also useful if hiking in wet terrain.

Our first trip was mid-May. It was cooler than July but not noticeably. I imagine April will be cooler, but layers should still work fine. The advantage is lots of snow on the mountains makes for scenic views.

Enjoy your trip. (I hope to complete this report some day :) )

(sorry lucky cal, I misspelled your name in a previous post)

Kayaking was a big hit with our family, and they definitely progressed beyond Kayaking 101 during the rest of our cruise.

Because the weather was so nice, Captain Dano treated us to Grilled Oysters on the sundeck. We were very happy to see Captain Dano when we arrived at the ship, as we had met him on our previous UnCruise Adventure, and he is excellent. He goes out of his way to learn everyone's name, and to give the best trip possible. He also leads by example - doing every job as needed. He hosted Happy Hour, he loaded and drove for skiff tours, and helped people in and out of kayaks The Captain can make a huge difference on a small boat cruise, and we felt lucky to be with Captain Dano.

 

 

 

We had another nice dinner, with a choice of pork or fish, followed by creme brûlée for dessert. After dinner, our expedition guides explained how the adventure signup process worked, and also gave a presentation on whales. We enjoyed more great weather on deck, and also spotted some humpback whales along the shore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We called it an early night, all happy with our first full day on the water.

The last photo in the previous post shows the large sundeck which is located on Deck 4. It is a large space used for morning yoga, lounging, happy hour, and viewing.

While cruising we did see some wildlife:

 

 

 

Lunch was Greek Day, so the choices were warm pita bread and chicken or hummus. Topped off with the daily cookie selection, freshly made by the pastry chef. There was almost always fresh salad and a soup as well.

After lunch, we felt like the adventure was beginning! It was time to try kayaking. Most of our group picked Kayaking 101, although we did have a couple of advanced kayakers.

The first thing we needed to do was get decked out in the special PFDs used for kayaking and paddle boarding (you choose one on day one, and keep it in your locker for the whole cruise). You also have the option to wear a skirt to keep water out of the kayak. While many chose additional water proof gear, we found that wasn't necessary most of the time.

The ship is equipped with an EZ Dock, so it's like getting in on land. Then the crew push you off into the water. We are only allowed to use the 2-person kayaks, and they are very stable:

For Kayaking 101, we were allowed to paddle around the ship, and our expedition leader (the awesome Katie) kept checking on us and offered assistance as needed.

 

 

 

 

Day 2: Cruising Neva Straight and Bergius Narrows to Deep Bay

We woke up to a beautiful, bright Alaska day. The water was so calm - one of my favorite times of the day:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After breakfast - both breakfast and lunch are served buffet style - we started cruising again. We were underway all morning, until just afternoon. We were encouraged to take in the beautiful scenery, but this time was also used for two orientations - 1st was for hiking and bear safety, and the 2nd was a demonstration of how to use the kayaks.

 

 

 

Thank you, lucky gal and Coral. More photos coming up.

Embarkation - The Wilderness Discoverer, 2 July 2016

We met up with the rest of the folks going on our trip at the Sitka Westmark Hotel at 5 pm for a short bus ride to the ship. We had dropped off our luggage at the Hospitality Room at 9am, and it was delivered to our staterooms. They also held any hand luggage we didn't want to keep during the day while touring Sitka.

There's no fancy port, just a simple dock in the industrial area of the harbor. Boarding is a simple process, just group up by staterooms, give them your info and a crew member escorts you to your cabin.

After a brief welcome reception, we had the mandatory safety drill, some time to explore the ship, and then dinner. The main dinner choice was salmon, along with a meat and vegetarian option. Dinner was good - more about the food as we go along with the report.

 

 

 

There were 78 passengers on board - which might have been a few more than normal, but we had a lot of kids. This turned out not to be an issue at all, as they were well behaved and didn't take up much space ;) Like us, there were several families where the grandparents were treating their families to a vacation.

It never seemed crowded onboard, and at times it seemed like we had the ship to ourselves:

 

 

 

The crew pulled up the anchor before dinner and we headed out of Sitka, aiming towards the Sergius Narrows Passage. We had a very smooth sailing and I doubt anyone had problems with motion from the boat.

Our Ultimate UnCruise Adventure 2016: 2 July - 16 July

Ship: The Wilderness Discoverer

Itinerary: Ultimate Bays and Fjords - From Sitka to Juneau, Juneau to Ketchikan with stops in Glacier Bay National Park, Wrangell, Tracy Arm, Misty Fjords National Monument and more

Excursions: In Sitka - the Alaska Raptor Center and The Fortress of the Bear, In Juneau - Mendenhall Glacier, and in Ketchikan - Totem Bight State Park

Travel Group: 78 Passengers total, 9 in our group including 7 adults and 2 teenagers.

Continuing on the the Alaska Raptor Center, where you have a chance to see and learn about Bald Eagles, Owls, Hawks, and other raptors. This is a rehabilitation center where the goal is to get the birds back into the wild, although this isn't possible with every bird.

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

We were back in Sitka in time for lunch and more shopping before boarding the Wilderness Discoverer at 5pm.

I had the chance to visit the Raptor Center and Fortress of the Bear twice - since we went on Friday, and then I took the kids (3 adults, and two teen age granddaughters) back on Saturday. I highly recommend both of these "attractions."

The Fortress of the Bear was our first destination on Friday morning. I'd read positive reviews, but didn't realize just how enjoyable our visit would be. The bears are housed in two decommissioned concrete tanks from when the facility was a pulp mill. It may not be "pretty," but the 8 bears we saw sure didn't seem to mind:

We watched the 5 brown bears and 3 black bears for over an hour each visit. They had a lover's spat, did some Bear Yoga, and just seemed to have a good time.

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

You'll also see plenty of eagles at the Fortress:

Due to the photo limitations here, I'll post some views from the Alaska Raptor Center in the next post.

This will be a trip report / photo journal of our recent family outing to Alaska. We chose the Ultimate Bays & Fjords trip with UnCruise Adventures. This is described as a 14-night Alaska adventure expedition aboard a small ship. We chose to start in Sitka, going to Glacier Bay National Park and on to Juneau. We spent the day in Juneau touring Mendenhall Glacier and downtown, then boarded the ship for our leisurely UnCruise to Ketchikan.

There were two options for this itinerary - one aboard the Wilderness Discoverer, and the other on the Wilderness Explorer. We picked the Discoverer, having sailed on both ships in 2013. They both have pros and cons. I like the outside decks on the Explorer, but my husband prefers the more comfortable layout of the Discoverer. We had 9 people traveling in our family group, so comfort won out.

We flew into Sitka (4 of us coming from Maine, and the other 5 from California):

 

 

 

 

We arrived safely in Sitka, only to find some of our luggage had decided to stay in Seattle. This caused some tense moments, and more time at the Sitka Airport than we would have liked, but our bags did arrive 24 hours later - good thing the Maine contingent had given ourselves an extra day in Sitka. The California Crew was arriving the next day, on Friday, for our Saturday (7/02/2016) embarkation.

We made an impromptu decision to rent a car at the airport - turned out to be a good move, as it made our trips back and forth from the airport, to meals, and to local attractions very easy. (A car isn't needed, but for our large group, it worked well). And, Avis even takes you back to Sitka when you return the car, if need be.

Lodging in Sitka was the Super 8 Motel - it was fine. Dated, but clean with friendly staff. We did the usual in Sitka during our stay - shopped, toured the museums, the Totem Park, and visited both the Alaska Raptor Center and the Fortress of the Bear. We had an outstanding breakfast and dinner at The Fly In Fish Inn, just outside of downtown. I highly recommend their restaurant, and we will try to stay there on future trips. Breakfast at the Fly In Fish Inn - quite a tasty change from our normal lo cal choices:

The next post will share some highlights from our visit to the Alaska Raptor Center and The Fortress of the Bear, then we will board the Wilderness Discoverer, and get on with the adventure!

Beautiful photos - looks like you had a wonderful trip!

Shazzah...are you going to do a blog of your Un-Cruise trip that you just completed? I have read through your 2013 blog more than once (and have it book marked!) It is by far one of the best travel blogs ever!! The pictures are amazing!!

 

I just got an Un-Cruise catalog in the mail today and have been looking through it. Would love to do one of the cruises, but knowing I could do 3 mainline cruises for the price of one Un-Cruise keeps me from booking.

Oh Boy - thanks for the kind words on the 2013 report. I don't think I will do a separate blog like that - it was a ton of work :D. I am thinking about doing a trip report in here, though. Still sorting photos:)

Great report. You sure picked some nice excursions - it looked like a busy whale watching tour.

You may want to consider taking one of the small ship cruises where you have an opportunity to get off the boat once or twice a day for hiking, kayaking, or skiff tours. For example, National Geographic/Linblad, Un-Cruise Adventures, and Alaskan Dream Cruises have offerings that may appeal.

Wanted to share a few photos, as we cruised into Tracy Arm on July 10th (Uncruise-Adventures, Wilderness Discoverer - 76 passenger vessel). Our itinerary from Juneau to Ketchikan called for a visit to Endicott / Dawes Glacier, but our Captain said he heard he might be able to get into Tracy Arm.

We were able to get to Sawyer Glacier (also called North Sawyer), where the crew dropped the skiffs and we were able to get up close to the glacier face.

This first photo shows the ice as we approached Sawyer Glacier:

The ice cleared a couple of miles in front of the Glacier:

After lunch, we spent a couple hours working our way towards South Sawyer Glacier, but finally turned back due to the large amount of ice.

We have booked bear viewing trips twice in the last few years. The first was a day trip out of Anchorage to Redoubt Bay Lodge with Rust's Flying Service. It was a fantastic experience, but we did not see a bear. We did see other wildlife and spectacular scenery.

Last August, we were fortunate enough to spend 5 nights at the Alaska Homestead Lodge in Lake Clark National Park (flying out of Anchorage again). Silver Salmon Creek Lodge also hosts bear viewing groups. Both of these lodges host day visitors or overnight stays. We saw bears 4 of 5 days, and it was an incredible experience:

Thanks for the review. We depart Saturday for two weeks with UnCruise on the Wilderness Discoverer.

I was surprised to read about the $25 fee for boots - as I think there was no charge on our previous trip. Not concerned about the fee, just hoping they have a good supply, since we have a large group.

That's my blog CowPrincess linked earlier - we did 3 weeks with UnCruise in 2013 and loved it. We are taking the family back for 2 weeks this summer. we went end of May, early June and it was great - going to try July in 2016. Each season offers something different, but good (I think - am not an expert on Alaska).

I have friends who cruised with Linblad, and they also loved it.

As for visiting Denali - I think you are better off making your own arrangements, but if that doesn't work, I will say the Linblad add on is probably better. We were at the North Face Lodge this summer and Linblad cruisers were there as well. This is a far superior Experience when compared to the add on with UnCruise at the Kantishna Roadhouse (disclaimer - I don't know the details of the Denali add one you are looking at).

Was it freezing? Nope - it was crisp, but I was fine in a wind breaker and my husband just had a long sleeved shirt. The Flightseeing Tour was a highlight (and we spent almost a month in Alaska).

Glad to hear Island Wings still does the landing. We enjoyed it in May 2013, and hope to go again in 2016. We had an early morning flight, and the weather was perfect (luck of the draw).

I am really enjoying your travel blog (still in the middle of it) and have been seriously considering a small ship Alaskan cruise (definitely dont want to do this on the giant monstrosities !!!).

 

I am curious about the average daily temperatures during your May trip ? I like it "really cold".

 

I have done Antarctica in Nov, Dec and Feb and generally wear one layer of thermals and my parka & overpants. Ocassionally I add a fleece vest if needed.

 

So I am looking at your photos and trying to guess the temps by what people are wearing - bit hard tho when you have pics of people in parkas standing next to the guy in the t shirt haha !

 

Ideally I want to do Alaska as early as possibly in the season for the coldest temps ?

Again - apologies for the late reply. I think the temperature question has been answered. I will say we were on the first cruises of the season - and it wasn't all that cold most of the time. I wore a parka often, but kept it unzipped.

And yes, there was a gentleman who wore t-shirts and shorts almost every day!

We have not done Antarctica, but have done the Arctic. It was definitely colder there than in Alaska in May!

I don't want to take anything away from Un-cruise but Alaska Dream Cruises offers a similar up close and active experience. If Un-cruise isn't available, check them out. I recommend them highly.

Apologies for the late reply - I have been meaning to get back here and post this photo, because I wanted to support your comment about Alaska Dream Cruises. While we haven't been on a cruise with them, we have heard many positives. Also, this photo is of the Admiralty Dream - I imagine the folks on that cruise had a great time! We saw this ship many times as we were on our Un-Cruise adventure.

We went with UnCruise in 2013, and thought the recommended 10% gratuity was fine. The crew really do go above and beyond - at least that was our experience. And, I doubt they are averaging $1500 per trip (using your example), since there are probably a lot of people who don't tip, or who leave lesser amounts.

I also agree that the amount is not out of line with what we tip on a larger cruise ship.