Un-Cruise Land Tour + Cruise June 2015 Report

[boulder-girl]

Have loved reading your post, I've been keeping an eye each day for updates. I was wondering which month you cruised? Your photos are amazing. Can't wait for our cruise next year, we're booked on a 2 week cruise with Un Cruise.

 

Our cruise was June 13-20. And I think you are going to love your Un-Cruise!

[boulder-girl]

I've been lurking on this board nonstop but once I clicked on your thread, I just had to register to let you know how amazing and incredible your photos are!!! You deserve a standing ovation! These make me even more excited for my upcoming trip!! I also checked out your Antarctica blog and every single photo, I just loudly repeated "wow!" You are truly gifted!!

 

Wish I would've known about the Nikon1 AW1 before I purchased my new camera :(

Camera question. Would you suggest getting a lens longer than 200mm for Alaska or is that doable?

 

Thanks! :)

 

In my opinion, 200mm is not long enough. I had an 80-400mm as my longest lens and even that wasn't long enough for a lot of wildlife. A lot of what we saw (like in Denali) was pretty far away. I'd go longer if you can. (Did you know you can rent lenses? I use LensProToGo.com but there are several others online too.)

Edited July 18, 2015 by boulder-girl

[tammyjw305]

Your pictures are awesome; your trip sounds great!

Edited July 18, 2015 by tammyjw305

[boulder-girl]

Last day...Juneau!

 

It was a Saturday morning when we sailed into Juneau. We ate breakfast on the ship and then it was time for disembarking.

 

 

The staff and crew lined up on the dock as we exited so we could shake hands and give hugs to the people who had taken care of us and given us a great taste of Alaska over the previous week.

 

 

Our ship and a couple of sea planes in the dock.

 

My mom, her friend, and my brother were all flying home from Juneau that morning, but we had a little time before they had to be at the airport. We walked around the town a little before it was time for them to leave.

 

 

Our policy is: if we find a staircase, we climb it. This one went up to a residential road. We came down a different staircase a couple blocks down.

 

After the other three left, my husband, son, and I took a shuttle to our hotel. The only flights I'd been able to find home that left Saturday involved spending the night in an airport on a layover. I don't mind a redeye, but I draw the line at sleeping on the floor of an airport. LOL. So instead we left on a 6am flight on Sunday morning.

 

We then took a cab to Mendenhall Glacier and did the hike to the falls.

 

 

 

[maileehawj]

Thanks! :)

 

In my opinion, 200mm is not long enough. I had an 80-400mm as my longest lens and even that wasn't long enough for a lot of wildlife. A lot of what we saw (like in Denali) was pretty far away. I'd go longer if you can. (Did you know you can rent lenses? I use LensProToGo.com but there are several others online too.)

 

I knew I had to get longer than 200 but I was hoping & praying that 200 could do it! Thanks! Will be looking to rent a longer lens now! :D

 

And WOW!! to the new shot of Mendenhall Glacier!! Absolutely beautiful!!

[boulder-girl]

Our hotel was the Grandma's Feather Bed Best Western.

 

 

Great hotel; great customer service. We had a big room on the corner of the 2nd floor. The room was huge, had an awesome big bathroom, king-sized bed, room for a roll-away bed for our son, a couch. We ate dinner at the restaurant, which was very good. Breakfast is included in the rate but we had to leave for the airport just as they began serving it (5am). They were kind enough to put some things out for us to bring with us to the airport as we left. Great hotel; I would definitely stay there again.

 

So let me say a little more about ship life here...a few random things about how things worked with Un-Cruise.

 

 

The crew kept track of where we went each day on this map. (And I just liked the "escape to sea" sign on that door in the dining room.)

 

 

This is what the schedule looked like for activities. Sarah would take note on her clipboard each evening of what each person wanted to do the next day. She'd then put together groups of reasonable numbers. So if a lot of people wanted to kayak and only a few wanted to hike, there might be one hiking group and three kayak groups. She'd post the list that showed the time, what gear they recommended for that trip, which guide was leading it, and names and cabin numbers of guests on that excursion.

 

 

The dining room. It was actually split sort of in half by the stairs in the middle of the room, so this is only half of it.

 

 

Breakfast and lunch were buffet-style.

 

 

Dinner was seated. We had three choices for entrees each night--always one meat, one fish, and one vegetarian. They put out the menu in the morning at the bar and asked that we indicate which entree we wanted on a checklist next to it. We didn't have to stick to that, of course, but that way the kitchen crew had some idea of about how many of each thing they'd need.

 

Leah, our bartender for the week, had a special cocktail each day at happy hour as well.

[boulder-girl]

 

There was also fresh fruit- and herb-infused water available at the bar during the day. Super refreshing.

 

 

They had an open-bridge policy, so you could visit and watch the captain drive the ship anytime you wanted. Here Sarah, the expedition leader, is conversing with the captain.

 

 

Navigational map.

 

 

What my room looked like. You could choose to have it be two twin beds or pushed together as one bigger bed. These rooms were SMALL. The minus of having the bed as one large bed is that you basically lost the underbed storage space from the second bed, b/c there's no way to reach all the way under there. With two twins (how my brother and son had their room set up) you had more space to store stuff under the beds.

 

 

View from the bed to the door. The bathroom is behind that mirrored door--just a toilet and a showerhead. There was a shower curtain you could pull in front of the toilet to keep from soaking it when you showered, but it was pretty cramped in there.

 

 

And last but not least, our awesome crew.

[boulder-girl]

I knew I had to get longer than 200 but I was hoping & praying that 200 could do it! Thanks! Will be looking to rent a longer lens now! :D

 

And WOW!! to the new shot of Mendenhall Glacier!! Absolutely beautiful!!

 

It's a tradeoff, of course--the bigger lenses are heavier and it's more to carry and yada yada yada. For me, taking photos is a big part of my enjoyment of things, so it was worth it to carry more gear. :)

[aussiemandy]

Thanks for the latest instalment and especially the photos of the boat from your Un Cruise. Your comments regarding a queen bed vs 2 singles and space confirms my thoughts and our decision to book the 2 single beds.

 

I was wondering what footwear you used when kayaking? We usually kayak in warmer weather and wear waterproof sandals but I'm thinking it's a BIT too cool in Alaska, especially in Aug/Sept.

[boulder-girl]

Thanks for the latest instalment and especially the photos of the boat from your Un Cruise. Your comments regarding a queen bed vs 2 singles and space confirms my thoughts and our decision to book the 2 single beds.

 

I was wondering what footwear you used when kayaking? We usually kayak in warmer weather and wear waterproof sandals but I'm thinking it's a BIT too cool in Alaska, especially in Aug/Sept.

 

I think you are smart to do the two single beds. You'll be able to get more of your stuff out of the way under the beds.

 

 

Paddleboading near the shore in very shallow water. You can see the Keens I wore.

 

We had such amazing weather the whole time that I wore these every day for kayaking and paddleboarding. Basically for anything that didn't require the waterproof boots. I would've worn my hiking shoes if it had been colder.

 

[Coral]

Thank you for all of your posts! I thoroughly enjoyed your pictures and report and want to do a small ship trip like this one day! You are an amazing photographer!

[boulder-girl]

Thank you for all of your posts! I thoroughly enjoyed your pictures and report and want to do a small ship trip like this one day! You are an amazing photographer!

 

Thanks! :)

[aussiemandy]

I've worn my Keens for kayaking before, but thought they might be a bit too cold in Aug/Sept in Alaska. I won't be paddle boarding, so no issue there. Something I'm going to have to think about, plenty of time.

 

Thanks again for your review, as you said, not many Un Cruise reviews to be found anywhere.

[kk2840]

It's clear, to me at least,that your son is very bright.

 

I just returned from an Un-Cruise on the Columbia & Snake Rivers and thoroughly enjoyed it. Small ships are great. Very personable and helpful staff; they really make a cruise, I think.

[lolavix]

I know that this thread is over a year old. I wanted to say thank you to the OP for posting such a terrific review, if she is still around.

 

Next year my family is doing a 2 week land only Alaska vacation. We decided to postpone a cruise for now and just use the two weeks to focus on south central AK. Reading this, I am glad that we did, because when it's time to consider cruises to Alaska, an uncruise will be at the top of our list.

 

Thank you again...gorgeous photos!

[alasbound]

I know this is not a new post, but I just read it and Loved it. It looks like you had a wonderful trip. Thank you for sharing so much information! !