In the spring of 2017, with Sarah tied up with her dissertation, I was looking for a trip to take with my dad. He'd always wanted to see Alaska, but not in the hiking up mountains and across snowfields kind of way. Inspiration struck from the pages of Outside magazine, where they featured Uncruise, a cruise company with smaller ships, and things to do besides gorging oneself on a buffet and gambling.
Dad was immediately in. I picked an early season cruise out of Juneau that toured around the ABC islands of southeast Alaska (Admiralty, Chichigof, and Baranof) and headed into Glacier Bay. From my honeymoon trip of the previous year, I knew that one of the coolest aspects of Alaska was the mountains rising right out of the sea. We would not be disappointed.
After some long flights from the east coast, with constant admonishment that I should have booked first class seats, we got into Juneau and crashed. The next day, we had much of the day to tool around town. Juneau combines being a working fishing town with being a tourist hub, and we watched one of the mega cruise ships disgorge its thousands of tourists onto the dock. We were already thankful that our ship would have only 88 passengers.
In the afternoon, after a quick briefing from Captain Dan of the vessel Safari Endeavor, we pushed off from Juneau, heading south toward Admiralty Island. The next morning, we were treated to some sea life sightings right off the bat, with some humpbacks playing right in front of the ship.
We rolled into Idaho Inlet on Chicagof Island mid-morning, and had the option of going ashore for a short bushwhack. One of the nice things about Uncruise is that most days, they offer a variety of activities, from a shore hike to kayak excursions. While dad wasn't keen on testing his knees on uneven, wet terrain, we would have a grand time out on the kayaks and small skiffs throughout the trip.
Beautiful costal rainforest
Remnants of an unlucky wolverine. There was a grizzly bear sighted by another group on this hike.
Our vessel
The mild evening light and the low clouds made for some great photos of the mountains that were all around us
After some shore time, we settled in for dinner and drinks while we got underway. I've got to get into how nice even the ship-board time was. Rather than the shitty buffets of the big ships, we ate 3 gourmet meals a day prepared by someone you would label a chef, not a cook. Before and after dinner, all the passengers would gather in the lounge, where the open bar included even high end scotches and brandy, local beers on tap, and a huge variety of mixed drinks prepared by a cheery British bartender. And since about half the guests were Kiwi or Aussie, she had her hands full.