You just have to BELIEVE THE DIFFERENCE!
I very much dislike cruise ships, I don’t hide the fact to my clients, colleagues and friends, so when this opportunity presented itself, I was interested to see the difference in what an “Expedition Ship & Company” would offer and so we jetted off in May 2023 to Juneau, Alaska.
Waking in our hotel and looking out the window there were beautiful snow capped mountains, the lovely water of the Gastineau Channel and then this big floating city, billowing smoke that was docked in the Juneau Harbour, next to another floating city doing the same. These were the massive cruise ships with anywhere from 3000-6000 people onboard, completely dwarfed by these floating cities were two little ships, the Wilderness Legacy and Safari Endeavour, owned and operated by UnCruise Adventures. These are Expedition ships and we were lucky enough to be travelling on the Endeavour for the next 7 nights.
Safari Endeavour – Our ship
Checking in down by the UnCruise dock was an easy process, hand your bags over, receive your very simple one name, name tag and sign your life away, waiving your right to sue if eaten by a bear or taken hostage by a bevy of otters. We had a pre boarding meeting and the CEO of the company, Captain Dan Blanchard introduced himself and explained that the itinerary in the nice glossy brochure was optional – “we are going to search the seas for wildlife, sea life and scenery, what’s in this brochure is a guide and I hope that you are not set on what’s printed in here”, as the brochure was flung past the front door of the UnCruise office. I was starting to understand that this is not your normal sightseeing cruise and that we were about to be immersed into what SouthEast Alaska has to offer.
We moved down to the dock and were met by the Captain, Chef, Expedition Leader, Hotel Manager and numerous other members of the crew, from there we were personally escorted to our cabin by one of the crew members and given a run down of where we were located on the ship and the cabin features.
Black bear on the shoreline eating.
The cabin – let’s just set this straight, this is not a 5 star ship with luxurious furnishings and a bathroom that lets you parade around a catwalk, this is Expedition cruising and the cabin was practical, with a big enough bed for the two of us – 6ft tall, although in hindsight this would probably be more comfortable split into twins, a little desk, side table and wardrobe that had plenty of hanging space and drawers so that you could unpack and stow your luggage under the bed. The bathroom was compact and on our vessel, it had a separate shower and toilet and was practical enough to have a shower, shave etc.Some of the ships however, have a “Shoilet” a new word I discovered whilst onboard. So the shower sits on top of the toilet and it’s all basically a wet area. Ask me about which ships have this if you would like to avoid the shoilet.
Not a Shoilet!
Pathfinder Cabin
Introductions with the rest of the crew and safety talks was next on the list, all standard stuff and included a nice glass of bubbles to get the discussions flowing between the guests, who we were going to be onboard with for the next 7 nights.
As we set sail into the Alaskan twilight, it was clear that we had embarked on an amazing intimate ship with a team that was all about showing us what Alaska has to offer, we were not following an itinerary as such and just winging it.
For the next 7 nights/8 days, we traversed into beautiful bays, National Parks, witnessed bears filling their stomachs after coming out of Torpor, (google it), Humpback whales fluking, Orcas cruising next to the ship, countless otters and harbour seals, bald eagles the list goes on and on. We didn’t just see these from a distance, we were up close and personal, that was the UnCruise difference.
On our second last day, we were about to enter Tracy Arm Fjord, when we saw one of the floating cities enter, then complete a U-Turn and sail out – that was it, that was their visit to the Fjord. We then proceeded to sail down the “river of ice” which had been calving off the glaciers, our captain, gently winding Safari Endeavour past countless waterfalls, floating ice and amazing scenery. We then boarded the skiffs for an up close and personal tour of the beautiful ice, magical deep colours shining through, the blue ones probably the most photographed by us. Your eyes just gazed into that deep blue ice floating in the fjord, wondering how old that chunk actually was and what compacted it so hard to make it look completely different to all the other pieces floating next to it.
Another beautiful waterfall in Tracy Arm
From the ice floating around us to the waterfalls and water cascades, not just one or two, there were thousands, it was endless and you just pointed your camera at one of the fjord walls, clicked, then had the perfect instawhatsit/bookface picture….
Amazing compacted glacial ice.
You all know how crazy I am when I travel, happy to jump off or out of anything, well why should this trip be any different, UnCruise have a little challenge for all guests and crew onboard called the “Polar Plunge”, you guessed it, jumping into the water at Glacier Bay National Park. The water temperature was at a balmy 39°F or for the Australian’s and Poms in “fancy temperature” 3.889°C, trust me the .889 counts. The brave souls or twits lined up on the fantail deck and after a brief countdown jumped into the freezing cold glacier feed water. Check out the video below.
The Activities – usually a twice daily occurrence, the Expedition leader’s motto was to kick us off the ship, from Bushwhacking to Kayaking, from an Eco Meander to a skiff ride, these were the choices that we had to make. Kayaking next to glaciers, pristine bays, mill pond waters, searching for and finding seals, otters, whales, bears and countless bird life. Who could forget the Bushwhack, what is a bushwhack, exactly how it sounds, get dropped off on shore and then head into the bush with the guides and a GPS unit. Then tracking through the Alaskan Wilderness creating your own trails, admiring the fungi, plants, animal tracks and scat all whilst avoiding the dreaded Devil’s Club, some sort of medieval torture plant with a wicked defence system that would leave any that touches it, pulling needles out for days on end. The Native Tlingit people used it for many things, from medicine, nutrition and my favourite beating each other with it.
Critter hunting & exploring
Skunk Cabbage – used to release a bear’s fecal plug.
Cool fungi
It always strikes me as funny, when a floating city pulls up to a port or place of interest then everyone gets ferried off onto the tenders that hold up to 200 people, when we disembarked for an excursion with Uncruise we boarded a skiff or rubber duckie with maximum 10 passengers. Then off we would go and cruise the coastlines, looking out for all the sea & wild life we could spot. To be able to sit off shore looking at a bear grazing on a beach was just breathtaking, engine off, just drifting watching and listening to the sounds of the bear. Another added bonus was watching and listening to the humpback whales breathing, with a lung capacity the size of a small car, the sound of that exhale is mesmerising as you drift along in your skiff. Then to see the massive tail fluke into the water it really makes you appreciate these beautiful creatures.
Humpback Whale Fluking
The Food – remember this is not a floating city with buffets on each deck and a choice of restaurants to dine at, you will be surprised what is prepared on the UnCruise ships. I love the motto – Local, Fresh, Inspired Dining. Yes that is what you get from a team of chefs working their magic in a kitchen somewhere on the aft of the ship. With a selection of a-la-carte meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner you will never go hungry, dietary requirements catered exceptionally well, that they sent a skiff to another ship to get some pure maple syrup that we seemed to be missing on our ship. If you think that you will lose some weight whilst onboard, the pastry chef has you covered on this, fresh desserts, pastries, breads all made and baked on board. Never a dull choice and my stomach and hips are still recovering.
The food was fresh and delicious
Dessert even had trees growing out of it!
The Drinks – the bar is open, the coffee is always on, the drinks are freely poured and the wine list is perfectly acceptable for where you are. There are no tabs to settle, just order away, the crew are great at creating cocktails of the day and also mixing drinks to people’s individual likes. Nothing is stock standard, it’s personalised, it seems to be a concurrent theme onboard.
Custom made drinks.
Presentations – Yes, presentations, from Bears to Sharks, from psychology to comedy, the nightly entertainment was educational and at times comical. Again using the crew’s expertise and interests we learned about all things Ursus (google it) from an Expedition leader that specialises in just that. The Crew’s passion in what they do really reflect in their knowledge and also their excitement, even when eco-meandering along the shoreline tipping rocks over looking for critters.
Learning about things and stuff! Nightly presentations.
Overall this expedition cruise through SouthEast Alaska was brilliant, one of those unsuspecting bucket list experiences. A dull cruise it was not, we didn’t miss the luxuries and perks of a glamourous cabin or the swimming pools and water slides, we had the polar plunge for those like me silly enough to jump into the icy strait.
There wasn’t a need to dig into your pockets for shore excursions, premium drinks or signature restaurants, just step onboard and immerse yourself into what UnCruise has to offer, the constant movie playing outside the ship in full HD was enough for my brain to be on overload the entire time and don’t even mention the amount of pictures that were taken.
Remember when looking at your next adventure that this might be the journey for you, take the plunge and find yourself in the middle of the Alaskan Wilderness on an UnCruise Ship.
Ed Bradford – TravelManagers Australia
*I was a guest of UnCruise & Wild Earth Travel, my trip report has come from the heart as what we experienced is written above. Yes my fish might’ve been overcooked one night, but if that is all I have to complain about then, SO BE IT!
We loved it!
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