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UN-CRUISE Blog  filter by tag: Alaska

Ready, Set, Launch! Off to Alaska

The year’s first voyage evokes these and other emotions as crew and guests set sail for Alaska from Seattle’s Fishermen’s Terminal. The beautiful San Juan Islands mark the first destination followed by 3 days cruising British Columbia, Canada’s incredibly scenic Inside Passage. Then the Wilderness Adventurer returns to U.S waters and arrives at Alaska’s First City, Ketchikan. The 2013 season then officially kicks into high gear.

Kayak Training

Five Finger Lighthouse

By Alison, Expedition Guide, Wilderness Discoverer

Throughout the season, our boat passed the Five Finger Lighthouse in Frederick Sound. The story about the great fire of 1933 and the lighthouse refit was shared by guides, but upon reflection, we never covered what this lighthouse symbolized for those that used the structure.

Safari Endeavour Re-Enters the Water

By Kendra, Chief Mate & Relief Captain, Safari Endeavour

It is an exciting day here on the Safari Endeavour! After nearly three weeks of sitting on blocks in the dry dock, the Safari Endeavour re-enters the water and becomes a ship once again!

Video: A Week On the Wilderness Explorer in Alaska

Active Adventure in Southeast Alaska - video by Weston Walker-Knoblich

We are often asked "What makes an Un-Cruise different?" Good question. This video was filmed during a one-week trip aboard the 76-guest Wilderness Explorer. It's a start.

Our good friend Weston recorded his experience on the Northern Passages and Glacier Bay itinerary that sails between Juneau and Sitka, AK. On this awesome itinerary, you will spend THREE days exploring inside Glacier Bay National Park. And we don't mean sitting on board the boat. You get to go hiking, kayaking near glaciers, explore via skiff, and even take a spin--sometimes a good natured race--on a human-powered watercraft.

Not to mention the expedition cruising we do outside the park. The whales. The bears. But I'll stop talking now. Watch THIS:

Reflections of a Season

As they headed southbound from Alaska returning to Seattle on the final trip of the season, the crew of the Wilderness Discoverer reflected upon their most memorable, favorite moment of the season.

Patterson Lake Wrap-Up 2012

On our Inner Reaches Eastern Coves itinerary, guests have the opportunity to hike 5 miles (~11 miles roundtrip) to remote Patterson Lake. Kayaks are stored there, ready to launch to continue the journey to the face of Patterson Glacier. It's quite a trip and guests love it.

Shutting Down

The 2012 Southeast Alaska Un-Cruise Adventures have nearly come to a close. Our fleet is returning home, and while some boats will spend the winter parked, other boats in the fleet are being readied for other adventures. We asked our crew for their perspective on what happens to pack up a boat after a season of adventure.

Bubblenet Feeding Up Close

Video taken by Betsy Boyer, videographer

Reports from the boats indicate it's been a crazy good summer for seeing humpback whales bubblenet feeding. Many guests aboard our small yachts and expedition vessels in Southeast Alaska have been lucky to see this feeding phenomenon.

We just found this video clip today and it's AMAZING. This is from the Safari Endeavour's August 19 Un-Cruise Adventure. Watch THIS!

Stand-Up Paddle Boarding

A few thoughts on paddle boarding from Kristin Roth, Expedition Leader....

Paddle boarding is a fantastic core exercise that allows you to absorb the solitude and silence of Southeast Alaska. It provides a sensation close to walking on water.

A Glorious Hiking Adventure

By Mark, Expedition Guide, Wilderness Discoverer

The small boat filled with orange, lifejacket-clad hikers moved rapidly toward its drop-off spot on the somewhat rocky, kelp-draped beach adjacent to an unnamed river. Each guest touched ground and readied for the morning hike at Port Houghton – a scenic bay on the mainland coast just east of Frederick Sound’s merger with Stephens Passage.

Foggy Adventures in Glacier Bay

By Jackie Hedgpeth, Expedition Guide, Wilderness Explorer

Our day of adventure began with peaceful whale watching in Dundas Bay inside Glacier Bay National Park. The weather was cloudy, and as we entered the bay a low, thick fog blanketed the water making it necessary to reduce speed and blow the fog horn regularly. Everyone commented on the thick fog, and the inability to see the water or low level landscape. We could see clearly the mountain sides and peaks but nothing below shrouded in the fog.

The Wilderness Explorer hiding in the fog

Finding Toxic Alaskan GOLD!

By Alison Ashton, Expedition Guide, Wilderness Discoverer

We found GOLD in Southeast Alaska. Did we strike it rich? Well, it depends on who you ask, but in fact finding a rough-skinned newt with its golden underside is just as spectacular as finding the infamous precious metal that altered the history of this last frontier.

Spirits and Waters

By Melina Coogan. Expedition Guide, Safari Endeavour

The talented and creative bartenders on the Safari Endeavour allow you to drink Alaska. Guests come back on board after a day paddling the cool, turquoise water of Reid Glacier and are greeted with an equally cool and refreshing Cucumber Camio: vodka and triple sec, a hint of huckleberry liquor to reflect the berries growing wild along the shoreline, cucumber slice floating as pale and delicate as brash.

Jenn mixes up an Alaska specialty on the

Safari Endeavour

White Thunder

By Melina Coogan, Expedition Guide, Safari Endeavour

Nothing on this journey through the inside passage makes me tachychardic like the awesomeness that is Dawes Glacier. She is huge, massive, blue beyond belief, and before her our small boat tours are dwarfed to mere dots. For miles and miles our driver shimmies the inflatable boats through hunks of ice, trying to avoid not only the potentially propeller-bending bergs but also the pieces where the seals lay, sunning with their pups. It is no easy task for the small boat captains.

Into Alaska's Wilderness On A Camping Adventure

By Manuel Hernandez, Steward, Wilderness Adventurer

The rainy, windy climate turned in our favor and clear blue skies announced our arrival to Saginaw Bay. I had my first opportunity to camp out in Southeast Alaska this past week.

Our campsite which was located in Halleck Harbor, was surrounded by salmon berry shrubs. Jenny Heard, one of the expedition guides, led the camping excursion. Three guests joined the two of us as we set to jump headfirst into the woods.

Polar Bear Dip

By Melina Coogan, Safari Endeavour

There is only one proper thing to do when the sun shines in Alaska: polar bear dip!

After a morning of long paddles and sunny hikes, all the guests and crew of the Safari Endeavour gathered together on the Easy Dock to take the plunge into the 49 degree waters of Hallock Harbor.

This Is Only A Drill

Nicole Kilmer, Lead Stew, Wilderness Discoverer

Every week, we have a drill that our Chief Mate Danny plans for us. We take them very seriously. It’s an amazing opportunity to grow and learn as a team.

The Opportunity

By Kathleen, Relief Steward, Wilderness Boats

The Opportunity
As Relief Steward, I’m allowed the great opportunity to live on each of the ISD boats for two weeks at a time. While their Head Steward has time off the Relief Steward steps in to support the Hotel Manager to deliver exceptional service to our guests.

Racing the Human Powered Watercraft

From Kathy Van Wulf Scat aboard the Wilderness Explorer

The crew of the Wilderness Explorer knows how to have fun with friendly competitions. With two innovative human powered watercrafts aboard, they decided it was time to have a race. They organized themselves into teams of six paddlers and raced around the boat. The winners advanced on to the final heat....won by (watch the video).

Birding in Southeast Alaska

Bears at Reid Glacier

By Brooke Freed, guest, Safari Endeavor (July 1-8)

We recently returned from our trip on American Safari Cruises’ Safari Endeavor, and when I tell people we were on an “Alaska cruise” I don’t feel like those words do it justice.  I also have to follow up with: “And there were just 60 people on our boat”. Not only was the group small, but the entire experience was up close and personal.

Cruising with the Park Reindeer

By Brock Munson, expedition leader, Safari Quest

It was day five on board the Safari Quest, the eve of our journey into Glacier Bay National Park. As I do each and every night, I made an announcement of our itinerary for the next day to the passengers as they were enjoying their evening dessert. It was a fun, high-energy group throughout the week, at times focused, other times boisterous, but always very inquisitive. They all got along with each other quickly and became friends immediately after embarkation.

“We will be entering Glacier Bay very early in the morning,” I said. “At 7AM we will be making a brief stop at Bartlett Cove, the headquarters of the National Park, to pick up a Park Ranger who will be onboard for the next day and a half.

Tips for Photographing Your Cruise

By Jocelyn Pride, photographer, guest and writer

Yes, I was definitely in the right place at the right time to capture this shot from one of the small boats (27 June 2012 Idaho Inlet, Alaska).

Just like life, photography is full of what ifs. I could have just as easily missed this extraordinary moment – flat battery, wrong shutter speed, full memory card, looking the wrong way, the list goes on.

If you’re on a cruise with American Safari Cruises or InnerSea Discoveries, capturing the beauty of nature through the lens of a camera is likely to be part of your un-cruise experience. No matter what camera you are using or your level of interest in photography, I hope these tips help you bring back beautiful memories of your trip.

I Built a Canoe

By Kathy Van Wulf Scat, Wilderness Discoverer

“I built a canoe”, proclaimed 10 year old Max Flink, an outgoing and gregarious guest onboard the Wilderness Discoverer’s Eastern Coves itinerary. What he was referring to was how he laid down the foundation for his leave no trace fire at our Beach Party in Spacious Bay.

In the Still of the Evening...Orcas Play

By Bethany, Expedition Leader aboard the Wilderness Adventurer

It was the first night of our Un-Cruise, and two hours north of Ketchikan, we shut down our engines and put the hydrophone in the sea.

A Deckhand from Hawaii Discovers Alaska

By Mitch Kaufman, Deckhand, Wilderness Explorer

Gas. Check. Life jackets. Check. I’m on my way to pick up a group of hikers. As I throttle up the skiff, icy wind from the nearby glacier hits my eyes. A tear forms at the outer edge, clouding my vision for a brief moment. I flashback to the series of incredible sights I have seen in the past few days--the amazing and powerful orcas that breached just in front of the ship’s bow.

Plankton, plankton everywhere! Kids Cruise Adventure

By Kathy Van Wulf Scat, Wilderness Adventurer, June 23 Kids in Nature cruise

Expedtion Guide at large, Kathy V., sent us this report from a recent Kids in Nature cruise in Alaska. What is that you ask? It's a cruise date specially geared toward families with young kids. Kids under 12 set sail for adventures in the wilderness and a week of full-on FUN!

Kathy Van Wulf Scat enjoys kayaking through

Alaskan waters.

Proof We Are Not Alone

Proof that we are not alone.

Exploring Port Houghton

By Liz, Expedition Guide, Wilderness Discoverer

Port Houghton epitomizes the Alaskan experience aboard the Wilderness Discoverer. We paddled five miles through tidal flats into a salt chuck in Port Houghton’s back bay. The term ‘salt chuck’ is unique to Alaska and refers to a salt-water lake that’s filled by incoming tides. At extremely low tides, bits of land are exposed that completely separate the chuck from the bay.

Kayaking in Port Houghton 

Putting the “Wild” in Wilderness

By Hannah Hindley, Wilderness Explorer

Our maiden voyage into Glacier Bay aboard the Wilderness Explorer lived up to our vessel’s name--it was both exploratory and wild. We certainly felt like genuine explorers as we tested the limits and possibilities of this new boat on her new route.

And wild? We pulled past heavy brown bears foraging along the shoreline, watched arctic terns wheel among the spray and thunder of calving glaciers, lifted mammoth, dripping, sunflower stars from the sea floor, and steered our kayaks among otters, playful sea lions, and the distant sound of humpback breath.

Timber wolf

Guest Review of Ultimate Adventure 2012

Guest Review by Sharon Lawrence

Let me begin by saying this was our fourth trip to Alaska and third cruise of the Inside Passage. We have cruised on a 2,000 passenger ship (Yuk), a 140 passenger ship (OK) and now on a 60 passenger ship (Awesome!). The 60 passenger ship is the way to go and InnerSea Discoveries is the way to get there. We were on InnerSea Discoveries' Wilderness Adventurer on an Ultimate Adventure.

Sharon and Dennis at Dawes Glacier

Oysters Can't Get Any Fresher...

On the Wilderness Discoverer’s May 26 cruise, the boat rendezvoused with an oyster farmer to purchase oysters---FRESH from the grower.

Hold Dinner!

By Kathy Van Wulf Scat, special guest crewmember, Wilderness Explorer

While cruising in Frederick Sound, Alaska aboard the Wilderness Explorer, I had an opportunity to observe a pod of about six orca whales.

Alaska the mighty, magnificent and magical

By Teresa Mealy, expedition guide, Wilderness Adventurer

Bears, Whales and Glaciers. These are three words typically used to describe Southeast Alaska. But those who visit come to know this place means much more than that.

From dramatic cliffs rising 1000’ from the shoreline to crystal clear blue green water, three words cannot encompass the meaning of true Alaska. However, if I had to pick three, they would be magnificent, magical and mighty.

Kathy Explores Endicott Arm

By Kathy VanWulf Scat, special guest crew member aboard the Wilderness Discoverer

Location: Dawes Glacier, Endicott Arm

Yes Bay Kayaking

By Manuel Hernandez, a steward aboard the Wilderness Adventurer in Alaska

Kayaking in Yes Bay

An Alaskan adventure of a lifetime…three weeks in. Two months ago I finished my college career. This afternoon after a long day of work, I was kayaking in beautiful Yes Bay.