We have been to Alaska twice before on big ship cruises and thought a small boat cruise would be a way to see Alaska in a different way. It was awful! By the third day boredom was setting in and by the fourth day, we had come to realize that each day was going to be exactly the same with the same three activities (hiking, kayaking, or a small boat tour) offered each day. We loved seeing the glaciers up close and having the chance to kayak close to one of them between the icebergs. The wilderness areas we went to pretty much looked the same so it became very repetitious. While they kept touting that this is the "true" Alaska, I beg to differ. There is so much more to Alaska than wilderness and we had a much larger overview of the state on our other cruises. We do a lot of shore excursions on the larger ships and don't just get off the ship and wander around at each port of call.

The food was very gourmet but got very old because it was pretty much the same every day. There were only about 30 passengers but yet it took at least an hour for everyone to get served at lunch and dinner and we had ordered in advance! Our meals never arrived steaming hot. The early riser breakfast always consisted of some type of breakfast pastry (muffins, croissants, etc.) that were served very cold. I guess we just like simpler food because I would have given anything for a good old hamburger after a few days.

We saw a lot of whales and sea otters but we've seen them before. We saw two bears at a distance and didn't even come close to a moose. The wildlife was what we came for so this was disappointing. Read more