I alluded to that fact that luxury means different things to different people. If you equate luxury with marble, crystal chandeliers and other opulent materials, you might be disappointed. But if you appreciate having the ability to stop and observe a group of humpback whales bubble netting, orca whales going for the kill or brown bears meandering along the shore, you will enjoy the experience on board the American Safari Explorer. The atmosphere is casual and loosely organized. If there is a wildlife sighting around or during meal time, service may be postponed for all to enjoy nature. Nobody cares if the entire group jumps up from the middle of a meal to observe an iceberg, seals or any other interesting attraction.
The all-inclusive nature of the experience is a luxury in itself. No signing receipts or paying a la carte for things like skiff ride, hiking or kayaking. For me the highpoint of the experience was having the ability to take a kayak and paddle amongst the icebergs and seals. A morning paddle in a quiet cove proved one of my most memorable experiences. I had the luxury of paddling solo, a real luxury for a control freak wanting individual reflection. Actually, one drawback that I found was the shortage of individual kayaks. I enjoyed paddling with a partner, but sometimes I appreciate paddling solo. That freedom to me is a luxury. With nobody to worry about but myself, I can explore wherever I want or simply float aimlessly enjoying the moment.

It’s not fair to compare this experience with a large ship cruise line; the two can’t be compared. Can you imagine a large cruise ship following a pod of whales? We had the luxury of time. We had a itinerary, but that was subject to change on a whim. As long as we reached our final destination on time, we could be flexible about our daily course. Now that is a luxury.

Want more details about this cruise? Please feel free to contact me.

Sail Away

One of the most interesting deliveries of beverages was via the skiff. What a special treat to have hot chocolate personally delivered to our kayak as we paddled amongst icebergs while viewing glaciers. This personal service is another value added benefit of traveling with a company like American Safari.
Could you imagine such an event taking place on one of the behemoth ships?

Being all-inclusive, American Safari provides beverages as part of the sailing package. No worries about having a card to scan; that might be a real feat from a kayak.

Next time: A summary of the American Safari Explorer experience.

In addition to our thrice daily meals, we also had appetizers during cocktail hour. The very popular offerings included regional interpretations of popular hors d’oeuvres.

One of the most popular breakfast offerings was a maple-glazed bacon. I am not sure what was in this, but some of the guests took it upon themselves to clean up the scraps from other plates, a response that I haven’t often seen as a result of eating bacon.

Shortly, I will be adding the menus from the Explorer to the home page so that you can see for yourself how well we ate.

Next time: The Drink on the American Safari Explorer

Sail Away

My cabin was 8B, a Mariner Category stateroom, on the middle deck of the yacht. I entered via a sliding door from the outside of the ship. As I entered, I noticed the binoculars hanging on a hook next to the door. Not only is this ideal for those who forgot to pack binoculars, but it also helps guests abide by the airline’s weight restrictions, at least those guests who arrive by commercial air. Many guests use their private jets to meet the yacht. Lucky them that they don’t need to tolerate the long layovers in Seattle.

Next to the wall is the bathroom, complete with heated tile floors. Considering that we had just installed the same heated flooring in our master bath, I appreciated the thought put into the design. The bathroom came with a variety of toiletries and fluffy bathrobes.

Just outside of the bathroom and next to the bed was the sink and vanity. This had several drawers for storing both toiletries and clothing. A hairdryer is provided in the drawer as well as water bottles bearing the American Safari logo.

The bed itself was tucked into a corner. The lights on the wall behind the bed were ideal for reading; books could be left on the shelf at the head of the bed. (Please note that my room configuration is not as shown on the diagrams provided on the American Safari website. Don’t want you to think that I have a really bad memory.)The Stearns and Foster mattress provided many comfortable nights of sleep for me. Several pillows on the bed were perfect to rest against when watching DVD’s. More about that later. Under the bed is a deep drawer. This was the perfect spot for me to store my outerwear and heavier clothes. Every night I found a nice chocolate turndown treat.

At the foot of the bed is a closet with a small place for hanging clothes. The atmosphere on this line is casual, so you won’t need room for hanging a tux or formal wear. In fact, nobody except you and the one critical person in every group will care that your clothes aren’t perfectly pressed. There are also several shelves for the rest of your clothing or gear.

On the opposite wall from the vanity is a hinged pull-down desk. This brought back memories of the first apartment I lived in. That was the simplest thing in this area as there was also a flat-screen TV with DVD player and an alarm clock, which also seemed to be an iPod dock. Being older than 12, I had difficulties figuring out how to set the clock and operate that gadget. Those old-fashioned wind-up alarm clocks match my skill level. I did figure out how to play a DVD, a real accomplishment for me. You might be wondering why I would be watching movies when I am in Alaska. I did this during the evening, when I didn’t have to worry about an announcement of a pod of orcas off the port side of the vessel.

There was a small stool to use with this desk and next to that was a regular chair near the window. Although it was possible to open the window, I was advised not to because of the bugs that inhabit Alaska. Fortunately, there is individual temperature control in each stateroom. I never turned on the heat or the air as the temperature was perfect. The room darkening shades on the door and the window left a bit to be desired for somebody like me who prefers pitch black darkness for sleeping. I improved these by simply leaning something against the shades to block out the thin slip of light that attempted to disturb my sleep.

Two nice features in the room were the outlet near the window as well as one on the vanity. There was also a dimmable light, which I appreciated. You might guess that I am not a huge fan of bright and cheery rooms, but much prefer dark and somber.

Don’t forget to listen to my interview with our captain, Tim Voss.

Next time - The food of the Explorer

Sail Away

I dropped my luggage off early and explored downtown Juneau before returning in time for our included trek to the Mendenhall Glacier. Had I known that it was possible to see Russia from Juneau, I would have spent more time seeking out whatever vantage point it is that gives easy viewing of Russia.

We had perfect weather and visibility for visiting Mendenhall, which is just a short way out of town. Juneau has only 30,000 people and is entirely landlocked. I heard stories of people who thought that they would rent a car in Juneau and leave from there to explore the rest of Alaska. That’s only possible using the ferry to get you and your vehicle to a place that has roads that go somewhere.
Before reaching Mendenhall, we stopped at a view point where we photographed the distant expanse of ice. When we reached the site, I headed to the lake in front of the glaciers to take some photos. There is a longer path to get nearer the glacier, but we didn’t have the time to do that. After watching kayakers and simply enjoying the view, I walked to another area that supposedly offered the opportunity to see bears.

Now, I am terrified of bears, a result of a grizzly bear being shot in the campground where we stayed at Honeymoon Lake in Jasper National Park. Nevertheless, I try to conquer my fears and pretended that a sighting would be an ordinary occurrence and one that wouldn’t scare the bejeezies out of me.
On the first path I followed, there was a blocked area restricting visitors from proceeding beyond a point with a sign indicated that there was excessive bear activity in the area. I turned around and headed to another area where I watched the salmon in the stream thinking that a bear might stop by for a snack. Eventually, a small bear appeared and headed down the stream in the opposite direction.
I remained calm and thought that I would head back to the first area that I had visited. Amazingly, there was a crowd of people there observing a sow and her cubs. I caught a glimpse of them and took a few photos, thinking that if these bears should decide to come beyond the fence and into the area where the people were that I would have a better chance of escape than some of the others who were watching.

I remember being in Yellowstone and watching a man with a cane get way too close to a buffalo. How he would make an escape in case the buffalo charged baffled me. Nobody was stupid enough to venture too close to these bears, which eventually wandered off into the brush. It was time for us to head back to the trip anyway. I thought that perhaps this sighting was a good omen for the rest of the trip that would focus on wildlife viewing or at least I hoped that would be the case.

Back in Juneau, we went to the dock where the Explorer berthed. Our luggage had already been taken to the yacht from the hotel, so we had only to board the ship. The entire crew lined up and greeted us as we came down the ramp. My cabin was B8, a double cabin on the middle deck where most of the cabins were. A few larger cabins were on the lower and top decks.

As luck would have it, the CEO of American Safari Cruises was sailing with us. Watch later for an podcast featuring an interview with him.

My luggage wasn’t in my room, but one of the crew members shortly came by to see if I had my luggage and then retrieved it for me. The cabin has a storage closet at the end of the bed, a large drawer under the bed and a vanity with drawers next to the bed. I found plenty of space for all of my gear. As the focus of this cruise is adventure, it was not necessary to pack formal wear or high heels. Of course, a guest has the option of dressing up, but casual dress fits best with the experience.
As I unpacked, I realized that I had forgotten a jacket that I had forgotten that I owned. Stupid on my part, but I had brought plenty of layers to handle the weather. Besides, I much prefer cool weather to the heat and that has nothing to do with my age.

Most of the activities take place on the lower deck, which has the dining room, bar, lounge, library and two staterooms. This is also the sports deck where we will board the skiffs and kayaks. We all gathered in the lounge for an overview of what to expect. Most memorable for me was the chef’s warning that the portions would be small. That was definitely fine with me, but it turned out that small portions are relative as I quickly learned at the first meal.

The first evening quickly passed by with many of the passengers mingling after dinner. We anticipated better weather than Juneau had been experiencing. My late night thoughts were of wildlife, glaciers and lots of sun.

Next : The accommodations on the Explorer

Sail Away

Here are a few sites that I used:
Here is a list:

Mobissimo
Kayak
SideStep
Priceline

I also look at Hotwire, Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity and the individual airline websites.

If you are using Hotwire or Priceline
you can research which bids were accepted and even figure out which of the hotels you may be assigned by going to the Better Bidding site.

Next time - a review of the American Safari Explorer.

Sail Away

Sail Away

So, where do I search for airfares?
Here is a list:

Mobissimo
Kayak
SideStep
Priceline
Booking Buddy

I also look at Hotwire, Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity and the individual airline websites.

There aren’t the airfare deals that there used to be. In fact, airfare is often the same or lower on the airline sites themselves as it is on other booking sites. Checking several sites is especially helpful when you are booking at the last minute. On a recent trip to Alaska, doing a little research saved me at least $300.

Price isn’t the only thing to consider. We are flying in a day early to be safe, but I still factored in several considerations. The lowest priced flight got us to Europe quickly, but the route had only one flight per day from our airport. No other airline from our home airport flies to our connecting destination. If that first flight were cancelled or significantly delayed, we would have no options for getting to the airport to catch our international flight. Although we will now be flying backwards to Chicago to fly to Europe, at least we know that there are several flights per day to Chicago.

Next time, we will look at booking last minute hotels.

Sail Away

Show Notes

Click on the titles for more info:
American Safari Cruises


Written and produced by Robert and Theresa Russell
All music by Kevin MacLeod licensed under Creative Commons

This podcast is a continuation of the MSC Lirica, plus “Can I do laundry on board?”

Show Notes

Click on the titles for more info:

MSC Cruises (Lirica)


Written and produced by Robert and Theresa Russell
All music by Kevin MacLeod licensed under Creative Commons