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Well rested, my eyelids snap open.

I get dressed and ready as quick as I can.

Though our Uncruise ship does travel during some awake hours, much of the actual cruising, takes place overnight.

This makes each morning like Christmas. I can’t wait to open our cabin door to see what new view I’ve been gifted.

The water we float upon is a smooth, inky, black. I peer over the railing and observe a bright spot in the water. It’s cream, topped with electric orange. The object is pulsing. Scrunching up, then spreading out. The movement is graceful and hypnotizing.

Always close by, one of the Adventure Guides informs me that what I am looking at is a Lion’s Mane jelly fish. I didn’t even know jelly fish lived in Alaska.

This day, like all of the days on our Uncruise Alaska, is already off to an awesome start.

We were positive we didn’t like cruises, until we took our first Uncruise to Panama/Costa Rica. It turned our to be one of the best weeks of our lives. We knew before we even left the ship, that we had to Uncruise Alaska.

Stress Free, non-chaotic, Embarkation and Debarkation

From Uncruise’s hospitality center, our boat is a short, leisurely, walk away.

I imagine we look like a group of kids boarding the bus to summer camp.

As we easily step onto the ship, a staff member is waiting to greet us and escort us to our cabin.

Gathering in the lounge for our muster drill, we are welcomed with champagne, fruit, and cheese.

Muster drill time gives all of the 63 passengers time to meet and break the ice a bit.

The staff know that leaving an Uncruise is difficult.

After having a magical week, it’s hard to even fathom returning to normal life. Therefore, the staff try their best to make disembarking as painless as possible.

With luggage already at the hospitality center, we walk the plank to a gantlet of staff waiting to shake our hands, give us hugs, and wish us well in life. In turn, as passengers, we thank everyone for working so hard to give us an unforgettable experience.

Instead of feeling stressed, our hearts are warmed as we drive away, off to our next adventure.

Food

Though there is only one dining room on our Uncruise ship, it’s impossible to go hungry.

Buffets are set out for breakfast and lunch.

Seriously, it is the best bacon we’ve ever had. On bacon mornings, cruise guests literally cheer.

There’s so much food, you have to pace yourself, or you’ll find you’re still stuffed come dinner.

At dinner, you get a choice between a meat, fish, or vegetarian entree. Now being in Alaska, it’s hard not to pick the fish, but I will say that the vegetarian fare is impressive, so if you are a vegetarian, this is the cruise for you. If you have any dietary restrictions, they are happy to accommodate.

The best night on the Alaska Uncruise, is crab buffet night (the staff are good sports, wearing their crab hats).

I also have to give props to the pastry chef, who whipped up some super yummy desserts, including the fluffiest, most flavorsome, macarons, I’ve had.

3 O’clock Cookie Time

Speaking of the pastry chef…there are still days when I look at my computer at work, notice that it’s 3 o’clock, then sigh that somewhere on an Uncruise ship, someone is eating a cookie.

3 o’clock cookie time was one of the things I looked the most forward to when I boarded our Alaska Uncruise.

There are different cookies everyday.

Though they are all scrumptious, everyone goes crazy over the beautifully decorated, gingerbread, whale cookies.

They are almost too pretty to eat…almost…

Drinks

Unlike most cruises, where you have to purchase separate drink packages, all drinks, including all alcoholic beverages, are included in Uncruise’s price.

Want a bottle of wine at dinner? Included.

Cocktail hour is the time when everyone gathers to hear about tomorrow’s adventures, and to make activity choices. To make the difficult task of deciding between bushwhacking or kayaking easier, Dee Dee, a marvelous bartender, offers up a drink of the day.

After sampling the first drink of the day, I knew I had to try them all.

By day three of the cruise, Dee Dee has everyone’s before bed drinks memorized. I merely have to walk up to the bar and Dee Dee says,

“Bourbon, neat.”

The nice thing about an Uncruise is that although the drinks flow freely, it’s far from a booze cruise. Everyone on the ship is mature and drinks responsibly.

Learning Fun

I’m a big nerd. One of the reasons I love traveling so much is because you learn things.

On an Uncruise, there are no nightly Broadway shows or casinos providing entertainment. Instead, staff present interesting lectures. There is a nice variety of subjects on our Alaska cruise. My two favorites are a presentation on Haunted Southeast Alaska and one on Animal Psychology.

There’s plenty of activity and entertainment during the day, so by the time the nightime lectures are over, everyone is ready for bed.

Every night as I got into the shower, Shannon would say,

“I’m wide awake. I’m not even sleepy.”

By the time I got out of the shower, this would be the scene.

I followed close behind. With the movement of the ship at night, and the white noise of the engine, a good night’s sleep was great evening entertainment.

We also learn a lot on activities.

The Adventure Guides are passionate. They really love what they do.

Full of knowledge and information about the history, nature, and wildlife of Alaska, by the end of the trip, we are able to identify Devil’s Club, point out a limpet, and notice when we unexpectedly stumble upon a bear bed.

It’s a True Adventure

On Uncruise, you’re not just passing by the nature, you are in the nature.

With the exception of one evening, when we dock at Glacier Bay National Park, we spend our days anchored in quiet inlets and dreamy bays.

Days are spent with just our ship being swallowed up by the immense nature around us.

This is the main reason we chose to Uncruise Alaska.

Instead of busy town ports, or loading on buses to get to activities, kayaks are launched directly from the ship, and secluded shore walks are only a short skiff ride away.

During our send off talk, Uncruise CEO Dan Blanchard, tells us to throw away our itineraries.

We should have no expectations and give into the wild.

This is exactly what we do and although I’m not going to spoil it here (I’ll save it for future posts) we did end up having a few Uncruise Alaska, cruise surprises.

With almost no other humans in sight, you forget about the chaos in the world.  It starts to become believable that the world may only consist of soaring pines, lazy clouds, and jelly fish.

If you want to disconnect from craziness, and connect with calm, Uncruise is your place.

I am so happy we Uncruise-d Alaska. We would not have wanted it any other way. Once again it was one of the most amazing weeks we’ve had. We would definitely do another Uncruise.

Bonus

Finding fellow sloth lovers on the ship.

Places to Stay before your Alaska Uncruise 

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