ALASKA

Quest for Alaska American Safari Cruises offers unique adventures at the top of the world.

American Safari Cruises refers to itself as the “uncruise,” and it certainly is different than the way the big ships operate. With few scheduled group activities, and no casinos, production shows, or midnight buffets, the onboard ambiance is quite casual. In fact, most of the time on this 7-night voyage from Juneau to Ketchikan (with rarely visited Wrangell the only port of call) was spent meandering along the gorgeous waterways of southeastern Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, with coves, bays, and sounds offering sensational vistas of mountains, trees, waterfalls, and, of course, abundant wildlife.

Safari Quest, the middle-size of the three American Safari Cruises’ ships, carries only 22 guests in 11 rooms. When a ship is this small, you can throw out traditional measures such as space or guest-to-crew ratios and just think of it as a group of thrown-together new friends taking a trip. Such is the nature of this upscale, yet casual, adventure experience that there’s a sense of enjoyably forced socializing that takes place.

All of the guests dine together at the same time; there’s one main lounge where everyone hangs out; and, besides one’s own room, there’s not much alone space. But because of the nature of the experience, which is indeed a nature-filled experience, the group dynamic works very well. Seeing and Doing Guests interested in spotting whales, eagles, bears, and sea lions will have a field day. Most of the daylight hours are spent either anchored somewhere gorgeous or moving along from place to place to enjoy nature. When anchored, there are plenty of opportunities to go hiking, kayaking, paddle-boarding, and skiffing.

There are chances to go swimming or rope-swinging into the cold Alaskan waters. Nights are spent anchored in calm spots; a late-night treat on my cruise was a chance to enjoy the amazing Northern Lights. On shore, hikes and kayak tours are broken down into three levels ranging from the most demanding, such as a seven-hour guided kayaking/hiking trip or a six-hour hiking tour into mostly unmarked trail areas, to easier hiking trips on plank-marked trails or simply taking out a kayak and paddling around and seeing nature up close.

At the same time, there’s no pressure to do more than you want, and if that means staying on board and just enjoying the sights, reading, or napping, then so be it. A couple of times during the cruise, it was whale-spotting heaven. The first occurred shortly after the ship left Juneau. Of course, there was rampant excitement at this early opportunity and the captain slowed the ship in order to have more time. But the major whale viewing happened one afternoon in Frederick Sound when about three dozen whales were spread out in a breeching and spouting semi-circle in front of the ship. The captain cut the engine and the ship drifted for a couple of hours for this magnificent display. This is the very essence of an American Safari trip.

There’s a sense of “rigid flexibility” that allows the crew to take advantage of a schedule that doesn’t mandate that they adhere to a minute-by-minute itinerary. Instead, they give guests the chance to enjoy the serendipitous moments that only nature can serve up.