- Last year, I won a free cruise around southern Alaska and had no idea what to expect.
- From day one, I saw brown bears catching salmon and humpback whales breaching just yards away.
- The trip gave me a deeper appreciation for nature, and if money were no object I'd go again.
Last spring, I was one of five winners of a college writing contest for environmental storytelling. As a prize, the five of us received a free, six-day cruise that summer in Alaska. The cruise, called the "Wild Alaska Escape," travels from Sitka to Juneau across southeast Alaska and is run by Lindblad Expeditions, an eco-tourism-focused cruise company, in partnership with nature magazine National Geographic.
The normal price of this cruise is around $4,800 per person, but as a prize winner, I received the trip for free, which included food and nonalcoholic drinks onboard. In August, I paid for my own flight from Portland, Oregon, where I'd just finished 70 days of camping and volunteering for AmeriCorps, to Sitka, Alaska, to depart on the cruise.
Here's what the cruise was like, from nature and photography excursions to early morning wildlife sightings.
I arrived in Sitka excited to see a new state and experience a week at sea, since I'd never been to Alaska or on a cruise before.
I was also eager to learn from the resident researchers and scientists on the ship who are known as naturalists, and who would guide and educate us throughout the trip.
As an amateur photographer, I was especially looking forward to having the professional National Geographic photographer onboard, who would lead guided photo walks to share tips for photographing wildlife.
Boarding the ship, I fell in love with the ocean views on deck. I thought the interior was slightly dated, but cozy.
The cruise was on the National Geographic Sea Bird, a small ship with 31 cabins. The ship can fit 62 guests, according to the cruise website, although I noticed that there were only about 40 passengers on my trip.
On the bottom deck, I found a lounge area with a bar, as well as the sole dining hall. Most guests cabins and the captain's quarters were located on the middle and top decks, where there was also an observation deck and a sundeck.
I thought my cabin was modest in size and decor, and I appreciated the large window.
My room was one of the few cabins on the bottom deck, near the lounge and dining hall. It had two twin-sized beds, a bathroom with a toilet and stand-up shower, and a sink just outside the bathroom.
Next to the beds, there was a small nightstand with drawers, and there was also a spacious closet with hooks and hangers to store clothes.
My favorite part of the cabin was the large window above one of the beds, where I could watch the water as the ship cruised along. Once while getting dressed, I was surprised to see a small whale swim right by my window.
Although I can't compare my cabin with others as this was my first cruise, the room felt small to me since there wasn't much floor space. Still, I thought it was comfortable, and as a solo traveler, I was glad to have the entire room to myself.
On the ship, I found the crew and nature experts to be friendly and knowledgeable about the region and local wildlife.
Lindblad Expeditions began partnered cruises with National Geographic in 2004, according to their website, in order to pair a team of naturalists and scientists with National Geographic photographers to guide cruise passengers on daily adventures.
There were four naturalists on my cruise, with specialties ranging from geology to undersea studies, as well as one National Geographic photographer. The photographer took photos of me and other travelers during our daily expeditions, but also gave us tutorials on how to take better nature photos with cameras and phones. I found the naturalist staff to be personable, and eager to answer any of my questions about the types of plants or animals I saw.
We saw animals like puffins, whales, and sea otters during the trip, often at unpredictable times.
The first morning, I was woken up at 6:30 a.m. by a loudspeaker announcement from our captain, who said there was a whale sighting and invited everyone to come up to the deck to watch. This was the first of many impromptu calls and over the week, we were alerted to sightings of sea otters, puffins, and more animals.
The unpredictable nature of these sightings made the experience all the more thrilling and magical for me, since it was always a pleasant surprise to hear a new announcement from the captain. The excitement never got old, and I thought the spontaneity added a sense of adventure to the trip.
I especially enjoyed our daily excursions on smaller rafts, since it brought me closer to wildlife in ways I didn't expect.
Each day, we disembarked the ship and boarded smaller boats called Zodiacs, which were inflatable vessels about the size of life rafts and used for expeditions. There was a naturalist on each boat, and we rode through the open ocean, narrow straits, and small bays, hoping to catch glimpses of wildlife.
These smaller rafts allowed us to see animals like bears, whales, and otters up close. On our first Zodiac excursion, I watched a brown bear and two cubs cross over a small waterfall while plucking salmon from the water, less than 20 yards from our boat.
On another excursion, five humpback whales breached right in front of us and shook the boat when they fell back into the water. Even though I knew the trip would be a wildlife cruise, these animal sightings were more frequent and immersive than I'd imagined.
There were optional outdoor activities each day like hiking, kayaking, and rafting, so I never felt bored.
Each evening, we received an itinerary for the following day with options to sign up for outdoor excursions, such as hiking and kayaking. One of my favorite on-shore trips was when we docked in Haines, Alaska, and had the choice of an airplane ride, cycling, rafting, or a tundra trek.
I chose the tundra trek, and although its name made me picture hiking through a blizzard, there wasn't any snow since it was August. Instead, we explored alpine meadows and rolling hills, which I thought were beautiful, and the trek wasn't strenuous for me.
While I had fun on every experience, including the trek, most of the excursions felt leisurely and left me wanting a more of a thrill. Still, since there were multiple outings each day, I never felt bored.
Throughout the trip, I was glad to receive advice from the National Geographic photographer to improve my photography skills.
As a photographer, I've always aspired to take wildlife photos like those on the front page of National Geographic, and was excited to learn from the professional photographer on board.
I didn't take my Nikon camera on the cruise, but I did have my iPhone, and was pleasantly surprised when the photographer on board gave us a lesson on iPhone photography tips. Some of the information was a refresher for me, but I also walked away with new tricks, like using the panorama feature vertically instead of horizontally to capture more of the sky and ground.
On one outing, I opted for a guided photo walk through a small island off the Chatham Strait. We didn't see any animals, so I focused on photographing the underbrush.
Back on the ship, the National Geographic photographer helped select my best pictures and gave me advice to improve my shooting. He also suggested cropping some of my photos to eliminate a distracting background and draw a viewer's eyes to the subject more easily.
Each day ended with an educational recap led by the ship's team of naturalists, which I found insightful and supportive.
I was impressed by how much I learned about nature and wildlife over the course of the trip, both from our daily activities and nightly educational recaps.
After dinner each day, everyone on board gathered in the common lounge for drinks and dessert. Photographers would show off their photos from the day, and the naturalists gave educational presentations on what we'd seen and done that day, like the type of whales we encountered and the geology of the glaciers we sailed past.
Following the recaps, the passengers and crew spent time in the lounge getting to know each other and chatting about our days. I appreciated these recaps as a refresher on the day, and as a nice chance to bond with my fellow shipmates.
The highlight of my trip was seeing receding glaciers. I felt lucky to see them knowing one day they might be gone.
For me, the highlight of the trip was seeing glaciers, which I'd never seen in person before. While they weren't as exciting as brown bears or as cute as otters, the beauty and size of these massive blocks of ice left me in awe.
Taking the Zodiac rafts allowed us to get within a few hundred yards of the Dawes Glacier, located in the Endicott Arm Fjord about 85 miles south of Juneau. From the raft, I could hear the ice crackle, and watched huge chunks calve and splinter and fall into the sea.
While seeing the glaciers felt magical, I was also left with a sense of sadness knowing that I might never see these ice structures in the same way, as glaciers are rapidly receding as a result of climate change. The Dawes glacier, which we visited on the Zodiacs, has retreated 3.8 kilometers since 1985, at a rate of 105 meters per year, according to the American Geophysical Union. The Mendenhall Glacier, which we visited in Juneau, has receded 800 feet just between 2021 and 2022, according to Juneau's KTOO News.
I felt grateful to see these glaciers in person, knowing that even if I return to Alaska in the future, they may not be the same.
I enjoyed Alaska's summer weather, and the comfortable temperatures meant we saw more animals than usual, according to the naturalists on board.
It was warmer than I expected on the cruise, between 50 to 60 degrees on average. The coldest day was when we visited the glaciers, since we could feel the chill from the icebergs.
I usually wore Crocs or sneakers, waterproof pants, a long sleeve shirt, and a puffer jacket to stay warm on deck. When we went on the Zodiac rafts, I also wore knee-high boots to avoid wet feet. Some passengers brought their own waterproof pants and boots, but I used rentals that the cruise offered instead.
Since it was August during salmon spawning season that began in June, the naturalists explained the salmon encouraged brown bears and eagles to come out to hunt.
Throughout the trip, the naturalists and photographers told me that even they were shocked by the amount of wildlife we saw. Although they do the same expedition route for weeks or months at a time, they were just as excited as the passengers by the many animal sightings, so I knew our cruise was a special experience.
As another perk, thanks to the sunny weather and regular spurts of mist and rain, I also saw rainbows over the ocean on most days.
The cruise exceeded my expectations in nearly every way, and I left wishing it could last longer.
Between the animal sightings, group excursions, and educational sessions, the trip gave me a greater appreciation for Alaska's wildlife and landscape, plus a renewed enthusiasm for nature photography.
Although I haven't been on other cruise ships to compare, I enjoyed the small-ship atmosphere of this cruise. I appreciated that the limited number of passengers allowed everyone to spend time with the naturalists and experts, and made the excursions feel more personal and inclusive.
Although the regular price tag might deter me, I wouldn't hesitate to take another cruise with a team of nature experts.
I was grateful to receive the cruise for free, since I couldn't have afforded the $4,800 price on my own as a recent college graduate. But if money were no object, I wouldn't hesitate to take another Lindblad Expeditions - National Geographic cruise to explore a new destination, like Portugal or Iceland.
In terms of other Alaska cruises, there are more frugal ways to plan a trip, and you can find cheaper rates on routes in the Sitka region with carriers like Carnival, as of May 2023. However, if you're willing to splurge, I think the wildlife excursions, nature experiences, and connection with naturalists and National Geographic experts are worth the price.
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