Alaska is one of the biggest cruise destinations in the United States and for good reason. It’s a chance to see bears, whales and wilderness—miles upon miles of untouched land and water. When people think about cruising the Inside Passage, they often think about the mega ships that take upward of 5,000 people per cruise. However, to get a truly unique and intimate view of Alaska, a small expedition ship may be the way to go.
“Alaska is very much the heart and soul of what UnCruise does,” says Mareth Griffith an expedition leader and naturalist guide aboard the Uncruise Wilderness Legacy. “The company started in Alaska with a single yacht in 1996 and it’s still where all but one of the boats come in the summer. We hold more permits from the Tongass National Forest, than any other company that’s operating up here. So, for people that specifically want to connect with the wild, the way we’re able to—with bushwhacking and with eco meanders—we do it very well.”
She notes that a big focus of what Uncruise does is not just looking from the shore, but actually getting on land. “That land access, for me personally, is one big reason why I love working here. No other company does bushwhacking, which is basically off trail exploration—the way we do. I love that. And that’s why I’ve been with the company for 10 years.”
Summer Camp for Adults
“It’s the small, almost summer-camp feel, where we get to know each other that makes Uncruise a fan favorite” says Andy Lyngar Captain of the Wilderness Legacy. That’s why he has stayed with the company for over ten years. “It’s more fun, it’s more loose, and you’re surrounded by like-minded people. These are the folks that really want to get out in nature—not just see it from a distance, but really touch, smell and experience nature up-close.”
When to Cruise in Alaska
The Alaska cruise season is from April to October. Griffin notes that May and June are the driest months with the most chances of consecutive sunny days, and lots of daylight. “You can be out whale watching at 9 or 10 at night because it’s still bright enough to see them. That time of year is really great for people that have a lot of FOMO.” She notes that July is when the salmon come in, so it’s an ideal time to see wildlife especially bears. August and September typically are wet, so it’s important to pack the rain pants and a good rain jacket.
Repeat Visitors Keep Coming Back
“Once people come aboard, they kind of catch the Uncruise bug,” says Griffith. “We are very different from a traditional cruise.” Once they get a taste of the small cruise expedition ship sailing, they tend to return for other voyages. Griffith says: “Hawaii and Mexico get a lot of repeat Uncruise visitors, because they’ve sailed with us in Alaska already. But we even have a high rate of repeat visitors to Alaska—people will come back and try a different itinerary or a different ship. That tells me we are doing something right.”
Says Lyngar: “One of the reasons the visitor rate is so high is because people experience more than they expected out here, because it’s so hard to understand what we do. Really, the only comparison, unless you’ve done it before, is the big cruise ships, and it’s just so different. Uncruise is an expedition ship. We take a small group of people—under a hundred—in a high level of comfort and pampering, with really gourmet food. But when off the ship people get a really wonderful, rugged, intimate experience with the land.”
Trends in Alaska Cruising
In the ten years Griffin has been on Uncruise she notes that the demographic has been getting younger. “We’re seeing more people in their 20s through 40s. We’re also definitely seeing more multi-generational families, which is really great to see.”
Often the Itinerary Goes out the Window
Even if you’re doing the exact same Uncruise Alaska itinerary twice, your trip will be different. The itinerary is more of a suggestion or rough outline, but often the cruise deviates from it. “The way our company operates, you might be visiting maybe two out of six or seven locations that might be the same from one trip to the other,” says Griffith. “We do intentionally vary things up, not just for weather contingencies, but also for where we think the wildlife is going to be. It’s also important to us to spread our use around the areas of the national forest we have access to. If we were showing up at the same place, taking people ashore week after week all summer, we’d have an impact on that area. Instead, we visit different spots so that we’re not ruining the resource or changing the resource of the wildlife that’s there.”
As soon as a storm shows up, or animals are sighted, the itinerary is changed…for the better. There are lots of pieces to the puzzle that going into creating an itinerary that is always improving, to get the most out of the experience
Preserving the Land In Alaska Tourism
The forest service issues permits to the ships, depending on group size and timing, but Uncruise takes it a step further. Says Griffith: “There is a lot of coordination among the boats themselves, and that includes Uncruise and other lines. We have a tool called the intentions list. Everybody emails the list the week before a trip stating where they are planning to go. If two boats have conflicts over an area, those expedition leaders contact each other to figure out how to make it all work. And that is actually something that Uncruise started about 10 years ago because we were seeing conflicts.” In the past, a ship would roll up in a bay, and there might be another boat already there. So, how do you make that work? And the idea is the ships talk to each other ahead of time to avoid any conflict.
The Secret Sauce to Expedition Cruising
“The one thing I love about guiding in Alaska is being able to take people past the margin of the forest and get them among the big spruce and hemlock trees and among the forest moss. They are looking at the banana slugs, devil’s club, skunk cabbage, muskeg and the look on people’s faces when they are surrounded by all this nature for the first time—it’s the best,” says Griffin. “I can talk about it, show people photographs but it doesn’t match being able to walk in there yourself. That’s the joy of being on an Uncruise. We will tempt people with the luxuries of a warm bed, an open bar and gourmet meals and I want to use all of that to coax you to come explore the forest with me.”
She notes that often people don’t see traveling through the wilderness as a viable option for the general population. “People have this idea that to explore the wilderness you need really specific skills or the right type of training, body or special gear. Uncruise expedition guides have the training, passengers just need the will. You can do it. You can do it safely. You can traverse through the woods in a pretty intimate way. It makes Alaska accessible in ways few can experience.”
Many of the big ships only hit the port towns—Skagway, Ketchikan, Juneau— all of which have their own character and are absolutely worth visiting. But there’s more to southeast Alaska than these ports. The real pull for Uncruise is to get passengers to experience the wildlife, the scenery, the wide-open spaces of Alaska, where you’re the only people there.