seasickness on Cruise West mini-ship?

[surfklutz]

Having done Alaska several times - my recommendation is American Yacht Safaris - they hold about 21 people - so they are really small. But if you want personalized experience, getting into tight little coves and waterways, great itinerary, great food and a fun experience - they fit the bill. They are small enough to be able to alter their route on a moments notice. When I cruised on them, the captain had been in touch with a fisherman on Frederick Sound who had report lunge feeding whales. The captain headed straight for that area and we watched this great sight for about 1 hours. They start at about $4700 and go up to about $7500 per person - but that comes in less than Cruise West especially since they include booze, port charges and airport transfers.

Take a look at their staterooms and public rooms and you will see why I recommend them so strongly.

[pacmom]

Fragam,

 

Think you might have misspoke--the reviews of the Japan cruise were anything but spectacular---take it from one who was there. Pat

[musicmom3]

Having done Alaska several times - my recommendation is American Yacht Safaris - they hold about 21 people - so they are really small. But if you want personalized experience, getting into tight little coves and waterways, great itinerary, great food and a fun experience - they fit the bill. They are small enough to be able to alter their route on a moments notice. When I cruised on them, the captain had been in touch with a fisherman on Frederick Sound who had report lunge feeding whales. The captain headed straight for that area and we watched this great sight for about 1 hours. They start at about $4700 and go up to about $7500 per person - but that comes in less than Cruise West especially since they include booze, port charges and airport transfers.

Take a look at their staterooms and public rooms and you will see why I recommend them so strongly.

 

Wow. Wish I had known .... better late than never, however. Thanks!

[Newt]

Have been reading reviews from a few years back, and not liking what I see; we made provisonal (due to a screw up on their end) reservations yesterday, but I'm about to back out (no down payment made yet) because of what I feared might be the case. We wanted to take the National Geographic/Lindblad cruise next summer, but the cost - with $500 air from Seattle to Juneau - plus air from Colorado to Seattle is really daunting. I have for so long fought the "big ship" way of seeing Alaska; really wanted it up close and personal and not thousands with me to do it! But am having real second thoughts. Does anyone have a review of a recent CW Alaska trip? We're looking at the Wilderness Inside Passage on the Spirit of Discovery - 84 pass. It's simply too expensive to make a mistake, and I am definitely feeling this could be a huge one. I feel certain that Nat'l Geo would have top naturalists, but it sounds like CW is just using college students for the summer!! Please give me some more recent feedback - maybe they've cleaned up their act! Don't have to make a commitment until next week sometime.

Thanks so much!

[musicmom3]

Hi, Newt,

My husband and I were August '06 CW cruisers (Inside Passage, Spirit of Endeavour). For us it was, as I am sure you can see from my posts on this tread and others, an extremely expensive mistake. However, something good did come out of it. I did develop a pre-dinner fondness, thanks to Cruise West, for Creole Chex Mix. No more of those overpriced appetizers for me! Let me belly up to the table with a handful of salted cereal, pretzels, and oddly shaped starchy things and I am just as satisfied as can be.

Seriously, keep us posted as to your findings, and let us know what you decide. Good luck in your travels!

[Newt]

Thanks Musicmom...I really did enjoy your posts, and thanks for a response to mine. I had my husband read all of the Cruise West "dings", and he said, Not on your life!!! We wanted casual, we wanted small, but I won't tolerate bad food or a dirty cabin with sheets that don't fit the bed! We're investigating Regent, but am not really crazy about itinerary...the price is less than CW...but it does have 700 people on it. Surely there's a middle ground!!!!!!!!! At any rate, think CW is off the list and I thank all of you who helped us make a really important decision; we're not willing to accept mediocrity that costs 6K!!!!

[rollingwoods]

My wife, teen-age daughter and I recently returned from the CW 3-night "Glacier Wonderland" cruise on the Spirit of Columbia, and had a spectacularly wonderful time. We sailed from Whittier around Prince William sound. Somehow I think most of the folks posting on this thread are expecting a "cruise line" experience. It isn't meant to be that--it's an expedition. The food was palatable, not fine dining by any means, but we all ate everything they served. The crew was just awesome--from the waitress who quickly learned that my daughter like a particular table and informally "saved" it for her to the Naturalist (masters degree from UCal-Santa Cruz which has one of the finest Marine biology programs in the country) to the barkeep who raced off the ship when we landed to find a sweatshirt in my daughter's size from the CW warehouse before we left for home. Yes, the suite we were in was a little noisy from the engines but earplugs solved that in five minutes. Getting up close and personal with glaciers, bears, sea otters, humpback whales, etc was magnificent. And the last night, the naturalist quietly called us in our cabin at 1 a.m., (we'd given permission for her to do it), and whispered "Orcas off the starboard bow!" My daughter who really wanted to see one was up and gone in a flash. A crew member brought out a big thermos of hot chocolate for the the dozen or so that had gotten up.

 

My daughter, a swimmer who had previously thought any vacation that didn't involve warm ocean swimming to be a waste, is calling our Alaska trip "our best vacation ever." I'd have to agree with her!

[vacation fool]

My wife, teen-age daughter and I recently returned from the CW 3-night "Glacier Wonderland" cruise on the Spirit of Columbia, and had a spectacularly wonderful time. We sailed from Whittier around Prince William sound. Somehow I think most of the folks posting on this thread are expecting a "cruise line" experience. It isn't meant to be that--it's an expedition. The food was palatable, not fine dining by any means, but we all ate everything they served. The crew was just awesome--from the waitress who quickly learned that my daughter like a particular table and informally "saved" it for her to the Naturalist (masters degree from UCal-Santa Cruz which has one of the finest Marine biology programs in the country) to the barkeep who raced off the ship when we landed to find a sweatshirt in my daughter's size from the CW warehouse before we left for home. Yes, the suite we were in was a little noisy from the engines but earplugs solved that in five minutes. Getting up close and personal with glaciers, bears, sea otters, humpback whales, etc was magnificent. And the last night, the naturalist quietly called us in our cabin at 1 a.m., (we'd given permission for her to do it), and whispered "Orcas off the starboard bow!" My daughter who really wanted to see one was up and gone in a flash. A crew member brought out a big thermos of hot chocolate for the the dozen or so that had gotten up.

 

My daughter, a swimmer who had previously thought any vacation that didn't involve warm ocean swimming to be a waste, is calling our Alaska trip "our best vacation ever." I'd have to agree with her!

 

I am interested in hearing about the glacier viewing in Prince William Sound. We wanted to do this in 2001, but wound up with some friends on Vision of the Seas. The best day was the day we spent on our balcony viewing the glacier. Were there alot of glaciers and did u spend the entire day or 2 there? Thanks

[rollingwoods]

vacationfool,

Yes, pretty much all of the first 48 hours on the Spirit of Columbia was spent visiting glaciers. After traveling to one the first evening, we woke up moving into College Fjiord the next morning, and spent quite a bit of time at Harvard Glacier. According to the naturalist, Harvard normally isn't too active but it sure was that morning! The captain stayed extra time because of that. We then moved on to others that day and another, and spent the third day "gunkholing"--basically following whatever wildlife appeared, which turned out to be a ton of sea otters, seals, sea lions, humpback whales, and even a pair of black bears on a beach. But I want to stress that this was more of an "expedition" than a cruise. (We spent the entire time on board in jeans.) It's what we wanted.