After a really big travel year in 2023, we’ve been a bit adventure light. Just a work-cation in Chelan what was more work than ‘cation and a visit to Palm Springs during a heat wave that had us focused on the pool over exploring.

We reversed course in a big way with a trip to south east Alaska through Lindblad Expeditions. Our desire for Alaska was to do something beyond the big-box experience of the large cruise ships with an approach that felt more in tune to environment we were hoping to see. After a lot of research, agonizing over prices, and debates about our physical fitness, we opted on the 6 day Alaska cruise on Nat Geo Sea Lion by Lindblad expeditions. We had a fair share of apprehensions coming in. This was a tiny ship in comparison to the standard only 158 feet long, 62 passengers vs the 3,000 or so on the major carriers. Activities involved zodiac-ing and entertainment consisted of lectures from naturalists. This all sounded great in theory, but what would it really be like? Was it worth the premium?

We really needn’t have worried. This was easily one of the most amazing experiences we have ever had. If you happened upon this post searching for a review of the Lindblad experience, I have my thoughts towards the bottom of this post.

Alright, enough preamble, let’s talk about the trip and get to the photos!

Day 1: Leaving Seattle, arriving in Juneau, and All-aboard.

The advice of the booking agent is to overnight in Seattle the night before departure. Step one, done!

The adventure started early with a bus ride to a loading ramp on the tarmac. Not the normal way we depart from SeaTac.

The flight to Juneau is a relatively short 2.5 hours. The captain mentioned that we’d be coming through the canyon and he wasn’t lying. I could make out the mountains on the approach through the windows on both sides of the plane.

The first thing we had to do when landing in Juneau is find some seafood. The fish tacos were from Deckhand Dave's, the oysters from a vendor selling oysters and champagne in Pocket Park.

Lindblad includes transfers from the airport so we found someone holding a Lindblad sign and found our way to the bus. There were indeed other passengers on our flight that would be traveling with us.

Being on the first flight in giving us some time to explore town and we made a bee-line for a fish taco shack. The recommended spot was “Deckhand Dave’s,” which was in a bit of a food truck park with a few beer vendors and plenty of other food options. Mira got a crepe and we added in some local oysters to go with our tacos. They had beer-hall type seating so we had a few interesting conversations. One was with an older couple from Vancouver that was terrified of Seattle because of the CHAZ/CHOP thing that hasn’t existed in 3 years.

The other was with a local in-town for a wedding eating a recovery hot dog before the main event. He was a really interesting guy that worked in incident response planning for the state of Alaska. He was also was kind enough to point out Senator Lisa Murkowski who happened to be walking up the street near our table. All in all it was a very small town, Alaska, feeling lunch and it was nice to talk to someone who grew up in the region, and having visited Seattle, isn’t scared of it. He also recommended trying the Reindeer dog the next time we were in town.

Juneau has a small museum covering their history from initial population to modern day. This was a sign I found amusing from the WWII exhibit.

Lindblad sets up a staging area for the passengers in transit providing a safe place to stash bags before embarkation or while waiting for the outbound flight. Sonali and Mira made use of that to rest up while I chose to explore the local museum. They had exhibits covering the establishment of the first villages of the native population, including some artifacts from that period up until recent times.

It was finally time to see what we got ourselves into and board the ship.

Our home for the following 6 days.

Normal cruise ship provided for perspective.

Our cabin for the trip. It was small, but well designed with plenty of storage to keep the clutter minimal.

A champagne toast, orientation, and dinner finished the day.

Day 2: Glacier day at Dawes Glacier

It didn’t take long before we got our first wow moment. At 3:30am we got the intercom message, “National Geographic Sea Lion, National Geographic Sea Lion, it is about 3:30am. I am sorry to wake you, but there is an aurora sighting on the stern.” Our beds were comfortable and warm, but we were out in a hurry.

Northern lights on our first night aboard

I wonder if the captain enjoyed having more people to keeping watch.

We returned to bed for a few more hours of sleep, then came back to the bow with coffee to watch the boat travel through an ice field.

An iceberg floating down an inlet on the way to sea.

Our first real expedition activity was kayaking in a cove near Dawes Glacier. It’s been a long time since we’ve kayaked and we’ve never boarded them from a zodiac. We got on board safe and dry and paddled around to explore the cove. Unfortunately my tandem partner was a little complainy, much to the amusement of the other kayakers within earshot.

Mira and I on the tandem kayak.

The first embark and disembark was a little challenging due to the fear of falling into the icy water. I came off head-first, but sadly we have no picture of that, so we have to settle for Sonali looking angry at me for taking her picture through the awkward process.

Mira was not initially a fan of this trip. That changed immediately when I asked her to look up from her iPad and she saw the glacier come into view. I even had to stop to put on her shoes before heading out on deck.

The afternoon activity was a zodiac trip to the glacier. We traveled around ice, saw harbor seals, saw some glacier calving, hunted a piece of ice, and got boarded by coco vikings offering hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps. Best vikings ever.

Holding a piece of glacier our guide pulled out of the water. It was a little too large for our glacial melt challenge.

The day wasn’t done and we were treated to a beautiful sunset after dinner.

Unreal sunset

Day 3: Whales in Frederick Sound and Hiking at Cascade Creek

After a day that started at 3:30am, sometimes one just wants to ease into the next one with a quiet cup of coffee. The orcas were not willing to cooperate. We got an early wake up call due to multiple orca groups swimming in the area.

The orcas were too fast for my camera, but I got this one.

Before long they came up on a collection of humpbacks. There were whales all around the area and were were able to spot a few breaches through the binoculars.

This calf and its mom surfaced a few feet off our starboard bow.

The orcas left (they can go much faster than our boat) but the humpbacks were around for hours. We had a ton of fun photographing flukes. Later that evening one of our naturalists looked them up and discovered that two of the whales we saw were unnamed. We ended up deciding to donate to marine research and adopt a whale we named Emerald.

The orcas and humpbacks took over the morning, so the crew changed the hike location. Changes are part of the expedition mindset promoted by Lindblad and one of the advantages of a small ship. We can afford to linger in situations that are very interesting.

The hike was at Cascade creek in Thomas Bay. It was pitched as moderate, but was really a challenging hike at a moderate pace. We didn’t go very far. However, we did the wet landing, which was pretty cool.

Climbing a wet granite staircase on our hike. We didn't make it much further beyond the top.

Day 4: Wrangell.

Between the aurora, whales, glaciers, and general views we were satisfied and assumed everything else would be gravy. We were wrong.

Wrangell was a choose your own adventure day with multiple options. We picked the jet boat by default. Going up a river didn’t sound that exciting, but Mira was too young for the ebike, the bears were expensive, and we didn’t want another hike. So we opted for a boat ride while we were on another boat ride.

It seemed like everyone kinda had the same sentiment and then we were all blown away.

Our pilot was multi-generation Wrangell and knew a lot about the area and the river and was more than happy to share. He also knew all the hot spots for wildlife giving us opportunities to view harbor seals and dozens of bald eagles. Plus, it was surprisingly fun to be speeding in a boat up a river that was only a few inches deep in spots.

Seals on our jetboat ride.

Then we turned up Shakes Lake to the Shakes Glacier. This glacier does not cavitate as much as Dawes so we were able to get much closer. Our pilot was also very good at close quarter maneuvering and happy to show off by driving the boat into the rocks by the water fall and parking us along side an iceberg. Everyone went from apathetic to amazed.

This iceberg got caught in the shallows towards the mouth of the river, allowing our jet boat to park close enough to touch it. Photo credit goes to one of our fellow passengers, who sadly lost a pair of sunglasses in the process.

At the Shakes glacier

The remainder of the day was for exploring Wrangell. Exploring towns just doesn’t seem to be Mira and Sonali’s thing, so they stayed back on the boat and I took a little look. It’s a small town, with another nice museum. It got pretty rainy (the only time this trip) and cut the loop short to head back.

Day 5: Misty Fjord

This was one spot I really wanted to see. I don’t think we did it right as we got full sun and bright blue skies. This was another zodiac / kayak combo day with the kayaks out first.

Sonali and Mira tagged team this time, which gave me a good opportunity to explore solo. Having done one outing, this was a lot easier and we all had a better time.

This time Sonali and Mira went out together to explore an Punchbowl Cove in the Misty Fjords.

After the morning kayak we got the opportunity for reading time on the deck. It was actually one of the first open moments we had the entire trip.

What's this? Did we end up in the Caribbean? Enjoying a book, sun, and 70 degree weather.

The crew did a really good job making the trip special for the two kids on board. One of the highlights was giving them a little zodiac lesson.

After their lesson, their naturalist gathered us up as well and we explored this river. They normally don’t get a chance here but the tide was exceptionally high and we were in there at the right time.

On the zodiac to explore the river feeding what the expedition crew calls God's Pocket.

We saw a lot of salmon and birds that were attempting to eat them. I didn’t realize until then that salmon had little fins that look like sharks as they swim around.

During the hottest part of the day, a lot of the passengers had asked about a polar plunge. It wasn’t on the schedule, but (expedition mindset) the conditions were suitable and the crew worked it out. Lesson learned, never travel without a swimsuit and flipflops. I ended up jumping in some running gear.

Capping the day with my first ever polar plunge.

Dinner that night gave us a chance to thank the crew that made our stay comfortable and all of our tasty food. It was a real moment of comradery as we realized our time together was coming to a close. We had all gotten used to each other’s company over the course of our trip. A few toasts were offered, some champagne was drunk, and numbers were exchanged.

Day 6: Disembarking in Ketchikan and heading home

The time had come to say goodbye to the Sea Lion. There were a few misty eyes. Mira and her friend had been inseparable since the first night. They both had also adored a naturalist, Zoey, that had spent so much time with them during the trip.

Our last activity together was a visit to the Saxon clan house and totem poles.

A sign of the normal tourist day to come, it's a boat from TV and a few cruise ships.

Our guide Joe (left) telling us about how totem poles are carved, with master carver Nathan fact-checking (right).

Our guide Joe had asked us to remember one thing, but I don’t remember what it was. I do remember him telling us about the process for making paint. It involves chewing fish eggs then straining the skin with ones teeth. This was normally the job of the females in the tribe, so he asked our group how many would volunteer for the gallon they needed before lunch. Zero hands were raised. Joe’s response was, “that’s what our women said too, so we do what you do and go to Ace Hardware.” Times, they are always changing.

Afterwards, we did the tourist highlight of walking Creek Street, ate pizza, and generally tried to adjust to being around a lot of people again. We had 5 days of being with our little group in isolated little coves completely removed from the outside world. It was a bit strange being in a tourist town.

Far too soon we were back in Seattle for the final round of goodbyes, which continued all the way to baggage claim 16.

Review of the Lindblad experience

This kind of trip is outside the scope of what we normally do. We tend to opt for self-exploration or full relaxation, with the organized tour being a generally concerning concept. We just don’t fit the demographic of the people who enjoy that.

But we are also concerned about the impact mass tourism is having on Alaska and wanted to do this in a somewhat responsible way. Just by being there, in any form, is going to have an impact.

This was also an experience we wanted to share with our tweenage daughter. The reality is that most small boat cruises might tolerate kids, but they aren’t a priority.

Some of our concerns were true. Mira was the youngest on the boat and were the youngest heads of family. However, none of this mattered. Thankfully there was a girl only a few years older and the same energy of Mira, but even then the staff went out of their way to make the trip special for the young ladies. They had special activities, including a scavenger hunt, the opportunity to steer the ship, and the aforementioned zodiac lesson. We also need to give a special shout out to Zoey, should you ever read this. Those girls clearly adored you and found you inspiring.

As far as the adults go, the reality is we were all there to visit a special place with special people and we all just clicked. It turned the experience from special to once in a lifetime as the people we shared those moments with won’t be the same should we do this again. I’m not sure we can do a large, anonymous cruise again.

There are a few other things worth noting about these cruises.

It was expensive, but it was worth it. They took care of everything, including the tips for the excursion vendors. The only time we needed a wallet was for picking up knick-nacks in Wrangell. I also appreciated that they had a US based crew, including deck-hands and kitchen staff. The crew gets to disembark with us, rotates out regularly, and have lives beyond serving on a cruise ship. They all worked very hard to keep us happy. A lot of the industry is borderline exploitative, which does not appear to be the case here.

The food was awesome. The bread guy was amazing. I would eat at this restaurant.

It is very nature focused. There aren’t TV’s in the staterooms or dance shows in the lounge. There is a lecture after dinner. I was skeptical, but these turned out to be engaging. The naturalists are all experts and extremely passionate about what they study. The energy they bring is infectious.

A few exceptions aside, there aren’t assigned seats for meals. You end up eating with someone different nearly every time. Our daughter and her friend ended up being popular dinner companions. The naturalists also join us for meals so you get to ask questions about something you saw during the day or just get some details on their fascinating lives. Lindblad hires some very cool people to be on those boats.

We’ve had a lot of great trips, but this one was a level beyond. Everything about the experience was special and one we would want to do again.