Small Yacht Cruising in Alaska - July 2008

I experienced a wonderful adventure with American Safari Cruises, on board the 12 passenger Safari Escape. We traveled Alaska's inside passage from Prince Rupert to Juneau over 9 days. It's a little more challenging to get to/from than the usual Vancouver or Seattle jumping off points, but it means getting to the good stuff sooner and only sailing during the day.

The Escape is a small ship with one "master cabin," one "junior suite" and four very cozy but comfortable cabins (two doubles, two twins). It's close quarters, but very comfortable. Perfect for a family to charter.

We had an outstanding crew of six (yes, for 12 passengers) that work very hard and are very knowledgeable about the region. Our captain and first mate spent many years with Lindblad, and our trip leader was a wealth of knowledge.

The small ship allows for a lot of flexibility in the schedule, taking time to stop when you find wildlife, getting into the zodiac and kayaks on a moments notice, and deciding to spend the night in an interesting cove. We spent a lot of time kayaking, hiking and exploring by zodiac. The ship always anchors at night, and they are very accommodating of guests interests and requests.


Shore excursions were basically tours with interesting locals. For the most part, we avoided the big ships and their destinations, instead focusing on wildlife and small villages.

The food on board was incredible. Always a meat, fish and vegetarian option, three meals a day cooked to order. Freshly baked muffins every morning that you could small all over the boat, and cookies in the afternoon that they would deliver to you while kayaking!

The beauty of seeing Alaska on the Safari Escape is that we could explore places on a whim and stay longer if we were enthralled with a place. One evening we were kayaking in a cove and found a pod of whales had joined us. We over-nighted there, throwing out a crab pot, and enjoyed the cove the next day as well (while feasting on fresh crab) and did not have to hurry on to our next destination.