Return to Alaska - The Delayed Cruise

 In July of 2022 we began a two-week Land and Sea tour package with UnCruise.  You can go back and check out those blogs if you'd like, starting here.

Unfortunately we both caught COVID towards the end of the first week, and canceled the cruise part of the package. We'd not purchased travel insurance, but UnCruise was kind enough to give us a full credit for the cruise, to be used before the end of 2023. 

One thing that we'd learned on the 2022 trip was that July was not the best time for us to visit Alaska. It is the peak of their travel season, and we found it too crowded for our taste. We'd taken our first UnCruise back in May of 2017 and really enjoyed it, so we decided to book our make-up cruise for May, and had no issues with getting the ship and cabin that we wanted. 

Travelling from San Antonio, Texas to Juneau, Alaska in a single day and arriving early enough to board the cruise is impossible, so the first day of our trip was flying from Texas to Seattle, Washington, where we spent the night.

5/14/2023 Sunday - We caught the 5:30 hotel shuttle to the airport. Airport security has become so variable. In this case the entire security line was held up for about ten minutes, and then we were marched two-by-two past an explosives dog. As we have come to expect my carry-on was pulled for hand-checking after going through the X-ray machine. It's always an adventure when a TSA agent starts manhandling expensive optics and cameras!  In spite of the extracurricular activities we got to our gate in plenty of time, then made the flight to Juneau.

The view from the airplane window was spectacular as we made our approach into Juneau. 

We found our UnCruise drivers immediately, and after picking up luggage were hauled to UnCruise Headquarters building on the waterfront. On the way our driver took us on a brief tour of Juneau, pointing out the few Alaskan-owned businesses in the vicinity of the cruise ship docks while noting that virtually all of the businesses selling "Genuine Alaskan" merchandise were owned by the cruise lines themselves.

After a short check-in we were told to be back at 5:00, which left us about 7 hours to kill! We got a Juneau city map and walked to a small city park (Cope Park) where we enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather and the rushing stream. We walked by the Governor's Mansion on the way to the park.

After exploring the park we slow-walked back toward town, stopping at the Sandpiper Cafe for lunch. It was a popular local spot and we enjoyed a decent, if expensive meal. 

We then continued back toward the UnCruise terminal with several hours left to kill, finally deciding to just sit and read in a hotel lobby for a while. We walked around a bit more and found that UnCruise had a small hospitality suite in a nearby building, so we hung out in there until it was time to board.

Finally 5:00 came and we boarded our ship, the Wilderness Discoverer.   

Captain Keith greeted each passenger as they got to the dock. Keith was the Captain on our 2017 cruise as well, but he turned out to be the only crew member that we recognized. 

We'd booked Cabin 403 which we'd had in 2017, and we recognized it immediately. It is one of four cabins on the upper deck which are the largest on the ship. That being said they are very different than the cabins we've seen pictures of on the big cruise ships. Much smaller and simpler. 

Cabin 403, Wilderness Discoverer

UnCruise specializes in "Small Ship" cruises. A great demonstration of what UnCruise is about was apparent at the dock in Juneau.  The Royal Caribbean Ovation of the Seas was also in port. It is 1141 feet long, 160' wide, and has 18 decks. It has over 2000 cabins with a capacity of almost 5000 guests and 1500 crew. Simply put, it is enormous!

Ovation of the Seas with Wilderness Discoverer in the background

Our view as we departed

The Wilderness Discoverer is 174' long, 54' wide, with 3 decks. It has 34 cabins with a maximum capacity of 76 guests, and 35 crew. Our cruise wasn't full, with about 65 passengers, including a few singles. Our ship  looked like a tender next to the Ovation of the Seas. 

Wilderness Explore and Wilderness Discoverer in front

of Ovation of the Seas

Once onboard and settled in we had a brief orientation. As it was wrapping up Orca's were spotted and we all went outside to watch them. There are always crew stationed as look-outs for wildlife, and when spotted everything stops to allow viewing. The spouts from the Orca's looked cool in the evening light. 

We had dinner, followed by a more extensive orientation, introductions of staff, etc. It had been a long day and we were tired so were in bed by 10:00. It was still pretty light but we slept ok. 

Next: Glacier Bay National Park