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Alaska Cruise Review: Sea Lion

June 19, 2004

Linda, the four of us, my husband and myself, our neighbors, Julie and Mark Monham all had an unforgettable trip, in large part due to your knowledge and diligence to detail.

We flew to Seattle, in the waiting area of our flight met many of the people that were to be on our cruise. I think it helped that we wore our nametags so people came up to us.

In Juneau, YEAH WE ARE IN ALASKA, a lifelong dream for my husband and I. Nice representatives from Lindblad met us. They took our luggage, which we didn’t see again until it was in our cabin. We boarded a little bus and went to the Alaska State Museum. This was a perfect introduction to Alaska, small enough to cover in one hour. We were then taken to the Mendenhall Glacier, and National Park Center. Thoroughly enjoyable and educational with promise of what we were to see in the coming days.

We then were taken to the Sea Lion, there she sat, a beautiful luxury yacht is how I would describe her on first sight. The crew were waiting for us and couldn’t have been more welcoming. We were taken to our cabin 303 on the Main Deck, our friends to cabin 203 on the Upper Deck (more on this later).

We unpacked, went upstairs for cocktails and hourvours.  Dinner was delicious and informal sitting anywhere you liked. That night we were introduced to the exploration leaders on board as well as safety features and a run down of the next 7 days on our floating home away from home.

FOOD: Excellent in presentation, choice and variety. I wouldn’t consider it gourmet nor was it presented in a lavish buffet like the big ships. It was healthy, good food. If you didn’t like what was on the menu the Chef would go out of his way to find something for you. I noted kids getting hamburgers and hotdogs and fancy pink drinks. Vegetarians were well taken care of. The four of us had no complaints.

CABIN: Hint, BOOK EARLY, we were disappointed, booking 6 months prior to the cruise, it was so booked that the four of us couldn’t have cabins on the same deck. We really enjoyed our cabin 303. It was small, but functional, clean and nicely appointed. The large window was very nice. I saw the lower category cabins that only had a porthole for light, no thank you. The Monham’s were happy with their cabin 203. They liked the idea of being outside when they opened their door. If I could afford it the deluxe cabins would be for me next time.

STAFF: We felt everyone working on this ship was there because they loved their job. There were few things to ask for as we found all our needs anticipated. Our LEX leaders were extremely knowledge and available to us at all times. Dinner with our whale expert was a stimulating conversation. Our fellow passengers were well traveled and well educated, as I enjoyed the small group conversations that went on. It was always an educational discussion about what we had seen that day or was about to see the next day.

Schedule: We fell in love with Alaska. We saw so many incredible sights in such a short time.

 Tracy Arm huge icebergs, (only 10% is above the water line), black bears and waterfalls.

 Petersberg, a charming Norwegian fishing village with more fishing boats than I have ever seen. We arrived as a few fishing boats were coming in with their catch. This town is made up of generations of fisherman, serious fisherman. Their catch might have been our dinner that night.   The town is very remote, small and isolated, and gave us a true picture of what living in Alaska in the past and present is all about.

 Frederick Sound, Point Adolphus, ABC Island, areas that we sailed through. Names we learned and used like we were natives. Areas of glaciers, wildlife, sea life, whales, sea lions, sea otters calving glaciers, blue icebergs, moose, sea gulls, bald eagles and so many other sea life, wildlife and birds that I could go on forever. Each moment on the ship was a new adventure new discovery. Sitting down to lunch one day the Captain spotted a  large pod of whales. Everyone ran out with binoculars. For a good hour the whales swam with our ship, standing on the deck with our whale expert educating us as they put on a performance. Lunch was late, everything had to be re-warmed, but not a complaint was heard. My pictures did not do it justice.

Sitka last stop on our cruise came way to soon. We loved the little town of Sitka, visiting the Orthodox Church and the Eagle Rehabilitation Center was fascinating. Enjoying it with our new found ship friends made it even nicer. On every excursion LEX didn’t waste any of our precious time, everything was organized beautifully. We transferred to the tiny Sitka airport for our flight to Seattle.

Thoughts, Linda, we can’t thank you enough. We researched other small ships with you; we took your suggestion that the higher priced Lindblad was worth the difference. We are believers. We met others on our cruise that have sailed with this company all over the world and say there is nothing better. Every inch was spectacular. Mark loved the kayaking among the icebergs; I loved the trips in the zodiacs to the remote areas where no ship can go.

Molly and Ernest Kemper
Atlanta, Georgia