June 6, 2015 -- We had to leave the ship today. As we were disembarking, the whole entire crew was standing in line to say goodbye to each and every one of us.
By the time I got to the end of the line, there were tears in my eyes.
“I’m crying,” I said to Captain Clark.
“No, not you – the stoic one?” he said.
Yes, that’s me. I sit back and observe. Don’t always show emotion. But I was crying. Why?
I connected with these people. They were great.
That morning, I’d watched Captain Clark as he’d maneuvered our ship toward the dock. I was up on the third deck, next to the wheelhouse. He was guiding the ship to the dock from a post outside of the wheelhouse.
Everything seemed to be going well.
“Shit,” I heard him say, as we approached the dock. “I’ve lost power.”
Now, I’ve been on boats enough to know that this is not good. We were easing into the dock and he had no way of slowing us down.
But, Captain Clark quickly directed the deck hand, Kent, to secure the front line as the ship was gliding toward the dock. No easy feat.
But Kent did it. Pulled the line through the hole in the bowsprit very quickly and secured it to the cleat. Others helped in the back. We bumped the dock a little, but it could have been a lot worse.
Maybe I had a tear in my eye when I was leaving because I realized that these people were looking out for my safety and well-being the whole time I was on the ship. Okay, they were concerned with everyone’s safety and well-being – including their own. But we were all a team. One big family. And I was leaving that family.
Later that night, sitting in a nice restaurant on Sitka’s shores with some of my new-found friends from the cruise, we saw the Wilderness Explorer sail out of the harbor. Taking her new family to see the wonders of Southeast Alaska.
On the trip of a lifetime. Wildlife we saw on our cruise:
Mary has kept in regular contact and prepared me for everything so far
Michael Sinner
3 weeks ago
Very prompt responses. Erin found us the trip we were looking for and gave us good advice.
Nancy Brown-Koeller
1 month ago
I don’t have the words to describe it but the last week has been one of the best I can remember. 6 days of adventure in South East Alaska including trekking through lush rain forest, sitting in silence listening to glaciers calving, up early to see the northern lights, kayaking and stupidly swimming in iceberg frozen waters ! (That actually hurt).
Animal sightings including black and brown bears, Minke and hundreds of Humpack Whales, porpoises, sea lions, mountain goats, harbour seals, bald eagles, salmon and more birds than I can count. Wonderful friends and connections made. A huge shout out to Trevor and his totally amazing crew on the Admiralty Dream whose energy and enthusiasm made this most incredible experience.
DAVID JAMES
1 month ago
From the initial booking all the way through the trip, this was by far our favorite trip. Small boat travel is the only way to see a location. The excursions were so much more than I could explain. The locations were remote and awesome.
Lori I
2 months ago
Personal, knowledgeable service. We felt so informed and supported before our trip. Highly recommend and would use again.