Walking onto the Amalea during the holiday season is walking into a winter wonderland. Strings of lights and garland line the staircases and billow in the windows. Each cabin door is decorated with a wreath and the dining room has lovely holiday lamps with blowing snow and winter scenes.
During the first day onboard, travelers were invited to decorate the Christmas trees with fancy bulbs and garland. A pickle ornament was also hidden on the ship (perhaps a German tradition, but more likely something US German descendants adopted). The finder received a large wrapped gift.
One night, we set out one shoe each outside our door for Father Christmas or Krampus (terribly devilish looking figure said to visit naughty children). We each received a chocolate figure of one or the other.... guess I better start being good as it was Krampus that filled my shoe!
Another day we opted to stay onboard for the afternoon and decorate gingerbread.
On a separate evening, the staff sang Christmas carols and Santa arrived with presents!
Off the ship the towns are getting more and more ready for the holidays with Christmas markets opening each day and lighted streets. Onboard they have also started offering holiday treats such as mulled wine when we return from an excursion.
This is definitely a great way to kick off the holiday season!
The holiday of a lifetime. The company is Alaksa-owned and thhat makes a big difference to the experineces you get i.e. meet genuine First Nations tribes people. The amount of wildlife was beyond my expectation, and seeing everything on sucha small, intimate boat made it even more spoecial and unique.
Liz O
1 day ago
Adventure Life covered all the details in planning our trip to Ireland. Any questions we had were answered immediately. Any trip glitches, which always happen when traveling, were resolved immediately. There were no worries, just fun!
Kathleen Weller
1 day ago
It was an outstanding, up-close, educational vacation of nature, culture, history, animals and geology! It was everything they promised! Binoculars were plentiful on the boat, but I'm glad I brought my own. Food was excellent. Rooms had black-out shades. Pack/wear multiple layers of clothing (I carried a small backpack when off the ship). Crew were delightful and very accommodating! Remember to jump FEET FIRST first when taking the optional polar plunge! Spend as much time outdoors as you are able and ENJOY!!!
Janet Dutton
6 days ago
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
1 week ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.