Allen Marine, the parent company of Alaskan Dream Cruises, was established in 1970 when Bob and Betty Allen, and their five children, restored a ruined boat that became the St. Michael- the first in a long line of Allen Marine tour vessels named after saints of the family’s Russian Orthodox faith.
By working together, the Allen’s were able to keep pace with Alaska’s rapidly expanding tourism industry. The Allen Marine tours of today are highly professional, staffed with well-trained crews, and guided by gifted naturalists. While altogether more polished marine tours than in the days when Betty and her children served treats and dispensed Russian tea from a samovar while Bob ran the boat, Allen Marine remains a company owned, operated, and guided by a family of life-long Alaskans.
Allen Marine’s success can be traced to Bob and Betty’s competitive drive, creativity, ingenuity, and good timing. But the most important ingredient is family. In the early years, as the couple struggled to keep their business afloat, their children worked beside them—cleaning, crewing, and later, skippering the vessels. Bob and Betty’s children and grandchildren now run the company.
Smoking Policy
Smoking is allowed only in selected designated areas on outside decks. Smoking is NOT allowed anywhere inside the vessel.
Baggage
Handling of your baggage from airport or hotel to the vessel and from the vessel to the airport or hotel is included with your cruise fare for day of departure or one day prior to departure. Alaskan Dream Cruises is not responsible for damage or loss to baggage while in the custody of airlines or other third-party transportation vehicles. Alaskan Dream Cruises responsibility for baggage while in Alaskan Dream Cruises custody is limited to the reasonable value of any items damaged or lost. Any travel insurance you may have purchased may provide additional remedies.
Healthy and Disability Requirements and Medical Services
Alaskan Dream Cruises requires passengers to notify it in writing at the time of reservation of any physical or mental illness or condition which require special accommodations or services including use of a wheelchair. Passengers requiring personal assistance or who are physically disabled must be accompanied by someone who assumes full responsibility for such assistance for both the regular activities of the cruise as well as any emergency situation. Alaskan Dream Cruises will make reasonable efforts to accommodate passengers with medical or physical limitations, but reserves the right to deny boarding to a passenger whose condition may affect their safety or enjoyment of the cruise or that of other passengers, or that may affect the safety or operation of the cruise.
Passengers requiring a wheelchair should bring their own. Some shore excursions preclude the use of a wheelchair. Physical conditions aboard the vessel such as stairs, raised thresholds, no elevator, and narrow doorways or passageways may limit wheelchair use, create challenges for mobility-challenged passengers, or restrict access to some areas aboard the vessel.
Special diet requests must be received in writing at least 60 days prior to departure. However, even with such notice, Alaskan Dream Cruises may not be able to accommodate all such requests.
Medical facilities for much of the itinerary are limited and often are difficult to access. All crew members aboard Alaskan Dream Cruises vessels are CPR certified, but trained medical personnel are NOT available aboard Alaskan Dream Cruises vessels.
Embarking and Disembarking the Vessel
Embarking and disembarking is accommodated through the use of gangways, or in some instances, excursion vessels. Ports facilities and tide conditions greatly influence and vary the steepness or placement of gangways or dock ramps.
Photographs and Videos
Alaskan Dream Cruises occasionally photographs or videos passengers and activities during the course of a cruise. Alaskan Dream Cruises reserves the right to use such photographs or videos for marketing and/or training purposes without obligation to compensate the passenger, and each passenger consents to such use.
Kate was great to work with in the planning stage. She was prompt, helpful, and efficient. Our tour guide, Edwin, was knowledgeable and passionate. We were very happy to have traveled with Adventure Life, it made the trip easy and a true pleasure. We could concentrate on enjoying the experience rather than the details of travel.
Lisa Bridge
TrustScore 4.8 | 254 reviews
TrustScore 4.8 of 5
Based on 254 reviews on
2 days ago
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
2 days 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
2 days 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
1 week 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.