Linda, what a joy of a trip we had. This was on my bucket list to take my whole family to Alaska after my husband passed away. It took two years in planning.
We chose National Geographic Sea Lion due to the Nat Geo reputation. The fact that Lindblad runs and owns the ship we did not realize until we came across Linda at Sunstone Tours. Linda was our educator and our group leader and rah rah person getting us ready for this adventure. Eleven people off all ages is not easy to organize. I had Linda deal with directly taking myself out of the middle, and it was a good idea. They could not say no to Linda as easily as they could to me. haha.
We flew Seattle to Juneau round trip. We came in one day early and Linda put us at the Sheraton Four Points. We got on the ship in the afternoon and sailed away from the gigantic ships that were in the harbor. We looked like their dingy as we left the harbor.
We were sailing no more than an hour when the Captain announced whales port side. I thought the boat would tip over how everyone ran to the front of the boat. That was the first of many whale encounters in our week of adventure.
The crew knew our names right away. We were spread out in different category cabins but most of us were in Category 2. That is a small cabin with twin beds and a door that goes outside to the walk around deck. It was good to open the door for fresh air. I liked that better than the cabins that open onto a inside hallway. There are no inside cabins all cabins have either a door or window to the outside.
Food, very fresh, very, filling, very varied, ample portions. Our 16 year old had seconds of everything, mostly meet. The third day they would automatically bring him double portions. The bread and the soups were spectacular. All issues of our family were addressed. Veggie, gluten free and myself with low salt.
It was a short trip but packed with adventure all day long. Back to the ship for meals, but otherwise we were either off the ship or on the deck watching for the next whale to pop up. Our guides were excellent and had an answer for everyone of our questions. We had a high school biology teacher with us and they stumped the guides a number of times. In their off time the guide would study up and come back with the explanation to each questions. It became a running joke…who can stump the naturalist. There was also a photo naturist with us that helped many people with their photos. Phil Schermeister who has quite a following and reputation was with us on our sailing.
We hiked, we kayaked, we hot tubed, we zodiaced, we met interesting people. Everyone got along beautifully in our family (quite unusual), everyone was busy and occupied at all times on and off the ship. We made good friends with Phil, the photographer. We hope he will come visit us in Milwaukee in the fall.
Will be saving my pennies to take the family out again. Next time to Galapagos. But it will be a few years until. At that time there might be more spouses, more children, more complicated even. But, I look forward to it.
— Margo and Family, Milwaukee WI
