We had some time in the morning to enjoy Juneau as boarding time on the Safari Endeavour would not be until the afternoon.

As you can see in the photos, most of the ships in the Juneau harbor are gigantic such as the Carnival Spirit ship shown. Compare that monster to our more personable ship which only holds a maximum of 84 guests in 42 cabins and has a 2.5:1 guest-to-crew ratio. The Carnival Spirit holds up to 2,124 guests with 930 crew. Bet that on the bigger ships, very few of the crew knew many if any of the guests. On the Uncruise ships, the crew and guests interact regularly so it almost feels like you are sharing a boat with many new friends (crew and fellow guests, beyond those you are sailing with).

I included a link on this page so that you can explore our ship in greater detail. Uncruise has a nice set of views of the ship that you can rotate to see the entire area - nicely done.

I had sailed with Uncruise once before on an older ship that had not yet been fully refurbished. While nice back then, our ship this time was fully modern and comfortable throughout. In addition to the normal areas, it was able to launch kayaks and paddleboards right from its deck. It even had a small workout area on the upper deck (limited but nice to have). Being Alaska, it often was damp up there in the evening but, hey, what a way to live!

While waiting for the check-in time, Charles and I took a walk up a path along the shore eventually arriving at the Tahku whale sculpture. The path was well maintained and relatively short. With a light rain (common), our rain gear and smooth path were welcome. Along the way, we were allowed observe a major social gathering on one of the piers - a lot of chattering was going on along with some squawking (we didn’t stay to find out if there was an argument or just gossip and general discussion).

We also observed a couple of launch sites for individuals with kayaks along the way. And then the whale sculpture. It was very well done as you can see in the video clip and photos. I suspected that it was very unlikely that we would ever see that much of a whale above the water (one can always hope though).

We headed back to join Adele for a pleasant lunch near our boarding location. Uncruise used to have a nicer facility for waiting to board but now have a shared space in a building next to their office (Wifi and power outlets were provided). The check-in was simple and we headed down the ramp to our ship where we were greeted by a crew member who escorted us directly to our cabins. Our luggage was waiting for us - a nice start.

I took advantage of the gift shop in their office to buy a new Uncruise fleece jacket (I had literally worn holes in my last one). Only caution, if you have shedding pets, the jackets are fur magnets. But a good cat brush worked well and the jackets are so comfortable!

As required, once we headed out from the harbor, we all got to practice emergency drills complete with putting on our life jackets and getting the rundown on how it all works (nice lifeboats - glad we didn’t have to experience using them though). Then we had our first dinner on board.

On my previous trip with uncruise, the meals were designed based on local foods which was a great experience. On this trip, they didn’t have that type of theming but the food was always great. To avoid food waste they asked us at breakfast what we wanted for dinner (usually had 3 or 4 main courses to choose from). And if you are a desert junky - you could not go wrong here! Myself, not so much. I did try a couple of the less sweat options but found out the staff were very happy to serve me a dish of fresh fruit and berries or a parfait. My way to top of a great meal.

After dinner every night, they had different presentations with great information and slides. The crew rotated giving them, each crew member having a different specialty. They definitely were experts who loved to talk about their subjects. Each session ended with good question/answer sessions.

Through all this, they had their open bar (the package came with all food and drinks including alcoholic beverages). They had two rotating bartenders. Along with this, they offered morning, afternoon, and evening snacks set out to enjoy at our convenience. When Uncruise says all-inclusive, they mean it!