Beth says this is a rare occurrence; that you could come to Alaska for years and never see this sight. We are lucky.

“Whales rock,” she says.

So do sea lions, bald eagles, brown bears, Dall’s porpoises, Sitka black-tailed deer, seals, otters and puffins, all of which we see during our seven-night American Safari cruise in Alaska’s Inner Passage.

The journey begins and ends in Juneau. The unassuming city is small -— just 32,000 people -— but it has a cool vibe. A former gold mining town, it has one great shoe store (where I pick up a pair of peacock blue Crocs, admired by one female passenger in particular during the cruise), several galleries and lots of saloons. You can tour the charming Alaska State Museum with tribal artifacts and the capitol, a former territorial building (Alaska became a state in 1959). Fortuitously, my visit coincides with the annual Celebration. More than 2,000 dancers from Tlinglit and Chilkat tribes in Alaska, Canada and Washington perform at several indoor and outdoor venues wearing spectacular ermine-trimmed and button-festooned robes, beaded dresses and clan hats.

Before boarding the yacht, we take a bus to Mendenhall Glacier, one of 38 glaciers that flow from the Juneau Icefield. The area is part of the Tongass National Forest, the largest in North America, with old-growth Sitka spruce and western hemlocks. Peering through a telescope in the Visitor Center, I can see mountain goats scrambling up the mountains adjacent to the glacier; beavers are in evidence at the creek. Mendenhall Lake has a milky color because of the ground up rock, called glacier silt, it contains.

The excitement is palpable as we greet the awaiting crew of the 145-foot Safari Explorer, which holds just 36 passengers. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, wildlife viewing is up in popularity by 22% over the past five years. And that’s the draw for each of us.

Because of its size, we can ply waters larger vessels cannot. The advantages are myriad: we can get up close and personal with wildlife, we can reach little-seen villages, there are no waits for shore excursions, we are flexible as we chart our course and we have less impact on the environment.

My stateroom is casually elegant and features a Tempurpedic mattress (which provides hours of delicious napping and sleeping), a bathroom with heated floors, an iPod docking station and a flat screen TV and two pairs of high-powered binoculars which hang around most of our necks for the duration of the cruise. There are no room keys.

The guest/crew ratio is 2:1. Many of the personable staffers have been working on the yacht’s $3.5 million renovation; this is only the second voyage. Travelers from the U.S., the U.K and Australia -— many of them couples, but also several mother/son and mother/daughter pairs —- assemble in the observation area for canapés and cocktails and an onboard welcome.

“This is your boat for the next week,” says Captain Scott.

We toast to that with premium liquors (the cruise is all-inclusive at its most sumptuous), served up by bartender Elaine. Two days later, she has nearly everyone on board hooked on her spicy Bloody Marys.

The combination living room, library, bar and dining area boasts a large screen TV (for slide shows and lectures), leather couches and chairs, board games, DVDs and books. Almost immediately, guests kick off their shoes, some snuggling under throws, and chat, read or nap.

Camaraderie is a big part of the shared small-ship experience. Over the course of our time together, a 14-year old and a 70-year old will play a dice game; others will share tidbits about business ventures or personal lives; some will lend clothing, trade books, recommend movies. Many of us will exchange email addresses. We are from different parts of the globe, we have different occupations, we have different life experiences and we are of different ages, yet we intermingle with ease.

“It usually takes three days,” says Elaine of the onboard bonding she’s seen happen time and time again.

Gourmet cuisine is another big part of the voyage and Chef Phil and his staff of two turn out regionally inspired, two-course breakfasts and lunches and three-course dinners. We also enjoy fresh-baked cookies every afternoon and pre-dinner hors d’ouevres like salmon sashimi, potstickers or house-smoked cheddar. Ninety-five percent of the food is prepared from scratch and Chef Phil wants it to be tasty and well-balanced and provide fuel for our activities.

I come to enjoy the happy hum of meal-time preparation, quiet conversation as hotel manager Dani and Lisa, Nicole and Gabe sort silverware, fold napkins and dry glassware.

Breakfast might include a spinach and feta quiche with Dungeness crab or apple oat pancakes with ham steak and red eye gravy. My favorite lunch was our only buffet: a BBQ sampler with pork ribs and grilled marbled King salmon, coleslaw with carrots, cabbage and apples, home-style potato salad and mini pecan tarts. Dinners featured tomato bisque, sockeye salmon with zucchini and summer squash, Alaskan King crab legs, smoked black cod with pesto risotto, rib eye with Stilton crumbles and cheesecake with raspberry puree.

We cruise during the day; every night except tonight, we will anchor in a secluded cove or dock at a local village. Tonight, we steam toward Glacier Bay National Park.

 

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