My husband hates to travel and hates crowds. Having been on a large cruise with thousands of passengers and lots of "extras" tacked onto the original price of the cruise I wanted something different for our cruise together. American Cruiselines provides a different experience. We sailed with several individuals who have sailed with American Cruiselines repeatedly. The population on the cruise was generally older. It's not a cruise for children. There were two teenagers and two young adults who seemed to enjoy the cruise. The cruise is slower paced and staff worked to make adaptations necessary for anyone with mobility issues.
The ship is small but cabins are spacious.The total passengers on our cruise was 172. Our staff commented that there were less than 130 passengers on in the previous week. The atmosphere is intimate. We probably talked with at least 60% of the passengers and the majority of the "front of the house" staff including the various departmental managers, first mate and pilot. There's at least 1-2 excursions that are "complimentary" in each port. We found each of those to be worthwhile. We paid extra for two additional excursions--the raft ride and fishing expedition. Both were interesting and fun. The raft ride was calm and no one got wet. The complimentary excursions were generally informational and related to the history or industry in the port.
A naturalist traveled on the boat and gave daily presentations and was available throughout the cruise to take questions or provide additional information related to each port. When in Glacier Bay a park ranger and two Tligit native Alaskans joined the cruise for two days and a night. Both presented additional information and were available for questions and interacted with the passengers.
Clean, spacious, well appointed. Fantastic views. Perfect location as it was just off the sundeck, exercise room, near washer and dryer area and stairway.
This day is spent on the boat traveling through Glacier Bay. This is the only cruiseline that will spend the night in Glacier Bay. While in the bay we saw a variety of wildlife. The ship has a variety of good viewing points including the sun deck and even from our balcony.