The Admiralty Dream is a wonderful little cruise ship...our group could get on and off in minutes. It has a great captain, & crew, a wonderful dining staff, great food and bar. We never felt hurried...plenty of time to enjoy the sights.

A wonderful experience

This was my first Adventures Afloat program and what a way to begin with Alaska's Inside Passage. This was my 3rd cruise to the inside passage but the first on a small boat. I have to say that this is the way to do it! Instead of looking down at the wildlife, way down, we were right there at their level. Having 65 participants on board was amazing - a great way to get to know everyone. Although the lesser priced cabins were on the small side, the food more than made up for that. The chef gave us meals to equal the large cruise ships and better. And the desserts - unbelievable!!!

The group leaders, John and Therese were very good - knowledgeable and friendly. The naturalist on this cruise, Kim Heacox, is not only a wealth of knowledge of the area but an author and photographer as well. His books are a must read and his photos are beautiful!!!

We saw everything I expected to see and more, including whales, sea otters, eagles, bears, seals and birds of many varieties.

The best of all was to see glaciers calving. The sight and sound of this event is magnificent.

Starting in Sitka, we had a day tour of the highlights of the city and took an afternoon boat ride for gorgeous viewing before boarding the Admiralty Dream. The cruise included stops in Juneau and Skagway, with cruising including Glacier Bay and Tracy Arm.

I would recommend this small ship cruise to everyone!

This program allows a for a small boat experience - with capacity for a little over 70. The boat captain was able to get close enough for us to see and hear glaciers calving and be a about a 100 yards from breeching whales.

The education by John Scheerens was excellent – he tells wonderful historical stories that captivate the mind. Also, Kim Heacox who worked for National Geographic was a speaker/leader and together they made the days interesting, entertaining, and humorous.

We did have one concern though and that is the quality of the accommodations. The room was drafty cold, moldy, and the ceilings were 6’6” in the rooms and outside walkways.So if you are tall you can easily hit your head. Bring a helmet if you are tall!

We enjoyed the smaller boat experience, and are happy we took the trip.

The trip was amazing the weather was sunny on all but one day. The trip leader, the naturalist and the Tinglit expert were extremely knowledgeable and willing to answer questions. We were able to get up quite close to the glaciers and waterfalls. We saw grizzlies and Dall sheep from afar and gray,killer and humpback whales and a variety of birds up close. The ship's captain would turn the ship and follow the whale pods. BUT there were three major problems, the worst was that we had 66 attendees on the Admiralty Dream which never had more than 30 the previous weeks according to the staff. People were in rooms on the lowest deck that the staff said had been used for staff in the past. The food was outstanding but served in a cramped dining area with a low ceiling so that it was difficult for conversation. The other room used for the speakers, even though crammed with chairs, was NOT large enough to hold everyone. The second thing was that half way through the program the knowledgeable leader left us to go meet another group and his wife replaced him. The third problem occured on the last day, the group was "dumped at 7:30 am in Sitka. The clan house opened early to provide a warm place for us to sit. Since we had a very nice tour of Sitka on the first day of the program we really had nothing to do. At 11 am a bus picked us up and took us to the Sitka airport where we ALL waited for our 2:00 pm flight. The Sitka airport is QUITE small. I was very glad my husband and I remembered that and bought food in town before going to the airport.This is a GREAT trip but make certain that you know the number of people that Road Scholar is going to put on your ship and how many people the ship COMFORTABLY holds.