The Baranof Dream is anything but a dream. This ship is 38 years old and its maximum speed is 10 mph. The engines are loud and shake the ship. There are no amenities. There is no cell or internet wifi except in the large ports. There is nothing to do for endless boring days while big cruise ships pass us by going in the same direction. They do not provide any board games or any other activities ...
We booked a small ship cruise to the Alaska inner passage thinking this would be a more intimate experience. We expected to pay more than the big cruise ship but we thought it would be worth it. After careful consideration we booked with Alaskan Dream Cruises. We have done about 5 small ship cruises so we had some expectations. Their website and discussion with the reservation desk made it ...
We arrived on the ship and were greeted with several smiling faces. The staff were absolutely wonderful people from all over the world. From the second we arrived, they were always there happy to help and chat with us. It felt more like we were being invited into their home rather than on a cruise ship. We were gathered in the lounge which felt more like a living room than a luxury cruise lounge ...
We chose this ship for a more intimate look at Alaska than a massive cruise ship would have provided as well as the cultural angle. Big mistake. The cultural angle was sometimes informative but it came with some of the worst ports of call, Kasan, Metlakatla and Thorne Bay. So called "native' villages were quite boring and depressing. One would have been enough. We also stopped in Skagway (as did ...