Expedition Cruise Expert

Wildlife takes center stage on expedition cruises

After having recently experienced an expedition cruise with Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic, I am eager to put my knowledge and insight to work for you.

Here are some details from my experience during the 5-day “Wild California Escape.” I am resident of the Bay Area, so while I’m certainly very familiar with this region, this expedition cruise allowed me to learn new things and see our world in a different way – beyond the hustle and bustle of life in the Bay Area. I truly think anyone who has a yearning for a more adventurous type of travel and in-depth information would highly value an expedition cruise.

The 5-day cruise began aboard the new National Geographic Venture, with a departure from San Francisco. We sailed along the California coast to Angel Island, a National Historic Landmark and the largest natural island in San Francisco Bay. Venture then sailed to Monterey Bay, an epicenter for biodiversity; then Vallejo, located at the southern tip of California wine country; and, finally a return to San Francisco.

One benefits of this expedition cruise included the small size of the ship (only 100 guests) — making it so easy to dock or tender in a multitude of places that a larger ocean-going ship could not reach. Bringing us closer to nature, instead of riding in a larger tender vessel (common with larger cruise ships), we used Zodiacs, the rubber boats with the wooden bottoms; it was easy to load on and off. I really enjoyed that aspect of the trip because it brought you closer to nature. During the evenings, there were Recaps after dinner — when the daily activities were discussed and plans were made for the following day. After 8:30 pm, the rest of the evening was spent on one’s own, as Venture sailed to the next destination.

Lindblad brings a team of experts to really enlighten its guests. They had a marine biologist, plus other naturalists so there was someone to talk about anything that took place.

Eco-Friendly

My cabin had a standard ocean view. The bathrooms were stocked with botanically inspired hair products, soap and shower gels.

In the spirit of eco-friendliness, rather than having plastic water bottles on the vessel, metal ones were available for use throughout the voyage. The meals served aboard were fresh, local and sourced from suppliers who share Lindblad’s values of sustainability. Breakfast and lunch were served buffet style, while dinner was a plated meal. 

Ports and Excursions

Port highlights included Monterey, with a trolley that is very quick and easy to use; and visiting the Culinary Institute of America, at Copia. Our group had two winery stops, participated in a cooking demonstration and enjoyed a lunch, with wine pairings, prepared at the Culinary Institute.

Setting Expectations

Passengers should be mobile and active. You’ll have to be able to keep up with the various activities going on. For instance, on Angel Island, they have any number of different levels of hikes. Even the non-strenuous ones were vigorous for some.Come in with a level of expectations. The kind of people who are on Lindblad are intelligent and curious, and want to be educated on different aspects of nature.

Contact me about expedition cruising!

Because of this experience, I feel especially suited to be able to answer questions you may have about expedition cruising. There are so many enriching and diverse destinations you can travel to on an expedition cruise – this close-to-home California example, or more far-flung such as the Galápagos Islands, Antarctica, the Arctic, and a growing number of other places around the world.

Expedition cruising is a relatively newer concept for leisure travelers. I see many people who have never taken an ocean cruise before, but who have perhaps river cruised or taken exotic land tours showing an interest in it. The level of luxury with expedition cruising is also growing exponentially, with custom-built expedition cruise ships coming out from Viking Expedition and Seabourn. Silversea Cruises already has more than a decade of expedition cruising on its fleet of expedition ships and I have found this to be a very enriching experience for my clients.

I highly recommend taking a closer look at expedition cruising and finding the one that best suits your travel preferences and dream destinations.