What It’s Like Aboard Wilderness Adventurer & Discoverer

Choosing Your Cabin Aboard Adventurer & Discoverer

We’ve had multiple experts aboard these ships, staying in both the Pathfinder and Trailblazer categories ourselves and also inspecting all the cabins over the years. I stayed in cabin 313, of the Trailblazer category. If you’re researching categories, talking with one of our AdventureSmith Specialists about the pros and cons of each cabin category for your travel needs/group is ideal since there are so many little nuances among the three categories to consider: noise sensitivity (if you have any), what your cabin windows look out to, and if your cabin windows open at all. You’d be surprised at all the little details that can make a difference in your cabin choice.

Some nuances to know and things we liked:

• Both ships have nearly the same cabin categories, but Wilderness Discoverer offers more space in the highest-tier Admiral cabin category and Adventurer offers a Compass category for solo travelers.
• Multiple coat hooks allow for the drying of wet clothing.
• Ample storage was available in a cabinet with shelves and under the raised bed platform.
• A small flat-screen TV broadcast the ship’s position on a map, as well as daily itinerary details, meal times and menus, and a live view from the underwater camera.
• A ceiling-mounted heating unit was easy to control and provided plenty of heat when the nights became chilly.
• The shower and toilet are located together in a stall configuration, with a curtain to separate them during showers. This can be a shock if you’re not used to ships or RVs, but no one on board my ship had any complaints as the water was hot, the water pressure strong.
• The ship is constantly creating fresh water with the desalinization setup on board.
• Each room contained at least 6 standard electrical outlets for charging our camera batteries and iPad.

The Food Aboard the Ships

I traveled with a vegetarian and gluten free guest, and it was really quite incredible how they made sure she got enough protein, and sugar (through the gluten-free desserts). Another passenger that was gluten-free was also very impressed saying he had never had so many options! They even had gluten-free beer.

There was always hot coffee and hot water for tea available if you needed a quick warm up and there was always a variety of flavored waters and tasty juice mixtures that were different every day. There was of course the fully-stocked open bar ready with the cocktail of the day or tailor made beverages upon request.

Seating configurations at meals allowed for flexible tables to dine with newfound friends, or just our smaller group. Overall, all of the Discoverer’s guests on my trip were very social people and the dinner atmosphere was jovial, inclusive and full of laughter. And I loved the fresh fish adding fresh-caught Alaska flavors like halibut and Dungeness crab.

Crew & Guides Are a Highlight

These ships are famous for attracting personable, expert guides. By the end of the cruise we had made great friends with not only our fellow passengers but also the guides. The extra touches — like Captain Dan teaching us how to navigate the ship, guide Phil trying to score us drinks from the kitchen window after a failed bear sighting, first-mate Michael’s tales of Hollywood (he was a sailing double for Pirates of the Caribbean) and skiff driver Andy steering us into a secret cave — made the trip very special.

Ordering Up Our Own Adventure Activities Each Day

The Wilderness Adventurer and Discoverer are known for being ideal basecamps for adventure with the above mentioned amenities, but especially for their easy access to the wilderness. Each day was full of choices. There was yoga every day at 7am, which my mom and I attended religiously. Or you can opt to use some equipment in the open-air gym. Then a buffet breakfast, followed by the first activity of the day.

Every day our activities were set by the Expedition Leader who took our “adventure order” the night before and put the daily plan on the whiteboard along with information on wildlife, our list of seen wildlife, every one’s photo and name and a map of our route. This was a great source of information as it told you what time to be ready and exactly what to bring and wear. There were kayaking intro classes, guided kayak tours, open time for kayaking or paddleboarding on your own, short hikes, long hikes, full-day hikes, zodiac rides and even snorkeling. You can really choose to be as active as you wish. Some highlights for me were: stand-up paddleboarding (just me and the paddleboard out on the ocean felt so peaceful, and the mountain views were spectacular) and the hike to Baird Glacier, a valley glacier who’s hike includes a lovely mix of mosses, sand, stones and fledgling spruce. At this stop, a group that went out before ours got to see a wolverine out on the glacier, a very rare sight! My family and I took full advantage of our time on board, signing up and doing much of what was offered, like visiting Chief Shakes house in Wrangell and walking to the petroglyph beach there, playing trivia night (we took first place!), snorkeling and spending lots of time in the Wilderness Discoverer’s hot tub with margaritas.

Getting Off the Ship

Our daily activities were offered off the stern either with kayaks, Zodiacs or the larger skiffs. The easy loading systems and helpful crew made daily activities smooth and easy. The larger skiffs were used for longer skiff tours that took us on adventures to look for wildlife and enjoy the ever-changing landscape of Glacier Bay National Park. The smaller Zodiacs were used primarily to shuttle us to and from land when we went hiking or bushwhacking.

To ensure every crew and passenger was accounted for we each had a magnet on the board with our room number to alert the staff if we were aboard or on shore. This simple system worked well as although the Alaskan wilderness was incredible, none of us wanted to be left behind (the food aboard was just too good to pass up!).

The EZ Dock kayak launch platform combined with the well-presented and fun kayak orientation did an excellent job of removing any fears of getting in and out of a sea kayak in frigid waters. The ship is well staffed, and it seemed every time we were loading and unloading kayaks, all of the crew and expedition staff was on hand to get us safely in and out with at least one crew member per guest snapping in the kayak skirt, handing out the paddle, adjusting the foot pedals, etc…

After a full day of adventuring and hot showers we would all gather in the lounge for happy hour with cocktails and appetizers to share our stories of the day with people that were in different activity groups. The lounge is a cozy space where talks were given and the library was held, as every good ship needs a library. The library had DVDs that you could take back to your room (although there was so much to do I never found time to watch a movie!) and of course plenty of books on Alaska.

Don’t Miss the Alpenglow from the Hot Tub

The onboard hot tubs were enjoyed by many, including me, so much that it was affectionately dubbed “the best seat in the house.” One evening I was elated to see it wasn’t in use and ran to jump in as the alpenglow illuminated the surrounding mountains—a perfect way to end an action-packed day (it was also ideal after the polar plunge!). My family and I sat in it through Misty Fjord too and photos of that time made it into our highlight reel of experiences aboard.