Families can make memories to last a lifetime on a small ship sailing to Alaska or the tropics. Your group can even take over an entire ship just for itself.
Cruising is the ideal choice for a family reunion trip. Book your clan on a one-week sailing, and you’ve got meals, onboard activities, shore excursions and transportation all wrapped into one neat package. You’ll get to explore some fascinating destinations together, and there’s plenty of time to bond on board.
The small ships of UnCruise Adventures are old hands at hosting multigenerational groups, and their intimate size means you won’t get lost in the crowd. Moreover, they go to places the jumbo ships don’t. Accommodating anywhere from 22 to 86 passengers, the line’s nine expedition vessels visit Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands.
On an UnCruise, the emphasis is on active travel and cultural immersion. Passengers are more likely to spend their days hiking, kayaking and wildlife watching than shopping, lounging by the pool or tempting Lady Luck in the casino.
“We are the antithesis of your typical cruise,” says Monica Sagisi, Vice President of Marketing and Sales. “When you UnCruise, you’re exploring and immersing yourself in nature and the culture, and having a true connection with the destination—not looking at all those things from the inside of a ship.”
Each UnCruise ship is equipped with top-of-the-line gear for kayaking, paddle boarding, snorkeling and hiking. Many vessels have a custom-built kayak launch system. Binoculars are available, too.
For exercise onboard, passengers can use the fitness equipment or walk laps around the deck. Some ships have a hot tub.
UnCruise Adventures, with offices in Seattle and Juneau, welcomes groups with open arms. It assigns a dedicated account manager who works with the group all the way up to departure.
Family Groups Can Reserve the Whole Ship
Many UnCruise groups are families ranging from 12 to 20-some guests. Sometimes a multigenerational family will charter an entire ship.
“Charters are perfect for multigenerational families because there’s something for everyone, no matter the fitness level of each family member,” Burchfield says. “Our guests are welcome to do as much or as little as they want; excursions are as hard-charging or as slow-paced as you’d like.”
“We typically divide our guests in mini groups during the day, depending on fitness level, weather, tides and mood. While some may go on a 2-hour hike, others might go kayaking for an hour or two, another group might go on a mellow shore walk, and some guests might simply enjoy a skiff ride and admire the view from there. If you prefer to stay on the ship, you have the freedom to curl up with a good book in the onboard library or lounge around with a glass of wine in the hot tub. It’s your vacation, you decide what you want to do!”
Besides receiving full attention from the crew, benefits of a charter include:
- Special requests and customization are available
- Special celebrations of milestone events
- Unmatched focus on dietary needs
- Every space is yours to use, from the lounge and dining room to all decks and the library
On a charter, any cabins the family does not fill will go unoccupied, or guests might choose to turn the empty cabins into playrooms for children or teens.
How Two Families Celebrated Milestone Events at Sea
One year a family chartered the 22-passenger Safari Quest with the matriarch and patriarch celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. As Burchfield explains, “I went behind their back, talked to the lady’s sister to ask what we could do to make that celebration special. She came back to me with a photo from 1973 of their wedding cake. I forwarded it to the pastry chef onboard who worked her magic and was able to re-create that cake for them, including swallows on top of the cake. It was absolutely beautiful, and they had no idea it was coming!”
The Safari Quest, as the line’s smallest ship, is the one most commonly chartered. In Burchfield’s words, “she’s our flagship little yacht.” Due to her size, “she can navigate into the tiniest nooks even our other vessels can’t reach, offering exclusive access to remote wilderness areas.” (The line’s largest ships, the Wilderness Legacy and Safari Endeavour, hold 86 and 84 passengers, respectively.)
On Christmas Eve, another set of grandparents looking ahead to their 50th anniversary surprised their children and grandchildren with plans to charter the Safari Quest for an Alaska cruise. For the big reveal on Christmas Eve, Grandpa and Grandma Dougherty gave the kids a puzzle to guess from and made a video to capture the excitement of the moment.
To customize the family’s trip, UnCruise Adventures made special UCA – Dougherty Family Reunion t-shirts, Burchfield recalls. “Once onboard and because half of the family was under 16, we made the sailing as fun as possible, including a murder mystery game (kind of an interactive Clue game the family had created and we provided all the tools for it – white poster board, table clothes, tape, glue, markers, rulers, scissors, etc.) and had the crew participating in the game. We also provided a karaoke machine for a ‘Talent Show’ night.”
When a group cannot commit to a full charter, they have other options, Burchfield explains. “This year, for example, I have a group of 16 people who first inquired about the Safari Quest as a charter. They needed only eight cabins—the Safari Quest has 11 cabins—and they didn’t want to pay for the last three cabins. Instead, I booked them on the Safari Endeavor, the Safari Quest’s big sister, booking the best cabin categories on that larger ship. It worked great for them!”
Dining and Relaxing Onboard
The ship’s dining room offers innovative farm-to-table meals that highlight the flavors of the region visited. Most dinners are served over several courses with entrees including seafood, meat and vegetarian dishes.
In the main lounge, guests have plenty of space to kick back and watch the scenery pass by. The lounge is stocked with board games, books and DVDs. The observation decks are perfect for wildlife spotting and stargazing.
UnCruise Destinations: Temperate to Tropical
In Southeast Alaska, UnCruise operates multiple itineraries (7 or 14 days). There also is an Aleutian Islands expedition. In these pristine coastal areas, guests spend much of the day outdoors—hiking in old-growth forest and glacial outwash fields, navigating scenic fjords and tranquil inlets in a kayak or skiff, watching bears fish and whales breach, or searching for eagles, seals, porpoises and sea lions. They can even swim and snorkel in icy waters.
Seven- and 10-night Sea of Cortez outings explore remote islands off Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula. The 7-day “Hawaiian Seascapes” program visits four islands—Molokai, Lana’i, Maui and Hawaii, offering plenty of chances for water recreation and hiking off the beaten path.
Seven-day cruises in Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands provide close-up looks at animals found almost nowhere else.
In 2026, UnCruise will resume sailings in Costa Rica. On the seven-day Pacific Coast adventure, guests on the 66-passenger Safari Voyager can hike through dense rainforests, kayak in a tropical fjord, relax on white-sand beaches, snorkel around coral reefs and spot exotic wildlife in some of Central America’s most diverse refuges.
Booking Your Big Family Trip
How far in advance should a group book a voyage? Sagisi recommends at least 12-24 months for full ship charters, 12 months for large groups. Many sailings sell out a year in advance.
The following savings are being offered for 2026 group bookings (minimum 14 guests/7 cabins or more):
- Alaska: 10% Early Bird Savings until 12/01/2025 (excluding Aleutian Islands)
- Hawaii: $250 savings per person
- Baja: $500 savings per person
- 1 free guest for 13 paying guests or 1 free cabin for 20 paying guests
For information on group bookings with UnCruise Adventures, contact Aline Burchfield, groups@uncruise; 206-737-5703.
