The National Geographic Venture

I have only taken two cruises in my life - one of the Greek Islands in 1970 and one several years ago with Kenneth's Senior Class. I wasn't sure what kind of ship we would be on this time, but I knew it would be different from the ones on which I had previously sailed. First, the ship was small. It only holds 100 passengers, but for our cruise we only had 74. Second, since the primary mission of the cruise is education, there was no casino (to our relief), no excessive drinking, no partying . . . just a nice group of people who are interested in wildlife, nature, and learning. Third, since we were on an expedition, we did not have to dress up. We were not there to impress, and most of us wore jeans and casual shirts. Fourth, rather than entertainment, we always had a talk after dinner. We learned about the rainforest, whales, the Kermode bears, the First Nations . . . and more. Fascinating information! We had booked a medium-priced room which was not so different from staying in the RV. The bathroom was bigger than the RV, and we found the entire set-up quite accommodating. One interesting aspect was that the doors could not be locked from the outside. I was a little uncertain about it, but it made sense once we were there. Surely made it easy not having to keep track of an key. Having a nice balcony helped, too. We didn't spend a lot of time out there, but just being able to open the door made the room more spacious. We would highly recommend this ship for future tours. Intimate is much better!