I am thrilled to say I made it through Xxtreme Week 2015! The trip was more than I had hoped it…read morewould be and I would recommend Exposure Alaska and their great team. The trip was the perfect medicine to unplug me from an over-scheduled, over-programmed, and highly electronic career for a solid week. It pushed me mentally and physically, but never did I feel unsafe. I returned to work in a better frame of mind and with my whole body in a state of "a good kind of sore". Hats off to Don, and our guides (Sandra and Roz) who really made the stay wonderful. And, I never expected to be complimenting the camp food, but it was AWESOME!!! Sandra's breakfast burrito could be on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives! I am already thinking about coming up with a new itinerary for 2016 and going back to the Exposure Alaska crew for another week of killer Alaska wild.

I just returned from the Xxtreme Week Adventure with Exposure Alaska and all I can say is WOW! I…read morefound this company through Mica Guides. I've travelled to all seven continents and have been on many adventure tours and treks over the years that have left me disappointed and wanting more, but this trip was definitely a trip to remember. As the name suggests, it is an extreme adventure trip that will push you physically and in some places mentally, especially since we had quite a bit of rain, and towards the end, some rain and sleet and a lot of wind, but if you're willing, it will be a trip you will not forget. Sandra (guide) and Roz (intern) picked me up from my hotel right on time along with the other members of the group before heading off to 3 days, 2 nights of sea kayaking. Through out our trip, we went white water rafting, hiking and ice climbing on the Matanuska Glacier, zip lining, and 2 days, 1 night of hiking along a mountain ridge line (I believe approximately 4600 ft at the peak) and back out through the valley. My group had 5 people, 1 guide (Sandra) and 1 intern (Roz) with group sizes maxing out at 6 people. As some of the other reviewers had mentioned, the guides were on the younger side (all relative of course, depending on your own age), however I didn't feel that they were inexperienced at all. Both Sandra and Roz had great energy and knowledge and never once did I feel that they didn't know what they were doing. They knew when and how to encourage each of us to get the most out of our adventure. The food definitely surprised me, as many nights we were in the wilderness, but you will certainly not feel like you're roughing it with the amount and quality of food. Without giving away any surprises, which there are at least one or two, the food is definitely top notch for this type of adventure trip. On our 6th day, we had an Alaskan style BBQ where Don, the owner came to join us. Leading up to the trip, Don replied to each and every one of my questions and concerns promptly, but for him as the owner to actually take the time to come out to meet our group and have dinner with us, chat and share stories showed us true Alaskan hospitality and definitely a sign of a great business owner. There are so many other highlights and people that made the trip great, from John Brown with Chugach Outdoor Center (white water rafting guide), Noah, who co lead the ice hike and ice climbing with Sandra, Ellie with her baked scones and cinnamon rolls, Mandy cooking the amazing Alaskan BBQ, and the Honey Bee Latte made by (forgot her name, but it was amazing). I would definitely recommend Exposure Alaska and their adventure tours for your trip to Alaska. It's a terrific way to experience the real Alaska and challenge yourself both physically and mentally and build friendships and experiences that you will carry with you for a lifetime. I will definitely be reaching out to Don and Exposure Alaska the next time I decide to head back to Alaska.

Brooks, our tour guide, made the day for us. Super-personable, knowledgeable, happy to adapt to…read morewhatever situation. He showed off Anchorage in the very best way, and he's got awesome, interesting stories. Highlights: * We saw a moose in the wild, almost immediately! * The land is just stunning. We got perfect weather and, again, a fantastic guide. * Brooks totally pampered us - brought everyone cold waters, tons of snacks, and a comfy, pristine van to ride in. * Overall I'm uncomfortable with penned animals, but the conservation center has a pair of rescued brown bears and a trio of black bear rescues, and it was cool to see them and learn their stories. Wishes: * Wish people could be grouped by level of preferred activity. We had the bad luck to book at the same time as some folks from a cruise ship, and they didn't want to walk anywhere, spend time outdoors - they even made us skip lunch and come back early because of their cruise timeline. That was a big bummer.

Had the absolute best time today with James as our guide. My best friend and I are in town for a…read morefew days and wanted to see as much as possible so I booked a tour. We were picked up at our hotel and whisked off on an adventurous day full of rich Alaskan history, comic relief, amazing views, plenty of time for pictures, and so much more than we could have ever asked for. Alaska is absolutely beautiful. It was great to be able to hear so many interesting facts as well as background on each town, glacier, or area we passed. There were snacks and waters for all guests, which definitely came in handy! 10/10 would recommend! Would love to come back in the spring or summer and take another tour.

This is my second time with Princess to Alaska, the first time on the Island Princess. (I'm most…read moreloyal to Princess but I have taken many others like RC, Celebrity, & Disney) The Alaska itinerary is a must for everyone's bucket list. It can and most likely will rain every day so just plan on it. If you are vulnerable to motion sickness this itinerary has potential to be mostly calm but a cruise may not be for you. Pluses: -Lots of wildlife IF you pay attention. Saw three bears, moose, porpoises that look like small orcas, puffins, otters, porcupine, eagles, etc - Dinner or lunch in the dining room is top notch . Excellent beef entrees like Wellington,, prime, and tenderloin. halibut and salmon were also excellent. Fun appetizers like escargot challenged a few guests - casino was smoke free and had lower minimums than Vegas - theater shows were ok... illusionists was five stars and I also enjoyed the two opera trained performers . - pool depth was 6'+ in parts which was perfect for exercising and turned into quite the wave pool in high sea days that made all the kids have a blast. One pool is covered from rain. - medical on board was excellent - exceptionally clean - movies in cabin continue where you left off - library has plenty of games and books to borrow but only a few tables to play on - guest service is quick and does not argue with you if there is an incorrect charge CONS - only one pickle ball court that is shared with basketball - fitness center is big but NO windows. Everyone wants to use a treadmill watching the ocean!!! - pizza station closes at 10:00 -ice cream closes at 8:00 and never changes the flavors... it's mostly "ice"... we didn't have more than one. - shower space is tiny and water gets on the floor -buffet is a bit tired so use the dining rooms - if you have a large party their app doesn't let you manage excursions or meals for entire party which was my only serious headache with Princess. -laundry is everywhere but rooms only have a few machines so you wander the boat looking for an open one.

Hello everyone, This is a review for a recent Cruise to Alaska aboard the Emerald Princess, Jen & I…read moreplanned this trip with a couple friends of ours Sharon & Zane, this is our first cruise so yes we where excited, we were about 6 months out so did quite a bit of research on what to expect and not and things to bring & not, everything was helpful and a few experienced cruisers we talked with. Well our sail off got 4-5 hours delayed due to a crane that damaged a life boat while loading supplies, so roughly 9pm we were off and I mean full Power ahead, guessing to make up some time due to life boat damage. With full speed ahead and some bad weather on the ocean and some pretty good sea waves that wasn't expected it turned out SEVERAL passengers got motion sickness including Jen, we had a Awesome cabin steward that helped me get some remedies together for Jen, OK folks this combination of thinly sliced Ginger and a Green Apple was amazing, Jen was feeling better within 2 hours. One issue we had and I would advise everyone to check their account DAILY, we didn't buy the alcohol package but noticed on the second day Jen had 7 alcohol charges and me 2 charges, we headed to guest services to dispute the charges while there the CS rep ( we felt ) didn't believe us and even asking Jen if I was buying, here's the best part as we were standing there and the rep had our account up on the screen another charge came through while standing there, the look on the lady's face was shocking, no more question asked and account was credited, my question is why this keep happening when we are all assigned a Medallion to use for purchases on the cruise, I did go and order a coke and noticed the bartenders never asked for the medallion which verifies you with a picture and room number??? I don't understand all the hype on the food ( buffet ) as it got old by the 4th day, our formal dinner nights were much better, the entertainment was pretty good for the most part. Our excursions were fun regardless of the cold weather and rain, it was nice to be off the ship walking around seeing all the shops ( tourists traps lol ). Finally, will we do another cruise? Probably but not soon, we both really enjoy driving on our vacation more freedom to stop & go & see things on your time not on a schedule.

Fantastic air service located conveniently on Lake Hood in Anchorage. Chris (owner/operator) is a…read moregreat pilot and we loved our flight seeing tour to see bears at Big River Lakes with him! Would highly recommend!

Looking to fulfill a once in a lifetime dream, I found Ellison Air and he made my dream come true…read more Found his website surfing the internet and he offers a unique variety of Alaska Air Tours for a very reasonable price. Being a passenger on a cruise ship we had limited time, so we opted for the 30 minutes Local Seaplane Tour. The owner and pilot Chris, checked and fueled the plane since we were the first passengers that day. After a quick explanation of the safety systems ( life jackets and the like), setting up the headset with mic and after helping us with the seatbelts we were almost ready for takeoff. He contacted air traffic control, did a few rounds on the lake to warmup the engine and then we were airborne. This was the moment we came for... an exciting though smooth takeoff. During the tour Chris would tell us all about nature and wildlife and show us points of interest by tipping the wings down for a better view. We had a smooth landing on the lake and he made a quick "water splashing turn", which was really nice! We want to thank Chris for this wonderful experience, which we will never forget! Just one question... is it a sea plane, a water plane or a boat plane...? Frédérique

Spectacular is one of the superlatives to describe the experience with Captain Al and the Northern…read moreExplorer. We hiked, saw bears, doll porpoises, and the most amazing scenes of glaciers from Blackstone Bay. The food was a culinary delight, Christian out did himself each night. Rena oozed hospitality and exceeded our every need.

We just returned from our two week trip to Alaska. The middle part of that was 5 days and 4 nights…read morewith Captain Al and his crew for our cruise. Unexpectedly, we ended up being the only guests as others had backed out. We started out of Seward with a nice trip from Anchorage with Joan and Jeff as our shuttle team. They were both very personable and a pleasure to make the trip with to Seward. We were greeted with champagne and quickly got underway. Our accommodations were exactly as described in the Master suite. After two days of being wined and dined, we finally had to say, the "food is amazing, but we don't eat this much in a day. We need to slow down on the amount" LOL Certainly all you could possibly eat and nicely prepared. En En set beautiful tables for every meal and and our wine glasses were never dry. The weather was not the best for the first few days, so with everyone's agreement, we decided to roll the dice and cross the Gulf of Alaska to head towards Whittier. At that point, the weather became amazing, we did kayaking and had a 13,000 year old cocktail (Bourbon on Glacier ice). Who knew we would go to Alaska to get a tan? We spent the entire time cruising out on the deck getting sun. Captain Al and his team were wonderful hosts. I guess I could address every complaint that has been posted, but I'm not going to give it much credibility by spending any time on it. Yes, the boat is not brand new, but we had no issues on board (except the battery, but that's a little joke between Captain Al and us.). I can't speak to any of the other accommodations because we did not see or use them, but there were absolutely no complaints with ours. We are already considering the possibility of taking friends and going again some time. Thanks for everything Captain Al, En En and Christian! It was the trip of a lifetime! Thanks for being a part of it! Lori and Bob

The trip itself is awesome, Alaska is beautiful and almost indescribable. We have to go back and…read morewe would again go with Alaska Excursion Caravan! They do the trip like no other crew. They go twice a year every year since 2013. They know state, the roads, tour operators and the people. When we went with them, everyone knows Cindy and jim. They are very well liked and respected and as part of their group you are treated exceptionally well. They know the tour operators so when there might be a better day for a trip they will work with Cindy to make that happen. One of the main reasons we picked Alaska Excursion Caravan was because we could tell that the care are dogs would get would be exceptional and it was. They got to know our dogs when the trip started and they communicated with us about how they did each time they were walking them. Two of our dogs were special needs and they are one of the few people with interested to take care of our dogs ever. We have an RV so they can be with us. We also love the fact that we got to know the group. We all still stay and communication, we keep track of where people are going and how they're doing. We even did several potlucks on our own just because we enjoyed being with each other. If anybody had a problem others would step up to help out. We had an unbelievable single lady with a truck and a fifth wheel and she had an issue one time and the guys were there under the truck taking care of it. Then later on the couple she had come with had trouble with their vehicle and so they had to drop out of the Caravan for a couple of days and the other two fifth wheels one got in front and one was behind her and they made sure they stayed with her wherever we were going. It truly was a trip of the lifetime and we are so thankful that we decided to go with Alaska Excursion caravans! We love Cindy and Jim!

This was...an experience to say the least…read more 1) The Wilderness, Wildlife, and Glacier tour was insanely overpriced. Get a rental car and do it yourself, you'll save a ton of money. We did the add on glacier cruise, could have booked it cheaper on our own. Again. Just do these things on your own. Trip started in Anchorage, drove us to the wildlife conservation center. We had about an hour there, so basically only time to watch the bears. We never even looked at the other animals just due to lack of time. Then we drove to the Portage Glacier Lodge for lunch that you pay for yourself, on our way we stopped at two spots to take pics, again places you could just stop at. Food was insanely overpriced. Then to the cruise, the cruise itself is an hour long and seeing the glacier is cool, but the ship and crew were the most rinky dink operation I've ever seen. 2) our tour guide locked the keys to the van inside the van. She did not even call to get help until over an hour after discovering the keys were locked inside. We had to wait at the lodge for almost 2 hours before someone came to bring her the spare keys. During this time no one communicated with us regarding a plan and we were just sitting there waiting. Tour guide "Captain C" was nowhere to be found. She then drove us quite erratically back to Anchorage, I presume out of stress. The pics she took aren't great, not like the ones on other reviews and are mostly blurry. 3) Book with a better group. This was a waste of money.

Best tour we could have hoped for on our first day in Alaska! (did the Wilderness, Wildlife,…read moreGlacier Experience from Anchorage tour) First of all, Grace, our tour guide, was beyond amazing. Not only was she very knowledgeable, pleasant, a good driver, but she also treated us all amazing: she remembered all our names, took photos of each of us on our phones with the views in the background, did a little trivia game at the end of the tour, and took wilderness photos on her camera and shared them with us within 2 hours from the end of tour. And they were great! Secondly, the stops were really fun. We spotted a moose mom with her baby in the wild, saw a few bald eagles, some sheep too. We also had a tasty lunch at Portage Glacier Lodge on one of the stops. Thirdly, the rainy weather didn't affect our experience as all because of Grace's non ending good mood & cool headed nature. Even though the glacier cruise at the end got canceled due to awfully strong winds, we did other stops and had fun. Be flexible and have fun! (the last photos of the animals up close are by Grace, all credits to her!)

We booked a 3 day winter excursion with Montana Hiking Gal for Fairbanks, AK this last March and it…read morewas everything we wanted in a winter wonderland Alaskan experience! As two city slickers, we generally knew what types of activities we wanted to experience in Alaska, but had no idea where to start: How to book events, where to go and where to avoid, the logistics of driving in winter in Alaska, and how to do this all safely. Heather is a one stop shop! Prior to our trip, she consulted us on what we were interested in experiencing, made sure she knew what "experience level" we had for things like hiking/ climbing, and made a full itinerary for each day we were there. This was truly a 5 star roll out in customer service. Once our evening flight touched down in Fairbanks, Heather picked up our rental car and brought us to our Air BnB, which was a dry cabin still within Fairbanks city limits. Day 1 kicked off riding with a dogsled team at Chena Hot Springs, followed by soaking in the hot spring and touring the Ice Museum with an apple martini (in a glass made of ice). We were planning on going out to dinner, but our Air BnB host left us a Copper River Salmon fillet that we cooked up instead. Yum! Day 2 we took a long, but gorgeous, drive out to Castner Glacier. Heather had any and all extra warm, hiking/climbing, and safety gear that we needed for our 3-mile hike to the glacier. Since the glacier was frozen over, forming a cave, (this doesn't happen every year), Heather was sure to make our day hike as safe and memorable as possible. After returning back into Fairbanks, we ate dinner and went Aurora hunting at night. Unfortunately, the Aurora was not going off that night, but I don't think Heather controls the magnetic field, so I can't ding her on that one haha. Day 3 we took a quick trip to the North Pole! We met 2 elves working their off-season jobs at Safeway and McDonalds, but also got to see Santa at his workshop. Before our flight we rounded off the day at the World Ice Art Championship exhibit. We didn't have time to see this at night, but the sculptures were still very impressive nonetheless. Overall, this trip was 5/5 stars and there is no one better to book and experience Alaska with than Montana Hiking Gal! Ease of booking, itinerary, customer service, value for your dollar, and overall experience was amazing and I could not recommend enough booking your next adventure to Alaska with Montana Hiking Gal!