Un-Cruise Adventure

My husband and I had the opportunity to do the Un-Cruise Adventures trip, on the Columbia and Snake Rivers, aboard the SS Legacy. The trip included transfers from the airport to the ship and back, with a stop at a hospitality room that gave us free time to explore Portland before the cruise. Portland has a large Saturday Market with features booths of hand-crafted items, touristy-type wares, food, and live music.
 
We picked up other passengers who had arrived the day before and we were escorted to the boat by the Heritage Guides dressed in period costumes. Upon arrival at the dock, we were met by the entire crew, including the captain, and taken individually into our cabins.
 
The ship has four decks: The top is the Sun Deck and location of the Owner’s Suite, Decks 2 and 3 feature cabins that open to the outside, and Deck 1 cabins are interior entry only with portholes. The public areas on Deck 1 include the dining room and the Pesky Barnacle Saloon. The Saloon features help-yourself beer, which rotates over the course of the week, and top-shelf whisky. There also is free-flowing wine in the main dining room. The Saloon is the site of the Captain’s poker game, which my husband just happened to win the time we played (Captain Scott wasn’t too happy). Deck 2 features the lounge, which is the heart of the ship. Light breakfast, cocktail hour, and afternoon and after dinner activities all take place here.
 
Excursions are all included in the fare price. We visited Bonneville Dam, Multnomah Falls, museum/historical sites, a wine cellar, and had a full-day jet boat trip through Hells Canyon. The scenery throughout was amazing.
 
The food on the ship was excellent; it was all fresh and locally sourced. A light breakfast was served in the lounge, as well as appetizers during cocktail hour. Coffee, tea, and hot chocolate were also always readily available. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner all had daily menus with 3 entrée choices (meat, fish, vegetarian). They also offered the option of a half-and-half entrée for those wanting surf-and-turf. The crew even surprised one passenger by having a pizza delivered at our last port, because he had been jokingly asking all week when we were having pizza.
 
There are so many onboard activities ranging from morning yoga, journaling class, napkin folding, and beading to doing a community jigsaw puzzle or borrowing a movie or book from the library. A free massage is also included with your trip! There is no standard TV or Wi-Fi, but the boat has onboard channels that broadcast the day’s itinerary, programs about the history of the area, and GPS so you can see where you are in real time. There is one 24 hour period with no cellphone service.  There are also no cabin door keys; they just lock from the inside.
 
The service was excellent; all the crew know everyone’s names and went out of their way to make sure you had anything you wanted. You were encouraged to go all over the boat to check everything out; especially to the bridge with the captain, and even in the middle of the night. The Heritage Guides with a nice part of the crew; they gave a historical flavor to the scenery we were passing. They took pictures all week and presented a slide show the final night featuring all the passengers and the places we had been. We then received an email a few weeks after the trip to be able to access that slideshow, as well as a list of all passengers who chose to share their email addresses.
 
This was a slow-paced, leisurely trip. And there was nothing better than being the only ones on the top deck in the middle of the night, sitting in the hot tub and looking at the stars.

Article by Edgerton Travel Agent, Terri Hundt