Columbia River .... In The Wake of Lewis....

[DELFIN]

Currently considering booking Columbia river cruise plus Montana add on with Lindblad Expeditions. If anyone has had experience with this cruise, I would appreciate hearing about your experience.

 

Thank you in advance for any input!

 

Susana

[Benita]

Hi Susana,

We went on this cruise in October, 2005 - we have previously gone to the Galapagos and to Antarctica with Lindblad, so we know of their great quality and we were not disappointed.

We were on the Sea Lion, which has about 40 cabins. The cabins were small, but adequate. The food was excellent. The crew and guides and historians were top notch. The sailing itself is very interesting - you pass through many locks - not quite the Panama Canal, but very up close. We arrived a day early and stayed at the hotel from which the ship left, so it was very convenient and Portland is a good place to visit. WE did not do the Montana extension, but I'm sure it will be great - when we went to the Galapagos, we did the Peru and Macchu Picchu extension, and Lindblad only used the best hotels. At the prices they command (and I feel they are well worth it), they make sure you are well taken care of.

There are three levels of cabins - the least expensive is indoors and the other two levels have outside access. The most expensive ones are about 20% bigger, but probably not worth the extra money.

If you want to see some of our pictures, my husband posted some on his web site http://www.pbase.com/michaelblum/galleries

[Buckland]

Hi Benita,

I had a look at some of the photos you posted. They are brilliant! The photographer has quite the eye! Many kudos.

 

Buck

[merryecho]

I haven't done the cruise, but live on the Columbia river, so can tell you that the scenery is some of the most unusual and dramatic in the world. The river cuts through a 12,000 foot mountain range, so you will travel from lush green forests to high deserts in one day. The high rolling hills are unlike anything I have seen anywhere else in the world. And to think that Lewis and Clark explored this area just 200 years ago makes it more interesting. Hope you enjoy it if you choose this trip.

[DELFIN]

Hi Benita, thanks for taking the time to cross over here and reply to my question. I have followed your posts for sometime now and they were instrumental in helping us decide to do the Galapagos/Machu Picchu expedition this year. My husband and I both loved the "itinerary" offered by Lindblad for the Columbia River, but it is always good to get the opinion of those who have gone before us. We're still trying to figure out whether it might be better to do the Montana half on our own, but we have time yet since Lindblad has not posted the latter part of 2008 schedule.

 

Merryecho, thank you as well. Reading your description and feeling you enthusiasm confirms that we will be awed by your part of the country.

 

Again, thank you

Susana

[letsgo39]

Dh and I have been to Montana many times in the Glacier Park area. It is very beautiful and really easy to do on a driving tour yourself. The MANY GLACIER HOTEL is right in the middle of the park and the scenery is just beautiful.It is an old historic hotel and the location cannot be beat. It is not a luxury hotel,more like an old lodge but I still love to stay there. I have actually watched bears out my hotel window,

We have also stayed at a guest ranch in Montana a couple of times as we have horses at home but still like to go to the mountains to ride.

Another place not to be missed is Rocky Mountain National Park is Estes Park Colorado. Before we started traveling all over the world we saw just about evrything we could in the states including Alaska. I don't think I have ever seen anything as beautiful as Alaska but Glacier Nattional Park is right up there too.,IMHO the Alps don't even come close to the mountains we have here.:)

[DELFIN]

Wow, Letsgo, thanks a million for the input. Funny, but dh and I started serious cruising about 4 years ago, and after this year's upcoming Galapagos/Machu Picchu trip, we want to see the USA top to bottom. So off we will go. I will definitely start looking into flying into Montana and "cruising" on our own. We did do the one way Alaska cruise starting in Anchorage first and I agree, it is beautiful! I do want to go back again eventually, but on a small ship expedition. Don't know about the Alps as we haven't been there yet :) but although we love and appreciate the beauty of European cities and their history, it seems that we are always much more awed by our natural beauty..... different strokes for .........

 

Again, thanks,

Regards,

Susana

[letsgo39]

We also would like to return to Alaska but it will have to wait a couple of years till DH retires and we are done seeing Europe. I think what I would like to do is fly into Anchorage and then rent a motorhome for several weeks and travel all over. We have family in Seward Alaska so it will be fun to visit them again.It is so far away that driving all the way there from Kentucky is just not feasible.This year it is a river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam and next year I would like to return to Italy,probably with one of the easy pace tours by Globus. They look nice as you have lots of free time. Isn't it fun to travel!!!:D

 

When you look into Montana check out the train ride. It is possible to take a train all around that area.I saw a show about it on the travel channel and it looked wonderful. I have seen the train and the stations when we have been there and it really looks like fun. You could drive through the area and also do the train.FYI--- the few times we have flown there we flew into Livingston,Montana.The park is an easy drive from there and the whole area is just beautiful.

 

Watch out for Grizzly Bears!:eek: