MattIt’s true, we were sold on the Costa Rica - Panama itinerary with Uncruise Adventures based on the route. We were excited about getting to places we couldn’t go to independently. There was also the added advantage of the small ship (which makes meeting people easier), and all the cool included activities (Standup Paddle Boarding anyone?!).
What we didn’t expect was how the smallest of details turned our experience from a great trip to an extraordinary one!
You may have read the post about the activities we did or the sense of community that was built among the guests. But it was the extra steps, and the attention to detail by the staff onboard the Safari Voyager that really moved the needle from a great trip to an outstanding one.
Carlos teaching us about the birds we were seeing in the forest
We know from our own experience that excellence doesn’t just happen - it needs to be planned for. So, I checked the interwebs to see what the company values of Uncruise were:
Be good to each other
Get a little better every day
Make different mistakes
Do the right thing
Upon reflection, it was clear that at every step of our journey the staff embraced these values.
Here are a few examples:
Be good to each other
Josh and his crew of stewards in the dining hall called us by name by the second time they saw us. We know from working with kids that this is the oldest trick in the book to developing relationships and making a person feel valued.
They also remembered who wanted decaf, who was vegetarian and which individual did not like Mayonnaise!
The stewards noticed that one of the younger guests had cut the crusts off his bread every day. They took this notion of being good to each other and had this waiting for him one morning.
when you don't like the crusts, you use them for art
Get a little better every day
The guides do not miss a beat! They are friendly, outgoing and fun. When you need anything, they can respond with supplies from their packs like sunscreen, band-aids etc. Their professionalism matched their enthusiasm.
It was also really cool to watch how the guides shared their knowledge with each other. Not everyone can be as excited about birds as Eric, but he was super willing to share his knowledge and experience with us and the other guides. It was clear that all the guides wanted to get the info they needed about birds so their next hike was the most informed it could be.
They clearly enjoy their jobs!
Make different mistakes
This is a value that is a little harder to spot… as any tour company worth their salt will manage the mistakes before they are obvious to the guests. However, you usually can guess that some systems come from past learnings as a result of past mistakes. Like the PFD identification.
Our PFD’s were exactly fitted to us for the skiff rides. Once fitted, each PFD had a neat blue tape on the collar with our room number neatly printed on it. On many occasions, the PFD’s were bundled for storage. When required, they were effortlessly supplied to the correct person.
I can only imagine the chaos that might have ensued pre blue tape system!
Notice the blue tape?
Do the right thing
Another detail that was not obvious was the always available skiff. When everyone was swimming, snorkelling and paddleboarding, it was unobtrusively around.
In general, the places we were playing in the ocean were pretty benign. It would have been easy to skip the safety skiff - but it was always there even if they were never needed. This safety check was appreciated, as my inner child was out to play!
When we went on the tour of the village, our guide Keka (dark blue shirt across from Matt) took the time to make sure we had all the info needed so it didn't feel like we were visiting a human zoo. It was also obvious the people in the village were happy to see her again
Our Extraordinary experience with Uncruise will be hard to top. We felt the whole program was tailor-made for us as guests and that all the details that could ever have been thought of were taken care of.
In the end, we got the location and activities we had expected, and clearly much more.
We were guests of Uncruise Adventures on this cruise. As always the opinions remain our own.
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