About Beyond the Bow Cruising

Welcome to Beyond the Bow Cruising!Hi! I'm Pascale Smith, and for the past year, I've been booking all kinds of cruises - mega-ships, boutique lines, all-inclusives, you name it. And I'm good at it. But here's what I realized: I light up when I'm talking about expedition cruising and Alaska. Small ships. Real wilderness. The kind of travel where you actually see something instead of just checking boxes.I spent years as a zookeeper working on conservation and breeding programs. I learned that the difference between "just visiting" and "actually caring" matters. That same philosophy applies to how I think about travel now. Expedition cruising isn't just about seeing glaciers or whales - it's about doing it responsibly, intentionally, with minimal impact. It's about quality over crowds.If you're dreaming about Alaska, Antarctica, the Galapagos, etc - if you want a small-ship experience where the captain knows your name and you're not elbowing 5,000 other tourists for a photo, I'm your person. I'll help you plan it, find the right ship, and make sure every detail is thought through. No stress, no drop-down menus, no getting lost in the shuffle.But I'm also real about this: not everyone can afford (or wants) a small and/or luxury expedition ship right now. And that's okay. If you want to explore Alaska on a Princess or Holland America or anything in between, I can help with that too. My job is matching you to the right experience for your goals, your budget, and what actually matters to you.What I won't do is pretend that all cruises are created equal. They're not. And you deserve someone who knows the difference and will be honest about it.