caseykees

IThe jewel takes a route on the outside of Vancouver Island, Pearl travels in between the island and mainland. Also, the length of time in the cities in Alaska is better on the Pearl. Also, everything I have read since then is that Glavier Bay is even more spectacular than Sawyer. Our family picked Seattle embarkation due to cheaper flight prices but now even if we were taking Pearl and leaving from Victoria I would fly to Seattle and take one of the many, quick transportation options from Seattle to BC. Enjoy your trip!

The Pearl also departs from Seattle and goes on the outside of Vancouver Island.

Thanks for all the reply's, I already paid for the cruise and the reservation is in my name so needless to say I'm going. If I cant get off in Canada no worries, for me the ship is the detestation. My mom is older and it would be nice to escort her around in Canada that was my main reason for asking.

Thank you.

I went on Alaskan cruise at the end of August on the NCL Pearl. I have 2 DWI's. The 2nd being in 2001. I did not even try to get off the ship on it's stop in Victoria. I was expecting to get called to somewhere and made to sign a form saying I wouldn't get off the ship because I heard that happens. It didn't happen to me. We weren't there very long and there was nothing we wanted to see anyway. I have a friend who tried to cross several years ago at the border near 1000 Islands. He didn't mention his DUI, in their mind he "lied" to them. They told him to never come back. He has also stated several times that it would cost him 5K to regain entry with no guarantee. I have not seen where it costs more than a couple hundred dollars (still with no guarantee). Incidentally, the form we filled out on the ship before our arrival to Canada seemed more to do with Duty than immigration.

We were in balcony cabin 10084.

OMG...we were in 10074! We had to have seen each other in the hallway and not known it!

Kathy

We just returned from the NCL Pearl sailing 8/28-9/4. We didn't do any excursions where we would have seen bears. And we did not see any bears. I didn't really expect too. We took a whale watch in Juneau. We did see humpbacks on our tour. We didn't see bubble feeding or breaching. But, I think our tour was too late in the day. The water was so rough, I couldn't even move. I was so scared, I wished I hadn't gone. Not anything to do with the part of the tour company. The tour itself was awesome, if it hadn't been so windy and the water so choppy. It got worse as time went on.

That being said, we did see plenty of Dall's porpoises and humpbacks right from the ship. The porpoises liked to swim in the wake of the ship and the humpbacks must have been migrating to Hawaii. I was getting mad because people thought they saw "baby orca". LOL I am glad I read about them before our trip though because I would have thought they were too :) There were times we were surrounded by humpbacks there were so many, that was on Tuesday 8/30 on our way to Juneau. People told us a couple breached off the back of the ship though I did not see that. The tour operator said they had tough shoes to fill. :)

When we entered the Strait enroute to Victoria on 9/3, I am pretty sure I saw an Orca breach twice. It happened rather quickly, but I'm fairly certain it was not a humpback. But, a little farther into the Strait, we passed at least 30 humpbacks heading in the opposite direction.

Wildlife is unpredictable. I wish I had seen more, but it didn't ruin my trip because I tried to keep my expectations realistic based on what excursions we selected.

Sail on the Pearl tomorrow! Travelling today! We are so excited! Thank you so much for everything I've learned on this board!! We missed out on a sweet Suite upsell yesterday :mad: but that's OK. I will take notes and do a trip report when I return! thank you all sooooo much!

Kathy

:D

We cruise on the Pearl on Sunday (YAY, finally)! We have the "totally" free UBP (booked in March 2015 before they started adding the 18%). Will we be charged 18% for each drink?? I didn't think so, but now I wonder?

Keep your binnoculars and cameras with you at all times. Sounds crazy but its a must. Watch for the spray, way easier to spot at first than a tail or fin itself. Enjoy!

I will definitely try to do this...but I will probably see them when I have neither. LOL I'm so excited...I can not wait!!!!!!!

Thank you so much for your review! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it! We sail on the Pearl on Sunday! I am hoping to see Orca from the ship! I am glad you saw them. Maybe we will too!!

Totally awesome! We are sailing on the Pearl in EIGHT days!! Was that shot from the Pearl or from a tour boat??

OMG...only 22 days till we sail on the Pearl!!! Have been waiting since March 2015. LOL

You'll easily make that flight. Excellent choice of time.

We are not in a suite, but we are going to walk off with our own luggage. We were going to sign up for TSA Pre-check, but so far we have not. Frankly, I just don't have the money right now. We may still do it though. One of us can get it for free using SW points. I already have transportation arranged back to Sea-Tac. They say they will have me there in time. I hope it goes well, but not going to stress out if not. LOL

We are "risking" a 11:50am flight when we debark the Pearl. I am not overly concerned if we don't make it, but don't think we will have a problem. I'm hoping not anyway. If we do, well, we'll figure out something. LOL We are not flying directly home. We are making a 2 day stop somewhere else first. As long as our flight TO Seattle goes off without any problems, and I don't miss my ship, I'll be find. LOL I'll worry about getting home when it's over. :D

I hope everyone is OK.

I used to sneak beer into Rich Stadium (buffalo bills) in potato chip bags when you were allowed to bring snacks and such in. I'm thinking...smuggling 2 cans of diet coke on to ship...in Pringles can! :D

I don't know what's happening with their computers. I booked some restaurants and entertainment the confirmation says 6:30 and my ncl says 6:00. The whole week is like that not one day matches.

 

 

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I made one reservation at Cagney's for 5:30 (we usually eat early) and myNCL says 5, confirmation says 5:30. I don't even think they open for dinner till 5:30. LOL

I don't know for sure, but it sure doesn't seem that way. Prices continue to go up on balcony's on our cruise on the Pearl at end of August. They just raised them again last week. I was shocked! They are now $475 per person higher than what I paid when booking in March 2015. And we got the totally "free" UBP (no prepaid gratuities). I am so grateful I booked when I did. I personally would not have been able to afford current pricing :eek:

Our EDocs are correct and have the correct dates, and stateroom, ship.

It is just a marketing email. we do not have transportation set up thru NCL. They are just letting us know we can get it thru them.

My boyfriend just made a comment to me that the email that he got from NCL regarding their transportation to and from port or airport or hotel said he was traveling on the SUN. Sure enough, it says Sun, out of Vancouver on 8/22/16. So, I checked my email as I got one too. It says Sun, no port listed, on 8/29/16.

Oh, and even the reservation numbers do not match ours.

We are traveling on the Pearl, out of Seattle on 8/28/16. LOL My NCL is correct, My e-docs are correct. Should I be concerned??

Also, does he need his own personal My NCL account? everything is under my name.

Thanks

Kathy

On August 4th, SW is opening flights thru 4/24/17. They will tell you when they are opening here:

https://www.southwest.com/html/travel-tools/index.html

I believe their flights are cheapest the earlier you book them. Especially if flying out of an airport that isn't affected much by their sales. I booked our flights the day they opened for booking in February for August travel. They have never been cheaper, and in fact are now double the price. Since I can change them to lower price if it comes up, I do check them frequently.

Enjoying so far!! We also head out on the Pearl on the 28th! We are getting in to Seattle the night before, but opted to skip Seattle. We are flying to San Diego after disembarking...to see the RED SOX! :)

2 of us cruising on the Pearl in August.

Mid-Ship Balcony, totally free beverage package and prepaid DSC: 3700

Excursions (all booked independant):

Flight: 366

Hotel in Seattle Pre cruise: 367

Flight to San Diego post cruise: 0.00 (sw points)

Hotel in San Diego 2 nights: 377

San Diego Padres/Red Sox Tickets: 112 (go sox!)

Flight San Diego to home: 0.00 (sw points)

I was fortunate to have booked everything right when what I needed opened for booking. flights, hotels, cruise. prices for all have only gone up up up. There are some things that have happened since I booked in March 2015 that made me question if I could afford it. But putting it off a year would cost so much more money, I saw that as cost prohibitive. We are going to make it work. 6 more weeks.

I am jealous! We leave 6 weeks from tomorrow...after booking in March 2015! LOL Take care of the Pearl for us!! ;)

fwiw, i think if you sign up for spg rewards thru Sheraton on their website and also book direct thru them, you get free wifi now.

I also agree about booking early. I booked the Edgewater for one night this August. I booked the day it became available for booking last year. It's like $200 more if I were to book it today. We got a darn good deal. It's still quite expensive, but I want to wake up the morning before our cruise and see the Pearl sitting at the dock! :)

OK- I am cheap and able bodied, always pack light with only one medium quality rolling bag and a back pack. I always walk to the Westlake Station, and take the light rail to SeaTac $3.00 pp

 

I do NOT walk up the hill on Pine. I walk up Pike, and back track, 1 block on 3rd, (usually stopping in the Walgreens for my soda. :) ) I also frequently pick up something, Beechers, or the Chowder House are common for my preferences.

I'm cheap and probably able bodied...but admittadly probably lazy! :D so we are using the shuttle! We will also be in a semi-hurry and walking off with our luggage, and we will see how that goes!

we are using seattleexpress.com. I think it is $15 per person now, but $12 when I booked earlier this year over the winter. they were very responsive to the couple questions I had, and a change that I made.