Popsy_cruises

Thank you! We don’t know which ship we’ll be on yet as we haven’t chosen our sailing, just trying to plan our budget and decide if this add on is something we want to do.

Sorry to jump on this post, but does anyone know if you can book access to the Sanctuary for the duration of your cruise? If so, roughly how much is it? We’d be looking at a 7-9 night cruise but wouldn’t have the Sanctuary class of cabin as we’re never in our cabins when cruising and tend to go for an inside for that reason.

Thanks Don. I’ve only ever cruised round the Mediterranean and I’m referring to the main cruise lines as those are the ones I’m familiar with. We’ve been told by one person it’s better to cruise on ships with a capacity of around 2000 and another said the bigger ships are much better, hence my post. But previous comments have established, the person who’s been adamant that the small ships are better has also got a lot of their information incorrect. It’s all personal preference but I’m interested to learn about other people’s experiences.

This is really interesting, I love learning all about this stuff so thank you so much for sharing. Also I’d say your assessment of my colleague is a very kind but accurate statement.

Thanks!

Thank you! I’d heard there were a lot of vendors at the port and guessed at least some of them wouldn’t be good. We usually try to book as much as possible in advance so will definitely skip them.

Beautiful pictures! Thanks for your tips 😊

Thanks! HAL is on our list to look into along with Princess so I’ll definitely have a look at the Koningsdam. I have some NCL credits so they’re also on the list although from what I’ve read so far I’m not sure they’re the best for Alaska. We’re also looking at Celebrity as we’ve always fancied trying them and never have.

Thank you! We had thought sailing out of Vancouver would be best mainly because of our flight options but it sounds like it’s best all round from what you’ve said. I mentioned this in the post above but the person who told me this is a very poor know it all so it doesn’t surprise me that they’ve got things wrong. Good job I asked!

Well, putting this as politely as possible, the person in question is someone I work with and they’re a bit of a know it all who doesn’t always know that much! Hence me asking on here. I figured CC people would have a lot more info than this person. If you were to ask them they would likely tell you they invented Alaska cruising 😂 Thanks for all your tips!

This is really useful information so thank you for sharing! I’m not fussed about what’s on board really as long as there’s food and drink but I like the idea of something similar to an observation lounge where we can be inside but still see the great scenery. Like you, I believe you go to Alaska for Alaska and not the ship. But since it’s likely we’ll only get to do it once I want to make sure we book the best options for us. That’s really good to know about Glacier Bay too as not all routes include it. I’d rather book one that does to almost guarantee seeing a glacier and not risk missing them due to bad weather or something.

Thank you! I haven’t heard of these lines so I’ll definitely look into them.

The person we spoke to said the smaller ships often sail in the inside passage and larger ones don’t. They also said sometimes smaller ships are allowed to sail when larger ships are turned away if there’s limits on the number of ships in glacier bay for an example. This person has cruiser Alaska 3 times and this is the advice they gave us but this is why I’ve asked for other people’s opinions as they may not have been accurate in the advice they gave.

We’re currently in the early stages of researching a once in a lifetime (for us) trip to Alaska. We’ve not yet picked a cruise line for the cruise portion but I’m intrigued to hear others thoughts on whether you prefer cruising on larger or smaller ships in Alaska? What are the pros and cons of each? We’ve been recommended both. Large: we’ve been told as you’re higher up you’ll see more and they often have the best observation lounge areas. Also there’s the obvious, there’s more choice of what to do. Small: we’ve been told you’ll get closer to glaciers and will have more luck sailing in certain areas than the larger ships. Thanks in advance!

We had to miss Saint Tropez because the weather was too bad to launch tender boats. We’d guessed the night before that this would happen because the weather got worse as the night went on and the ship was really rocking overnight. We were disappointed but didn’t mind too much, it’s one of the risks with any cruise because the weather can be unpredictable.

I agree on the Asian food, it’s so easy to make that vegetarian and because it’s so quick most people will happily cook something off menu. My husband is like you, he will eat anything and he said there was an excellent variety on the ship. He was particularly happy to see grilled mahi mahi in the buffet and he said that was really tasty.

My biggest issue was that there was far less variety than there was on my last cruise where I didn’t have any issues finding a variety of food to eat. A couple of the chefs were very helpful though and whenever we went for breakfast at O’Sheehans they always just made me whatever I asked for and let me go off menu so that was nice.

I think she’ll definitely be able to find something she will enjoy onboard 😊

Entertainment I’ve only ever cruised on the Epic and loved the two main shows: Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Burn the Floor but I didn’t know what to expect on the Dawn. All of the live music we saw in the various bars and lounges were really good, we especially liked Rhythm Jive who were often singing at the pool in the afternoon. One of the bands also sang a few Johnny Cash songs one night at the atrium/O’Sheehans and we enjoyed that. We saw 4 shows in the theatre: Nathan James - we loved this show. Some absolute classic songs here, he’s a great vocalist and we loved singing and clapping along. Soul Rocking Nights - this was opening night when we were onboard and we enjoyed this show. It wasn’t quite what we were expecting but we really liked it. The vocalists are amazingly talented and we enjoyed listening to them and watching the dancers. The Illusionists - we really liked this show. I know a bit about illusion and tricks so I knew how the majority of the illusions were done but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment. My husband knows nothing about illusions and tricks and he loved it. Elements - this is amazing! Again, it was the opening night during our cruise but you wouldn’t know it. I was gutted when I heard that NCL were getting rid of the broadway shows but if they replace them all with something like this I’ll have no complaints. There were dancers, acrobats and magicians and honestly this show was faultless. We didn’t know where to look during the finale, it was incredible. I recommend this to everyone! We are not people who consider Deal or No Deal or Wheel of Fortune entertainment being honest but we saw a few minutes of each and it did look fun, we just chose not to participate. We did join a couple of trivia sessions though which were fun and whenever we were on board for them we joined in with the dance lessons in Bliss. We really enjoyed the dance lessons and found them to be a great way to spend 30mins. My advice is to not take them seriously, just go with the flow and enjoy yourself. The biggest surprise by far was the Cabaret show that was on for one night only in the Bliss Lounge. This absolutely should be in the theatre as a main show because it was great. It involved the entertainment crew singers and some brilliant musical and broadway hits and honestly, these people are so talented I’ll be amazed if anyone can fault this show. Their voices are incredible and we loved singing along with them. Again, it was the first time they’d done the show during our cruise and I’m hoping they add a few more songs and turn it into a theatre show. We had an unexpected sea day during this cruise and the weather was awful so no one was relaxing upstairs by the pool. The ship felt a little crowded but we always found something to do and somewhere to go. We aren’t the sort of people who fill our days to the max when we holiday in the Mediterranean and often we found ourselves just sat by a window with a drink chatting away and relaxing. There was even more going on during our cruise, we just couldn’t get round anything. I think everyone will find something to their taste on board and I absolutely think everyone needs to see Elements. An insane amount of work has gone into that show and it’s really paid off.

We didn’t go here at all as we don’t have kids and make the choice to stay away from kids only areas. No idea if this was renovated or not. We could see the dinosaurs when on shore which seem to match online photos of the area but I can’t say more than that.

As far as I’m aware it was installed. Neither my husband or I had any issues with the internet.

Cookies I’m very disappointed, I didn’t find a single cookie! So unfortunately it looks like NCL have scrapped these. I don’t understand why, the desserts they now have on the buffet surely cost more than the cookies. I asked repeatedly, I checked the buffet during afternoon teatime, I checked the casino, and yet I couldn’t find a single cookie. I was told they’d be available at both teatime and the casino and never found them. I may have been unlucky with my timing but honestly cookies should not be so hard to find. The only way to get them now as far as I can tell is to order them on room service. I know a lot of people are disappointed by this particular cutback so hopefully NCL listen and bring back the cookies even if the quantity per passenger is limited to stop people wasting plates full of them.

Main Dining Rooms We didn’t manage to eat in Aqua but we ate in the Venetian twice. The biggest reason we didn’t go more is the veggie menu options weren’t to my taste on 80% of the days that we checked. I did go for the veggie burrito and I also had the Idaho potato pot pie, both were lovely. Husband had a chilli prawn special one night and a steak the other and enjoyed both. We really liked the atmosphere in the Venetian and found all the servers to be friendly and professional. The first time we went was embarkation day and as expected we had a wait of 45mins but we just went to the Bliss Lounge for a cocktail whilst we waited. The second time we went we were seated immediately, we didn’t have a reservation either. I could definitely notice the cutbacks with the bread baskets. Last time we cruised he baskets had a variety of bread types, usually more on the speciality end. I remember once there was a black rye bread that was very tasty for example. This time it was a simple white crusty roll and a soft wholemeal roll. This didn’t bother us however it is a shame that the speciality breads are a thing of the past as we always looked forward to those. I’d happily eat at the Venetian again though because the food was lovely as were the servers.

O’Sheehans We came here quite a lot especially as it was on the same deck as our cabin. It seemed to be nicer than the one on the Epic and we liked the layout. I came here every evening and asked them to fill my water bottle with iced water. Only time anyone objected was on the very last night when the bar tender told me I should be going to the garden cafe and not using that bar, but since it was the last night he filled my bottle anyway. We had breakfast here several times and found it to be enjoyable with the exception of the breakfast potatoes. The ones in the buffet were lovely and crispy and well seasoned, the ones in O’Sheehans were greasy and soggy and not that appetising. No idea why they were so different but we tried them twice then opted to leave them out every time we ordered. The main menu isn’t fabulous if you’re a veggie but I had the nachos without chilli con carne which was nice and I have a soft spot for pretzel rolls (only appeared once on the buffet during the entire cruise so I’d often order the pretzel bites here). I asked for a veggie burger one day but was told they didn’t have them and I didn’t ask for it again. Husband had the wings, the wrangler burger and a chilli dog and said they were all lovely. What I like about this venue is it’s casual and relaxed but you still get live music either through the atrium piano or through a band playing on the staircase stage. The grey lounge chairs made an excellent spot for enjoying the entertainment and this is a very central location on the ship.

Nothing overly significant. Starling WiFi was installed, a lot of carpets and flooring were replaced, new air con in the cabins and I think there was a general spruce up. No major refurbs.