arpie05

I have only sailed NCL twice but I was reading the Daillies someone posted from their cruise last year. What are Activity card points? I saw where on the last day you go to redeem points from participating in activities. I am curious how one signs up for this or knows about.

I want to sail with you 🙂 Your writing is amazing. I hope you journal and post again as I am on at the end of May.

Martincath - You are so kind to this person since you have had to post the same thing many times lately. (Do you save it in a OneNote and copy and paste each time 😉) I just am going to say it is confusing where to find info on Vancouver because sometime the info is in West Coast departures and sometimes it is under Alaska ports. Cruise Critic needs to figure out a way to make this "where to post"/where to find info easier.

The first time we went - I didn't have a lot of money to spend on excursions. We rode the city bus around - we got off at Walmart because I thought it would be the cheapest place (and I'm sure it was something I read on CruiseCritic)to buy souvenirs. It doesn't look like the summer schedule is out yet but when I googled bus I got this Transit | Ketchikan Gateway Borough, AK - Official Website (kgbak.us) Could be an inexpensive way to see the city and who knows what you might find.

We are flying in a few days early for our cruise. It leaves on a Monday (Not a holiday) and I wondered if the shops have later hours on Sunday vs Saturday. I think most US stores don't open until 11-1pm on a sunday but will open between 8-10 M-Sat. Just trying to figure out the most efficient use of our time. Also US Stores tend to close by 6 pm on Sunday but 8-9 pm on Saturday

I think the larger ships can't do the One Way. We did NCL Joy in 2019 and it had all the kid extra stuff. But it was round trip out of Seattle. One option would be to add a flight to see Denali.

It says tour is 3 hrs. I would guess 15-30 minute drive there. Your journey begins with a narrated tour of downtown Juneau and the city's highlights as you make your way to Mendenhall Valley -- home of the Mendenhall Glacier. Upon arriving at Mendenhall, your Driver-guide will point out many of the attractions that you'll want to experience during your 2.5 hour stay...

I have done 2 Alaska cruise - both on NCL and I can't comment on HAL. But someone else touched on this - There isn't a nightlife on Alaska cruises. The average age of passengers are older - AND the time difference for most passengers is at least 1 hour. Depending if your ship changes clocks once or twice - Even if you're from CAL - that's 2 hours earlier and 4 for me in midwest. So At 7am ship time - my body thinks it is 10-11 am (almost lunch time). Plus the ships usually dock early because of the time zone difference also. I was in my 30s or early 40s first Alaska cruise - and I was surprised how quiet it was onboard. But you will be on a floating hotel - I like the spa for Alaska - it's a great place to go after dinner to relax before bed.

I think it depends on what you're wanting to do. I was last in Alaska four years ago and would like to do the canoe you mentioned. You can go on YouTube and search for Alaska excursions and there are some nice videos that show both excursions. We didn't do the upclose boat because it's a long time you're confined to the small ship (maybe 6 hrs). We thought it would be boring. One of the videos mentioned you need warm clothes because it is cold. We paid for a balcony to watch the glaciers from our room - if you didn't have a balcony - going out on the boat might be nice but I got very seasick whale watching (LOL). Yes the small boat gets closer but for me - not that big of deal. ALSO - really the point too is - do you want a physical excursion or sedentary? The canoe and hike would involve much more activity than just watching from a small boat. maybe you can save some money between now and then and do both.

Where would you recommend this the best area for Antique Shops? We're staying at the Hilton on Robson across from the Library. We won't have a car but planning on buying metro and HoHo tix.

We did it like 12 years ago so things will be different by now. I loved it as it was not Touristy port. My friend went on a ship excursion that was like a Water Rapids excursion. My son and I just walked around the port area and ate clam chowder, bought salmon, photographed eagles and walked up a hill to safeway to buy gingerale and other snacks.

While I understand their desire to do this... I think they're better off looking at ship capacity verse number of ships. Some of the ships are much smaller than industry standards because they're Alaska specific. I appreciate this move in I agree that too many people is an issue in a port. When the NCL Jewel sails into Juneau on June 1 - she's the 4th ship of the day and two are almost 3,000 passenger ships and other two are 2,100-2,400 passenger ships - So that means almost 10,000 tourists for the day. WOW! (June 2 & 3 each have 6 ships!)

Thank you! This is very helpful! (I can't believe how many ships will be in Alaska this summer season!

I will say on the Joy the Club balcony room was bigger than regular size balcony rooms (we peeked). They used to have a dedicated lounge on Joy but now it's open to everyone but it is only one deck up and it was very handy for snacks and food (vs buffet which was 2 decks (I think)). The room was the size of regular hotel room and the bathroom was nice.

Just a side note - Princess charges $305 vs NCL $499 for same excursion.

I'm posting here and not Alaska because I'm specifically looking for the Dailies for NCL Northbound Alaska (Vancouver to Seward). I have seen the Southbound posted (they even have FB group) but Northbound doesn't have as much info. If anyone has Jewel Northbound, even better! Thank you

Does anyone who has been on the Jewel recently know if they have fresh juice or a juice bar? Trying to decide about the beverage upgrade. Thank you.

I personally loved Prince Rupert. But it was over 10 years ago. The town is very quaint. We walked up the hill from the port to Safeway to buy Canadian treats (cookies/candy). We walked around town and the amount of Bald Eagles was crazy. (They're waiting for the Salmon fishermen discardings) A friend did a canoe type float trip to see wild life. We bought some salmon and had Clam Chowder at a little fish market at the port. I prefer to visit those LessTouristy places and it was just that!

Thank you!! Yes Afternoon tea!

Thank you for the map. I have tagged it as I know my son and DIL will want to go to a Poutine place!

I'll just plug that Hilton offers a 5th night free option as part of loyalty program. I just got a email today. I rarely stay 5 consecutive nights anywhere but saw your post. The Canadian rail recommends the Hampton on Robeson.

We rented a car and did our own tour of the area.

I also would say you are several months out - they could still add excursions to a June cruise. I was glad our Victoria stop was a daytime and not the nighttime that a lot of ships do. I think we went whale watching and then walked into town - I wanted to see the Fairmont Empress which we walked through and went to gift shop. We walked around town and walked back to ship from there. I recall we took a taxi to the Empress. (this 2019 so before covid so don't recall 100%).

Me too. Done. Seattle round trip twice but haven’t made into Glacier National Park. Going North May 29