Eaglecw

My schedule shows the NCL Pearl in Juneau on Aug. 5th at the AJ Dock.

Here's the docking schedule http://claalaska.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Juneau-JNU-2014.pdf

On the full Sea days, Monday and Friday night

We just got back from the Grand Princess and took the small boat excursion off the Grand Princess up in Tracey Arm. We got back to the ship about 20 or 30 minutes late. Some people were getting a little excited about being late for there next excursion. You'll love the small boat excursion up Tracy Arm, it was awesome. The pilot of the boat we were on was a young lady, Capt. Tully and she was good. A 4:20 excursion with Harv & Marv would be prefect. We've been to Juneau many times so we play it by ear.

Thank you so much!!! The entertainment sounds like it will be great :) I've never been on a Princess Cruise before so it will all be new to me :) I appreciate all the knowledge you shared with me :)

If you get a chance take the "Backstage Tour" it was very informative, at was Friday "Sea day" at 11:30.

Everyone is spot on. We spent hours out on our balcony, bundled up, ask your room steward for some extra blankets it can cold out on the balcony. We stayed outside until we couldn't see anymore, about 11pm.

I don't know why so many people eat in the buffet on embarkation day? Every Princess sailing I have been on, when you get on the ship, they tell you lunch is being served in the buffet. But fail to tell you it is also being served in one of the main dining rooms as well. They post it on the Princess website that it is available. Our best lunches ever have been on embarkation day in the dining room. If you prefer the buffet, great. I just want to let the people who don't know that it is available.

Also the rest of the cruise we never seem to take the time to eat lunch in the dining room because we are busy and don't want to take the time.

I couldn't agree more. We just got off the Grand and we had a wonderful lunch on embarkation day in the MDR, got there about 12:15. I had a wonderful Bacon/Cheese burger, fries and a glass of milk. For desert we each had a Apple tart. The only time we go to the buffet is when we absolutely have too.

The Last time I was in Vietnam I didn’t need visa. I won a special lottery and got an inclusive all expenses paid 435 day vacation, with water sports, helicopter rides, hiking, camping and hunting almost daily. I had so much fun I’ve never had much desire to go back.

I'm so excited to be on the Grand in 4 weeks :) Reading all of these posts make me even more excited:) Can you tell me about the entertainment on the ship? :) sorry I posted a similar post a couple days ago, but maybe you didn't see it :) Thanks in advance :)

That’s a good question. We took the “Back stage tour” on the Grand and it was pretty informative. All the stage productions in the theater are the same for the class of ship, there are 3 ships in the Grand class and they all have the same stage shows. They run the shows for 3 to 8 years to keep the costs down. It cost anywhere from $800k to $1.2 million when they change shows, this is paid by the cruisers (customers) so changing the shows every year would add a lot to the price of the cruise. Princess pays a royalty on all the songs that are played on the ship. The visiting entertainers change often so it’s hard to say who will be on the Grand from week to week. Steve Moris http://stevemoris.com/ was on the Grand the week we were on board, he was good. Garry Carson http://www.carsonentertainment.com/ was also on board, he does a comedy & magic show, he was also good. Uber Rossi http://www.dcptalent.com/artiste.php?artiste=172&uber-rossi did a comedy and acrobatics show, we didn’t see his show but people we talked to either like or didn’t like it, it was more of an adult show.

A couple of quick questions if I may:

 

In Juneau, how did the excursion->Grand Princess->dry land thing work? Did you have to get off the excursion boat onto the Grand? Was it less/no security because you'd been "secured" all morning? I might want to head back to the room to pick up extra camera gear between stops.

 

How late were you getting back? We've given ourselves a 30-minute window between Tracy Arm and our Juneau excursion; perhaps we should pick a different time.

 

Victoria - any customs/immigration delays on this stop?

In Juneau we got off the tour boat directly back onto the Grand on the tender platform, Starboard side midships. Yes, We had to go back though security when we got back onto ship. We got back to the Grand about 20 minutes late. We went and had lunch and then went into Juneau, most everyone had already gone ashore when we got off.

Victoria - We got there about 7pm and it only took 20 or 30 minutes for Canadian customs/immigration to clear the ship come ashore.

Thanks for the pool answers. We will not be going to Alaska but to

Astoria and Victoria, so it should be warm enough some days to swim.

Sunshine Nana, if you make it to Astoria, sometimes the ships don’t make it up the Columbia River, tides wrong or heavy winds. Go to the Maritime Museum http://crmm.org/ and if you have time a trip out to Fort Clatsop http://www.nps.gov/lewi/planyourvisit/fortclatsop.htm

In Victoria if you have time go to the Royal BC Museum http://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/

We’ve been to both of them many times.

Hi... Can you tell me about the 2 formal nights. How dressed up do people get. Is Khaki pants and a golf shirt enough for the guys? Or do they need a suit. Thanks.

I normally wear a dark suit on formal night. But this last cruise I didn’t wear the jacket and just wore a pair of tan pants, a nice sharp looking shirt and tie. My lovely wife wears a nice dress that she would wear to wedding. We don’t get super dressed up. Some people look better not dressed up. Khaki pants and Golf shirt might not get it.

One of my pet peeves is Hats in the dining room or anywhere inside the ship for that matter.

There is a covered, heated pool. Although heated, may be a little cool for some....

Yes the one of pools is covered and heated. The first sea they closed the pools because they became unsafe do to the rough seas, the pools turned into massive wave pools so they closed them for a time.

I didn't go into the pools, I was afraid that the naturalist would call out whale sighting over the ships PA system. LOL!!

Thanks for the report.

 

Two questions.

 

How was the lunch menu on embarkation day in the dining room? It has been posted that on some ships it has really been cut back with no burger available and no real choice of dessert.

 

If you went to the Platinum/Elite/Suite lounge in the evening, do you remember the price of the drink special of the day there?

On embarkation day in the De Vinci dining room I had a Bacon Cheese Burger with fries and my DW had a Cheese Burger with fries. For desert I had a Apple Tart with a bowl of Vanilla Ice Cream. My DW had the Apple Tart, no Ice Cream. The Burgers in the MDR are excellent.

We were too busy to get up to the One5 club for the afternoon drink of the day specials. Our friends went up a couple of times and they said the drinks were $5.

Thanks for the review! We are on the Grand in just over a week. Hoping the weather is nice and the seas are calm. :)

If you are going to Tracey Arm, try to get on the "Glacier Explorer" excursion that leaves from the ship when it's up in Tracey Arm. You won't be disappointed. Some of the people I talked to later said they were disappointed that the ship couldn't get any closer to Sawyer Glacier because of the ice. I believe the "Glacier Explorer" excursion was sold out a week or so before the ship left Seattle.

Can you tell me who the Naturalist is on board? And what you thought of him/her?

 

This may seem really trivial, but can you remember which night is Italian night in the dining room? It's my favorite. :o

Mark Harris was the naturalist. He seemed very knowledgeable, better than the ones we had in the past. He give couple of talks on Whales, Bears, Salmon and was on the ships PA system when we were up in Tracey Arm.

I was talking to a naturalist on one of our tours and I asked her if they had a Razor clams http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_razor_clam or Geoduck Clams in Alaska and she looked at me like I was crazy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoduck she had never heard of them. I was raised in the Pacific Northwest and yes they have them up there.

I believe Thursday night was Italian night. I don’t really like Italian so a few nights I ate of the”Always Available” side of the menu.

This year we're going back to Tracy Arm and are taking the excursion where a boat picks you up from the ship near Sawyer Island and takes you up closer to both Sawyer Glaciers. The folks that we talked to that went on the excursion said they saw whales, bears, mountain goats and eagles and the trip was worth every penny they paid. We can hardly wait

We just got off the Grand Princess and took the "Glacier explorer" excursion from the Grand Princess at Sawyer Island. We got to within 1/4 of a mile to the Sawyer Glacier. They only take 130 passengers on this excursion so you have to book early. Not all the cruise ship do the "Glacier explorer" excursion so check the excursions before you book your cruise. The "Glacier explorer" excursion is absolutely AWESOME!!!

First of all the total trip was AWESOME!! I’m not going to dwell on the negative. Life is not perfect so why look for the negatives.

The embarkation in Seattle was quick and very well organized. We arrived at the Pier 91 at about 11am and were on the ship by 11:45am. We are Platinum and used the Priority boarding; there wasn’t anyone in line when we got there so it was quick. We went right up to our cabin B637 to drop off our carry-on and met our cabin steward Christian; I think he is the best room steward we’ve ever had. We headed down to the De Vinci dining room for lunch. We try to not go to the horizon Court because it’s too crowded . The sail away parties for ships leaving from Pier 91 have been toned down by the city because the music echoes off the water and it can be heard for miles by the people who live up on the bluff above Pier 91. The cruise out to the Straits of Juan De Fuca was peaceful, sunny and warm.

First full sea day – don’t let anyone BS you, you can’t see land on the full sea days. The seas were pretty rough this day, lots of people were sick. There were a lot of activities on the ship, if you get bored it’s your fault. The MDR was open for breakfast and lunch. The crown grill was open for an English style lunch. The weather was cool, 50 deg. windy and cloudy. At 2 pm we met with our Cruise critic roll call in the One5 Club. There were 15 of us there. Enjoy meeting everyone and hearing about everyone’s plans for their cruise.

Ketchikan – the weather was cool, 55 deg. partly cloudy. We berthed at berth 4, this the furthest berth from the tourist part of Ketchikan. We took a tour out to Herring cove and Saxman village with a private company at dockside. We did the tourist walk after we got back. It didn’t rain until we started to leave port.

Tracey Arm – as we started to go up Tracey Arm we encountered heavy fog, I thought that it was going to be wash out. After we got up into the Arm a bit the fog cleared and it was bright sunny day 60 deg., warm, no wind. LOTS! of ice up in Tracey Arm. We booked the “Glacier explorer excursion” off the ship and there was talk of the ship canceling the excursion because of the ice. When we got up to Sawyer Island there was the Alan Marine tour boat St. Philip waiting for 130 us, loaded us up and away we went working our way up to the Sawyer Glacier. This is one of the most awesome excursions we’ve taken in Alaska. We got up to about a ¼ of mile from glacier. The boat captain stayed in position for at least an hour. We were about ready to leave when a huge section calved off the face of the Glacier. On the way out of Tracey Arm we spotted 2 bears at the shore line and stopped by a beautiful waterfall. This tour ends in Juneau and on the way in we spotted a whale. The excursion boat pulled up to the ship docked at Juneau where we got on as we got off. What a great day.

Juneau – we berthed at the AJ Dock, this is furthest pier from town. There’s bus available to take you into town. We were a little late getting back from Tracey Arm so most everyone had already gotten off the ship. Walked around town, went to the State Capitol building for a tour and did some shopping in town. When we left Juneau we sat out on the balcony until well past 11pm, beautiful sunset.

Skagway - the weather was cool, 50 deg. windy, partly cloudy. We walked into town did the tourist walkabout, hit a few shops and did some hiking. Again when we left Skagway we sat on the balcony and watched the scenery and sunset.

Full sea day after leaving Skagway – lots of activities on the ship.

Victoria – we didn’t arrive at Victoria until 7pm. It was cold and windy; you could see your breath. We decided to stay on board and play trivia.

Disembarkation – was a breeze. We were scheduled to disembark at 8:45. We were off the boat, had our bags and through customs and immigration at 8:50 am. We parked our car at the Smith cove parking lot and the shuttle was waiting for us when got down to their pickup point.

The Grand Princess is in very good condition. The staff is excellent; the ship entertainment was good as was the food. This is our 8th trip to Alaska and our 6th with Princess. We are ready to go again.

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.

We just got back from the June 1st sailing on the Grand Princess and she was rocking and rolling pretty good on the first full sea day, lots of people didn't feel well. We don't take anything for sea sickness and don't get sea sick.

I'd like to book with SE for my parents and am concerned about the pick up from the pier. I've read that it's a bit of a walk to their vans. Is that true and is it doable for a bit an older couple with luggage? I'd hate to book them for it and then it not be something they can handle. I'd feel awful.

 

TIA

We just came back this last Sunday and it's about 100 yards or so to the Seattle Express pickup area. If your parents can pull there bags that far they shouldn't have any problems.

Last year when got off the Star we where home by 10am. We live about 45 miles South of Pier 91. Where in Oregon do you have to drive to?

The boarding times are suggestions. Tomorrow we sail on Grand Princess, we’ve done this before. Normally they start boarding around 12. We like to get to the terminal around 11 or so.

RoxnDox here are few useful tips for you. When your son drops you off take your bags into the center door, it say luggage drop off or something like that, there will be someone from Princess directing everyone where to go, make sure you have your Princess tags on your bag, you can’t believe the number of people who don’t do it right. If you don’t have the tag on the bag the longshoreman will not put the bag into the scanner. They don’t have any staplers there for you to use so you have to have it ready to go when you drop the bags off. It’s also not a bad idea to put another tag on the inside of your bag, just in case. Now this where the fun starts. Take the escalator upstairs, it’ll be a maze of back and forth rows. Have all your travel documents handy, you’re going to have to show them before you put your carryon bags into scanner. At some point you’ll have fill out a health questionnaire before you get to the counter. Once you get to the counter, you’ll show your credit card, hand in your health questionnaire and get your room key. Be patient, the whole process could take up to 2 hours on a bad day.

goodie2shoes, I have to laugh when I hear people talk about the Porter this or that in Seattle. There are no Porters at the terminal in Seattle. They are longshoremen, they might be loading a cruise ship today and unloading heavy machinery tomorrow. The longshoremen union is one of toughest unions there is on the west coast. Don’t call a longshoremen a Porter, you bags could go onto the wrong ship.

Has anyone been on a tour with Dyea Dave tours out to Dyea? Was it worth the trip? Is there anything out there? We’ve done just about everything in Skagway and figured this might different.

I WOULD NOT!! Recommend the Lighthouse, Totems & Eagles Excursion. Been there and done that. You cruise by Totem Bright State park in the boat that stinks, an old Light House, they point out a few eagle nests, give you a snack and take you back to the dock. The boat looked like was about on its last legs. There are a lot of other things to do in Ketchikan. We are talking about taking the city bus out to Saxman Village next week.

We’ve been Alaska many times and this some of things we’ve done on a budget. This upcoming trip will be our 8th trip.

Seattle - Klondike Gold Rush National Park http://www.nps.gov/klse/index.htm lots of information there

Museum of Flight http://www.museumofflight.org/ awesome place

I wouldn’t go to the Space Needle. But go to the 73rd floor of the Columbia Tower http://skyviewobservatory.com/ the views are out of this world.

Pike Street market is tourist trap as is the Underground tour, I wouldn’t go there again.

Ketchikan – take the city bus out to Totem Bight Park, there’s store next to the park, it’s rather interesting in there. When you get back into town go over to the Forest Service Discovery Center. A stroll down Creek street and then walk up the hill to the Totem pole park.

Juneau – There are tons of things to do there that won’t kill your budget. Take the Blue or White bus out to Mendenhall Glacier. Too bad the Alaska State Museum is closed, it was a nice place to kill a few hours. We always enjoyed taking the Tram u Mt. Roberts and hiking the trails on top.

Skagway – We’ve been on bus to Emerald Lake, rode the White Pass train to the summit and back. Rented a car and drove to Whitehorse for the day. The most informative and best bang for the buck was the tour with Dyea Dave tours up to Carcross. The city of Skagway has a nice museum there. You can also take a walking tour with one of the Park Service Rangers.

Victoria – we have an early dinner on the ship and stroll into town and stroll around the inner harbor area.