OrcaGirl

I'd say not necessary at all... I wore a pair of non-waterproof Altra trail runners on all of my excursions (whale watching, Totem Bight, etc.). My mom wore Skechers. We were both fine, no issues with wet feet. Comfort and a good grip is more important than waterproofing IMHO. Some of the gangways were at quite the angle due to the tides and I was honestly more concerned about mom slipping and falling when it was wet and slippery.

I'm very sad to hear this news. As others have mentioned, having actual Broadway shows was one of the draws to Norwegian for me and a huge differentiator... to the point that when selecting the cruise I'm going on tomorrow, I gave my friend three suggested ships and she chose the Bliss in large part due to Six. I've sailed on Celebrity Edge and Discovery Princess in the last six months, and their in-house production shows were fine but not particularly memorable (except for the giant screen on the Edge). No mention of Beetlejuice so I guess it was too expensive to break that contract early and they'll just let it run its course?

I agree with the others, the odds of being asked to 'prove' your medications are infinitesimally small. I've flown between Canada and the US hundreds of times and never once have had anyone question what pills are in what bottle. Customs at YVR airport will ask the purpose of your visit and how long you're staying -- that's it. Same for cruising, as long as you're not smuggling illicit substances, no one cares what's in your toiletry bag or pill container.

If anyone else stumbles across this topic, here's the website for the Port of Seattle that provides information on which pier which ship will be at: https://www.portseattle.org/cruise-ships As a general rule, Norwegian is almost always at Pier 66 and the other major lines are at Pier 91.

If you take the early Amtrak train from Seattle to Vancouver, arrive super early to King Street Station, especially if you've got luggage to check. We took the 7:50am train up a couple of weeks ago. Be aware that you need to go to one area first to get any checked luggage tagged, and then go to passport check, and *then* get in line for the train itself (and you keep your luggage with you until just before boarding). The staff tried to shout out instructions but it was really hard to hear. Our train was also sold out, as well, so it was a bit chaotic. I don't know if they always do this or if it was just because the train was sold out, but instead of boarding the queue in order, they called for groups of six or more to board first, then groups of five, four, etc. Also be aware that delays can happen. We had several pauses due to freight traffic on the tracks, and then a long delay when the train actually reached Pacific Central in Vancouver, and then another delay for luggage to be unloaded, and then the wait for border security. It was well past 2pm by the time we were out of the station. Fortunately Vancouver is home for us, but if we'd been boarding a ship that day I'd have been sweating. We're taking the train down to Seattle next month for our next cruise, but then will bus back.

From Maltings: an Eastern Legacy (only bar on board that has the ingredients to make it, note that the way it's prepared onboard is very different than what someone listed earlier) From A-List: the Napa Valley vodka and tonic From Sugarcane: Pineapple Coconut Mojito In the Observation Lounge: an espresso martini At the Local: a Glacier Blue At Q: smoked peach margarita By the pool: a BBC

A few final thoughts on our cabin... Our cabin was L206, forward and port-side, on the Lido deck, and we had a mini-suite. As the 'youngest' of the three, I got the sofa bed, which was surprisingly comfortable if narrow. By the fifth day or so, I asked our wonderful steward to stop transforming it back into a sofa each day. The curtains separating my 'room' from the proper beds was handy, though some people need to learn boundaries and ask if I'm decent before coming on in to grab something from the mini-fridge. The balcony was well appreciated, even if we didn't spend as much time our there as I would have liked, and a couple of nights I was able to leave the door open for fresh breezes and the sound of the waves. This may have been the first cruise I've ever been on where we actually filled the closet, like every single hanger was occupied. There was a good amount of clothes storage, but I found the bathroom storage to be tight for three women with all of our assorted toiletries. We heard some noise from our neighbours once or twice, but nothing major. D brought her CPAP machine, and I knew from these boards that the cruise ship would be accommodating, so there was an extension cord and a jug of distilled water waiting in the cabin for her. I would have liked just one more outlet in the room... the plug above the table near the phone was weird, in that anything chunky you plugged into the US-style outlet overlapped with and pressed up against the light switch. It was great being on the same deck at the buffet, and a straight shot down the elevator to the Enclave.

Well then... you don't have long to wait. 🤣 While I was onboard the Discovery Princess, the friend that I introduced to cruising last October (on the Celebrity Solstice) texted me to ask if I'd help her pick out a cruise for her to take her 8-year-old son on... and then she invited me to join them. So my next cruise will be June 17, back to Alaska, on the Norwegian Bliss. Catch my next semi-live-from over on the Norwegian boards then... hopefully with less COVID this time.

Disembarkation and return home recap No room service on disembarkation days, so I set my alarm early and headed down to the International Cafe for some coffees and teas and breakfast foods to bring back for the ladies. Despite picking the latest available disembarkation time on the little piece of paper a couple of days prior, we were assigned to an early-ish group (Aqua 3). We said goodbye to our cabin and headed down to the Vista Lounge, our designated waiting area. My mom was soooo ready to get off the ship. Our group was called relatively quickly, and by 8:10am or so we were off the ship and headed for the luggage hall. Despite a port staff person saying that some luggage was still being offloaded, I found ours easily and we headed towards customs and immigration. Except there wasn't any? We didn't need to show our passports or talk to a person, or anything. Just walked right out the building. I should have booked a transfer, as the ride share parking lot was reeeeeeeeeaaaally far from the terminal. Fine for me, less fine for the ladies who needed several breaks and were probably cursing my name. But we found our Lyft and headed off to our Hyatt House hotel near the Space Needle. It wasn't cheap, but the location was great. We spent the rest of the morning on the Hop On Hop Off bus, choosing to just go along for the ride and not hop off anywhere. Once back at the starting location, conveniently across the street from the hotel, we headed into the Seattle Center Armory for lunch. The Skillet Counter burgers were good, portions were huge, but that is not poutine. Nope. We wandered back to the hotel via the gardens, and then chilled in the hotel room for the rest of the afternoon as mom caught up on 90 Day Fiance... None of us had any oomph for going out for dinner, so I ordered in Thai food from a nearby restaurant and had it delivered to the lobby. We called it an early night... and then I woke up around midnight feeling a little stuffed up. Oh no! I was really, really hoping it was just allergies or cruise crud. I tossed and turned the rest of the night, as my breathing just got more and more congested. We had tickets for the 7:50am train from Seattle to Vancouver, so I sent the ladies downstairs for the complimentary breakfast buffet while I tried (and failed) to not toss my cookies. I masked up, we called a Lyft, and headed to the station. King Street Station was a lot more chaotic that I remember it being in pre-COVID days, but we got our luggage tagged and passport checked and I joined the looooooong boarding line. Next time, I'm flying. It was a full train, and we weren't able to get seats facing the water but at least got three seats together. I felt miserable the entire way, just hoping that my mom wasn't going to get sick. There were a few delays due to freight traffic on the tracks, and then more delays getting luggage off the train once we reached Vancouver. Finally we made it and my husband was waiting to pick us up. They dropped me off at home while they headed to their hotel and then grabbed lunch, and I crashed for a few hours and then took the fateful COVID test. Managed to stay COVID-free across three years and four cruises, but I finally succumbed. Mom and D tested that afternoon and the next couple of days, and stayed negative. Woohoo! (Sooooo glad she got her latest booster just a couple weeks before the cruise.) And that's a wrap on this cruise adventure...

We were sitting in the row directly behind you! 😂

Okay, feeling much better compared to the first few days of COVID, so let's quickly recap the final sea day. We started the day in the thermal spa, as we were wont to do. I'm so thrilled that my mom enjoyed this space... We popped by the Atrium after breakfast for the towel folding demo; we didn't receive any towel animals ourselves for the duration of the cruise, so I can see why they save this for the last day (so there's no immediate influx of demands on room stewards). Today I 'discovered' the Bellini Bar while watching line dancing, and enjoyed their tasty beverages, bringing one of them into the theatre for Deal or No Deal for luck... well that didn't work, we didn't get a single win between the three of us. And then to afternoon tea, which was the only must-do for us today. Important to note: one fellow passenger was adamant that she had made reservations for afternoon tea because she had clicked the 'I'm Going' button in the app... but no, there are no reservations for afternoon tea. You get in line outside of the Skagway dining room, and then at 3pm they open the doors and seat your party. I left mom and D in the theatre as Deal or No Deal wrapped up and hustled over to the Skagway dining room to snag a spot in line, as we'd seen it snake around the deck on the earlier sea day. I ended up second in line, and we got our own table by the window. The small bites and treats were very good. I'm not a tea connoisseur but the ladies seemed to like it, and the servers kept their cups full. Only downside was the lack of proper Devonshire cream for the scones, but otherwise it was a delightful experience. (Fun fact: as an honest but stupid university student, I was stopped by customs bringing a tub of clotted cream into Canada from the UK... at the height of the mad cow scare...) After tea, D went for a nap and mom and I retreated to Princess Live for the "Hollywood Hiccups" game show which wasn't so much a game show or trivia session but just a hilarious time of the crew acting out various movies. Kudos to the entertainment staff for that one. We meandered back to the cabin to get ready for dinner. While getting dressed, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something moving out on the water. A humpback whale! I yelled for mom and darted out onto the balcony half-dressed, and sure enough the whale surfaced and did another impressive tail slap. We lost sight of it pretty quickly, but I was so glad we got that moment. To dinner! We had planned to go back to the Ketchikan MDR again, but since we had filled up at afternoon tea, it was much later than normal (for us) by the time we got to Ketchikan and the waiting area was packed and the lineup looked quite disorganized. So we high-tailed it out of there and back-tracked to Gigi's Pizzeria. We ordered two appetizers (a salad and an antipasto platter) and two pizzas (Hawaiian and vegetarian) to share between the three of us. The pizza was indeed very good, but was it better than on the Celebrity Edge? Hard to say... I was surprised but pleased to see slices of avocado on the vegetarian pizza. As we were sitting there finishing up our pizza, I remembered to check our photos from the previous night. They were... not good. We decided to skip stopping by the photo deck to get our 'free' prints. There were also some glitches with the app when trying to access the photos. Everyone was stuffed but you can't not order tiramisu when the opportunity presents itself, so mom and I shared one. Very good. We were fading so we headed down to Good Spirits for a final drink while D headed to the Guest Services desk to settle up her bill (she wanted to pay her tab in cash). I don't know if it was because it was the last night or what, but the service at Good Spirits was... not good. We took a seat, and were ignored for a good 15 minutes or so. Waitstaff were walking around and taking orders from other tables, but kept missing our table. I couldn't even order via the app because the fancy cocktails exclusive to Good Spirits aren't available online. Finally a seat opened up at the bar so I walked over and placed my order. In the end, my Butterfly was pretty and got a lot of comments from passersby but was actually kind of meh. We got back to the room as the sky was starting to change colour. Finished up our packing and set out our luggage. And then, once again, I noticed some movement outside. Dolphins! A small pod of at least three dolphins were doing some flips off the portside. A pretty great end to a pretty great day.

Hey everyone, sorry for radio silence. I will come back and finish up the trip report in a few days, but had a little glitch in my plans:

Day 6 — afternoon and evening Okay, where were we? After our Ketchikan tour, we dropped off our layers and shopping in the room and headed to the buffet for lunch. Delicious! But the drink situation — grrr…. I ordered a Baked Alaska cocktail for me and a ginger something premium tea for mom via the app. My cocktail showed up within 20 min and was delightful. But no sign of the tea… we finished lunch and waited a bit longer. I sent mom and D back to the cabin and waited longer still. Eventually I went down to the International Cafe to ask what’s up. Oh they’re out of ginger tea and that’s why it never showed up… so why did the app still show the order as ‘on the way’?!?! The dude at the coffee bar didn’t seem to understand my frustration, and sure, it’s not his fault, but come on Princess! If items aren’t available at the time of ordered, they either shouldn’t be available to order or someone should come by to say sorry, not available right now… After all that, mom and I headed to the Enclave for a bit and then had a nice long nap in the cabin. We stayed in our balcony for sailaway (watching a dozen or so eagles fishing right close to shore) and about 20 min after the all-aboard time, the captain came on over the PA system to say that two passengers hadn’t come onboard yet and that if they showed up before 5pm sailaway to let them known what we thought of that. 🤣 So sure enough I see a couple walking slowly towards the ship, looking at their phone. (It’s a big ****int ship, how lost could you possibly be?!?!) One of the portside workers and an officer on a radio went up to them and then they started running… to the cheers and jeers of everyone on the balcony. After 20some cruises, that may have been the funniest pier running incident I’ve seen. We did a quick stop for photos, and then to dinner. We were seating in the Santa section of the dining room. The apparently-new/updated menu for elegant night: The escargot was good if quite salty. The steak and lobster was yummy, as was the raspberry swan. After dinner we claimed some seats in the theatre for the Spotlight Bar production. (It seems like every cruise line I’ve sailed recently has had a production show set in a bar, eg Choir of Man on NCL, Broken Strings on Celebrity…) It was okay; I did. appreciate their rendition of Little Nas X’s Old Town Road with an Anna Kendrick-esque Cups intro. My mom declared it “loud”. After that we were beat and ditched our plans for the Enclave to hit the hay early. After changing our clocks forward as instructed.

oh good point, if I remember later I’ll ask

Wow I’m tipsy. I’ve been drinking waaaay less all cruise since I need to keep an eye on the ladies but I’m making up for it on this last sea day. Still writing up the rest of Ketchikan.

Screenshot this off the Take Five menu…

I wish we’d had that sunny weather in Ketchikan too 🤣

Day 6 - Ketchikan and the Totem Bight State Park & Ketchikan Highlights Okay, trying to recreate Ketchikan from memory since I didn’t take a single note all day. 🤣 And left my DSLR on board because I assumed it would rain. Since we had an early excursion, we skipped the buffet and stuck with room service coffee and I made a run to the international cafe for a plate of little egg bites and assorted pastries. The strawberry croissant was particularly delightful. Disembarkation was not as easy as Sitka but still way better than Juneau. A lovely crew member took pity on mom and D after ~10 min of waiting for an elevator down to deck 4 (they have a hard time with stairs) and took us around to the crew-only elevator. It was cloudy but not rainy, and we only had to wait about 5 minutes before they called our excursion to line up in a covered area with benches for the ladies. After boarding the bus, we were taken for a drive through Ketchikan proper, with the driver (Marj) doing a great job of pointing out key sights and their history/significance. There were four ships in town today, all docked downtown, none at Ward Cove, for approximately 10,000 guests in town. We drove past Creek Street but didn’t stop. We originally had the Creek Street Walking Tour booked but the ladies decided they weren’t up to walking the nine blocks so we switched it out. I think they could have handled it, especially since it wasn’t raining. Oh hey Celebrity Solstice! I sailed on her in October and quite enjoyed it. We passed by Ward Cove, which is where we docked on the Norwegian Encore a couple of years ago (but never got off the ship because it was raining so much.) We arrived at Totem Bight State Park, and walked a short trail from the gift shop to the start of the main trail loop. Our driver lead us on the trail loop, stopping to point out interesting trees and plants, and explaining the significance of various totems. We entered a Haida-style clan house and the driver told us about the house construction and how the clan hierarchy would have worked. We continued along the trail stopping at each totem, and then back to the gift shop where we got coffee and Biscoff cookies while shopping. There’s also a small museum attached to the gift shop. We found it very amusing how much the other guests loved the skunk cabbage, which we have in abundance back in Vancouver and on the family farm up in Dawson Creek. We were driven back to the ship by 11:30am, did a little more shopping at the souvenir shop and then headed aboard for lunch.

Day 5 — evening shenanigans We got changed and headed to dinner. But first, a quick stop at Golden Girls trivia… mad props to the ladies in the front who absolutely destroyed the competition! Then to the Ketchikan dining room. We haven’t made MDR reservations once, and never waited more than 5 minutes to be seated, but then again, we tend to arrive fairly early. The Caesar salad was good, but the Beef Wellington was spectacular. Possibly the best I’ve ever had? During dinner, an officer came on the PA to announce that whales had been spotted off both sides of the ship. We had a slightly-obstructed window view but didn’t see anything. (For the menu watchers out there, a manager came by our table between courses to chit-chat, and mentioned something about a new fancy night menu debuting tomorrow. I guess my eyes lit up, cause he disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a preview copy. I’ll post it with my day 6 recap.) Mom’s chocoholic cheesecake was amazing and not nearly as heavy as expected. My Love Boat Dream was just okay. Mom and I headed to the marriage game show in the Vista Lounge; it was packed and we didn’t get much of a view but it was hilarious none the less. I just wish they’d have managed to get one of the Mr and Mrs Claus couples up there. We turned in early since we had an early excursion booked for Ketchikan but enjoyed a beautiful sunset from the balcony.

Catching up on Sitka — DSLR photos from our excursion

Yes to Makers Mark. But I’m afraid I can’t find the answer to the hot tubs hours, and I didn’t see any seating in the pools, although they do seem to have a shallow lip all the way around.

That must have been taken in Sitka… sunny and side by side. In Ketchikan the four cruise ships in town were all in a long row with the two HALs at the front, the Solstice, and then Discovery at the far end. The older Princess ships are more similar in size to the HAL ships.

Day 5 - All About Sitka — Russian and Tlingit Heritage Discovery excursion We met our excursion group on the pier at 1:20 and were taken to our bus. We drove first to the Old Sitka State Historic Site, then to Sandy Beach for views of a gorgeous theoretically dormant volcano (Mount Edgecombe?). Both stops were ~10 min for photos. Next we drove through town to the Sitka National Historic Park and spent about an hour there. Our driver escorted us for a short walk along the trails, telling us about the different plants and their traditional uses. Never did go to the museum or watch the film, as we just basked in the sunshine a bit longer looking at the totems and flowers. Our final stop was the replica clan house where we had the privilege of watching some traditional Tlingit dances. (I generally have conflicted feelings about having indigenous peoples ‘perform’ their cultural heritage for white settler tourists, so this wouldn’t have been my first choice of tour, but it was lovely.) We made a few quick purchases at the gift shop and then hustled back to our bus, just as the cruise staff was calling our driver to ask where the **** we were. 🤣 Once we got back to the ship, cruise staff lined the route back to the ship to make sure no one diverted into the shops. Yay for ship-booked tours. Once back onboard, we retired to our room to watch sailaway, which was so gorgeous. I want to return to Sitka just to kayak these waters. More/better photos to come separately once I get them off the DSLR.

(Had this all written up yesterday but fell asleep before posting.) Day 5 - Sitka What a lovely sunny morning to wake up to in Sitka! According to the naturalist yesterday, we had a decent chance of seeing the northern lights last night between 10pm to 3am if the skies were clear. (If we did, I slept right through it.) Room service, Enclave, second breakfast in the buffet. Lather, rinse, repeat. The buffet was much quieter, since most people were probably already on their way off the ship. And on this the fifth day of our cruise, I found the Eggs Benny station… and they are spectacular! We hung out on the pool deck for a few minutes to soak up some sun before heading back to the room to get ourselves organized for going ashore. Disembarkation was soooo much smoother than in Juneau; we were able to take the elevator straight to deck 4 and walk right off the ship. We did a little shopping in the port area, and then the ladies had a seat in the sunshine while I ran our purchases back onboard. We had lunch at Halibut Point Crab & Crowder. Note that their online menu is not up-to-date. But the blueberry mojito was delicious, and the ladies enjoyed their lingcod and chips. I made a mess of my half-crab, and probably left a lot of crabmeat behind. The highlight was the corn fritters with honey butter. (All things considered, though, we probably should have had lunch on board.) After lunch, we took a seat outside around the fire pit while we waited for our excursion meeting time.

Other than the solo kayaker guest presenter, we’ve missed all of then Enrichment lectures, but they’ve been on offer. Glacier and polar bears, wildlife of Alaska, etc.