mking8288

Heads up, we are rocking & rolling, the girls got motion sickness Rx with them, they might go for it, or not.  For us, great sleeping while in motion - midship and Deck 5, Susan said ... we are going fast ?  

No honey, 17 kts with modest crosswind. Oh.  Back to sleep again ... translation, no big deal, unless we are heading into 20+ waves and increasingly. 

2 hours ago, Seas2mountains said:

What do the nieces think of Cunard?  We have adult kids who are a little younger in mid 20’s to early 30’s. 
What are you and Susan missing about NCL if anything? 
And do the food items look better than how they are described in the menu or is that just me?

It's late here in Alaska time, 10:45 PM or almost 3 AM EDT ... but I am  going to answer some questions on an interim basis - which I know several others are eager to read & see, what we think.  

Our twin nieces in the mid 30's and been on several cruises with us, over the years, career pro in finance/accounting - had a longer informal polling session with them (LOL) this evening ... both of them have positive impression of sailing Cunard and said they would cruise again, even if given the choice over NCL ... similar prices & itinerary/ports.  They are pretty much among the 10 youngest onboard this sailing, from what we can see.  They aren't party girls and don't drink, do go to movies w friends & see Broadway shows.  Liking the onboard experience, service standards and don't mind not having loud music or late night parties ... during the day, between meals, they disappear & somehow managed to find things to do and keep themselves busy - one thing is certain, they aren't bored.  Of course, their parents are onboard and the girls paying for the trip & minding the elders.  

Food-wise, that's always subjective & biased - overall, Cunard has the edge & thumbs-up often ... NCL is losing their appeal, for us.  I will come back to this in greater depth & details, post-cruise.  Just our impressions thus far.  

As for things we missed since we've worked our way to Diamonds in 2023, not much - definitely not the 4 or 2 "cartons" of water or the plate of chocolate strawberries.  We still have our unopened small bottle of sparkling wine in our mini-refrigerator (it's bigger, slightly & colder) so the bottle of house wine from NCL's short list, not a deal-breaker either.  But, I think we do wish the onboard restaurants (upcharged or specialty dinining) is a prize to go after, but it was earned ... Cunard has perks for frequent cruisers.  If 2 of us were cruising ourselves, I am pretty sure we'll not mind doing the steakhouse for lunch, if not dinner, just to see & compare ... next time ??

Services in the dining room and with housekeeping, nothing missed or issues to "report" as missing basic expectations - attentive, responsible & friendly with smiles.  We are now having doubts & questioning whether NCL's "current" dining for the MDR is really good (detail chats, later)

We "missed" free laundry when sailing NCL but having guests (free) laundry room w ironing/board access is good - we got ours done in about 75 minutes while 1/3+ of the guests were busy with 1st seating for dinner ... just down the hallway.  

We can bring bottled water, juice & soda (wine & beer too, for others) free - as carry-on or in checked luggage, security doesn't blink or ask about "what's that" 

I'll answer & post more thoughts and comments later on, post-cruise as I have "notes" taken to help, so much to absorb & take in. 

And, I've been shaking my head and pounding sand (LOL) reading some of the comments over at NCL lately with highly respected reviewers like Yvonne & Jim, and others.  Dirty Harry is steering the fleet sideway and as tiny shares holders of NCL and CCL, not happy about it.  

Enough said for one evening.  

Mendellhall Visitor's Center, accessible friendly via elevators, thru the tunnel

Live atrium music - 7:30 PM 

Fast track on a bypass, tonight's dinner & menu

It's never easy to decipher menu descriptions without photos ... It was excellent, like the last few nights, above NCL lately, close to Specialty Dining. 

Let's just say, yummy yummy 👍 good good 😊 

Glacier 

Time to walk to the nearby small streams to spot salmon swimming upstream ...

Let's roll with our Glacier Bus, in blue color, of course. 

No bears sighted roadside, plenty of eagles along the way

This is the drop-off & pick-up point & parking area ... free-time of 90 minutes to explore.

Shops & Stores 

Tours meeting here, a 5 to 8 minutes walk

Let's check out the Totem poles on the way over 

Shorex on the spot, right here as you step ashore 

Our free time will be up soon, let's start walking ... 

Another fine institution in alliance with cruising - storefront rent here for a store like this w prime location, $30,000 a month and rest of the year / off-season ... just $15,000

Plus, they still offer these deals 🫢 really 🤔

Imagine the profit margins with a successful sales. 

Scenic beauty, despite the damp, wet & cloudy skies and now, the steady light rain falling for the past hour 

QE's navigation channel is 42, sometimes offline for operational reasons but the available details shared with passengers leave NCL huffing & puffing, i.e. Prima, Joy, etc. 

Scorecard: Cunard = 1 and NCL = 0 

RC's BOS

Now, we see the Royal ship as we set sail at 5 PM as announced 

Clouds & fog rolling in low and birds on the water

Earlier this morning ...

Mendendhall Glacier bound - standby for large # of scenic photos - these 4 were taken w the Galaxy S24

Stunning ! 

Starting from the pier

This might be the last load of Cunard passengers returning ... coming in & doing that victory lap to dock alongside. 

There's your Juneau Tram - upper & lower 

The clouds & fog are rolling in again.

Royal Princess departing now as we vacated our spot to the Majestic Princess, Holland's Nootdam still at the pier (last we saw her, Dockyard - Bermuda)

Last tender - seen here - to return to the QE is 4:30 PM and it's now 4:25, likely 1 more boatload on the way, 2 at most. 

One of the waterfalls right in downtown Juneau

Laser visions of being eagle-like with 40,000 calling it home here in Juneau, many perched on top of light poles along the road.

Gosh, NCL CC teams look what I found & visually confirmed in Lido - taste test, maybe tomorrow ... stomach too full at the moment to sample.

Of course, more pies and puddings seen over cookies @Sugar Magnolia

Lido lunch - varieties are good, NCL Ambassador Yvonne likely to approve the options and yes, I spotted freshly baked cookies near the pizza station. 

Custom baked to order pizza 

Tea time

Juneau - QE's afternoon tendering ops return to ship

A preview: let the eagle flies 

Crew store just across the street & $12 shuttles to Costco

Juneau -