4.29.2018 NCL Pearl to Alaska live writeup- and I don’t even sail for 75 days!

Enjoying your "live" version very much! We are cruising on Bliss in September.

You HAVE looked at all the photos on cruise critic, right? There's like a thousand of them of the pearl, all post-drydock (we'll be on her on 3/18, so I've been obsessing too).

 

 

 

Sounds like this will be a fun thread!

Yes, I have- and there are thousands now, but during the first 2 cruises post dry dock I was obsessively searching Instagram and Facebook for passenger photos with almost no luck. Eventually they came out but, at the time, this was me:

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following along!

 

is it bad that I thought about doing this same thing for my SEPTEMBER cruise to the greek isles? Lol :') the anticipation is killing me

Nope, not bad at all!!

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-sleep in a bed with no cats

-wake up, drink Bloody Mary

I, too, like to dream big on vacation.

I, too, like to dream big on vacation.

[emoji81][emoji81][emoji1303][emoji81][emoji81]

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LOL Ok then Just making sure!

I love this idea and will be following. I'm stupid once I've booked a cruise, I want every little tidbit I can find on the ship, it just fuels the excitement. :-) And I'm right there with you on the solo vacations. On vacation I love sitting around, reading books and just relaxing. My husband of 21 years goes crazy after 2 days of that. Have a great trip!!

LOL Ok then Just making sure!

Omg, I just noticed:

We’re twins. I am lisa b too.

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I love this idea and will be following. I'm stupid once I've booked a cruise, I want every little tidbit I can find on the ship, it just fuels the excitement. :-) And I'm right there with you on the solo vacations. On vacation I love sitting around, reading books and just relaxing. My husband of 21 years goes crazy after 2 days of that. Have a great trip!!

Maybe I am not so weird then?

Thank you!

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Omg, I just noticed:

 

 

We’re twins. I am lisa b too.

 

 

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Triplets, since I'm a nerd and had to google those creepy girls (that movie's the lasting kind of scary) and found out that one of them is Lisa B as well... unless you already knew that anyway and then nevermind.

Triplets, since I'm a nerd and had to google those creepy girls (that movie's the lasting kind of scary) and found out that one of them is Lisa B as well... unless you already knew that anyway and then nevermind.

MIND BLOWN.

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My tax return came in exactly the same day as my 90 day mark. How fortuitous! In an effort to see how fast I could spend it, I spent the time I should have been doing spreadsheets at work buying things.

More OBC? Sure!

Thermal Spa? MOST DEF.

Shiraz? Chocolate covered strawberries? Flowers for the room? TAKE MY MONEY.

I also realized I really needed to get my shtuff together for ports. I knew I was going to spend my Skagway day driving and shooting.

Ketchikan, I decided to take a float plane to the misty fjords. I’ve never been in a plane that small, let alone one with clown shoes, so I thought it would be fun, photogenic, and I could cross a National Park off my list. I am hoping I have enough time to wander a little and/or get to totem bight. We will see.

But oh, Juneau. I saw a whale once while on a ferry to Moloka’i. I was sleeping in my boyfriend at the time’s armpit, and my nose was running, and I didn’t want to rub snot on him, so I sat up and sniffed, just in time to see a whale and it was the most amazing thing, more amazing had I known what was happening before it was over.

Planning Juneau provided quite a pickle- see whales? Go to the glacier? Yes, I know there are combo tours but 1.) I don’t want to be rushed at the glacier, as many reviews suggest you are, and 2.) I won’t be getting much hiking on this trip (I hike a few miles a few times a week, in summer upwards of 30 miles a week) so even if I am walking in circles, I want at least 2 hours at the glacier.

I called Allen tours, who runs the combo excursions that Norwegian advertises. They told me that on the date I will Be in Juneau, they are scheduled to whale first, glacier second. You basically have a 50/50 chance of one being first- but on this day, they are scheduled to go to the glacier last. This means that if I book it, I could conceivably just ditch the tour bus back and find my own way home.

Just as I was ready to book, I discovered a well reviewed inexpensive whale watch in a tiny boat with a max of 6 passengers. The owner, willing to drop me 1/2 mile from the glacier afterwards. Unfortunately, I am one person and they need at least 2 for this tour. So I am waiting for someone on my roll call or The Book That Must Not Be Named to agree to go on the tour. To be continued on that front.

For Victoria, I am thinking I might just rent a bicycle and wander around.

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I am seriously considering this for my 40th birthday now [emoji848]

 

I hope someone joins you for the smaller group. That sounds by far like the best option

Me too!

I’m half tempted to just go all in and pay for 2 people- I think the NCL excursion was like $30 less than paying for 2 people- but then it’s just me and the captain and that seems awkward.

And do it! I think this will be the best 40th birthday I will ever have!

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I will be on this cruise following on from the New Orleans cruise so 28 days for me

Thanks for this thread ..will call in daily

I will be on this cruise following on from the New Orleans cruise so 28 days for me

 

Thanks for this thread ..will call in daily

Join our rollcall! And then fill out our spreadsheet :)

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Ok, I’m back. I was up to no good for a few days.

When we left off, I was still waiting for someone to join my excursion in Juneau so I could book it.

Yeah, nothing yet.

So... here’s something that may bore you to tears. Or not, but I still have 66 days (or 64 if you count Seattle!) to go, so.

I am pasty white and pale. My hair, while not quite my natural color, is similar to what I had as a child. My eyelashes and eyebrows are blonde and clear. I have baby fine hair.

My routine, when going on a cruise, is to get eyelash extensions right before the cruise. It means I look a little done up even if I am in the pool, and I wake up sort of presentable,except for the Einstein hair.

Last year I upped the game by timing my hair extensions with the cruise. It took a zillion years to dry, but it looked pretty.

I have been hemming and hawing about getting microbladed for a year or two. Decided I might give it to myself as a birthday present. If you don’t know what I am talking about, it’s basically where they slice holes in your face that looks like eyebrow hair and put ink in it. It’s an eyebrow tattoo that lasts 6 months to 2 years. In my market, which is close to NYC, it will cost you an arm and a leg and a couple of cats to get it done well, but a coworker of mine who is an amazing makeup artist and has great eyebrows is going to class to learn it. She needs Guinea pigs. I am going to be her last guinea pig and I trust her completely. It’s about a month before my trip so I won’t look like Edward scissorhands by then. How fortuitous! So I will have automatic eyelashes and eyebrows like normal people for this cruise. Jury’s out on the hair. I think I will just keep my own this time.

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The plan was to send a small amount of money every week on payday so that it almost didn’t feel like I was paying for the cruise. Additionally, I would buy an even smaller amount of on board credits every week so that once I was on the cruise, all those massages and stuff felt free.

A: Your cat is adorable.

B: I'm doing pretty much the same thing as far as the fare is concerned. Booked a trip back in October 2017 with a group from a podcast I listen to that doesn't sail until March 2019, and I've been paying $50 every two weeks so it feels like nothing. :o:o:oCame with free gratuities and free drink package (gratuities included), so my thought was by the time I got on the ship I'd spend $0 by skipping all the extra add ins. It's only a 4-day so I didn't think I'd have *that* much time to do any of the "extras" like spa or specialty dining.

BUT I never thought about buying the small bits of OBC as we go, so I thank you for that, because now I think I *will* start setting aside for a spa treatment and some higher end drinks! ;)

So far my trip is a surprise for the husband - still don't know when I'm going to tell him... Maybe as we drive to the port?:evilsmile:

welll since I last posted on here I couldn’t stop thinking about it and now I’ve booked NCL Bliss for Alaska in sept 2019. Lol. They should give you commission

 

 

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I will gladly take some OBC, NCL people who are watching this ;)

Singinalot, have FUN!

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A: Your cat is adorable.

B: I'm doing pretty much the same thing as far as the fare is concerned. Booked a trip back in October 2017 with a group from a podcast I listen to that doesn't sail until March 2019, and I've been paying $50 every two weeks so it feels like nothing. :o:o:oCame with free gratuities and free drink package (gratuities included), so my thought was by the time I got on the ship I'd spend $0 by skipping all the extra add ins. It's only a 4-day so I didn't think I'd have *that* much time to do any of the "extras" like spa or specialty dining.

 

BUT I never thought about buying the small bits of OBC as we go, so I thank you for that, because now I think I *will* start setting aside for a spa treatment and some higher end drinks! ;)

 

So far my trip is a surprise for the husband - still don't know when I'm going to tell him... Maybe as we drive to the port?:evilsmile:

That is an AWESOME surprise for a partner who likes cruising! And money that feels free is great. Have a great time! Now I’m curious what podcast.

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Hey singinalot.....what date? I have a hold on Sept Bliss also.

That is an AWESOME surprise for a partner who likes cruising! And money that feels free is great. Have a great time! Now I’m curious what podcast.

 

 

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It's called A Mediocre Time With Tom & Dan. Sort of niche, because they used to be local Orlando talk radio guys who spun off to do their own thing, and they just talk about random life stuff. This March will be their 4th cruise, 2nd on Epic, I believe? Couldn't go this year though, so I'll have to listen to all the episodes based on and around the cruise, and realize I have another year to go!

Me again.

One virtue I have never learned in my almost 40 years on earth is patience. My small whale watching tour that I wanted to book, with Jayleen’s adventures, still had no other bites, and understandably she couldn’t just book one person.

I learned that Harv and Marv do comparable small boat trips, and luckily they had one booked that day that had plenty of slots left.

Take my money already!

H+M won’t take you to the glacier but I have emails out to both of the local taxis to see if they can pick me up from the harbor directly after my tour, drop me at glacier, and pick me up PROMPTLY at 830pm to guarantee I am running to that ship at 9.

So to recap, excursions booked in Ketchikan and Juneau. Driving around Skagway, and probably just farting around Victoria.

Bought around $650 of on board credit so far, as well as my spa pass. Will probably buy another $100 but realistically at this point, my only expenses (besides the rental car that isn’t prepaid) are taxis in Juneau, meals in Seattle (I do like fine dining, but I see a vegan ramen night and. A vegan burger night in my future- so not very expensive!) Ubers in Seattle, odds and ends in Seattle, including just a couple touristy things (space needle and maybe underground tour) and perhaps some, uh, legal recreation for hot tub time in my rental. Most of the other Seattle sites I plan on seeing are free. Oh. And the internet package still needs to be bought.

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September 22,2019

You?

 

 

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The week before you. 9/15.

Wee: I know how it is with no one joining you on a tour.

I took a chance in St. Maarten with a private tour. Lucky for me I ended up with enough peeps to fill the tour and defer the cost. Just a couple of weeks before we went!

Wee: I know how it is with no one joining you on a tour.

 

 

 

I took a chance in St. Maarten with a private tour. Lucky for me I ended up with enough peeps to fill the tour and defer the cost. Just a couple of weeks before we went!

Nice! I am now in a pickle because I wanted to get booking over with. I booked with Harv and Marv, and overnight received an email from Jayleen’s Uncle Steve, who does his own thing now but used to work for Harv and marv, runs a 6 Person boat, and is happy to take just me if the boat doesn’t fill. All 3 companies get great reviews, but Jayleen and Steve had a little bit of an edge with the drop off at the glacier, and just the feeling I get. I love to support women owned businesses which gave her an edge but now I am considering canceling Harv and marv and going with Steve.

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