Review and Pictures from NCL Pearl May 23rd to 30th

This is an excerpt from my member review which can be found at

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=67825

I have augmented it with pictures and the complete set can be found at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roseoftexas/collections/72157601829385443/

Background

We were 3 couples traveling together, me and DW, my DB and his DW, and a family friend and her DH. We all were similar age (late 40’s to early 60’s) and similar interest and did a lot together, but also spent some time to ourselves. None of us were into the nightlife scene so you won’t find anything about that here. This was mine and DW’s second trip to Alaska, both on the Pearl.

Pre-cruise

We were booking on a budget and originally booked ocean view rooms as the price of a balcony was out of our price range. While this was our 2nd Alaska cruise, it was everyone else’s first (and perhaps only) Alaska cruise, we wanted to do Glacier Bay. Long story short, we ended up on the Pearl which was the same ship my DW and I sailed on our first trip. We booked late May to help keep it within a budget. We wanted to book a balcony, but budget was a concern and we figured it may be too cold to get much use of it. Fortunately, due to price drops and NCL promotions, we all eventually ended up in BA balconies on the deck 10 mid ship (to just aft of mid ship) for basically the same price as our original ocean view cabins. The last price drop was after we made our final payment but while we didn’t get a refund, we were able to upgrade to the BA Balcony. We worked with a well known cruise TA and they were very accommodating when changes were required. As a side note, several others on our roll call were able to take advantage of the price drops as well, including both NCL booked and most TA’s. One had done an internet booking and their TA never returned calls or emails and they were not able to take advantage of the last minute price drops.

Arrival

My DB lives in the Seattle area so we flew in on Friday to visit. We booked a rental with Dollar which we picked up at the airport and dropped at their downtown location. We booked rooms at the Seattle Westin on Saturday to allow us to do something around the Seattle area and have a leisurely trip to the pier on Sunday. This didn’t work out as we planned. First, the weather was a bit cold and rainy on both Saturday night and Sunday morning so we ended up going to a movie. Second, I left my camera at my DB’s house and he and I had to make a quick morning round trip to get it. The Westin was conveniently located and was one block from the monorail which takes you to the Seattle Center (and Space Needle). The round design of the Westin seemed to carry sound a bit more and one of the other rooms on our floor was pretty noisy but eventually we think someone from the hotel came to quiet them down. Our view was directly down to the port so we saw the Star docked there Saturday and the Pearl replace it on Sunday.

Our friends stayed at the 6th Avenue Inn just across the street and they were not very happy with the hotel, their view was of adult dance club across a parking lot.

Embarkation

We dropped our rental at the Dollar location which offered a shuttle to the cruise terminal. I was going to drop everyone and luggage off first at the pier and then go back, but since it was only a few blocks from the Westin, we decided to just go there. There was one other couple on the Oosterdam and four of us and luggage (our friends elected to take a taxi down) and we were on way. Even with the extra camera trip in the morning, dropping the car and the shuttle, we arrived right at noon. When we got to the pier, there were 2 options to drop off the bags, a line for “baggage drop” and the traditional porters that collected bags. There was a good sized line for the former so we gave our bags to the porters and were done quickly. We then went through the security line (15 minutes) and then up to check in (no lines at all), our first picture (a green screen they later overlay with the Pearl) and we were on the ship.

The weather started to improve for the afternoon so we had lunch by the pool. They had a BBQ going and we met our friends.

Having done the Pearl before, I knew the MDR menus tended to be a bit repetitive and wanted to do a couple of the specialty restaurants and we booked Mambo’s (we did this on our last cruise) and La Cucina for the first 2 nights. We also wanted to do the Teppanyaki later in the week, but you can only book it 1 day in advance. Our cabins were ready just before 2:00 and luggage started arriving early in the afternoon. We had checked a 6 pack of Dr. Pepper and a 12 pack of small water bottles in a small bag and they arrived with no problem (Carnival recently imposed a rule that all personal sodas and water had to be carried on, but NCL has no rule for this yet). Our friends packed 2 6 packs of ginger ale and they had to go claim them, their bag was locked while ours wasn’t so apparently since NCL couldn’t check, they required it to be claimed.

Rooms on the Pearl are ‘tight’, but functional. The balconies have 2 chairs and a small table. My biggest complaint about the balconies is that when you sit down on the provided chairs, all you see is the balcony railing. You either need to sit up really straight or almost lay down. About the only way to sit comfortably is to put the back legs of the chair in the balcony door track to lift it. Of course, I like to look forward rather than straight out, so I ended up standing most of the time. If we do the Pearl again, I am going to take some kind of “lifts” for the legs to raise them about 4 inches (of course I said that last time we sailed).

The other thing I find odd is that the bathroom is divided into 3 sections, the shower, the sink area, and the toilet. The toilet area has a separate door which when you close it, is pretty claustrophobic but the door is clear, so why have it all?

We did the mandatory life boat drill, which was pretty abbreviated. That is, we met in the assigned location, gave them our cabin number, they read an announcement of what to do, while a crew member demonstrated how to put on a life jacket and we were done.

... next, the cruise begins ...

Day 0 - Departure

Then, we were on our way out through Puget Sound. The weather continued to improve as the afternoon went on, and while it was still a bit cold, we were able to make use of our balconies.

As I noted above, our first night’s dinner was at Mambo’s (Tex Mex). We had 7:00 reservations and when we got there, the place was almost empty. We had a nice table by the window (since there were only a total of 5 groups while we were there, everyone had a nice table by the window). They started us of with free margaritas (shots) and the food was plentiful and good.

This trend of light bookings in the specialty restaurants continued during the week. In fact, I heard that on the first night, some of the ‘specialty’ restaurants had even less than the 5 we saw in Mambo’s. I think a lot of people sailing were on a budget just like us and felt paying the extra fee was too much. Watching the restaurant monitors, the only 2 restaurants that typically had any wait were Indigo MDR (up to almost an hour at times) and Teppanyaki.

We skipped the welcome aboard show, but heard some good comments about it.

Day 1 – At Sea

During the night, the wind picked up. The Pearl goes West of Vancouver Island which means more time in the open Pacific than those that go east of the Island (the NCL Star has been doing that this year and most Vancouver sailings take this route). The week before we left, an unusual storm passed through this area and there were reports of 30 foot waves. While ours weren’t this bad, we had 15 foot swells which did rock the ship enough that there were some sea sick people. One thing in our favor, is that the wind was from behind us so instead of crashing through the waves we were more like surfing them which made the ride a bit smoother.

We had this weather almost all day Monday until the course takes the Pearl inside of the islands south of Prince Rupert. Fortunately, this was the end of our rough seas.

Being a sea day, the first day is a good day to check out some of the ship activities. My DB and I took advantage of a casino promotion to get a Casino at Sea card. This offered a number of match bets (you bet $10, they match with $10) for table games and slot machines. We actually did well on these, and while neither of us are big gamblers, we came out a few hundred dollars ahead on their money.

Dinner on Monday was at La Cucina (Italian) and the food was good and service as expected. This was our first time and the food was perhaps better than good, but I think the ship rocking and rolling all day had taken a toll on everyone.

After dinner, we went to the Spinnaker Lounge for a comedy show with Buzz Sutherland. The place was packed to the point our only option was to sit way in the back where we couldn’t see. While his act was good and acceptable for all ages, he does a lot of visual comedy and of course, we couldn’t see that. This was a theme that continued through the week, they continued to book a number of shows in here that drew more people than it could accommodate. When Buzz did a single show later in the week, the place was so full there wasn’t even much standing room left. They sat out some extra chairs, but these were lower than the bar stools further forward so almost impossible to see from.

... next, ports of call...

Day 2 – Juneau

Since we didn’t arrive in Juneau until 2pm, there is still a fair amount of time to kill. Especially when you wake up early, I was typically up very early (sunrise was at 4:30am). There was a lot more snow this time compared to when we went in August and the views were amazing.

The weather continued to improve each day as well. The crew kept saying how unusually warm the weather was during our cruise (other than the first day). But when we sailed August 2007, we also had amazing weather that everyone was also commenting on. When it comes to the weather in Alaska, it’s good to be lucky.

I did bingo one time, but it was a bit expensive for me. They offer 2 options, a basic sheet with 6 cards on it and an automated system with up to 144 games on it where you don’t have to do anything except watch it. They offer from a single sheet for $30 to packages that include the automated system plus cruise raffle tickets and instant wins for $140 for 4 games of bingo. They also have 2 for 1 sales and other ways to get a free card. My other complaint is that it takes a long time to play. Typically a game took about an hour and 45 minutes, since they had to explain all of the options, sell them and then play. But playing was also slow since most everyone had 6 sheets to look at (even the automated system packages included one sheet). It takes a long time to check 6 cards for some people and so they had to pace it very slowly and had to fill this time, with random discussions about this and that. The only good thing is that the Spinnaker lounge is great for viewing and so you could watch for whales in between numbers.

Arrival in Juneau was right on schedule and everyone was eager to go, unfortunately all at once. Our friend is wheel chair reliant and getting an elevator down from 10 to 4 was a real pain. They didn’t seem to have them all running and those that did seemed to only be serving the suite level. They eventually caught one up to take it down. NCL should assign someone to run at least one elevator to stop at each floor and accommodate wheelchairs and strollers at high traffic ports.

We booked with Captain Larry (Orca Enterprises) for whale watching. This went very smooth; we caught the local shuttle to the tram stop, finished up paperwork and were on our way. We had about 25 other people on the boat and Captain Larry knew what he was doing. The water was smooth and the weather great although a bit overcast, but this kept it from being too hot (yes, you read that right this was the first of several days we heard complaints about it being too hot).

We saw a number of humpback whales, one mother and baby, one lunge feeding and a variety of blows and tail views. No orcas or bubble feeding, but they tell you up front that these were less common.

Jeff, the naturalist was great and very enthusiastic about his job. We elected to do the stop at Mendenhall Glacier on the way back. We enjoyed this, but it was a bit late in the day. We arrived just after 7 and the visitor center (and restrooms) closed at 7:30. Since we elected to walk out the glacier first, we did not get to see the visitor center.

By the time we got back into town it was 8:30 and everyone was ready to go back to the ship so we skipped the planned shopping stop. We had to deal with a short wait getting back on. Dinner was in the buffet as no one felt like doing much else. We typically ate breakfast and lunch in the buffet as well. There was basically no variety in what they offered from day to day, although you could do pasta one day, chicken or burgers the next, you knew what to expect.

Oh what a night. A tribute to Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons was the main theater act this night. It was very good. The show was simple, a bare stage and 4 singers, but that was all it took, with great singing with a bit of dialog mixed in. The house was packed for both shows, although the second show not so much as the first. The music was all songs you would recognize and sing along with (at least if you are older than 40).

... next, a wonderful day in Skagway...

Day 3 - Skagway

The ship docked in Skagway well ahead of the scheduled time and they were letting people off the ship before 7am. This eliminated the crowds like we had in Juneau and people were coming and going all day with very short waits. The weather was fantastic, sunny and approached 80 degrees.

We rented a van and took the drive to the Yukon with Murray’s guide in hand. We had a great time, there was a lot of snow left but things were starting to thaw out and wild flowers (and a lot of dandelions) were in bloom.

We did see 2 bears as well.

We planned our trip to arrive at Caribou Crossing after 1:30 (Yukon Time) which we were told was when most of the cruise buses started back. Sure enough, while there were a number of buses when we arrived, they were all on their way out. We had the place almost to ourselves.

We had a quick lunch and then did the dog sled ride with Michelle Phillips before finishing the trip to Emerald Lake and back. We were in no hurry, stopped regularly and total time was about 8 hours, but it could have been quicker with less stops.

After returning to Skagway and some quick shopping, we went back to the ship with no lines to deal with. We went to another dinner in the buffet and then to the evening show, Sharkbait. These guys are nothing but energy and while they have been on the Pearl for 4 years and do their show week after week, they still make it look spontaneous (they were just back after a 2 week vacation). This is not your typical juggling show and a must see.

We departed Skagway at 8:15. When were there last time, in August, it was dark soon after we left Skagway and we saw nothing of Lynn Canal. This time the sunset was not until after 10:00 and twilight was after 11. It was also a full moon which rose just after the sun went down and we were still able to see Lynn Canal until almost midnight. The mountains and their snowy summits were spectacular.

Day 4 - Glacier Bay

We entered the Glacier Bay early in the morning and it was light shortly after 4:00 (yes, I did sleep a bit in between). We saw a few whales on the way in, but most were off in the distance.

The amount of snow on the lower peaks compared to our last trip was amazing.

Photo of Reid Glacier in May 2010

Photo of Reid Glacier in August 2007

It was another sunny, warm and clear day making the trip more enjoyable. We had specifically booked a port balcony because of the route through Glacier Bay and it was definitely worth it. Going up, most of the glaciers appear first on the port side and narration follows them. The weather made it easy to be on the balcony, although the port is the shady side so when the ship was moving, coats and even gloves were in order. But once we stopped, even jackets weren’t required. We did see some calving in the distance as we were arriving but while we were there, the calving was “small” chunks. It was clear that one central point was destabilizing and despite everyone hoping for a “big” piece to fall, none did. As we were leaving, perhaps a mile away, we saw the big pieces fall. 15 minutes earlier or later and we would have had a great show.

We then spent a short time at John Hopkins Glacier with some spectacular views, but at a distance due to the seal breeding area.

In addition to the port side being better for initial viewing, the time spent at both glaciers on the port side was considerably more than on the starboard (I would estimate 66% to 33%).

The sail out of the Glacier Bay was beautiful, more mountains snow and scenery. Although, we had hit the climax of the trip and things were beginning to repeat. We did see hundreds of Dall Porpoises playing off Admiralty Island. They were alongside the ship for at least half an hour.

We were going to do the Indigo MDR for dinner, but would have had to wait 30 minutes unless we switched to the Summer Palace. We were concerned since we were in jeans, but they said no problem as long as we weren’t in shorts. We saw many of the patrons there in jeans, but there were many that chose to dress up as well.

...next, a few short stops...

Day 5 - Ketchikan

The early arrival and departure in Ketchikan limited our choices of things to do.

We elected to take our time getting off the ship, going to the Lumberjack show. It was fun and entertaining (inexpensive) and the good guys came out ahead.

We had another great weather day in Ketchikan. Everyone kept saying how unusual it was. I ran into one guy that had gone fishing and brought everything he could think of to stay warm and dry and ended up in short sleeves.

After an early afternoon departure, the views turned to trees and islands and no whales and soon to just mostly distance views to shore as we headed back toward the west side of Vancouver Island. This time the seas were calm although the temperature did drop and it was quite foggy.

We chose to do the Teppanyaki for dinner and had a great time. The chefs were excellent and entertaining and the food delicious. I overhead one of the other guests saying his steak was the best he ever had. It was worth the $25 service charge.

The evening show Garden of the Geisha’s was good. It is simple and the acrobats are pretty good, but if you have seen a lot of shows, Cirque du Soleil for example, your expectations may not be met.

...next, closing in the end game..

Day 6 - Victoria

The arrival into Victoria was at 6pm, so this was mostly another sea day. There were 2 rounds of bingo including the cruise and jackpot giveaways. I had a free card for one and a few tickets for the cruise but won neither. There was also an encore show with Oh What a Night and Sharkbait that they suggested to arrive early. We were there about 30 minutes early and it was already getting full. It was almost completely full with about 10 minutes to go. The show was great and I think Sharkbait was even funnier than the first time, although a shorter show. “Oh What a Night” did a couple of lesser known songs and a recap of the hits they did the first night and a few other hits. This was followed by the crew recognition review and it started sinking in that the cruise was coming to an end (despite the cruise director’s claim that we were such good luck with the weather that they planned to keep us on board).

When we got to Victoria, it was in the 50’s and windy (everyone wanted to go back to Alaska where it was warm).

We had chosen not to do an excursion in Victoria as time was limited. We ate dinner in the Summer Palace just as we docked and went into town once the crowds had thinned out. We took the $7 shuttle into to the inner harbor and did a short walk around the harbor, parliament building, and the Empress Hotel and were back shortly after 10pm.

We signed up for the BAGS program and set our bags out which allow you to check your bags all the way to your destination. Since I am an elite flyer on Continental and have luggage fees waived for my bags, all I paid was the $20 fee. They arrived in Houston without issue. It was definitely worth the money.

...next, closing...

Day 7 – Disembark

We arrived in Seattle very early and departure started about 30 minutes ahead of schedule.

We said goodbye to our friends who self disembarked.

Since we did the BAGS program, we were able to disembark as we pleased. My DB had checked his bags to the pier. We ate one last breakfast in the buffet and waited until our nephew was there to pick up DB and DW. Getting off the ship was relatively smooth, there were lines but not excessive and we were off in about 20 minutes. We said our last goodbyes.

Since we had an afternoon flight, we chose to spend a bit of time around the pier area. We did the Seattle Aquarium (interesting, but took less than an hour to see). Then we walked up the hill and through Pike Place Market. It was a busy Sunday morning and the variety of things for sale was amazing.

After walking through Pike Place, we went back down to Alaskan Way and caught a cab that had just dropped off a next week’s cruiser and were on our way to the airport and bound for home….

Summary

The Goods:

• The itinerary. Despite the short stops at several of the ports, this was a spectacular trip and even though we had done the same cruise before, there was so much to see.

• The Weather. Other than the first rough day at sea, the weather in Alaska couldn’t have been better. In general, the only bad weather was on sea days so it didn’t impact us at all.

• The shows. The Pearl has some great shows. We have sailed Carnival as well and while their shows are good, they just don’t compare to the Pearl.

• The service. I found the crew a bit more professional than on Carnival

and willing to go the extra mile. One thing we found irritating when we sailed the Pearl before was that they always seemed to be servicing the room when we were trying to get ready for something. On this cruise, our room steward paid more attention to our schedules and only one day was even in the room for make-up or turn-down service when we were around.

The Average:

• The food. As noted above, the menu was same over and over in both the buffet and the MDR (which offered a few not overly interesting choices each day). The specialty restaurants offset this, for a fee, and have a much better quality of food (although the menu does not change here either).

• The prices. Everything seemed a bit high. Drinks were more expensive than on other cruises we have been on. They were a bit pushy on them, although not overly so. As noted, bingo seemed really high considering the prizes offered. One time, there were 3 bingos on the same game and the prize award just covered the price of playing.

• The elevators are a real pain. The Pearl has a lot to offer, but the ship is a bit broken up making it more challenging to get from place to place (other than going down some of the cabin hallways that run end to end). At prime times, there just aren’t enough elevators. Plus, if you push the button before the light goes out, the door re-opens. But until you push the button, it doesn’t send another elevator. When coming back from ports, all of the elevators should go to the boarding floor each run. For some reason, the other passengers seemed to be unaware of others waiting before they arrived. We had several times, when waiting with our friend in her wheelchair and an elevator would finally open up and all the passengers by it would fill it up before she could get on although we were clearly there waiting when they walked up.

The Bad:

• The seating in the Spinnaker lounge for the shows. I identified this above, but this area and the crowds they drew for some of the shows weren’t compatible. It was great for viewing during the day and the other activities, but the bigger shows just overwhelmed it.

In Closing

Since I didn’t cover it anywhere else, I did want to mention that on this cruise, the majority of passengers were probably about our age, (40-60’s) with the next largest group being the 60-70’s and then those in late 20-30’s. There were probably less than 100 children and a few dozen teens, I would say. When we cruised the Pearl last time in August, the percentage of younger ages was higher.

We would definitely do this again (and did since as I mentioned in the opening this was our second Alaska trip on the Pearl). Balcony rooms are definitely worth it on this cruise and we are really glad that we upgraded from an ocean view.

Thanks for the review. I enjoyed reading it.

IAT,

Loved your trip report, thank you! We were on the same cruise, as you know, and had a fantastic time as well. I have to agree with you on the balcony railing, LOL! What was up with that??? That railing right in the way.

I can't believe how lucky we were with the weather though. Last year we had lots of sunshine but it was quite cold. This year we got sunshine and warmer weather.

Enjoyed your review and pics! :D

Thank you for your review and pics. I appreciate the balance between the good , average, and bad.

Great review! I love reviews with pics....I wrote one as well from the week before. We were suppose to be on this sailing but changed our dates because the BA Aft balcony on the 10th deck, became available for the week before....so I was curious to see how the weather was this week, but I see the weather was just about the same. (Although it did sound like it was a little warmer for you!) We both got lucky weatherwise!

Anyway, thanks for taking the time for writing this...I know it can be a little time consuming, when adding pics! But worth it!! Oh speaking of pics...its amazing the difference from your 2007 pic and this cruise.....the snow sure makes it look a lot more spectacular!!

Thanks so much for taking the time to post your very informative review and including all the pictures as well. We have booked this cruise for next year and I am eagerly checking out every posting about the Pearl during May. Sounds like you really, really lucked out with the weather. I spent some summers in Anchorage with the Air Force many years ago, and am well aware of Alaska's tempermental weather conditions.

Very nice review - brought back many memories of our trip. Although I must be short enough that the balcony rail isn't an issue. :)

Oh speaking of pics...its amazing the difference from your 2007 pic and this cruise.....the snow sure makes it look a lot more spectacular!!

Here's another set I found, taken just near the summit of White Pass (at the Welcome to Alaska sign) looking down the valley.

From May 2010

From August 2007

Wow.

Great review.

Your pictures are just amazing.

Thanks for sharing them.

I forgot to mention Second City in my review. We went to see them the night we left Glacier Bay and had a good time. Some of the sketches were really funny and others left you thinking "what?". I went to their NCL university section and found out a couple of interesting things.

This group signs on for a 4 month tour and their time was coming to an end, so you'll probably see a different team now (they had a few weeks left).

The routines they go through are a standard designed the Second City organization, so you'll see a similar main routine (not the improv) on each of the ships they perform on (they are on several NCL ships).

The other thing I found interesting compared to cruises on Carnival is that the entertainers are on the entire cruise. On Carnival, they typically boarded at one port of call and departed at one of the next ports (and flew back or changed to a different ship). Definitely a better way of doing it I think as you even ran into them during the week.

Day 3 - Skagway

The ship docked in Skagway well ahead of the scheduled time and they were letting people off the ship before 7am. This eliminated the crowds like we had in Juneau and people were coming and going all day with very short waits. The weather was fantastic, sunny and approached 80 degrees.

 

We rented a van and took the drive to the Yukon with Murray’s guide in hand. We had a great time, there was a lot of snow left but things were starting to thaw out and wild flowers (and a lot of dandelions) were in bloom.

I was wondering about the van rental... did you get it from Avis? And if so, what time did you pick it up and how was the wait time to get it?

I read a review that said he was at the office before they opened because he heard they run out of cars. I had never read this. And by 8:00 there were 4 in line behind him. We didn't necessarily plan on being there before they opened. I was wondering if we went a little later if we would risk waiting a long time to process our rental car and/or risk they will run out of cars.

Thank you for the great review and pictures! We are cruising Alaska on the Star in a few weeks and I found your review helpful.

 

I was wondering about the van rental... did you get it from Avis? And if so, what time did you pick it up and how was the wait time to get it?

 

I read a review that said he was at the office before they opened because he heard they run out of cars. I had never read this. And by 8:00 there were 4 in line behind him. We didn't necessarily plan on being there before they opened. I was wondering if we went a little later if we would risk waiting a long time to process our rental car and/or risk they will run out of cars.

Avis only has a few vans (3 when I last spoke to them, 2 of which they pre-reserve and 1 they hold back in case one of the other two has a mechanical issue). You have to call the office direct to book one. Both were reserved by the time I called, so we booked with Sourdough Rentals, which have quite a few vans but they are a bit older than what you would get through Avis, but we had no issues with ours. I have seen a number of stories about both companies but I think they both do their best to meet the customers need.

This thread has a comparison of both companies

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1167808

thanks for the great review, and for all your advice over on the Alaska board!!

I had some questions about the BAGS program.... does everyone in your party have to participate? We have three adults and two young children (4 and 3)..... will probably have 3 or 4 checked bags. I see that each person can check two bags with this program.... can we enroll only two of us? And pay $40? Or do we have to pay $120? if anyone knows, I'd love to hear.... we are on Continental if that makes a difference....

Thanks for the review and the great pics - but the pictures really don't do Alaska justice, do they? We were there in September of 2007 and had really great weather too. When we were in Glacier Bay, the Park Ranger giving the talk mentioned how there was a peak that was showing that day which he had never seen before. All of our pics from Glacier Bay have so much reflection, they look like double negatives, lol!

We were in Alaska for our 5th anniversary, and 10 years will be 2012 - we are thinking of going back to Alaska. There is just something almost magical about it!:)

thanks for the great review, and for all your advice over on the Alaska board!!

 

I had some questions about the BAGS program.... does everyone in your party have to participate? We have three adults and two young children (4 and 3)..... will probably have 3 or 4 checked bags. I see that each person can check two bags with this program.... can we enroll only two of us? And pay $40? Or do we have to pay $120? if anyone knows, I'd love to hear.... we are on Continental if that makes a difference....

No, not everyone has to participate. Since I could check bags on Continental without a fee, I signed up just myself for 2 bags and paid the $20. So in your case, 4 bags can be checked for 2 people (as long as everyone flying to the same place :)). You'll also be responsible for the fees charged (if any) by Continental which is $10 more for the second bag versus the first so you will still save money doing it this way.

We were on the same cruise. It was our first Alaskan cruise and both of us thought it was wonderful. Glacier Bay was our highlight along with Harv and Marv's whale watching in Juneau. We were in an AE mini-suite on Deck 11 portside aft and I sure noticed the ship rocking that first night! We certainly got the sun on glacier bay day! It was so hot on our balcony I got sunburned. I had to scoot my chair back by the door to stay out of the sun cause I stupidly thought I wouldn't need sunscreen. I did end up spending $17 for some in the ship's store. Ugh! I also hate how you can't sit in the chairs and see over the railing! My husband solved the problem by grabbing the big over-stuffed bed pillows and we sat on those. It worked! I didn't notice any rudeness from anyone. I found everyone, crew and passengers very pleasant. I thought our Cruise Director Andy.....from Vancouver, was lots of fun. He hosted the "Not-So-Newlywed" game show and was a hoot! We mostly ate at the buffet. We did find it much more relaxed and no where near as crazy to have breakfast in the MDR. Food was nothing spectacular in the free venues, but really have no complaints. I would cruise with NCL again in a heat beat!

We were on the same cruise. It was our first Alaskan cruise and both of us thought it was wonderful. Glacier Bay was our highlight along with Harv and Marv's whale watching in Juneau. We were in an AE mini-suite on Deck 11 portside aft and I sure noticed the ship rocking that first night! We certainly got the sun on glacier bay day! It was so hot on our balcony I got sunburned. I had to scoot my chair back by the door to stay out of the sun cause I stupidly thought I wouldn't need sunscreen. I did end up spending $17 for some in the ship's store. Ugh! I also hate how you can't sit in the chairs and see over the railing! My husband solved the problem by grabbing the big over-stuffed bed pillows and we sat on those. It worked! I didn't notice any rudeness from anyone. I found everyone, crew and passengers very pleasant. I thought our Cruise Director Andy.....from Vancouver, was lots of fun. He hosted the "Not-So-Newlywed" game show and was a hoot! We mostly ate at the buffet. We did find it much more relaxed and no where near as crazy to have breakfast in the MDR. Food was nothing spectacular in the free venues, but really have no complaints. I would cruise with NCL again in a heat beat!

I think we had the best Glacier Bay weather so far this year. It was so clear and beautiful. The last few weeks have had a lot more overcasr clouds I believe, and while its still possible to see the glaciers in the clouds, you don't get to see the great mountain views we saw.

Its also funny, my DW had me try one of the pillows and when I sat on it, it helped a bit and she said "no, put it behind you" (to make me sit up really straight, but lets just say that didn't last long!). :)

Regarding the breakfast buffet, for anyone reading this, the seating around the buffet is a mess. The best thing to do is to get what you want and go to La Cucina or outside to the Great Outdoors (weather permitting). There is almost always room to sit here. Also, the Great Outdoors has the more common buffet items and an omelet station too.

just wondering about your rental car from dollar. did you pick up at the airport and return to a different location. i see a location on boren avenue. is this the correct location. thanks for your help.