Review of NCL Sun Vancouver-Alaska Glacier Bay cruise 8/4/14

[pokerpro5]

Wow, the moderator deleted my response to Stephen, for unknown reasons.

 

I was answering his comments (many of them trollish and nasty) in response to my review, and I guess that didn't sit well with the moderator.

 

Keep in mind that I didn't use any profanity or write anything worse than he wrote to me.

 

Anyway, Stephen, try looking up the definition of "curvature of the earth" before suggesting people use binoculars to see land during phony inside passage days. You can't see very far from a cruise ship due to the relatively close horizon point. Binoculars will only help if you can see land in the distance, but are useless if you only see ocean up to the horizon point.

Edited August 18, 2014 by pokerpro5

[pokerpro5]

Honestly, I felt like the moderator was trying to provide constructive help. The internet is a perfect place for innocent comments or helpful tips to be considered snide or rude, because it is hard to decipher the tone in which things are said.

 

 

Don't take this as as slight to you, because I do not mean it that way. I appreciate your review. I do not agree with several things that you wrote about, however, I enjoy reading things from different perspectives and that's what makes CC so useful. You don't have to agree with me and I don't have to agree with you, and I definitely don't think the moderator meant to be snide, but to offer advice.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I don't take your post as a slight. I don't expect everyone to agree with me.

 

The mod, however, was rude in how she chided me to read the Alaska forum before engaging in "post-cruise complaining", and laughably it was the mod herself who needed to read a bit more carefully.

 

If she was trying to be helpful, she could have simply said something like, "Our Alaska forum has lots of good information on the Whittier subject", without trying to insert a lesson for me to learn at the end.

 

Besides, she also deleted my response to Stephen, yet left his fairly nasty and mocking post untouched. Lame.

[pokerpro5]

I loved your review:). You are a person who doesn't sugarcoat it. Just tell it like it is. Now I am going to sail on the Sun tomorrow doing a back to back. This will be my 5th and 6th cruises on the Sun this season alone. Everything you mentioned in your review I totally agree with. Now, I may not have a extra room but I have been able to cruise the Sun solo 6 times this season and for less than $5000. That's it, total costs for all 6 cruises. All insides and one balcony. I too , get my moneys worth and more. My goal is to cruise like Budget Queen. She is my hero. I travel for value and itenerary. It is to bad you didn't take the southbound cruise. You travel thru the inside passage during the day. Land everywere. And you pass Robson Bight which is where Orcas like to feed. They were feeding on my last cruise and I saw more killers whales that day than all my Alaskan cruises combined. Just luck.

Thanks again for your honesty. I know you will cruise Alaska again and probably NCL.:)

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

I didn't go southbound because I wanted to see more glaciers.

 

We did see some nice scenery leaving Vancouver on Day 1, as well as some very nice stuff leaving Ketchikan. Just didn't see much wildlife, but oh well.

 

I will indeed be back on NCL in 2015.

[pokerpro5]

Pokerpro5, thanks for what I thought was a well-balanced review.

 

The Sun was the first ship I cruised on with NCL and we will be sailing on it again in a few weeks, so I was curious to see what it is like now. Based on your review and those of others, I am quite sad to read (but not surprised) that there seems to be a consensus that the cruising experience has been declining the last few years (and this is not exclusive to NCL either).

 

I agree with you on your take about the Inside Passage, because that was my experience in 2012, which was vastly different from my experience in 2007.

 

In 2007, we too sailed on the east side of Van Island, but we sailed the "true" Inside Passage. We sailed between the islands slowly and at times it felt like I could just reach out and touch the trees. I think that particular route was made possible by the fact we did not sail as far as Glacier Bay and just stuck to Tracy Arm. It's a shame as I was looking forward to that again.

 

P.S. Sorry for all the snarkiness hurled at you. :( I think this is the reason I've stopped posting reviews on CC. (That said, I think people here are much kinder than the ones on the Rick Steves forum! ):D

 

The Sun isn't bad. It just has it's strong and weak points, and I hope my review portrayed that.

 

I don't find cruising worse today than in the past. I think some things are better, and some are worse.

 

Overall NCL is my favorite line I've cruised on, but they're far from perfect.

[herdingdogmom]

Thanks for your review. I saw your response before it was deleted and thought it addressed most of the questions.

 

We have the Sun booked for South America in early 2016 and are concerned about the age of the ship, but did book a mini for the shower and extra room. I know the sun will not be dry docked before we cruise, but I sure hope the 3-5 eating venue situation has been remedied by then. It sounds like the sports bar or tapas restaurant could offer something in the way of snacks at that time.

[sjbdtz]

Wow, the moderator deleted my response to Stephen, for unknown reasons.

 

I was answering his comments (many of them trollish and nasty) in response to my review, and I guess that didn't sit well with the moderator.

 

Keep in mind that I didn't use any profanity or write anything worse than he wrote to me.

 

Anyway, Stephen, try looking up the definition of "curvature of the earth" before suggesting people use binoculars to see land during phony inside passage days. You can't see very far from a cruise ship due to the relatively close horizon point. Binoculars will only help if you can see land in the distance, but are useless if you only see ocean up to the horizon point.

 

I did NOT get a chance to see your response before it was deleted, and I'm sorry about that... I'm sure I'd have enjoyed it....

 

 

Regarding binoculars, I've DONE it. I've sailed the Inside Passage twice, and have been able to see shore with my binoculars. That's why I suggested it. Nothing trollish about it (other than maybe a very small tweak, which is 'typical' of most posts people write, 'typically'. ;)

 

Binoculars alter your horizon point - if you can only see water with naked eye, but land is just beyond your personal horizon point, then binoculars will help. I can assure you that between the islands (as you can see on Google Maps), there's not enough distance between the ship & either shore to have the curavature of the earth play much of a role. https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Vancouver+Island,+British+Columbia/@53.6812576,-129.8199316,6z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x54881824c25bd40f:0x52999622420a6ab5 The only thing which makes sense is that you were looking for land during the portion between Vancouver Island and the beginning of Tongass National Forest.

 

 

 

Stephen

 

.

Edited August 18, 2014 by sjbdtz

[roquejo]

CRUISING THE INSIDE PASSAGE -- IF YOU'RE AWAKE AT 3AM AND HAVE NIGHT VISION: Despite fairly good visibility throughout the day, I saw almost nothing besides water in every direction on Day 2. So it looks like this "cruising the inside passage" was a marketing gimmick to avoid making it look like there are any non-scenery sea days, and they can legally get away with it because technically you're in an "inside passage", just a very wide one that looks the same as the open ocean. Still pretty shameful. Anyway, they might have learned the error of their ways, as future cruises on this itinerary now list Day 2 as simply "Sea Day".

 

Hi there, I was on a back to back sailing before your cruise date and had the UDP package too, so being on the ship for 14 days before you. I do agree with what you posted except I have to clarify the day 2 inside passage thing.

 

It is really an inside passage IT BUT subject to weather and visibility. On your case, what happened is the inside passage was foggy with zero visibility. On those days ships tend to go into open water as an alternative as it is too dangerous to get in as ships might collide in those narrow channel. On my first Alaskan cruise with HAL's Volendam way back 2012, the visibility is low but the ship still entered the inside passage, but we didn't see much and the ship's horn was constantly blaring to warn other incoming ships on the opposite direction, disturbing those staterooms near the front. Going back to Vancouver, the weather was ok so we are able to enter the inside passage and cruise between 2 land mass as you said.

 

Then on 2nd cruise to Alaska, which is the Northbound cruise you have taken but 2 sailings ahead of you. The weather was way too perfect with excellent visibility. That being said, NCL Sun went to an extremely narrow channel, what is called the inside of the inside passage. The sceneries were breathtaking!!! As the channel is so narrow so we are near land at both sides. We managed to do so as there is no risk of collision as the visibility is great, but there is no ship going the opposite direction at that time that is why we managed to enter that extremely narrow channel.

 

Now going back southbound, which precedes your sailing, we were not as lucky.. I was expecting the same scenery we had last week but we went into open water instead of the inside passage due to the foggy weather.. since the time you entered inside passage was just 2 days after our scheduled inside passage, the fog might not have cleared up yet.

 

Hope this helps clear things out.

Edited August 18, 2014 by roquejo

[pokerpro5]

Thanks, roguejo. That likely explains it.

 

Would have been nice if we were informed of that, but communication has never been NCL's strong suit.

[pokerpro5]

I did NOT get a chance to see your response before it was deleted, and I'm sorry about that... I'm sure I'd have enjoyed it....

 

 

Regarding binoculars, I've DONE it. I've sailed the Inside Passage twice, and have been able to see shore with my binoculars. That's why I suggested it. Nothing trollish about it (other than maybe a very small tweak, which is 'typical' of most posts people write, 'typically'. ;)

 

Binoculars alter your horizon point - if you can only see water with naked eye, but land is just beyond your personal horizon point, then binoculars will help. I can assure you that between the islands (as you can see on Google Maps), there's not enough distance between the ship & either shore to have the curavature of the earth play much of a role. https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Vancouver+Island,+British+Columbia/@53.6812576,-129.8199316,6z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x54881824c25bd40f:0x52999622420a6ab5 The only thing which makes sense is that you were looking for land during the portion between Vancouver Island and the beginning of Tongass National Forest.

 

 

 

Stephen

 

.

 

 

This didn't have to do with Vancouver Island. We were past that by the daytime of Day 2.

 

We did see some nice scenery on Day 1, between our 4pm departure and when it got dark.

 

On Day 2, we were in the open area in the Hecate Strait, east of Graham Island. When it said "Cruising the Inside Passage", I assumed we would be close to the west coast of BC (north of Vancouver Island), sailing in between the various islands there.

 

I also though perhaps we would cruise at full speed through the Hecate Strait, and then cruise very slowly in the inside passage near Ketchikan.

 

When I saw that our "Inside Passage" day was in the Hecate Strait, I was disappointed. But I think roquejo cleared up why that occurred -- probably due to fog in the actual inside passage area.

[CruisingSwedes]

I liked your review. I haven't done an Alaska cruise yet, but I always thought when reading about them that the inside passage was something to see! :rolleyes:

 

Maybe this will be deleted too, but I think the moderator's comment was absolutely snarky!

 

The fact that you gave an honest review and then so many people bashed you for it (I'm thinking in particular about the "upside your head" comment) makes me never want to write a review on Cruise Critic. Ever. SAD. :(

[pokerpro5]

I liked your review. I haven't done an Alaska cruise yet, but I always thought when reading about them that the inside passage was something to see! :rolleyes:

 

Maybe this will be deleted too, but I think the moderator's comment was absolutely snarky!

 

The fact that you gave an honest review and then so many people bashed you for it (I'm thinking in particular about the "upside your head" comment) makes me never want to write a review on Cruise Critic. Ever. SAD. :(

 

Yeah even I was surprised at some of the nasty comments from the various NCL cheerleaders who were angry that I dared criticize anything.

 

And then we had that obnoxious mod who let Stephen make a mocking post toward me, yet deleted my response to it. And she threw in a snarky post to me of her own.

 

I felt my review was very even-handed and gave equal time to both the good and the bad of my cruise.

 

Somehow this resulted in a 63-year-old woman saying she wanted to smack me upside the head. Gotta love CC.

 

Thanks for your post.

Edited September 14, 2014 by pokerpro5

[lauren0309]

I am still debating whether to sail the Pearl or Sun. Differerences being Pearl leaves from Seattle and Sun leaves from Vancouver. They both go to Glacier Bay but I was leaning more toward the Sun because I was under the assumption it was more scenic leaving from Vancouver. But if it was to be bad weather then would we not sail the inside passage? I didn't want to sail from Seattle being that I read all you see is ocean. But if that's the case either way I would sail the Pearl then, cheaper airfare and newer ship plus more activities.

Edited September 14, 2014 by lauren0309

[pokerpro5]

I am still debating whether to sail the Pearl or Sun. Differerences being Pearl leaves from Seattle and Sun leaves from Vancouver. They both go to Glacier Bay but I was leaning more toward the Sun because I was under the assumption it was more scenic leaving from Vancouver. But if it was to be bad weather then would we not sail the inside passage? I didn't want to sail from Seattle being that I read all you see is ocean. But if that's the case either way I would sail the Pearl then, cheaper airfare and newer ship plus more activities.

 

Our Day 2 had zero scenery. It was all open water in all directions.

 

Day 1 (the day we left) was quite scenic until it got dark, though. But that was only like 5 hours.

Edited September 14, 2014 by pokerpro5

[lauren0309]

Our Day 2 had zero scenery. It was all open water in all directions.

 

Day 1 (the day we left) was quite scenic until it got dark, though. But that was only like 5 hours.

 

Being that we're not planning on going until September there will be even less daylight than when you went in August. Maybe I would be better off on Pearl then.

Edited September 14, 2014 by lauren0309

[Cargill]

I found the review from pokerpro5 detailed, but kind of quirky indeed.

 

We travelled on Norwegian Sun North to South (Whittier to Vancouver, sailing 25 August 2014), and found the itinerary pretty-much outstanding. It is called the Inside Passage because that is what it is ... seems a pity that your first day or two were limited to sea days out of sight of land - we did not have that issue - the trip inside Vancouver Island was outstanding.

 

We also did our research to find the best way to travel from Anchorage to Whittier, for embarkation ... I would think it would be totally expected that all passengers do such research - for either the southbound or northbound cruise.

 

I don't quite know what to say if someone states that they did not use either Main Dining Room for any of the seven nights ... very different to my approach indeed - we found them both perfectly okay.

 

We found all the shore excursions and the two sea days exhilarating ... perhaps we are easily pleased ... but cruising right up to Hubbard Glacier on a clear calm beautiful day and staying a very long time, is not an experience I will forget in a hurry. And renting a car to drive the Klondike Highway into the Yukon was also brilliant and unforgettable - would recommend it for two or more, over the White Pass Railroad.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Cargill

[pokerpro5]

I found the review from pokerpro5 detailed, but kind of quirky indeed.

 

We travelled on Norwegian Sun North to South (Whittier to Vancouver, sailing 25 August 2014), and found the itinerary pretty-much outstanding. It is called the Inside Passage because that is what it is ... seems a pity that your first day or two were limited to sea days out of sight of land - we did not have that issue - the trip inside Vancouver Island was outstanding.

 

We also did our research to find the best way to travel from Anchorage to Whittier, for embarkation ... I would think it would be totally expected that all passengers do such research - for either the southbound or northbound cruise.

 

I don't quite know what to say if someone states that they did not use either Main Dining Room for any of the seven nights ... very different to my approach indeed - we found them both perfectly okay.

 

We found all the shore excursions and the two sea days exhilarating ... perhaps we are easily pleased ... but cruising right up to Hubbard Glacier on a clear calm beautiful day and staying a very long time, is not an experience I will forget in a hurry. And renting a car to drive the Klondike Highway into the Yukon was also brilliant and unforgettable - would recommend it for two or more, over the White Pass Railroad.

 

As someone else mentioned, it looks like my Day 2 "at sea" was likely due to weather issues close to the coast. Disappointing, but that's the breaks. At least we had great weather in all of the ports.

 

Agree that renting a car to drive the Klondike is better.

 

Some people do like the MDR food. I don't like MDR food on any cruise ships nowadays, to the point where I stopped even bothering to try them. Depends upon your personal tastes. I find the specialities (on all lines I've tried) to be far superior, both food-wise and atmosphere-wise. If you get the Ultimate Dining Package, it doesn't even come out to very much money, so why skimp there of all places?

 

You did your research for disembarkation and I did mine, but many people are not as experienced/vigilant with these things. That's why NCL put notices in every room on DAY 2 of the cruise -- because many had not done that research. I found it to be dirty of NCL to do their best to "hide" that situation until people had no choice. That notice should have been on the website (or in the e-mail) at booking time, not once you're trapped on the ship with no communication to the outside world.

 

I hate the answer of, "Well, serves people right for not researching."

 

People planning poorly is not justification for taking advantage of them.

[catr13]

Great review!! Are you able to tell me what time is spent in Glacier Bay and at Hubbard? I know you mentioned the afternoons were basically free, I was hoping Glacier Bay was going to be for the good part of the day.

[Cargill]

Are you able to tell me what time is spent in Glacier Bay and at Hubbard? I know you mentioned the afternoons were basically free, I was hoping Glacier Bay was going to be for the good part of the day.

 

We only visited Hubbard Glacier southbound (Whittier to Vancouver). I didn't have my stopwatch on it, but I expect the ship was close to stationary very close to the glacier face for perhaps an hour. It was simply outstanding, and then you add the time required to cruise slowly into the bay and then back out again - it was sufficient time.

 

Apparently is is very weather dependent - we had a bright blue day that was dead calm, allowing the ship maximum flexibility and access to the glacier close-up. When we stopped right in front, it was the only time in the whole cruise when absolutely everybody actually kept quiet for 15 minutes - it was that good.

Edited February 1, 2015 by Cargill

[catr13]

We only visited Hubbard Glacier southbound (Whittier to Vancouver). I didn't have my stopwatch on it, but I expect the ship was close to stationary very close to the glacier face for perhaps an hour. It was simply outstanding, and then you add the time required to cruise slowly into the bay and then back out again - it was sufficient time.

 

Apparently is is very weather dependent - we had a bright blue day that was dead calm, allowing the ship maximum flexibility and access to the glacier close-up. When we stopped right in front, it was the only time in the whole cruise when absolutely everybody actually kept quiet for 15 minutes - it was that good.

 

Thanks for that!! I guess I was just worried that it wouldn't be long. With princess cruises they actually state the times on their itineraries whereas NCL don't. Think they say 4 hours for Hubbard and 8 hours for glacier bay.

[DkswartzFamily]

Did they have a 'play area' for your little one that he could use on the ship? Or any toddler activities?

[theloo]

Did they have a 'play area' for your little one that he could use on the ship? Or any toddler activities?

 

I was on the Sun in early May and there was a room for toddlers WITH parents. It was not the kids club, which is only for kids 3+. It was only open a few hours a day, identified in the Freestyle Daily.

[DkswartzFamily]

Thats perfect- our little guy will be almost 2 and its nice to have a place besides the cabin to play! We've never done ncl with him (his have all been rcl) so i am super happy to hear this! Thanks so much for the quick response!!!

[pokerpro5]

I didn't check out the kids' program.

 

I felt kind of bad leaving him in a new situation with a bunch of strangers. We kept him with us the entire day.

[DkswartzFamily]

Thats how we are too- im glad they have an area for parents to take them and play : )

[4774Papa]

Pokerpro, thanks for the great review.

We are booked in an Aft Balcony on the Sun Sept 5, 2016 and looking forward to our cruise.

What was the weather like? Your cruise was a month ahead of ours.

 

What did you do for tours/excursions for the ports.

I found some private tours that are a little cheaper than the ship's excursions.

We want to do the train in Skagway.