Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

NCL Pearl- June 26, 2016- The Suite Life

jimsig

By jimsig,
in Alaska

 Share

Recommended Posts

jimsig

jimsig

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Just caught up reading this review - fantastic. Amazing photos. We are looking at something similar later in the year. Could you please give me details of the train tour you took in Skagway.

 

Any any other tours you can recommend.

 

Thanks in advance

 

H

 

Thanks Helen, greatly appreciated.

 

As mentioned in the review we booked the tour on our own with Chillkoot Charters, it was much cheaper that way then through the ship. We decided to go with the train up and bus back and do the Bennett Scenic Journey. We figured we may never get back to Alaska and wanted to go all the way to the Yukon. After hearing about it in school and seeing it on maps I never would have thought I would have gone there. The first part of the trip up to Frasier BC is the steepest and has some amazing great views. The next part of the trip from Frasier to Bennett Lake is pretty flatt but the scenery is still amazing. After the stop in Lake Bennett you the last part of the trip hugs the lake on the way to Carcross as you have lunch and has even more amazing views.

 

You then have some time in Carcross to explore before you board the bus (think airport shuttle type van). The first two stops we made were at the Carcross Desert and Emerald Lake which lived up to it's name. You make a couple more scenic stops including the Welcome To The Yukon and the Welcome To Alaska sign before you are dropped off back in Skagway. I thought the tour was great and would recommend it to anybody.

 

 

Unfortunately I can't recommend any other tours as we did not do any. But as AF-1 said check out the rest of the Alaska Board for great ideas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
holidayhelen

holidayhelen

Posted
Posted
Thanks Helen, greatly appreciated.

 

As mentioned in the review we booked the tour on our own with Chillkoot Charters, it was much cheaper that way then through the ship. We decided to go with the train up and bus back and do the Bennett Scenic Journey. We figured we may never get back to Alaska and wanted to go all the way to the Yukon. After hearing about it in school and seeing it on maps I never would have thought I would have gone there. The first part of the trip up to Frasier BC is the steepest and has some amazing great views. The next part of the trip from Frasier to Bennett Lake is pretty flatt but the scenery is still amazing. After the stop in Lake Bennett you the last part of the trip hugs the lake on the way to Carcross as you have lunch and has even more amazing views.

 

You then have some time in Carcross to explore before you board the bus (think airport shuttle type van). The first two stops we made were at the Carcross Desert and Emerald Lake which lived up to it's name. You make a couple more scenic stops including the Welcome To The Yukon and the Welcome To Alaska sign before you are dropped off back in Skagway. I thought the tour was great and would recommend it to anybody.

 

 

Unfortunately I can't recommend any other tours as we did not do any. But as AF-1 said check out the rest of the Alaska Board for great ideas.

 

Thanks very much - we have now booked our cruise and this tour really tempts me. I have looked at the website and the Bennet one does not go in late Sept - so we are looking at the Yukon rail and bus.

 

How early should we book? Are cruise is Sept 25th. I have checked and there is a 100% refund if we don't get into port.

 

Do you think we will see enough with this tour - or shall we just go for the 3 1/2 hour train up bus back. It looks soo good

 

Thanks for all your help

 

Helen

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cuterlmt

cuterlmt

Posted
Posted

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your wonderful review and the pictures! I said "wow" more than a few times! My hubby and I are going on the NCL Sun in August/September from Vancouver to Seward and back! We are so excited, and this made us even more excited.

Thanks for the NCL shore excursion list as well. I've always tried to do my shore excursion planning on my own instead of through the cruise ship because it's so much cheaper, and this is a nice way to compare the prices.

 

I'm glad you and your family had such a wonderful time. I can't wait!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jimsig

jimsig

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Thanks very much - we have now booked our cruise and this tour really tempts me. I have looked at the website and the Bennet one does not go in late Sept - so we are looking at the Yukon rail and bus.

 

How early should we book? Are cruise is Sept 25th. I have checked and there is a 100% refund if we don't get into port.

 

Do you think we will see enough with this tour - or shall we just go for the 3 1/2 hour train up bus back. It looks soo good

 

Thanks for all your help

 

Helen

 

I want to say we booked about 3 months out, but you could always call Chillkoot and see how full it is.

 

I would imagine you would see quite a bit on that tour and if the other stuff on thosr interests you go for it. As nice as the trip is from Frasier BC to Carcross YT on the train the first part of the trip from Skagway to Frasier is amazing. I think it's a 3000 ft elevation gain in those 27 or so miles. That's where you have the drop offs tunnels and bridges. So I don't think you can go wrong with either tour, it's just a matter of what you want to see and do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jimsig

jimsig

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your wonderful review and the pictures! I said "wow" more than a few times! My hubby and I are going on the NCL Sun in August/September from Vancouver to Seward and back! We are so excited, and this made us even more excited.

Thanks for the NCL shore excursion list as well. I've always tried to do my shore excursion planning on my own instead of through the cruise ship because it's so much cheaper, and this is a nice way to compare the prices.

 

I'm glad you and your family had such a wonderful time. I can't wait!

 

I am so glad you enjoyed it. It was my hope that by posting the NCL excursion list it would help someone. It can be a pain to look at all the excursions on the NCL website and even more of a pain to print them out, it used to be easier.

 

We were supposed to sail on the Sun from North to South a few years ago but had to cancel, thank goodness for trip insurance!!!

 

Have a blast!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...
jimsig

jimsig

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Thanks for the great review and good tips! The Pearl sounds nice, although we definitely won't be able to do the suite life!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thanks Vicky,

 

I'm glad you enjoyed my review and liked my tips. We loved the Pearl and the suite was very nice. I feel like we got a great deal and we had a good reason to splurge on a suite. We have since sailed again and didn't have a suite but we somehow managed :) Actually it was easy. No matter what category you sail in the important thing is is that you are enjoying Alaska.

 

I wish Photobucket hadn't changed their policy about allowing 3rd party linking without paying a ransom of I think $300 a year so that you could have seen all the pics.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 year later...

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...