Short Recap of Recent Pearl Cruise (AK)

[Son of a son of a ...]

Background: We are in our mid to late 40s. This is our 5th cruise with NCL and 10th overall. We cruised with the in laws.

Our cabin was an aft facing balcony (#10668). I would definitely recommend an AFB for Alaska ... we were able to see whales from the balcony and avoid the wind. Plus, it was a great view of Glacier Bay.

We thought there was not enough storage in the cabin for our two full size suitcases. I think we overpacked.

Random bits:

We did the "fill the bag" laundry special for $20 and received a 50% discount using out Latitudes Gold coupon. The laundry was returned around 6 pm the next night.

The Summer Palace requires long pants for supper - I forgot one night so we shifted to Indigo - same menu.

With the dinner package, we ate at Cagneys, Le Bistro, and Modernos. In hindsight, we would have eaten all three at Cagneys ... the fillet at Le Bistro was the same as you get at Cagneys.

The Spring Garden aka the "trough" was decent, but crowded at times - not surprisingly.

The bar service was great. Some of the more popular drinks (LIIT) were premixed.

Entertainment was very good - the comedian was excellent and the acrobatic show was very well done - a bit like cirque. We didn't care that much for the juggler. The washy washy guys were a hit! Get to the shows 15 minutes early - seats seemed to fill

We did Mendenhall Glacier and whale watching in Juneau - perfect weather. At the Glacier, if you want to walk to the falls, then do so directly - I think you get 60 minutes at the stop and it takes about 45 minutes to walk to and from the falls. However, there was very little time for shopping afterward.

We took the train and suspension bridge excursion in Skagway. The town is very small - 8 blocks along the main road full of shops. Very friendly. We shopped before and after the excursion. Sit on the left side of the train on the way up. The suspension bridge was just OK. We bought several Ulu knives and were able to take them back to the cabin with us.

Glacier Bay was awesome. We entered around 0600 and when directly to Marjori Glacier (on the way back, the ship will ponder at two other glaciers). A ranger was giving commentary on the way in ... DW went to the presentation and found it informative. At Marjori, the ship does a couple of circles so you can remain stationary and see the glaciers without moving about. We also saw a bunch of sea otters in the Bay.

PS - the ranger is broadcast on TV, but it was difficult to hear while on the aft balcony due to engines and wake noise.

In Ketchikan , DW's seaplane excursion was cancelled due to weather. I went on the cold water snorkeling excursion - very cool!! Shopping was plentiful in Ketchikan and prices seemed reasonable. I wish we had more time in that port. It rained like cats and dogs in the afternoon.

Concerning the weather, we were told in Juneau, Skagway, and at the Bay that the weather was exceptionally good on those days ... we were told it rains often in the AK ports. I wore shorts or pants and a light jacket throughout the cruise. PS - pack a rain jacket and forget the umbrella. Also, there are blankets in the room for sitting on the balcony. You will want to bring binoculars, too.

We did not take an excursion in Victoria, BC. Instead, we opted for the $22 round trip coach from the pier to downtown. The town is very clean, quaint, and ... well, Canadian! We walked around the inner harbor and poked around the shops on Government Street. The challenge with this port is that we arrived at 6 pm and left at midnight on the last night of the cruise - we were pretty tired by then and focused on packing.

The casino was smokey - no surprise. It was shut down by 2 pm on Saturday and stayed shut down through disembarkation. We lost, we won, we lost ... same story.

AK is PST minus 1 hour. BC is PST.

Seattle was fun - we did the Space Needle on the day we arrived (1 day pre-cruise) and walked down to Pike's Market the morning of embarkation - we woke up early because we were still on EST.

 

The ship never seemed crowded. People were a little older than a Caribbean cruise.

[Son of a son of a ...]

We self assisted with disembarkation and were 12th in line to get off. We were off, through customs, with a taxi ride to SEA, two checked bags, and through TSA (precheck) within 75 minutes. The taxi ride with tip was $45.

[Dcoy]

Thanks for your review. We're in an aft suite this August and looking forward to see Alaska from that vantage point.

 

Don

[SURPRISE1]

thank you so much for your review. Did you reserve your specialty dining prior to boarding or did you wait until you were on the ship?

[Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin]

Casino question...you said it shut down at 2 pm on Sat and stayed down until disembark....what day did you embark/disembark and was the casino open any other time during the trip? Just need to know how much money I will lose (opps, I mean how much money to bring:)), since I will play craps daily when the tables are running!

[triptolemus]

Casino question...you said it shut down at 2 pm on Sat and stayed down until disembark....what day did you embark/disembark and was the casino open any other time during the trip? Just need to know how much money I will lose (opps, I mean how much money to bring:)), since I will play craps daily when the tables are running!

 

The Pearl turnaround day is today -- Sunday.

[Son of a son of a ...]

We prebooked dinners. DW & I changed dinner at Le Bistro from 6:30 to 6 on Friday. The in laws were eating at Cagneys that night and could not change their time. We wanted to eat at 6 because shows started at 730 - there was another at 930 tho.

 

The casino was closed in ports. We were on a Sunday to Sunday cruise and Victoria was the Saturday port @ 6 pm. They closed at 2 pm on Saturday ... I assume we were in Canadian waters by then based on the imposition drink taxes. We actually watched the farewell show at 330 ... before going ashore to Victoria. Definitely a different last day pace for us, but we rolled with it.

[jonsmom]

Thanks for your review. We are the 8/13 sailing and are in Cabin 10168.

 

What time was your flight back to the east coast. I think our flight is 3:40 pm - not sure what we will do with all that time post cruise.

 

This is our first Alaska trip and we are also used to sailing in the Caribbean.

[www3traveler]

Thanks for your review. We are the 8/13 sailing and are in Cabin 10168.

 

What time was your flight back to the east coast. I think our flight is 3:40 pm - not sure what we will do with all that time post cruise.

 

This is our first Alaska trip and we are also used to sailing in the Caribbean.

 

I will be doing an Alaskan cruise and plan to book a post-cruise Seattle excursion through Norwegian. It says that it is for flights after 3 P.M. You might want to look into whether it would work for you.

 

Enjoy your cruise. I can not wait for mine.

[jonsmom]

I will be doing an Alaskan cruise and plan to book a post-cruise Seattle excursion through Norwegian. It says that it is for flights after 3 P.M. You might want to look into whether it would work for you.

 

Enjoy your cruise. I can not wait for mine.

 

What type of excursion is it? Nevermind.....I just found the excursion. It gets 2 out of 5 stars. We will be in Seattle for 2 days so I think we will be covering most of the places the tour takes you on.

Edited June 4, 2017 by jonsmom

[easyboy]

Thank you for the review.

 

 

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[reefgirl]

Does the pier to downtown coach in Victoria go back and forth all night while the ship is in?

[tpnebraska]

Son of a.... by chance do you have any pictures you can post of your cabin? We will be in that cabin in 14 days and interested to see if after dry dock. Sounds like we made a good choice 500+ days ago when we booked the cruise!!

[prekcruiser]

Thanks for the review. I sail in a week and I'm getting kinda excited. How bad was the weather in Ketchikan? DH and I have a seaplane excursion planned and I was wondering at what point do they cancel?

[Son of a son of a ...]

Son of a.... by chance do you have any pictures you can post of your cabin? We will be in that cabin in 14 days and interested to see if after dry dock. Sounds like we made a good choice 500+ days ago when we booked the cruise!!

 

I tried to upload them on CC and I get a message about a "security token" being missing. I'm not tech savvy enough to understand what that means. Sorry.

[Son of a son of a ...]

Thanks for the review. I sail in a week and I'm getting kinda excited. How bad was the weather in Ketchikan? DH and I have a seaplane excursion planned and I was wondering at what point do they cancel?

 

They cancelled the excursion by ship phone on the morning of the excursion. Locally, the weather did not get bad (windy and raining) until noon. However, the weather at the destination (misty fjords) must have been bad or forecast to turn bad.

[Son of a son of a ...]

Does the pier to downtown coach in Victoria go back and forth all night while the ship is in?

 

The coaches were double decked. We walked down the pier and followed the sign to the line for the coach. $11 USD $13 CND for round trip. They said the coaches run about every 20 minutes and based on our wait time that was just about right. We only spent a few hours downtown - not sure how late they run, but we didn't ask. On our return trip, the driver did not wait for a fill bus - he waited 5 minutes and then drove back to the pier.

 

I recall the daily stating that it was a $10 cab fare to downtown. There were a lot of options at the pier for getting to town.

[Cruisedreamin2]

They cancelled the excursion by ship phone on the morning of the excursion. Locally, the weather did not get bad (windy and raining) until noon. However, the weather at the destination (misty fjords) must have been bad or forecast to turn bad.

 

 

We are sailing at the end of the month also and we booked the seaplane excursion too. This may be a silly question, but we do get our money back if they cancel because of weather right? I hope they don't cancel, I was looking forward to this excursion most...

 

 

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[Groovyyaya]

Did they have multiple stops downtown? I have been to Victoria so many times, I was planning on walking down to the wharf and taking a water taxi from there to one of the stops (I want to first head to a drug store downtown that I know will be open) then walking back, perhaps stopping for a drink and a nosh. But a hop on, hop off coach might be worth it.

[spotfish]

Great review, We're on the jewel in 19 days, I originally booked cabin 10668 but a few weeks ago the prices dropped and we moved up to PH 10164 for $116 more. can't wait!

[cbtravel1]

Great review, we are looking forward to our 1st Alaska cruise next year.

[Son of a son of a ...]

We are sailing at the end of the month also and we booked the seaplane excursion too. This may be a silly question, but we do get our money back if they cancel because of weather right? I hope they don't cancel, I was looking forward to this excursion most...

 

 

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Yes. The excursion was $449 pp, which one in-law prepaid for the others. Everyone went to the excursion desk and received their 10% Latitudes rebate. When it was cancellled, each person had about $409 credit on their account. They then had to go to guest services to transfer the credit back to the one in-law's account. Guest services said the total refund amount was too large to reimburse at the desk and they would mail a check ... I think they said that it might take three weeks to receive the check.

[Son of a son of a ...]

Did they have multiple stops downtown? I have been to Victoria so many times, I was planning on walking down to the wharf and taking a water taxi from there to one of the stops (I want to first head to a drug store downtown that I know will be open) then walking back, perhaps stopping for a drink and a nosh. But a hop on, hop off coach might be worth it.

 

The coach we took only offered service from the pier to a stop on Goverment Street that was 2-3 blocks from the inner harbor.

[Son of a son of a ...]

 

 

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[Son of a son of a ...]

 

 

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