Photo Review 08/2019 NB Vancouver to Anchorage NCL

[shark&minnow]

Hi

I am sitting here bored like many people these days, my May cruise has been cancelled so I thought I would do a review of our last cruise. I always enjoy reading cruise reviews but then I get lazy about doing my own review. First I need to see if I can upload a photo:

 

[shark&minnow]

OK it looks like that worked! 

This was our first Alaskan cruise. We chose NCL because of all the free perks they were offering.

We flew to Vancouver 2 days early so we could explore the city a bit before the cruise. When we arrived in Vancouver we had to stand in the pass port line for 2 hours

We finally got through all that and made our way on the public transportation to our hotel and then out to explore Gastown and Chinatown, where we had a delicious dinner at Sai Woo

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by shark&minnow
just figuring out how to upload and put in text

[shark&minnow]

We stayed at The Victorian Hotel on Homer St. It was very nice and walking distance to everywhere. We did not have a private bath at this hotel which I didn't realize when I booked it, but it was really nice. The rooms were lovely and the bathrooms were very nice. They had plush bathrobes in the rooms so running out to the bathroom was really no big deal.

On our second morning in Vancouver we walked all along the waterfront. We also went to "Fly Over Canada" If you are a fan of the "Fly Over" rides at Disney land, this is the same thing only it's Canada of course!

 

 

 

 

Tap Shack, Coal Harbour 8/25, warm and sunny!

 

[shark&minnow]

8/26 Embarkation day!

We started the day at this Cool little cafe called Jam Cafe, it was very good, I read about it somewhere so I knew to get there first thing. We waited in line for a bit to get in. Then we returned to our hotel and got a taxi to take us to the ship.

 

Dutch Baby at Jam Cafe

 

 

Sitting on board the Jewel

 

Dinner in the Tsar's Palace

 

The Tsar's faberge egg 

[shark&minnow]

8/26 was a sea day and I don't remember exactly what we did. I know on embarkation day and possible this sea day w actually had some warm sunshine and we enjoyed sitting pool side and at one point we saw some killer whales. They were a ways off so not like they were right by the ship. On 8/27 we stopped in Ketchikan. We had an excursion planned for a little later in the morning so first thing w walked to the salmon ladder and from there we took the "married mans" path down to Creek Street. It was a beautiful walk. This was the first time I had seen salmon jumping up stream, little did I know I would learn quite a lot about salmon on this trip! Our excursion was the George inlet wilderness exploration and crab feast. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a beautiful day, but the boat ride was a bit long and there wasn't much to see

 

Everyone ate lots of crab! You are packed in very tightly in the dining room

 

[TSUmom]

Thank you for sharing....this is supposed to be our trip this august although reversed.  We have really been looking forward to it but are afraid it just won't happen.  At least now we can see the cruise through your eyes and review.

[shark&minnow]

8/29 Juneau: It was another gorgeous sunny day!  We had an excursion that went to Mendenhal Glacier and then whale watching. The glacier was a nice place to walk around, but you will see much more beautiful glaciers on this trip so I would definitely skip it next time.  On the whale watch we watched a baby playing and breaching over and over. When we returned to port we ate at the "Hanger on the Wharf" where you are seated where you can see the sea planes etc. and the halibut was very good.

 

Hanger on the Wharf

 

 

[vivian02]

Not sure if our sailing will happen this coming August. At least I did take a lot of pictures over the past few years on our cruises to Alaska. I loved the sailing into Icy Straights. 

[shark&minnow]

8/30 Skagway:

We strolled down the street and stopped at the museums. We also enjoyed the Klondike Brewing Company it was another beautiful day

 

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Back on the ship enjoying the sun, at least I was!

 

[shark&minnow]

The next two days we cruised Glacier Bay and the Hubbard Glacier. This really was a beautiful and amazing experience, my pictures don't do it justice.

 

Listen to the ice...it sounds like Rice Krispies!

 

 

Hubbard Glacier:

 

not as warm here!

[shark&minnow]

A note on viewing the glaciers in glacier bay etc:  I read a lot of reviews before taking our trip and people talk about the best place to view certain things. I really enjoyed just being on our balcony. The captain turns the ship so everywhere gets a view. I found that if you go on the deck with the crowd then everyone crowds to the spot that seems best at that moment and it just seems far more pleasant to just enjoy the view from your room.

 

9/2 our trip cruise came to an end in Seward and we spent the night in Seward. It was a cool little town with a very tourist friendly free shuttle that makes a regular trip around the whole place. We stayed at The Harbor View Inn which has a tram stop at their property. This was also the first and only rain we encountered on or trip

 

The end of the rainbow!

 

We took a boat tour of Resurrection bay and enjoyed a salmon lunch at Fox Island

 

 

Resurrection Art Coffee house....super cool!

 

Dinner at Seward Brewing:

[shark&minnow]

9/4:

We took the evening train from Seward  to Anchorage. We got in at 10pm and stayed at a bed & breakfast called the Arctic Fox

 

 

 

 

 

[shark&minnow]

We spent the next two nights in the Anchorage area. We stayed at the Alyeska Resort before flying home on 9/6.

49th State Brewing:

 

Reindeer Sausage and Elk pizza on the deck in the sunshine

 

Alyeska Resort

 

our room

 

Girdwood Brewing

[shark&minnow]

The Anchorage visitors center was so cute

T

 

Alyeska Tram

 

Top of the mountain

 

 

 

[Kevin's girl]

Thank you so much for sharing. We are supposed to be cruising Alaska this August. We haven't cancelled yet and are holding out a little hope, but realize your August cruise may be as close as we get this year. It looks like you had a great trip and your photos are beautiful.

[portcbob]

Thanks for your beautiful pics. Your trip looked great.

We were supposed to cruise with Hal in June from Vancouver however was cancelled.

Put trip over to June, 2021 and hoping to go then.

Cheers Bob.

[JJinAK]

Nice review!  The Jewel is one of my favorite ships that come into Juneau 🙂

Jules

[Jimbo]

How was the Alyeska Resort , we were suppose to be there the end of July this year, but not going to happen now, so sad?

[shark&minnow]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

How was the Alyeska Resort , we were suppose to be there the end of July this year, but not going to happen now, so sad?

It was very nice! Hopefully you will get there soon. We had a Caribbean Back to back scheduled for May😕

[cat shepard]

Thank you for doing this! We are just starting to plan our 2021 trip.

[Cruiser933]

How did you like the evening train? Were the views still good or did it get dark too quickly to be worth the money? I am considering this for our cruise in September 2021.  Thanks!

[shark&minnow]

The train was great. It was light and then as we approached Anchorage we enjoyed the sunset.

[Cruiser933]

Fantastic! I was thinking about spending some time in the Seward area before heading to Anchorage. My husband loves trains so I don’t want him to miss out. 

[gottagoacruzn]

Yup, beautiful pictures, am itchin to go. A few months ago, had thought about makin reservations to go the last of April, but guess I didn't make it. Thinkin about goin in Sept.

[Anyislandwilldo]

Alaska is amazing, thanks for sharing your review.