COME SAIL AWAY... FINALLY! Live Review of NCL Encore Alaska 8/21-8/28

[karatemom2]

33 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

It's like getting off an airplane.  If we're in our own row and have no place to be, I generally just sit back, relax and wait for the crowd to thin.  With the relatively small number of ISP shore excursion options, I'm guessing the majority of those folks were just trying to get to town ten minutes before the next guy (for whatever urgent reason, I can't imagine).   

 

I get the whole relax and just go with the flow vibe being expressed by many - but some of us, like my group, had private excursions booked well in advance that we had planned and paid for and so it isn't always just a matter of trying to beat the next guy to town. We had a tour waiting for us that was holding up other people so we could make it - so yes, we needed to rush. 

 

Keep in mind, when I booked our 2:30 tour in ISP, our port time was supposed to be 1 p.m. I am very careful to allow time when doing private excursions. When they announced the day before that they were adjusting the arrival time to 3 p.m., I immediately reached out to the vendor and they were able to adjust our excursion to a 3:45 start time. Thinking we would be able to get off the ship at 3, that still allowed us time.

 

In reality, we didn't get docked and start disembarking until 3:30 p.m. - and then getting off was a crowd of chaos because EVERYONE who had either private or shore excursions was trying to leave at the same time as we were already 2 and half hours beyond when some tours were supposed to begin. We are very lucky that we were working with such a great vendor. But there were also people with private whale watching, bear tours and fishing excursions that were equally pressed.

 

So, it's all well to go with the flow and I try to be that person. But this was a very stressful and unpleasant situation and I was certainly not alone in my frustration. 

[NCLer57]

3 hours ago, gknep said:

I'm on the Sep 11 Encore Alaska sailing and my attitude is that once I'm on the ship I don't care. Late to a port, I don't care. Line to get off, I don't care. Ward Cove, I don't care. I'm just excited to be back cruising. 

I am with you on 9/11.  I will make the best of the 168+ hours we have.  At ISP I think I might wait back a bit.  At Ward Cove, I will book an excursion thru NCL.  And if the weather is bad, I will stay happy and warm on the ship!  

[aubreyc1988]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

It's like getting off an airplane.  If we're in our own row and have no place to be, I generally just sit back, relax and wait for the crowd to thin.  With the relatively small number of ISP shore excursion options, I'm guessing the majority of those folks were just trying to get to town ten minutes before the next guy (for whatever urgent reason, I can't imagine).   

on every cruise I've ever been on, there is ALWAYS people lining up in the stairwell to get off before the ship has even been cleared. And even at 60% capacity, it's easy to create a crowded stairwell situation. Like you said, everyone is just clamoring for an extra 10 minutes in port, I  do not get it. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

46 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:

I get the whole relax and just go with the flow vibe being expressed by many - but some of us, like my group, had private excursions booked well in advance that we had planned and paid for and so it isn't always just a matter of trying to beat the next guy to town.

Yes, and my post was clearly directed at those who did NOT have excursions booked.

[NikiPinkston]

2 hours ago, Baxter68 said:

I don’t think you need to explain yourself!! All makes sense to me and you’re just sharing your experience and the facts of what happened, or what you observed. We go on the last sailing, October 16th, and I’m prepared for the weather not being that great, for the ports to be just a bonus if they work out, and I’m just going to enjoy being on the ship!

Thank you, @Baxter68!  I hesitated to say anything further but I guess you-know-who just got under my skin, which doesn't happen very often.  That easygoing attitude, you know LOL. 😀 Thank you for being one of the really kind people with a great attitude on these boards.

[NikiPinkston]

4 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

Thank you for the response.  It really means a lot.  Hope we see you on some future cruise.  To echo what someone else said about your apparent lack of stress, you really do seem to be very laid back folks.  I hope that in ISP and Ketchikan this coming week we can keep our cool as well as you did.

@The Traveling Man, Hope your cruise is as wonderful as you are!

[Dejlig Ko]

3 hours ago, drumexpert510 said:

Juneau:

 

We actually didn’t get into town for Juneau. We took a private tour from Liquid Alaska and did the paddle and Mendenhall Glacier excursion. 
 

They pick us up at 7am right at the ship and drove us to the launch site. All there equipment is well maintained and our guides Mario and Casey were very knowledgeable, helpful and informative. We launched the 20 person boat and paddled about 2 miles to the face of the glacier where we hiked around. 
 

We were originally suppose to

trek the glacier but last week that had huge glacial flooding and the glacier reversed around 50 foot over night. It is now unsafe to

trek the face. The only way to get ON it is by helicopter currently. We were still able to get close enough to touch it though, an amazing experience! 
 

After the paddle back, Liquid Alaska had warm drinks and got us back to the ship in time for sail way.... I 1000% recommend doing this. It is my 2nd time and I would keep doing it! 

 

THE BEST WAY TO SEE AND TOUCH A GLACIER ON YOUR TRIP (for

your money)!

Darn but they show full for the rest of 2021. Sounds fantastic! 

[Wink87]

3 hours ago, drumexpert510 said:

We are doing that tomorrow night!

Pics and review please!!!

[joeflow80]

4 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

It's like getting off an airplane.  If we're in our own row and have no place to be, I generally just sit back, relax and wait for the crowd to thin.  With the relatively small number of ISP shore excursion options, I'm guessing the majority of those folks were just trying to get to town ten minutes before the next guy (for whatever urgent reason, I can't imagine).   

Yup. At every stop we waited about an hour before heading to the dock. Figured it cuts down on the stress to not need to wait in lines. Bypassed the gondola line in ISP with the nature trail.

[joeflow80]

4 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

 

 

Edited August 27, 2021 by joeflow80
duplication

[BirdTravels]

18 hours ago, zerooveride said:

Evac at Dawes Glacier- Crew had N95 Masks, Gloves and Tyvek suits under their life vests

The boat is the Tracy Arm Fjord and Glacier Explorer tour boat. ShoreEx passengers disembark the Encore a few minutes before she leaves Juneau through a tender door. The small boat races ahead of the Encore stopping for wildlife (whale, bears) and takes a side trip down smaller fjords for views of waterfalls and nature.  Then the boat gets up close and personal with the glacier. It finally returns to the Encore near the Dawes Glacier around 6:30 pm and ShoreEx participants embark through the tender door.

 

The photo above looks like the one below with the deck crew in their white overalls, jackets, and life vests. The NCL crew was potentially on the tour boat to help a disabled passenger get back on the ship. Or a passenger who felt unwell after 6 hours in choppy waters.

 

The tour boat has no medical facilities, and a crew of two captains, a deck hand, bartender, and naturalist. The ride back to Juneau would be about another 4 hours on the tour boat. 

 

 

[LNielsen]

8 hours ago, gknep said:

I'm on the Sep 11 Encore Alaska sailing and my attitude is that once I'm on the ship I don't care. Late to a port, I don't care. Line to get off, I don't care. Ward Cove, I don't care. I'm just excited to be back cruising. 

We’re on this Saturday, we’ve planned absolutely nothing.  We’re just happy to be on the ship and being spoiled as one can be only on a cruise.   If something strikes our fancy as far as available excursions go we’ll book it. If not, we’ll wander off the ship at our leisure after the crowds subside. 

[Baxter68]

1 hour ago, LNielsen said:

We’re on this Saturday, we’ve planned absolutely nothing.  We’re just happy to be on the ship and being spoiled as one can be only on a cruise.   If something strikes our fancy as far as available excursions go we’ll book it. If not, we’ll wander off the ship at our leisure after the crowds subside. 

Sounds like a great plan to me! We’ve decided on not planning any excursions in Ketchikan and ISP mostly because who knows what the weather will be come Mid October for our sailing. We did schedule the Juneau helicopter/glacier landing just bc I didn’t want that one to book up. 
I’m looking forward to the boat as the destination and even splurged on the thermal suite pass for us for the week….that and loose pants for how much I plan on eating, drinking…

[Wink87]

1 hour ago, LNielsen said:

We’re on this Saturday, we’ve planned absolutely nothing.  We’re just happy to be on the ship and being spoiled as one can be only on a cruise.   If something strikes our fancy as far as available excursions go we’ll book it. If not, we’ll wander off the ship at our leisure after the crowds subside. 

My thoughts exactly! We board Sept 25!

[drumexpert510]

5 hours ago, Dejlig Ko said:

Darn but they show full for the rest of 2021. Sounds fantastic! 

Call them and ask, they sometimes add additional tours.

[lanceholt]

14 hours ago, joeflow80 said:

Yup. At every stop we waited about an hour before heading to the dock. Figured it cuts down on the stress to not need to wait in lines. Bypassed the gondola line in ISP with the nature trail.

We like to do likewise, wait till the rush clears.  The whole idea is relax and enjoy.....

 

[drumexpert510]

The gym onboard, located on deck 16 aft is of decent size. They open at 6am daily and have a good amount of equipment. I was in there every day around 7am and never had any issue getting to the equipment I needed. The pictures taken here were at 7am on a sea day. 
 

The treadmills and bike have rv screens in them so make sure to bring headphones. There are also several classes daily to sign up for including personal training sessions for a little extra motivation.

[drumexpert510]

Ward Cove & Ketchikan:

 

I went to Ketchikan in 2018 where we docked right in town and that was convenient BUT this time NCL docked at the New award Cove spot. The first through the was that this was very industrial and needs some work. It was an old logging spot that has been converted over to a new cruise port. 
 

The building you walk into on your way out of the port has been filled with local vendors and a good jump off point BUT just outside of the port is a mandatory FREE bus that takes you into town. After about a 5 min wait, we were onboard the 20 min ride over to downtown Ketchikan. This actually might have been my favorite part of the day asI thought of it as a FREE excursion. The driver was a local and was very informative, talking the whole 20 min ride in about the history of the town.

 

Once we arrived in town we started walking around town. One of my favorite places to go is just a short 5 min walk from the drop off spot. It is a pier with a bunch of unique shops run by locals. It is right on top of the river where you can see salmon spawning and even Harbor Seals feeding as well. 
 

For lunch we ate at Bar Harbor Ale House. We ordered beer cheese soup (which was good but different) and a 2 meat combo with brisket and pulled pork. I enjoyed it but it wasn’t the BEST I have ever had. I had a bourbon that was made in Alaska and was quite good.  Another member of our party had reindeer sausage and Mac and cheese and they enjoyed it as well. 
 

After lunch we visited some more local shops and picked up some souvenirs for others back home and before we knew it was time to board the the bus again (4:45pm) for the last shuttle back to the ship. Again, the bus ride back was very informative and quite enjoyable. 
 

So all in all, I liked the new Wards Cove spot and think that it works and with time can hopefully only get better.

[drumexpert510]

This morning we tried to go to breakfast in the MDR at 8:30am but we had actually went through a +1 time zone and it was actually 9:32am and both MDRs were closed at 9:30am... soooo....

 

We went to The Local for breakfast, the first time on this trip. The menu didn’t look half bad! I ordered the Breakfast Sandwich Corned Beef Hash with no extra eggs (since I already had some on the sandwich).

[TardisDance]

Well at least they aren't charging for the bus anymore.  I think in prior reviews it was $8 per person round trip? That's one positive I'm taking from this. 

[rj59]

On 8/22/2021 at 11:50 PM, zerooveride said:

 

I can Second this! In the 4 NCL and 3 Carnival cruises I have done, this IS the BEST show I have seen and is one of the best I've seen on land. I hope their tour brings them to my area because I would pay to see it again. 

I liked "Million Dollar Quartet" on the Getaway--it was quite the memory eating breakfast in Russia sitting next to Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis. And "Footloose" on the Joy, then watching the two leads walking in port holding hands, a real-life couple. 

[HowardK]

21 hours ago, NCLer57 said:

I am with you on 9/11.  I will make the best of the 168+ hours we have.  At ISP I think I might wait back a bit.  At Ward Cove, I will book an excursion thru NCL.  And if the weather is bad, I will stay happy and warm on the ship!  

This is a great attitude to have !! Well said!

[Travelicious]

What a relief to see that the Alaskan ports have Tanzanite International and Diamonds International! 🤣

[zerooveride]

4 hours ago, drumexpert510 said:

This morning we tried to go to breakfast in the MDR at 8:30am but we had actually went through a +1 time zone and it was actually 9:32am and both MDRs were closed at 9:30am... soooo....

 

We went to The Local for breakfast, the first time on this trip. The menu didn’t look half bad! I ordered the Breakfast Sandwich Corned Beef Hash with no extra eggs (since I already had some on the sandwich).

Is it just me or did it seem like they didn’t announce the time change or put it in the Daily like the did with the first one?

[aubreyc1988]

1 hour ago, Travelicious said:

What a relief to see that the Alaskan ports have Tanzanite International and Diamonds International! 🤣

i was contemplating what to do with my life if they had gone out of business...