Live from the NCL Star July 23-August 15, 2023. Will I survive 23 days without the beverage package?

[Suetravel]

Hi YVRteacher

 

Yvonne

 

I know you cruise each year with your dad to Alaska. Are you doing an Alaskan cruise this year? 

[YVRteacher]

On 1/5/2024 at 7:30 AM, bluesea777 said:

Too true! We’re flying out with 2 suitcases with one smaller case inside one. Love love the supermarkets in both Norway & Iceland!

 

Me too! I went to the local grocery store in every port!

[YVRteacher]

On 1/5/2024 at 5:25 AM, laudergayle said:

@YVRteacher and @Sugar Magnolia  I remember reading about this excursion in your reviews, and have booked the Bering Sea Crab Tour based on your recommendations.  We’re so excited.  Thank you for sharing.  I would love to see an octopus, too.

Are you doing Vancouver to Seward to Vancouver? The Alaska Sea Life Centre (aquarium in Seward) has a behind the scenes octopus encounter.

[YVRteacher]

On 1/5/2024 at 5:25 AM, laudergayle said:

@YVRteacher and @Sugar Magnolia  I remember reading about this excursion in your reviews, and have booked the Bering Sea Crab Tour based on your recommendations.  We’re so excited.  Thank you for sharing.  I would love to see an octopus, too.

If you would like to meet up in Vancouver in April before the cruise please let me know! I’d love that!

[YVRteacher]

On 1/5/2024 at 7:37 AM, bluesea777 said:

If you are still going on your annual Alaskan birthday cruise next year 2025 please book the Jade that will be calling in Valdez … I will let you know of a private excursion that you cannot miss. It was one of our fave excursions. 
 

 

I was just looking at cruises in 2025. The Jade replaces the Jewel out of Vancouver on the Alaska run. Instead of Seward it goes to Whittier. The Jade does not go to Valdez. NCL has pulled out of their attempted relationship with Valdez for three main reasons:

1. it’s a working port and the port authorities don’t want people walking through the port but they don’t have the capacity to efficiently move cruise ship passengers through the port

2. Valdez does not have enough tour buses (busses? buses? I should know this!)

3. there aren’t enough options for shore excursions so people had nothing to do

[YVRteacher]

On 1/5/2024 at 11:01 AM, vacation44 said:

 

I am a firm believer that when one door closes, another when opens.

 

I, too, am so happy to hear an update on your new job and your next adventure with your dad.   I look forward to reading all about it.  

 

Your Alaska reports are, in my opinion, the best.  They were so helpful on our first Alaska cruise this past September on the Jewel which we only booked based on your reports.  

 

Happy New Year to you and your dad!

Happy New Year!! Thank you so much! I was wondering if I should do another live trip report and your comment helped me decide yes. I love writing them.

 

Here’s a little dad story:

(My dad has dementia which is progressing and he deals with a lot of confusion now.)

 

 I couldn’t find a cruise for us over Christmas so I booked a weeklong stay in San Diego. I knew my dad would be fine as we had been there before and were staying at the same hotel we enjoyed last year.  He did great!!

 

On the plane coming home we had business class seats (I had a discount code and it was a great deal!!) These seats came with a meal. My dad looked at the menu and didn’t want the chicken or the pasta. He only wanted dessert. When the absolutely wonderful flight attendant came to take our dinner orders I told him my dad only wanted the blueberry cheesecake. 
 

The flight attendant served my delicious pasta, salad and fruit then gave my dad a white linen napkin and 5 pieces of silverware before placing a lovely slice of blueberry cheesecake on his tray table. My dad said thank you then looked at his plate then looked at me.

 

He said, “don’t you think this is funny looking ice cream?”

 

I told him he ordered cheesecake and this was cheesecake.

 

My dad said “oh.” Then he ate half my dinner.🙄

 

When it was time for dessert I took a little bite of his cheesecake before he tried it.  He asked me how the ice cream was!  I told him again it was cheesecake.

 

Two minutes later he looked at his cheesecake and asked me what it was.

 

I told him it was blueberry cheesecake flavoured ice cream and he happily gobbled it up, wiping his mouth delicately with the lovely linen napkin.

[YVRteacher]

On 1/4/2024 at 8:22 PM, libtrek said:

So nice to see our favorite Vancouver librarian online. Life has been moving on rapidly for us, maybe too rapidly. Haven’t signed for an ALASKA B2b yet, going to wait last minute to make sure R is up to it. Probably going for the Van-Sew-Van route. Simple as possible, light luggage, direct flights is my goal. Anytime late April through May. Too many family events in June. Will book hotel in Van for early start. Mary Lou Libtrek.

I wrote a reply to you yesterday but it didn’t post! Are you on Instagram? Can you DM me?

[YVRteacher]

6 hours ago, Suetravel said:

Hi YVRteacher

 

Yvonne

 

I know you cruise each year with your dad to Alaska. Are you doing an Alaskan cruise this year? 

Yes!! We are doing a B2B on the Jewel April 29-May 13 for our annual birthday cruise.
 

 

[libtrek]

6 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

I wrote a reply to you yesterday but it didn’t post! Are you on Instagram? Can you DM me?

Not on Instagram but I can DM.

[laudergayle]

8 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Are you doing Vancouver to Seward to Vancouver? The Alaska Sea Life Centre (aquarium in Seward) has a behind the scenes octopus encounter.

We’re doing the 5/13 Vancouver to Seward and then doing the train to Anchorage the morning of disembarkation.  But, I’ll keep that in mind for future cruises.  I really want to do a B2B someday.  I’m really looking forward to your review!

[Suetravel]

It looks like Alaska cruise starts in April and ends in end of October. 
 

Would the ship even make it in to glacier bay or Hubbard glacier that early in the season? 

[bluesea777]

3 hours ago, laudergayle said:

We’re doing the 5/13 Vancouver to Seward and then doing the train to Anchorage the morning of disembarkation.  But, I’ll keep that in mind for future cruises.  I really want to do a B2B someday.  I’m really looking forward to your review!

 

Hi, when I was researching early last year for our 2023 B2B Alaskan cruises that we started with booking Van-Sew-Van but switched to Sew-Van-Sew after discovering that 1) Vancouver was screaming expensive (sorry Yv) for two nights pre-cruise 2) I was able to score Alaska Air non-stop from Chicago to Anchorage and finding that Chicago was much cheaper than Seattle for the overnight hotel stay near the airport and lastly 3) great tours/excursions in Anchorage and Seward so we spent 3 nights in both Anchorage (1nt) & Seward (2nts) pre-cruise. We did take the train from Anchorage to Seward.

 

We happened to much prefer Seward to Anchorage so perhaps you can switch your cruise to Southbound so you can spend a few days pre-cruise in Alaska, seeing and doing the best of AK before you embark in Seward. The embarkation in Seward is so easy. Seward is a delightful town.

 

 

[bluesea777]

11 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Yes!! We are doing a B2B on the Jewel April 29-May 13 for our annual birthday cruise.
 

 

 

That's great! Perhaps you want to consider a boat excursion with Major Marine in Seward - the 6 hour one that includes Holgate Glacier ...

 

 

[laudergayle]

38 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

 

Hi, when I was researching early last year for our 2023 B2B Alaskan cruises that we started with booking Van-Sew-Van but switched to Sew-Van-Sew after discovering that 1) Vancouver was screaming expensive (sorry Yv) for two nights pre-cruise 2) I was able to score Alaska Air non-stop from Chicago to Anchorage and finding that Chicago was much cheaper than Seattle for the overnight hotel stay near the airport and lastly 3) great tours/excursions in Anchorage and Seward so we spent 3 nights in both Anchorage (1nt) & Seward (2nts) pre-cruise. We did take the train from Anchorage to Seward.

 

We happened to much prefer Seward to Anchorage so perhaps you can switch your cruise to Southbound so you can spend a few days pre-cruise in Alaska, seeing and doing the best of AK before you embark in Seward. The embarkation in Seward is so easy. Seward is a delightful town.

 

 

Thanks for the suggestion.  I have to admit it was challenging finding decent airfare…but we did finally score good fares.   Now…the hotel, that is another story. We may decide to take an extra day for Seward.

[bluesea777]

12 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

I was just looking at cruises in 2025. The Jade replaces the Jewel out of Vancouver on the Alaska run. Instead of Seward it goes to Whittier. The Jade does not go to Valdez. NCL has pulled out of their attempted relationship with Valdez for three main reasons:

1. it’s a working port and the port authorities don’t want people walking through the port but they don’t have the capacity to efficiently move cruise ship passengers through the port

2. Valdez does not have enough tour buses (busses? buses? I should know this!)

3. there aren’t enough options for shore excursions so people had nothing to do

 

So NCL has now removed Valdez from the Alaskan itineraries, to tell you the truth, I'm not surprised.

 

When we stopped in Valdez on June 13th last year we learnt from the tour guide (private) as he was driving us back to ship that it was announced in town the day before (on the 12th) that NCL had decided to pull out of Valdez for the rest of season. NCL itself didn't announce to public until in the evening of the 13th - the following morning (14th). So we, on the Spirit, were the last NCL pax to visit Valdez.

 

This is the excursion we went on while docked in Valdez: Valdez Glacier and Icebergs Tours - Alaska Guide - it was one of the best excursions we've ever been on, ever.

 

 

[libtrek]

7 hours ago, libtrek said:

Not on Instagram but I can DM.

OK, I am having a senior moment. I clicked on your profile but it said message is disabled. Not sure how to DM you. Do I need your email address? Here is my email. 9bluegills at gmail dot com. Now I can’t wait to talk cruise with you. ML

[YVRteacher]

9 hours ago, libtrek said:

OK, I am having a senior moment. I clicked on your profile but it said message is disabled. Not sure how to DM you. Do I need your email address? Here is my email. 9bluegills at gmail dot com. Now I can’t wait to talk cruise with you. ML

I think Cruise Critic has DMs disabled for everyone.

Sent you an email!

[YVRteacher]

11 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

 

So NCL has now removed Valdez from the Alaskan itineraries, to tell you the truth, I'm not surprised.

 

When we stopped in Valdez on June 13th last year we learnt from the tour guide (private) as he was driving us back to ship that it was announced in town the day before (on the 12th) that NCL had decided to pull out of Valdez for the rest of season. NCL itself didn't announce to public until in the evening of the 13th - the following morning (14th). So we, on the Spirit, were the last NCL pax to visit Valdez.

 

This is the excursion we went on while docked in Valdez: Valdez Glacier and Icebergs Tours - Alaska Guide - it was one of the best excursions we've ever been on, ever.

 

 

You’re so fortunate to have visited Valdez. We had a private excursion booked but obviously had to cancel when the Spirit’s itinerary changed in 2023. The good news was we were able to visit Sitka instead and it was wonderful to visit a new-to-us port.

[YVRteacher]

11 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

 

That's great! Perhaps you want to consider a boat excursion with Major Marine in Seward - the 6 hour one that includes Holgate Glacier ...

 

 

Have done the Major Marine tours many times. All were fabulous. Highly recommend. 

[YVRteacher]

12 hours ago, Suetravel said:

It looks like Alaska cruise starts in April and ends in end of October. 
 

Would the ship even make it in to glacier bay or Hubbard glacier that early in the season? 

Oh yes! If you search my profile you’ll see the past trip reports I’ve done while onboard the Jewel at this time of year for the last few years. We have been doing this cruise for years (before I was on Cruise Critic) and have had phenomenal glacier viewing experiences. Last year there was a service dog named Molly on board (B2B so I had two weeks with her!) and I spent the glacier viewing day sitting on the Haven sundeck with a black lab in my lap just having hours of dog cuddles. I will never forget that day!

[Seas2mountains]

17 hours ago, laudergayle said:

Thanks for the suggestion.  I have to admit it was challenging finding decent airfare…but we did finally score good fares.   Now…the hotel, that is another story. We may decide to take an extra day for Seward.

If you can stay an extra day in Seward, I also agree with @bluesea777 recommendation for the Major Marine tour. 
 

 

[Seas2mountains]

@YVRteacher looking forward to reading your Alaska live review! 
 

I will need to go back to read this review again as we booked a Norway/Iceland cruise for June 2024 on Prima. Your photos and review inspired me to convince my husband to travel there. 
 

The Forest Lagoon has been added to my list.  

[Suetravel]

9 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Oh yes! If you search my profile you’ll see the past trip reports I’ve done while onboard the Jewel at this time of year for the last few years. We have been doing this cruise for years (before I was on Cruise Critic) and have had phenomenal glacier viewing experiences. Last year there was a service dog named Molly on board (B2B so I had two weeks with her!) and I spent the glacier viewing day sitting on the Haven sundeck with a black lab in my lap just having hours of dog cuddles. I will never forget that day!

Hi Yvonne

 

Congratulations on your new job. Glad you are loving it. I have been following your trips but don’t usually comment too much. 
 

I know that you stay in a suite or balcony and I know about your dad.  He is funny.
 

I was suppose to go on the same b2b last year but the husband had a medical emergency and we had to pull out. 
 

I see that there is no additional points for this cruise, lol

 

i am hoping to book this cruise on b2b and meet you in person. Of course we will be doing the tour with major marine that we also pull out of last year.  

[Suetravel]

Yvonne

 

Also this year there is no endicott glacier tour in Juneau ?

[YVRteacher]

7 hours ago, Seas2mountains said:

@YVRteacher looking forward to reading your Alaska live review! 
 

I will need to go back to read this review again as we booked a Norway/Iceland cruise for June 2024 on Prima. Your photos and review inspired me to convince my husband to travel there. 
 

The Forest Lagoon has been added to my list.  

For the Forest Lagoon, what I recommend is putting your bathing suit on under your clothes then walking through the port and into the main part of town in Akureyri. Enjoy shopping and eating an Icelandic hot dog and some cake before walking back to the visitor centre to catch the free shuttle to the Forest Lagoon. I did it the other way round and had to carry my soaking wet towel from the cruise ship and my wet bathing suit. Wet towels are heavy!

 

Just don’t forget to bring undergarments in your bag to change into after your dip in the lagoon. I would also recommend bringing a large zip top bag from home in which to pack your bathing suit after all the lagoon experiences! The VOK nature baths out of Seydisfjordur were equally wonderful and I loved the picturesque drive.
 

At the Forest Lagoon they give you a wristband and there is a swim up bar. That was fun!!!