Pearl or Star for Alaska?

[heyitsmejudy]

We're going in late May and are booked right now on the Star. The more I read and check port times, I wonder if we shouldn't be on the Pearl. It seems the Pearl is in each port longer.

The Star does Sawyer Glacier and Inside Passage and I've read that the Pearl goes to Glacier Bay... but the Web site just says "at sea."

Can someone help direct me in making the right choice?

[Toyz711]

i did the star last sept on the route the pearl will be doing. i don't think there is a wrong choice. i loved the star, she was a beautiful ship. our rooms (balcony on deck 10) was great for the 2 of us. the room was kept clean.. between 4 cabins in our family we got all kinds of towel animals: dogs, rabbits, alligators, elephants, seal and a snake. we thought the food was excellent, be sure to go to blue lagoon for wings or chili. it's a great place for coffee/tea/hot chocolate when coming back from shore.

beef wellington got raves in the main dining rooms.

 

BUT i loved glacier bay (pearl), the views were great. starts at dawn with the park rangers coming aboard and several hours of cruising through the area.

on the route the pearl will be doing..they go out west around vancourer island and come back east to cruise between islands and shore. we had views of islands by noon on monday (sunday departure). i am not familar with the route the star is doing this year.

the link to my pictures are in my signature

[Don Haynes]

The ships are of the same class, the Star being the first of the class and the Pearl the lastest to enter NCL's fleet. Other than a few years in age, there isn't much difference between the ships.

 

The Star will start its cruise on Saturday and the Pearl on Sunday. One might have it easier considering their job schedule to do one or the other.

 

The Pearl will be sailing Glacier Bay this year. Glacier Bay is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. While the Pearl sails around Vancouver Island, when entering Alaskan waters approaching Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan you'll see some of the Inside Passage.

 

On the other hand the wonderful views of sailing up the Inside Passage the entire route is beautiful too, the small fising villages, lighthouses, barges being towed by tugs, and wildlife.

 

Frankly, its a tie isn't it? But this might make or break your decision. Sawyer Glacier last year and half the summer season the year before, has been somewhat of a disppointment. The ships used to get very very close to the cliff of the glacier with ice calving upon us when the ship turned about, a wonderful experience. But the glacier calved a bit too much the year before last filling the inlet with icebergs keeping the ship from getting very close. From the reviews last year some of the time the ship didn't get close enough to the glacier to even see it. Before I book a Sawyer Glacier cruise again, I will have to read reviews. There is no sense going to Sawyer Glacier if one cannot see it, in my humble opinion.

 

In other words, until Sawyer Glacier is confirmed by reviews, I would book the Pearl and Glacier Bay. But to be fair, Glacier Bay isn't necessarily a given. The park service in the past won't allow ships into Glacier Bay if the weather is too foggy. So its a bit of a gamble with both cruises.

[RSWBADGER]

We're going in late May and are booked right now on the Star. The more I read and check port times, I wonder if we shouldn't be on the Pearl. It seems the Pearl is in each port longer.

The Star does Sawyer Glacier and Inside Passage and I've read that the Pearl goes to Glacier Bay... but the Web site just says "at sea."

Can someone help direct me in making the right choice?

 

From the NCL Web-Site

 

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/fleet/itineraries.html?destinationCode=ALASKA&destinationCode=PANAMA+CANAL&shipCode=PEARL

 

DayPortArriveDepartSun Seattle --4:00 PMMon Cruise Alaska's Inside Passage ----Tue Juneau 2:00 PM10:00 PMWed Skagway 7:00 AM8:00 PMThu Cruise Glacier Bay ----Fri Ketchikan 6:00 AM1:30 PMSat Victoria 6:00 PM11:59 PMSun Seattle 7:00 AM--

 

7-Day Glacier Bay, Round-trip Seattle

Norwegian Pearl

2007: May 13, 20, 27; June 3, 10, 17, 24; July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29; August 5, 12, 19, 26; September 2, 9, 16

Details

 

[Toyz711]

when we got up monday morning, it was open sea..but you could tell it was getting ready to change. we had a balcony, boy were we looking. at 10am we were at our roll call get together. about this time we noticed we were passing islands on the east and the rocking of the ship was getting less. the views on the port side were great for the whole trip. just like the map shown above shows:D

either trip you are not going lose anything. weather can be "iffy" any time. we had very dense fog one night. fog on the early train in skagway.

just enjoy which ever cruise you choice. at least you will have more daylight then we did.

[Toyz711]

according to the NCL website, both ships go outside of vancourer island..so that part is the same.

[cruisequeen10]

I would go on the Pearl and see Glacier Bay. The activity there when the glacier calves is just breathtaking. In Sawyer Glacier all you see is a huge ice flow. Didn't see any activity, except for some of the ice that had broken loose in the water. If it happens to be a bad day, you might not be able to get in close to see it.