NCL out of Seattle

[luapram]

Would appreciate some posts from folk who have taken the NCL from Seattle on R/T cruise.

I am under the impression that this cruise is like others out of Seattle and goes West of Vancouver Island, that is open ocean.

I noticed that BQ on one of her excellent posts said that NCL went the traditional way, between Vancouver mainland and Vancouver Island.

Please someone tell us which it is and then I wont mislead folks like Rick and Pat who genuinely want guidance for their next cruise.

Thanks

Lu

[rickandpat]

Lu:

Thanks for clarifying why NCL would probably take the same route as everyone else, it makes sense now.

Pat

[Cruizer_J]

There was some discussion about this a few weeks ago on the NCL board. Apparently, RT sailings out of Seattle often go west of Vancouver Island and RT sailings out of Vancouver go east. Check the thread “Stars Alaskan Route”, especially Urban trekker’s reply for an explanation: [url]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=45464[/url]

[kkorman]

SO they do not travel the inside passage.

[luapram]

[quote name='kkorman']SO they do not travel the inside passage.[/QUOTE]

It depends on what you think the Inside Passage is?

Ships out of Seattle after cruising outside of Vancouver Island,normally join the Inside Passage route somewhere about where Prince Rupert and the Alaskan border starts/They then cruise up to Hubbard Glacier [at least the Amsterdam did in 2002] and then come back to either Sitka or Skagway,Juneau and then Ketchikan.

They then go outside again down the ocean side of Vancouver and make the mandatory stop in Vancouver,some for half a day but some like the Amsterdam only 3hrs and 59 minutes at Victoria.

I have cruised the Inside Passage many times by Ferry out of Bellingham and by cruise ship out of Vancouver.

Although I valued the service of HAL and loved the Amsterdam,I felt somewhat 'cheated' after doing the R/T from Seattle and missing the beauty of the traditional Inside Passage..

Joe Upton in his books says that traditionally the Inside Passage is between Seattle and Skagway,a journey of over 1000 miles but his books detail the route inside Vancouver Island and more the route that the ferry takes from Bellingham to Skagway.

Lu

[luapram]

[quote name='ganders']There was some discussion about this a few weeks ago on the NCL board. Apparently, RT sailings out of Seattle often go west of Vancouver Island and RT sailings out of Vancouver go east. Check the thread “Stars Alaskan Route”, especially Urban trekker’s reply for an explanation: [url]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=45464[/url][/QUOTE]

Ganders,

I read all these posts and only Urban Trekkers was correct in my view.
It is wrong to state as some did that 70% of all ships go outside [west] of Vancouver Island.

100% of cruise ships out of Seattle go WEST 'outside' of Vancouver Island 100% of cruise ships out of Vancouver go EAST [inside] of Vancouver Island

I use the term 'inside' to mean inside Vancouver Island so as not to confuse it with the broader term 'Inside passage'

Some companies like HAL have changed their wording and maps to show that sailings from Seattle and back go outside of Vancouver Island.

As far as I know NCL have yet to do this.

Lu

[kkorman]

So I guess it can be considered the southern part of the iside passage. I never went outside (west) of V. Island, so do not know what the experience is like. I'll stick to the southern iside route. Looking a t a map, you miss a considerable portion of the "inside" if you head to the west of the Island and not join up with it again until Prince Rupert.

[Cruizer_J]

Lu,

I agree with you. I originally understood that our early Star sailing went west of Vancouver Island, then some others stated "east", then I found that I was correct to begin with. NCL's Alaska itinerary map (at least the online pop-up map as of the time of this post) does still show the Seattle RT going east of Vancouver Island, something that added to our confusion since we hadn't sailed out of Seattle before. We sailed on the Sun out of Vancouver last year and expected to take the same route this year on the Star, but didn't learn differently until we were well under way.

[luapram]

Ganders,

You are not the only one to make this mistake..
Usually you can tell also because most if not all the ships that make Victoria a port of call on their return trip,have sailed around the Island.

I suppose if folk have never been out of Vancouver that to coin a phrase.they wont know what they have missed!!!

Its a pity though because sailing from Vancouver adds something special to any cruise.because of that first part,sailing inside of Vancouver Island.
Seymour Narrows and the Johnston Straight are a special part of the whole Alaska experience in my opinion.

This year we are making the trip SB out of Seward and as much as I enjoy immensely the ports of call etc in Alaska, I am looking forward to sailing down the last day into Vancouver.
We stay for a few days on the point at Seymour Narrows and its a great place to see the cruise ships pass by.

Lu

[Budget Queen]

I am sorry for the misinformation, I try hard for accurate information- I based my comment on a single report from a coworker that was on the Wind -they sailed inside Vancouver Island last year. It sounds like this isn't the case any longer with NCL Seattle sailings?? I find this very undesirable for my preferences and won't consider Seattle sailings myself. But most people don't know - so it doesn't matter? Overall- a LOT of Alaska sailings are doing way more open ocean sailing than a few years ago. I am fortunate to have started sailing there when it was ALL inside out of Vancouver. Even the Gulf is sailed way farther out than on previous trips which had good land sightings without binoculars.

[luapram]

No Problem BQ...

Yr info is always so good anyway.
I was just trying to verify what I really had suspected all along. NCL were using maps from previous years.

Like you, Seattle is not under consideration for any future trips I will take. Its maybe attractive for those who dont wish to fly into Vancouver or even take alternatives like rental car or railway.. I can understand this but I am also sure that many folks dont realise the difference between sailings out of Seattle and sailings out of Vancouver.

Perhaps boards like this and others may enlighten folks.

Lu

[Cruizer_J]

BQ,
Just want to add that my confusion was mostly due to out-of-date(?) itinerary information along with what seemed to be differences between observations from returning posters/reviewers around the time of our cruise, not from anything that you had posted.

Lu,
Thanks for bringing this topic up. We consider our Vancouver/Sun sailing from last year as our favorite overall in our limited experience, but this year we wanted to see Glacier Bay and also go with NCL, so we sailed the Star from Seattle.