Norwegian Star Alaska!

[Bocadude85]

Woohoo just made final payment on our Alaska cruise!!! This will be our first cruise in a suite as well, we can't wait!!

[brunolvr]

Woohoo just made final payment on our Alaska cruise!!! This will be our first cruise in a suite as well, we can't wait!!

 

That's great!:) From personal experience, once you've enjoyed the perks of a suite, it's hard to book anything less! Make sure you take advantage of all the VIP offerings by your butler & concierge!

 

Is this your first cruise to Alaska? We'll be headed back to Alaska 4 weeks after you on the Star for our 7th cruise to Alaska on NCL.

 

What excursions do you have planned?

[mikaula]

Can't think of anything better than a suite for Alaska. I've been fortunate enough to enjoy a suite several times and it's hard to book anything else. Prepare to be pampered!

[Cruisin from Utah]

I will be making my final payment this coming Friday. I have booked an AB Penthouse on the same Vancouver-Seattle Alaska cruise that I see you are on. It should be a fun trip and I am looking forward to Cagney's for Breakfast and being spoiled by the butler. I have never booked a suite before and don't know how I will ever be able to go back to a regular room again.

[Bocadude85]

That's great!:) From personal experience, once you've enjoyed the perks of a suite, it's hard to book anything less! Make sure you take advantage of all the VIP offerings by your butler & concierge!

 

Is this your first cruise to Alaska? We'll be headed back to Alaska 4 weeks after you on the Star for our 7th cruise to Alaska on NCL.

 

What excursions do you have planned?

 

Yes this will be our first time to Alaska, and we have no idea which excursions to book. We definately want to see the glaciers but do not know which to go see.

[Bocadude85]

I will be making my final payment this coming Friday. I have booked an AB Penthouse on the same Vancouver-Seattle Alaska cruise that I see you are on. It should be a fun trip and I am looking forward to Cagney's for Breakfast and being spoiled by the butler. I have never booked a suite before and don't know how I will ever be able to go back to a regular room again.

 

We have never booked a suite before either, but we decided its time to try one out and Im sure we will not be able to go back to a mini-suite after this.

[terrymtex01]

You will LOVE Alaska.. we loved our trip to Alaska on the Star. I highly recommend you take the Tracy Arm excursion out of Juneau. Without any doubt or hesitation I can tell you that is the most AMAZING excursion we have ever taken on any cruise. It is expensive, but so worth every penny.

[Cruisin from Utah]

I have thought about taking the Tracy Arm excursion but this early in the season I do not think it is offered. It isn't on the NCL website anyways. Since we have the $500 OBC I figured that would be a great thing to use it on but it isn't showing as available.

[Bocadude85]

I have thought about taking the Tracy Arm excursion but this early in the season I do not think it is offered. It isn't on the NCL website anyways. Since we have the $500 OBC I figured that would be a great thing to use it on but it isn't showing as available.

 

Yea we also got the $600 of obc and wanted to use it on that excursion but like you said its not offered on the NCL site. Anyone have any other suggestions since that excursion is not available?

[cpdad]

Yea we also got the $600 of obc and wanted to use it on that excursion but like you said its not offered on the NCL site. Anyone have any other suggestions since that excursion is not available?

Don't assume it is not being offered. I ran into this same problem last June. This wonderful excursion does not always show up on NCL's web site, but that does not mean it is not being offered. I have no idea why this is so, but call NCL excursion office to inquire about this excursion. And if you do not get the answer you like, call again closer to embarkation date. Last season the price was around $183 per person. Worth looking into.

[Cruisin from Utah]

What time did you have to meet for that excursion. I know it is in the afternoon but does anybody know the approx meeting time?

[cpdad]

What time did you have to meet for that excursion. I know it is in the afternoon but does anybody know the approx meeting time?

1:15 pm. Trip returns to the Star about 5-1/2 - 6 hours later.

[terrymtex01]

I didn't realize you were going so early in May. There is a chance it isn't offered that early, but it is worth calling the excursion desk to find out. Last year when we went on the Alaskan cruise we left Seattle May 31 and I think we were the second or third group that season to take the excursion. I really do hope they offer it for your sailing as it is incredible. We actually went to Endicott Arm instead due to the ice, but it was fantastic.

[Bocadude85]

I didn't realize you were going so early in May. There is a chance it isn't offered that early, but it is worth calling the excursion desk to find out. Last year when we went on the Alaskan cruise we left Seattle May 31 and I think we were the second or third group that season to take the excursion. I really do hope they offer it for your sailing as it is incredible. We actually went to Endicott Arm instead due to the ice, but it was fantastic.

 

 

We would have liked to go later in the summer but May was the only time we could get off work, and living in South Florida we were worried if we went in September our trip could be ruined by a hurricane.

[SueSea]

I'm on the May 2 sailing, too. I contacted an independent excursion company when I saw the Tracey Arm tour wasn't on NCL's list of excursions for our sailing. Allen Marine Tours told me that there is just too much ice that early in the year for their boats to get to the glacier. Since they didn't suggest I call back or check with them as the date gets closer, I'm thinking that the boats never get through that early in the year.

[Cruisin from Utah]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought that the only company you could go with for the Tracy Arm excursion was directly with NCL as it connects back up with the ship right in the arm itself.

[suzyed]

Woohoo just made final payment on our Alaska cruise!!! This will be our first cruise in a suite as well, we can't wait!!

You will love it! We sailed on the Star last May in an AE suite...loved, loved, loved it! We felt very pampered and well taken care of! So much so, we are going again in June! :D

[suzyed]

Yea we also got the $600 of obc and wanted to use it on that excursion but like you said its not offered on the NCL site. Anyone have any other suggestions since that excursion is not available?

OK..so Tracy Arm was not available last year at that time and then it looked like it wasn't available this time either.:( I thought it would be because we are going in June, but it was not listed as one of the excursions for our sailing. I called NCL about a week ago and they confirmed it was not available.:mad:

Then I heard from someone else that it is available on their sailing which is a week before ours. So I got on the phone and called NCL again...and guess what? It IS available and I booked it!!! I am soooo excited!! :D

[brunolvr]

OK..so Tracy Arm was not available last year at that time and then it looked like it wasn't available this time either.:( I thought it would be because we are going in June, but it was not listed as one of the excursions for our sailing. I called NCL about a week ago and they confirmed it was not available.:mad:

Then I heard from someone else that it is available on their sailing which is a week before ours. So I got on the phone and called NCL again...and guess what? It IS available and I booked it!!! I am soooo excited!! :D

 

Hey, that's great, suzyed! I'm so glad to hear you got that finally resolved. Did they send you a confirmation?

 

I'm really looking forward to this excursion since I've read so many good reviews about it. It doesn't matter to me if it ends up being the endicott arm instead of tracy arm that we cruise. We'll have a good time no matter what!;)

[SueSea]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought that the only company you could go with for the Tracy Arm excursion was directly with NCL as it connects back up with the ship right in the arm itself.

 

That's correct. If you are on the Star, the only way you can make it to Tracey Arm is by taking the ship's excursion. However, other companies do offer tours to Tracey Arm, so I contacted one of them just to see if any tours were running at that time. They told me that the passage was too filled with ice early in May, and their boats can't get to the glacier that early. By the way, the tour company I contacted does provide some tours for NCL, but I don't know if the Tracey Arm excursion is one of them.

[suzyed]

Hey, that's great, suzyed! I'm so glad to hear you got that finally resolved. Did they send you a confirmation?

 

I'm really looking forward to this excursion since I've read so many good reviews about it. It doesn't matter to me if it ends up being the endicott arm instead of tracy arm that we cruise. We'll have a good time no matter what!;)

Yes, I got confirmation! It was emailed to me within minutes of hanging up with the NCL rep! I am soooo excited! :D

[deepnite10]

just made our final payment as well for May..i m just having

problems completing our pre-cruise registration :mad:

[terrymtex01]

Hey, that's great, suzyed! I'm so glad to hear you got that finally resolved. Did they send you a confirmation?

 

I'm really looking forward to this excursion since I've read so many good reviews about it. It doesn't matter to me if it ends up being the endicott arm instead of tracy arm that we cruise. We'll have a good time no matter what!;)

 

I am sure there were some, but every review I read from last season (keep in mind I did not read every review, just saying every one I did read) they went to Endicott Arm instead. I will tell you Im actually nervous about ever going to Tracy Arm because Endicott was so incredibly beautiful that I am so worried Tracy Arm will be a let down. That is just how beautiful and amazing we thought Endicott was. Another great Alaskan excursion is Misty Fjords. VERY VERY beautiful. Be sure and check that one out as well. For Skagway I recommend taking the train round trip. We did the excursion there where we went up to the Yukon by bus and back to Skagway by train. NEVER again. The bus was extremely uncomfortable for us. Tight tight seats and every one on the bus, big or small, had trouble getting up and down the isle. The train trip was amazing though.

 

That's correct. If you are on the Star, the only way you can make it to Tracey Arm is by taking the ship's excursion. However, other companies do offer tours to Tracey Arm, so I contacted one of them just to see if any tours were running at that time. They told me that the passage was too filled with ice early in May, and their boats can't get to the glacier that early. By the way, the tour company I contacted does provide some tours for NCL, but I don't know if the Tracey Arm excursion is one of them.

 

Suzyed.. I am so thrilled you got this one taken care of. PLEASE remember to come back on here and tell me if you loved it as much as we did. As I said above, we actually went to Endicott Arm, but I can't wait to hear what youu thought of it no matter which you end up going to.

 

EDiT: by the way.. you are correct that Allen Tours does the excursion for Tracy Arm for NCL. They are a GREAT company and their boats are very nice, new and extremely comfortable. We did both the Tracy Arm excursion and Misty Fjords with them, booking through NCL of course.

[suzyed]

If we make it to Tracy Arm that will be wonderful! And if we make to Endicott that will be thrilling as well!

 

We did the Misty Fjords last year and it is, indeed, beautiful! The scenery, the waterfalls, the cliffs, are just breathtaking!

We did the White Pass RR both ways and it was terrific! Glad we didn't do the bus thing.

Thanks for cheering me on and being happy for me...we just can't wait after hearing about Tracy Arm from you, Terry, and all the other good folks here! ;)

[brunolvr]

If we make it to Tracy Arm that will be wonderful! And if we make to Endicott that will be thrilling as well!

 

We did the Misty Fjords last year and it is, indeed, beautiful! The scenery, the waterfalls, the cliffs, are just breathtaking!

We did the White Pass RR both ways and it was terrific! Glad we didn't do the bus thing.

Thanks for cheering me on and being happy for me...we just can't wait after hearing about Tracy Arm from you, Terry, and all the other good folks here! ;)

 

Hi, suzyed, it's me again! A little off topic, but I remember reading that on your cruise last year you had an AE on the Star. Did you book an AE for this year? We were in AE 8170 for our cruise to Alaska in 2006 and enjoyed it tremendously. This year, however, we need 2 bedrooms so we've booked an AB.

 

What other excursions are you planning for this year? Also, do you happen to know who the Hotel Director is on the Star? Thanks!