Just returned from an amazing Alaska cruise! Pics and video.

We were on the Norwegian Pearl from June 30-July 7, and it was just terrific. I traveled with a decent size group: myself, my girlfriend, my mother, my brother, my grandmother, my uncle, his son, and his son's friend! Such a rainy part of the world WITH rain in the forecast, but...it never rained where we were. In the Juneau area we got a few drops, but not even a true shower. We were lucky all the way.

On the 4th of July we didn't get fireworks, but we got something better. The Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay CALVING ICE like it was going out of style! Here's a video I did of it, and I didn't even start shooting video until it had already calved three times.

Speaking of Glacier Bay, I'm not sure how the other cruise lines work, but I know that with NCL they do two basic itineraries for roundtrips out of Seattle. I think they all hit Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan. Where they differ is on their Day at Sea "excursion" where the actual cruise ship sails into either Glacier Bay OR Tracy Arm (Sawyer Glacier). These are two MAJOR highlights in the area, so each itinerary gets a different one.

I was having none of that, so I ended up seeing BOTH on a single cruise! The trick is to go on the Pearl because when it is stopped in Juneau, the cruise offers an excursion through Allen Marine that takes you to Tracy Arm and back in 6 1/2 hours (time in port 2 PM to 10 PM). As I was planning all this, I was worried there wouldn't be enough time. I thought the excursion would be rushed since Tracy Arm is some distance away from Juneau. But no one in our party felt it was rushed.

We stopped a LONG TIME at a major waterfall, and both the North and South Sawyer glaciers. We even ran into the Norwegian Jewel in Tracy Arm, and being such a big ship, she couldn't go as far in as we did. I had heard that before... All the people that prefer Tracy Arm to Glacier Bay did Tracy Arm in a smaller boat (people who have done both in a large boat seem to uniformly prefer Glacier Bay).

Tracy Arm is narrow where Glacier Bay is wide open. Tracy Arm is more dramatic in a sense, filled with waterfalls and huge chunks of bright blue ice. I can see how it wouldn't be as impressive from a big cruise ship. I feel like we got the best of both worlds doing it this way (Glacier Bay on the cruise ship, Tracy Arm on a smaller boat). As for which I like better...I almost can't choose. It's a tough, tough call. Both are great in their own way, they are both very different and both worth doing.

Moving on, we also did the "Bennett Scenic Journey" excursion through Chilkoot Charters. It combines a train ride, bus ride, some nice stops for photos, and a surprisingly satisfying lunch. 8 hours is a long excursion, I must admit. Still, I loved getting all the way into the Yukon, and quite frankly I thought the best scenery of the day was in Canada, not Alaska. People who only do the White Pass Summit thing and then head back, well...I dunno. It's shorter and less taxing, but also less rewarding. Four people in our party did the short version and seemed happy with it. I loved the longer trip (which still left us four hours in Skagway!), but I won't deny it was a full and tiring day.

Lastly, we did the Misty Fjord seaplane excursion out of Ketchikan with the best there is (from what I've read and what I experienced on the day). Island Wings, and their pilot, Michelle. My girlfriend was nervous about going up in a seaplane, but Michelle has over 22,000 hours flying the De Havilland Beaver. IT SHOWS! You don't even feel the take offs and landings. The whole thing was terrific, and she lands out in the middle of nothing but nature, where you get to walk around for about twenty minutes on land. From what I understand, the other excursions only let you stand out on the floats.

Anyway, loved the whole trip. No issues. It was a real joy from start to finish, aboard the boat as well (doesn't hurt that I won some money at Blackjack in the casino). If any of you are interested, here is my photo album of the trip with scenes from every excursion and Seattle pre-cruise.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200249984351768.1073741828.1217675523&type=1&l=9b3e46bed1

Thank you for taking the time to write this and to share it with us including photos and video and glad you enjoyed the cruise.

Keith

Thanks for sharing your pictures & your review Sanjuro!

Thanks for your review and the photos. Glad you had a great cruise.

Looks like you had a wonderful time! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for taking the time for your review and posting your pictures!:) We can't wait for our 9th cruise to Alaska in September! Yes, Alaska is habit-forming for us -- just can't get enough of it!;)

Glad to hear you lucked out on the weather and that you had a great performance at Margerie Glacier! Your video is great! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks everyone!

Oh, and brunolvr, I notice you have cruised on the Pride of America. Not exactly on subject in the "Alaska" port of call section, but I'm just curious about your thoughts on it? I've been to Hawaii, but not recently, and my girlfriend has never been. For our next cruise, we're leaning toward the Pride of America because it looks like the single best way to see a lot of Hawaii in a relatively short time. Love the overnights in Maui and Kauai. Anyway, does it live up to the hype?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and those absolutely beautiful pictures and video. My husband and I are planning on going on a cruise to Alaska in the very near future and I will be sharing your information with him so that we get the most out of our trip. I am very excited about traveling there.

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Great pictures. Now you have me wanting to see both tracy arm and glacier bay!

Thanks everyone!

 

Oh, and brunolvr, I notice you have cruised on the Pride of America. Not exactly on subject in the "Alaska" port of call section, but I'm just curious about your thoughts on it? I've been to Hawaii, but not recently, and my girlfriend has never been. For our next cruise, we're leaning toward the Pride of America because it looks like the single best way to see a lot of Hawaii in a relatively short time. Love the overnights in Maui and Kauai. Anyway, does it live up to the hype?

Yes, we felt the POA lived up to hype! We loved the Pride of America! From the Captain down to the Room Steward, we were very impressed with the care, concern and service we received. It was a great cruise and a great way to see the different Islands.

Here's the review I did after our return:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1486615

Thanks Sanjuro, great review and video and photos! I note you are wearing a short sleeved T shirt in Glacier Bay photos! Was it not cold? We are planning an Alaskan cruise in 2014, and Norwegian Pearl is a definite possibility, so good to hear your experiences. Thanks again.

Great pics, thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the PoA review Sandy!

And aussiecruzer, that day in Glacier Bay (which was 4th of July) was NOT cold. At all. In fact, when the sun was on my mother's balcony it was downright WARM and I could have gotten a sunburn. No joke.

Having said that, Tracy Arm was VERY cold throughout, and especially near the glaciers. The rest of the trip was quite pleasant. Not warm or cold. Just right I'd say.

Hi: I will be taking the Alaska cruise next July 2014 but on the Norwegian Jewel. Did you stayed days in Seattle before the cruise and how many days. We are planning to stay 2 days before the cruise to see the City of Seattle.

Thank you for your help.

Lillian

Puerto Rico

Great pic's !!

I went on this same cruise 1 wk later... Your pics are phenomenal!!!

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

Your pictures are wonderful.

Thanks heaps for sharing. We are going on the Norwegian Pearl last trip end of September. We are coming a long way for that once in a lifetime experience and when i look at your photos i can't believe thats what i am going to see in 60 odd days!

Thanks for your review and wonderful photos! We'll be on the Pearl in 7 weeks! I can't wait!

Thanks so much for the review. Loved your pictures & video! Our Island Wings tour got cancelled back in 2004. We're going back in 6 weeks and the couple we're travelling with won't fly in the float plane, so we planned a fishing tour for Ketchikan. But it's only 4 hours starting at 11:00 AM and we're in Ketchikan until 8:00 PM. So I'm thinking if we wanted to do this after fishing without them, it just might be an option. And after seeing your pics, I'm going to check into it.

On another note, we did the Hawaiian cruise on what was then the Pride of Hawaii back in 2006 and it was honestly one of our best vacations ever. I would highly recommend it. The only thing I would do different if we do it again is to go during whale season so we can see some whales along with all of the other amazing things that there are to see on this cruise.

Your pictures are amazing!! One question for you, were you outside the train when taking your pictures or did you take them from inside? We are going in September Can't wait.

Thanks everyone!

 

Oh, and brunolvr, I notice you have cruised on the Pride of America. Not exactly on subject in the "Alaska" port of call section, but I'm just curious about your thoughts on it? I've been to Hawaii, but not recently, and my girlfriend has never been. For our next cruise, we're leaning toward the Pride of America because it looks like the single best way to see a lot of Hawaii in a relatively short time. Love the overnights in Maui and Kauai. Anyway, does it live up to the hype?

We loved the POA in Hawaii. It was a whirlwind taste of the four major islands, but we fit in a lot of touring and loved every minute!!! The overnights are great!!! We flew out early and spent four days on Oahu, so that island we did get to explore extensively. I am not a "sea day" kind of cruiser, so this itinerary was perfect for me.

Thanks again all for the kind words! And thanks as well to those of you who recommended the Hawaiian cruise.

To thecruisers723: I have to say DEFINITELY try to do the float plane. It looked even better in real life than in my pics!

To Alaska13: I was inside and outside, back and forth. I think most of the pics I actually put up were taken outside.

Thanks for sharing your pictures! Breath taking views. Can't wait to go in June!

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Thanks for sharing your pictures! Breath taking views. Can't wait to go in June!

 

 

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