Alaska Cruise (NCL Pearl) May 5-15 - Bragging On Others

I've read a lot of people's reviews of their cruises here but what I want to do is to brag on the different people, places and things I did. This was my first cruise of any sort and my first trip to Alaska - seriously, I've only been back for two weeks and am already browsing the potential Alaskan cruises for either later this year or this time next year...

But, in the mean time I wanted to mention the parts that stand out as extra noteworthy.

First, being that I've never been on a cruise I didn't exactly know what to expect. I was very impressed with our ship, the Norwegian Pearl, and the crew. It may be completely typical but something I was very impressed with was how each and every crew member would always speak when we passed - *ALWAYS* a "Good morning", "Good afternoon", etc. ALWAYS. And it never seemed fake. The cleanliness of everything and their attention to keeping things that way was impressive. We ate at every venue on the ship and, by far, my favorite meal was at Cagney's Steakhouse. Excellent. Coming in a close second was Lotus Garden - we ate there twice and included some sushi from the bar. All very good. The Buffalo Wings at O'Sheehan's was some of the best I've ever had. Our cabin steward (Roberto) made us feel very welcome and well taken care of - the first time I've ever stayed away from home where I never felt the least bit concerned about something being taken from my room. I happened to have a cabin right next to one of the ship's officers and we talked a few times from our balconies - I made a point of calling a few names of the excellent people taking care of us.

During our Juneau stop we took a trip to Herbert Glacier with Coastal Helicopters. Everything was very professional and our pilot was top notch. I believe if anyone is afraid to fly in a helicopter that they would not be with this group of people. I've flown in helicopters a number of times and this was the smoothest flight of them all. I wish I knew the pilot's name but it slipped past me. I will definitely fly with these folks again! We had dinner at Tracy's Crab Shack at downtown Juneau - very excellent and we were well taken care of by the staff. Two thumbs up for Tracy's and Coastal Helicopters.

For our Skagway stop I found Dyea Dave Tours right here on Cruise Critic. OUTSTANDING! Dave picked us up at the dock and the fun began! There was only four of us on this day's tour - much better than a large bus with 75 others! I was the only one really taking pictures so he would ask if I wanted to take pictures of this or that and would pull over long enough for me to do what I wanted. You can't do that on a big tour bus. My shipmate and I took the White Pass & Yukon train back from Frasier but Dave met us back in Skagway to take us wherever we needed before we headed back to the ship. Dave doesn't take prepayment, doesn't take credit cards and wouldn't let me pay him (cash or write a check) until we were completely finished up. Dave knows his stuff. HIGHLY recommended by me!

My favorite day was Sitka mainly because of our visit to the Fortress of the Bear. We had rented a car for the day and went there first thing - basically at the end of the paved road out of town. Shortly after arriving two buses pulled up with other folks from our ship. It seemed like they were all only there for a few minutes and away they went. We had the place pretty much to ourselves. A fellow named Les Kinnear runs the place and was very nice and informative. I bought a small pile of items for their gift shop as they run the place with donations and from profits they make out of their shop. Fortress of the Bear was my favorite visit of the trip - I will go again. For lunch in Sitka we decided to stop at a food truck, called Ashmo's, sitting right in the center of town a block or so from the Russian church. Excellent food! We had grilled/blackened rockfish tacos, smoked salmon mac & cheese and fish & chips. Don't pass that truck up!

My next to last brag is on the people of Alaska Canopy Adventures at Ketchikan where we did the rainforest zipline. They had two zipline courses and, being the huge chicken I am, I chose the more terrifying of the two - seriously. One is for the new folks and the other for the experienced zipliner. Nice, nice people and they knew what they were doing. I was so comfortable with the whole thing by the time we finished I could have easily done it all again. I will absolutely stop by the next time I'm there - hopefully not too long from now. After zipling we were hungry and had a great burger at Burger Queen - it's just outside of the tunnel with the street that runs under the houses by the cruise dock, on the side away from the main part of downtown. A great, greasy cheeseburger - just like they are supposed to be. It's just a small place with a few booths and a couple picnic tables but it was just what we wanted. Burger Queen is on my good list.

I'm not so new to cruising now and am ready for the next one - it would be great to have Roberto take care of us again. Our cabin steward helped make this vacation one we will never forget. Thank you, Roberto!

So glad that you had a great 1st cruise, and excited to hear positive things about the Pearl--especially about the staff. We are first-time cruisers who will be cruising on the Pearl in in July. We also will be ziplining at Ketchikan Rainforest Canopy (3 of us) while 3 others in our party do the bear watch. My kids and I are doing the smaller course, as my younger son isn't tall enough/doesn't weigh enough for the bigger one. My older son would do the scarier course in a heartbeat. I think I would freak out--it looks pretty high in the videos.

I've read a lot of people's reviews of their cruises here but what I want to do is to brag on the different people, places and things I did. This was my first cruise of any sort and my first trip to Alaska - seriously, I've only been back for two weeks and am already browsing the potential Alaskan cruises for either later this year or this time next year...

So glad you enjoyed your first cruise & are looking into returning to Alaska. Next time, choose an itinerary that includes Glacier Bay, you won't be disappointed.

thanks for sharing your experiences/recommendations:)

So glad you enjoyed your first cruise & are looking into returning to Alaska. Next time, choose an itinerary that includes Glacier Bay, you won't be disappointed.

Well...we were there between Sitka (May 9th) and Icy Strait Point/Hoonah (May 11th) on May 10th... What made you think our itinerary didn't include Glacier Bay? :confused:

Thanks for the review! I was on this cruise as well, it was really a wonderful experience. I too was really impressed by the crew on the Pearl, through our room steward wasn't the best. But she tried, as did everyone else, and you could really tell that they cared.

Always wonderful hearing the excitement from a 1st time cruises. Brings back such wonderful memories and excitement. Thank you