May 20 NCL Sun Northbound, Report w/photos

Hello everyone. My wife and I were on the NCL Sun northbound last week from Vancouver to Whittier. Here's more info than most of you want, but since it was the first northbound trip of the season, I'm hoping others can get some info that will help them with their trip.

We flew from Salt Lake City to Seattle on May 18. I have family in Tacoma, so we stayed with them for the evening and had a great time. My sister drove us from Tacoma to the Tukwila light rail station and we took the light rail from there to the Seattle King Street Amtrak station in downtown Seattle. It was a great way to get there - cheap, no parking hassles, and only $2.75 each. We got to the King Street station at 7:00 AM, waited in a fairly long line for our seat assignment, and then we boarded the train. The Seattle King Street Station is pretty incredible. The multi-year renovation has revealed some beautiful woodwork.

The ride from Seattle to Vancouver takes about four hours. Our seats were on the "wrong" side of the train, but it was a cool, dreary day out, so we didn't miss much of a view.

We passed by the Peace Arch and over the Frasier River before arriving at the Vancouver Central Station.

...and the report continues...

We took a taxi from the Central Station to our hotel - Ramada Limited Downtown in Vancouver. The taxi ride was $8. The hotel was okay for one night. We spent the afternoon sightseeing in Vancouver. We really enjoyed the Granville Public Market and Gastown.

We only had the day in Vancouver, but had a fun time. Vancouver is a beautiful city and we need to get back there again soon.

On Monday, we checked out of the hotel and took a taxi to Canada Place - not far, but too far to walk with luggage. We got our luggage out and the porter asked for our cruise ticket. Uh oh! I left our portfolio with all of our stuff - passports, tickets, etc. was still at the hotel. Our taxi driver was still there and he raced me back to the hotel and waited as I ran back up to the room and there it was! Whew! Panic was relieved and taxi driver was tipped well!

The security line, customs line, and line to board the ship was well organized. After our previous two experiences in New York, this was a welcome change. We were on the ship in less than twenty minutes from time we gave our luggage to the porter to being on the ship. We were on board the ship at approximately noon and we went straight to the Seven Seas restaurant to have lunch. It was very quiet there and we had a nice lunch.

Our room was ready about 1:30 and we went up to room 1209 - a minisuite on deck 11. it was fabulous.

....continuation....

We set out to explore the ship and when we came back to our room to get jackets for the sailaway, our luggage had already been delivered.

We went up to Deck 12 turned some loungers to face outward and soon the ship blew it's horn and started pushing back from Canada Place.

(I took this photo through the glass, and it turned out kinda light)

Soon, we were going under the Lion's Gate Bridge in Stanley Park and we were headed out to sea.

We passed a lighthouse on the way out

and then we were headed to the Strait of Georgia

....continuation...

We had dinner the first night in the Four Seasons Dining Room. We had dinner every evening in either the Four Season or the Seven Seas Main Dining Rooms except night 6 when we ate in the Sports Bar. We didn't feel the need to pay extra for meals and the main dining rooms were sufficient for us.

Four Seasons

Day 2 - we slept in a little and had breakfast in the Four Seasons. Breakfasts in the main dining rooms were good. We ate most breakfasts on our own balcony, though. We'd go to the Garden Cafe and bring breakfast back to the room.

We played a game of Bingo on Day 2, spent a lot of time on the balcony, and just relaxed. We watched some movies and didn't leave our room much. Have I explained that we loved our minisuite yet?

...I'll actually write about Alaska tomorrow...

The Lighthouse would be Point Atkinson in West Vancouver

Good to hear that your embarkation went well - I had friends who got off the Sun the day you boarded.

Looking forward to the remainder of your review.

Cheers

Dennis

...more photos...

Random photos from around the Sun

Shopping area

The atrium is very nice and bright

The sun deck looked like this all week.

Stained glass window at Seven Seas Main Dining Room

Enjoying your report and photos.

Keith

Thanks for your review with pictures RetiredArmyCruiser, I can't wait to read more. :)

Thanks so much for posting all of these wonderful photos! We're sailing NB on July 1st from Vancouver to Whittier in 1210 mini-suite and are super excited! Did you find the bed comfortable? Are you by any chance doing a post-cruise tour? If so, would love to hear how that goes as well.

Looking Forward to the rest of your review!

...continued...

Day 3 - Ketchikan

Something I was totally unprepared for and didn't realize how much it would affect me was the early sunrise and late sunset. At 4:30 AM, the sun woke us up long before our alarm. Not wanting to miss the scenery as we were very close to the shore, but also wanting nothing more than some sleep, sleep won out, and I closed the curtains. :) At about 6:00 or so we got up and sat on the balcony as the ship pulled into Ketchikan. We saw our first bald eagle sitting on a pole.

My wife says Ketchikan was the highlight of the trip. The ship docked at dock 4 - farthest north of the four docks. We had downloaded a walking tour of Ketchikan from the city's website and proceeded to start towards downtown and stop 1. If you do this tour, make sure to stop along the walkway towards town and look at the stained glass decorations and the wildlife sculptures. I thought the wildlife sculptures were so cool. There was an octopus, clams, etc. They are right there in the dock area.

After my wife decided that I had taken enough pictures of sculptures (hey, I have a new camera and need to "play with the settings") we headed off to the arch and into downtown. We had lots of company along the way with many folks with printed walking tours. We stopped at the totem poles along the way and took some photos.

We stopped at the designated points along the map until we got to the Totem Heritage Center where stopped, paid our $5 each and walked through. I thought it was fascinating, and thought it was great that these totem poles had been found and preserved for future generations. The creek runs very close to the center, so if you do this tour and have small children, please watch them closely. Ketchikan Creek is swift and cold. Heading back to town, we walked down the "Married Man's Trail" to Creek Street where we stopped in the different shops, bought some trinkets, and kept on going.

After Creek Street, we went across the street to the Southeast Alaska Discover Center, paid our fee, and walked through the museum. The displays there were very informative and we spent a hour or so there. By now, it was about 2:00, we stopped at a local "greasy spoon" and had a delicious pizza. We went back through downtown and stopped at some shops and bought some more expensive trinkets before bidding adieu to Ketchikan and headed back to the ship.

We had amazing weather - about 60 degrees and mostly clear. We didn't have a drop of rain and didn't even need a jacket after about ten in the morning. We saw LOTS of eagles flying around Ketchikan. We walked our legs off and had a really great time.

We had dinner that night in the Four Season at about 9:00 - after the illusionist, who we thought was great and dropping a couple of dollars in a slot machine. One thing about this cruise - the demographic group was much different than our previous cruises and after about 8:00, there was no line or wait at any restaurant.

It was odd going to bed at 11:00 and it was still light outside.

...next stop - Juneau

Thanks so much for posting all of these wonderful photos! We're sailing NB on July 1st from Vancouver to Whittier in 1210 mini-suite and are super excited! Did you find the bed comfortable? Are you by any chance doing a post-cruise tour? If so, would love to hear how that goes as well.

We did not. We flew back on Monday night (Tuesday morning) at 1:20 AM. We both still work (unlike most of our cruisemates) and had to back to work today. I had to make my own breakfast, make my own bed, and drive myself to work. Too much reality for one day!

....now on to Juneau...

Day 4 of the cruise had us sailing up Gasteineau Channel and up to Juneau where docked at 10:00 AM. Juneau is a bit deceiving. Most of the docks are located right on Franklin Street, the main drag though town. Our ship, though docked at the AJ dock which seems to be located somewhere around the outskirts of Vancouver.

We had arranged for a rental car through Avis at their Goldbelt Hotel office. It was very reasonable - $34 for the day. We called Avis when we arrived in port and their van was there to pick us up very promptly. We got our car from Avis - a nice Toyota Matrix and headed off to Mendenhall Glacier.

With two other cruise ships that had arrived earlier than us, the Visitor's Center was PACKED with guests. We skipped it and headed off on the trail to Nugget Falls. The Nugget Falls trail is not particularly difficult, and the payoff is HUGE. The falls are loud, beautiful, and worth the effort to get there.

The trail itself is beautiful as it goes through the rainforest

and the glacier, while retreating, is still pretty cool

We had fun walking down there and taking photos. I spent a great deal of time playing with camera settings - shutter speed, aperture, etc with the running water. We walked around and asked people who were taking pictures if they wanted to be in the picture and took lots of photos for them. All in all, Mendenhall Glacier, while not as impressive as what was still to come, was a must-see. The weather was perfect as you see from the photos.

We probably spent two hours getting there and sightseeing at Mendenhall Glacier.

....continued....

We then headed north to see the Shrine of St. Therese - about 15 miles or so north of Juneau.

Now, this next part is important - we stopped at McDonald's first and got drinks. It was a very, very good decision! We got to the Shrine, walked down the trail and then out onto the peninsula. The church is incredibly beautiful. It is so peaceful, tranquil, and spiritual. As we walked around the grounds, were being reverent and quiet as we walked near the front of the chapel the doors burst open and a bride and groom came bounding out. No sign there was a wedding in progress or anything. If we hadn't stopped for drinks, we would have walked right in during the middle of the ceremony. Never before have I been so glad for my Diet Coke addiction! We didn't take many photos as we wanted to be respectful of the wedding party and we quietly slinked away.

We stopped at Walmart in Juneau to pick up a couple of things, drove around Juneau, Drove over the bridge and along the coast of Douglas Island for a bit, then came back, turned the car in, and foot-toured downtown Juneau, Franklin Street, and enjoyed the evening in Juneau.

It was stunningly clear in Juneau and I have never seen so many waterfalls in one place outside of Kauai.

Here is the dock somewhere near Juneau.

Juneau was fabulous and we had a great time. Renting a car is cheap, easy, and a great way to get around town.

There were supposed to be four ships in port that day, but the Grand Princess got delayed due to weather from San Francisco. It was really crowded with three ships there. I can only imagine what it would have been like with four.

....Oh forgot to mention, there are shuttle buses that run from the Mr. Roberts Tramway building on Franklin Street to the ship that run all day long at no charge. No need to walk to the ship unless you really want to look at the oil storage and freight containers.

Day 5 - Skagway

The ship left Juneau at 8:00 PM, we headed off to dinner and the evening show. We had a nice dinner at the Seven Seas Main Dining Room. Like I said before, eating late on this ship is a joy. We practically had the entire restaurant to ourselves. Dessert was from the buffet eaten on our balcony. Have I mentioned yet that we loved the minisuite?

We arrived in Skagway at 7:00 on Friday morning. We docked alongside the Carnival Miracle, Grand Princess, and the Silver Shadow. That's a lot of bodies in a little tiny town.

We chose not to do the train this time - maybe next time. Funds were a little tight. We walked up and down Broadway, went to the museum, walked up and down Broadway again, took a bunch of photos, and stopped in the different shops. Skagway is a wild west town, and it is very small. The restoration of the buildings, though, has been done beautifully. I would, however, recommend renting a car, doing the train, or some other ship excursion. That many bodies crammed in the small town was just too crowded to really enjoy it.

The ship left port at 8:00, which was a bit disappointing. The scenery was spectacular, but got dark before we got to the lighthouse. I really wanted a photo of the lighthouse, but didn't quite make it. It's okay, though. The best part of the cruise was yet to come.

...Day 6 - Glacier Bay....

Let me preface my comments about Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier by saying I am a complete science dork. I retired from the Army and now work for a scientific government agency. I fascinated by weather, climate, geology, geography, etc. To me, getting to go to Glacier Bay is like Briar Rabbit getting thrown in the briar patch.

I was so excited for Glacier Bay. As the ship rounded the bend from Icy Strait into Glacier Bay, I was sitting on my balcony with my jacket, gloves, binoculars, and camera all ready to go. The scenery was beautiful, even though it was a fairly dreary morning. At 8:00, a National Park Service ranger gave a presentation in the Observation Lounge. I, of course, was one of the first people there with my maps in hand ready to take copious notes! He gave a very good presentation of what to look for and approximate times for when we should see certain things in the bay.

On the way northbound up the bay, we were following closely behind the Grand Princess. As we came around a bend, the ranger came on the tv and told us we were fortunate to be able to see Mt. Fairweather (a misnomer if there ever was one), a 15,000 foot peak above Marjerie Glacier. I snapped a photo before it hid behind the clouds again.

There was also an abundance of mountain sheep hopping on the cliffs as if it was easy. They were too far to photograph, but binoculars made it easy to follow them around. Their ability astounds a clumsy oaf like myself.

We got to the Grand Pacific and Margerie Glaciers at about 10:00. We waited for the Grand Princess to finish their viewing and we moved into position.

The Grand Pacific Glacier

Margerie Glacier

More photos in the Bay itself

I probably took 500 photos of Marjerie Glacier calving huge bergs into the water. I was completely awestruck. The sound of a calving glacier is forever imprinted into my psyche. I don't want to sound dramatic or histrionic, but Glacier Bay may be the most beautiful place I have ever experienced. Sailing out, we saw a lot more wildlife. We saw more mountain sheep, oodles of sea otters, lots of sea birds, a dolphin, and my one and only whale tail.

We went to see the Naturalist speak at 1:30 and she was very informative. We were very impressed that the NPS provided these folks for us as a resource. For a science geek like me, I was in nirvana.

We had dinner in the Sports Bar that night. Chicken wings were good :) We also ordered a pizza from room service later in the evening and it was well worth the $5.

Well written trip report and great photos. Thanks for sharing! :)

...on to Day 7...

If I haven't bored you silly yet, here is Day 7 at Hubbard Glacier.

Having previously identified myself as a science geek and completely awestruck by Glacier Bay, I wasn't sure if I would be impressed by Hubbard Glacier. Boy was I wrong. The ship started up Yakutat Bay and a couple of hours later, we could see Hubbard Glacier looming in the distance. The scope of the size of Hubbard Glacier is hard to describe. It is a beautiful blue color and can be seen for miles in the distance. The bay was full of icebergs, some small, some large. The sun was out and the light shining through the ice was so cool.

As we got closer, the bay became more choked with ice. The ship was moving very slowly and the captain got as far as he was comfortable with. Even a couple of miles away, Hubbard Glacier is an imposing landmark. This is the western HALF of the glacier.

It was an incredible sight. The captain stayed in the bay for quite a while. You could hear calving taking place, but we were too far to see any. At least, I didn't see any calving.

The ship then left for Whittier. We enjoyed a lazy afternoon on the ship, didn't win the free cruise playing Bingo, had dinner in the Four Seasons, and went to see the comedian at 9:00. He was very funny.

We docked in Whitter, took our pre-arranged bus back to Anchorage, rented a car at the airport ($25 through Avis) and headed off to tour Anchorage. We flew home Monday night (Tuesday morning, actually).

So for my actual review.

The Sun and crew were great. The ship itself is sparkling clean. The Stardust could use some new chairs - they are showing their age. Our minisuite was wonderful (have I mentioned that yet), but we would have had a great time in an inside cabin. This was the first time we've upgraded to a minisuite and for this cruise, it was nice to have.

The food on the ship was fine. We didn't expect gourmet dining, nor did we pay extra for it. The main dining rooms were comfortable, well maintained, and we never had a wait, but we normally eat dinner late. We had lunch in Four Season on the sea days and if there hadn't been chef specials, it would have been monotonous. The chef specials were usually very good.

Dinners were good. I have menus from the main dining rooms if anyone wants them. The variety was fine, and there were chef specials at dinnertime as well as lunch.

We used the buffet for breakfast and here's a hint. Always, always, always go through the buffet to the Great Outdoors and get breakfast there. There was never a line there and the omlet guy was there just waiting for me.

I also have the Freestyle Dailies if anyone wants them. I'll scan them as pdf's later this week.

We brought wet weather gear with us that we didn't need, but it is better to have it and not need it. We brought our laptop with us and uploaded photos from my Nikon 1 camera every night, as well as backed them up on a portable hard drive - I'm kinda paranoid that way. We had spotty cell phone service, and with T-Mobile, data in Alaska is roaming, so I turned the data feature off of my wife's phone. My Verizon aircard worked well in Ketchikan and Juneau, but not in Skagway.

Here's a brief packing list of things we needed and used:

BINOCULARS - can't stress enough

good camera with a spare battery - not a point and shoot unless that's all you can afford

tripod for your good camera

comfortable waterproof shoes - mine are Merrell, wife's are from LL Bean

fleece jacket - didn't need or take coats

gloves - when the ship is underway, it gets chilly on your hands

power squid rather than a power strip if you have weird shaped or big power adapters.

...and MOST IMPORTANT....

Relax - you're on vacation!

I've been to Alaska twice....once on the Sun. I've had trouble deciding where to go for my cruise next summer.....and you just helped me make my decision!! The Sun Northbound!! :D

Thanks for the fan-tabulous pictures and review!! ;)

Thanks you for the nice review and great pictures. I have a couple questions:

What time did The Sun arrive at Hubbard Glacier and what time did it leave?

What time were you able to leave the ship in Whittier? Did you have to disembark in groups?

Thank you so much for the wonderful review and photos. We leave on Friday for our wonderful Alaskan adventure on the Sun. Our plans are much like yours. Get to Seattle, train to Vancouver, sail, relax, bus ride to airport and rent car until flight out.

Again, thank you so much

Wonderful review and pictures!

Alaska was my first cruise- thank you for the fond memories!

Going on the Sun in 2015- can't wait :D

Thanks you for the nice review and great pictures. I have a couple questions:

 

What time did The Sun arrive at Hubbard Glacier and what time did it leave?

 

What time were you able to leave the ship in Whittier? Did you have to disembark in groups?

We were at Hubbard Glacier at around 8:30 or so in the morning. My pictures are all around 8:30 - 9:00 AM (according to my picture properties).

Debarkation in Whittier began with the "Easy Walk Off" folks at 6:15 AM. Those are folks who chose to keep their luggage with them. We chose "Independent Guests" and put our luggage out the night before. I didn't want to wrestle with it, and it was ready to be picked up in the terminal at 8:45. We didn't actually pick it up until 9:30, though, as our bus was leaving at 9:45 to make the tunnel at 10:00.

Whittier is odd because leaving is completely dependent on the tunnel opening at the top of the hour. If you choose to leave at 6:15, you can't go through the tunnel until 7:00, no matter if you are renting a car or using a shuttle.

The final call for everyone to be off the ship is 10:30.