Happycrafter123

Following- I have booked a B2b with a day of turnover in Whittier for next summer and am definitely interested in how best to explore!  I did see this excursion (not with NCL but on a google search) but it looked long and I think ending at 4:45, seemed a bit tight to get back to ship?  I hope that ncl adds some options.

Also not to hijack, but as this is my first B2B, how do logistics work for check out and check in and with your luggage??

I've re-read the terms on the CruseFirst certificate a few times and read throught this chatter, but curious about the reference to non-refundable.  

I appreciate that once you buy it you can't call and get a refund/return to your credit card/payment method, that's fine.

What I am curious about, is if I apply this to a deposit on a cruise, and then decide i want to cancel that cruise/do another one (let's say a week later or a different ship etc).  does the $250 get returned to my account so I can apply it to another cruise, or is it forfeit?

Final thoughts

This was my favorite cruise yet.  Alaska was beautiful, peaceful and interesting.  The Sun was personable and intimate feeling.  We had a lot of fun and came home feeling refreshed.

The week was activity filled 

• - Behind the scenes ship tour
• - Margaritas tasting 
• - Martini tasting
• - Whiskey tasting
• - Adult only comedy show
• - Elton John piano show
• - World beat show
• - What the world needs show
• - Listening to musician Matthew whenever we could find him 
• - Two spa visits
• - Hanging out in hot tub 
• - Swimming in pool and sun bathing!
• - Making new friends
• - Whale watching in Juneau
• - Best of Skagway excursion including train ride and salmon bake
• - Boat tour and museum in Sitka
• - Wildlife viewing and crab feast in Icy straight point
• - Walking through trails and taking gondola in Icy straight point
• - Wildlife viewing and crab feast in Ketchikan 
• - Shopping and city walk in Ketchikan
• - Whale watching in Victoria
• - Shopping, water taxi and city walk in Victoria 
• - Eating, eating eating
• - maybe a few naps 😉
• - itinerary allowed us to sleep 🛌 n several days
• - eating a slow and calm breakfast on the back deck of the great outdoors most mornings with magnificent views 

I didn’t even have time to read a single page of a single novel!

Despite the many activities it all felt calm and unhurried.  It seemed we rarely waited, stood in line, or were stuck in a crowd, it was very easy going.

Very importantly to me, I rarely smelt any cigarette smoke. I could breathe easy and actually felt healthier coming home than leaving.

Only downside on this cruise was the rocking of the boat and the motion sickness / nausea.  

Would I sail the sun again on this same itinerary (maybe next summer 😉 ), YES.  I found that the staff really tried hard to be accommodating and it was nice being on a smaller less crowded ship, not having to make reservations for shows or to see music.  I liked the more intimate feel of it, you tended to run in to the same people all the time which made it easy to make new friends.  The rooms were larger and there felt to be a lot more space.  Alaska was interesting and beautiful and the air was good.  

What gorgeous photos of Seward!  Looks like you are enjoying great weather 

Departure info

watch out, talked to a few people who did not know either that (1) if you don’t want to carry off luggage it has to be outside your door with new tags by 9pm the night before

and (2) you must be out of your room (totally vacated) by 8:30 am on arrival

also, a reminder to fill in the comment cards for staff.  They do get recognition based on these.  We completed 5 and put them in box the last night and there were only a handful of others there.  You can find the cards and box on the desk by guest services usually 2 days before end of cruise to last day.

Daily from day 10 in Victoria 

When you are in Ketchikan you can take a free shuttle from ship in Ward Cove to the city centre (15-20 m scenic drive) and there is a long scenic walk you can take.  Pick up a map / guide along the way!  

We ran out of time so did not go to the Totem poles which I was sad about, but did enjoy the red light district, tour of “Dolly’s” and I LOVE my handmade Alaskan doll, my main souvenir from the trip.  They had these in many price points and sizes, from about $50 to $300, wish I’d taken a photo of the shelf to show them all.  I love getting unique things that are not found everywhere and are made in that place, supporting local artisans.  I chose this one because it is porcelain, and I really like her eyes and eye lashes.  I plan to get her a “sister” on my next trip 😉

the shop was in that red light district, here’s the card:

13 hours ago, B+S said:

HappyCrafter,

 

Thank you for memorializing (y)our cruise! I enjoyed reading your accounts and appreciate all your effort. I'm reminded of the vast varieties of ways to enjoy a cruise and the multiplicity of reasons to do so as well. While it appears we did not share many of the same activities we did share July birthdays - your birthday on the 6th followed mine on the 5th and preceded my Father In Law's (90th) on the 7th. Glad you had a good time, despite the rocking boat.

 

 

Going on a cruise really is like a “choose your own adventure” lol!  So many options. What did you guys wind up doing/what were your highlights, @B+S ?

We left our room carrying off all our luggage at 8:30, got off the ship, took Uber to Warwick hotel and were packing up our car by 9am.  Got home at 12:30.  Next to no traffic through Seattle and only 5 minute border crossing.

disembarkation was smooth and easy.

home now, the chore now is to unpack and feed myself.  Will post any missing daily’s and final thoughts later, after I’ve remembered how to cook.

ps in sad news my scale shows that I gained 7lb 😞

Whale watching excursion through NCL in Victoria - review

Tour was scheduled at 8 am on the last day of the cruise, which in hindsight I should have skipped to allow a sleep in.  Lots of other whale watching tours you can book on the fly in port.

We were late clearing customs and allowing disembarkation due to a medical emergency.  We had to wait about 60 min in the theatre and then in hallway and then on  the dock for it to start (once again, wasted sleep in time)

On our excursion there was a large group of maybe 100ish people on a large boat that was three levels.  The ocean was pretty rough and a few of us were battling motion sickness.  We did see humpback whales.  Scenery was not as good as at the Alaskan ports, but still a good tour.

Gorgeous day in Victoria!

it was pride parade today and also a Mexican festival plus 3 cruise ships in town.  We went whale watching in AM (more on that later) then walked around town, took a ride on a harbour ferry and went to my favorite fish and place spot (red fish/blue fish on wharf street),  shopped a bit then back to ship.

good news, Uber is now in Victoria!  From Empress back to ship was less than $15CAD so way cheaper than a taxi and definitely worth saving the steps.  Uber driver took us on scenic drive by ocean for view which was nice too.

4 hours ago, SeekingKillerWhales! said:

How much were the martini and margarita tastings? They look amazing.

 

47 days to being on the Sun, so I am especially loving this review. Thank you!

 

Am hoping shadowmenboy does his magic too! 

The martini and margarita tastings have specialty drinks you can’t get at the bars, and I have been told that as there are a couple of each offered they do different selections for each so if you go to two martini tastings you will get to try different items (you may want to ask to verify that). The tastings are $20 each and if you have Plus package you get 40% discount.

the Los lobos bar has drinks mama the best margaritas to order this is their menu

A beautiful start to the day in Victoria!

i wish I hadn’t signed up for morning excursion would much rather hang out at the pool lol!  Oh well!

Hi @Koali

we walked by the golf thing, it is a small cage type thing maybe 12x12.  It was not appealing.  I’ll see if we have time today to check out club situation.

we booked specialty dining before hand online but we’re able to change our reservations on the day of embarcation as well as throughout fairly easily.  Strangely enough the hardest reservation to get was Tepanyaki and easiest was French. 

3 hours ago, MacGuffin3 said:

Encore is only in Ketchikan until 1pm.  .

The Sun was in port for about 12 full hours from 7am to past 7 pm…we were lucky with this itinerary on the Sun to have full days like this in almost all the ports.  

3 hours ago, MacGuffin3 said:

That's funny they all look the exact same as the "martinis."

Lol!  I know!  They didn’t taste the same though, more jalapeño and spices and tang in most of the margaritas whereas the martinis were more sweet.

4 hours ago, pspercy said:

Is the martini tasting only vodka ?

Yes they were mainly vodka based martinis.

Margaritas tasting today was delicious.  They had specialty margaritas you can’t normally get or only at Los lobo’s 

my favorite was a ginger one using fresh muddled ginger with lime and syrup that they really should add to the daily menu it was SO good, and I expect good to battle seasickness.

another tasty option was cucumber and jalepenio which would be nice in the summer on a deck, very refreshing.

packed crowd there were about 25 folks participating.

I realized I never posted photos from Martini tasting the other day.  They were delicious but knocked me out!

Today’s daily

I thought Ward cove was pretty and it was easy enough to get on our excursions from there and return.

Sorry internet has been toggling on and off all day.  Sadly I lost the long text portion I had typed up reviewing the behind the scenes ship tour.

it was enjoyable and though expensive (about $120 CAD pp) well worth it.  There were two groups of 15 people.  We started at 9 amd and finished shortly after 11:30

Some shots from the behind the scenes tour today.  This was the paid version.  We visited the sound booth of theatre, backstage of theatre, the kitchens, laundromat, food storage, engineering room and bridge
 

There were frequent shuttles to and from ward cove and no material line up— the sun is only 2k passengers.  We returned around 5pm, got on the first bus that came and it was not full.

Excursion review Wilderness exploration and crab feast by NCL.

We rate this as a 3.5 out of 5 based on our experience— food was good but we were a large group, herded about, there was very little wildlife to see, just a couple eagles and a cage of crabs.  The boat was fully packed with little opportunity to go on the tiny deck.  For the meal part of the tour they crammed us in the restaurant at large communal tables, only a very few people got a view during the meal the way they packed us in, sitting literally rubbing elbows and shoulders with strangers, and rushed us.  I have not had to sit that close to strangers during a meal since before the pandemic and felt very uncomfortable.  Staff seemed harried and not overly friendly.  The best staff was actually the bus driver who gave excellent highlights on the drive there.  The crab was very good and they gave a tutorial on how to best break the crab and get at the meat before the meal started, and also provided adequate tools, which was an improvement on other crab feasts we have attended.

it was scenic and lovely in that area and definitely a good choice to take an excursion away from the downtown area to experience the natural beauty of the island.