mjbraun11

5 hours ago, FaithPlus1 said:

Is your big box TA one through a well known warehouse that starts with the letter C and ends in an O?

Yes it is....

This is my first trip report and I’ll be starting with the planning portion. 

We are a family of 4 including myself, wife, daughter age 16 and son age 18.  This is our 2^nd cruise together and both on NCL in the Haven.  We had a very positive experience with NCL on our 1^st cruise, so for us, we never considered any other cruise line.  We loved our Haven experience and didn’t consider any other option.  Our approach to this trip was that it was potentially our last together as a family and that we would probably never get to go to Alaska again.  We would also be traveling during our 20^th wedding anniversary.  For us as a family, we wanted to see bears, glaciers, and bald eagles.  Also, my son wanted to experience catching “big fish”.  We knew that we wanted to do a land portion added on to the cruise and get a chance to see Denali.  While we considered a DIY land tour, we decided against it. 

Itinerary

Ship:  Norwegian Jewel

Room:  Haven 2 bedroom family villa

When:  July 29^th – August 5^th 2019 with NCL 7 day Authentic Alaska cruisetour at back end

• Vancouver (embarkation)
• Inside Passage (cruising)
• Ketchikan (Anon Bear Watch via float plane)
• Juneau (Mendenhall glacier & St Therese Shrine marriage vow renewal)
• Skagway (White Pass Railway & Klondike Bicycle; Chilkoot Horseback Riding)
• Glacier Bay (cruising)
• Hubbard Glacier (cruising)
• Seward (begin land portion)
• Homer (2 nights: Salmon fishing, Homer Spit)
• Anchorage (1 night: Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center)
• Denali (2 nights:  Whitewater rafting, Iditarod kennel, Tundra Wilderness tour)
• Fairbanks (1 night: Fairbanks city tour, Riverboat cruise)

We originally booked this package ourselves on the NCL website a year in advance of the cruise.  Soon afterwards, we realized that the bigbox chain that we are already members of offered TA services.  Because we acted within 30 days of our reservation, we were able to simply transfer our reservation to the bigbox TA (SUPER easy) and will be getting a very large gift card as well as a $25 OBC.  Additionally, by watching the prices for the cruise, we were able to catch a major price reduction prior to final payment which saved us a ton.  I was shocked at how easy it was to get this applied as well.  For us – working with the bigbox TA has been great and saved us a lot of cash.

Another money saving tactic we discovered was utilizing the NCL credit card.  By signing up for this and using it to pay off the cruise (as well as using the card to pay normal monthly bills), we will be getting a sizable OBC.  Obviously, the trick is to ensure you pay this off every month as it does add a middle step in the process, but when you get in a habit it works great. 

Also, for us, airfare and extra hotels would be paid for using air miles and hotel points.  I travel a lot for work and this is one of the few benefits that come with that.  This would be important for us because we wanted to spend some extra time in Seattle and Vancouver.

Pre-Cruise

We will begin our adventure July 24^th.  As mentioned earlier, it was important to us to spend some time in Vancouver as well as a bit of time in Seattle.  Our flight arrives in Seattle at approx. 2:30pm.  We’ll be spending two nights in Seattle and then driving to Vancouver.  Nothing really planned for the first night in Seattle as we figure everyone will be pretty exhausted from the time change and travel.  Our only full day in Seattle we have plans to go to Pike’s market and to Smith Tower.  Our hotel (The Sound by Hilton) is close to Pike’s market, so the rest of the time will probably just be exploring our surroundings and getting acclimated to the time change.  Last morning in Seattle, we’ll head to the car rental facility and rent a car.  Again, since I travel a lot, the car rental will be paid with points.  We drive to Vancouver from there.  Upon arrival in Vancouver, we will turn the car in as we feel that Vancouver will be relatively easily manageable by public transportation.  We will be staying for 3 nights at The Hampton downtown.  Our must do’s while in Vancouver include:  Stanley Park and Capilano Suspension Bridge.  Additionally, we’ve wanted to try Peaceful Restaurant since seeing it on Food Network.

Planning resources

This trip has been well over a year in the making.  Planning a trip to Alaska is unlike any trip that we’ve planned in our lives.  As so many people point out, you really need to do your homework.  Each and every family has different likes and must see/do.  Fortunately, there are just tons of resources that are available which have made the process enjoyable and a learning experience. 

Cruise Critic Forum – What a wealth of information.  Ok, so the search tool doesn’t exactly get you what you are looking for…and there are quite a few snarky posts which you see every day….the fact is, CC is a great resource of individuals who share their thoughts and ideas.  Plus, most of the planning resources listed here started as a CC post.

Youtube – Literally every single shore excursion that is available has a youtube video (s) associated with it.  We have watched hundreds of youtube videos in weeding out what was a good fit for our family and what wasn’t. 

www.tomsportguides.com – extremely detailed map information for Ketchikan and Skagway.  With so little time at each port, it’s about maximizing your efficiency while there.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2639556-2019-resources-for-planning-a-visit-to-alaska/ - Right here on CC….thank you to Mapleleaves for this post.  All the city websites which are great resources plus so very much more.

The Ultimate Alaska Road Map Book – I have a copy of this saved to my phone and computer and plan to use it to anticipate cool things to see during the land portion of the tour.  Imagine this would be an invaluable source of information for a DIY tour.

Phone – I know this sounds crazy….but you wouldn’t believe the knowledge gained from simply picking up the phone and calling direct the company that handles the shore excursions.  Yeah – you’ll get some of the sales pitch stuff….so what.  These folks are some of the nicest, most knowledgeable people and are very willing to talk to you about not only their specific item…but anything Alaska.  Call them…you won’t be talking to a call center in another state….you’ll be talking to the guy who drives the boat…..flies the plane…conducts the tour.

Seven days out from the start of this adventure and we absolutely cannot wait!

Haven't been on her yet, but here is an after video showing Spinnaker Lounge after the reno...

38 minutes ago, ute_fan said:

What is the IPHC?

International Pacific Halibut Commission

www.iphc.int

I'm not sure if this relates to the ports you are referring to...but note 2019 IPHC halibut fishing regulations (totally messed up my plans to take my son halibut fishing in Homer as there is no halibut fishing during our time there...)

New 2019 Halibut Fishing Regulations from the IPHC

• Limit of two halibut per day. If taking two one must be 28 inches or smaller.
• You are allowed a total of 4 charter caught halibut per person per year
• There will no halibut fishing on Wednesdays all season and no halibut fishing on Tuesdays July 16, 23, 30 and August 6, 13.

There are only 2 days which should have "optional" excursions .....  Homer - the fishing charter (and others?) and Denali - would like to do the white water rafting (and others?)  Those are the items I'm keen to see open up.  I know I "could" set them up myself, but am not positive on actual time availability away from cruisetour events.....

We are booked on the northbound 14 day authentic alaska cruisetour with NCL.  The shore excursions for the "sail" part of the tour have been out for a while and we're all set and booked...but the land portion doesn't show anything yet.  At what point does the land portion open up (does anyone know?).

Thanks!!

The daughter has talked me into taking her horseback riding while in Skagway port.  We will be there in early August and the ship will be in port from 8am-8pm.  While researching options, I only see one which is Chilkoot Horseback Adventure.  Does anyone know of any other places which we can investigate or is this our one option?

11 hours ago, cltcruzer said:

A flight tour. Maybe a float plane over Misty Fjords in Ketchikan, or a flight with glacier landing in Juneau or Skagway. Last summer I did a flight tour/glacier landing in Denali, and a float plane in Ketchikan, and the aerial view of Alaska gives you a whole different perspective compared to what you see from land or water. Both flight tours I did were incredible and well worth the $ 

I'm not sure I can talk the wife into doing anything with a float plane....we'll definitely be relooking at this one though.  Much thanks for the insight.

After arriving in Seward, we are doing the 7 day land package that NCL offers:  Seward/Homer/Anchorage/Denali/Fairbanks.  Extra excursions don't up up for those until March...so we still have plenty of time to work on those ones...

7 day cruise starting July 29 out of Vancouver, BC on NCL.  Travelling with wife and 2 children 16yr (girl) and 18yr (boy).  First time going to Alaska - but it's been a bucket list item for the wife and I forever.  

Day 0 - Vancouver

     We are actually going to get to Vancouver a few days before the cruise and do some exploring.  Capilano suspension bridge, Gas Town, Stanley park, etc.

Day 1 - Cruise Inside Passage

Day 2 - Ketchikan in port 7am - 4pm

     Son and I - Eagle Island Sea Kayak

     Wife and daughter - Misty Fjords & Wilderness Explorer

Day 3 - Juneau in port 11am - 9pm

     Whale watching & Mendenhall Glacier photo safari

Day 4 - Skagway in port 8am - 8pm

     White Pass Railway and suspension bridge

Day 5 - Cruise Glacier Bay

Day 6 - Cruise Hubbard Glacier

Day 7 - Seward

Looking at the times for each of the excursions, it looks like we'll still have plenty of time to do other exploring while in port.  What do you recommend?