Trip was a success! Thanks for the help!

We are back from our Alaska cruise with 4 adults and 4 teen boys and I have to say it could not have been better.

I read all the info here on excursions and weather, etc... for months on end and asked a few questions of you all. Everything I was told was spot on and the excursions I ended up booking were excellent!

We did the Seattle round trip on NCL and if I can answer any questions I will be happy to. Our ports were Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Victoria, BC.

Thanks to everyone who posts information on ports/excursions/weather/restaurants. It is invaluable!

Glad you had such a great time !! What was the highlight for you? for the teens?

Perhaps you could write a short trip report. Just a paragraph or 2 to tell us about your activities at each port, the vendors you used, places you visited, restaurants, and of course the ship experience. How did the teens enjoy the ship? As you know, any info is helpful for people who are going this summer or are planning for 2015. Thx!

We are back from our Alaska cruise with 4 adults and 4 teen boys and I have to say it could not have been better.

I read all the info here on excursions and weather, etc... for months on end and asked a few questions of you all. Everything I was told was spot on and the excursions I ended up booking were excellent!

We did the Seattle round trip on NCL and if I can answer any questions I will be happy to. Our ports were Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Victoria, BC.

 

Thanks to everyone who posts information on ports/excursions/weather/restaurants. It is invaluable!

We are booked for these same ports, summer 2015. I was wondering how the weather was and how you dressed. Did you stay over night in Seattle? I've been trying research where to stay, we want to do some sightseeing. I would love to hear about your excursions. Thanks

OP here.

We arrived on Saturday, the day before the cruise. We stayed at the Marriott Waterfront that night and I have to say that was a great choice. We were able to wheel our luggage right across the street to Pier 66 and get on the ship. Also the hotel is basically a building away from Pike Street Market. On Sunday we woke up early, had breakfast and then spent 2 hours exploring the market. The market was a hit with all 4 of our sons as well.

In Juneau, we used Harv and Marv's for whale watching. All 8 of us left that excursion speechless. Captain Brad and Katy the naturalist on board were outstanding. We did the private tour in their larger boat. It was spotlessly clean and had a restroom. They had snacks and drinks which our boys appreciated and wiped out. We saw a pod of orcas over and over. We saw humpback whales bubble net feeding. We saw one humpback breach. After the whale watching we were cold and a bit wet but it was so worth it! The Harv and Marv bus driver took us to Mendenhall Glacier and dropped us off for 20 minutes which was plenty for photos. You do not walk on the glacier here but have an excellent vantage point to look at everything.

In Skagway we went on a private tour (8 in our party) with Trail of '98 Tours and had Michelle as our guide into Canada to the Yukon and Carcross. We spent all day with her and I would have to say in all the tours I've taken in my life she was the best, most patient and thorough guide I've ever used. And she is so kind to boot. We left early at 7:30 so we beat the tour buses to all the sites and had no waits at all. We visited the sled dog puppies, and the Carcross desert and Emerald Lake to name a few. Our sons all enjoyed the inukshuks site so much we visited that place twice, going and coming back. We stopped for photos anywhere we liked.

In Ketchikan the 2 oldest boys and the dads went on a private fishing charter with AAA Sportfishing and Captain Jerry. Now this is just a one-man operation but they all said they had such an amazing time. My husband voted this as his favorite excursion. They all caught silver salmon (coho) and we had it shipped home. They saw several eagles while fishing. All the older guys ate at the Burger Queen here and said it was fantastic. It is just a small, local place. Nothing fancy but they loved the food. The 2 moms and younger brothers ate at the Crab Cracker Seafood Bar. It was beautiful there; right on the water and the food was excellent.

In Victoria we just walked around the waterfront on our own. We took 2 taxis from the ship to downtown. It was only $10 a taxi. Everything was clean there and looked safe for the older teens to walk around a bit on their own. There are a lot of street performers that we enjoyed and LOTS of great shopping opportunities. We ate at place called Nautical Nellie's. That had to be our favorite food of the trip and it was also the most expensive. Victoria is beautiful!

Weather: Two of the boys wore shorts once on this trip and none of the grownups did. Prepare for rain and windy cold each day! Not freezing cold, but chilly. We had on hats and gloves and raincoats for whale watching and this boat had an enclosed area.

We fared best with Tshirts under another shirt with a jacket/hoodie over that. And have a raincoat handy! We had beautiful sun in Ketchikan and Victoria and a small bit of sun in Carcross but at all other times it was cloudy. And it rained all day in Juneau. Just wear layers and peal them off when needed!

This post got a lot longer than I intended! Hope some of this info helps!

Thanks so much for the trip report! Sounds like you had a great time. You answered all my questions. We are so excited to go.

Thanks for posting your trip report. I'll link this to the 2014 list above.

BTW, what did you think of your first experience with NCL and the Pearl ?

We all enjoyed the casual dress code of NCL and the need to not pack any sport coats, etc.. The grownups all loved the specialty dining choices. The Pearl did look a bit different than I anticipated but all was fine. The ship was super clean and we felt safe at all times. It just had such a flea market atmosphere around the atrium that felt cheap to me. Huge Budweiser banners were hanging in several areas there. Not classy. But again, we all had the trip of a lifetime and pretty much would not change a thing.

And by sailing NCL both families were able to book 2 bedroom suites and we certainly loved all the space and amenities of that.

Thank you for your review.

Glad you all had a wonderful time.

OP here.

 

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In Skagway ... Our sons all enjoyed the inukshuks site so much we visited that place twice, going and coming back.

Can you tell me more about this? Where or what it is? Thanks!

Thanks for your review! It is very helpful to read about what you did at the different ports. We just booked Harv and Marv for next summer. And I am going to look at booking with Trail of 98. We are considering renting a car and driving it on our own. How did you come to the decision to go with this company? There are so many things to choose from in Skagway, it is hard to choose. But after looking at the excursions I think you see so much by driving to Emerald Lake and back. In Ketchikan I think we are just going to walk around the town and explore the area. So glad you had such a wonderful time!

Can you tell me more about this? Where or what it is? Thanks!

Our tour guide pointed this site out to us. Right as you cross into Canada on the right there is a type of moonscape area with no tall trees, just very short ones. They call this "no man's land". It is at the top of a summit and very barren. The actual Canadian border crossing is a few miles into Canada. This site has beautiful streams, and loose small rocks everywhere. People stop by and stack rocks up making the inukshuks. It is really beautiful in it's own way. You can get out and climb down the larger rocks to get to a stream/river. All of our sons loved the climbing and the rocks.

Thanks for your review! It is very helpful to read about what you did at the different ports. We just booked Harv and Marv for next summer. And I am going to look at booking with Trail of 98. We are considering renting a car and driving it on our own. How did you come to the decision to go with this company? There are so many things to choose from in Skagway, it is hard to choose. But after looking at the excursions I think you see so much by driving to Emerald Lake and back. In Ketchikan I think we are just going to walk around the town and explore the area. So glad you had such a wonderful time!

Trail of 98 was recommended to me by another tour guide that I contacted. He was booked for that day but told me to call Michelle at Trail and use her. We loved the experience so much. And it is a good thing we used her, too, because after our day-long tour half of us fell asleep on the way back to Skagway. We had some sleepy adults that did not need to drive!

She told us the average amount of time it takes for the Emerald lake tour is 7 hours with the travel time to and from. But the good thing about her tour was she told us we had her for the day for the same price. And if it took 6 hours or 9 hours it was fine. She goes at your pace. Our tour took about 8 hours I'd say because our sons loved the Carcross desert so much and we did the inukshuks twice.