Review of Alaska Cruise on NCL Pearl - Glacier Bay - May 18-25, 2014 (with photos)

Hello everyone! Having received so much information from CC prior to my cruise, thought I would pay it forward and write a review for others to hopefully enjoy.

About us, married couple in our mid-40’s with no children. We live in Bremerton which is an hour ferry ride from Seattle. We boarded the 9:45 a.m. ferry to Seattle. Got to the terminal Sunday around 11:00 a.m. Embarkation went pretty smoothly, it took us only about an hour to get through the security and check-in lines. So we were on the ship around noon.

We were in a port side balcony stateroom on Deck 10. We were pleased with the room. Felt there was enough closet space for our needs, and there is also shelving and drawers for extra storage. We also discovered there is plenty of room under the bed to store things as well. The bathroom is close quarters but worked fine for us. Loved our balcony and spent many, many hours on it during the week.

Off to the bon voyage party on deck! It was a beautiful, sunny day leaving Seattle.

Goodbye Seattle!

View from our balcony room after leaving Seattle

Sunset the first night near Port Angeles

I am looking forward to the rest of your review. we are headed out on the Pearl in August. This will be our first time in Seattle, and in Alaska, and on an NCL cruise, so I am always eager to read reviews! And LOVE to see the pictures!

Monday was our day at sea. Spent our time just exploring the ship and sitting on our balcony. Also lost money in the casino.

More sunshine on our day at sea!

We ate at 2 specialty restaurants during the week (La Cucina and Teppanyaki), and this night was dinner at La Cucina for our 7th wedding anniversary! We love Italian food. We really enjoyed our meals and the service was fantastic! Very nice to have a leisurely 2 hour meal without feeling rushed. Well worth it to us for only a $30.00 extra charge.

Tuesday was Juneau. This was the only day during the week we had a lot of rain. We still took the Mount Roberts Tramway and even though it was raining we were still able to enjoy the view. Numerous bald eagles around the Juneau area. Also got photos of Lady Baltimore, the captive eagle at the nature center on top of Mount Roberts. She can no longer live in the wild due to injuries she sustained. Beautiful to see her up close.

Views from Mount Roberts

Lady Baltimore

Eagle we spotted while hiking on the mountain

Thank you for sharing your trip with us. We will be taking the Pearl on the last run of the season, and are very excited to be going back to Alaska.

The pics are great, keep em coming, Please and Thank you. ;)

Wednesday was Skagway. Loved this town and enjoyed learning about its history. And the local interests have all cooperated with one another to preserve or restore the buildings from that era. The walking tour with the rangers was already full when we tried to go but we picked up a walking tour map and visited some of the locations on our own. Went to the museum, then had lunch at Skagway Brewing Company. After lunch we hiked out to Yakutania Point. What a beautiful spot to enjoy the view of the water and the snow-capped peaks on a sunny day! There were 4 cruise ships in port this day, but we saw very few people on this hike. So it was nice to escape the crowds for awhile.

Skagway with NCL Pearl in the background

Driftwood building in Skagway

Skagway Brewing Company

View from Yakutania Point

Railcars in Skagway

Captain's assistant on the Pearl in Skagway

Thanks for sharing your cruise and beautiful pictures. Can you tell me how do you post pictures in a review?

So excited to read your review! We board the Pearl in August and I have been hoping someone would write a review!

Thursday was cruising through Glacier Bay National Park, the highlight of the week. When we first woke up and went out to our balcony and saw blue sky, we knew it was going to be a spectacular day! Saw 2 whales within minutes of waking up.

Whales teasing us, didn't want to fully surface

And don’t forget to order your Glacier Bay drink special. I highly recommend the Alaskan Snow Plow. Delicious! We were in the park boundaries for several hours (from early morning to late afternoon). The rangers onboard were wonderful and it was apparent they are very passionate (and rightfully so) about where they work and the importance of keeping wild places like this. We had absolutely fantastic weather as you can see from the photos. Our ship did two 360 degree rotations at Margerie Glacier and Grand Pacific Glacier (which are right next to each other) so everyone got to see everything! And not many ice chunks left in the water so I would estimate the ship was within 200 yards of these glaciers.

Margerie Glacier

Grand Pacific Glacier

Beautiful blue spot on Margerie immediately after a calving

Then we sailed to get a close up view of Lamplugh Glacier.

Lamplugh Glacier

We had several other whale sightings in the park. Unfortunately I didn’t witness any that were breaching in the park but here a couple more shots of near the surface whales.

Also saw seals, porpoises, sea otters (so cute!), and a variety of birds. This was one of the most memorable days of my life. I was in awe to be at such a vast, spectacular location where everything is so wild and largely unspoiled by human activity. Many unnamed islands and unnamed glaciers throughout the park. A truly unforgettable day!

Goodbye Glacier Bay

Friday was Ketchikan. We took the public bus to Totem Bight State Historical Park. Only $1.00 per person each way, so very affordable. It’s about a 30 minute bus ride. The bus only runs to the park once an hour. It sounds like there will be additional bus service starting in July so those of you cruising later this season might have more frequent options. Totem Bight is a beautiful park.

Back on board the ship after Ketchikan and lost more money in the casino. Somebody won $20,000 on a slot machine (don’t know which machine) that day. That night it was dinner at Teppanyaki. Really enjoyed our meal. Our chef was rather quiet compared to the others but we enjoyed the show regardless.

We decided to stay on the ship Saturday in Victoria. We had a quiet dinner at Indigo since most people left the ship. Then we went back to our balcony to enjoy our last night. It was fun watching all the comings and goings in the harbor.

Approaching Victoria

A visitor to our balcony railing in Victoria

Sunset in Victoria

Pearl after dark in Victoria

Sunday morning we were back in Seattle. Disembarkation went smoothly for us and we were off the ship before 9:30 a.m. Then it was time to go back to reality and get on the ferry to go home.

View of the Pearl from our ferry to Bremerton. Goodbye Pearl, we miss you already

Some general thoughts. We enjoyed the Summer Palace main dining room more than Indigo. It is much larger and more spacious. The first time we ate at Indigo it was very loud and my husband and I could barely have a conversation (the second time we ate there was very nice and quiet as most people went ashore in Victoria). The ceilings appeared to be low in there too which I think contributes to the noise level. We also ate at the Blue Lagoon Café several times so if you don’t mind a more limited menu it’s a good option for a quick bite.

Loved the Great Outdoors on Deck 12. A great place to enjoy the views and stay out of the wind. Also enjoyed walking the Promenade Deck in our attempt to burn off some calories of all that food we ate during the week!

NCL staff are so friendly. We really liked our room steward. He was both professional and personable, and remembered our names each time we saw him. Every time we passed any staff member, we were always greeted with a hello, have a nice day, good evening, etc. Very friendly people and service with a smile!

This cruise was one of our best vacations ever! It is just so relaxing and mesmerizing to watch the water and the surrounding scenery. And we had good weather, beautiful locations to visit, wonderful food, and enjoyed the hospitality of the friendly people in Alaska. Loved the Pearl and would definitely cruise on her again. Thanks to NCL!

Now, as so many have recommended here on CC, the only cure for depression when a cruise is over is to plan the next one! So I better start planning!

Happy cruising everyone!

Then we sailed to get a close up view of Lamplugh Glacier.

 

 

Lamplugh Glacier

 

 

 

 

We had several other whale sightings in the park. Unfortunately I didn’t witness any that were breaching in the park but here a couple more shots of near the surface whales.

 

 

 

 

Also saw seals, porpoises, sea otters (so cute!), and a variety of birds. This was one of the most memorable days of my life. I was in awe to be at such a vast, spectacular location where everything is so wild and largely unspoiled by human activity. Many unnamed islands and unnamed glaciers throughout the park. A truly unforgettable day!

 

 

Goodbye Glacier Bay

 

When we were on the Pearl 2 weeks ago we couldn't get close to Lamplugh Glacier...way too many icebergs in our path. Glad you had a wonderful day in Glacier Bay!

Just wanted to say great review SeahawkSiren, it was a pleasure to read your review. last May 18th me and my wife took the NCL Jewel from Seattle and the Pearl being almost identical to the jewel it just brings back all the good things we enjoyed about the cruise. i wanted to go again this year but me and my wife are moving to Bremerton or Port Orchard this July so we will have to catch next years cruise on the pearl. we are going to enjoy the fact that the next cruise we take all we have to do is take the Bremerton ferry over to Seattle get on the ship and then relax for the whole cruise and when we get back its a ferry ride back home and no long distance traveling. thanks again for your posts.

Sunday morning we were back in Seattle. Disembarkation went smoothly for us and we were off the ship before 9:30 a.m. Then it was time to go back to reality and get on the ferry to go home.

 

 

View of the Pearl from our ferry to Bremerton. Goodbye Pearl, we miss you already

 

 

 

Some general thoughts. We enjoyed the Summer Palace main dining room more than Indigo. It is much larger and more spacious. The first time we ate at Indigo it was very loud and my husband and I could barely have a conversation (the second time we ate there was very nice and quiet as most people went ashore in Victoria). The ceilings appeared to be low in there too which I think contributes to the noise level. We also ate at the Blue Lagoon Café several times so if you don’t mind a more limited menu it’s a good option for a quick bite.

 

Loved the Great Outdoors on Deck 12. A great place to enjoy the views and stay out of the wind. Also enjoyed walking the Promenade Deck in our attempt to burn off some calories of all that food we ate during the week!

 

NCL staff are so friendly. We really liked our room steward. He was both professional and personable, and remembered our names each time we saw him. Every time we passed any staff member, we were always greeted with a hello, have a nice day, good evening, etc. Very friendly people and service with a smile!

 

This cruise was one of our best vacations ever! It is just so relaxing and mesmerizing to watch the water and the surrounding scenery. And we had good weather, beautiful locations to visit, wonderful food, and enjoyed the hospitality of the friendly people in Alaska. Loved the Pearl and would definitely cruise on her again. Thanks to NCL!

 

Now, as so many have recommended here on CC, the only cure for depression when a cruise is over is to plan the next one! So I better start planning!

 

Happy cruising everyone!

Thanks for taking the time to share your review with photos.

Welcome home!

Keith

Sounds awesome.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for your review. Can't wait, we board the Pearl on June 1st, 2014 for DH's retirement cruise!

Thanks for sharing. I'm on the Pearl this Sunday so your reading your review got me really excited! :D

It was like reliving our cruise this time last year. I love your photos. Thanks for sharing and renewing my love of the Pearl.

We live on Key Penn south of PO. You went on a Alaska cruise on Ncl and Holland how do they match up?

We have only cruised Ncl. Walk or cab to pier after ferry.

Thanks for the review.

Thank you so much for the review and the pictures. Sailing on the Pearl July 6-13 to Alaska and have a mid ship balcony on deck 10!

Sailing on the Pearl Jun 22.....loved the review and the pictures!!! Thanks for sharing!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Thanks for sharing your cruise and beautiful pictures. Can you tell me how do you post pictures in a review?

I recommend you go to this link to understand how to upload pictures in a review. It was more involved than I was expecting and was a lot of trial and error, and took me several attempts to figure it out. I thought it was going to be as easy as copying and pasting photos from my desktop. Wrong! In hindsight, I should have looked into the uploading process before spending a lot of time putting pictures on my desktop. The short version is you first have to upload your photos to a hosting site (for example, shutterfly or photobucket), get the URL of the photo, and then insert that into your post. I also suggest using the "test" forum which is referenced in the link and try uploading 1 or 2 photos to make sure in advance that your photos uploaded properly. Better explained in this link.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1234944

When we were on the Pearl 2 weeks ago we couldn't get close to Lamplugh Glacier...way too many icebergs in our path. Glad you had a wonderful day in Glacier Bay!

Wow! That is amazing how much ice melted in just 2 weeks. We hardly saw any ice chunks. I forgot to mention in my review that we couldn't get as close to Lamplugh as we did Margerie and Grand Pacific because there was a whale directly in front of Lamplugh. And I mean really close, the whale appeared to be less than 50 yards from the edge of the glacier. I didn't realize whales get that close to the edge! :eek:

Just wanted to say great review SeahawkSiren, it was a pleasure to read your review. last May 18th me and my wife took the NCL Jewel from Seattle and the Pearl being almost identical to the jewel it just brings back all the good things we enjoyed about the cruise. i wanted to go again this year but me and my wife are moving to Bremerton or Port Orchard this July so we will have to catch next years cruise on the pearl. we are going to enjoy the fact that the next cruise we take all we have to do is take the Bremerton ferry over to Seattle get on the ship and then relax for the whole cruise and when we get back its a ferry ride back home and no long distance traveling. thanks again for your posts.

Advance welcome to you to the Bremerton/Port Orchard area! Hope you enjoy living here as much as I do. Yes, it was very nice just hopping on the ferry after the cruise and being home so quickly. Long travels after vacations are tough!

We live on Key Penn south of PO. You went on a Alaska cruise on Ncl and Holland how do they match up?

We have only cruised Ncl. Walk or cab to pier after ferry.

Thanks for the review.

We prefer NCL over Holland. We will probably not cruise Holland again. Not because we had any bad experiences, but we prefer the more laid back atmosphere of NCL. Holland was too formal for our tastes. And having the specific dinner time each night became problematic at times, especially if we weren't necessarily hungry at that time or we had to rush to get to dinner after getting back on ship after an excursion. We love the freestyle concept of NCL of being able to eat when we want to in the main dining rooms.

We walked to the pier after ferry. It's not very far distance wise and took us only about 20 minutes, but we had luggage with wheels on it so that made it a lot easier. Without that kind of luggage or if you have more than one bag per person, I would recommend cab.

 

We prefer NCL over Holland. We will probably not cruise Holland again. Not because we had any bad experiences, but we prefer the more laid back atmosphere of NCL. Holland was too formal for our tastes. And having the specific dinner time each night became problematic at times, especially if we weren't necessarily hungry at that time or we had to rush to get to dinner after getting back on ship after an excursion. We love the freestyle concept of NCL of being able to eat when we want to in the main dining rooms.

We have only cruised on Holland America so can't compare it to another cruise line but we've always done "open seating" so we don't have to worry about being hungry at a certain time or rushing back to ship after an excursion.

Utahtea