Just back from Titan tour including Rocky Mountaineer and NCL Star Alaskan Cruise

[Deacon23]

Hi everybody

 

Just back (literally) from Titan tour and including NCL Star Alaskan cruise.

 

Thiswas first Titan tour and our first large cruise ship cruise.

 

First of all the tour was very well organised. We were picked up from home and dropped back at home efficiently.

 

We first flew to Calgary and then transferred to Bannf. Lovely little town, easy to walk around. We did the Rocky Mountaineer train, wished perhaps we had paid for the gold leaf experience but the red leaf was good so really did not have a comparison. Stopped one night in Kamloops, did not see anything of the city as it was late and up early again.

 

We travelled to Vancouver and had one night there. Lovely, lovely, friendly city, would go back.

 

However, NCL (for a reason not understood) were not sailing from Vancouver but Seattle and so we had to travel through customs to Seattle. It was not a good experience, lost loads of holiday time and had to queue through customs into USA. Would not recommend going from Seattle if at all possible.

 

However, we embarked on the NCL Star. First impressions - very big but obviously not as big as some cruise ships. We had a balcony room which I would highly recommend if you can afford to do so. Can see so much from the balcony.

 

The food was good. Did not use the food court on the top deck much, did not like that much, could be convenient but I do think that some people spent most of their time in there! The 'free' other restaurants were very good and plenty of choice. We did use the Italian restaurant and Mexican, both very good and went to an Indian lunch time buffet which was very good too. There seemed to be good reports on the other 'pay for' restaurants as well.

 

We enjoyed the cruise and spent a lot of time out on deck as well. The weather was very good. The staff on board were really friendly and we did like the ship but we did not have a comparison to make.

 

I would have liked a bit more narrative from the capitain and his crew as to where we were located and to look out for wildlife, etc but there was some announcements.

 

We did book our own excursions so did not use any off the ship but did hear people say they were good.

 

Our first trip was in Ketchikan and we used Island Wings (absolutely wonderful) and Michelle. We flew by floatplane to Annan Creek to see bears and it was the best experience of the whole trip! Thank you so much Michelle. We saw black bears and a brown mother bear with 2 cubs. We were in awe!!! We saw them catching salmon out of the river and we were so close it was untrue. When we told other people on the cruise ship, they were so envious - we only saw a bear once near Bannf and that was at a distance. Everybody said that they wished they had done it. We had a little time afterwards in town to have a quick look around. All in all, a wonderful, amazing experience and will never forget it. Lots of bold eagles as well and seals. What more could you want.

 

We did Harv and Marv for the whale watching. This was good and Sean was very imformative. We did not see a lot of whales, not anybody's fault, just how it can be but was a good trip. People who had booked through the ship had a good experience too but we like the smaller group experience. Did the glacier quickly and that was enough time to be honest but was well worth seeing.

 

We did the Chilkoot train journey in Skagway. Went up by train and back by van. It was interesting but the weather was not too good, not anybody's fault. I got a little bored but my husband really liked it. Did not have much time to see Skagway.

 

All in all, the excursions were well organised and were really good. If you want to book in advance, book your own excursions, especially the Annan Creek because the organisers have to have permits to go there and only a few groups of people can go each day but it was so worth it.

 

Prince Rupert - did not book anything here. We found it not very exciting and too long a stay but we had a nice beer in Cow Bay overlooking the marina and the weather was wonderful.

 

We arrived back in Seattle and then had to travel back to Vancouver - shame about this again and losing valuable holiday time! Back to Vancouver for one night. In some ways I wish we had booked another night in Vancouver to have gone to Victoria because we did not have time, worth thinking about though. Vancouver is great.

 

Good flights to and from Canada.

 

It was a 'once in a lifetime' holiday and would highly recommend. Alaska is beautiful.

 

If anybody has any questions, please ask, it is worth finding out as much as possible before going. Some people on the cruise ship were not well equipped with clothing and had not done any research. We even did research on binoculars and they were worth taking too.

[jhowdy]

Very nice report, thank you for sharing. Did you have all your luggage with you on the train, thru customs and on to the cruise ship or was some sent ahead? Can you get off the train for the night with just a carry-on if you are traveling with all your bags, or does it all go to the hotel with you? Wildlife sightings from the train, numerous or few?

 

Thank you in advance for the additional information, I'm really hoping to take the Mountaineer next summer.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for sharing your very nice report.

 

Keith

[the4cannons]

Thank you for your review. We leave Saturday, and my kids are not overly excited about Alaska - hopefully we will enjoy it as much as you did.

 

When I look on the deck plans I can't find Endless Summer (that is what the Mexican restaurant used to be called) but you said that it was open. That will thrill my kids. Does it have a new name, is it still on Deck 8?

[Putterdude]

Thanks for your review, am very happy that you enjoyed Vancouver for those who stop in Prince Rupert I can understand your observation however a trip out to the new National Historic Site of the North Pacific Cannery is very worthwhile. link

[Deacon23]

Hi

 

If you are Gold leaf on the train your suitcases are sent on to the hotel in Kamloops. If you are Red leaf they inform you to take an overnight bag with you for Kamloops. The rest of the time the suitcases are sent on. It is really easy.

 

We did not see much wildlife from the train, I think it is just luck. One bear and deer and that was all. A few bold eagles. However, on other trips passengers have seen more. From the cruise ship you need to keep looking and see orcas, humpback whales, etc. It is sometimes better to go out on deck because lots of people are looking and will let you know if they see anything. I had my binoculars with me at all times!

 

As for the Endless Summer, sorry perhaps I confused you. Blue Lagoon is open all day for breakfast, etc. Endless Summer is Mexican and you have to pay extra for that but it was good.

 

Any other questions let me know, I will try and help. CC was invaluable to me before we went on our trip.

[Jasjas]

Deacon,

 

Thanks for a wonderful post...

 

We have Red Leaf tickets for Rocky Mountaineer when our cruise ends in Vancouver... My question: If we are going to do Rocky Mountaineer, is it stil necessary to do the White Pass&Youkon train excursion from Skagway, or is is much the same ?

 

Thanks again !

 

Jasjas