NCL Pearl July 10th-17th 2016 Trip Report

[traveltime3400]

Thank you so much to everyone who helped with all of my cruise and Alaska questions prior to my trip. I really appreciate the input and it was invaluable. This was a dream cruise for my in-laws, and they invited us to join them. They have cruised 3 times before, all on NCL. We were first time cruisers, it is me, DH, daughter (12) and son (7).

 

July 10th - Embarkation day

 

In-laws flew into Seattle a couple days before and did sightseeing. We drove up from Portland the morning of. We left at 7:30 and arrived at the parking garage across from the pier at 10:15. They let us into the garage early and shuttled us to the pier (even though it was right across the street). Our official check in time was 1:00 but we checked our luggage at 10:45. Waited a bit for in-laws to arrive but they were taking a while, so we checked ourselves in at 11:15 right when boarding was starting. We boarded with our family around 11:30 (they had priority due to MIL having mobility struggles). Went straight to Summer Palace for lunch. My main meal was very good (salmon burger with pretzel bun). The desserts were fair. Rooms were ready while we were at lunch. Went to rooms and unpacked. Walked around the ship and got our bearings, enjoyed the beautiful weather as we started sailing.

 

Found the good coffee machine near Great Outdoors!

 

 

Relaxed a bit and then went to dinner at Summer Palace. My salad was strange, duck confit was ok but too salty, but the volcano dessert was great. It was pretty wavy (4-7 ft) when we got farther out. Long day!

[traveltime3400]

July 11th – At Sea

 

Pretty wavy still! 5 foot waves (me and DD are sensitive). Breakfast at Great Outdoors. French toast was pretty good and bagel and lox were great (this became my daily breakfast). Enjoyed being “outside” but not cold. My daughter and I went to read books at Bliss but we both fell asleep (drowsy from our nondrowsy Bonine!). My son and FIL played chess on the big board. DH and MIL discussed a book they were reading together. We all met at Bliss for origami, which was fun. At the end a soft core love making scene between two women was on all of the TV screens! I wouldn't have wanted any sex scene between anyone for my kids to watch – I pointed it out to the activity director. She freaked out and pulled the video right away. Whew!

 

Lunch at the main buffet – fair. We each went to our rooms for a couple hours to rest. I enjoyed the balcony view of some land – I wasn't expecting to see land so that was a nice surprise.

 

Dinner at Lotus Garden – some dishes were good some were strange.

 

Comedy show – Tim Kaminski. Hilarious! We were all laughing so hard.

 

Put the kids to bed. Me and DH strolled outside (cold!!) and then got some dessert at the main buffet. Final bit of wavy sea, 4-7 ft waves.

[traveltime3400]

July 12th Juneau (part 1)

 

Woke up at 7:12 and got confused – it seemed like we were docked. Of course not, we weren't getting to Juneau until afternoon. The water was glassy smooth! 0 waves, it was magnificent. Looked outside to beautiful land views especially the snow capped mountains trailing the ship.

 

A very special breakfast at the Great Outdoors. We saw tons and tons of whales! I would estimate between 15-25, all in groups of 1-4.

 

After breakfast we all did some relaxing and watching the views.

 

Arrival at Juneau:

 

Split up for the day – MIL and FIL did whale watching trip and quick Mendenhall Glacier through the cruise. They loved their day and saw about 9 whales (although they didn't do many “tricks”).

 

We got off the ship at 2:30 had a car rented at Juneau Car Rentals, which was a very short walk from the pier. It was a really old gold Ford sedan with 161k miles, no A/C and a check engine light that was on! But it worked, and it was cheap and close!

 

Parked near Tram. The weather was insanely beautiful and warm. We had purchased tickets through the cruise for the tram (they were basically free due to shore excursion credit), so we were happy with the perfect tram conditions. Went up the tram, saw the rescued eagle, did the loop trail to the cross, got ice cream, took the tram back.

 

 

 

 

 

[traveltime3400]

Juneau Part 2

 

Drove to Mendenhall Glacier. Got our Passport Stamps at the visitors center. Walked to Nugget Falls. Kids and DH had fun skipping stones at the water. Went back, I walked out to Photo Point and DH and the kids went to climb around on the big rocks under the the visitors center.

 

 

 

 

 

I was expecting to have some cell service to access Google maps but didn't….so I totally went the wrong way to the Hatchery and wasted some time. :( But we got there eventually because I was able to call a cab company and they were very nice to give me some vague directions. Although it was closed, it was so much fun!!! We cheered on the salmon as the jumped down the ladder. We spent quite a long time there. Drove back to pier and parked car. Back to ship by 9:25 (I think all aboard was 9:45). Whew!

 

 

Dinner at Great Outdoors sharing our adventures with MIL and FIL.

[traveltime3400]

July 13th Skagway – gorgeous weather!!! Part 1

 

Breakfast at Great Outdoors

 

Dyea Dave tour with Renee. Drove to Emerald lake with tons and tons of beautiful stops before we got there. Some were so spectacular, Renee was even taking pictures because it was so uniquely pretty (the mirrored lake pictures were “once a year” she said). We loved meeting the dogsled puppies (a trip highlight for some). Went to Carcross Desert and the little town (look up name). Lunch was quick and not so good at Chilkoot Trail bakery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[traveltime3400]

Skagway Part 2

 

This is a picture of water! The clouds are a reflection.

 

 

 

 

[traveltime3400]

Skagway Part 3

 

Drove part of the way back, few more stops and then some of us got dropped off in Fraser to take the train back down. Wow! We are not rail enthusiasts but this was really special. I loved that we did both the van and the rail for two different perspectives.

 

 

 

 

 

Went back to town, got Passport stamps at the historic site. Did some shopping in town, got some frybread and ice cream. MIL and FIL went back to ship. My son played at a cute playground (the play structure had treetops).

 

 

 

 

Walked back to the ship with directions from our tour guide scheduler. She sent us to the wrong ship! (She said, you see your ship? Don't walk towards it, go left. Well, that took us to another ship – Celebrity I think). So we took a chance and cut through a partially chained up parking lot and made it back with some time to spare (30 min). Dinner at Summer Palace. I had the vegetarian lasagna roll, which was pretty good.

[traveltime3400]

July 14th – Glacier Bay

 

Breakfast at Great Outdoors.

 

Spectacular day! When I woke up at 6 am it was pea soup fog – I was worried! As we got closer to the bay, the clouds started to dissipate. Then, the blue skies opened up!!! The weather was warm and the views were spectacular. We were in awe and watched the glacier as the ship circled many times. Saw some small calving 5 times. It was amazing that such small ones still made such a booming sound. Enjoyed the sea otters (lions?), many birds, and blue green water. But mostly the awe inspiring blue-white glacier. Everywhere the ship explored in Glacier Bay was fantastic, we couldn't have been more lucky. My kids got Passport stamps with the Ranger in Spinnaker Lounge.

 

 

 

 

They opened up the rock wall in Glacier Bay and I have great pictures of my kids climbing the wall with the Glacier in the background.

 

Stunning and hard to put into words!

 

Lunch at Outdoor Grill. I had some good salmon chowder but otherwise was average for food. Kids went into the hot tub, DH and I read books by the pool.

 

Went past a little island with tons of sea lions. You could hear them barking loudly!

 

Family afternoon show with Tim Kaminski – very funny!

 

Visited bridge room

 

Rested briefly in rooms. Dinner at Summer Palace. My first really good meal, Atlantic Salmon with grilled leak, beurre blance sauce and green pea puree.

 

Acrobatics show was excellent!

 

Relaxed on balcony before bed.

 

[traveltime3400]

July 15th – Ketchikan part 1

 

Breakfast at Great Outdoors. Met Kat from Ketchikan Taxi Cab, she was early and right off of the pier. Really nice driving tour. Amazing weather, everyone said it was unusually nice. Stopped at a small pier to look at eagles, baby eagles, and jellyfish. Stopped at Herring Cove for more eagles, sea otters and jam tasting nearby.

 

 

Driving back toward town, she whisked us off to the side of the road for an amazing whale show. 2 whales breached more times than I can remember, saw lots of tails and fin slapping. We were all enthralled and MIL and FIL said it was better than their whale watching tour in Juneau.

 

 

Traveled across to the other side of the island. Kat taught us about life on the island. The kids got a little tired of this part of the drive. We ended up at Totem Bight. Really enjoyed the short walk through the forest to the totem poles and clanhouse. Kat taught us about the totem poles and some cultural information about the native peoples in the area. Ate wild berries at the park, the thimble berries were very good.

 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2016 by traveltime3400

[traveltime3400]

Ketchikan Part 2

 

Kat dropped us off at the Lumberjack show. We got tickets through the cruise ship (almost free due to shore excursion credit). The group had fun. I was certainly impressed with the athleticism and it was nice to get a little appreciation for some history of the town.

 

 

 

 

Kids got Passport Stamps and we walked back to the ship. As we approached the ship, I realized we had about 20 min until all aboard….I really wanted to just see Creek Street with my eyes. It made my daughter nervous that I would miss the ship, but I ran (literally) to Creek Street, took a few pictures and ran back with 10 min to spare. :)

 

 

Lunch at Great Outdoors, although I picked up some salmon from the salmon bake by the pool.

 

To my horror ;), the good coffee machine was broken!!!

 

 

 

Good thing I brought good coffee and filters for my in room coffee maker.

 

Afternoon – relaxing

 

Early dinner at Summer Palace

 

Legends – FIL left because it was sooooooooooooo loud. MIL left when “madonna” came out in super skimpy outfits. We stuck it out. My son did not like it, again it was very loud and the lights were very harsh for him. My daughter enjoyed the show, and me and DH appreciated the talent.

[traveltime3400]

July 16th – Victoria

 

Went to Summer Palace because my daughter wanted to do something “different” for breakfast. What a mistake, it was really bad! And, we were seated right at the end of the service so we didn't want to bother them to make something else. Lesson learned.

 

FIL and son went to play chess. Rest of us relaxed and watched the scenery. Watched the “cake decorating” competition with Tim Kaminski and another entertainer. It was pretty funny! Lunch at Summer palace. We packed because tonight we would get back so late. I took the kids to the hot tub and actually got in an enjoyed! Kids and in-laws played shuffleboard. Dinner at Lotus Garden – better this time. DH had an amazing dessert, red bean triangles which reminded me of baklava.

 

Butchart Gardens excursion through the ship. Before we boarded the bus, we strolled off to the pier for the pretty views. The pier has native artwork. Went back to the bus, got some history and information of the area from the driver as we traveled to the Gardens. The gardens were packed, wall to wall people. I've been there before, and this was not a peaceful garden experience. But, of course it is beautiful so we made the best of it. It was neat to seat the gardens start to light up as the sun was setting.

 

 

 

 

I really do wish we would have left earlier than 8:00 pm to enjoy more of the gardens. The only upside was that we were there for the fireworks display – that was amazing!

 

 

 

 

 

Me and the kids were enthralled. Unfortunately, our bus driver had instructed everyone to stand towards the back to try and leave early. He assured everyone that you can see fireworks from the back of the crowd. Well, half of the show is on the ground. It was a really special show, and half of our group didn't get to see it because of those instructions. The traffic was crazy getting out and we made it back to the ship late, but it was ok because we used the ship's excursion. The tour guide talked the whole way back, telling interesting stories about Victoria and the history of the gardens.

[traveltime3400]

July 17th – last day

 

Still working on that coffee maker!

 

 

Early morning breakfast at Great Outdoors - a great final meal together with MIL and FIL (we only get to see them 2x/year). Got off the ship around 9:30. Our luggage was right there, we hopped in the parking garage shuttle back up to our car. Made it back to Portland with great timing.

 

Overall – Alaska is a beautiful magical place. We feel very fortunate that we saw so much beauty and spent quality time together as a family. The cruise was nice and it made for a convenient way to travel together for our group. The entertainment was nice. Some of the food was good, some not so good. But I will mostly remember our port time, watching the scenery from the ship, laughing and having a good time together.

[maggieworkman]

I hope we have as good of weather as you had! It was beautiful!

 

I'm also glad to see you got to watch the fireworks at Butchart gardens. The ship's tour description mentions seeing fireworks, but almost everyone says we would probably have to leave before the fireworks.

 

Maggie

[mickeysgal]

This trip report is fabulous. Thank you...the pictures are beautiful.

 

Question - for your Skagway tour with Dyea Dave...were you happy with it? When you took the train back...was there narration on the train? I've had a hard time getting an answer to that question. When we took the train up/back last trip to Alaska, I just remember narration going up. Not back. Thank you!

[AryMay]

Just wanted to say thanks for this report. Your photos are stunning!

 

What fabulous weather you had for your trip. This is one of the few reports that shows blue skies in Juneau! I especially loved the photo from Glacier Bay with the bright blue skies, snow covered mountains and blue glacier.

 

We were lucky enough to also hit the Yukon highway on a day when the lakes were like glass. I have some photos where the reflection of the mountains is so perfect that you can't tell which side is up!

 

I do have a couple of questions...

 

Good thing I brought good coffee and filters for my in room coffee maker.

 

Were there not filters provided? If not, what size did the coffee maker use? We will be on the Norwegian Sun to Alaska next summer and I am looking forward to making my morning coffee to enjoy on the balcony.

 

Also you mentioned using your shore excursion credits for the tram in Juneau and the Lumberjack show in Ketchikan. Do you recall what each cost? (I'm assuming you had the $50/cabin shore excursion credit that was being offered by NCL as a booking perk?) We usually do independent tours, but will be looking for NCL excursions where we can use our credits. Some of the tours are so expensive through the cruiseline that even WITH the credit it is more expensive than what we can find elsewhere.

 

Thanks again for your review. Sounds like you made some very special memories that will last a lifetime!

[traveltime3400]

Thanks everyone! It was hard to pick my favorite pictures! :)

 

Maggie - I hope you have good weather too! And get to see the fireworks, it was very special. Don't stand in the back, you will miss the ground show.

 

Mickeysgal - We really loved our tour with Dyea Dave. We all enjoyed the information from Renee and having so many stops along the way to see the beautiful sights. It was less expensive overall than a similar tour through the ship, even with our shore excursion credits, but that is just and added bonus. Our group really enjoyed the contrast of taking the train back. I *think* there was narration on the way back but I was standing on the platform 99% of the time so I can't say for sure.

 

 

AryMay - It is a 4 cup coffee maker. They provide pre-packaged pods of coffee. I am a coffee snob, so I never like those (not strong enough). I brought small basket filters and pre-ground coffee. Here is the coffee maker set up:

 

 

For the excursion credits, we had $75/port for our balcony room and $50/port for our inside room. We "officially" had one adult and one child in each room. For the inside room, I believe we ended up paying $4 for the tram tickets. There is a difference in price for child vs adult. I think it was around $38 for adults? Sorry I don't remember exactly. I thought it was kind of expensive, so I was happy to use our excursion credit for that (since we weren't going to use it for anything else in Juneau). Tickets through NCL were a few dollars more than buying independently....but we had those credits to use so it made sense for us. It was a similar situation for the Lumberjack show. I believe we paid a little bit (5-10) for our inside room, but that was because it was 1 adult and 1 child ticket.

Edited July 31, 2016 by traveltime3400

[AryMay]

AryMay - It is a 4 cup coffee maker. They provide pre-packaged pods of coffee. I am a coffee snob, so I never like those (not strong enough). I brought small basket filters and pre-ground coffee. Here is the coffee maker set up:

 

Thanks for the info and photo. Our only NCL cruise was on the Pride of America in March and I never paid any attention to the coffee maker in our cabin. I do think it will get put to use on an Alaskan cruise however for coffee, tea, and even hot water to make hot chocolate. Do you remember if there were packets of hot chocolate mix at the buffet?

[traveltime3400]

We snagged some hot chocolate packets from Great Outdoors (the outdoor part of the buffet). I imagine the main buffet probably has them too. Have a great trip! Let me know if you think of any more questions.

[Joyously Sailing Away]

I will mostly remember our port time, watching the scenery from the ship, laughing and having a good time together.

 

 

What an amazing post. Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us. The information about the Pearl will be Very helpful for our cruise in September. Really enjoyed the information and pictures. The picture of the whale breaching is amazing.[emoji229]

-Joy

 

 

Have a great day[emoji924][emoji4][emoji106]

[Joyously Sailing Away]

.

 

 

AryMay - It is a 4 cup coffee maker. They provide pre-packaged pods of coffee. I am a coffee snob, so I never like those (not strong enough). I brought small basket filters and pre-ground coffee. Here is the coffee maker set up:

 

 

 

This is my first NCL cruise so please forgive me if the question is obvious; I really don't know. Do all cabins on the Pearl have coffee makers?! Ghosh I hope so!

 

 

 

Have a great day[emoji924][emoji4][emoji106]

[spidybabe]

Great review, thanks so much-sailing soon.

2 questions: how warm or cool was the ship? I realize when first in theater, it is cool, but General overall temp-- warm or cool

Mosquitoes?? There is another thread stating they are tremendous!?!

TIA

Safe sailing

[traveltime3400]

Joy - Thanks so much! The coffee makers are in balconies or "above". I've heard you can request a coffee maker in the other rooms, but that it isn't guaranteed. Have a great trip!

 

spidybabe - When spending time outside, the ship was cool but not cold for our sailing. Mostly it was the wind that made me chilly at times. I wore a fleece over a simple t-shirt or long sleeved shirt and I was just fine. Inside the ship was very comfortable. I remember the MDR was a bit chilly at times. We did not experience a single mosquito, but this will vary by the season/weather I believe.

[djwho]

How long did it take to do the tram/walk and mendahail glacier? Weather permitting I want to do the tram first, but would also love the glacier.

[traveltime3400]

We took about 2 hours to do the tram (including the ride up and down, visiting the eagle, doing the loop, eating ice cream at the top, doing a bit of shopping). We also 2 hours for our Mendenhall Visit (including the scenic trail from parking lot to visitors center, getting stamps/stickers at visitors center, Nugget Falls trail with a nice rest at the waterfall, snack in the parking lot). Our kids don't hike super quickly so we could have done our visits faster with just adults. Hope that helps!

[Joyously Sailing Away]

Joy - Thanks so much! The coffee makers are in balconies or "above". I've heard you can request a coffee maker in the other rooms, but that it isn't guaranteed.

 

Thank you so much; that was really helpful! I'm calling today to request one. Coffee is a big deal for me and I usually pack my own!

- Joy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great day[emoji924][emoji4][emoji106]