Live from the NCL Sun June 30-July 10, Summer time viewing of whales, bears and eagles!

[pspercy]

Ward Cove?

So Sun doesn’t dock in Ketchikan itself?

[www3traveler]

11 minutes ago, pspercy said:

Ward Cove?

So Sun doesn’t dock in Ketchikan itself?

Ward Cove is Ketchikan.  Norwegian built its own dock North of downtown several years ago.

[pspercy]

Maybe, but you have to use shuttles. We were on Bliss in June last year and after Sitka had enough of enormous lines for buses.

[Happycrafter123]

There were frequent shuttles to and from ward cove and no material line up— the sun is only 2k passengers.  We returned around 5pm, got on the first bus that came and it was not full.

[Happycrafter123]

Some shots from the behind the scenes tour today.  This was the paid version.  We visited the sound booth of theatre, backstage of theatre, the kitchens, laundromat, food storage, engineering room and bridge
 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2023 by Happycrafter123

[Happycrafter123]

Sorry internet has been toggling on and off all day.  Sadly I lost the long text portion I had typed up reviewing the behind the scenes ship tour.

 

it was enjoyable and though expensive (about $120 CAD pp) well worth it.  There were two groups of 15 people.  We started at 9 amd and finished shortly after 11:30

[quack2]

3 hours ago, www3traveler said:

Ward Cove is Ketchikan.  Norwegian built its own dock North of downtown several years ago.

Ward Cove sucks.

[Happycrafter123]

I thought Ward cove was pretty and it was easy enough to get on our excursions from there and return.

[omahabob]

1 hour ago, quack2 said:

Ward Cove sucks.

 

The detail you provided was especially helpful.

[Happycrafter123]

Today’s daily

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bluesea777]

1 hour ago, quack2 said:

Ward Cove sucks.

Why?

 

We were there last month and the shuttle buses were plentiful and there were the ‘Walmart’ shuttle buses - ideal for the crew members!

 

Hint: get the excursion that picks you up at Ward Cove and gives you the option of dropping you off in Ketchikan or taking you back to Ward Cove. We chose the former and they dropped us off by Creek Street. We enjoyed walking that and went to waterfront and enjoyed the halibut n chips at Crabs and Go and then walked to Berth 4, enjoying the stores and stuff along the way, to catch the shuttle back to ship. We enjoyed the drive  - a chance to see a bit of Alaska, lol. 
 

Also the store at Ward Cove is great, selling clothes and outdoor wear at reasonable prices. 
 

 

[quack2]

6 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

Why?

 

We were there last month and the shuttle buses were plentiful and there were the ‘Walmart’ shuttle buses - ideal for the crew members!

 

Hint: get the excursion that picks you up at Ward Cove and gives you the option of dropping you off in Ketchikan or taking you back to Ward Cove. We chose the former and they dropped us off by Creek Street. We enjoyed walking that and went to waterfront and enjoyed the halibut n chips at Crabs and Go and then walked to Berth 4, enjoying the stores and stuff along the way, to catch the shuttle back to ship. We enjoyed the drive  - a chance to see a bit of Alaska, lol. 
 

Also the store at Ward Cove is great, selling clothes and outdoor wear at reasonable prices. 
 

 

It's not Ketchikan.  One of the draws about a port stop in Ketchikan on other cruise lines, is that you are docked right in the middle of town.  No messing around with shuttles, which easily reduce your effective time in the port by at least two hours. 

 

Ward Cove sucks.

Edited July 8, 2023 by quack2

[Happycrafter123]

I realized I never posted photos from Martini tasting the other day.  They were delicious but knocked me out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[omahabob]

Shaken or stirred?

[Happycrafter123]

Margaritas tasting today was delicious.  They had specialty margaritas you can’t normally get or only at Los lobo’s 

 

my favorite was a ginger one using fresh muddled ginger with lime and syrup that they really should add to the daily menu it was SO good, and I expect good to battle seasickness.

 

another tasty option was cucumber and jalepenio which would be nice in the summer on a deck, very refreshing.

 

packed crowd there were about 25 folks participating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pspercy]

Is the martini tasting only vodka ?

[MacGuffin3]

4 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

Why?

Encore is only in Ketchikan until 1pm.  The last shuttle back from town to the pier is at 11:30am.  This means you have to wake up at an ungodly hour if you wish to do anything whatsoever on your own in town.  And don't give me - "take this or that NCL excursion."  For a family of four they are all complete rip-offs and only leave at 7 in the morning.

[MacGuffin3]

2 hours ago, Happycrafter123 said:

Margaritas tasting today was delicious.

That's funny they all look the exact same as the "martinis."

[Happycrafter123]

4 hours ago, pspercy said:

Is the martini tasting only vodka ?

Yes they were mainly vodka based martinis.

[Happycrafter123]

3 hours ago, MacGuffin3 said:

That's funny they all look the exact same as the "martinis."

Lol!  I know!  They didn’t taste the same though, more jalapeño and spices and tang in most of the margaritas whereas the martinis were more sweet.

[Happycrafter123]

3 hours ago, MacGuffin3 said:

Encore is only in Ketchikan until 1pm.  .

The Sun was in port for about 12 full hours from 7am to past 7 pm…we were lucky with this itinerary on the Sun to have full days like this in almost all the ports.  

[Koali]

We’ve been to Alaska twice with Holland America and it’s one of our favorite itineraries. We hope to do it again in the future! 
 

we will be on the NCL Sun later this year, can you tell me anything of the golf area? I saw it in some ship tour videos. Are there clubs there? 
 

did you have any difficulty booking speciality dining restaurants? I had heard that with everyone getting the free at sea promos, reservations were tough or at very odd hours. I know a benefit is that the Sun is a smaller pax ship. 

[Happycrafter123]

Hi @Koali

we walked by the golf thing, it is a small cage type thing maybe 12x12.  It was not appealing.  I’ll see if we have time today to check out club situation.

 

we booked specialty dining before hand online but we’re able to change our reservations on the day of embarcation as well as throughout fairly easily.  Strangely enough the hardest reservation to get was Tepanyaki and easiest was French. 

[Happycrafter123]

A beautiful start to the day in Victoria!

 

i wish I hadn’t signed up for morning excursion would much rather hang out at the pool lol!  Oh well!

 

 

 

[SeekingKillerWhales!]

How much were the martini and margarita tastings? They look amazing.

 

47 days to being on the Sun, so I am especially loving this review. Thank you!

 

Am hoping shadowmenboy does his magic too!