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

[Happycrafter123]

Todays daily

 

 

[Happycrafter123]

Day 4 - Best of Skagway tour from NCL 

 

This was such a wonderful day, way beyond our expectations, all I can say bad about it is that I expect all the rest of the excursions on this trip will pale by comparison.

 

We were about 40-50 people on one large bus.  We met on the pier, and there was some hitches as not everyone realized they needed their passports, but we were on our way pretty quick, starting with a driving tour of Skagway.  Our guide had lots of facts and made us laugh a lot too.  We proceeded to Liarsville for about 2 hours to watch a fun cabarets style show and then panned for gold and enjoyed a marvelous salmon lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that we drove to the Red Onion Saloon and took a half hour tour of the brothel.  Super fun, started with a drink and some jokes, and also educational and interesting to learn about the challenges and options for women in the late 1800’s.  

 

 

 

 

From there we drove up to Canada!  

 

We stopped several times for photos and the scenery was stunning.  Our guide filled the time with lots of facts.   

 

 

 

Once at the Yukon we got on the train and came back down to Skagway.  More educational history and It was unexpectedly thrilling, especially when standing on the outdoor platforms.

 

 

Finally back to the ship.

 

It was a fun filled and super interesting day, fresh air, beautiful views, kind and friendly people, and great food.  What a day!

 

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by Happycrafter123

[JeanKC]

On 7/1/2023 at 7:27 PM, Happycrafter123 said:

 

 

Yikes!  That adds up in a hurry!

I'm loving your live report - it really makes me want to do another Alaskan cruise. The last one we did was several years ago out of Vancouver with Celeb and we loved it.  Question for you about the above taxes - Will these be accrued throughout the cruise when in Port or only on your embarkation day in Seattle? I'd love to visit Seattle but I think we may be better going from Vancouver again to avoid. Thanks 

[www3traveler]

Probably taxes occurred in the Port of Seattle.  Almost every Port collects State and Local Sales tax.  Does not amount to very much.

 

At least with Norwegian sailing out of Vancouver, these are ONE WAY cruises (Vancouver to Seward, Seward to Vancouver would be another 7 day cruise.  Sailing out of Seattle, these are round trip cruises of various lengths (7 plus days).

[Murt22]

On 7/2/2023 at 6:30 PM, Happycrafter123 said:

we are whale watching today, though Hubby has a small group private tour with Harv and Marv and I have NCL photo safari.

How was Harv and Marv? We booked them for our stop in August. Would love to hear about the experience.

[Happycrafter123]

@JeanKC so far I’ve only seen the charges on my onboard account for the day we were in Seattle.  I’ll let you know if more show up!   
 

 

[Happycrafter123]

1 hour ago, Murt22 said:

How was Harv and Marv? We booked them for our stop in August. Would love to hear about the experience.

@Murt22 hubby had promised me a short write up and photos to share - let’s see if I can wrangle that from him today ;-).  I can say he really liked it and did see more wildlife than I did, and I do feel a bit jealous as he was going on and on about the facts and info from the captain of the boat who seems to have been very experienced and knowledgeable.  He also got better photos than me.

[JeanKC]

@Happycrafter123 Thank you so much. The last one we did was out of Vancouver and there were no taxes, but that was a long time ago and also not with NCL so can't really rely on our experience then as being true for today but if taxes are just applied in Seattle, we can definitely suck it up!! 

Edited July 4, 2023 by JeanKC
for clarity

[Happycrafter123]

Once we got back yesterday from our excursion we headed over to spinnaker for a couple of drinks and to listen to musician Matthew.   The bartender made an excellent old fashioned.  
 

 

 

after that over to Cagneys for an excellent dinner.  Service was impeccable - swift, professional and personable.  The sommelier recommended a different wine for us that we really enjoyed.  We have two more reservations at Cagneys on this trip which I am looking forward to!!  I’ll confess it was a lot of food and I struggled to finish, but which of these delicious things was I going to skip???

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Murt22]

@Happycrafter123 Thanks! We go to Hawaii every winter and go on many whale watches and know quite a bit about them - BUT my dream is to see the bubble feeding or one that we can get a tail shot of to see if it is one that we have seen in Hawaii. Last year someone who was on one of our watches posted a shot of the same whale in Alaska that we saw in Hawaii, the same season. Stranger things have happened! 

[Happycrafter123]

7 minutes ago, JeanKC said:

@Happycrafter123 Thank you so much. The last one we did was out of Vancouver and there were no taxes, but that was a long time ago and also not with NCL so can't really rely on our experience then as being true for today but if taxes are just applied in Seattle, we can definitely suck it up!! 

Yes @JeanKC I was worried when I saw that, as I was imagining a $500 tax bill for the trip if it was daily, so would have added up, but grateful to see it only in Seattle (so far).  We could have kept the price down if we’d known by not ordering the most expensive bottle of wine with dinner as the tax is 10% on list price….

[Happycrafter123]

2 minutes ago, Murt22 said:

@Happycrafter123 Thanks! We go to Hawaii every winter and go on many whale watches and know quite a bit about them - BUT my dream is to see the bubble feeding or one that we can get a tail shot of to see if it is one that we have seen in Hawaii. Last year someone who was on one of our watches posted a shot of the same whale in Alaska that we saw in Hawaii, the same season. Stranger things have happened! 

They are identifiable and that would be cool to see ones that are on their migration which you saw elsewhere!   The bubble feeding was super cool.  
 

we have more whale watching scheduled, I really want to see the orcas — we grew up watching them at the aquarium back when they were commonly in captivity and I love them so much, but I’ve never seen them in the wild, so hoping for that in Victoria or maybe icy straight point.

[Murt22]

If you get a good tail shot - send it to Happywhale.com. They are a non-profit who catalogs whales and if you send the photo in, they can tell you when and where that whale has been seen.  

[Happycrafter123]

Ship is rocking a lot, hubby has gone on mission of mercy to get me a boiled egg from the buffet to go with my gravol.

 

hoping that makes things better as I have a spa appointment this morning and then hopefully glacier viewing this afternoon.  Tonight we plan to try out Los Lobos for the first time and then at the theatre There is a Dolly Parton tribute…. A full day of activities for this sea day if I can figure out how to conquer my body’s reaction to all this swaying.

[Happycrafter123]

Today’s daily

 

 

[Mizunosport]

Do you know how much it costs to do the Canvas painting and if there is an age limit?

[Mizunosport]

1 hour ago, Happycrafter123 said:

Ship is rocking a lot, hubby has gone on mission of mercy to get me a boiled egg from the buffet to go with my gravol.

 

hoping that makes things better as I have a spa appointment this morning and then hopefully glacier viewing this afternoon.  Tonight we plan to try out Los Lobos for the first time and then at the theatre There is a Dolly Parton tribute…. A full day of activities for this sea day if I can figure out how to conquer my body’s reaction to all this swaying.

Seriously worried about being in our forward cabin... Yikes!

[Happycrafter123]

The gravol helped- made it to spa and now for a late breakfast.

 

@Mizunosportjust pack your nausea meds.

 

 

[Happycrafter123]

@YVRteacher just saw the Jewel passing us by near the Hubbard glacier viewing!

 

 

 

 

 

lots of ice and fog, we did not get close enough to see the glacier, hope it goes better for you!

 

 

[destar]

Thank you for posting, started reading this thread from the beginning and just booked the Bliss for next May. This will be 1st time to Alaska. Thanks for the inspiration.

[YVRteacher]

I was thinking about you and the Jewel. I think you will love that ship. I think you will especially love it if you book the first two weeks of May, 2024.  Hint hint…

 

Sorry you didn’t get close to the glacier today. That’s always disappointing.

 

I board the Spirit tomorrow.

[Happycrafter123]

@YVRteacher ah yes I forgot you are going on Spirit!  Yes I am thinking about the Jewel as I’m hoping it has the personability of a smaller ship but with better stabilizers.   But looking for 2025, we got season passes for Disney so 2024 will be the year of Mickey Mouse lol!  Looks like 2025 is not yet scheduled.  Maybe we can meet up one day for arts club before then 😉

 

 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by Happycrafter123

[Happycrafter123]

42 minutes ago, destar said:

Thank you for posting, started reading this thread from the beginning and just booked the Bliss for next May. This will be 1st time to Alaska. Thanks for the inspiration.

@destar I hope you will post a live for the bliss when you go!

[YVRteacher]

I’d love to get together!

[YVRteacher]

I’m also loving your review! Thank you for all the photos.