New to Alaska, first time questions.

[judyf]

We're looking to book a cruise to Alaska in 2009. We perfer to cruise with NCL I'm leaning towards NCL Pearl, as it's the only NCL ship that's does Glacier Bay. Plus it's the newest NCL ship. Pros and cons?

 

We really want to see the wildlife. What's the best time to go to see wildlife? I read that there's no bears till end of June. When are the whales out? Other wildlife?

 

May vs July??? Which time do you think is best and why? For Wildlife? Pros and cons of both.

 

Our time is limited to our work schedule we can not go in August (maybe 1st week) or Sept. May would work best for us we also could do last 2 weeks in July and maybe first wek in August.

 

Downside I see with booking the NCL Pearl cruise is I don't believe you can add a land add on. Is there one special thing we will miss with this itinerary? Should I rethink? Why?

 

Thanks for any help!!!! I want to book before May 1st the countdown is on :D

[gazingm42]

All our Alaska trips have been in mid to late June which roll over in to July.

 

We have had good luck seeing wild life.

 

Don't count on wild life from the ship. You will need to plan

to do excursion to see wildlife. If you do see wildlife you will

need to count your self lucky.

 

If given the choice I would pick June. May can still be very

cold raining, etc. Not that you will not get it in June. But

May will be colder.

 

We have see lots of orca and humpbacks in June ourself.

[thinfool]

We're looking to book a cruise to Alaska in 2009. We perfer to cruise with NCL I'm leaning towards NCL Pearl, as it's the only NCL ship that's does Glacier Bay. Plus it's the newest NCL ship. Pros and cons?

The likely con is that you will spend at least two whole days on the open ocean (one going, one returning, whereas a Vancouver departure on Princess or Holland America will get you Glacier Bay and a peaceful scenic trip thru most of the Inside Passage.

We really want to see the wildlife. What's the best time to go to see wildlife? I read that there's no bears till end of June. When are the whales out? Other wildlife?

Whales anytime. Bears is/are correct. Bugs...the later the cruise the better (to miss them).

 

May vs July??? Which time do you think is best and why? For Wildlife? Pros and cons of both.?

IMO, go for July, then everything is open and available

Downside I see with booking the NCL Pearl cruise is I don't believe you can add a land add-on. Is there one special thing we will miss with this itinerary? Should I rethink? Why??

You should consider Princess or HAL as:

1. They both do Glacier Bay...and very well

2. They both have one-way cruises either northbound or southbound, thus allowing you to either buy a land package from them or do one independently. NCL doesn't seem to have anything that sails to "Alaska" proper. (Seward, Anchorage, Whittier)

3. They both have wonderful enrichment programs as you sail Alaska by way of an onboard naturalist who will explain where you are and what you are seeing as you sail up the Inside Passage. In Glacier Bay they stop long enough for the Park Rangers to board. The rangers then take over the explaining of Glacier Bay as you cruise along and stop in front of a huge wall of ice...waiting for a sharp, rifle-shot crack in the crisp morning air, signaling the calving of a huge portion of the glacial face.

4. We have not done NCL, so I don't mean to criticize something that I know nothing about, but I can tell you, in the ports we visited (Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway), NCL seemed more prone to using tenders rather than a dock. This may be a past issue tho, as new facilities were under construction when we were there last August.

 

Land Portion: May is very early for places like Denali. The road into the park may not be open all the way. The bears will still be asleep and you might find it pretty chilly. July will enable you to see bears, sheep, caribou, moose IF you take a shuttle or the Tundra Wilderness Tour deep into Denali.

[Toyz711]

if you want a landtour, you need to do a one way...

NCL only does round-trips. i did the route, that the pearl does now, when the NCL star did it.

leaving seattle, that night, you are in open sea...usually by noon the next day...you will have land on both sides. coming back, the ship sails closer to land, going around to dock in victoria.

it's a great route, if you are interested in a round-trip.

1-ways leave out of vancouver and go between there and either whitter or seward, alaska. (with flights out of anchorage)

[Debbie in Orlando]

3. They both have wonderful enrichment programs as you sail Alaska by way of an onboard naturalist who will explain where you are and what you are seeing as you sail up the Inside Passage. In Glacier Bay they stop long enough for the Park Rangers to board. The rangers then take over the explaining of Glacier Bay as you cruise along and stop in front of a huge wall of ice...waiting for a sharp, rifle-shot crack in the crisp morning air, signaling the calving of a huge portion of the glacial face.

4. We have not done NCL, so I don't mean to criticize something that I know nothing about, but I can tell you, in the ports we visited (Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway), NCL seemed more prone to using tenders rather than a dock. This may be a past issue tho, as new facilities were under construction when we were there last August.

 

Land Portion: May is very early for places like Denali. The road into the park may not be open all the way. The bears will still be asleep and you might find it pretty chilly. July will enable you to see bears, sheep, caribou, moose IF you take a shuttle or the Tundra Wilderness Tour deep into Denali.

 

NCL Pearl also has the Park Rangers, all ships that enter Glacier Bay do. And the Pearl docks at all of her ports this year best I can tell from the charts. :)