Pearl reveiw of Alaska 5/24/09 sailing & 4 days Seattle-really long

[judyf]

I decided to post this review in parts. Skip this first section if you do not want to read about our travel day and first day in Seattle.

 

NCL Pearl 7 day cruise and 4 days pre & post cruise Seattle. 5/21/09 to 6/1/09 Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Victoria, BC

 

A little background, 2 couples, the men in their mid-fifties and us girls were honoring our 50th birthday's, we turned 50 in Oct. and March. Traveling from the east coast.

 

Flight, and arriving at hotel:

 

Our flight was uneventful, more then I can say for the last few times we have flown, the vacation is already off to a great start.

 

We arrived Thursday 5/21 at about 11 pm Seattle time, it was about 2 am for us. Elaine and I took the day off to get every thing organized, both of the guys were up at 4:30 am and went to work.

 

From advice I read on the Seattle board, we booked an SUV with Already there Town Car as there were 4 of us with all our luggage for an 11 day vacation. The SUV was $75 from airport to Downtown. I would recommend them highly. They were on time and all went smooth. I used my charge card to reserve and then paid in cash to the driver with a tip.

 

We stayed at the Red Lion Hotel for 3 nights pre-cruise. I booked through Hotwire and what a GREAT deal. I booked 2 rooms and got the Red Lion Inn for $79 per night. The Red Lion Hotel is in a great location, it's close to the tram, an easy walk to Pike Place Market and there's many places to eat all the area and it's within the free bus area.

 

I called before we left to make sure they knew we were arriving late and wouldn't give our rooms away, learned this from experience. When we arriveg the gentleman checking us in tells us I have one room with s separate bedroom and the other has a waterfront view. As I travel more then our friends I gave her the waterfront view. I was being nice, I thought that would be better for them. Well it paid off being nice.

 

Our room had the separate bedroom as mentioned but want wasn't mentioned is we had a waterfront view too. The bedroom had an ocean view of pier 91 and the living room/dining room combo had a partial ocean view and a partial view of Pike Place Market. We were very happy to say the least.

 

Our friends room was REALLY nice also, it had an ocean view of Pike Place Market and it had a flat screen TV. Our room had regular TV's in both rooms. The funny thing was Elaine and Wayne could get the weather channel and we couldn't. I had to check in with them to see what the weather was going to be like each day. I think it had digital cable.

 

No complaint's from either of us, as both rooms were great. There were 2 bathrobes in both rooms and they provide Bath and Body Works items in the bathrooms, nice touch. Moral here is don't be afraid to use Hotwire or Priceline. I have always gotten a real good bargain going this route. Sometimes better then others and this was one of the better times.

 

Friday 5/22./09 - first full day in Seattle:

 

We read about the folk life festival in Seattle for Memorial Day weekend after booking the cruise. We pre-booked every thing we could online in advance as we did not want to be rushing and waiting in major lines as I had read about here on cc.

 

With flying in from the east coast we didn't book anything early our first day so we had time to sleep in, relax and adjust. We had a back up plan in case we woke up with the birds with lots of energy. That did not happen, we were both glad we didn't book anything for the early or even just morning.

 

We booked a 1pm Duck tour. It was great we all enjoyed it very much. I like to book a tour like this when we first arrived in a new location, as it really helps give you a sense of where things are and what there is to do in town.

 

All 4 of us walked across the street for breakfast at a bakery place, sorry, I can't remember the name of the place, I will check if Elaine remembers it, if anyone is interested let me know. It was quite busy, but we were waited on quickly. They had tables and chairs to sit and eat and the food was excellent. We all got an egg sandwich of some sort, sausage, ham, ect.. It was around $4 and it was big and really good for an egg sandwich, I was impressed. The bread/roll was to die for, I believe they bake their own bread. We were planning to go back again as it was that good, but we never made it back.

 

We walked to the tram which was only a block from The Red Lion, it's $2 pp one way. I read on cc's that we might not even get a bus/tram with the folk life crowds but there was hardly anyone on the tram and this was somewhere around 11:45-12:30pm. We walked right up to the ticket booth and right onto an almost empty tram.

 

We had to walk through the folk life festival and again was surprised at no big crowds. We got to the duck office about 12:40ish or so I know I was getting stressed a little that we were not there at the 30 minutes prior as we were told. Again we were surprised at no crowds, we did not need to pay the extra fee to book online as there were only about 5 others there. We could have walked right up and got our tickets for the next tour.

 

The tour was terrific, we had a great time and the weather was nice and sunny. We will never walk or drive past a Star bucks and think of it the same way again. :D Anyone that has taken the tour knows just what I mean, cha-ching.

 

After the duck tour we walked across the street to the Experimental Music Project (EMP) and again hardly no one was there. Being huge rock and roll fans we really enjoyed this. We stayed there till they closed which I believe was 7pm on Friday. The next day they were opening a kids section with Sesame Street, we got to peek in the area and it looked cute for kids.

 

We now head to the Space Needle which was something we were concerned about as we had not purchased our tickets in advance, again no crowds, walked right up to the ticket window and was second in line. Elaine, her husband Wayne and I went up, Jerry sat this one out and did some people watching while listening to the music from the folk life festival. He doesn't like heights and had a bad experience in the needle as a kid and was taken out by ambulance.

 

It was a little breezy up there it was around 8pm or so, it's wasn't dark yet. It was a little chilly on the shade side as we all had on short sleeves as it was warm during the day. IMO it was worth the $16 pp to go up and get the views from on top. Lots of nice pictures of MT. Rainier. Actually we were told on the duck tour that she only pops out about 90 days of the year and she was out for us all 4 days we were in Seattle.

 

We walk through some of the booths at the folk life festival but they were starting to close up. If we knew they closed so early and that there wouldn't be a line for the Space Needle we would have looked through the craft booths first.

 

By now we are getting a little hungry and looked for something to eat. There were things to eat at the booths in the festival, all looked good but I wanted to sit down and eat something nice.

 

At this point the four of us split up as Elaine and Wayne were looking for a quick bite to eat and Jerry and I wanted a sit down dinner. We went to a bar restaurant that was near with a door walking in on the outside. This was about 9pm I think, I was shocked to have them tell us the kitchen was closed. We went to the bar for a drink but we really needed to find some food. We went back into the Seattle Center Mall where bands were playing and lots of people were dancing. We ended up meeting up with Elaine and Wayne again and they were the last customer for a subway and we ended getting pizza and they were closing. We listened to the music until it shut down at 10pm by then everything was closed.

 

We were really surprised how early things closed up on a Friday night in Seattle especially during a festival. Now, yes we are from NY but not the city, I live in a forest about 15 minutes from a small city town and you can find things open in this country area till 11-12 midnight on weekends and at least 11pm on weekdays. This really shocked me that we were in Seattle and couldn't find a place that was open.

 

We took the tram back to the Red Lion at $2 pp one way after the bands stopped playing and Elaine and Wayne walked back and they said it was an easy walk.

 

More to come as I get it written up.

[happylady]

Excited to hear more of your stay in Seattle. Can't believe you got the Red Lion for $79!! I can't wait until next year to try my luck with Hotwire and Priceline!! ;) How far ahead did you use Hotwire to get such a great price?

[McDebbie]

Great start to your review, can't wait to read the rest.

[lauren0309]

Can't wait for more to come as we will be cruising to Alaska next May 30th. A little off topic, where in Hudson Valley do you live? I live in the lower Hudson Valley in Rockland County.

[judyf]

Excited to hear more of your stay in Seattle. Can't believe you got the Red Lion for $79!! I can't wait until next year to try my luck with Hotwire and Priceline!! ;) How far ahead did you use Hotwire to get such a great price?

 

Yes, it was a great price, It was a little while ahead as someone posted that there was this folk life festival and it was Memorial Day weekend too. Didn't want to get bleft without a place to stay.

 

Will have to do a little homework to find the month.

[judyf]

Can't wait for more to come as we will be cruising to Alaska next May 30th. A little off topic, where in Hudson Valley do you live? I live in the lower Hudson Valley in Rockland County.

 

Small World isn't it? I'm in I guess the Mid-Hudson in Ulster County, near New Paltz.

[lauren0309]

Oh. Okay, I was just in New Paltz 2 weeks ago. My son wanted to check out the college there. Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[snorklinbarb]

Hi judyf,

 

Pls keep it coming....thanks for telling us all about your trip. Hope your friends enjoyed it as much as you.

 

I love it when names I "know" around CC come back from a cruise and write a review (not that I don't welcome newcomers;)). You're one of those reliable posters so know you'll tell it like it is!:)

[judyf]

Saturday 5/23/09 Second full Day in Seattle:

 

We had pre-booked the Underground tour for today and paid extra to avoid the crowds, but once again we didn't run into crowds, which was quite a surprise.

 

We booked the Pike Place Market Tour for 9:30am.Our plan was to leave at 8am and go to the market for breakfast before the tour. Elaine wasn't feeling great this morning so Jerry and I went ahead and we are were to meet by 9:30am for the tour at the information booth.

 

There was a really long line to eat at Lowell's, I think that's the name, we ended up just grabbing some rolls and juice and found a nice place to sit and eat over looking pier 66 the NCL Star was docked and she looked so nice.We had this area to ourselves, the market was almost empty from 8-9 and then about the time of our tour it really got crowded at the entrance of the market. We met Elaine and Wayne at the area where are tour was to Begin and no one showed up.We checked around to confirm we were in the correct place. I called the number I had and got an answering machine and left a message. I never got a call back and thought we would have an issue with this as we pre-paid for the tour. When we got home I had an e-mailed from them and she said somehow she missed our reservation and apologized, my charge card was refunded by the time we were home.

 

We enjoyed the market and got some good buys there, the flowers were really pretty and a great price at $10 to $18 a good size bunch. Wish I could get them at home here for that price.

 

After we saw most of the market we walked the waterfront down to the Old Spaghetti Factory and ate there. We had a nice window seat and the prices and food were good. Then we walked through part of the Olympic Sculpture garden all the way to the beach area, there were a lot of locals out enjoying the great weather in Seattle.

 

We wanted to see the Gold Rush Museum before our Underground Tour, we took the free water area bus and we got there like 10-15 minutes before it closed. We did a quick run through, didn't have time to see any of the movies but it was so nice we took the time to be outdoors, which we enjoyed.

 

After the museum we had a little time before the UGT at 6pm, we walked around the Pioneer Sq area. All I can say is being very cautious walking in this area. Elaine and I go to NYC on day trips and walk all the time by ourselves and never felt the way we did in this area, we were glad the guys were with us. We won't even walk in the park area to get closer look at the totem poles, as there were homeless people everywhere. The park in PS is home to the homeless, they took over this area of town. Even in front of the UGT there were many hanging out. I was looking in my bag at the end of the tour for change for the bus and Elaine was actually worried about me as a homeless man was watching from the park bench. Jerry was right there with me and I showed no bills just had lots of change in one section of my bag from the buses.

 

At one point during our UGT when we walked outside to go into another building, we were told not to step in any puddles as it wasn't water and the smell was awful, think homeless bathroom. I'm surprised the city officials don't do anything to clean up this section of Seattle. There are a lot more homeless in Seattle then in NYC, Elaine and I agree on that.

 

The UGT was very interesting, it took us a little while to understand just how they built this. We're glad we decided to book a later tour as it ended up being so nice out. We're also glad we did the tour, gave us a little different idea of everything.

 

We spent a lot of time after the tour reading and looking at all the pictures and articles that were in the gift shop museum area, we were the last to leave and we had a big tour group. We had a blast with one of the employees after the tour in the gift shop. He was so funny playing a game with the 4 of us with funny favored jelly beans. Memories.

 

Jerry and I went to the bar downstairs in the hotel after we returned, good prices on drinks and food. Funny thing here is we met this nice kid about 25-30ish. He was from the area and got into a conversation with us about NY and we didn't know to later on he was with a bachelor party. One of his friends came up looking for him. His friend tells him that they are all in the "men's room" and for him and his new ZZ top friends to join him and come down too. Jerry sort of looks like ZZ top. We declined of course. Seemed like they were having a good time.

 

End of another wonderful day with wonderful weather in Seattle. The guys Jerry works with wouldn't believe until they see the pictures that we went to Alaska as Jerry got a tan in Seattle. :D I'm putting together an album now for him to bring in ;) :D

[judyf]

Hi judyf' date='

 

Pls keep it coming....thanks for telling us all about your trip. Hope your friends enjoyed it as much as you.

 

I love it when names I "know" around CC come back from a cruise and write a review (not that I don't welcome newcomers;)). You're one of those reliable posters so know you'll tell it like it is!:)[/quote']

 

You know I will. :D

 

We all enjoyef this cruise vacation, one of the best ever. It was only their second cruise first was Hawaii in 2007, I think I got them hooked, we both bought a futrure cruise cert. :p

[noobcruiser]

Hey judy,

 

Thanks for setting up the M&G, it was nice putting a face to a name.

 

I can't wait to read your take on the cruise...

 

jim

[judyf]

Sunday 5/24/09- The day we board the Pearl:

 

I love the day we board the ship. :D who doesn't. We decided we were going to relax and just enjoy the room before checking out. Check out time was 12 noon, which is great, I liked the late check out time. We slept in a little and just enjoyed the view from the room as we packed for the cruise. It was really nice not having to rush.

 

We walked out to mail post cards, I could see a mail box from our living room window. We had the breakfast bars we brought from home this morning. Was very tempted to get an egg sandwich when we passed the bakery but resisted as I knew we would eat when we got on the ship. :rolleyes:

 

Elaine and Wayne went to the Pike Place Market this morning. After hearing them tell us about their morning I was thinking we should have done that. Then on second thought I was glad we relaxed before boarding the Pearl and we enjoyed our morning after 2 really busy days.

 

We had arranged to meet up at 12 noon to check out together. We had one funny thing that happened on our way to our room. We were in the elevator with a mom and 3 kids, she got off on our floor which was the top floor 20. As we were waking past Elaine's room towards our room we stopped to talk for a minute. Then as we start to walk into our room the mom asked if her kids could see the view from our window. We said sure no problem. As they were ready to leave I asked what floor they were on and she told me they weren't staying there. They just stopped in to see if they could see the view. So cute, the kids enjoyed it, we showed them the view from both rooms.

 

The time has come to board the ship, we check out and from all I read we were ready to grab 2 cabs and meet back up at the pier. I called down to ask the front desk to order us 2 cabs which was not needed there was a line of them looking to get passengers. We saw a mini van type vehicle. He told us he could fit us all, 4 adults and 4 big bags and 4 little bags. We weren't sure, he said we could do whatever we wanted but that he could fit everything no problem, he fit us and all the bags with plenty of room, $10 plus tip, wow, things are now really off to a great start. Things are looking better everyday. :D

 

Check in and getting on the ship went smooth. Elaine forgot to mail her post cards and when I told her Jerry and I walked to the mail box it reminder her when we were in the check in line. We asked an employee where we could mail them at the pier and she offered to mail them for her, so nice, another sign of a great beginning.

 

As always the first thing we do, as the cabins were not ready was head to the dining room for lunch. The NCL staff was directing everyone to the buffet but being on cc I knew better :p and said I we wanted to eat in the dining room. It was fairly empty. I noticed right away a big improvement in the menu. We had a great first lunch, wow this is really becoming a pattern now. I forgot just want we had but all 4 of us enjoyed it. We met a nice couple and talked with them as we ate. We never did run into them after that day, or at least I didn't.

 

By the time we finished lunch the cabins were ready so we went to see our home for the next week. We had cabins next to each other 10544 and 10542 we were very happy with our port side balcony cabins. Heck, I was happy to be on the ship and having a balcony was a bonus, only second time for me.

 

When planning this cruise that was one thing Elaine and I both decided would be worth the extra expensive this cruise. I don't do cold weather well and it was nice when it was too cold out for the balcony we could sit and watch the views go by as we were warm. We sat out on the balcony, bundled up of course more then I thought we would.

 

One thing I thought was odd with having cabins next to each other, is we assumed we would have the same muster station. Not so, as we were walking to our muster area, the one I checked on our life vests, a staff member directed Elaine and Wayne down the stairs, I looked at their vests and and yup, they had a different station. They went to the theater and we were out on deck. All worked out and Elaine and Wayne found their way back to their cabin, another good sign. Moral here, is you know what they say about assuming something

 

 

We went to the "Welcome Aboard" show, it was okay and I think we just grabbed something in the buffet tonight, I'm pretty sure we didn't go to the dining room tonight. We had a great first day on the Pearl, we're now sailing off to a great vacation.

[roger001]

This is a review of a 7 day Alaska cruise, 5/31/09, on NCL Pearl by a first time cruiser. Excellent. NCL has their act together. As part of the package, we had a 1 night stay at Embassy Suites in Seattle. Arriving at the hotel, all was ready, no signing, nothing. Just go to room. Letter from NCL was awaiting us describing Sunday’s events. It directed us to have luggage outside door Sunday morning for transport to ship, bus would be by hour an later for us. Did, and it went smooth as clockwork, after good breakfast Sunday morning. Arrived at dock, and in spite of crowd, went very fast. Processed quickly through check in, issued room and on board credit card. Lots of help directing you as needed. Ship boarding moved quickly around noon. Hand carried some luggage and 2 twelve packs of diet Pepsi on board. Met with friendly staff and champagne, directed up to deck 12 for food and band while waiting for rooms to be available at 2 pm. Super organized and friendly staff. Rooms opened around 2. Last of luggage showed up at room before 6 pm. The cruise was excellent with the best one week of weather they’ve experienced in 5 years. 75 and sunny every day. About the staff, they couldn’t be nicer, and genuinely so. Wife and I loved sitting up in the Spinnaker Lounge each evening before dinner for a few adult beverages. Prices are about usual for hotel/restaurant type dining. Beer around $5, drinks $6 to $9. Tipping. I did not once see any one expecting a tip for anything. Service appeared honest without that expectation. I tipped 3 services because I wanted to. I tipped the waiter in the lounges serving the drinks a dollar for each round served. The bartender is already covered in an add on fee on the bar bill. I tipped the waiters in the sit down restaurants about $5 for an evening meal service. I gave our room stewards (2) $30 total on the last night. If you never tipped at all, I don’t think it would be wrong. The $12 daily service charge per persons covers much all of that already. However, you will find some very nice employees helping you and I wanted to add a little extra. Food. All you will be able to eat. The free food areas are very good. There are several informal eating opportunities that have a wide variety of about everything for all 3 meals or throughout the day. There are two sit down dining rooms that become slightly more formal in the evening, excellent service, excellent food, excellent presentation. For evening, slacks and collared shirt is fine for guys. They have a different menu each day with several usual items also available. Although the food is great, they do not have the lobster and steak super dining on other more formal cruise lines. Love the chilled soups. However, NCL has apparently decided to go with the specialty restaurants for the gourmet level dining. There’s about 8 of those with a cover charge from $10 to $35 per person. We only tried the Italian restaurant at $10, and it was great, well worth the extra charge. All of these restaurants are similar to eating at a fine restaurant in a large city but for about one half the cost. So it’s your choice. You won’t go wrong free or other wise. Again, NCL has it together. Last night gives you the opportunity to have them take your bags for you Sunday morning when leaving the ship. We did, and after a good breakfast, with tears, we went ashore. For a first time cruise, it was all expected and more. We were very happy with the total experience.

[judyf]

Now, On with the Show, I mean review.

 

Shows, Nightlife and other Activities:

 

This cruise we did did go to all the shows, as I do on most other cruises. It was more about the wildlife, scenery and the ports. Jerry and I only went to 3shows.

 

The Welcome Aboard which as I said was okay. I like to see this show for a few reasons, to see what we're in store for all week. It gives you an idea on the entertainers. Also to meet the CD which was not Simon this cruise, I was looking forward to sailing with him after all I read. He left the Pearl as we were getting on. We had Julie which I had on the Spirit in 2006, she's just okay IMO.

 

The comedian was David Nester which I had seen before on another cruise. That's a disadvantage on being on a few crises, the shows do start to repeat. He was good, he had some new jokes and some I have heard before. One that stuck with everyone and we heard people talking about it around the ship and he also used it the last time I saw him, was "are you asking" those that have seen him know what I mean. :p

 

The third show we saw was Sharkbait and as it was just okay for me. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be from all I read on cc's. But I think that was due to I have been on a few cruises where we have seen much better jugular acts then this show. That is just my opinion, as I know others love this show. It was just okay, now this is a comparison to the other acts of the same type we have seen on other cruise ships. I think I was expecting more. The music was good. :D

 

We never made it to the nightclub this cruise. I always try to go at least one night during a cruise to check it out but this was a different experience then a Caribbean cruise, as mentioned above. It was more about the ports then the ship and we had some really long days in port. I wanted to at least see the bowling alley and was planning on trying a game as I have only bowled one other time with a group of friends with my daughter, a really long time ago.

 

Bingo and pull strips:

 

Yes. they do sell the pull strips and advertise them before shows and events. I have read where this has bothered other people, but that's business. If you don't want to buy them you don't have to. At one show the day Jerry bought a set for $20, a lady won $100. We ended up buying 2 sets Jerry got one and I got one and I waited to but mine when they gave free things away with them. ;) I got a free pen and 30 extra "free cruise" bingo tickets for the drawing the last day at sea. I have cruised with a couple that won the free cruise drawing so you never know. I think of these like lottery tickets. They are in almost every store and you can watch a TV program without seeing the commercial, " wanna little bit of luck?" You actually only pay $15 for the 5strips, as you always win at least $1 on every strip.

 

We went to one bingo game and that was the one that had the drawing for the free cruise, we didn't win. :( I play sometimes when the pot is big. Love RCL for their huge winning pots. Some cruises I don't play at all, depends on my mood, the weather and the winnings. I played this one game as I wanted to be there for the free cruise drawing and didn't want to just wait, as of course they do the drawing in the middle of bingo. I bought the small paper bingo cards. We didn't win at bingo either, but my mother won $800 on bingo the first night on the Carnival Inspiration with only 5 numbers being called, so it does happen. Someone has to win.

 

Rock climbing

 

Elaine gave this a try, I know I couldn't do it so I didn't even give it a try. I'm now sorry I didn't do it with her. I could at least have given it a try, I usually will give everything a try once. She had fun giving it a shot and I had fun getting pictures and video of her trying it. I already sent them to both her daughters. That's what friends are for, right?

 

Casino

 

It was good to us this cruise, We play slots most of the time but had no luck this time. One evening I left my friends a note that we would be in the casino then we would go to the 7pm show and then back to the casino after as they didn't care so much for the shows. Well, we were doing so good at roulette we never left for the show and our friends did, they said it was good. Can't remember the name and can't find that daily, but it was the second production show.

 

I won $150 that night and Jerry ended up coming home with $300 more then he took on vacation and that was after paying for things in Seattle. So yeah, the roulette table was good to us this cruise. Now we're itching for an Atlantic City long weekend trip.

 

If you're still with me, :rolleyes: that's where I'm up to now, more to come soon.

[judyf]

I did get another section done tonight.

 

Food

 

We went casual this trip, traveling from the east coast with all the new fees the airlines hit you with we decided not to pack the formals. We ate breakfast either in the buffet or room service on port days. The buffet was great for breakfast. There were many things to choose from, we all enjoyed breakfast there. Options were endless, I really enjoyed the waffles, the dried fruit was good, eggs could be made to order at the omelet station, which I would get toast and bacon and make a sandwich. The breakfast potatoes seemed much better then the last NCL cruise I was on. The sticky buns were so good, with or without nuts and they have both. A big improvement here for NCL.

 

I was going to go to the dining room that is for balcony guests for breakfast but we just never made it. I actually forgot all about it and the food was so good in the buffet and we always found a table no problem, no matter what time of day it was. When possible we sat outside in the back, it was nice out there, even in Alaska. We just brought our sweatshirts and jackets when needed.

 

We had lunch in the main dining room twice, dinner 3 times (I think) we made sure to make lobster night for Elaine and Wayne. Jerry and I don't eat it so it didn't matter to us. Everything we had was good, I had the veggie dishes most nights, I did try the turkey one evening and that was good.. We ate in the main dining rooms, no speciality restaurants, we just didn't have or find the time this cruise and there really was no need. The main dining rooms were fine, we gained enough weight just eating where we did.

 

A few negatives coming up with a comment about where NCL can improve.

 

We ate in Blue Lagoon twice, once coming back from Victoria as we got to the dining room at 10:34pm and they wouldn't let us in as they closed at 10:30. That's weird when you have such late days in port and everyone looking for something to eat at the same time. The Blue Lagoon was packed and the waitress did not get our order correct. We never got half of our order or our drinks. We were okay with it as the staff was over worked. This is something NCL should work on. On these late port days they need to keep one restaurant open later. Not that we ever went hungry. The first time we went to Blue Lagoon everything was fine and our order was correct, but it wasn't a late port day. I felt bad for the staff.

 

Room service

 

We ordered room service for breakfast twice, both times were on time and just want we ordered. I didn't have a room service menu in our cabin and no breakfast order forms. I asked the first time I called at about 11pm and gave them my order over the phone as I didn't have a form. They said they would bring them with our order. Well, that never happened, it was no big deal I just had to borrow one from Elaine.

 

After asking twice for a menu from room service, I finally got one from our cabin Steward. I like that you can order tomato, cranberry and grapefruit juice through room service. Last NCL cruise you could get cranberry juice at the buffet, all that could be found this cruise was apple or orange and I'm not crazy about either one. I noticed this cut back and missed it a lot.

 

On Glacier Bay day we ordered room service for lunch as to not, miss anything. The turkey sandwich was great!! As was the cheese cake. Jerry got the pizza and he said that was pretty good too.

 

Chocolate Buffet

 

Was Friday night at 10pm, we went early as I thought as in the past you would get to go in for pictures and then everyone enters to eat. Nope, not this time, they now just let you in for pictures and eating at the same time. I heard others talking about a VIP showing for pictures but not sure how you get this.

 

This was Elaine's first chocolate buffet as they didn't have one on the Hawaiian cruise. I have shown her all my pictures to get her to join me on a cruise and get her all excited as she is a BIG chocoholic. I was excited for her to see the displays, so we were in the front of the line. Not as impressive as in the past, it was a really big difference. There was no really nice displays as in the past but the food to eat was a little better IMO. No major complaints, just another observation of some of the cut backs. I do understand that cutbacks are needed to keep the price at what it is. I'm glad they still have a chocolate buffet. I brought some cookies dipped in chocolate to our room for the next day. They tasted much better the next day then they did at 10pm at night.

 

I'm most likely forgetting something about the food and dining but that's all I can think of now.

[judyf]

Tuesday 5/26/09- Juneau-Mendenhall Glacier & Whale Watching witb Orca's:

 

Our first port was Juneau and our port time was 2pm to 10pm. It was raining when we arrived, we wore our waterproof jacket, shoes and wore warm cloths, as we were out in the weather today.

 

As we got off the ship it was raining and I thought we might be in the rain the whole tour. We didn't know how to dress as it was cold on deck the last few days. We over dressed but was good as we took off what we didn't need. It ended up being great on the tour. It stopped raining when we arrived at the Glacier and didn't rain again until we got back into town. Another sign that this is turning into a GREAT vacation.

 

I booked whale watching with Orca's back in Jan. I tried to book the 6 passenger boat with Harv & Marv's per reviews here on cc but in Jan. they were already booked up for end of May. It took from booking the cruise last May to Jan. to talk Jerry into doing the 6 passenger small boat tour. Moral here is to book early for the whale watching tours, especially on the smaller boats.

 

All in all it worked out great, we loved our tour with Ocra's. Actually I do believe the 20-25 passenger boat was better for us. We got to move around in the boat and 6 passengers at a time gets to go up on the top deck. It was a great view from up there.

 

We booked the Mendenhall Glacier & Whale Watching combo through Orca's and it worked out well. We took the free shuttle provided from the pier the Pearl was docked at to Orca's office. This shuttle took about 3-5 minutes or so. They drop you off right across the street from the Orca office. We were one of the first there, we checked in along with others from our ship. We waited a few minutes 10 or so while others checked in and we all got our wristbands. There's a small gift shop at the office, as we waited we looked around the gift shop, fairly nice selection.

 

 

Now after the entire group was checked in we head to the Ocra bus. Our group was doing the glacier first and then whale watching. It's still raining when we board the bus. I don't remember for sure but it wasn't that long of a bus ride to the Glacier. I was looking at everything along the way so I lost track of the time, it took maybe 10-15 minutes. The driver gave us a little tour and explained things on the way there.

 

We got dropped off and had about an hour at the Glacier. More time would have been nice but at least we got to do both the Glacier and WW in a short port visit. For this first trip to visit Alaska, WW was our priority. We were very happy we got to do both.

 

When the driver drops you off driver sets a time and showed us right where to meet the bus. It's a small parking area so you can't really get lost or miss the bus. Then the same driver came back at the scheduled time and took us on another short ride to the WW boat.

 

Then the fun on the whale watch began and boy what a show these whale put on for us. We saw about 5-6 pairs of mother and baby whales. It was great, They were breaching and sky hopping, (just read about this). It was a really great WW and we have been on a few WW from the east coast. It was really amazing to watch these whales in Alaskan waters.

 

We also saw sea lions swimming around and on a buoy. They were so cute as the buoy was full and others were swimming around looking for a spot.

 

There were snacks available on the tour, cheese and crackers and some kind of fish I didn't eat, coffee and juice, nice touch. Our guide was Tony, he was really good and I think the driver of the boat was Scotty. Tony gave a lot of information and answered every question we had, he knew his stuff.

 

 

After the WW the same driver is there to bring you back, the driver dropped us off anywhere we wanted, in town, or by the Orca office or back to the ship. We asked to be dropped off by the Harley Davidson Shop which is by the Red Dog Saloon. We had about an hour for a quick 1 hour speed shopping on the way back to the free shuttle buses.

 

First stop was the Harley Davidson Shop we got there about 5 minutes before they were closing. Jerry ended up getting the bag with 5 t-shirts one from each of the different areas of Alaska. It was $140 I think which was a good deal as they are $30 per shirt regular price. Only down size is you don't get to pick the colors. There's also rest rooms available here.

 

Next we stop at the Red Dog, we order an Alaskan beer, drink, take pictures quick and buy a shot glass. Now, we're off and look through the shops quick and get the usual stuff to bring back, a Christmas ornament or 2, sweat shirt, etc.

 

Very well done tour, we felt it was well planned out and worth every penny.

 

If you have any question please ask.

 

Is anybody still here with me :D :rolleyes: :p ;)

 

More to come tonight on the other ports.

[mississauga]

Thank you for your long and detailed review. I love reading them...the longer the better. Can't wait to read the rest.

 

BTW: IMHO, you didn't miss anything by not having Simon as your CD. I much prefer Julie.... just as engergetic without being so loud and a little annoying after a while. We had them as CD's about 2 months apart in 2007.

[EdFitz2]

Great review!

[sue402001]

I'm reliving my cruise through you, thanks for all the memories. I cruised to Alaska on the Pearl in 2007.

[judyf]

Wednesday, 5/27/09 Skagway-White Pass train ride/bus/dog carting

 

 

We booked the white-pass rail/bus/dog carting with Chillkoot, another WOW. Each day of this vacation just keeps getting better and better. It was all I expected and more, snow banks almost as high as the train and one of the GREAT things here (for us) is we were on the last train up before the rail was closed. Not actually sure what closed it, a mudslide or a rock slide but it was closed for sure.

 

 

Our meeting time was at 7:30, our port time was 7-9pm. We were ready and on previous cruises we were waiting for the announcement for when we could get off the ship,. While we were waiting we went up to deck 12 and sat on the nice chairs they have there looking out at the views. About 7:15am we started to wonder why we didn't hear anything. We asked a few passengers and no one heard anything.

 

We decided to walk down and check it out. Good thing we did, as you were able to get off already. NCL didn't make an announcement. When we got back that evening I checked our daily and it was written right there that there would be no announcement, but of course we didn't read that. Moral here is make sure you check the daily and not assume that an announcement will be made.

 

 

We walked off in just enough time, as our guide was waiting for us, they even left a message on my home phone, which I got when we returned home. Our tour did leave with one maybe two other groups missing. I felt bad as they might have been waiting for the announcement as we were. In the past NCL would scold you for going to the gangway before the nnouncement was made. Live and learn.

 

 

The group of us that were taken to the train on the same bus was split among two cars, all 4 of us got on the same car with seats on the left hand side, thanks to cc I knew that was the best side for views. We didn't get to sit by each other. I got on the train first and saved 2 seats on the left. Elaine and Wayne was I think 2-3 seats behind us.

 

The views from the train are spectacular. There's also narration along the way, you could hear it fairly well. You can walk out on the platform to take pictures but you can not hear the narration outside. I was also able to get ood pictures out the windows on the train.

 

I went out on the platform near the end of the ride and it was cold out there but beautiful. I went out when there was a lot of snow to get a few good pictures. One thing I wish I did differently was go out on the platform earlier after I saw the great views and the cold wind in my hair, it was different when you're out on the platform.

 

James our driver had warned us to use the rest rooms on the train as it gets really busy at the station when the train stops. The one thing he didn't warn us is that they close the bathroom just before you get to Fraser, BC. The boarder patrol comes on and checks your passports. Moral of this story here is when you get to the area where it gets really snowy, at least in May in was, use the restrooms then if you need to, as they close after that. Also don't forget your passports as to go to the Yukon you need them.

 

Along the route we made several stops to let hikers off, I wondered what they did after the tracks were closed. I never did read or heard what they did for them but I'm sure something was worked out. We dropped off quite a few hikers at maybe 4 different locations. If anyone knows how this was worked out, I would love to know.

 

In Fraser, BC where the train stops there are some great picture ops here. You can get good shots of the train, the snow (end of May), the buses waiting and the view is great.

 

Now for the bus part of the tour, I highly recommend doing the train/bus combo as it's completely different views and our driver was excellent with information provided and answered all the questions we had.

 

Stops are made all along the way, we stopped at the welcome to Yukon sign & the welcome to Alaska sign for picture ops. Then the wonderful area of Emerald Lake. WOW this place is beautiful. I currently have a picture of the lake as my background on my computer and pictures do not do the place justice.

 

James would stop if requested, Elaine asked to stop at an area that had a waterfall and also to get a picture of an Avalanche Area sign along the road. He actually turned the bus around for us as he missed it.

 

Going in the small 20 or so passenger bus had many advantages. One was that I just mentioned, if needed it could be turned around easily. Second, was it took less time at each stop to gather everyone back on the bus, our group was really good. This helps move things along so you're able to see and do more with smaller groups. Third, you can get more personable with the driver.

 

Only complaint on the bus portion of your trip and I do believe it couldn't be helped was that we only had about an hour at Caribou Crossing. (CC) This is where you have lunch, go on the dog cart ride and there's a gift shop and museum area also. I wish we had at least another hour here to explore.

 

Just before we arrive at CC we see a coach bus stopped on the side of a road, we all knew there was something they stopped for, we were hoping it was a bear. This is the one thing I was hoping to see on this tour. YES, it was a brown bear about a car's lengths away eating dandelions. The bear saw us looked up and just continued eating. We got some great pictures. We stayed here for a little while and James made sure everyone got a picture. When we left the bear was still sitting there. Wow, a great show by the whales yesterday, a bear viewing today. From all I read on cc I wasn't sure if we would see a bear the end of May. Our trip is really coming together to be the best ever and this is only our second port.

 

Now more about our stop at Caribou, the museum is nice and worth a visit, we did a quick 5-10 minute run through just before we had to board the bus just to get to see it. Elaine and Wayne never had the chance as she was looking at somethings in the gift shop. The gift shop had many things worth looking at also. I'm pretty sure they had the made in Alaska items. I didn't look much but what I saw looked nice. We make up for this short time later on.

 

Now, we're off for our cart ride, WOW, it was a blast. I'm so glad we included the cart ride, you can book this tour with or without the ride. For us it was worth adding the ride just for the experience. If I had the option I would have done a dog sled ride on the snow but as mentioned previously Jerry doesn't like heights and the only way this time of year to do the sled ride it to take a flight to the top of a Glacier, so that was out for us. Not to mentioned that the price for the sled ride is between $400- $500 pp. I was very happy with the cart ride experience.

 

When you first arrive, the guide at CC sets a time for your ride, our time was set that we would eat first and then our ride was right after lunch. This worked out good for us. With going right to lunch first there were no crowds. Lunch was very good, I only eat boneless chicken breast and when I asked they provided it, no problem but you must ask. We also had cold slaw, potatoes,, and donuts, the donuts were very good.

 

We ate fairly quickly to be ready for our ride time, which was actually good as it got us moving and we didn't waste precious time here eating as our time was very limited. We are boarding the cart and as the handlers are getting the dogs all set, the other dogs were barking and all excited. They all wanted their turn to give you a ride. This was just so cute to see how excited these dogs were.

 

We had Michelle as our driver and she is great She explains things to you about the dogs as you are riding. At one point she stops and has pools set up for the dogs to get a drink if they wish and she takes your camera and gets a picture of the sled and you in the cart. At this point one of our dogs Gizmo's was so excited he keep jumping and wanted to ride on. One of the pictures Michelle took for us has Gizmo's in mid air jumping, I love this picture. After the picture taking it's on with the ride. When we returned to the starting point we were able to pet the dogs that took us for a ride and get their picture. I have a couple real cute pictures, this time is limited as they are getting ready for the next riders.

 

One of the things that you get to do and the time is unlimited, except you tour time, is you get to play, pet and mingle with the puppies. This was so cool. We actually spent a lot of our time here which is what cut into our time at the museum and gift shop but for me this was more of an experience then the other options.

 

The puppies were just laying all over the place and they were trying to sleep. Us tourists kept bothering them but they sure didn't seem to mind. I wanted to take this one little puppy home with me.

 

This was a really fun experience and if it's of interest to you don't miss it.

 

It's time to get back in the bus, we're all on time except one mother and daughter, the dad jumped out of the bus to go get them as she lost time shopping. She was not that late at all maybe 5 minutes but it was just funny as I can sure see losing track of the time here as there's so much to do. I'm in the transportation business so I will not be late for a meeting time. It happened to us once in Hawaii and if it's within my powers I will make sure it never happens again to me.

 

Here is where I will get back to the hikers a little. There were a few on the bus now that was suppose to meet the train to ride it back. The funny thing is as we're pulling in James, our driver said "that's funny the train is late, it's usually here by now". He gets out with the few that were trying to catch to train back. They all return back to the bus and tells us there's been an incident and the tracks were blocked. The group came back on the bus and continued the bus tour with us. I feel real bad that they missed out of the train. At this point is when I really start to think about all the hikers we dropped off on the way up. How did they make it back? all I can say is we think we have seen the best and the next thing is even better.

 

On with the tour, we made a stop where James showed us where the bears have scratched the trees, and I mean really scratch them. This was another great location for picture ops.

 

We also saw sheep on the Mt. at a distance. On the ride back we saw buses pulled over again, we were all getting very excited about seeing another bear. Just as we pull up another Chilkoot driver radios James to tell him it was a bear and it just went over the ridge. James mentions that the load diesel engines of the coach buses chases them away at times.

 

It was a great tour, I would highly recommend this tour to any first time visitor. It was worth every penny and this was our most expensive tour at $228 pp.

 

At the end of the tour you have the option to be dropped off in town for shopping and exploring or be brought back to the ship. This is where I said it made up for the short visit at Caribou Crossing, as we had lots of time to explore the great little town of Skagway.

 

We start at the far end where James dropped us off, it was by the museum and post office. Jerry saw the post office was open, this is a great opportunity to buy post cards and mailed them out from Alaska. I now wish I sent us one so I would have the post mark.

 

There were some fairly good coupons in the book we were giving as we boarded the ship in Seattle, don't forget it when you go into port. A great idea is to just rip out the pages for the port you're visiting that day instead of bringing the whole book. Elaine did this and I learned quickly for the next port.

 

There's some really nice shops here with made in Alaska stuff and that's what I was looking for. The four of us split up as to see more and we could all look at what we wanted. We set a meeting time to meet at the Red Onion, we had to stop there just to say we were there. Jerry and I rushed to make it as we actually set the meeting time too soon, as the Red Onion was at the end near the ship. Elaine and Wayne didn't make it to an hour later, they got wrapped up in shopping. They provide tours of the upstairs brothel for an extra fee if you want to do that sort of thing. We had some Alaska Brew here, I got a shot glass and we were on on way to more shopping.

 

We had no rain at all at this port, the weather was seasonal, not to cold but needed a sweatshirt, jacket.

 

 

Another great day in Alaska.

[RobM88]

Great review Judy! I of course was the "dad" who retrieved my wife and daughter that were 5 minutes late to the bus. It was actually the dogs that kept them so occupied - they wanted to bring them home! Your detailed review was wonderful, and especially the latest one since I was on your little Chilkoot bus. I actually have some pictures that must be of either you or your friends taken in front of the YUKON and WELCOME TO ALASKA signs. I maybe could send it to you by Email. We also got a picture of James, the tour leader.

 

Since we got back all I can think about is what cruise I want to take next. If I had more time off I'd do one sooner, but we are thinking about doing the Baltic Capitals one next summer. That would be amazing!

 

Look forward to the rest of your review... Rob

[judyf]

Oh yes, the dogs, we wanted to bring one home too. They were just so cute. We spent a lot of time with the puppies too.

 

my mail is autumnsam at aol dot com. would love to see the pictures.

 

Hope to get the rest up soon, work keeps getting in the way.

[judyf]

Friday 5/29/09-Ketchikan-Bearing Sea Crab Fishing

 

This was another best of all. We booked the Deadliest Catch tour through the ship on the Aleutian Ballad. We loved, loved loved this tour. I was so unsure of this tour and what to do with the limited time we had in Ketchikan. 6am to 1pm.

 

It was the best, we saw about 30 plus eagles real close to us, we didn't know where to look there were so many. It was unreal. We got some great pictures and video.

 

I knew it was going to be a great day when I open up the balcony curtains and saw eagles just flying around the port, like we see geese here in NY. It was so cool, seeing these birds up close on the tour. It was pictures someone posted from last year of the eagles on this tour that pushed me over the edge to book it.

 

We could see Aleutian Ballad boat from our balcony. So we knew we didn't have to go far for this tour. We walked off the ship no problem. We knew we had to get on the Aleutian Ballad but staff directed us through this walkway and then when on the other end I asked again and we had to go back through to were the Aleutian Ballad was docked. It was like swimming upstream going back.

 

There's really no bad seat but if you get there early your group can sit together. We sat on the end on the left as you walk on the boat. This was a good location as you get to see the whole front stage. but as I said there's no bad seats, not sure how the view was from upstairs are.

 

They provide nice warm coats for everyone if you need them. We dressed fairly warm as we knew we were going out on the water. We did use the coats to cover our lap and legs and they worked nice. It's only as the boat is moving that you really need them.

 

We got to see several different crab fishing technique's and the equipment used to catch the different types. Plus the best part is they let you hold and touch them too. Many pictures ops. I must say I was like a big kid too. Everyone seemed to enjoy the hands on approach.

 

The best part of this tour is going to the little island where they are allowed to feed the eagles. This is something you have to see to believe. We were so close to the eagles you could hear them and also hear them hit the water as they picked up the fish. It really was amazing.

 

We all thought this tour was well worth the money we spent on it and none of us are big Deadliest Catch fans. Jerry and I have seen a show or two but that's about it. Moral of the story here is you do not need to be a Deadliest Catch fan to enjoy this tour.

 

The one guy "Shelf" wore short sleeves and bare feet and it was cold. We asked him how he could stand being in bare feet and his answer to us was that he is retired now and the plastic boats bother his feet. So he would rather be bare footed. We were cold just watching him.

 

There's a small selection of things they sell on the Aleutian Ballad. We got a few t-shirts, a hooded sweat shirt and a shot glass.

 

Any questions about this tour just ask, as I know I left things out.

 

After the tour we had about 30 - 45 minutes to speed shop close to the pier. This was a question I asked and never really got the answer. So for those of you looking to book this tour off the Pearl, YES, you do have time to do a quick shopping before boarding the ship. We had enough time to get the few things we wanted.

 

Great day and a great tour.