Seas2mountains

Will they make you a Matador? Otherwise, don't you like those chocolate or Black Forest martinis?

By now, they need to give you the beverage package for free. Or a year supply of the worlds’s best Norwegian cake. I hope you can figure out a way for Dad to try that cake. I lived in the beautiful wine town of Sommerach for a little over 3 years. Sorry for the delayed response. I’m catching up.

Unbelievable. I’m so sorry. Ewww, not toenails. Yuck! You have done several B2B and you have never had this happen have you? We got all of that on the B2B on the Spirit.

Sorry to @YVRteacherfor the hijack, but did you find Cherryl on the Spirit? I sure hope I didn’t misunderstand when her contract was ending. We are considering the Star for next June but maybe not with all these negative reports.

Go to Henry’s Pub to have Froilan make a Matador. It does get crowded I also like the San Remo at Onda as it tastes similar to a Matador. Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you for doing a live review, Amy! I’m enjoying following along with you! 😀 Are you using iPhone to take your photos? If so, make sure the volume buttons are facing down when taking a photo if you are trying to capture a landscape shot. Enjoy your final days! We tend to cruise mostly on NCL but have cruised twice in MSC YC on Seaside and Davina. We do have NCL and MSC YC cruises booked in the future. How is the entertainment in the YC? Are things a little crazy when you leave the YC?

I’m loving your live review and we are all so lucky we get to read about your adventures for two more weeks! I hope you do see a polar bear and more reindeer. It’s wonderful to hear you are having a great time. The photos of the Midnight Sun are stunning. Before I lived in Germany many years ago, I didn’t care for wine until I tried Riesling which was grown and made in the town where I lived. It is very tasty as long as it isn’t too sweet. Do you have any desire to add the drink package for the second half so you can drink more glasses of Riesling and have a Matador?

I hope you have a wonderful cruise! 😄 Please do let us know all about it when you can!

I wish we could be on that cruise but I will be working at my school those days. I was thinking it would be Japan to Vancouver until I remembered the Spirit will be in Asia next summer. Looks like a wonderful itinerary. 😁

Things have changed. It is now dinner for two at ANY specialty dining restaurant. At restaurants like Food Republic, you can choose four items per person. You can also use it for sushi. The only restaurant excluded is Palomar.

She said her contract ended at the end of August.

YES!!! That is Cherryl! Go directly to Magnums!!! She is amazing!

If you are miserable on the Spirit with this cabin upgrade, there are people on the ship who can ease your pain. Magnums Jane, Cherryl and Made. Jane can sing. Spinnakers. Made and many others Henry’s Pub. Froilan and Orlando Orlando can sing, too.

There might be more than one bar server on NCL with the name of Cherryl with two R’s but there is a Cherryl on the Spirit now with that same name. She goes above and beyond as she went from Magnum’s down a floor to Henry’s Pub to get a Matador for me. I suspect this is the same server who did this for @YVRteacher on the Spirit for the same drink. Since I saw your other post about being on the Spirit soon, I hope you get to see the same Cherryl!

what is this drink? And what is the story behind why there are so many?

I’m excited for you, too! Hoping for good weather. 🤞

I’m so jealous! Transpacific on the Spirit sounds amazing! Well, the Viva Transatlantic does, too. What ports are involved? Do you disembark in Seward or Vancouver? Or somewhere else? We are hoping we can go on the Spirit on September 15-27 from Honolulu to Papeete. We bought refundable plane tickets but won’t know until mid-August if my husband can get the time off from work. The cruise seems to have plenty of availability.

@TfromBC I agree with @quack2 about the quality of the excursion in Seward through Major Marine or Kenai Fjord tours. The boats have nice sheltered areas with comfortable seating to keep you dry from any rain with outside decks to use. It is one of the highlights of the trips we have made to Seward. We saw so much on that tour that we didn't see on other excursions. If you have to switch cabins, you will leave your luggage in the room you are vacating and will find it in your new cabin. I do understand how many excursions may make this seem overwhelming.

Wow! That's a lot of people who may be requesting the Behind the Scenes tour, Dinner With the Officers, the wine tasting, and the Sail and Sustain Mixology.

Hi Terry - You can book tours on either Major Marine or Kenai Fjords - hope these links work. We were really happy with a 6 hour tour but I know others have highly recommended the longer tours. I have tried Major Marine and the meeting location for the tours is in the Harbor 360 hotel which is about a 1/2 mile walk from the port. Maybe @quack2 can share more about the Kenai Fjords experience and meeting location. I'm glad you plan to try a few drinks.☺️ Yes, it is disappointing about the inside passage but I hope the weather will be nice so you can enjoy the views in between ports. That is so exciting that you will be down to single digits for the count down to the cruise starting tomorrow!

Have a wonderful cruise! Travel is something I don't regret spending money on. These are some amazing excursions! Enjoy and please post to let us know how it was.

On the Spirit, they did have Alaska seafood one night in Garden Buffet with what tasted like fresh salmon. They did this on the pool deck for lunch and it was also in Garden Buffet, too. I seem to remember that O'Sheehan's/the Local may have Prime Rib specials and I think it may be listed in the daily but they always have a sign at the host stand. I am sure the dailies that yvrteacher posted will be helpful. Have a wonderful cruise!

Thank you for all the detailed information on your hotel in Reykjavik!! It does sound small from your description. I know my husband and his neck would probably not appreciate that elevator! Wow! Your information on possible hotels is very helpful as we are considering the Star Iceland/Greenland itinerary for June 2024. We have not been on the Star but have been on her sister, the Dawn. We love Los Lobos on the Dawn and wish it was on the Star, too. When I was researching the Star before knowing that you were going to on the ship and doing a live review, I noticed the information about Spice H2O from NCL and a YouTube video and wondered if it is usable space on a colder weather cruise. Well now that you are on the ship, I'm sure you will cover this in your review.😀 Sorry to hear the heated tile lounge chairs were not very comfortable. We all got spoiled on those hot ones on the Spirit. Now we have some ideas for traveling in Reykjavik and I will closely watch your review for ideas and excursions for the ports that are in common. Norway was beautiful when I traveled there many years ago on land and with boat trips. It's exciting to follow along with you as I do want to return on a ship. So glad to hear you are feeling better. Enjoy Day 1 and the many more ahead. I'm curious how full your ship might be as I hear this itinerary isn't always full. Thank you again for all the time you take for this wonderful live review!

@TfromBC I didn't want to hijack @YVRteacher's live review on the Star or on her Spirit review but know you are looking for excursions on your B2B on the Spirit. I know it can get really expensive and some budgets don't allow for all excursions at all ports. Like @YVRteacher recommended, I will second many of hers: Sitka - we did the NCL Best of Sitka tour which takes you to the Raptor Center, Fortress of the Bears, and Sitka National Historical Park where you will see the totem poles. I would do this tour again. You can read some of my comments earlier in this review. Juneau - I do recommend going to Mendenhall Glacier and a whale watching tour as Yvonne suggested. You can also ride the tram up to Mt. Roberts and the views are excellent if the clouds aren't too low. I know you have two stops here. I also did a review on the Alaska museum which we did on one stop as we have been to this port a few times. It was very interesting if you want to learn more about the native Alaskan tribes and their history. Skagway - I definitely recommend the White Pass railway excursion and the Ghost and Good Times Girls Walking tours as Yvonne did. I do cover the Ghost and Good Time tour in this review. You should also go to the creek in the park near the port as the salmon may be running and they can be fun to watch. Icy Strait Point - we did like our whale watching tour but I think the one we did in Seward was better for seeing a variety of whales. You may be lucky and will see one or more from the ship as we have at times. The free tram with a chance to walk around the beach area and towards Hoonah are great choices, too. Seward - I second Yvonne's recommendation for Major Marine or Kenai Fjords tour and found that the one we took on Major Marine was probably the best excursion out of all the excursions we took in Alaska besides the White Pass railway but if those aren't in the budget, you can walk or take a free shuttle to the Sealife Center or you may also find a way to get to Exit Glacier to walk on it as we have done in the past. If you can do the Major Marine or Kenai Fjords boat tour, you will likely get close to a glacier and they will even make margaritas out of glacier ice. For some crazy reason, they let everyone touch the glacier ice and after everyone touched it - then they made the margaritas. We didn't care to drink ice that had been touched by 50+ people. LOL. Ketchikan- we did not do any excursions here but enjoyed walking around town and Creek Street. We only saw 4 salmon swimming and a seal that was trailing behind them. We have stopped here on other cruises and saw many more salmon than on this visit. Our bus driver mentioned that the commercial fishing of the salmon had been impacting their salmon population. Hubbard Glacier - we struck out on both scheduled visits due to fog or too much and no one even got to go on the Hubbard Glacier boat trip that Yvonne and her Dad got to do. It looked lovely and if you can't do an excursion in Seward to see a glacier up close from a boat, it sound like this would be a great choice. On previous cruises with Hubbard Glacier on the itinerary, we got up much closer and were thrilled to see the calving. When on the Spirit, do not miss a chance to eat dinner in Taste as the service was a bit better than in Windows for dinner and the food temperature was hot. Onda was also a favorite of ours and I know Yvonne also mentioned this as one she also enjoyed. I also wanted to thank @bluesea777 for the many suggestions given to me during this review including the recommendation to go to Taste for dinner. If you search, you may find a previous review @bluesea777 did on the Spirit or maybe they can tag it for you that covers many details about the ship that were really helpful to me when I was considering the Spirit. Have a wonderful cruise and I hope my additional comments confirming many the great suggestions @YVRteacher made are helpful to you. Maybe you can do a live review so we can all follow along? 😀