SuperCrewBear

Hi we are both September 22nd on the Blissful Alaska and was wondering what we should do excursions ,rent a car ,private tours we booked at the last minute I can't make up my mind. Excursion seem to be pretty expensive on Norwegian, any information be great. Does anybody know the best excursions through Norwegian?

If you can narrow down what you want to do at your ports reserving excursions as soon as possible is a good idea. You could be disappointed if you wait until the last minute. I've rented cars in Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka. I like the flexibility it allowed us in going where we wanted - they aren't that expensive for a day and I like being on my own schedule. It's not for everyone but it works for us!

Good luck!

Emerald Princess, 7/22 -- 7/29

I wonder how much the cruise lines truly want to participate in this service. As far as I can tell they get nothing out of it. It's all about the money. On my May NCL Pearl cruise we wanted to use the service. I asked for the form on Monday. They said it would be delivered to my cabin. It never showed up so I asked again on Thursday morning. (Sunday was departure) They then said I should have turned the form in by Wednesday at 6 PM. A total run-around. The form never showed up, even late. Since it seems that everything revolves around the cruise line making money from EVERY LITTLE THING and if they don't get anything out of this I can see how they wouldn't care if you were able to use it or not. It's extra work for someone and they don't make a dime. If a person gets to use it, great - but don't go in counting on using the service because you might be disappointed.

If you don't turn in your paperwork by Tuesday (for a Sunday returning flight) you won't get this service. The forms didn't appear in our mailbox until Friday, alas.

Which ship were you on? I'm very curious.

Question for those who picked up a box lunch for TWT. Did you have any way to keep your sandwich chilled....like did you bring a little softside cooler with you? or did you just not worry about it?

 

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Don't worry about it... Unless the bus is not very full (ours had only a couple empty seats) there's not a lot of room for coolers and such. Everything will be okay.

My cruise in Alaska is a year away, and I cannot yet get prices on airfare, but I will be able to in a few weeks. Does anyone have any insight into the timing to get best ticket prices (for me from Atlanta to Vancouver and return from Anchorage)? Based on your experience, what would be a good price range from Atlanta? Any other thoughts or experiences are welcome.

Since you're in Atlanta and it's Delta's main hub (I think...) check with them. I did an open jaw flight on my 2016 cruise that left from Vancouver and returned to Seattle. I did Dallas to Vancouver then Seattle back to Dallas. It wasn't THAT expensive and I didn't have to mess with a transfer from Seattle to Vancouver. You might check the total difference between coach and 1st class too. My trip in 1st class was about $165 more total than if I had flown coach. In 1st you get to check two bags for at no extra cost (saving $60 each way - $120 total) plus the bags can weigh up to 70 pounds each instead of 50 in coach. Good luck!

We did the Tundra Wilderness tour last year the first week of June. We enjoyed it and the time went fast - the last hour did seem the longest though. We were on the morning bus and were gone about 8-1/2 hours, I think. If we go again we'd take the green bus so we could go further into the park. We happened to hit the Denali Lottery our day (according to our driver) in that we had exceptional nice weather, the mountain was fully viable and we saw all of the animal species that most people want to see - a wolf, bears, caribou, moose, and mountain goats. Our driver said he'd been doing the tours for about 12 years and could count on his fingers the number of times a group has been able to see everything. The bus could be uncomfortable if you're tall...

Good luck!

If you have the time, a car is the only way to see AK. However, remember that it will take you longer to get from place to place than you think.

 

DON

I absolutely agree on it taking longer to drive somewhere than you might think. To me it's something peculiar to Alaska. From my experience and the way we do things (stops, speed, etc) I allot twice the amount of travel time in a car - if you think it's going to be a two hour drive allow four hours. Seriously.

There are pluses and minuses for both the train and car travel. And as Mapleleaves said, it completely subjective - what one person hates you may love. We loved driving on the Dalton Highway and thought it was awesome - some think it's completely boring and a waste of time. To each their own. Watching the video to see what you will encounter will give you a better idea if taking the train is something you'll enjoy.

Though it's absolutely NOT the same as Alaska, I've ridden the train from one end of Japan to the other multiple times plus some in Europe - I think it's nice to sit back and watch whatever there is to see - sometimes it's beautiful and other times it's not - it's all interesting to me. It's also nice to have plenty of room and the ability to walk around when you want too.

Good luck! Regardless of what you decide to do I will bet you have a fantastic time in Alaska! It's awesome!

You haven't been there? Not sure if you are posting from experience?

Yes, I have been there.

I'm getting ready for a similar trip though kind of reversed. The flying time to Fairbanks shouldn't be much different than to Anchorage - maybe an hour longer unless you have an extended layover somewhere along the way. For your cruise tour I'd fly to Fairbanks. It's quite a bit closer to Denali than Anchorage. You should be able to take the train from Fairbanks to Denali - seeing a portion of Alaska you won't see again on the next train ride from Denali to Anchorage then Seward. I'm just using intuition - I haven't researched the particulars of flight and train schedules. And, honestly, I think I would be kinda miserable on a bus from Anchorage to Denali... What we are going to do is fly to Anchorage (several days there and Seward visiting friends) then train north - flying home from Fairbanks. Our flight from home to Anchorage is 10 minutes longer than the flight flight from Fairbanks back home including a layover in Seattle each way.

Wow. Thanks to both. Had no idea there might be any options. So the boat disembarks at 7. It’s a small ship so I anticipate less hassle factor. The lodge pegs drive time from Seward to Soldotna at just under 2 hours, getting there right around 9 am, which is the normal time for take off. (All based on lodge operators info). Is 2 hours not correct?

 

We came into this Alaska trip late, so these lodges are sold out and we feel lucky there was a cancellation. I’m following your advice BQueen: you need at least an overnight. We don’t have time for 2.

 

That said, before this came up we planned on spending a couple days on the Kenai, then heading towards anchorage. We have 4 full days, but need to bunk in anchorage on the last night.

 

We also have the option of leaving for bear country the day after we arrive in Seward. This is good and bad. We’d still need a place store luggage. Renting a car would be tough if we leave from Soldotna and fly back to anchorage. I’d still need the lodge to drive us to the plane, which would likely mean little time in Seward and staying in Soldotna overnight. If I’m going to blow a day, I’m thinking I’d rather do it driving from anchorage back to Kenai. At least the rental car will be reasonable and the drive would be scenic.

 

Anyway, I just off loaded a bunch...does it change anything?

The lodge people probably know what they are talking about on the time from Seward to Soldotna since they evidently do it regularly. I have friends who live in Seward - on a road trip last year we left Soldotna at 9:00 AM and were at their house in Seward before 11:00 AM without speeding. It's about 91 miles. Good luck!

I was on NCL Pearl 2 months ago (May 6-13) to Alaska. We were certainly hoping to use the Port Valet service to ease our trip home - three of us and bags is a lot to handle. I had to contact the Seattle Port Authority to find out if NCL participated - I was told they did. We left Seattle on Sunday. Sometime Monday morning I stopped by the guest services desk to ask for the Port Valet form so I could make sure to have it all taken care of well in advance - it was a sea day so not a lot to do. The lady at the desk looked at me blankly for several seconds when I asked for the form. I started explaining what the form was for. Still a blank look but she said it would be delivered to my room. I asked when I could expect it - all she would say was that it would be delivered to the room. I honestly think she really had no idea what I was talking about...

It seems like I had seen a post somewhere that said if you didn't get your form by Thursday to ask at the guest services desk. I looked at the delivered items each day (the Daily, ads for this and that, etc.) but no form showed up. So on Thursday I stopped on my way to breakfast to ask for the form again. This time the lady (different from the Monday lady) immediately said that it should have been turned in by Wednesday (the day before) at 6 PM and there was nothing she could do for me. I asked why I hadn't been told any of this. All she would say is that nothing could be done.

Later in the day I went back to the service desk to ask some more questions and got absolutely nowhere.

It all didn't sit well with me but what could I do? It makes me wonder if NCL doesn't really like messing with this service because what do they get out of it? The passenger doesn't pay anything. Does the Port Authority pay them anything - doubtful. They have to do extra work and get nothing in return. It's all about the money as far as I can tell.

The Port Valet service should be an awesome thing if you can get it... It just left me frustrated. Maybe I should have asked about it DAILY? You don't know this until you have hindsight. We were busy enjoying our cruise.

You drove yourself? If so, who did you rent your transportation from? I don't find this section very scenic, compared to at least getting to Coldfoot and Wiseman with a day trip.

It's not always the scenery, it's the experience.

Yes, we drove ourselves. We rented from Arctic Outfitters in Fairbanks. (Not cheap to rent but are equipped for the Dalton Highway.). They were great to work with. You can pick up the rental car at 7:00am and have it back by midnight or be charged another day. We didn’t go as far as Coldfoot due to the road being so bad and we were told there was lots of construction up that far. If we ever get back there, I would plan on maybe a 3 or 4 day trip and go up as far as Prudoh Bay.

Hey ValerieJo, we're going to do it this way next time! ;p (I'm joking! Ha Ha)

Glad you found what you wanted. I just can't fathom why anyone would go out of their way for poutine, I wouldn't cross the street for it [emoji3]

 

 

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More for us! ;p It'd be a boring world if everyone liked and enjoyed the same thing, no?

We had been to Victoria before and done the gardens and were generally not wanting to do too much. This trip we were in port from only about 6:30 PM until midnight so there wasn't a lot of time. What we decided to do was a little shopping downtown after having dinner somewhere. What we ate was poutine. We had been to a poutinerie in Vancouver a couple years ago that was great and discovered there was another by the same name in Victoria. We grabbed a cab right after getting off the ship and went straight to La Belle Patate at 1215 Esquimalt Road - it's about a ten minute cab ride from the central business district. It's a small place with only one large table and a counter to sit at at the front window - there was a couple small tables on the sidewalk too. Definitely a neighborhood eatery with many people dropping by to pick up something to take home - it's not slick and fancy but that's fine with us. Very friendly people and the food was excellent! The owner, Matti, was surprised that we had strayed so far from the other tourists. Ha Ha They called us a cab for the ride back to downtown. I'll be going back because their poutine is fantastic!

Supercrewbear - We are back from our Alaska cruise and can't thank you enough for your detailed review regarding the Arctic Circle. We also rented a car from Arctic Outfitters and drove the Dalton Highway up to the Arctic Circle. While we didn't make it as far as Coldfoot, we did make it to the Arctic Circle sign where we ate a picnic lunch we had packed.

 

It was an absolutely amazing experience that we will never forget. I'm so glad we did it.

 

Thanks again for the details you provided.

FANTASTIC!!! :D I'm jealous! We just went to Alaska again last month. I'm ready to do another road trip though. Our current plan is to go back during the winter (I'm hoping this coming January) so we can experience the cold and hopefully see the Northern Lights. We want to ride the train from Anchorage to Fairbanks and possibly back again.

Thanks for reporting back! I'm glad you had a good time!

I just got off the Pearl from Alaska yesterday. This was my 2nd Alaskan cruise on the Pearl. I won't use NCL again.

My first Pearl cruise was two years ago and completely positive - it was 10 days long and I could have stayed on 10 more. This recent cruise was 7 days long and by about day 3 I was ready to be off the ship. The actual being in Alaska was perfect. The customer service on board the ship was very negative to me. The service crew (waiters, cabin attendants, etc) were very nice and did their jobs as they should. The ones I encountered of higher rank (guest services - people "in charge") always made me feel that I was being a bother for asking anything.

The day we got on the ship (May 6th) 3 of our bags arrived to the room fairly quickly. My bag in particular didn't get there until about 8 PM. I asked a couple times about my missing bag (that had everything I had brought) but only got dismissive answers that left me unsure if my bag had actually made it onto the ship.

We were planning to use the Port Valet service on departure to ease our getting from the ship to the airport. They offered no information about the service at all. On Monday I stopped by the guest service desk to ask for the form to fill out - I wanted to get things lined up before we got distracted with the port stops beginning on Tuesday. I asked the lady for the Port Valet form - she looked at me blankly and said nothing. I asked again. She finally said "It will be delivered to your room". I asked when I could expect it. She would only repeat "It will be delivered to your room." No friendliness, no smile, no anything.

So each day thereafter I carefully looked through the daily delivery of our newsletter and accompanying flyers. No form. I only saw our cabin attendant for a few seconds about 4-5 times the entire week but I never thought about asking him about the form - I'm assuming he's the one who put our daily newsletter on our door each day.

I had read on here that if you don't get your form by about Thursday to go to the guest services desk so that's where I went on Thursday morning. When I asked about the from the lady (a different one than Monday) said "You should have turned it in by 6 PM Wednesday. There's nothing I can do for you now." That was it. This was also in a very negative tone. I went on to have breakfast.

After thinking about the whole situation I decided I was going back and ask to speak to the hotel manager. Not so much about my not being able to use Port Valet but about the attitude of everyone in guest services that week. At the times I had spoken to anyone I had been the only guest there - not one of many waiting for help. This 3rd time I was speaking to a different person. He was as unconcerned as the previous two. He kept focusing on how they were unable to do anything about the Port Valet. I had a hard time making him understand that wasn't what I was irritated about - it was their attitudes (including his) I was wanting to speak to their manager about. He finally went through a door and stayed gone for about 5 minutes. When he returned he said the manager was busy with another guest but I could make an appointment. By then I decided I was going to just forget about it because I would obviously get nowhere.

I understand these people deal with many thousands of guests each month. My two cruise mates were with me at the last two encounters - I asked them if they felt I had been out of line. I was assured I was not out of line and that the guest services staff were very rude.

My first NCL experience two years ago couldn't have been better; maybe I was expecting too much this trip? I know my single bit of business with Norwegian makes no difference to their bottom line but I can't bring myself to spend another dollar with them in the future. I'll have to take my business elsewhere. Very disappointing.

Otherwise the trip went well - we had very nice weather and enjoyed our time in Alaska.

Captain Pattie's in Homer has excellent halibut fish & chips - their French fries are "German" quality - Germany has the best fries in the world.

In Sitka we ate lunch from a food truck right downtown. It was called Ashmo's and was excellent. Their menu:

I did a two week road trip of interior Alaska last year. An interesting place we stumbled onto was the Eagle River Nature Center at the end of Eagle River Road east of, ahem..., Eagle River - just north of Anchorage about half way to Palmer. We were just driving at random seeing what was "down that road". I'm pretty sure we were the only non-locals there when we were. The actual nature center was closed (we were there about 8-9 PM but it was WAY daylight) but there are walking trails and several wooden viewing platforms over the river - the scenery is pretty special and spectacular. We saw our first moose of the trip on the side of the road on our way there. There was a few dollar parking fee (you put the money in an envelope and drop it in a collection slot) but otherwise it's free. We saw several people there with their kids and dogs - obviously locals.

My other favorite thing to do is pick a local "mom & pop" restaurant to eat. In Anchorage and close to downtown we saw a place called "Rosco's" that had barbecue. Perfect! (We picked it because of a friend of our's named Rosco... Ha Ha). In Glennallen we saw a little Thai hut selling food to go - the best Pad Thai I've ever had and they are pretty close to the middle of nowhere! Who would have guessed? It was also CHEAP!!!! Even for Alaska. We also had Mexican food at a "local" place in some random suburban area of Anchorage. Interesting. Only locals were there - we definitely stood out.

Good luck!

I agree: Maps.Me - you download the maps for the area where you'll be then you don't have to be online to use them. I'm not that familiar with an iPad though - does it have gps built in or do you have to be able to access wifi?

We rented a car for the day at Sitka. Sitka Car Rental will have the car sitting where it would be convenient for you to pick up. I liked the freedom of going exactly where we wanted and staying however long we liked. We went to the Fortress of the Bear - it's a few miles out of town at the remains of an old pulp mill. On the way back we stopped at the Raptor Center. These are both similar concepts except one is for bears and the other for eagles, hawks, owls, etc. There's a nice nature walking loop at the Raptor Center where you can get a good look at a piece of the local rain forest.

We parked at the large parking lot on the edge of town and walked around. There is the Russian Bishop's House looking right at the harbor. The coolest part of that was seeing how the building was constructed - from the outside it doesn't look like a log building but it is. I think the Russian past and history of Sitka is fascinating.

We found a food truck parked not far from St. Michael's Cathedral where we had lunch. The truck was called Ashmo's - very good food. I'd hope they are still around!

Sitka was my favorite stop! I'm ready to go back today.

Good luck!

We did sea kayaking and a cooking class on Alaskan salmon and halibut. This is a nice stop but it wasn't my favorite. The cannery museum and shops has some interesting things to buy. The whole place is definitely laid back - a great place to relax.

Good luck!

We flew to Herbert Glacier with Coastal Helicopters a couple years ago. I think the pilot did a great job with our flight - I've flown on helicopters several times before and this was the smoothest flight I've experienced. The pilot lifted straight up then started moving forward without tilting the helicopter. He landed in the same manner. For someone nervous about flying in a helicopter this is probably the best way of doing it. Our pilot also did a nice job of telling where we were, what to look at and some glacier trivia. I assumed we would only be allowed to walk around close to the helicopter but we went where we wanted. I think we were on the glacier for about 30 minutes or so - it seemed longer and it also seemed like plenty of time - we weren't rushed. I have recommended Coastal Helicopters a number of times. I believe we saved enough booking directly with them (instead of through the cruise line) that we were able to pay for our dinner in Juneau that evening.

Note: While on the trip you're not allowed to take any sort of purse, bag or container. You can take you camera and such but everything must fit in your hands, around your neck or in a pocket.

It's a very cool and interesting excursion! Good Luck!

On the Pearl for 10 days the 2nd & 3rd week of May '16, I only saw someone in the pool on the last at-sea day we had on the way from Ketchikan to Victoria. There were a few (2-3) young kids and maybe a couple adults. I felt of the water one day and it did not feel heated to me. There was almost always someone in one of the four hot tubs on the pool deck though.

Here is about as exciting and busy as I saw the pool get... (I wasn't monitoring it 24/7 though... ;p)

I don't know what to tell you exactly, but... I've noticed in my traveling around that people in other parts of the world (outside the USA) tend to eat outdoors in much cooler or "bad" weather than we normally would. I've ate at sidewalk cafes in Europe when people at home in the USA would never think of doing it - too cold or too damp. Below is a pic I took as I was walking past a TGIFriday's in downtown Stockholm a few years ago towards the middle of November. They weren't quite open for lunch yet but they were ready for people who like to eat on their patio - see the blankets laying around? I think it was in the high 30s or low 40s outside. :D

My *guess* is that unless it's raining that a July breakfast on your balcony wouldn't be such a bad thing no matter what. If you're cold-natured plan for that particular morning and take some flannel PJs and robe with warm slippers to enjoy your anniversary breakfast. Have them bring you hot chocolate too. :)

**I** would rent a car from Arctic Outfitters (near the airport) and drive up the Dalton Highway - regular car rentals won't let you take their vehicles up the Dalton. You could go at least to the Arctic Circle or go on another 60 miles to Coldfoot Camp. It's a truly unique experience. There's no cell service, no am/fm radio. The vehicles from Arctic Outfitters come with two spare tires, a tool box with a lot of stuff you might need if you have a breakdown, a first aid kit and a CB radio to talk to the truckers if needed. About half way there you cross the Yukon river and a few more miles is the Hot Spot Cafe - cool ladies running the place and they make a heck of a burger. The scenery can be stark and at other places its very beautiful. We left around 8 AM and were back in Fairbanks around midnight... It was our favorite day out of a two week road trip of interior Alaska. It was AWESOME! Good luck!