Lorabelle

Thanks for mentioning this. I did not know about it, and I have reserved a car for our cruise in Nov. Yes, it's pricier than an airport rental, but we can grab the car a block from the ship, and there is no additional cost in Uber fees to and from the airport. Not to mention the time saved by not waiting in line to get the car, the trip there and back, etc. I think it's worth it. I have read the reviews, and I am hoping to have one of the good experiences without the hiccups, of course. We will see. But I think it's worth a try! We also want to do a leisurely drive around the island, so this will be very nice.

We did the Hoppa On Hoppa Off last week. The way it works is that it does the tour first. That took about an hour and a half or so. I felt we had plenty of time at each stop, none of them required much more than a look and a few photos. There was plenty of time to shop at the candy factory. Once you are finished with the tour, then you are entitled to use their shuttles for the rest of the day. The tour concludes downtown across from the Farmer's Market. You can opt to stay downtown and catch a shuttle back to the ship whenever you'd like. You can also take the shuttle back to their office, which is just outside the gates of the port. From their office, you can catch the shuttles that go to the various beaches. As of last week Richardson's Beach was not open to shuttles. The beach itself is open, but they are doing some major construction, so the large vehicles are not allowed to go. We had the option of being dropped at Carl Smith or Reeds Bay. We actually did both. We jumped off at the first beach stop, stayed awhile, then grabbed a shuttle and got off at the next beach for awhile. Then we caught a shuttle from there that took us back to the ship. So, the downtown and beaches are not actually part of the tour, but just options to shuttle to after the short tour is over. We felt it was worth the money to get a look around and have the transportation from downtown and also to get to the beaches.

Thanks for the responses. We've decided to save that for a land vacation instead. We're going to do a helicopter tour including NaPali Coast instead. We have a second Hawaiian cruise scheduled a month later, so not sure what we'll do then. I'm sure we'll find something fun!

I have had the halibut sandwich from Burger Queen and it was outstanding! It's a teeny little shack, though, with only a table or two out front to eat. But here's a tip. Next door is a bar called The Asylum. It's nothing fancy, but a typical neighborhood bar with a nice patio. You can order food from Burger Queen through the servers there and they will bring it over right to your table. The Asylum has good drink prices and free wi-fi as well. Super nice folks working in there.

There was a golf cart transfer from the ship to the shuttles in Sitka when we were there this summer.

Yes, 6/5. And the bad part about the machines recently is that you also have to play 10 coins in to get the big jackpot for the Royal Flush. At 10 coins the RF pays $2000. (8000 coins) At 5 coins, it pays $312.50 (1250 coins). As I recall it was the same on Carnival, but I'm not 100% positive. Definitely the same on Holland America.... 6/5 and have to play 10 coins for max pay on RF.

I apologize if this has been asked and answered before, but my search did not turn up anything to answer my question. Our ship is not offering a Na Pali catamaran excursion, and this is something we'd really like to do. I have been looking at independent tour operators, but it seems they all depart in areas that are not near the port. What would be the best way to get to the tour location? Uber? Does anyone know of tour companies that offer transportation from the ship?

My experience on our Alaska cruises this season is that the happy hour is 50% off ALL drinks, not just the second drink. For instance, hubby got a beer, I got a cocktail. We were charged $3.75 for the beer and $5 for the cocktail. Plus the added 18% gratuity of course. You don't have to buy 2 the same, nor do you have to buy more than one. However, we did buy more than one on a few happy hour sessions and each were charged at 50%. Also good to note is that the servers or bartenders were more than happy to allow us to purchase 3 or 4 beers to go at the happy hour prices to take back to our room to enjoy. They did not open them. I do know there is a price limit to what they will discount. It may be any drink under $15 is discounted, but I'm not positive of the price ceiling. I agree that tipping the room service is not necessary, however, we always do. Typically we do $2 to $3 for the two of us if we are ordering minimally. If we have a larger order, say a full meal and dessert, we'll do $5. We did not swim on Zuiderdam, Westerdam or Nieuw Amsterdam on our Alaska sailings this summer. However, many people were. As mentioned, the main pool on all these ships has a retractable roof and if it's chilly or raining, they will close it up. The pool is heated and it was being enjoyed by lots of children and adults alike.

We were also on that sailing. A guy on our transfer bus was going home alone as his wife was heading to quarantine in a Vancouver hotel. I guess he opted not to stay for whatever reason. I thought it was interesting that from the beginning of the cruise, there was only a male piano player in Billboard Onboard in the evenings. On past sailings there has always been a male and female playing together. Hubby and I talked about it and surmised that possibly she had Covid. Then lo and behold about halfway into the cruise, the male piano player also vanished. Instead there was music trivia held in there every single evening. It was lively and fun, but that has not been our typical experience with the Billboard Onboard's evening schedule. On our Westerdam sailings a month ago as well as the Nieuw Amsterdam in the Caribbean in March, there was piano entertainment in there nightly. Masks were required, not just highly suggested, and I witnessed people stopped before entering the buffet and told to put on a mask or they could be provided one, so I think Covid is an issue on that ship right now. Prior to this cruise, we were also on a land tour. It was a 7 day one that began in Skagway, went through the Yukon Territory, then to Fairbanks and through Alaska before boarding Nieuw Amsterdam on Aug 7. Our bus tour had about 45 people in our group. We had to Covid test in Anchorage the day before embarkation on our cruise, and 5 people from our bus tested positive, so 10 folks did not make it onboard the ship. I'm sorry that your wife was affected. I'm glad you are able to stay together and I hope the 10 days goes by quickly!

While I have not done an Alaskan cruise on NCL, I have sailed with them in the past. I have done several HAL Alaskan cruises and I would highly recommend them for all the reasons that Disneyochem stated. The biggest being the enrichment. There were lectures about Alaskan culture on several different days. There is a naturalist who has lectures and also narrates at the time spent in the glacier areas. It's a way to really immerse yourself in the Alaskan experience, and learn some things about the areas you are visiting and the indigenous people of the area. I have not been on the Jewel, so I can't speak to the layout, but the Nieuw Amsterdam is a nice ship with some good areas for glacier viewing when you are in the glacial areas. And yes, Princess also does Alaska right with immersion into Alaskan culture while on the ship. For me, this is an important aspect of taking these cruises. The berths is also a big deal. The convenience of your ship being berthed right in town is very nice! I do agree that Seward is much nicer than Whittier. If you take a cruise that ends in Whittier, all you need to do is get out of Whittier as soon as you can and start your land trip, there is nothing to see in Whittier. You can easily still go to Seward, and if you do, I highly recommend taking one of the longer Kenai Fjords National Park tours. It's one of the best excursions I have taken anywhere, hands down. I sure wouldn't base my trip on where the ship ends up, because that's not a huge issue to still get down the road and see the things you came to Alaska to see.

We went to the Sand Bar years ago. Delicious!! We had a rental car and found the Sand Bar on Yelp. When we got to the building, we couldn't even find the entrance, as you said it's in the back and very non descript. Our picnic style table was next to a beverage refrigerator and some cardboard boxes. LOL Definitely nothing fancy, but the fish and chips was amazing! We had the halibut which is what was recommended on Yelp, and it did not disappoint. Wouldn't hesitate to go back. I love finding the out of the way places that the locals frequent. Much better food and typically the prices are a bit better, but fish is pricey. Alaska is pricey, so I don't expect it to be cheap by any means.

None in the Windjammer on the Navigator this week. They only had premade omelets, about 2 or 3 varieties each morning.

Yes, we disembarked this morning. We were told the ship would be moved out of the port for the afternoon, which is why embarkation would not happen in time. After getting home, I saw the President giving a speech at the port with all the containers in the background, so possibly the cruise ship was in the way of the backdrop they were looking for? At any rate, whether the ship was there or not, they would not have allowed all that traffic to happen around the area that the summit was taking place. We were disembarked very early, we were off the ship by 7 AM and on our way home. We live about 70 miles northeast of the port and we encountered no traffic at that particular time. My son, who also sailed with us, got off about 30 minutes later, and said as he was entering the freeway, there was a motorcade of police officers and big black SUVs arriving in the port area. He was one of the last groups to disembark, so they did a good job of getting most people off and away before things became a mess.

Yes...this. Longest tour possible. We've done it a few times and it's magnificent. The highlight of Alaska, IMO. We did ours through Kenai Fjords Tours, but I have also heard good things about Major Marine. I don't think you can go wrong either way. Just get the all day tour if possible.

I will also mention that if you are a CA resident, and have medical insurance, Total Testing Solutions will do the proctoring at no charge to you, they will bill your insurance. I have not used them yet, but I have an appointment scheduled for next week for an upcoming cruise. I provided our medical insurance and secured an appointment without having to give a credit card or anything.

We are exploring our options in getting to Vancouver this summer. Wondering if anyone has flown into Bellingham, WA post Covid? This would save us hundreds of dollars in airfare, and it looks like there is a Quick Shuttle that could deliver us to a few hotels in the Vancouver area. Then it appears that after the cruise, we can catch the shuttle at Canada Place to go directly back to the Bellingham airport. Just wondering if anyone has traveled using these modes since all the changes in border procedures? We're not looking for a frustrating mess just to get across the border. The website doesn't mention what is required to travel across the border on the shuttle. There are just two of us traveling, and we are fairly well versed in getting around, so not afraid of a little bit of planning, but don't want things to be complicated either. We are hearing awful things about YVR with crowds and long lines, so we thought this may be a nice alternative to avoid that as well. Thoughts?