harveysnc

You mean everyone has different likes and dislikes? I am shocked......

 

Maybe someday everyone will get on board with your exact tastes and your world will be a better place.........

You again...What a nasty person you are. I simply pointed out that people will give a review stating they had a horrible time and give 1 or 2 stars over minor things like rough toilet paper, or, something the cruiseline has no control over like a passenger getting seasick.

The purpose of my reply was to say that one should not worry about the reviews of people that hated their cruise over minor things.

You? You have no purpose. Maybe one day you will stop being such a troll and the world will be a better place.

I just read the recent reviews. I wish I could reply. I can't believe people actually give negative reviews on an Alaskan cruise stating that the ship is beautiful and well-run but the TV has nothing good on and the wi-fi sucks. :o:o:o Oh yeah, and if you don't gamble there is nothing to do "but sit around"!! Look around you!! The entertainment is outside!! Wow!! Also, one review mentions how seasick they got. Another mentions rough and thin toilet paper. And another says drinks are $15-20+ so you better have the drink package (they did). This same reviewer was angry that they couldn't get ibuprofen for free. I am amazed at the things that people will allow to ruin their amazing vacation!! I am not concerned at all. I will come back and eat crow if I am wrong, but I really think I will have an amazing time on my Alaskan adventure aboard the Pearl in 1 week!!

We sail on 6/17 so I'm excited to follow along and hoping it helps the time pass quickly!! Congrats!

Edited to say I found answers from the Seattle departures board. I should have thought of that sooner. :rolleyes:

I know this isn't specifically an Alaska question, but since most cruises leaving from Seattle sail to Alaska, I am asking here.

We are spending 2 days pre-cruise in Seattle and would love to bring flowers from Pike's Place Market on our cruise. I know I have read a review here that mentioned bringing flowers on board, but would like to make sure.

I would be so sad to have to throw them away.

Can anyone here confirm?

Thanks

If you are planning to use your tripod to take Glacier Bay pictures - don't. I can guarantee that the rails will be crowded with people and your tripod will definitely be in someone's way and might even get kicked over. If you absolutely must have some sort of camera support and I don't even suggest one at all - get a monopod or a chain pod.

 

DON

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We leave in 3 weeks for our trip aboard the NCL Pearl. We will spend a few days pre-cruise in Seattle and 4 days post-cruise in Portland.

Today we started to download binge-worthy shows on the I-pad for the long flights (we are from Florida). It got me thinking about a fun Alaska/PNW playlist. We always have a good playlist for our Caribbean trips, but these are much easier to come up with.

We'd love to hear your ideas for a playlist for this trip!! :D

These are great tips and I do plan to play around with my camera every weekend, including this one, until my cruise. I should have done this years ago. I have read the manual and, like I said, watched videos. But, as you have suggested, I need to just use it and make mistakes.

Thanks for the response, I will stick with the lenses I have and get to know them the best I can before we leave. We are on the gulf coast of Florida so have some crazy weather out there this weekend to practice on.

I have an older Canon Rebel t3 I bought years ago (maybe 10) at a black Friday sale. It came as a package with the 18-55 mm lens, a 75-300 lens,and a few filters I have never known how to use. I have never learned how to do much with it other than full auto. I tried sports mode when my son played lacrosse but mostly got blurred shots. It takes great photos for everyday use and I took it to Alaska in 2015 and got some decent photos of humpback whales feeding and even a breach and the huge splash that followed. That leads me to my questions for the experts.

We are sailing Glacier Bay this year on NCL Pearl. I want to take a tripod and also would like to look into a better lens for shots of the glacier and hopefully some wildlife. I want great zoom but I am unsure if I will be able to get good shots without knowing more about how to operate my camera. Can I still use full auto with a lens that will allow more zoom? Should I look for wide-angle zoom? Any suggested resources to help me learn how to operate this camera? I have watched a few youtube videos, but haven't found any that are especially great.

We leave in 3 weeks. Thanks for any input and guidance!

I was at the Dollar Tree the other day for cruise items and found a great first aid kit. It is a flat plastic box with your usual bandaids, alcohol wipes, etc. They also had advil and zantac in carry-packs - I think 2 in each box, so .50/each. You could add those to the first aid kits. I thought the presentation of the kits, with the very flat box, was great. Very efficient and not too bulky. (I'm a new grad nurse, so I love first aid kits, LOL)

 

You reminded me to pack safety pins!! I forget those every time, and they are NOT easily found on a cruise ship!

 

Danni - what are light key cards and deck locator cards?

Your local dollar store is a great place for goodie bag items. I got nightlights, plastic clips to secure beach towels to chairs, mini tissue packs, highlighters for the dailies and post it pads to be able to leave notes for one another on doors all from there.

 

I also got light key cards and deck locator cards from a seller on Etsy and glow necklaces from the party store for my group to use on Glow night.

I am interested in knowing about the light key cards as well? What is that??

Today I got chap stick for everyone, I will add a few Emergen-C to each bag as well. I like the dry-erase board idea and had them in my hand but put them back thinking we may not use them. I do think it's a great way for us to keep track of each other though so may go back and get them.

I took glow sticks and necklaces on our last cruise and we never used them. I'll check to see if we will have a glow party and add those if we are.

Thanks everyone!!

These are great ideas!

I have an entire emergency box I take on every cruise. It contains OTC meds for any thing that could ail you along with minor first aid items, sewing kit, safety pins, dental floss, downy wrinkle releaser, stain remover wipes, etc. The family knows about this and will be able to come to me if they need anything like that.

I like some of these other ideas and the dollar store is a great idea as well. Thanks!!

I'm so sad about your cat. Any news or updates? Poor baby!

I am kind of leading the family trip to celebrate the 50th anniversary of my in-laws. We sail in 30 days on the Pearl for 7 days. I wanted to put a goodie bag in each room (unisex) and am looking for very frugal ideas. So far I have:

Cute paper straws

Cute paper coasters that say "Yay" for drinks in the cabin

Hand Sanitizer/wipes

I was thinking of something with a whale tail theme (Maybe a key chain) but it has to be inexpensive and not all of the cabins are couples so would almost have to do 2.

Relevant magnets for the room (to hang dailies and such)

Lavender sachets from Seattle (Pike's Place) (Again, I would probably need 2 per room).

I am looking for other great ideas. Keeping in mind that some cabins are siblings and/or not couples so if the item can't be shared, I will need 2 of them. Ages range from 22 to 72, if that matters.

Hoping for creative ideas here!! Thanks in advance!

We are on this cruise and getting excited now that we have under a month.

 

Just an FYI there is a CC Meet and Mingle scheduled for Mon June 18(Sea Day) at 10:30 am in the Bliss lounge ,deck 7. We would love for you and your family to join us.

I have been stalking the roll call a bit. We have enjoyed attending the meet and greet on past cruises, but we are travelling with my husband's entire family for his parent's 50th anniversary and aren't sure we will have time. I'll keep it in mind and will try to check in. Would love to share the excitement with everyone!

Thanks!

We also upgraded to an aft penthouse suite just yesterday. We booked last June in a standard balcony. We sail on June and can't wait to experience the suite life!! Have fun!

My wife and I had an aft facing penthouse on the Pearl for our wedding cruise five years ago. It was awesome! Don’t be shy about asking your butler to do things for you. It’s why they are there and why you pay the big bucks! They will be happy to actually know what you want instead of having to try and figure something out.

 

Checking in, non-suite and suite guests can all check in together (unless policies have recently changed).

Thanks!! I hope the policy hasn't changed. The kids don't know we upgraded to The Penthouse Suite. I'm terrible at surprises so I'm hoping I can keep this a secret until we show them upon arrival!

Sorry, some people love to give snarky answers. You didn’t deserve one. I have stayed in 3 non Haven PH suites. Omg they are wonderful! Enjoy every moment and have a blast with your kids. Your Butler is there for you and wants to make you happy

Thanks. We are very excited. Snarky comments from grumpy

people mean nothing to me.

I asked before we entered the suite line if my adult children were able to check in with me even if they were in another room a few years ago and was told “absolutely! The check in person just walked down to the other end of the counter & picked up their key cards. Policy may have changed recently but you can always ask.

This is great!! Thanks for the info. We will ask. :D

We booked an aft for this trip. I would love to book a forward-facing in a warmer location. I was afraid I would be too cold on our day in Glacier Bay to enjoy it.

I agree it won't hurt to ask if they can check in with us. ;p Like I said, worst case is they can't and we will still get on the ship happy and excited for our trip!

"The butler will bring you your breakfast and cocktails. However, just remember that if the butler brings drinks to the suite, they are charged at the full price and are not covered under the drink package (assuming you have one)."

Thank you, goldmom. I wasn't aware of this. I guess my sweet hubby will still have to venture out every morning. :-)

I feel bad for your butler. The butler will deliver just about anything you want. Remember, just because you can doesn't always mean you should.

Ok, so, in your opinion, the answer could have and should have just been "No." to my question #2. I did say this was new to us. I assume, as I have read, that he will be delivering our breakfast in the morning so please explain why this would be so much worse for my poor butler. I'll also add, he will be compensated very well. I was shocked to read some of the low "suggested tips" for butlers on here.

Sailing on the Pearl to Alaska in 4 weeks (June 17th).

We just moved from a balcony cabin to the Penthouse with large balcony (Cat SF). Upgrade price was great so we jumped on it! Our adult kids are booked in an inside on the same deck very close to us so they will enjoy our large balcony too!!

Questions 1: Can we all check in together through the suite check-in? I assume my kids will not be able to piggy back through the suite priority check-in with us. It will stink to not be able to take advantage of this perk for our first suite experience, but, it won't be the end of the world either way. We are platinum as well, so we have had luck getting them to go that route with us. They technically should be nearly platinum but many of the cruises they went on with us as kids did not get tracked. We definitely want to board together for this amazing trip!!

Question 2: Will our butler deliver mimosas and bloody Marys with our breakfast in the morning? I have read a lot about the upgraded room service menu and breakfast and lunch at Cagney's! My sweet husband normally ventures out to find me a mimosa for the balcony in the morning, but it would be great if he didn't have to. :-)

Feel free to share any other tips I should know about! I hope this doesn't spoil me for every cruise in the future!!

Glad your camera recovered!! Duly noted as I have a Canon Rebel as well. Thanks so much for posting daily menus!! This is exactly what I was hoping to find for the beginning of the season!! Enjoying this so much!! Thanks!

I have been following your thread and am very excited for your trip report.

We are sailing on the Pearl on June 17 and taking the whole family. We have booked some dinners already, but I would love to see the main dining room menus for each night to try to avoid reservations on the nights some of our favorites would be availabe in the main dining rooms.

I know there are menus available from last year, but I always like to look at the current season to see if there have been any changes. So, without taking too much time away from your fabulous vacation, I hope you will post nightly menus and dailies when you return. We are less than 2 months from sailing and we can't wait!! Enjoy!:D

I have always ordered mojitos with light simple syrup. I could almost say no simple syrup, but they always make them just right. Yummy!

I am in charge of planning a family Alaskan trip in June 2018. I would love to take everyone on the newest, latest and greatest...Bliss. But I (and my husband) am the only one who has been to Alaska and many going on this trip will probably never get to return. I am disappointed with the Juneau port time, as this was our favorite port in 2016. Also, many others give a couple of extra hours in Skagway where we would like to rent a car and drive to Emerald Lake.

Has anyone who follows these new ship builds ever seen them tweek the itineraries as the Inaugural sailing gets closer? As of now, I am pushing for the Pearl for the itinerary but many in the group love the appeal of the new ship. I'm trying to get the best Alaska experience for all involved...especially those who will only get there once.

Opinions and input would be greatly appreciated!