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I have visited Hoonah the past 4 cruise seasons. This is my favorite port. There is nothing to do there except zip line. This is the real Alaska. I have seen humpbacks breaching, killer whales cruisin on the bay, eagles feeding their babies in the nest, stika blacktailed deer grazing by the post office all by just walking to my favorite place the Icy Strait Lodge. While there, from there deck I have seen eagle feeding at low tide, seeing a crane crash in the mud and even a bear along the shore when it is shady. My first experience with the owners Ed and Barabara was fantastic. They have deck with a different view of the bay. We drank beer and shared stories. They are gracious host. Then this guy comes in with a bucket of crab he had pulled from his traps. Next thing you know we are having a crab feast. Now this year doing the same old thing I see more wildlife walking to the bar. Again while talking to Ed and Barbara this guy with grease on his face and a crooked baseball cap comes up to Barbara and whispers something to her and leaves. Barbara then asks me if I can help this guy pick up some crab. Now I am thinking go down to the dock and pick up some boxes of crab. But no, he wants me to help him with his crab traps. Now this mechanic is now Captain Chris. I am now on the not so much deadliest crab catch. The next thing that happens is Capt Chris take me, Barbara and Melanie (another visitor) to his boat. We are now cruising the bay towards his traps. When we reach his traps Capt Chris asks me for muscle. In the first trap we pulled up there are 14 crabs in it. He threw back two of them saying next time when you are bigger. A total of four traps and about 30 good size crabs. We then cruised the bay for another hour (saw another bear on the shore) went back and had another crab feast.

I always tell cruisers that if you have expectations you will not see anything, but if you give a place a chance you will see everything.

I always cruise Alaska for this stop only and looking forward to going back again this season.

Ed and Barbara, Thank you for my Ferris Buellar's day off.

The crazy old man.

We have an aft balcony on deck 9. I was concerned about the posts and reviews regarding the Sun with many commenting about the sewer odors. Biggest problem area was the aft and aft stairwell.

 

I talked with the NCL customer service, who put me on hold and checked with someone else about the issue. She said that my call was the first complaint NCL had since the refit in Spring. There were complaints prior to that.

 

I told her that I had seen a few posts/reviews on cruise critic from cruisers after the refit commenting on the sewer odors. Note, not all the reviews or posters complained about the odors. It is possible that NCL improved on the problem. Still, I am concerned, so I sent an email to NCL and included some excerpts from two reviews under member reviews concerning the sewage odors.

 

No response yet from my email.

 

We plan to go ahead with the cruise and hope for the best, but if we have a problem with these odors, I will complain and request some compensation.

Please cancel your cruise now. After all the positive responses you still want to believe a few past negative posters and you still want to complain that NCL will not take care of your problem. The reason is that there is no problem. But i believe that you will find one. I too sailed this cruise doing a b2b. I have sailed on the Sun in Alaska at least 10 times in the last 3 years on the Sun in Alaska. I have always had Honesty, Respect, Courtesy and just genuinely nice people (the crew). No robots just trying to be nice because it is their job. Was it a perfect cruise? No. My cabin door would not close my itself because i leave my balcony door open all the time. When I complained to guest services they took full responsibility for the problem and sent me a bottle of wine. I was being sarcastic but Melissa just stood there and let me go on. She listened and sent me wine. From Captain Borg ( a great Captain), Brain Walters, Rico Taulbert you will not find better leaders. I plan on going back again this season because of the Customer Service but also they have a great b2b itinerary and they are an excellent value. So go to another cruise line and pay double but have peace of mind.

A am the crazy old man who will pick up a cheaper cabin because of your cancellation. I should really say thank you.

I consider the NCL Suns whole crew my family.

P.S. Budget Queen you are my hero.

Great video, thanks for sharing. I take it that the Pearl (and the Jewel) head up and back off the west coast of Vancouver Island, not through the Strait of Georgia? Alaska is not on my radar yet, but when I do plan it, I think it will be a b2b from Vancouver. But who knows! :)

You are right. Sailing on the Sun tomorrow.

I don't know why it is there but it is a much better stop than ISP.

I totally disagree. ISP is my favorite port. No tourist stores(except the cannery). I have walked into the town and seen eagles and their nest, stika black-tailed deer and I even saw a bear off the road once. And up until this year you tendered in Icy Strait. From the decks of the ship I have seen whales breaching and orca pods. It is the only port I know that if you have patience, the show will come to you. They also offer great whale yours. Going back again on the Sun in two weeks. Looking forward to using the new dock.

Did you reserve a spot on the shuttle, or is available for walk ups?

I reserved but I think they do walk ups. I found out about it through a stay, park and cruise package.

Last May 6th on a Saturday I disembarked with two ships at Canada Place. I left my luggage out the night before like most people. Made arrangements with guest services to be in the first group off who needed to pickup luggage. I was off the ship with my luggage (no big piles because my luggage was the first off the ship) and out of terminal by 8:15. I used Vancouver shuttle whose stand is a short walk when you leave the terminal on the left side. Waited about 30 minutes for the shuttle to fill. We were at the airport before 10am. It seemed so easy. Maybe I was just lucky.

I was able to use two $250 FCC on my last two NCL cruises. I knew about the promotion on the first cruise and all I did was ask about the promotion on my last cruise and they applied it. What made it even better is that I am a solo cruiser. It is like getting an automatic upgrade. With OBC and shareholder benefit credits and purchasing FCC on a cruise, all those credits (about $1000) was basically free money.

Thank you for the heads up. San Diego must be the pits. I can't tell you how many times I have been confused with the ship I am sailing and getting the name right. After reading some of the other posts I can see why. After all who could put up with close hotels, close amenities store and the possibility of getting an early flight out. And that constant 60-80 degree weather. I guess convenience isn't part of your criteria for a nice port. San Pedro and Long Beach are so much better ports to sail into.

How do you receice conformation? Does it show on edocs?

If you know you are going to cruise NCL again then the shareholder credit can be used for FCC. If you purchace a FCC on a cruise for $250 NCL will give you back $100 OBC. If you use shareholder credit for $100. and your new $100. OBC then The $250. you purchased is for only $50. Any other OBC you have can also be applied and thus making your FCC almost free. I do this all the time. Do not buy gifts with your OBC buy FCC. It is free real money for your future cruise. $250 for $50, I think that is a great deal.

I just booked the Jewel in a MX for two A little more than three weeks away and within driving distance. With the additional subtraction of my FCC, out the door $1100 tax and port charges included. No perks though. I have been monitoring this cruise for the past two weeks and the prices just kept going down. If I had booked this cruise last week, it would have cost me and additional $500 and this would have include one free perk. You just have to be lucky and know when you want to pull the trigger and book. Pretty much did the same thing in Oct on the Sun.

On the Sun now in Acapulco. They had the Saints/Falcons game on thursday and they have the Packers/ Chargers scheduled for tomorrow plus two others. The Sun also has three college games on today.

I purchased two $250 FCC in July on my B2B in Alaska. Paid $500. Received $250 OBC on the back leg. I also received shareholder $100 OBC. Now lets just say I also get free gratuities and do not buy a thing. My total bill is $150. I get $350 free of my $500 for my future B2B. But a special promotion was given on the ship that if you cruised again in 2015 you could apply two FCC on that booking. I just booked the Sun to Mexico and was able to use all $500 FCC on that cruise. I am a single cruiser and have a balcony with the cost of an inside. Not bad for $150.:) I will purchase two more $250 FCC and use those for next year and do this all again. It really is free money.:)

I loved your review:). You are a person who doesn't sugarcoat it. Just tell it like it is. Now I am going to sail on the Sun tomorrow doing a back to back. This will be my 5th and 6th cruises on the Sun this season alone. Everything you mentioned in your review I totally agree with. Now, I may not have a extra room but I have been able to cruise the Sun solo 6 times this season and for less than $5000. That's it, total costs for all 6 cruises. All insides and one balcony. I too , get my moneys worth and more. My goal is to cruise like Budget Queen. She is my hero. I travel for value and itenerary. It is to bad you didn't take the southbound cruise. You travel thru the inside passage during the day. Land everywere. And you pass Robson Bight which is where Orcas like to feed. They were feeding on my last cruise and I saw more killers whales that day than all my Alaskan cruises combined. Just luck.

Thanks again for your honesty. I know you will cruise Alaska again and probably NCL.:)

I too was on this cruise and the one northbound the week before. The week before was my 18th alaskan cruise and this cruise was my 19th. The week before the weather fantastic. The southbound trip was the worst. See OP. But this was really my first alaskan cruise :) And I too had a terrific time.

Crazy old man with headphones would would not act his age.:D

You will see many amazing animals. And with a few tricky camera shots you can fool your friends in thinking you paid major dollars on an expensive tour. Does it really matter how you saw bears. You saw bears.:D

I just finished my northbound trip. I saw a family of eagles in the trees above Dollys house. No nest but Mon and Dad and the kids all looked proud. Saw a bear on the city transit on my way to Mendenhaul. Rented a car in Skagway. No animals but fantastic scenery. Glaicer Bay was once again raining on the way in but cleared up when we got there. The best was Hubbard Glaicer. I have been here 8 times and this was the first time we were able to get with in a mile. Most of the other times either fog or icy waters stopped us. Looking forward to seeing Hubbard again up close.:D

Just be happy you have a balcony and cross your fingers. My IX turned into a IA on my northbound trip on the Sun and my BX turned into a BA as I will be sailing back to Vancouver on deck 10 today.

Yes X is a guarantee. In Ketchikan today. Beautiful day. Mostly sunny. The sea day before also mostly sunny. Saw a family of eagles in the trees above Dollys. The kids looked bigger than mom and dad. Just starting to change color. Isn't life wonderful:).

To start I must say that Cruise Critic is the best website for information about cruising. This place has saved me THOUSANDS of dollars. My thanks to all who have been givin upgrades, OBC, and who knows what other perks and then bragged about them on CC. OK now me.

Who knows how it happens. I Booked the Sun for a B2B two weeks ago 6/9 thru 6/23 because the prices were so low. An IX on the way up and a BX on the way back. I am willing to take the least desireable cabin. I sail today and I just got my e-docs. I was upgraded to an IA on deck 9 on the up and a BA on deck 10 on the way back.:) Not bad for a single cruiser and for less than 2 grand. It must be luck. Thanks again to CC.:D

Excellent review.:):):) I think everyone should have the same atittude (expectations) when taking there first Alaskan cruise. The cruisers that have high expectations will see nothing because they spend to much time inside and they expect nature to come to them. The cruisers that have no expectations will see everything. These people look for nature and appreciate everything they see. My first alaskan cruise in 1992 I only saw one whale in seven days and the ship got very cloose to Hubbard and they are two of my finest memories. I have since been on 14 alaskan cruises and doing a b2b on the NCL SUN on monday.

On the Spirit in 2009 to Alaska I was able to upgrade to one. Best upgrade I ever receive.:)