sunkey1

We booked an all day bus tour with ACT. They picked us up at the pier, we had a tour of Seward, went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, tour of Anchorage and lots of sights in between. The highlight was the driver, I learned SO much about Alaska's history, it was really entertaining. Great way to spend the day as our flight was not until 8:20pm.

You're most welcome. It was beautiful ship, a great run and the crew were amazing. I'm ready to go back!

Just returned from our first cruise to Alaska aboard the Norwegian Jewel, departing Vancouver, inside passage, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier, ending in Seward. Vancouver – Stayed at the Sylvia Hotel on the west side, on English Bay and near Stanley Park. Hotel is a little old, “historic” but was very clean and a great location as we could walk to bike rentals, the beach and any number of eateries. We spent Sunday biking around Stanley Park and down to the port area to see where we would be leaving from the next day. We had gotten PCR tests on Friday, prior to flying out Saturday but we wanted to be sure we were negative so that we could start our vacation so we had brought a couple of eMed proctored antigen test with us and did those at the hotel. Easy peasy, quick and great to know that we were good to sail out on Monday. Embarkation – Had a 9-9:30am embark time which I thought was a little strange as it was so early. Nonetheless we arrived at the port at about 9:15, REALLY confusing to figure out where our taxi driver needed to go as signage was next to non-existent. Finally figured it out and dropped luggage. Headed up to a cavernous waiting room that was still being set up for a number of cruises. NCL reps were having meetings and getting organized. Finally got checked in and were sent to yet another waiting area. Would have been first on the ship except that handicapped and Haven got to go first. Finally made it on around 11am. So much for an early arrival… Ship – The ship is beautiful. They got rid of all of the gaudy colors and the ship is now more elegant and understated. Well, the Garden Café is still a bit bright, but not too bad. 😉 Layout is easy to navigate. We were midship on deck 11 and it was pretty much perfect, quick easy access up or down a few decks to multiple eateries and bars. The dining room, showroom and Spinnakers (where we spent a great deal of time) were the only rooms that were a bit more of a haul. Stateroom – We had a Club Balcony Mini Suite and it was really nice. Cabin itself was slightly wider than a standard balcony room, the balcony was much deeper than standard and the glass door, walk in shower was divine compared to most showers on ships. Our stateroom attendant, Angelo, was fabulous and NCL, unlike some lines, is still doing twice daily cabin service. We found the comforter to be too hot (yes, even for Alaska), so we asked Angelo and he brought us some lighter weight blankets. We had one bag of laundry done and it was returned, folded, in a basket with some tissue paper. Needless to say, we did tip him extra at the end. Dining – We had two free specialty restaurant meals as a booking perk plus two more for being Platinum. We dined at Moderno, La Cucina and Cagney’s. We did not use the fourth night and just dined in The Palace instead. (I’m wondering if they are referring to Tsar’s Palace as The Palace instead due to the Ukraine war). Moderno was good as always, just a different kind of meal/experience. La Cucina was very good, great food and service both. Cagney’s was the only disappointment and the reason that we cancelled our fourth (free) dinner – originally planned for a repeat of Cagney’s. The steak was delicious but the mashed potatoes were barely warm and the broccoli was downright cold on both of our meals. When the Maître D’ finally did come by at the end and we told him he really was not too concerned. All of the meals and service at The Palace were excellent so we just went there the remainder of the cruise. The Garden Café was good, standard buffet fare although I was disappointed at how many items I got that were cold. Only one soft serve machine was working the entire time we were onboard but we managed. 😉 Bars – Where to start? Of course, the Martini and Mojito Bar were great as always. The Topsider Bar out by the pool was always quick service and the service at the lounges was excellent. Entertainment – The first show “Rock You Tonight”, was very good, great vocal talent, dancing and costumes. The NCL Standard I’ve come to expect. We also enjoyed most of “Velvet”, another production show. Duo Extend was an aerialist show which was quite good. The next to the last night we were supposed to see a “Cirque” style show. Apparently, there were some technical difficulties so they could not do the show so they had the “diva” from the Velvet show do a solo show. She was very good. The last night I was hoping they would get it together and do the Cirque show that had been canceled the day prior but instead they had one of their lounge bands perform in the Stardust Theater. The band was good, the lead vocalist was excellent, a few of the men in the band not so much, but we just did not want to go sit in the theater to watch a band that we had already seen multiple times during the week in the Spinnaker Lounge. That was not a “show” in my mind. The other entertainment (other than audience participation game shows) was a juggler, who we did not see. I will be honest that I miss the old days when it comes to the entertainment – anyone who ever saw “Sea Legs” on NCL can attest to the quality of entertainment that used to be the norm. Times change… Ports/Sights – Our first day was spent at sea, on the inside passage. Very cool as you can sea land constantly, a new one for someone used to cruising in the Caribbean. Ø Ketchikan - We had signed up for a bike & hike and a kayak tour through Ketchikan Kayak Company. Super easy as they met us at the pier right at Ward Cove and drove us to the marina to get our bikes. Once we arrived I could not believe the number of eagles there! They catch and clean fish right there so the eagles were hanging around for scraps – there must have been at least 10 – so close!! We were instructed on how to use the electric bikes and we set off. My husband and I were the only ones there so we had a private tour. Ceka was fantastic, providing a ton of information about the Tongas National Forest, plants, wildlife, history, cool facts. We were there at the lowest tide of the year so we went out onto the beach for a while and saw tons of sea stars. The bikes were great as you could crank on the power if you got tired, which I did on some of the hills – I was still feeling the 14 miles that we biked in Vancouver. 😊 Once we arrived back at the marina we began the kayak portion of the tour. We were instructed on the kayaks and then we set out. The intention was to do a tour of various spots but as soon as we paddled out into the channel a bit we saw our first humpback whale and then nobody wanted to move. We spent the next few hours paddling around, watching various whales. It was a gorgeous, sunny, 70 degrees and we were in kayaks watching whales, with spectacular scenery in the background, it really does not get much better than that. I HIGHLY recommend Ketchikan Kayak Company. Ø Juneau - We were booked with Juneau Whale Watch with a visit to Mendenhall Glacier. When I booked I specifically asked if we were going to the glacier first or second as I really wanted to do it after the whale watch so that we could take our time at the glacier, I was assured that the glacier would be after the whale watch. We get to the person with the sign and he checks us in and when I asked to confirm he said that no, we would be going to the glacier first. Not happy as I had specifically checked but oh well. So we get to the glacier and we’re told how much time we have and the hubby and I set off at a brisk pace as we really wanted to go the whole way to the viewing point to get the best look we could at the glacier. We trekked for a bit and finally got there and it really was beautiful. Again, another beautiful, warm day, there is a beach there at the water, a gorgeous waterfall and Mendenhall Glacier. We spent a little time (too little) but had to rush back to catch the bus for the whale watch. When we got to the bus stand there was a driver there from the tour company and he looked at my husband’s wristband and told us to get on the bus. He asked who was on the bus for the whale tour (we didn’t realize until later that he was joking) and we raised our hands. He sets off telling us all about the area, then stops at a statue for us all to get out. I’m wondering at what point we are going to get to the boat. As soon as we get off the bus he looks at our wristbands and says “you guys got on the wrong bus!” Seriously?!?!? He rushes off to call his boss, then comes over and tells us that there’s no way they can get us on a boat, but that we’ll be issued a full refund. And “hey”, he says, “Look on the bright side, you guys got to go to Mendenhall for free”. My husband just about had to hold me back from decking the guy. I was SO disappointed – this was the tour that I had been looking forward to the most and to come so far and spend so much and not be able to do it, and then he’s cracking jokes!? I was crushed and the only thing that did keep me from losing it was that the day before I got to kayak with humpbacks. I do hope to go back to Alaska at some point and I will take a whale watch tour, but certainly not with them!! In the end the driver took us back to the drop off area – needless to say, no tip. Ø Skagway – We went on the White Pass Rail Tour, this time through the ship as we had decent discounts. This was really a great way to see the scenery and it was beautiful for sure. Ø Glacier Bay National Park – What a great day. Rangers came on board to give talks intermittently and appear at various locales on the ship. We spent most of the day up on deck watching at least a hundred otters floating by, a few whale spouts and some harbor seals on some small ice floes. The glacier was amazing and the hubs caught a great calving right in front of us. It really is something best experienced outside where you can feel, breathe and hear what is going on. Cold day but not miserably so. First day of the week that we had needed our cold weather gear. Ø Hubbard Glacier – This was the coldest day of the trip by far and the cold weather layers definitely came into play. Gray in the morning, a brief shower (only rain of the entire trip) right after we had come inside from watching things, then the sun came out that afternoon. After hearing reports of how far out people had been recently from Hubbard Glacier I did not have high hopes but we just kept getting closer and closer. We ended up out about 1.5 miles and it was a great sight. Humongous glacier and lots of ice breaking off, though most was around a bend where we could hear it but not see it. Seward/Debark – My husband called me out to the balcony, said I had to come see something. He was referring to the “terminal” building at Seward. Very small with a tent structure attached. Certainly is a change from Miami, Canaveral, etc. That being said when were ready to leave (about 7:15), we rolled our bags down the empty hall to the empty foyer area where we immediately caught an empty elevator down to the debark level. I will take this process ANY DAY over the normal frenzied process at the larger locales. I did find out that we were sailing with not much over half capacity which explained the lack of crowds at pretty much everything. It was a real treat. This is just an overview of everything – I hope to post the dailies this weekend. To sum it up, it was awesome. I can’t believe the scenery and I understand now why some people go there and never leave!

Just got back from the NCL Jewel and the inside temps were very comfortable for lightweight long sleeves or even short sleeves. It was not dressy at all, the only restaurants with any dress code at all were Le Bistro and one of the main dining rooms (Tsar's Palace), which required "nice" jeans and collared shirts for the men. Even a polo shirt was acceptable. It was definitely a very casual, laid back vibe and I would take fewer dress clothes the next time for sure!

This is fantastic as we just had a horrid experience with Juneau Whale Watch tours. We got on the tour bus to Mendenhall to take a frenzied trek to the glacier so that we could get back to catch the bus to the whale watch. At the bus stand the driver saw our wristbands and waved us on to the bus. After we drove around a bit and he stopped at a statue we were getting off the bus when he saw our wristbands and told us we were on the wrong bus! Called someone at Juneau Whale Watch and we were told that we would get a full refund. I was beyond disappointed as that was the tour I had been looking forward to the most. The refund could not come close to making up for the lost experience after traveling that far. The driver had the nerve to say "well, look on the bright side, you got a free trip to the glacier".

Just returned from our first Alaska cruise after almost 50 Caribbean cruises. Was the most active I've ever been on a cruise, from hiking and kayaking to biking. It was truly an amazing, gorgeous place to visit. While we're still going to go on Caribbean cruises for the relaxation aspect, it has definitely opened our eyes to what else is out there and now we're thinking Med. or a river cruise to mix things up a bit.

Just back from the NCL Jewel and we got about 1.5 miles away. Lots of floating ice and it was the only day of the trip that was COLD. Beautiful to see though.

It depends on what you're looking for. We've been to all three and if you want activity, crowds then Mr. Sanchos and PB are the perfect fit. If you want more laid back, relaxed and less crowded then Nachi Cocum is great.. We found the service, food and drink offerings to be more alike than different for sure.

OMG, Yvonne, I have enjoyed your review so much! You seriously should think about writing a book. We're sailing on the Jewel next month and your review has made me even MORE excited, if that's possible. I did have one question, although with the butler service you had you may not know. On the daily it lists a service called SWIFT!, for having snacks and drinks delivered to your stateroom. I've not heard of this before and it sounds perfect given that we plan to spend so much time on our balcony enjoying the scenery. Would you have any idea if there was a charge for using SWIFT! and if so, how much? We'll certainly manage if we have to make drink/food runs but sure would be nice!

Oh they still do this on Carnival! We had SIX waiting on our bed for us the first day we arrived and an additional one each day after.

We went last October and enjoyed it so much that we booked again for this October. I'll be interested to see the difference though as when we sailed her in 2021 she was not sailing full.

First cruise was a four nighter onboard the MS Sunward (TINY ship). Loved it so much that we went back next year for the maiden voyage of the SS Norway and sailed on her an additional 7 times through the years. She will always be the most special ship in my mind, so classy and back then everyone really dressed up for dinner. Wait staff was from the islands and so much fun! Shows were amazing, saw Sha Na Na and met some of them in the pool one day, saw and met Vic Damone, so many good entertainers. And the Broadway shows! Full scale productions of Hello Dolly, My Fair Lady, with talent and costumes to rival any Broadway show today. And Sea Legs, the Vegas style revue, fantastic. Unfortunately it set such a high bar that I still compare and not much has matched up through the years, even with 40+ cruises.