wnycruisefam66

Hi! Great start! We're heading on our 1st Alaskan cruise end of June. I'll be following along w/your trip report. Happy anniversary!

Hi! Following along too. Cruising June 2018 w/our 17 yr old son. I'm thinking of booking Juneau Whale Watch, so I'm interested in what you thought of the 2nd part of the tour.

Thank, Keith! I called NCL this morning & spoke to a very helpful lady regarding removing the beverage & dining service charges added to the Jewel confirmation. Was on the phone w/her for about 1/2 hour, with her having to put me on hold a few times to speak to a supervisor, but she agreed that these should not have been added to the new confirmation. They have been removed & I now have my new confirmation w/o the charges.

We were booked on the Sun in a suite for June 2018 (booked Dec. 2016), which has now been switched to the Jewel. Looking at my original confirmation, we were not charged beverage or dining service charges. Looking at the new confirmation, we have been charged for these.

Is that correct? If the promo when I booked did not have these charges, should I be charged for them now? Norwegian changed the sailing from Sun to Jewel, so it was not my choice to re-book.

Just tried to call on my lunch hour to re-book the room with one of the choices I was given last night. First told all those rooms were gone, then after being on hold, told they couldn't re-book any rooms until possibly a week from now, so she couldn't say for sure that those rooms were gone or not.

I called last night & was given our new room assignment. It didn't really work for us. On the Sun I had reserved a great aft balcony suite w/separated sleeping area in the living room for our teenage son and 2 bathrooms. I was given a forward suite with a big balcony, but our son would be sleeping right next to us on a pull out chair & only 1 bathroom. I was given some other room choices, but after doing some research online, I'm not real excited about them. While they have the space we need, the balconies are just regular size. The draw for me in spending the money for the aft suite was the huge balcony, not really the suite amenities. If I'm just going to have a regular size balcony anyways, I'm leaning towards a balcony room for my husband & I and an inside room for our son. I haven't priced it yet, but I'm sure it would be less, even with my son as a single in the inside room.

I'm booked on the Sun June 25, 2018. I guess this explains why when I've tried to make a payment online the last few days it won't let me.

We've booked an aft suite, so I hope we are given a similar suite on the Jewel. I know nothing about the Jewel. Time for more research!

My family was on the Spirit Grand Med. cruise in 2014 with 2 adjoining balcony cabins. My husband & I in one & 3 teens in the other. The bed was split into 2 singles & the chair/loveseat folded out into a single bed. At least I think it was a single bed as I can't imagine 2 people trying to share it! The room was very crowded with teens & clothes, etc. I felt bad for the room steward!

Hi - enjoying your review & pictures! We're going on our 1st Alaskan cruise in June 2018 on the NCL Sun. This will be our 1st time in a suite. We can't wait!

Hi! Another Buffalo cruiser checking in! We're going on our 1st Alaskan cruise June 2018. Can't wait to read more!

I'm following along! I've booked an aft balcony on the Sun for June 2018 + doing a 7 day DIY land trip afterward.

Great pictures!

Hi Norris! Reading along & just wanted to let you know that I'm also enjoying your wonderful review! I found my 1st Norris review a few months ago while researching Alaskan cruises for 2018 & now I'm hooked! This is just what I need in February in Buffalo (although it will be 45-50 here today)!

Thanks very much for your detailed and informative blog! I just booked the NCL Sun for June 2018 for myself, husband & 17 yr. old son (at time of cruise). Let the planning commence! I so wish we had a large family group to travel with. Such fun memories you have! I have saved your blog as we will visit the same ports, with the exception of Icy Strait. Our cruise will have a day cruising Glacier Bay instead. We're also planning some extra time to visit Denali. Thanks again for all of your hard work!

Hi! I just booked our 1st Alaskan cruise on the Sun for June 2018 the other day. I'm starting my research now & found your review. Thanks so much for the pictures of the Sun, menus & daily cruise guides. Also the wonderful port pictures! I have resisted going to Alaska, but husband & son are wanting to go. Coming from a cold climate (Buffalo, NY), I prefer to go somewhere warmer when vacationing, but seeing your pictures makes me look forward to going! Thanks again for all your hard work in putting this trip report together!

Hi Norris:

I popped in about mid-way thru to tell you how much I was enjoying this review. I've finished now & wow, so much fun to read! I'll be showing my husband these pictures & reading your other Alaska reports too. I really can't wait until we go in 2018. I think we'll be sailing on Royal instead of Princess though. We'll be sailing with our 17yr. old son (at time of cruise) & I think Royal will be a better fit for that cruise.

I did actually start your 1st Med. trip report last night. I love your pictures of Rome! It brings back such happy memories of our Med cruise in 2014. We also used Rome in Limo & would absolutely recommend them! In fact, I just did to a friend of my husbands and they also came back with glowing reviews of RIL.

Thanks for all of your hard work!

Tina

Thanks Norris for the entertaining review & wonderful pictures! Came over to the Princess boards as we're looking at an Alaskan cruise for 2018 & trying to decide between Royal Caribbean & Princess. I look forward to reading your other reviews. Something to help me get thru the long cold Buffalo winters!

Tina

I have booked the Secret Sands excursion for our FOS cruise in 2 weeks. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!

Thanks for the review! We missed this on our last trip. Boy were we envious when we saw our tour mates coming back to the bus eating some of those pastries! We vowed to make it there next time! Going to be there in about a month!

Hi Nicole:

I just started reading your review but wanted to stop in to say how much I'm enjoying it! Also wanted to say that your travel experience on your flight out was almost exactly the same as our 1st trip to Europe last year (Delta). Flight delays for hours, missed connections, when we did finally get a flight out, no good seats together like we had chosen & paid extra for. Finally got on the plane & found out they had assigned my 14 yr old son's seat to someone else. Waiting forever to see if he actually had a seat on the plane, finally arriving in Venice in the very late afternoon, so basically that day wasted! Sorry to go on & on. Like you, we had a wonderful trip after that & are planning to go back in 2016. Oh, & we did the Spirit 12 day Grand Med that was your other choice. Loved the cruise ports, but found out we would have preferred a Royal Caribbean ship. Going to enjoy more of your adventures now!

Tina

Can't wait to read this! Booked on AOS next year with our kids. Slightly different itinerary than yours though. We're excited - all the islands but St. Maarten will be new to us. Thanks!

I was on this Jewel cruise with Ginny and am also booked on the Adventure next year. When are you going? Our cruise is scheduled July 16th 2016

We still have kids in school, so we're limited in our vacation times. We're going for spring break, sailing 3/26/16.

Thanks for the enjoyable review! Doing our 1st So. Caribbean next year on the Adventure. Love your beautiful pictures!

Thanks so much for the great review! It was just the thing I needed to pass the time on some cold & snowy days here in New York! It helped me re-live our 1st Med cruise with our 3 teens this past summer. Looking forward to the Paris part of your trip as we're planning a land trip to London, Paris & Amsterdam next year.

Tina

I'm enjoying your thoughts on this cruise. We did the opposite route in June. I had to smile at your comments on the magician. We thought the show was awful too!

Hi:

I recently found your review & got about halfway thru so far. Love all the pictures and details! Great job! We did our first Med cruise (& trip to Europe) this summer, so I'm reliving my trip by reading about yours. I also recommend renting an apartment for a larger group. We rented for 3 nights in Barcelona & it was great to have space for everyone & not pay for 3 hotel rooms. Looking forward to reading more on my lunch break today.

Tina