Aug 26th - Sept 2nd Pearl - Alaska Review with pics...

Day 1 – August 26th.

 

We are home today off of the Pearl and my hangover has somewhat subsided so I am going to start my August 26th – Sept 2nd Alaska review.

 

My wife and I are in our late 40s and live in Sammamish, WA which is twenty miles east of Seattle. We have 3 kids, 2 dogs, a cat, and 2 chinchilla’s (youngest daughter’s hedgehog died last week) but none of the kids or pets came with us on the cruise.

 

We booked this cruise, in part, because its departure was on our 23rd Anniversary. We had bought $500 CruiseNext on our Venice cruise and applied them to this Trip when we booked back in January. I think we paid $1799 for a mid ship Balcony including $100 credit plus UBP/UDP (our TA gave us another $25 credit). We also bid on upgrades but didn't win (the ship was completely sold out). We have lived in the Seattle area for nearly 20 years but have never sailed (or even been) to Alaska. I posted the question here as to whether to book the Bliss or the Pearl. The replies pointed me toward the Pearl and I am happy we made that decision.

 

After we booked one of my wife’s best friends told us that she was going to Alaska this Summer as well because her Niece was getting married. Several months later we met her for happy Hour and started talking about where our cruises were headed, which cruise line, and which date. It turns out that we had booked the same cruise. We are friends with the bride as well and they were kind enough to add us to the invitation list. That ended being our favorite excursion.

 

We booked a mid-ship balcony with the UBP and UDP and added the Thermal Spa when it became available (great decision). I had spent some time planning and making dinner reservations which I ended up completely changing once on board. We were in cabin 9116 which was fine with a pretty good location near the mid-ship elevators just above O’Sheehans. I have read some complaints but I thought the size of the cabin was fine. The WC was a little tight…you kind of have to pivot to sit on the toilet seat and I am not sure how a very tall person could even make it work. We brought all manner of plug converter but all of the power outlets had been changed to US as well as a USB charger port. We did end up needing to use oneof the converters later in the cruise. We brought two giant suitcases and everything fit in the drawers/cubbies/closet pretty well. Finding a place for dirty clothes was more of a challenge.

 

Our check-in time was 12PM but we figured we would try to arrive at the port early to board sooner. My wife’s friend was dropped off atour house by her husband at about 9:30 and our daughter took us to the port…actually, I drove because she was sound asleep in the car after working ata concert at Centurylink field (or maybe Safeco) the night before. We got to Pier 66 at about 10AM and it was already buzzing with people waiting to board. We climbed out of the car, handed our way overpacked suitcases to the porter and headed to check-in. We did a quick check for out passports when I realized I had left my mobile phone plugged in the car so I spent the next 20 minutes coordinating its return with my daughter.

 

We ended up getting group 11 and were on the boat a little before noon and our rooms were ready about 1:30. We brought 4 bottles of wine(it is our anniversary trip so we wanted some decent wine) and paid the $60 corkage fee. While waiting to board the couple across from us said their wine was in their baggage and thought they could pay once on board…I hope it worked out for them.

 

It has been scorching hot summer in Seattle but it was cooland drizzly today which would kind of be the theme for the trip except for themost important port of the trip. While waiting for our room we decided to checkout the Thermal Spa (we bought the passes) and arrived for the tour and raffle(we didn’t win). I left to go do something (probably get another drink) and met my wife in the cabin while she went to purchase CruiseNext. Apparently after CruiseNext she went back the spa because upon her return she said that she signed up for an 8AM facial which I said was fine…just don’t wake me up when you leave (first day is a Sea day). She smiled and said, “I signed you up for 8AM Acupuncture”. What? I had never done acupuncture before. I had never even considered acupuncture before. We then made our way to down to O’Sheehans for some wings, fajitas, and another drink.The wings and fajitas were good but not as good as remembered from the star. I think there was more breading this time and didn’t the fajitas once come with rice and beans?

 

We enjoyed sail away from our balcony with a couple of more drinks and set off to explore the ship. We had sailed the Star last October and I would say the Pearl is similar. One thing we loved about the Star was the somewhat secluded adult only Hot Tub on the bow but the Thermal Spa pass more than made up for it on the Pearl. After Sail Away and another drink we went to the photo shop to pick up an album for a friend and then headed back to the room to get ready for dinner.

 

When we boarded I was able to book Le Bistro for our anniversary dinner that evening (it was not availed at all before 9PM pre-cruise) and then ended up changing all of the reservations I did make pre-cruise (we would later eat at Cagney's and Teppanyaki) . It was good but also not as good as I remembered from the Star. I had the scallop appetizer and it wasn’t very good…they kind of tasted like aluminum. The main course was Shrimp and Artichoke hearts (actual fresh hearts) in a cream sauce which was pretty good but mainly because of the Artichoke. We had a 2012 Terra Blanca Red Mountain Cab which was very good and which they opened for us but didn’t decant. Later in the week the wine steward was pretty impressed with our wine tasting ability(my wife’s really) and did decant for us during our Cagney’s dinner.

 

After dinner we explored the ship a little more but with thebig meal and drinks since noon we ended up in bed by 11:30. The rest of thewedding group (about 40 in total) hung out at the Bliss Lounge singing Karaokeall night (which would happen again most nights).

 

Day 2 at Sea…Acupuncture, Thermal Spa, Karaoke…

 

 

First Drinks..Sapphire/Soda and Patron Silver, Cointreau, and Lime Juice.

 

 

 

View from our balcony of the Naughty Luggage Pile

 

 

 

Sailing away

 

 

 

 

Patron Silver, Cointreau, and Lime juice at Spinnaker.

 

 

 

 

 

View of the Front of Spinnaker

 

 

 

 

Trivia in the Atrium. Most Trivia and similar games were done in the Atrium. We absolutely killed it in Trivia on the star but didn't attend many sessions on this trip.

Edited September 3, 2018 by fastpitchdad

Great start......looking forward to reading the rest of your review.

A few more pics from the first day

 

 

Waiting for us in our cabin

 

 

 

Balcony at Sail Away

 

 

 

Our Balcony at port

 

 

 

I hope this wasn't anyone here

 

 

 

Balcony at sunset

 

 

 

The port...waiting to leave

I’ll be on the Pearl in 2 weeks, looking forward to your review

 

 

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I’ll be on the Pearl in 2 weeks, looking forward to your review

 

 

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Me too!

 

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Thanks for the review. We sailed the Pearl 2 years ago to Alaska and loved it. We are sailing BLISS soon to Alaska again and we know we will love it just as much. We are in Haven so we cannot go wrong.

My husband and I have a Sept. 23rd sail date! Is there anything that we shouldn't miss?!?

My husband and I have a Sept. 23rd sail date! Is there anything that we shouldn't miss?!?

Probably the best decision we made was getting the Thermal Spa. It was perfect for this trip since the pool deck was chilly and the hot tubs always crowded. We used it pretty much every day. I will add more details in the upcoming day 2 :) .

 

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Heading out on the Pearl for the last cruise of the season at the end of the month. So excited! This is a very specific question, but doesn't hurt to ask. Did you happen to notice if there was a heavy bag (for boxing/kickboxing) in the gym?

Heading out on the Pearl for the last cruise of the season at the end of the month. So excited! This is a very specific question, but doesn't hurt to ask. Did you happen to notice if there was a heavy bag (for boxing/kickboxing) in the gym?

 

I did go to the gym and don't recall seeing one but I wasn't looking for it either.

Day 2 At Sea

 

Even though we were in bed by 11:30pm the night before, 6:30am came really early. One thing I don’t remember as an issue on the Starwas the gap in the bed we had this time. Even without any kind of additionalmovement (although in those cases it would become much more pronounced), we would end up with a about a 6 inch gap between the mattresses.

 

 

Also, our room art was kind of strange.

 

I called it Slugs Run Over By A Steamroller

 

 

Speaking of art, despite no less than 10 "exclusive" invitations, we did not attend any art events.

 

 

We had breakfast at O’Sheehans which was good but not asgood as the Buffet where we would eat most subsequent days. Once we finished our omelets and hashbrown pucks weheaded up to the Spa for our 8am appointments.

 

My acupuncturist met me at the front desk…I think his namewas Dr. Hori. We went to a treatment room with a massage style table and heasked me what medical issues I would like treated. I wanted to say severe lackof sleep with a slight hangover but said mainly stress relief and muscle soreness. I then stripped tomy boxers and climbed on the table lying on my back. Dr. Hori proceeded tostick me small pins beginning at my feet and working up to my chest. They didn’t really hurt…I actually didn’teven feel most of them. One in my hand was a little painful but he adjusted it.He then said he would leave the room for a while and let the needles work and turned down the lights and had some relaxing music being played in thebackground. He returned about 30 mins later and asked me if I felt more relaxed.I honestly did but I had also been half asleep on a massage table in a dark room withsoft music. He suggested that I needed 3 more treatments (at $150+ each) while on the ship. Itold him I would consider another treatment later in the week if it workedwithin my schedule. I actually was curious enough to see if it did make adifference and was willing to give it another shot.

 

After our appointments we headed to the Thermal Spa. Thiswas our first experience with the Thermal Spa and it was one of the highlightsof our trip. When we checked in for the first time they put a sticker on theback of our card to give us access during the week. We then went to our lockerrooms to get ready. The men's (and I assume the women's) locker room had a large bathroom,showers, steam bath, sauna, cold plunge, jetted tub, lockers, and a lounging area.I got changed and grabbed a robe and a towel and proceeded to the coed area. Ireally enjoyed the therapy pool. The water is warm but not quite hot tub warmand it had multiple areas of separate water features (jets, bubbles,waterfalls). We were sailing in kind of rough open seas which had theeffect of also turning it into a wave pool. This really wasn’t an issue exceptfor the built in underwater lounge area at the far end of the pool. With the wave effectyou kind of had to hold on for dear life. while waves came crashing over your head. That part of the pool was a muchbetter experience later in the week.

 

 

Me relaxing on a padded lounge chair (I tried to edit and rotate on Flickr but CC corrects it back to sideways).

 

After the pool we jumped in the hot tub (literally…it is awkwardto enter) and then tried the heated loungers I had read so much about. Iunderstand now why every raves about them. After fading in and out of sleep fora while we moved to the padded loungers in front of the large forward windows. Bynow it was almost noon (we spent more than 2 hours in the Thermal Spa) and timeto find something to eat.

 

I had joined the CC roll call when we booked the trip but Ialso joined our sailing’s facebook group which had scheduled a meet and greetthat afternoon at the Martini Bar. Because of time zones and FB Calendar Ithought it was at 1PM but nobody was there when we arrived. I checked and sureenough it was 3pm and not 1PM. My wife and her friend (we will call her D) wentoff to explore while I donated a little bit of money to the Casino. I spent verylittle time there but I like Pai Gow and Craps but neither were open whenever Ivisited (which admittedly was never during prime time). I played someincredibly tight slot machines and a little video poker (also with very tightpay tables). The Grandfather of the Bride hit a royal flush the night beforebut I would have no such luck (not even close).

 

 

Martini Bar

 

At 3PM we met back at the Martini bar. Only about 10 peoplefrom the group showed up but we had a good time and made some new friends.

 

We then grabbed something to eat. I actually don’t rememberwhere…I didn’t drink that much J but I had originally booked Cagney’s on this night and we decided to push it laterin the week and just kind of graze for dinner.

 

After relaxing in the cabin for a while we made our way tothe Not So Newlywed Game. On the Star they had you submit you names into binsbased on the number of years in which you had been married but this cruisedirector just had all of the prospective couple come on to the dance floor andthe three giving the most passionate kisses would be selected. We entered justas this was beginning and decided not to enter the fray. I think I like how theStar did it better since you get different perspectives. The game show was funas always despite some questions that make you squirm a little.

 

We then went to the Bliss Ultralounge to meet up with thewedding group for Karaoke. The lounge is interesting with bowling alleys, beds,and odd decor. Karaoke was already in full swing and the other members of thewedding party were way too good and me way not drunk enough to partake. So we drankand talked while members of the group sang. My only Karaoke song in Nirvana ‘SmellsLike Teen Spirit’ done in a Weird Al style but this system didn’t have the song(or any Nirvana songs) so I didn’t have to worry about singing J.

 

Around midnight or so we found our way back to our room and triedto push the beds back together.

 

Day 3…Juneau, Taxi’s, Crab, and Beer

Edited September 4, 2018 by fastpitchdad

Day 3 – Juneau

One thing I forgot about for Day One was that it was our Anniversary and we had a little congratulations card waiting on our bed for a free cake during that evenings dinner. We had so much food during dinner than the cake was largely untouched but it was a nice gesture. My wife had also ordered Anniversary Sparkling Wine ahead of the cruise but it never arrived (and we had to move heaven and earth to get the charge removed).

 

Thankfully, we were able to sleep in later than day 2. We had an afternoon arrival in Juneau so after sleeping in a little bit we headed over to Indigo for breakfast. The options were a little better than O’Sheehans including traditional and smoked salmon eggs benedict. My wife got the traditional and I got the smoked salmon. It was pretty good but crab would have worked better than smoked salmon.

 

After breakfast we headed down to the Thermal Spa. I had a Webex I had to join at noon so after about an hour I left my wife at the Spa and headed back to the cabin. Webex didn’t work very well but I was able to dial indirectly using calling over wifi (T-Mobile). For good or bad it worked pretty well the entire week (I had a few more calls that week).

 

 

The Bliss as we pulled in.

 

 

While waiting to disembark to Juneau we ran into some friends we made at the FB meet and discussed sharing a cab to Mendenhall Glacier. Apparently there is a $4 bus that takes you to the entrance which leaves a 30 minute walk to the visitor center while a Cab can take you the entire way. When we disembarked and found a cab the price was $35 fare plus $17 per person so we passed. Later it occurred to me that everyone probably had to pay the $17 regardless of how they got there so $35 split 4 ways wouldn’t have been too bad…especially to get all the way to the glacier.

 

We decided to just head into town while they took the bus to the glacier.

 

My wife is a quilter so our first stop (and at every other port) was to the nearest quilt shop which was called Changing Tides and was a short walk from the pier. She spent some time looking for fabric and designs unique to Alaska while I sat in the husband chair talking to one of the quilt staff. My wife does something called Row by Row which is where you buy a quilt row design from at least 8 quilt shops around the country and then try to be the first person to turn it in to one of those shops. My wife bought their Row by Row pattern and kit but they said in all of their years they had never had one turned in. The problem is that there are not enough quilt shops in Alaska so people like my wife buy the kits but never return before the year’s Row by Row promotion is over (which is actually today). My wife now considers that a challenge.

 

 

This is the Row by Row she turned in this year

 

After the quilt shop we wandered town a bit and found ourselves at the Alaska Brewery store where we were told for $25 we would get a ride to the Brewery and seven 4 OZ tastes of beer. We signed up for tour beginning in about 2 hours and went off in search of food and found ourselves at Tracy’s crab shack on the water (as opposed to the big restaurant in town). I had hoped to find some fresh King Crab on this cruise but apparently it was out of season so they either had frozen King or Fresh Dungeness. We can get Frozen king at Costco and Fresh Dungeness at our local supermarket so I was a little disappointed.But fresh crab is fresh crab and $22 for a steamed and cleaned Dungeness isn’t too bad a deal. We also had their crab bisque which was outstanding. One strange thing was that for a crab shack they didn’t have any crackers, mallets, or metal forks (I usually just use a metal fork to pick crabs). After eating we headed back to the Alaskan Store to wait for our shuttle.

 

 

Mmm Mmm good!

 

 

 

A group of seven of climbed in a white van for the 10 minute drive to the Brewery. We got an overview of the history and innovations of the Alaskan Brewing Company. It was a pretty cool story, they had to overcome a lot of obstacles since you can only fly or sail into Juneau and one thing that I didn’t know was that they only bottle their beer at the Brewery despite shipping it to 22 western states. My guess is that it is the 3rd most popular beer in Seattle behind Mannys and Mac n Jacks. My wife isn’t a big beer drinker so I got seven 4 OZ tastes and seven 3 OZ tastes. I would give the brewery tour a definite thumbs up.

 

 

 

Once we got back into town we went to Devil’s Club brewing as was recommended by of the locals filling up growlers at the brewery (good prices for Growlers…$6 - $8). I don’t remember what beer I had (see 14 tastes above)but we got a grilled cheese sandwich that was fantastic.

 

When we finally got back to our cabin we realized that we accidentally left a couple of water bottles in my wife’s backpack. Not really wanting to eat were still full from crab, beer, and grilled cheese we went to watch some more wedding Karaoke and then to “Hilarious Comedy Show” which wasn’t all that hilarious but it was better than the Hypnosis sales pitch show (also billed as hilarious) we attended later in the week. After that we hung out at Spinnaker a bit listening to Energy Plus. They are not bad for a house band and have a lot of range.

 

Day 4 – Skagway, White Pass, and a Wedding

Enjoying reading about your trip. Looking forward to the rest. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Great Start! Can’t wait to read more!

I’m enjoying your report and looking forward to reading more. Thanks for sharing your photos.

Day 4 – Skagway

 

One thing I forgot to mention for day three is that we arrived in Juneau early but the Bliss was sitting in our parking spot so they offered Tenders for those wanting to disembark early. You were assigned numbers and then queued when called. But while we were waiting to Tender the Bliss finally moved so those still on the ship had to wait until we got to port.

 

Today we got the better parking spot

 

Today was the wedding day for our friends. The weather had been pretty dreary so far (and would be for the rest of the week) but today was a warm sunny day…a truly spectacular day.

 

The wedding was at 2PM with a shuttle pickup at 12:45 so we booked the 8AM white pass train which would have us back by noon. We had breakfast at the buffet which I think I actually preferred over O’Sheehans and Indigo. They had a couple of types of benedicts each morning as well as build your own omelets. I will add that the water dispenser is terribly designed requiring you to hold your cup while pressing the button and balancing your plate…I had a hollandaise accident later in the week.

 

After breakfast we disembarked and headed for the train which was essentially right next to the ship. We had been told to sit on the left side of the train and the ride up but when we mentioned that to one of the staff they scoffed at us and said each side will have the same view. True I guess except that the way up felt a lot slower and had more commentary and you would have the opportunity to see something for the first time and then walk out to the landing on the way back for a better look. So my advice…sit on the left side for the trip up and the right side on the way back (they ask you to switch…the train doesn’t actually turn around they just move the engine from the front to the back). The train couple with the bluebird day made for a fantastic journey. Someone had mentioned that sometimes the early train is hampered by fog but definitely not today (other than the windows as we waited to leave).

 

 

 

 

After the train we had a few minutes so we walked to the nearest quilt shop. My wife had a coffee and they didn’t allow food and drinks so I patiently waited outside. Righty across the street is a store billed as “Alaska’s first legal cannabis store” (or something like that). I was tempted to check it out while I waited but we were pressed for time so I didn’t want to stray too far. After spending an undisclosed sum at the quilt shop we headed back to the ship to change for the wedding.

 

The wedding was held at Jewel Gardens which is just outside of the main town of Skagway. It had gardens of course, but also an extensive nursery and a glass blowing facility (I think they must have a glass blowing excursion). Again, this was an outdoor wedding and the weather and setting made it absolutely perfect. It would be definitely worth a visit even without an event to attend. We spent about 5 hours at the venue much of which were spent walking through the grounds.

 

 

 

 

There were heavy appetizers at the wedding so once back on the ship we weren’t terribly hungry but after a relatively short stint at the Thermal Spa, we went for Sushi. The selection was kind of limited (no Unagi and only a few types of fish) but it wasn’t bad. The Sushi chef made us his own concoction when ended up being the best thing he served.

 

After that somewhat late dinner we went to see the comedy hypnotist. I think the last time I saw a hypnotist was many years at Magic Mountain and that show I recalled as being pretty funny. This show started as a sales pitch and then continued into hypnosis that reinforced the sales pitch and then turned back into a sales pitch and at no point was it funny. Suffice it to say, we left before it ended and went to find the wedding party singing away at Bliss before heading back to the room to see if we could figure out a way to make the bed stay together.

more train pics:

 

 

 

 

 

more Jewel Gardens pics

 

 

 

Thanks for all of the replies of encouragement!

 

Day 5 – Glacier Bay

 

This was the reason we booked Alaska and booked the Pearl specifically.

 

We were told to wake up early as we entered Glacier Bay and watch the scenery on the way in. Some Glacier Bay park rangers boarded early in the morning and gave commentary was we sailed into the bay and until we reach Margery. The commentary was great (although the speaker feed was slightly out of sync with the TV feed which was a little annoying) although from our balcony most of the points of interest were on the left side of the ship and we were on the right. We made our way to the outside area of deck 7 until we reached Margery. It was a good spot. The upper decks looked much more crowded but from deck 7 we seemed closer to the action anyway. We eventually went back to the room and took in Margery and the surrounding bay in all its glory mainly from our balcony as the ship hovered around. It truly is the highlight of the trip and what made this Alaska cruise special (other than the amazing wedding of course). Someone mentioned that the Bliss had to turn back from their glacier viewing because of weather…that would have been extremely disappointing and makes me even that much happier that we chose the Pearl instead.

 

 

 

 

As we moved on from Margery our balcony seemed to have the better view but eventually we left to take it in from the Thermal Spa. When we arrived the Spa was almost empty but more people joined us fairly quickly. I decided to spend a little time in the Sauna which also has panoramic windows. For some reason I wasn’t wearing contacts so I took my glasses with me into the Sauna. I sat there enjoying the view while sweating out days of overindulgence toxins until one of the lenses from my frameless glasses fell to the floor. Apparently the glue that held it together wasn’t tested in sauna conditions.

 

 

 

From the women's Sauna (no I didn't sneak in...my wife took it)

 

I picked up the pieces of my glasses and went back to the locker room…I had to head back to the cabin anyway for a conference call. As the call was wrapping up my wife sent me an iConcierge message (holy crap it worked this time) that she was going to a black glass wine tasting at 2pm at LeBistro. Which was code for “I am already upset enough that you are doing conference calls on this cruise so you better get down here and join me”.

 

A black glass wine tasting is essentially that…a wine tasting using black glasses so that you have to identify the wine using taste and smell and not color. When I got there she said they needed a minimum of 4 but another couple had told them they would join and they did arrive just before 2. My wife and I are really into wine (in fact she is helping bottle wine at a Washington Red Mountain winery today) so we really enjoyed it. We tasted a red and a white in clear glasses and went through the types of tastes and smells with each wine. It was very instructional even for wannabe wine snobs like us. And then they poured 3 wines in black glasses. The 4 of us correctly identified that one was white and two were red. I tried to be too creative on the varietals (and wasn’t thinking that my choice of white wasn’t even on their wine list) so I only got the Pinot Nior right while my wife got all 3 (which I will hear about for quite some time). We really enjoyed chatting with the other couple. They were from the North of England and had met on a solo cruise a few years before and back then our cruise director was the solo cruise coordinator on the ship in which they met. As we were wrapping up I got a critical call (I cannot believe how well wifi calling worked on this cruise) so I moved to an empty LeBistro table while the three of them walked over to the wine bar. I joined them a few minutes later. The Sommelier told us that they would be doing wine and chocolate on Saturday and asked us to come. We agreed but our new friends had already done it on the opening day (apparently is was pretty crowded) and didn’t want to pay another $20 each for the same thing.

 

 

We had dinner that evening at Teppenyaki which was great but a little different than what we experienced on the Star. The tables on the star are in individual rooms and it was similar to a benihana experience. On the Pearl two full tables are in the same room and seated at different times and show had a lot of loud singing so it was difficult to hear the instructions and options as we were being seated. My wife and her best friend (D) had a good time and the food was very good. I got shrimp and scallops, my wife got filet and chicken and D got filet and shrimp.

 

We went to family Karaoke and stayed through adult Karaoke with the wedding party. We also went to a new game show where the staff would act out movie scenes and you would guess the scene. It was actually pretty enjoyable despite the fact that a couple of scenes were completely wrong. The last scene they performed was hysterical but I won’t spoil it for future cruisers.

 

We went back to the room, had some wine on our balcony, and called it a night.

 

Day 6 – Ketchikan – Quilts, creeks, and cookies…

I agree 100% with your thoughts on the Pearl's Teppanyaki restaurant. The food was good but the noise is painful. Last time we ate there it was migraine inducing. Probably won't do it again, which is too bad.

I agree 100% with your thoughts on the Pearl's Teppanyaki restaurant. The food was good but the noise is painful. Last time we ate there it was migraine inducing. Probably won't do it again, which is too bad.

 

Yeah...it was almost like the other table was trying to be as loud as possible when we were sitting down. It was really obnoxious. I definitely prefer the Star version.

Yeah...it was almost like the other table was trying to be as loud as possible when we were sitting down. It was really obnoxious. I definitely prefer the Star version.

Loved it on the Star! Very calm and classy, but the chefs were still fun.

 

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Day 6 – Ketchikan

 

We arrived at some absurdly early time in the morning but we didn’t disembark until about 8AM or so (more or so I think). I had intended to book an early morning Zodiak boat tour here but never did. Instead we slept in a little and made our way off the ship after a semi-rushed breakfast at the buffet where my carefully assembled eggs and sausage benedict ended up in the tray of the water dispenser because its ridiculous design requires you to hold you cup while pushing the dispense button while trying to balance your plate on your head. I scooped up as much as I could and let the staff know and sulked back to the line to make another.

 

It was raining as we disembarked and at some point my wife realized she was wearing flip flops and decided to return back to the ship to put on shoes. I went to find her some fancy coffee near the port (there wasn’t any). We met up near the Ketchikan visitors center and set off to find a breve americano with 2 pumps of sugar free vanilla. We ended up at a coffee shop on the main road near the visitors center. I wish I could remember its name because we had a breakfast quesadilla which was fantastic…and my wife said the coffee was very good as well. The shop didn’t have free wifi which I know because the table next to us complained about it endlessly. Now that we were properly nourished and caffeinated we set out to find the town quilt shop. It ended up being in a place called the Landing (I think) and it did have free wifi. It was a smallish shop but my wife probably spent an hour there (and another undisclosed sum of money).

 

 

Once we left we didn’t have a ton of time so we walked the town looking for gifts for our kids. We went to the creek shops which made for a nice walk including Dolly’s house which was interesting…she seemed like an enterprising lady and I think it is pretty cool that she lived in her “house” until her death in 1975.

 

 

We continued to walk the town but kept going in circles. I think Las Vegas casinos use the Ketchikan city plan to design their hotels. Eventually we ended up on the waterfront where my wife had to find a bathroom (fancy coffee) so we ducked into a dive bar which seemed like less of a dive bar (maybe not that much less) when we were inside. It seemed like a place that would be a lot fun at night. We figured we should buy a drink since she was using their restroom so I bellied up and order myself a beer and her an espresso and baileys (a carajillo).

 

 

When we left we noticed one of Ketchikan’s newest shops conspicuously located next to the cruise ship berths. We live in Washington and for research purposes we have visited a few of our local shops of this type. Maybe it is because they haven’t been open for very long but it was a little disappointing. The salesperson showed us his various wares (of which there were not very many). There prices were much much higher than what I remember from Washington stores and the important ingredients in the food products were much lower (half in fact). Anyway, feeling adventurous we paid a ridiculous $20 for two very low potency ginger snap cookies that we ate on the way to the ship and which didn’t have much effect other than whatever endorphins a pretty good tasting cookie can provide. My advice for adventurous people from less progressive states…check out these types of shops while in Seattle.

 

 

We got back to the ship about 1PM and met up with my wife’s friend D for lunch at the outside buffet at the stern of the ship. We ate (OK…I will admit the food tasted better than it should have) and then my wife and D headed off to the Spa while I went to give the Casino another shot. Craps and Pai Gow were closed so I played some double double bonus poker and hit four 4s which got me close to even for the trip. I gave about half of it back before I had to head to the Spa for my 2nd Acupuncture appointment (Yes…I can’t believe I made a 2nd appointment either). It was kind of a repeat of my first appointment with the needle pricks and dark soothing room except this time I could really feel the boat rocking in the open sea. I felt good when it was finished but honestly, I think spending the same money on a massage would have been money better spent.

 

After my appointment we met back at our cabin to get ready for dinner at Cagney’s. We had a reservation at La Cucina at 7:30 but we figured we would show up at Cagney’s at 6 to see if we could be seated. We arrived at 5:45 and they gave us a table reservation for 6 so we headed next door to the Mojito bar.

 

 

This was our best meal of the week. We brought one of our wines and once seated the Sommelier from the black glass wine tasted came over and decanted our bottle. I asked him to taste the wine with us which he very much appreciated. It was a 2010 Tera Blanca ONYX and definitely a big step up from the North South blend. I am going to refrain from complaining about the wines by the glass offered by NCL on this ship other because I have done it enough on other threads but it definitely confirmed that paying $60 in corkage fees was money well spent. We both ordered the filet which was outstanding….medium rare and you could have cut it with a butter knife.

 

 

After dinner we eventually went to the Stardust to see Legends. We got there just before they were going to start and most seats were taken so we sat in the haven only balcony seats which were almost completely empty. I don’t know if this was a major faux pas or not but nobody was sitting there and the show was about to start and it seemed absurd that these seats should all go unused. The show itself was pretty good. Elvis and Michael especially so...Madonna was pretty good as well but not quite to the same level.

 

After Legends we went to the perfect couple game show which was fun. My suggestion if you would like to be on the show…wear loose fitting pants. Afterwards, we went to the Bliss lounge for a night cap or two before heading back to the cabin and the grand canyon bed.

 

Day 7 - The legally required stop in Victoria

Edited September 7, 2018 by fastpitchdad

We were in the same ship, same days and I would agree....Two Teppinyaki tables that close made for a very loud time. To top it off for some reason on the night we went the smoke alarm went off. At least we know it works!

Day 7 – Victoria

 

If this stop wasn’t legally required I am pretty sure they would just sail to Seattle.

 

To us this was essentially a Sea day. We woke up, had breakfast at the buffet, and headed straight for the Thermal Spa. Today was also for all intents and purposes the opening day of college football and at around noon I found myself walking towards the Martini Bar watching Washington/Auburn on my mobile phone. My wife and I had signed up for the Wine and Chocolate tasting (part 2) at LeBistro so this seemed like a good place to make camp. As I was about to sit down a couple with laptop noticed me watching asked if I would like to watch the game with them on a larger screen.

 

They were from Miami and fortunately also hated the SEC so I agreed. We sat at the bar having drinks and talking about how a blatant head shot on the QB isn’t a penalty if the QB is from the west and the game is being played in the south. About half way through his battery started to die and the outlets at the bar were all configured for EU. Fortunately I had all manner of converters in our cabin and the bartender was able to plug us in behind the bar.

 

My wife came down about half way through because wine and chocolate was about to start. We went and talked to the Sommelier who told us they needed a minimum of four and we were the only ones interested so far. He suggested we walk back to the bar and he would come and let us know. A few minutes later he came over and gave us the bad news that nobody else had signed up and then he handed a plate of all of the chocolate from one of the tables. We watched the end of the disappointing game with our new friends (actually both wives left a little early) from Miami and then headed back to the cabin to get ready for Victoria.

 

 

We have lived in the Northwest for almost 20 years but have never been to Victoria. We always meant to (in fact for 15 years my office window overlooked the Victoria Clipper) but never did. The 6PM to 12AM time of this stop makes it difficult to do much so we figured we would use this as a quick preview and then plan a weekend in the near future. The Pearl had the furthest parking spot and there are plenty of transport options but it was only about a 15 or 20 minute walk to the beginning of town and the water taxi which we used to take us the rest of the way. We had the boat drop us off at Chinatown (I think it was $10CAD) and the person who sold us the tickets mapped out a walking tour back. It was a nice walk and we made notes of restaurants and shops we would visit upon our return. We made it to the Empress and had a decision to make…start looking for a place to have dinner (everything looked packed) or head back to the ship. We chose the latter figuring we would try Indigo and drink our last bottle of wine.

 

 

 

Our dinner at Indigo was actually quite good and the service quick and attentive…on par with some specialty restaurants we have had. It was a nice dinner to close the cruise.

 

 

After dinner we headed back to the cabin to don our swim suits and check out the hot tubs on deck figuring they wouldn’t be crowded. We were right…only one of the four tubs had anyone in them. We grabbed a couple of drinks at the bar and enjoyed a relatively peaceful evening. Apparently, Canadian law (or maybe BC law) only allowed for one bar to be open per deck. We had hoped to go the Whiskey and Martini bar afterwards because my wife was looking forward to the birthday cake(?) Martini but it was closed. We grabbed a couple of 9:15 luggage tags (no reason for us to wake up early) and a couple of more drinks and called it a night.

 

Just as a PSA...almost every review I read about a balcony on the Pearl mentioned the small WC. Here is a picture so you can judge for yourself :)

 

 

 

Day 8 – Seattle, Home, Epilogue.