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Advice on '14-Day Authentic Alaska - Southbound Cruise Tour' or similar with NCL


Malemew
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Hi,

 

We have recently came off our first ever cruises (we did back to back) with NCL.

 

We now kind of have the bug and have seen some pre tour and cruise itineraries on the NCL website.

 

One of them being '14-Day Authentic Alaska - Southbound Cruise Tour' in Sept 2018. The price looks very good currently standing as low as £869, where as just a 7 day sailing in Alaska this September is coming up at the same price.

 

They also have a variety of different ones, some shorter etc.

 

Has any body here had any experience with these or something similar?

 

I've tried to speak to NCL in the UK about these, but they keep saying they'll need to get someone from the USA team to call me (but still no one has called :( )

 

I'm really keen to find out more but we don't know many people who cruise, let alone been to Alaska.

 

Any tips, help, pointers, are food and drinks included on thr tour etc would be gratefully appreciated and apologies if this re creates a thread.

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Since I am in America, I decided to check the NCL.com website using your 14-Day Authentic Alaska - Southbound Cruise Tour description.

 

If you can in fact book it at the rate that you quoted. Do it. On the website that I see the lowest per person rate is $2,398 plus taxes...

Edited by TheCalicoCat
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Since I am in America, I decided to check the NCL.com website using your 14-Day Authentic Alaska - Southbound Cruise Tour description.

 

If you can in fact book it at the rate that you quoted. Do it. On the website that I see the lowest per person rate is $2,398 plus taxes...

 

Wow thanks for that info!!

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One of them being '14-Day Authentic Alaska - Southbound Cruise Tour' in Sept 2018. The price looks very good currently standing as low as £869, where as just a 7 day sailing in Alaska this September is coming up at the same price.
Just be aware of that September price.... it's discounted for storm chasers and some excursions are ending for the season. Also your daylight hours will be shorter than the rest of the season.... do you plan to be there to watch the Ketchikan rain gauge fill up with the locals?

 

Check out the climate chart on this page compared to other months... http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/juneau/alaska/united-states/usak0116

 

If you want dry weather with low price.... consider the April/May trips

 

Also.... look for "Glacier Bay" in your cruise itinerary for a first time Alaskan cruiser. Also check out Princess and HAL for additional GB sailings.

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Glad that you have started this thread Malemew as I have been checking out this cruise.

I have sent my pcc an email with regard to this land cruise deal as the price seems too good too be true. As yet I have not had a reply.

I wanted to know if hotels are included in the price, and all tours listed, or do you have to pay extra.

I have read on the internet that food was not included on the land excursion portion, but for the price thats ok with me.

I have my eye on an inside for the price you quoted.:)

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Why not post the itinerary and dates?? Makes a big difference. Have you already done your Alaska homework, know about EACH of the areas on the itinerary? Have tours selected and verified they are operating? In my opinion it's a mistake- to not know the details. why waste "Alaska" time in areas of no interest or plans? Unless specifically mentioned no tours are included, and sometimes those that are aren't the "highlights" in my opinion. Same with meals- not included. Being from the UK, prices are likely going to be higher than home, for US people, I always suggest budgeting 50% more than you would at home.

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14-Day Authentic Alaska - Southbound Cruise Tour

Sept 2018

 

7-Day Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage & Homer Land Tour

 

7-Day Sawyer Glacier Cruise from Seward

 

SHIP Norwegian Sun

LAND TOURS Air Arrival Day Into Fairbanks, Fairbanks/Denali, Denali, Denali/Anchorage, Anchorage/Homer, Homer, Homer/Seward

CRUISE PORTS EMBARK Seward (Alaska); Icy Strait Point (Alaska); Juneau (Alaska); Skagway (Alaska); Ketchikan (Alaska); DISEMBARK Vancouver (British Columbia)

The most complete tour of Denali and Alaskan life in the past and present. For the active, outgoing guest, this tour offers spectacular vantage points of Mt. McKinley with time to purchase an optional all-day fishing excursion.

 

Unique to this tour:

Riverboat cruise and city tour of Fairbanks including a stop at the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline

Explore Denali with a 7-hour Tundra Wilderness Tour

Deluxe Dome Railcar from Denali to Talkeetna

Visit Talkeetna, one of the best vantage points for Mt. McKinley

Visit an Iditarod Sled Dog Musher's kennel for a private tour

Kenai Peninsula and the artsy fishing community of Homer

Opportunity to purchase a full-day Halibut and Salmon fishing excursion

Tour the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Centre

So much more...

Special Benefits To Norwegian Cruise Tours:

All tours are fully escorted by local Alaskan guides

12- and 14-day Cruise Tours include a visit with an Iditarod Sled Dog Musher

Guaranteed animal sightings

All tours feature travel on the rails of Alaska Railroad

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14-Day Authentic Alaska - Southbound Cruise Tour

Sept 2018

 

7-Day Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage & Homer Land Tour

 

7-Day Sawyer Glacier Cruise from Seward

 

SHIP Norwegian Sun

LAND TOURS Air Arrival Day Into Fairbanks, Fairbanks/Denali, Denali, Denali/Anchorage, Anchorage/Homer, Homer, Homer/Seward

CRUISE PORTS EMBARK Seward (Alaska); Icy Strait Point (Alaska); Juneau (Alaska); Skagway (Alaska); Ketchikan (Alaska); DISEMBARK Vancouver (British Columbia)

The most complete tour of Denali and Alaskan life in the past and present. For the active, outgoing guest, this tour offers spectacular vantage points of Mt. McKinley with time to purchase an optional all-day fishing excursion.

 

Unique to this tour:

Riverboat cruise and city tour of Fairbanks including a stop at the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline

Explore Denali with a 7-hour Tundra Wilderness Tour

Deluxe Dome Railcar from Denali to Talkeetna

Visit Talkeetna, one of the best vantage points for Mt. McKinley

Visit an Iditarod Sled Dog Musher's kennel for a private tour

Kenai Peninsula and the artsy fishing community of Homer

Opportunity to purchase a full-day Halibut and Salmon fishing excursion

Tour the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Centre

So much more...

Special Benefits To Norwegian Cruise Tours:

All tours are fully escorted by local Alaskan guides

12- and 14-day Cruise Tours include a visit with an Iditarod Sled Dog Musher

Guaranteed animal sightings

All tours feature travel on the rails of Alaska Railroad

 

 

When???? Alaska gets more foul weather potential by the week in Sept. I never recommend southbound cruises in this time frame. At the least- it's dark by 7pm mid Sept, hardly ideal with this bonus scenic sailing area.

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Visit Talkeetna, one of the best vantage points for Mt. McKinley

Actually, the name is now officially Denali. And it won't be a guaranteed view. The mountain makes it's own weather and is often obscured by clouds.

All tours are fully escorted by local Alaskan guides

I wouldn't bet on it. I drove tour bus for two years. Very few of the drivers or guides were from Alaska. Most were college students hired from out of state. Not that they were bad at what they did... They just weren't "Alaskans".

Guaranteed animal sightings

Only because of a stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. No one can guarantee animal sightings in the wild. You have a good chance at Denali National Park, but not 100% guaranteed.

Comments in RED.

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This southbound cruisetour goes to Sawyer Glacier, whereas the northbound goes to both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier (but not Icy Strait Point): https://www.ncl.com/cruises/14-day-authentic-alaska---northbound-cruisetour-NBAUTHENTIC2SUN7VANKTNJNUSGYSWD?cruiseTour=1&autoPopulate=f&destinations=4294961386&cruiseHotel=1&cruise=1&numberOfGuests=4294953449&pageSize=10&sortBy=Featured&from=resultPage&state=null&currentPage=3&cruiseHotelAir=1&itineraryCode=NBAUTHENTIC2SUN7VANKTNJNUSGYSWD Both cruisetours are also available from June - August, so you don't have to go in September.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey everyone.

 

I am SO glad you've posted this.

 

I have in fact booked this cruise from the UK. I too was completely unsure about what was included and what wasn't so I called NCL. They told me that everything mentioned on the itinerary was included including tours mentioned and hotels, transfers etc. It was only the flights I would have to arrange.

 

I'm a single person so had to pay a bit of a sole occupancy charge but it still worked out at under £1400 which i still find hard to believe but I couldn't say no to that!

 

At least if they come back and say anything, I've got the date and time of the call I made as proof.

 

I went on the NCL website to check my booking this morning and saw that the cruise had been completely removed from the website but my booking was still (half) showing. Worried, I decided to call them and they said all was fine with the book in still.

 

I have no idea why it has been removed but it looks as though I've managed to book at the best time!

 

Fingers crossed!

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Hey everyone.

 

I am SO glad you've posted this.

 

I have in fact booked this cruise from the UK. I too was completely unsure about what was included and what wasn't so I called NCL. They told me that everything mentioned on the itinerary was included including tours mentioned and hotels, transfers etc. It was only the flights I would have to arrange.

 

I'm a single person so had to pay a bit of a sole occupancy charge but it still worked out at under £1400 which i still find hard to believe but I couldn't say no to that!

 

At least if they come back and say anything, I've got the date and time of the call I made as proof.

 

I went on the NCL website to check my booking this morning and saw that the cruise had been completely removed from the website but my booking was still (half) showing. Worried, I decided to call them and they said all was fine with the book in still.

 

I have no idea why it has been removed but it looks as though I've managed to book at the best time!

 

Fingers crossed!

 

 

 

Fingers crossed indeed!!!! We booked it thinking we would have had a call by now telling us there was an error. Nothing yet and it's been 2 weeks. We booked for September '18 so hopefully the weather won't be too bad, and to be honest us Brits don't mind a few murky skies and a bit of rain. We can go away for a 'hot' holiday in Europe and it can throw it down with rain for a week. (And we love a thunder and lightening so that would be a bonus)

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Did you book the 4th of September 2018 too? Starting in Fairbanks, finishing in Vancouver?

 

I work for Fred Olsen cruise lines and if something like this happens then we HAVE to honour the price as the contract is in place so if NCL are similar in any way, I doubt you'll get a call. Think we may have just been extremely lucky. Seems as if they have made an error though, otherwise it wouldn't have been removed from their website!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello :)

My first post on Cruise Critic and I am so pleased to have found this thread.

We also booked this Authentic Southbound Cruisetour in January, and like previous posters, have been horrified to see it disappear from the website and so have feared the worst. However, I phoned NCL (I did book by phone, direct with NCL ) and spoke to my Personal Cruise Consultant who said that the booking looks ok still. It would be such an amazing opportunity if they did honour the booking - we could NEVER have afforded it at the full price.

We are booked for 24th August 2018 from Fairbanks, departing on the Norwegian Sun on 30th August for Vancouver.

I would be really interested to hear of any other updates on this.

Also, has anybody thought about the flights? If it goes ahead how would you fly to Fairbanks? I hope we find out for definite before it's time to book flights!

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We saw flights via Iceland too. Having been there twice so not fussed about doing a stay over but if it works out cheaper we will. We'll go with the quickest cheapest.

 

And here's to hoping there's no phone call saying the trip is cancelled

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I have been looking at Air Transat to Vancouver (as we will return from there) and then Air Canada to Anchorage for an overnight followed by Air Alaska to Fairbanks.

Plan B could be London to Seattle return then Air Alaska direct from Seattle to Fairbanks. This would mean a bus (or perhaps train?) journey from Vancouver to Seattle to get the flight home. Would definitely want to spend a good few days in Vancouver before flying home.

I wonder how far out people on Cruisetours are given more information about their trip - such as hotel details, opportunity to book excursions etc. If we knew when to expect this we'd have a good idea if our trip is going ahead.....fingers and everything else crossed!

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I have been looking at Air Transat to Vancouver (as we will return from there) and then Air Canada to Anchorage for an overnight followed by Air Alaska to Fairbanks.

Plan B could be London to Seattle return then Air Alaska direct from Seattle to Fairbanks. This would mean a bus (or perhaps train?) journey from Vancouver to Seattle to get the flight home. Would definitely want to spend a good few days in Vancouver before flying home.

I wonder how far out people on Cruisetours are given more information about their trip - such as hotel details, opportunity to book excursions etc. If we knew when to expect this we'd have a good idea if our trip is going ahead.....fingers and everything else crossed!

 

 

Usual time frame of lodging notification is 30-60 days ahead.

 

If you are booking through the cruise line, there will be an excursion list available. I would think, as maybe a month or 2 go by, then you can go ahead and book independent excursions. You know the locations you are going to be in already.

 

I'd suggest adding a few days to Fairbanks. There is plenty to see and do there, but, you really need a rental car. Far more efficient touring of the area. The Arctic tours are also an excellent option to consider. Especially excellent for a day trip is Northern Alaska's fly/van combo trip to Coldfoot. :) 3 days to invest- getting up to Prudhoe Bay, with same tour company.

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Usual time frame of lodging notification is 30-60 days ahead.

 

If you are booking through the cruise line, there will be an excursion list available. I would think, as maybe a month or 2 go by, then you can go ahead and book independent excursions. You know the locations you are going to be in already.

 

I'd suggest adding a few days to Fairbanks. There is plenty to see and do there, but, you really need a rental car. Far more efficient touring of the area. The Arctic tours are also an excellent option to consider. Especially excellent for a day trip is Northern Alaska's fly/van combo trip to Coldfoot. :) 3 days to invest- getting up to Prudhoe Bay, with same tour company.

 

 

Thank you for your reply Budget Queen. We won't be able to hire a car so I will have to do a bit of research to see if it's better to spend an extra day in Anchorage or Fairbanks if we're relying on public transport/taxis etc. That's a nice job to have to do though :)

If they only allocate accommodation between 30-60 days out that won't help with finding out if our booking wlll be honoured. Because the flights are so expensive (We are a family of 6) and increase in price from release dates we'll be looking to book at 11 months out - so about the end of August. I REALLY hope we find out for definite before then ! Surely if they were going to cancel us they would have done so by that point :o

I think I might need to ask around on the NCL board as well to see if anyone else is booking landtours and what type of confirmation they've received. Thanks again for your help.

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I've now noticed they've added 7 night cruise and fly options to/from Vancouver with prices starting at ?2112pp.. jeez! Obviously the prices we got were not inclusive of the flight but still, I've seen them for about ?600pp.

I'm seriously starting to think we've got incredibly lucky here..

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  • 2 months later...
Anymore news in this anyone?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Hi there,

When I log in to my NCL account on the US website my booking is all there, says 14 day Authentic Southbound Cruisetour and has th full itinerary listed so I'm still really hopeful it will be honoured :)

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For flying around Alaska, check out Alaska Airlines. Seattle is their hub and they fly between there and Anchorage as well as Vancouver. They price flights individually so you won't wind up paying more for a one-way flight than RT as you can on some airlines (or at least you used to). We are flying them to Seattle for our Alaska cruise next week.

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