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holidayhelen
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We were on the last Alaska sailing of the season - NCL Sun - leaving Vancouver 25th Sept 2017. What an amazing cruise. The weather in Vancouver was good. We did leave on the 25th and it was a little cloudy - we had a day at sea then arrived in Juneau in the rain - we did the cable car to the top of the mountain then spent the rest of the afternoon in the red dog saloon. When we woke the following day in Skagway the sun was shining - the sky was blue. We had booked the Chilkoot tour train then bus back - I can highly recommend the tour - excellent driver Mike - wonderful weather - made it a wonderful day. As we were the last Ship of the season as we left the pier in the evening all the locals came out and lined the pier to 'moon' at the ship.

 

We saw the northern lights for 3 nights running. We woke up to fog in Glacier Bay - but within minutes the fog cleared and we had the most magnificent day. As we left there were a few areas of fog but literally for seconds - about 5pm we were lucky enough to see whales 'bubble netting' - an amazing sight.

 

We did a whale watching tour in Victoria- just rocked up at the first one we saw at the Fishermans Wharf area - we got the last 4 seats on a tour that was leaving immediately and we saw so much. We stopped in Astoria just before the bridge - we had a couple of hours onboard waiting for immigration to come and check all the passports - but they extended the time in port by 2 hours. We only had a mooch along the prom - the weather was amazingly hot - locals told us it usually rains in Oct.

 

Our last sea day was spent out on the deck sunbathing - the BBQ was on on the deck - there was live music and games in the pool. A wonderful end to a wonderful cruise.

 

We sailed into San Fran through a little fog around the bridge but a red hot weekend lay ahead. We enjoyed the Fleet week there before returning to the UK.

 

Please do not hesitate to book a late season cruise - weather is so unpredictable.

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Enjoyed your post cruise review. Thanks for posting.

We have taken 3 cruises to Alaska. Twice mid/late September and last year was late August.

Both September times were mixed weather but last year was really good.

How lucky you were to see the Northern lights too. That would have been a highlight to the cruise too.

Thanks, Jean.

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I appreciate your trip report. I noted that you took the Tour we are contemplating for next August. Could you tell me about the puppy portion of that tour? Did those riding the sled at the mushers’ place go on a different tour from those just petting the puppies? If you saw the riding folks, what did u think of that experience? Thank you.

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Good to know you saw the Northern lights. Was it from a distance, or just right above you?

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

 

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We saw them as we were leaving Juneau, Skagway and over Glacier bay. They were more white than coloured - but someone got a really good photo and on the photo they looked green. It went on for a while - but it was around 11pm - it was not right above us but easy to spot - you had to 'cup' your face to get rid of the light from around you

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I appreciate your trip report. I noted that you took the Tour we are contemplating for next August. Could you tell me about the puppy portion of that tour? Did those riding the sled at the mushers’ place go on a different tour from those just petting the puppies? If you saw the riding folks, what did u think of that experience? Thank you.

 

We did the tour without the sled dogs - but you do the sleding where we have lunch - so its the same route - but you would take some time then to go with the dogs. You can spend time with the dogs with or without the sled - it was an excellent tour and we would HIGHLY recommend it - will try and attach the days photos

 

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We saw them as we were leaving Juneau, Skagway and over Glacier bay. They were more white than coloured - but someone got a really good photo and on the photo they looked green. It went on for a while - but it was around 11pm - it was not right above us but easy to spot - you had to 'cup' your face to get rid of the light from around you

 

 

 

That would be good enough for me on a cruise. Been on our bucket list and hope to see it in Iceland in February on a land tour just to experience it.

Thanks for the response

 

 

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We did the tour without the sled dogs - but you do the sleding where we have lunch - so its the same route - but you would take some time then to go with the dogs. You can spend time with the dogs with or without the sled - it was an excellent tour and we would HIGHLY recommend it - will try and attach the days photos

 

Great photos! Thanks. Really captures the ride.

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