July 24 Pearl to Alaska please report in

[Deb in Cali]

To all of the July 24 passengers,

 

Please give us an update on your cruise. After all of your pain and suffering we would all like to know how it all went. Those of us that are going on the Pearl in the next weeks (or next week) would like a blow by blow. C'-mon Enquiring minds want to know. :D

 

Deb

[Hikini]

I'm curious as well.

 

We took advantage of the fact that the Pearl was over-nighting in Seattle and went down to the pier after dark to take pictures and look at the beauty. We don't get to see the ships after dark - they are always gone before it gets dark.

 

But I am curious to hear how things went.

[Deb in Cali]

I will be there on Friday or Saturday depending on how far we make it on the second day of driving. This is our 3rd or 4th trip to Seattle. We are very blessed to have friends that live on Bainbridge Island.

[jamminlion]

Anyone recovered and ready to share?

[JayinAZ]

I was there and made it back! We left an hour late from Seattle the next day (supposed to be noon, but it was more like 1:15). Then we skipped the Inside Passage without any notification. Since I had never been to Alaska I didn't know what I was missing but there was a big commotion at the guest relations desk so I stuck around to listen and that's how I found out. There were many disappointed people, as was I. It was lame of NCL to not be upfront about it and just let everyone find out on their own. The extra day in Seattle was nice though. We were allowed to come and go as long as we were back onboard by 11am Monday. NCL undoubtedly saved money by not having to feed as many people that night too. We did see Bill Cosby who was funny, but not as sharp as he used to be. It may be time for him to consider retiring. The first night of 50% off specialty restaurants was nearly impossible to take advantage off due to everyone wanting the same savings. For 2 people the savings at the most expensive restaurant would have only been $25 so it wasn't that great of a deal anyway, certainly not worth getting upset over.

Other than that, the weather was not too cooperative till we arrived at Victoria when it got warm again. I didn't see 1 outdoor BBQ by the pool, it was just too cold, windy, foggy and rainy most of the time. It was certainly a nice change from Phoenix though!!

I submitted a review yesterday so it should be posted up there shortly. One thing that was surprising was to get to see the world's smallest flat screen TV in my "mini-suite." It couldn't have been much bigger than 12" and didn't even swivel. We got a good laugh out of it anyway.

My family and I will be going back on another Alaska cruise, but probably not on NCL next time. Maybe we'll give Princess a shot.

[bonvoyagie]

I am not sure what you mean by missing the inside passage - if you mean going between Vancouver Island and mainland BC (on the east side of the island) they have not done that for several years now. They show the ships going on the seaward side of the island. On a normal cruise this happens at night so you don't know what you missed. I can see where three hours difference might have put that route in a daylight situation. It may have also thrown a monkey wrench into the schedule as passage through the Seymor Narrows is still limited to one ship at a time. I have heard that it is the captain's choice as to which route to take - I have noticed that the Star often goes the old route since it's first stop is Ketchikan. Once you got above Vancouver Island you should have ducked back into the leeward waters of the inside passage. I did not track the Pearl on this voyage, but I suspect that you went right by Juneau on the way to Skagway.

[spacepotatoes]

I didn't think the cruises that left from Seattle did the Inside Passage at all, just the ones from Vancouver. Was it listed in your itinerary, for so many people to have been upset about it? If it was, chances are that NCL cut it out in order to get to Alaska fast enough to fit in the rest of your itinerary. I don't think they can't go full speed through the entire Inside Passage. I agree with you, though, that they should have communicated that to everyone upfront.

 

Glad you still seemed to enjoy the trip, despite the changes and other issues that cropped up!

[dolphin lady]

I will be on the Star 8/27 and the itinerary does say that we cruise the inside passage

[cruisebeth]

I'll be on the Pearl September 4-11 and our itinerary says "Cruise Alaska's inside passage" on the Monday.

[www3traveler]

The weather can change anything. If you can access either The Pearl or The Star's web cam today you will see how bad the weather is today. Looks more like November than August.

[bonvoyagie]

I think it is a matter of defination. I guess to some the Inside Passage includes the Seymor Narrows and the narrow passages between Vancouver Island and BC mainland. But since most ships transit that area at night you wake up the next morning (monday) just above Vancouver Island and you have a short distance with ocean on the Port side of the ship,then you duck between the islands and you are in the inside passage until the next day when you dock at Juneau (normal trip). As I stated earlier, getting to Skagway requires the ship to pass close to Juneau.

 

I don't think you missed all that much.