Norwegian Sun June 3rd to Alaska *****

[kjquilts]

 

 

[Cruise_More_Often]

Thank you so much. You have no idea how much respect I have for the many cc posters who do huge photo reviews ... this is my very first attempt and I can tell you I'll never be in their ranks.

 

We used two cameras - mine is Sony DSC-HX9V that does far more than I know how to do. I've bookmarked some youtube tutorials and hope to be better by our January cruise on the Epic. Larry has a Nikon Coolpix S630. I also took a lot of iphone photos but haven't begun to deal with uploading them yet :)

 

The photo with the Sun in the background was done at an overlook area in Juneau where our tour driver stopped for photo opportunities. We were happy with the photo he took. There were mosquitos - happily I had applied repellant.

Well, keep up the good work. These photos and your review are excellent. I took another look at the Sun photo and realized you were docked where we were earlier in May--way the heck out of town at the AJ Dock. The Sun looks so good with the mountain backdrop (and, of course, those two nice people in the foreground :D).

 

We did the Dyea Dave tour, too, with the van both ways and couldn't have been happier with our tour. I got some fantastic shots along the highway.

[kjquilts]

Just for you here is a photo of the Sun with the mountain behind and no people in front to interfere with the view :)

 

 

 

[Cruise_More_Often]

She's a beauty. Thank you! I like her hull art more than any of the other ships.

[kjquilts]

Or this photo of the Sun with the real mountain in the background

 

 

Emerald Lake - we had heard that we might not see the emerald color since it was early in the year but as with almost everything on this cruise we were lucky. As you can see by the following photos the lake was just beautiful.

 

 

 

 

And so you can see how real the colors are, here is my dear husband of 45+ years posing in front of Emerald Lake.

 

 

[kjquilts]

We did not expect to see this sign in the Yukon

 

 

 

 

Here is where we ate lunch in Carcross. Menu of soups, sandwiches and desserts. Bread was homemade and delicious. You can see part of Dyea Dave's van in the foreground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kjquilts]

Here are a few photos from the trip to Emerald Lake and back to Skagway

 

 

Suspension bridge supported on just one side

 

 

 

Bear - our driver spotted him on one side of road and screeched to a halt. Bear crossed the road then stopped just on other side of the divider and started eating dandelions. Hard to photograph but Larry got this one.

 

[kjquilts]

We had the option of ending our tour in downtown Skagway or at the pier - we chose downtown. Did a little shop browsing and then walked back to the pier - could have taken a city bus for $2.00 but the weather was beautiful and it was a nice easy walk.

 

Downtown street views

 

 

 

Very pretty park on the way back to the pier

 

 

 

[kjquilts]

Our first cruise to Alaska was on the Pearl in 2007 for our 40th anniversary. Glacier Bay Day was my favorite day - awesome in the true sense of the word from our bow penthouse suite.

 

The bow balcony cabin on the Sun has the wings between the balconies to provide privacy but they also somewhat inhibit your view. We also had some water pooling in the front of the balcony but used one of the chaise lounges to keep us from stepping in it. Neither caused a problem and zooming when taking photos took out the wings.

 

I woke up very early GBD and went up to the Observation Lounge and its outside forward deck to enjoy the glorious views heading in to Glacier Bay. Here are a few photos

 

 

 

 

[kjquilts]

Couple shots of the boat bringing the naturalists to the Sun. We enjoyed their commentary.

 

 

 

The naturalists were helpful in pointing out approaching bears and mountain goats - once you found them with binoculars you could see with naked eye but they are tiny. In following photo the bear is right next to water line between the two green patches in foreground. Binoculars are really a must for Alaska along with mosquito spray :)

 

[kjquilts]

More Glacier Bay photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kjquilts]

 

 

 

 

As previously mentioned I started out the Glacier Bay Day early in the observation lounge and its front deck. The rest of my roomies joined me a couple hours later and we had our room service coffee delivered to the lounge. Turned out this wasn't necessary as they had coffee available there but we enjoyed it along with our usual orange juice and croissants. After our prebreakfast we gave up our window seat in the lounge, went to Garden Cafe for quick breakfast and retired to our balcony for most of the day. It was very cold early on but as you can see from the photos it turned out to be just a beautiful day.

[kjquilts]

When I first got to the Observation Lounge there were few people either in it or out on the deck. As it got later it got quite crowded and those who had picked tables inside toward the front found their view partially blocked by those standing outside. I had picked a side table towards the front but next to a window --if you had an inside stateroom this would be ideal for a few people to share and you could take turns going outside for unobstructed views (just a few steps to the deck doors).

 

[sue402001]

Thank you for posting your review kjquilts, I'm looking forward to my cruise on the Sun in August. Your pictures are amazing, you sure figured out how to post them quickly. I can't wait to read more!

[kjquilts]

Thank you for posting your review kjquilts, I'm looking forward to my cruise on the Sun in August. Your pictures are amazing, you sure figured out how to post them quickly. I can't wait to read more!

 

 

Thank you so much .... don't exactly qualify as quick learner since I've been a cruise critic member for almost 8 years :) I've admired and appreciated the many photo reviews on CC and decided to try a mini version myself. It's a little pay back for the information gained from this site and to show that you can have a wonderful Alaska cruise without spending a lot of money.

 

On the not a lot of money note - after having done this cruise on the Sun I wouldn't hesitate to book her with an ocean view stateroom or possibly an inside. She has enough public viewing areas that the Alaska experience would still be awe inspiring. After sailing in suites our last couple of cruises we thought we'd really miss Cagneys (or the Sun's version) for breakfast but we really enjoyed the Moderno mini buffet in the Garden Cafe.

[kjquilts]

 

We had no idea what to expect from Hubbard Glacier having never been there. I woke up early expecting to head up to the Observation Lounge and discovered it was totally foggy. Could not see to the end of our balcony so I went back to bed. The captain did a wonderful job of guiding us through the fog and when we woke up again we were greeted with the following views

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PathfinderEss]

Beautiful pictures, thanks for posting them.:)

[kjquilts]

Seeing the reflections in the water was beautiful but very hard to photograph.

 

 

[kjquilts]

Here are some more Hubbard Glacier photos. We are all so glad we chose the Sun itinerary that has both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier. Both itineraries are incredibly beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kjquilts]

[kjquilts]

Lol looking at above photos I put the panoramas in the wrong order .... the one in the grouping of photos where you can see slight wake is taken from the Great Outdoors after the Sun had turned completely around and was heading out. I was so excited to see that the panorama photos actually worked and could be posted that I didn't pay attention.

[kjquilts]

Our cruise ended in Whittier, Alaska. This has to be one of the smallest cruise ports in existence. Very beautiful but very tiny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cruise Terminal Building in foreground.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the company we used for our shuttle from Whittier to Anchorage - I'll post the link to their website after this post.

There are several tour companies with several names all crammed into this terminal so just be sure you are getting in the correct line. Since it's small even though it's confusing it isn't a big deal.

 

 

This is a picture of their bus - very nice but minimal storage inside so as their website says you need to check your luggage in with the driver and he puts it under the bus. The photo is not from the terminal but from one of our stops on the tour - just so you know why there aren't a lot of people milling around.

 

 

[aberthelot]

Such a great review...I loved all the pictures. We cannot wait to go. We are not sure if we should take the northbound or the round trip. I figured it would be cheaper to fly to the west coast if we booked return flights instead of one way flights. What do you suggest? Thanks.

[kjquilts]

Beautiful pictures, thanks for posting them.:)

 

Thank you very much :)

[kjquilts]

Such a great review...I loved all the pictures. We cannot wait to go. We are not sure if we should take the northbound or the round trip. I figured it would be cheaper to fly to the west coast if we booked return flights instead of one way flights. What do you suggest? Thanks.

 

Usually we have to fly from west coast (Oregon) to the east coast for cruises. Haven't found that it makes any difference in cost buying one way ticket versus round trip. We watch airfare pricing and buy when price looks right or at least affordable. We already have our flight to Florida booked for Jan 2014 Epic cruise but not the return trip.

 

Re the Sun trip - if I had the time I'd do the round trip (back to back) especially since the itineraries are slightly different. If I could only chose between northbound and southbound I'd do northbound since it includes Glacier Bay.

 

For someone who likes bigger shows and late night partying the Sun might not be a good fit (definitely does not compete with Epic in the nightlife department). For someone who wants a comfortable relaxing cruise on a nice smaller ship through an amazingly scenic area I think the Sun would be very hard to beat. Alaska is the attraction rather than the ship being the destination.