Alaska Cruises Review -- Roundtrip from Seattle

[shealea]

Alaska Review --

I'll make sure to use this reddish-brown color on my review posts, so that if you don't want to read all the reply posts, you can just watch for the colored posts to see only the review posts from me!!

My most recent cruise to Alaska was last summer on NCL Jewel. I asked and folks here were interested in a review from me, even though it’s been quite a few months since my last Alaska cruise. My review won’t be step-by-step, including what we did and ate every minute of each day. More of an overview type, highlighting what we did in each port on each cruise, what we liked about the dining we did, tips on things aboard the ships. That sort of thing. I’m hoping my review will excite and help any folks cruising to Alaska this coming summer season! You will love it! I’m sure of it! The Pearl and Jewel are FANTASTIC!

I’ve cruised with my dh to Alaska 4 times, all on NCL. All were roundtrips from Seattle, WA. We live near Seattle, so it’s such an easy cruise for us to do! Dh and I are now in our mid 50s. All cruises were in August. Twice on the Pearl, twice on the Jewel. Cruise #1 was with our cousins – husband and wife, and my older teenage son and his friend. Cruise #2 was with our two grandchildren – my grandson was 15 at the time, our granddaughter was about 10. Cruise #3 was with our cousins again – husband and wife. Cruise #4 was just my dh and myself. Our very first cruise all alone!

So here I go….. We love the size of the Jewel and Pearl. I’m easily turned around and have a bad sense of direction. It took me a bit to learn how to get around, especially since I usually was just following along and never really had to find my way on my own. The Jewel and Pearl are basically set up the same. We had inside cabins on 3 cruises, a balcony on one cruise.

Some tips and things not to miss on the ships:

If you get an inside room, with no coffee maker: Here on cruise critic I learned to request a coffee maker from my room steward. We gave her $20 at the first day and asked if we could possibly get a coffee maker. She said, sure. She would have it set up for us the next morning. She supplied coffee ground pods, cream & sugar every day. It was great.

There is a brew-a-fresh-cup type of coffee maker down past the Garden Café towards the Great Outdoors. Near the children seating area. Makes a single great cup of coffee.

There is soft-serve ice cream served at each end of the Garden Café. One station does the strawberry swirl and vanilla, the other station does chocolate swirl and vanilla. There are toppings, cones, sprinkles. Many folks get a made-to-order crepe, or a dessert from the buffet, then take it to get it topped with some delicious soft serve. Yum. It’s served by an attendant.

Each day near the Garden Café they serve up made-to-order crepes. These are not to be missed treats. Delicious. Different things to choose from…..blueberry and lemon are my favorite combo. They are served later in the day. Check the time. Maybe like starting at 4:30? Can’t remember. Served for a couple of hours? Ask to get the exact times.

O’Sheehan’s Bar & Grill is a 24-hour sit-down eatery. It’s a great place to go for a sit-down meal, but it’s much quicker than eating in the dining rooms. You can also order to go. They don’t have a huge menu, but we enjoyed the food. Yummy chicken pot pie, chicken burgers, chicken wings, brownie cheesecake, the cabbage soup…. Those are some of our favorites. I went once for breakfast. You can get good orange juice free of charge at breakfast.

Room service is offered 24 hours a day, but after a certain hour, there is a fee. Room service menu is a bit limited. We really loved the fresh fruit plate with dip. The fruit was outstanding, and ripened to perfection!

You can have morning room service delivered. Especially nice if you like a pot of coffee delivered in the am. There are room door knob hangers you place on your door knob, and your order will be delivered at what time you indicate. Forget the exact time, but I think you have till 2 a.m. to get this door knob door hanger breakfast order out. Then you will have it in the morning.

On embarkation day, most folks head to the buffet for a bite to eat when they board the ship. On each of the ships, the dining room at the back of the ship is also open for food. Not many folks know that, so it’s a delightfully quiet and relaxing place to sit and enjoy yourself upon boarding. And it’s usually easy to get a window seat!

The Great Outdoors on the back of the ships is our favorite place to hang out to enjoy the view, to relax, or to enjoy a meal or snack. Don’t miss it!!! It's a wonderful spot on both ships.

Back at the Great Outdoors, there’s often a buffet set up there, offering meal items or snacks. Check it out! It’s especially nice to go to in the a.m., since the regular large buffet seems to be very busy in the morning with folks trying to get a quick bite before heading into port. There’s also a beverage station.

The Spinnaker Lounge is used for many events during the day and in the evening. But during many times of the day, it’s fairly empty. All along the walls of the huge room are big windows looking out to the ocean. What a treat to go there and relax, take a nap, read a book, visit. They have these really cool big curved lounge bed things. Dh and I loved to lay there and rest, enjoying the view and each others company. We even may take a little nap! Folks stay a bit or stroll through, so we’ve had the pleasure of visiting and meeting some really nice people there! It’s a popular place on glacier viewing day, also. Especially if the weather is not good to be outdoors.

Make sure to check out the Bridge Viewing Room. We didn’t even know about it our first two cruises. But I learned about it here on cruise critic, so we made certain to check it out on our last two Alaska cruises. There are large windows that you can look through to watch all of the goings on at the Bridge. It’s really interesting to see all of the big computers and navigation systems in place and being used. You can see the Officers working and navigating the ship along on the cruise. On the walls are all sorts of interesting informative displays and plaques etc for viewing.

Deck 15 (I think it is) is a Freestyle Deck. Topless. I’ve never seen anyone using it, but an Alaska cruise may not be the most popular cruise for that.

There is a game room (as in a place to sit and play games or cards). There are many board games you can use, but we found it really hard to find a game that had all of the pieces. So, it’s best to bring along games or cards of your own. It’s really a busy place we’ve discovered.

There’s a library. Check your Daily Newsletter for the times they are open. Comfy chairs to sit in, large windows for a nice view. A really, really nice place to relax. You can check out books during designated times. There’s a really good selection of all categories of books. Lots of nonfiction to browse through.

I don’t remember how many nights it’s offered (maybe every night?), but there are photographers set up in the Atrium to take photographs. Even if you do not get dressed up fancy, get your photos taken. Dh and I just dressed casual and had our photos done. We had not ever had our photos taken together professionally before. They turned out pretty good, too! Dh wasn’t super thrilled at the idea, but he did it for ME! I was so happy!! I knew I would never get him into a photo studio at home, so this worked out perfect for us! They take several shots. You don’t pay anything up front, so heck….. what can you lose?????

There are hot tubs …. One is for children. The hot tubs are pretty busy, even on an Alaska cruise! There are two pools. On two of the cruises, it was pretty chilly on deck, so they weren’t too busy. On two cruises, the weather was good and warm, so the pools got more use. But they still were not super busy. I'm sure on a cruise that is not to Alaska, the pools would be packed.

If this is your first cruise ever, you may not know that In the dining rooms, you can order whatever you want from the menu ….. more than one entrée, more than one dessert …… You can also order appetizer sized portions of the entrees.

The main dining rooms do have service that can be a bit slow, so do allow plenty of time for dining if you are planning on going to the evening show or have something scheduled for a certain time.

There are electronic boards that show the dining venues and the availability of getting a seat. You can see if there are spots available, no spots or available, and even if it’s getting close to being full. Makes planning very easy.

The Jewel has a water slide (as of last August anyway). They took it out on the Pearl.

If you scrapbook, in the Photo Gallery area, you can purchase special scrapbook albums. You can also purchase scrapbook kits, with stickers, paper etc. Really nice package of goodies, and the price seems reasonable for what you get.

If you haven’t been on a cruise before, you may not know that there is a Sail Away Party up on the pool deck. At least on the cruises we’ve been on. Music, dancers, barbecue food. So much fun. They try to get the crowd involved with the dancing and all. It’s really a fun time! And beware ….. they do film you and the crowd and it plays OVER AND OVER on the tv in your cabin! He,he!

I do scrapbooking, and I ask my room steward to leave TWO of the Freestyle Daily Papers in our cabin each night. That way I have one to carry around with me on the ship, and the other I can keep all nice to use in my cruise scrapbook. I guess you could ask for two also, so you can have one and your spouse can have their own. I bring a highlighter and go through my Freestyle Daily the night before, marking anything I want to be certain not to miss the next day! Works great for me.

On the decks with cabins, you will see fish on the hallway carpeting. Just remember that the fish are swimming toward the FRONT of the ship. That can help you keep track of what direction you are walking on the ship! Comes in handy at times!! Ha!

We don’t drink alcohol, but we do order now and then virgin drinks. If you don’t ask otherwise, they can and do, bring your drink in a NCL souvenir glass. That makes the price quite a bit higher. Don’t remember how much. So, unless you want the glass, and the higher price, be sure to specify that you do not want your drink in a souvenir glass.

There are made-to-order omelets in the Garden Café at breakfast time. Very good.

Well, this is all for today. It’s late and I’m real tired. I think that’s all of the tips I can think of right now. So tomorrow I’ll continue on, getting going with telling you all about what we did on the cruise ship and in ports. What fun!!!

[webzila]

Thanks for posting the review.

What was the casino hours like in Alaska on the Jewel?

[schipke13]

Hubby and I are on the Jewel out of Seattle this May. We are excited to see Alaska. Thank you so much for your review. I'm looking forward to more.

[shealea]

Okay, on with my review. I’m a little perplexed at how to best organize this review so it sort of makes sense to you all. Like I’ve said, it’s sort of being compiled of 4 different cruises to Alaska. Two on the Jewel and two on the Pearl. On each cruise, we were with a different set of people. I think as far as ship activities, I’ll set it up by categories. And then I’ll do a section on what we did in each port. I’ll describe what we did in each port on each cruise. Here’s to hoping this works out!!!! Yikes!!

 

WHAT TO BRING: It’s hard for me to suggest to anyone what they should bring on a vacation cruise, because everyone is different in what they think they really need when travelling. Some folks travel super light and don’t require much, while others really like to bring more so they can dress up fancier at night and that sort of thing. And others really way over pack, in my opinion.

 

It’s especially hard for your first cruise to know what you may need, so I think most folks really do bring too much. There are threads here on cruise critic giving ideas and suggestions on what to bring on a cruise so you have what you will need. I may get bad comments, but I think most of those things really are not necessary. And for me, I don’t bring most of what folks give for ideas. But with that being said, I have read about a couple of ideas that I had not thought of that I “DO” bring.

 

On my first cruise to Alaska, I brought way, way, way too much!! All sorts of odds and ends. Most of them I did not touch the entire cruise. And all of those little things were just annoying in the cabin, taking up space and getting in the way when I was looking for something I really needed. So, now I pack super, super light and get along just fine on my cruise, not missing all of those things I left at home.

 

ON my first cruise, I brought way, way too many clothes for going to dinner in the evening. I was worried that I would not look right and would look out of place if I didn’t bring dresses or skirts to wear. I can say that I did not even wear most of the clothes I brought for dinner wear. I brought home a ton of clothes that I never touched the entire cruise. I can say that we LOVE, LOVE Ncl’S Freestyle Cruising. Now we just bring nice casual clothes for dinner.

 

A lot of folks come to cruise critic asking what to bring for an Alaska cruise. We have had varying

weather on our cruises. One cruise was kind of chilly weather. Most days at sea were too chilly to enjoy being out on deck for long periods. The pool remained empty most of the time. Although the hot tubs were always full even with the cooler weather! Ha! Two of the cruises we had OUTSTANDING weather. Warm to hot temps. The cruise last summer was the best weather. A lot of folks were in shorts! It was always very busy around the pool. Folks sunbathing! Lots of folks hanging out on deck. Barbecues poolside. The band playing on the Lido Deck. A super fun time! I don’t think the weather we had is real typical with an Alaska cruise. I think we only had a very slight drizzle one day for a bit. No real rain at all!

 

We each bring one carry-on size suitcase on wheels. And also a smaller backpack style for each of us. We put the backpack carryon on top of the wheeled suitcase, and it’s really very easy for us with the embarkation process. If we can’t get into our cabin when we board, it’s very easy to just keep our luggage with us as we go to lunch and walk around the ship.

 

When I pack this is what I do: Dh brings jeans and one pair of Dockers. I bring a couple of pairs of jean for any colder weather. Then the rest of my pants are the cropped style. We each bring 2 pairs of shorts, but we really don’t wear them much, as it’s not really what I would consider hot. I bring a skirt or two. Layering is really the way to go on an Alaska cruise. We bring about half short sleeved t-shirts and half long sleeve shirts (lighter weight). We each bring a heavyweight, with thick fleece inside, zip-up Hoodie. We each bring a medium-weight jacket. I bring a lightweight pair of gloves for glacier viewing day. It gets cold! We each have a pair of tennis shoes. The tennis shoes dh brings are always nice black shoes, so he can wear them to the dining room. We like to stay as casual as we can. Dh has a pair of nicer style flip-flops. I bring a pair of tennis shoes, a really nice pair of sandals that can be worn to the dining rooms, and another pair of sandals.

 

With the clothes we bring, we feel perfectly comfortable eating in all of the dining venues. Even though we don’t dress fancy. Then all of the other things we think are necessary…… undies, socks, phone chargers, camera, toiletries … All of that stuff. Heck, all of the “other stuff” is what takes up so much room for us!!! Ha!!

 

Layers are so important on an Alaska cruise. The weather can change from day to day, and even from hour to hour!!! We find that if it gets cool to cold, we can wear a t-shirt, a long-sleeved shirt over that. And then our zip-up hoodie. And then if it’s really pretty cold (like on glacier viewing day) we can even put our medium-weight coat on over it all. We do not bring big heavy parka type coats. We don’t feel it’s worth the room that will take. We also do not bring any rain gear at all. We have had some rain, but not much. The rain was not super heavy and did not last long. We were in Juneau with our grandkids when we had the rain. It wasn’t anything that kept us from enjoying our day walking around in Juneau. We ARE from Seattle and used to the rain, and we do activities outdoors in the rain and are used to that. I figure if we have heavy, heavy rain, I would still want to go out to the Port and not miss it. I figure we will just pop into a store and pick up a rain poncho or an umbrella if we run into a lot of rainy weather. We have been lucky and not had that problem!! Yippppeeeee!!!

 

I read on cruise critic and I learned that I wanted to bring a highlighter. I go through the Freestyle each evening after it’s delivered and mark the activities and events that I want to be certain I don’t miss. Heck, I’m like a little kid when I see that Freestyle Daily laying on our bed when I walk in. I grab that sucker and start browsing through it to see what fun lies ahead for the next day. I just love it!!!!!!! Dh cracks up and thinks I’m goofy! Have I said we have been married for 38 years?????!!!!!!! I “fell” for him when we were in Junior High School. He was the “bad boy” and I was the “good girl”. Ha, ha, ha!!!! So funny!!!!! Anyway, I love my Freestyle Daily! Read through it. There’s so much information that can help you with planning. Show times, dining times, etc.

 

I also bring several $1 bills. I bring many for tipping the room service crew member. We order room service quite a bit. Mainly in the later evening when we retire to our cabin, we like a snack!! A BIG snack!!!!! Room service has always been pretty quick for us!

OUR CABINS: Our first and second and fourth cruises, we had inside rooms. On our third cruise we originally booked an inside, but prices went so darned low on a balcony. We upgraded from an inside to a balcony for a total of $300. And, gosh, did we ever love the balcony! I would say that an Alaska cruise is one cruise where a balcony is worth the extra money. But, with that being said, we did just fine and had a blast with our inside cabins!! Ha!

 

I spent more time on our balcony than my dh did. I’m always up a ready to have FUN and wanting to get going with my cruise day!! Ha! I always think that I should be lazy and sleep in since I AM on vacation and should be taking it easy!! But NOT ME!! I want to pack in as much each day as I can. I don’t want to miss a thing. My dh is opposite!! I’m a work-at-home person, but my poor dh has to get up at 4:30 a.m. each day for work!! So when he gets a vacation, he is ready to move slow and easy and relax!! He likes to go back to the room in the afternoon and hang out, laying on the bed and watching a movie or whatever!! So a balcony works out perfect for us! Dh can rest and watch a movie, or sleep in, and I can sit on the balcony and just daydream, gazing out at the ocean. Or sit on the balcony and have a cup of coffee, read, or work on my needlework! Perfect!!

 

The inside cabins are pretty darned small, but that’s okay. We do just fine and make do. They make really good use of every nook and cranny, so it’s easy to find space for all of your things. Then we slide the suitcases under the bed to get them out of the way.

 

On our first cruise it was me, my dh, my son (just about 18), and his best friend (a female, also just about 18). The sleeping arrangement was odd. Really odd! There were two twin beds. A bed that pulled down as a bunk type bed, with a ladder that hooked to the end. Then the odd part was the bed that pulled out from underneath one of the twin beds. So picture this …….. across the floor are three twin beds, all in a row, side by side. Basically, almost like one HUGE bed across the floor. So, it was sort of odd. It was my dh, me, and my son’s female friend ……. All sleeping next to each other across the room. We cracked up! Good thing we all love each other and get along really good! That was about 7 years ago, and we still laugh about that! We all had such a good time on that cruise!

 

The other time we went on a cruise with 4 of us in a cabin, it was my dh and me, and then my two grandkids. So, although the sleeping arrangement was the same, it didn’t seem so crazy since it was the odd sleeping arrangement, but with our grandkids instead of with my son and his female friend! Ha!

 

We are really easy going folks, so the sleeping issue wasn’t too much of a big deal. But, keep that in mind before booking 4 to a cabin. It could be that there are other sleeping set-ups on the inside cabins. Not sure on that!

 

DINING: As I said before, after you get on the ship, instead of going to the buffet like most of the folks do, you can going to the dining room for a nice lunch. The back dining room is open for lunch. It’s not busy, so it’s nice and quiet. It’s pretty easy to get a window seat, also. Very nice!

 

We ate a lot in the main dining rooms on all four cruises. We think the food in the dining rooms rates very good. Keep in mind that we are not at all picky with food. We are very easy to please. I have such a hard time even picking out what to order, as so many items sound delicious to me!! Plus, we really don’t eat out much at home, so I’m just so thrilled to be eating out! I love it!! The rear dining rooms have the better views, as the entire back wall is huge floor to ceiling windows. Beautiful!!

 

We also eat quite a bit at the buffet. Most of our breakfast meals have been at the buffet. We love to get our food and eat at the Great Outdoors. We usually get our buffet breakfast food at the smaller buffet back just before the Great Outdoors. It’s faster not having to mess with the bigger crowds at the big buffet. There are often snacks set up during the day at the buffet back by the Great Outdoors. It’s great!

 

We love eating at the Blue Lagoon, which has now been changed to O’Sheehans. We didn’t discover the Blue Lagoon until the very end of our first Alaska cruise. But, now it’s one of our favorite places to eat. Mostly because it’s so convenient and pretty quick to get served. We have our favorites there, which I listed previously. O’Sheehans is very open and it overlooks the Atrium. I love dining there. It’s never busy with lines waiting to be seated.

 

We haven’t done the Specialty Restaurants, except for one. That was Moderno’s. Our cousins suggested we do that. I’m not a person that really enjoys eating a lot of meat. I’m not a vegetarian, but I just don’t appreciate meat enough to make eating at Moderno’s a treat!! But I was game, since my dh is a huge meat lover! WE asked when we made reservations, and we found out that you can get a reduced price and just eat the salad bar, so that’ s what I did. And I can’t remember for sure, but I think I got the sides also, and also dessert. Not certain on that, though. Our cousins and my dh really enjoyed the dinner. If you want to do Teppanyaki’s, that one fills up the fastest, so keep that in mind. You need to make sure you book that one ahead if you want to be certain you don’t miss out! I think you will be fine if you wait til you are on the ship to book it, but don’t wait too long to book if you want a certain time.

 

I think the buffet is excellent! I always find many, many things I really like. There were so many offerings, I can’t imagine anyone not finding several items that they would enjoy. The first cruise they had chilled soups, which they are no longer serving! Darn it! I enjoyed those. I love the pretzel rolls. They always had several Indian choices offered. I loved those. In the a.m. the made-to-order omelets were yummy! The only thing I didn’t think were super good were the desserts. They were okay to good. I think they actually looked better than they tasted. I think the desserts could be improved on.

 

The buffet is set up in stations on the Jewel. I forget how it is on the Pearl, I think it’s set up with long lines of food, which seems more crowded and a bit harder to get to the food you want to get. On the Jewel there are many different stations, for instance, there’s a Sandwich station, Hot, Salad, Desserts, Grill, Bakery, soups, Pizza etc. It really is easy to maneuver around and it didn’t seem hard to get to what you wanted to serve up. There’s a station for beverages, and there’s often someone there keeping glasses of the cold choices filled and ready for customers to grab. Makes it fast.

 

The buffet does close down in between each serving times. In between breakfast and lunch, then again between lunch and dinner. I don’t remember the times, so check your Freestyle Daily.

 

Take notice of when there are barbecues on the pool deck. I think the food was sure good at these. There was a barbecue at the Sail Away Party. And then depending on the weather, there can be more barbecues set up for your enjoyment! Also, at the grill poolside, there is often some snacks, burgers, etc. offered. Heck, there is always some place onboard to get a bite to eat! Love it!

 

We didn’t try the new Carlo’s desserts and coffees in the Atrium. It did look yummy, however. And it was always busy with customers.

 

There are made-to-order crepes by the buffet in the early evening. I told about those in the tips section above.

 

There is soft serve ice cream served in two spots near the Buffet. I told about that in the tips section above.

 

There are made-to-order omelets in the Buffet for breakfast.

 

Near the buffet area, at the drinks section, you can get self-serve drinks through the day. I’m not sure if those sections close down at night at any time or not. We went there often to get a cup of coffee or something cold to drink. There is no fruit juice. But there is lemonaid I think and also flavored water drinks. It’s nice to get a cold drink during the day without having to pay to get bottled water or other pay drinks, especially if you don’t drink liquor. It worked perfect for us!

 

They no longer have the chocolate buffet. There is one night in the main dining venues that is “chocolate night”. There are several yummy chocolate desserts to choose from. I can’t comment on them, as dh and I didn’t eat in the dining rooms on that night. But at the chocolate buffet they used to have, the presentation was beautiful, but the taste of the chocolate dessert offerings was not good. Bland, not good chocolate taste. It was really weird that they could get it so, so bad!! So, I don’t miss the chocolate buffet!

 

There’s 24-hour room service. I told about that above in the tips section. Oh, yeah …. Bring several one dollar bills if you plan on using room service. You’ll need them if you want to tip a buck or two. Also, keep them handy so you can be ready when you hear that knock on your door!! It’s awkward having them waiting for you as you tell them to wait …. And you are struggling to figure out where there’s some money for a tip!! He,he! I know from experience!!

 

ENTERTAINMENT and ACTIVITIES: I enjoyed every single main evening show in the theaters! I’m always eager to see the evening shows! NCL has very good entertainment. I would say, don’t miss the evening shows. You won’t be disappointed. I won’t tell much about the entertainment on the cruises, except for the most recent cruise last summer. I will say, the entertainment has been excellent on all of our cruises. NCL is tops in that department. We’ve never, ever been disappointed. I would say to not miss the main evening shows, as we enjoyed them all very much!

 

On the Jewel last summer my favorite show was the magician-comedian, Jean Pierre! Gosh, he was good and so very funny! He did the main evening show. He also did an afternoon show later in the cruise where he showed and explained some magician tricks and how they are done! It was a very good show. Really interesting, and as always, Jean Pierre was very funny in his show. Jean Pierre also performed at the crew talent show. He sang! He also was present for the crew Q & A session. If he is still performing this coming summer, don’t miss him! Even though he’s married, I have a CRUSH on him! He, he. And I guess I’m pry a little bit too old for him. He, he, he!!!!!! He really is just so cute!!!! Ha!

 

I also really enjoyed the Le Cirque Bijou Show in the Stardust Theater. So, so good! There are a lot of times during the show where the aerial performers are performing from above the seating area. So, it’s best to sit a bit further back in the theater. At least 10 rows back. Mid-theater on back is a good idea. Otherwise you will be trying to watch to the front performers and then having to turn to watch the aerial performers. If you are further back, you can take everything in!

 

The Crew Talent Show is really very good. I would suggest seeing it. It’s amazing the talent among the crew. It’s really fun to see crew that you are familiar with performing.

 

I think NCL does an outstanding job of providing entertainment and activities for ALL ages. From young to old. Whatever your style is, it seems you can find something to do or entertainment to watch.

 

Q & A with Ben & Entertainers – One day dh was in the cabin taking it easy and watching a movie. Like I said before, I don’t like to be idle for long (did I say I was hyper????? He,he). So I checked our Freestyle Dailly and saw this activity listed. I’m so very glad I went. Ben, the cruise director, along with some other cruise ship entertainers were present for a Q & A session. The cruise director was there, along with JP (the magician-comedian performer), the Russian husband & wife performers, 3 of the cruise ship performers. Maybe more people, can’t remember. Anyway, it was so very interesting. Folks asked questions. We learned how some of them were married, with their spouses on board. How they could travel as a family while they worked for the cruise line, even having their children with them. The Russian married performing couple travel together onboard, while her mother has their baby. They were soon going to be on their break and going home. When their break time is over and they were coming back to perform, they were bringing their baby along to travel with them. It’s a very interesting lifestyle! They all tell that you have to love what you are doing to be able to live the lifestyle that they do! It was also amazing the amount of time the NCL performance group spends in training before they actually join the group and start performing on the cruise ships. It’s very intense training and practice!

 

We really enjoyed going to watch Deal-Or-No-Deal. We hadn’t been to watch until our last cruise. But our cousins had been before on our previous cruise, and they said what fun it was to watch. We didn’t buy any cards to play, but it was a lot of fun and excitement watching the person on stage cheering them on as they tried to win a nice prize. They get their one on-stage game player by drawing names from the folks’ names that have bought game cards for the game. We saw a couple of bigger winners! How exciting to see them winning!! We never play Bingo. Seems too expensive to us! But many folks love it, and it’s always very busy at Bingo time!

 

We always go to the casino a few times each day that it’s open. I love playing slot machines. Dh likes it there because he can smoke. He does not like to play the slots, but he’ll usually put in a tiny bit once in a while! I think the machines are tight compared to when we go to our Indian casinos here at home. But I do play anyway. On our first cruise, I about broke even. The other cruises I was a BIG FAT LOSER!!! Ha! I’m really not a big gambler and don’t spend all that much!!!! Ha!

 

The casino is always a very busy place! It’s busy, but there is never a problem getting a slot machine or a table to play the cards. There is the game where you put the quarters in and they drop down, pushing against the quarters, and hopefully pushing some out for you to win! It was always so very busy. People really love that game, and it was hard at times to get a seat. Dh loves to play that while I do the slots! Your money lasts a lot longer playing that, so he likes that. Ha!

 

I have always wanted to try a slot tournament. I’ve stood and watched slot tournaments at our local Indian casino. It looked like fun. So the first day at sea when they were taking sign-ups in the casino, I signed up. The tournament was the next day. I didn’t realize till later that the slot tournament was at the same time as our Meet and Greet, so I had to miss the Meet and Greet. I was sad about that, as I always enjoy the Meet and Greet. It’s so much fun to meet and talk to people!

 

So about the slot tournament ……. After doing it, I can give the opinion that “I” think it’s a waste of money, if you are in it to try to win $$$$$$’s, which of course you are!! Ha! You sign up. Go at your appointed time. They had us grouped together in groups of 6 folks. When your name was called, you went to your slot machine against the wall. You knew which was yours since at the top part of the machine your name was there. You sit down and wait for it to start. Then you push that spin button just as fast as you can. Some folks have their finger get tired and have to switch the finger they use. I had no problems pushing the button with my pointer the whole time.

 

You can look up to the top of the machine and it will show what place you are in. I was hopeful because most of the time I was in second or third place. I was hopeful that maybe, just maybe, I had a chance of coming in first!!!!! I pushed that spin button fast, fast fast!!!!! Just as fast as I possibly could!!! I was rockin’ YES, I was!! Then the time was over and we stopped. I looked up to see what place I got. And I got LAST PLACE!!!! YES, Dead Last! Oh, my gosh, how was that possible!!!! He, he, he!! Oh, well it really was a lot of fun!!! And it takes no talent whatsoever really! It’s all about luck, just like always when playing the slots. It just depends on if you are lucky enough to get on the winning machine! The winner of each round moved on in the tournament, and you came back at a later time to keep competing in groups until there was a grand prize winner. Gosh, I can’t remember the grand prize …. Maybe $500??? Anyway, it’s really about impossible to win at this tournament. There is only ONE winner amongst all the players. I think it cost me $20 to join in on the tournament, so I guess that’s not too bad for about 5 minutes of grand fun!!!! I still can’t get over the fact that I came in DEAD LAST!!!!! Ha, ha, ha!!! Cracks me up!!!!!

 

I didn’t learn until our last Alaska cruise, last summer, that you can get an activity card at the start of your cruise. I don’t know where you get them. I guess check at the information desk in the atrium. But for each activity you participate in, you get it signed. Like if you do wii bowling or maybe the trivia game time. Then towards the end of the cruise there is a time when you turn them in to get prizes. They are just little prizes, (hats, cards, etc. ) but I guess it would still be fun! I didn’t learn about it in time on this cruise to make it worthwhile to get a card and get going with it. Maybe next cruise ……..

 

The Pearl has a bowling alley and a climbing wall, which we never did try. My granddaughter did the climbing wall and had fun with it! I really meant to try bowlling, but I just never got around to it! Next time we are on the Pearl, I will for sure do this!!! YES!! I did do wii bowling! Not too many participants, but it was fun! The participants laughed a lot and had a good time!

 

The trivia activity is always very busy with lots of folks. It amazes me the people that have all sorts of facts in their brain that they remember. I enjoy going and watching this event. I’m not real good with trivia, but it is fun for me to watch!

 

There was a zumba class that I sat and watched. I didn’t participate because I’m having bad problems with my legs because of arthritis in my hips! Dang!!!! But it was fun to watch. Give it a try. Lots of people participated! Young and old. Men and women. Folks that you could tell were experienced with zumba. Folks that did a lot of stumbling around and laughing. It was a good lively time, and I enjoyed watching this event!

 

On the Jewel, The performing group “Alambre Trio” is very, very good. We thoroughly enjoyed sitting and listening to them! They perform often each day. Check your Freestyle Daily. ON the Jewel, the group, Next Stage is very good. They perform a lot, from the Spinnaker Lounge, to the Fyzz Lounge, even outside by the pool. WE really enjoy them! So very good!

 

Karaoke – Was doing karaoke on our bucket list, or are we just nutsy daring “old” people?????? Who knows????? We really like watching people perform at karaoke. There are some really good singers, and then the not-so-good singers who are just having a good time! LOVE IT!!! YES!! We are just observers, but we did perform ONCE! We sang Sonny & Cher’s, “I Got You Babe”!!! We were not good. We knew going into it we were not good and were just wanting to be daring and have fun!!! And we DID have fun. It was dh, myself, our cousins.

 

There are so many good performers that are there to entertain you. There are many performing venues throughout the cruise ship. Check your freestyle daily to see what may interest you!!!

 

One thing I love about the Jewel and the Pearl is that there are so many places to find a quiet spot to sit and relax. Close your eyes and relax, or maybe just sit and watch people pass by, or visit, read a book, watch out the window at the sea, watch for sea life, work on needlework. If you want to get away from the crowds and get some peace and quiet, it’s really easily possible on these two ships. And if you can’t get a lounge chair on the pool deck, go one deck up and you will easily find a lounger that you can relax on!!!!! Or go up front on the ship. There are usually several people up there sitting and enjoying the view, but it’s still a quieter place than the pool deck on a nice day!!! And I think I said before that the Spinnaker is usually really quiet at times during the day when there is not a show or activity going on. Many times dh and I would be the only ones in that huge room. We would lay on the curved lounger and take a little snooze, or just gaze out the window and relax. Or visit with each other! How romantic!!! He, he!!!

 

Okay, that's it for now. Gosh, I really had thought my review would not be this long. I guess I had more to say than I realized. I am a "talker", so I should have known I could not keep it brief. I do hope I'm helping those folks going to Alaska this coming summer! Not only to help in planning, but to get their excitement going! I know how hard it is to wait and wait for the cruise to get here!!!! If you have never been to Alaska, you are in for such a treat!!!! Beauty beyond belief! I'm always so amazed at what has been created for us with nature!!!!! You will enjoy your cruise!!!!!

 

I will try to get back later today with more. I will continue with a little about the offerings for kids. And also what we did in the Ports.

Edited March 17, 2015 by shealea
to add paragraphs

[shealea]

Well, I don't really get it. What a big block of text above in my review post. I typed my review in Office and then copied and pasted it here. I really did make paragraphs for easy reading. But for whatever reason, or whatever I did, they did not show up here on cruise critic.

 

So, I apologize for the big blocks of text with no paragraphs. I'll check for that on my next post and make sure I get paragraphs transferred over when I cut and paste.

[shealea]

Okay, I was able to edit my post and add paragraph breaks. That should help in reading it! Yay!

[shealea]

webzila - I'll check my freestyle dailies later today, and post to you about the hours of the casino.

[NewEnglandNANA]

This is great! Thank you for sharing. It is getting me ready for May!

 

:):)

[warriorking]

:( Really wanted to do a Alaska Cruise but NCL jacked the prices up so high for 2016 it was unbelievable and unaffordable...

Doing 12 days aboard Epic in Europe during March of 2016 for well over half the price NCL wants for 10 days in Alaska.....

Edited March 17, 2015 by warriorking

[aquarianne11]

Thank you for sharing your review! :)

[shealea]

Thanks to your nice comments about my cruise review!!!! I've enjoyed reliving my cruises!!!! ha! I've gotten so much help and ideas from folks here on cruise critic. So I decided I would write a review with as much information as I could on my Alaska cruises, hoping I could help some folks with their upcoming Alaska cruise!!!!

 

I envy anyone that has an Alaska cruise coming up this summer. EVERYONE needs to experience Alaska. I am hoping that one day we can do a cruise to Alaska that has the LAND portion as well. I want to get into more of the inner Alaska to see more of the beauty and wildlife!

 

I hope to post more of my review later this evening. I got busy yesterday evening with my son, so I didn't get any of my review done for you all! But I will be back with more!

[shealea]

Warriorking - I've seen posts here on the forum that prices to Alaska have gone up a huge amount! Wow, I wonder why the huge increase?? We've always gone for a little over $500 per person. But, we do book very last minute. Last summer, we booked only 6 days before sail away. We can do that because we live near Seattle. We don't have to book any air fare. That's why we cruise to Alaska so often the last few years. '

 

Last summer when my dh and I were tossing around ideas for a nice vacation, we talked about all sorts of things. Maybe Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, the Bad Lands. With the price of gas, hotels, and everything, we decided that for the money, we would just go to a cruise to Alaska again!

 

My dh has Crohns, so to go on a long road trip just sounds like too much for him. He could get sick and we would have a hard time driving lots of miles! So a cruise to Alaska works perfect for us! For the price we've paid, you really can't beat it!!

 

But, gosh, if they prices stay UP so high, it's not going to be such a deal for us like it has been. That might count it out for us!! What a shame, as I could go to Alaska over and over, and not get bored or tired of it! Plus, we just enjoy being able to get on the ship and chill! And enjoy the activities and shows and all of that!!!!

 

Well, we'll see ...... if the prices are so high to Alaska, maybe they will have a hard time filling the ship, and maybe they will be forced to lower prices. I'm going to keep an eye on prices to see how it all plays out!!!!

[April7901]

:( Really wanted to do a Alaska Cruise but NCL jacked the prices up so high for 2016 it was unbelievable and unaffordable...

Doing 12 days aboard Epic in Europe during March of 2016 for well over half the price NCL wants for 10 days in Alaska.....

 

The 2015 10-day cruise on the Pearl dropped by nearly $2000 in January, compared to where it was in October. Just saying - something to consider for the future.

[bluenose1]

shealea

Hi, We are from Gig Harbor area. Did you get dropped off at pier or take the Wa state ferry and walk? We have taken 2 Hawaii and 1 Mexico cruise on NCL before. Prefer NCL but maybe Vancouver?

:)

[shealea]

We are from Maple Valley - One of my sons drops us off at the pier. It takes us about 1/2 drive to get to the pier, since it's the weekend and no rush hour traffic.

 

I imagine parking would be expensive down there by the pier, but who knows. It's worth checking it out. If it was me, I would probably take the ferry on foot since we don't take a lot of luggage with us. But, I can't remember how far the ferry dock is from the cruise dock there in Seattle.

 

Have you been on the Alaska cruise yet? We are thinking of doing the Mexican Riviera this Fall. We were thinking of maybe going with Carnival Cruise Line, though. The NCL cruise ship doing the Riviera this Fall is The Jewel. We've already been on that ship twice. I do love the Jewel, but I sort of wanted to go and try a different ship. I do love NCL, though. So, it's hard to change. So, we'll see. At least I wouldn't get lost on the Jewel. I know my way around her pretty well now. ha!!

[yukongold]

The 2015 10-day cruise on the Pearl dropped by nearly $2000 in January, compared to where it was in October. Just saying - something to consider for the future.

 

Wow, that is some price drop!

[April7901]

Wow, that is some price drop!

 

I was shocked. Plus I got a free UBP in the deal. This was for a balcony cabin.

 

I suspect it was a combination of a fare decrease plus a single supplement decrease, but I didn't look that far into it.

[shealea]

Webzila – You were interested in the open times of the casino. I looked through my Freestyle Daily Newsletters. It’s kind of hard for me to figure out the times. So this is the best I could tell. On the day we left Seattle Port heading out, the Freestyle states the casino will open at 8:15 – To close (approximately). The approximately means that they will open when they are far enough out to see to be able to open. According to the rules, they have to be so far away before they can open. On our cruise we left late for some reason. About 1 ½ hours late. So the casino opened later than 8:15.

And, boy, it was kind of funny how antsy folks were becoming waiting for it to open. Many people were sitting at their favorite machine waiting and waiting for the OKAY time so the casino came. Everyone waiting was so happy when the casino came to life!!!! Lol! Then the place was hoppin’. Ha!

For Day 2, which is a Sea Day, the Freestyle Daily says that the casino is open 9:00 a.m. to close. For Day 3, which was a Port Day, the Freestyle Daily says the casino is open 3:30 p.m. to close. I think was your cruise is underway, the casino is open until going into a port. Then while in port, it must remain closed. Then about an hour or so after leaving a Port, the casino will open up again.

Some other times on the Jewel and Pearl cruise ships that you may all be interested in. And maybe these times will help you some with your cruise planning. These are taken from my cruise on the Jewel last summer. So it’s possible that times may be different now or different on the Pearl. But I would guess times are still the same.

DINING:

Buffet – 6 to 10:30 am.

11:30 am to 2:30 pm

5:00 pm to 9:30 pm

Aft Dining Room

6:30 to 8:30 am

Noon to 1:30 pm

5:00 to 9:30 pm

Mid-ship Dining Room

5:00 to 10:00 pm

 

O’Sheehan’s Bar & Grill – 24 hours a day

Great Outdoors Buffet – at the very back of the ship

8 am to noon for breakfast

2:30 to 5:30 for snacks

There are also sometimes barbecues by the pool, so watch for those listed. Also at the Topsiders Grill, by the pool area, they serve snacks during the day. Check the Freestyle Daily.

The Specialty Restaurants (restaurants with a cover charge) open 5:30 to close. I’m not sure what they mean when they say close. Don’t know what time they close. Teppanyaki has serving times of 5:30, 7, 8:30, 10 pm

Room service is 24 hours a day. With a $3.95 delivery fee between midnight and 5 am. Pizza is available 24/7 anywhere on the ship for $5.

This may help for those folks with kids: The Splash Academy has care for your children from 10:30 pm to 1:30 am for a fee. We had our granddaughter with us. I think she was about 10 years old. If I remember right, there were two nights we brought her to the Splash Academy and paid the fee for an hour and a half or so. My dh and I wanted to stay out late, so we paid the fee. I think I remember thinking that the fee was reasonable, but I don’t remember the exact charge.

Okay, hopefully these time postings will help some of you with planning!!!!!!

[shealea]

Okay, I’ll start with giving some info on what we did in the Ports

The first Alaska cruise that we did was with our cousins (husband & wife) and our almost 18 yo son and his friend (a female). The two of them had been best friends for many years … since early on in grade school. I was very comfortable with bringing her, and she was so very appreciative that she was invited along, as she never would have had a chance to go on a cruise. She thanks us over and over, even now that she’s 25.

I was a bit worried that my son and his friend may get bored on an Alaska cruise, with not enough to keep them busy or entertained. But, they had a blast and loved everything about the cruise …… from shopping and exploring the Ports, to onboard activities. They loved the evening big shows. I was a bit surprised that they were so mindful of using the Freestyle Daily to watch for and enjoy all of the activities that they went to. They carried that around with them and really crammed a lot into each day.

They went to the pool and hot tub each evening. They were crazy about the dining. The buffet, the snacks, they loved room service, and they sure enjoyed the dining rooms. I thought they might think it was bothersome to have to change and dress decent for dinner. But they enjoyed it a lot.

They didn’t mind changing their clothes for dinner, in fact they liked to dress up and go to dinner in the dining rooms. A couple of nights they even wanted to dine with us and the cousins. It was fun!

I had such a big fear that they would not make it back to the ship on time before sail away from the Ports, but they did just fine and got on in plenty of time. I do have to admit panic would set in a bit with me, and I would call them on their cells and be certain they were back on the ship! I always breathed a huge sigh of relief to know they were on the ship safely and would not get left behind!!! Lol!

I wrote some about the experience of 4 persons in an inside cabin. It worked out just fine with us 4, as we really weren’t doing many things all together, so we were on different schedules for dressing for dinner, leaving in the a.m., getting back from port, etc.

We did shore excursions on that first Alaska cruise. Us and the cousins. My son and his friend did no excursions. They just wanted to do their own thing in Ports …. Walking around, looking at things, shopping. We booked two excursions through NCL. Now that I’ve cruised more, I would feel confident booking excursions through private tour companies. But I would be certain to research here on cruise critic first. The two excursions we did book through NCL we enjoyed very much, but I think money can be saved if you book on your own. Plus, I’ve read that with private tour companies, you are usually in with a smaller group of people. With NCL booked excursions, you are usually in with a really big group of people. At one Port, we walked off and did an excursion with someone who was there at Port side.

On our second cruise we had our two grandkids, ages 10 and 15. We did no shore excursions, mainly because of the costs involved to book for all four of us. Plus, all the kids really seemed interested in was SHOPPING, SHOPPING, AND MORE SHOPPING!! LoL!!!

Really, they loved hitting all of the souvenir shops, so that is what they did. This cruise was all about THEM! We did pretty much whatever they wanted to do. And that was walk around each Port and hit shop after shop after shop. They each had a lot of $$$$$$’s to spend. They had done a lot of work for us before leaving, plus many relatives had given them $$$’s to spend. So they had a lot of spending money. They did really well with making sure they spread it out over the course of the entire cruise so they wouldn’t run out before the cruise end. They really found some neat things to buy. They bought a tshirt/sweatshirt in each Port. Plus all sorts of other goodies.

Cruise #3 & Cruise #4 we did no shore excursions. We either explored on our own. Or stayed on the ship.

So, here it goes: I will start with Juneau.

JUNEAU: I didn’t really research much before our first cruise. I don’t think I knew about Cruise Critic. Ha! We booked a shore excursion through NCL. We did the Mendenhall Glacier & Whale Watching Excursion Combo. We were on a large tour bus that brought us to the Glacier. We left the bus and walked along the path to the Visitor Center. The visitor center is very impressive. Wonderful exhibits. It was worrisome to me to see through pictures displayed that the glaciers are receding much faster than they are growing. I really couldn’t believe the difference you could see through the photos they had displayed! I think everyone should see what is happening. Most folks hear that it’s happening, but when you see it displayed in actual photos, it really makes you realize what is going on!!

Mendenhall Glacier was quite a ways off in the distance. I had sort of thought I would be up closer to it than we were. But it was still an awesome sight! There is a big and beautiful waterfall that is an easy walk to get to.

It seemed like it was time to go before I was really ready. I could have spent much more time there. I have heard this same thought from many others. I really want to go back to Mendenhall Glacier one more time. The next time we will take a bus there on our own, without going through an excursion. It’s easy to get a bus out there and back, and the cost in low. So keep that in mind as a possible outing when you are in Juneau. That way you can stay and explore the area there for a longer time. There are hikes you take take from the Visitor Center area, so if that is what you enjoy, that is an option for you also.

After we got back on our tour bus, we headed to the shore of Auke Bay. I love watching out the bus window as we drive along, as I like to see new areas I’ve never been to before. It’s fun for me to see the scenery, the homes along the way. I enjoy seeing everything! We all made our way to the dock and aboard a large excursion boat.

We traveled along, with some narration about what we were seeing along the way. The scenery is so very beautiful and breathtaking! I can’t really put into words the feelings I have when in Alaska when I see the scenery. I feel like we were given a “gift” that we are so lucky to have and that we need to take great care and have great appreciation for it!!

We learned about some of the wildlife. We learned about how some of the folks live in Alaska year round. We traveled along for, oh, maybe 40 minutes (it’s been a few years back, so I just can’t remember specifics super well). We slowed as the captain said that we should be able to find whales in the area close, as they had reports that they were in the area.

And I can’t even hardly explain well enough the show that we experienced!!! It was breathtaking!! It was awesome! It was an experience I will never, ever forget!!!! A big group of humpback whales was bubble net feeding. OMG ….. WOW, WOW, WOW!!! The entire boatload of people were oohing and awweiiing over what we were experiencing. Many people, kids and adults alike, were shrieking in delight. And the show they put on went on and on. People were wildly running here and there with their cameras, taking picture after picture!! I would have been in heaven if I had a humongous camera lense that I saw some folks had!!!! Heck, I will have to buy one and go on yet ANOTHER Alaska cruise!!! lol! But I can’t imagine the $$$$’s some folks had in camera equipment. But, oh, how lucky they were to capture this great show in pictures!!!! I took many, many pictures with my camera.

The tour guides said we were very, very lucky to experience what we had witnessed, as it doesn’t always happen that folks on this excursion get such a treat as we did. We stayed for a long time watching the whales. Then we took off to make our way back. We weren’t speeding along, but taking an easy pace, enjoying the ride, scenery, and a bit more sea life.

We came upon a really large buoy. There were a few really big seals sunbathing on it. This one poor seal really wanted up on that buoy to join the crowd, relaxing and enjoying the day, lounging in the sun! But those other seals on the buoy ….. they would have nothing of letting this one poor guy on!!! One of them …. Just one …. could have scooted over just a bit and let him on. But NO. He tried over and over and over to get on. It just wouldn’t work! He would swim around the buoy, looking for just a bit of room to climb on and join in! He would try so hard to get on, and just about make it, then tumble back into the ocean. Just not enough room to be had!!!!! Poor fella!! He never did make it that we saw!

It was back to the dock, back onboard the bus, back to the cruise ship. What a very nice and awesome day we had!!!!

We think the shore excursions in Alaska are a bit pricey, but heck, we are kinda “cheap” lol!!! But I can say, it was worth every penny we paid for the amazing day we had! But after reading on Cruise Critic, next time I would book a whale watching excursion on our own. There are certain private tours that have been recommended, so check cruise critic to see. And for Mendenhall Glacier ….. I plan to go back. But we will take a bus out there on our own. Very good price, plus you can spend more time there exploring!

More on JUNEAU PORT: When we had our grandkids with us, like I said, they were mainly into walking around and shopping. But in Juneau, we did do the Mt. Roberts Tram (I think that’s the name). We bought the tickets right there at the base of the tram. Gosh, was it $20 per person? Can’t remember. I do remember thinking the price was a bit high. But, the kids enjoyed it. My favorite part of that was being able to have such a great view from up top. So cool to see your cruise ship way, way down below.

On one cruise dh and I went out and about Juneau on our own, walking and exploring. Dh wanted to walk to the State Capitol Building. They do have guided tours, but we decided to just walk around and explore the building on our own. We did stop and visit folks that were sitting in their offices working. Dh loves to visit (well….OK…..I do too! Ha!). And I will tell you ……. What friendly people there. And, really, all over the parts of Alaska that we visited! What friendly, warm, inviting folks!!!

Dh also wanted to find Sarah Palin’s picture in the State Capitol. So we did, and I got a picture of it! Thrills, I guess!! He, he!

There is also a really nice museum near the State Capitol Building. We briefly went right inside the door to see what it was about. I remember thinking the price was really reasonable. And it looked like it’s really a nice museum. We decided not to go through, but that is on my list of things to do on my next cruise to Alaska!!!

After leaving the State Capitol Building, we started heading back to get back on the cruise ship. It was a warm sunny day. We walked back down to near the base of the Mt. Roberts Tram. It’s such a very pretty area. Beautiful flower gardens, walkways along through the gardens and along the waterfront, places to sit and relax. There were many, many people strolling along, sitting and relaxing. We sat on the cement bulkhead and relaxed, enjoying the scenery as we looked out to the water and mountains in the distance. Then we walked and caught the bus back to the ship. What a nice day!

On our cruise to Alaska last August dh and I stayed on the ship at the Juneau Port. We really “needed” this cruise to de-stress. It was our intention to get a lot of relaxing time this cruise. It’s really so nice and quiet staying onboard while in a Port. So many folks do go into Port, so it’s easy to have some really quiet time. We really loved the day onboard!!

Well, that’s it for now. I will be back tomorrow with my thoughts on another Port! I hope I’m doing okay with my review. I really just type, type along as I remember. Hope it’s not boring for you all!

[shealea]

Also, if any of you have a specific question that I can look up for you on my Freestyle Daily, I'm more than happy to see if I can find the answer for you there.

[shealea]

Me, yet again!!!!! lol! I do plan on getting brave and figuring out how to post pictures of our Alaska cruise from last summer. Our most recent Alaska cruise, aboard the Jewel.

 

My thoughts are that I will create a new topic to post pictures only. Totally separate from this review.

 

I think some folks are only interested in reading a review. Some folks really like looking through pictures, without sifting through a bunch of text.

 

But, I am slow. So it won't be any time really soon. But, it is my intention to go through my pictures and try to post a good selection of them specifically of different areas of the cruise ship, so that folks can see what the Pearl is all about!!! She's a great ship.

 

And then maybe if I get super brave in the future, I may just try to scan some of the dailies up to my computer and post some of them for you all. I will do my best to get all of that done.

[don't-use-real-name]

Hey shealea you forgot the brown tinted print !

In any event thanks for the detailed report of your voyage !

And very happy for you that everyone in your party was

pleased and enjoyed the trip - remarkable !!!!!

Thanks again !

[Oppalopa]

Okay, I was able to edit my post and add paragraph breaks. That should help in reading it! Yay!

Thank you for your review It was great I am planning on going to Alaska and you helped me alot. :)

[littlelulu01]

Thanks for your review. You give a lot of detail that is very helpful to others.

[MandyMommyof2]

Thanks so much for taking the time to right your review! It's full of great tips :) An Alaskan cruise is on our list! We had planned to take one this summer, but the Getaway got me ;)