A Real Alaskan Jewel - May 7 - My first NCL Review!

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

I'm really sad the OP never came back to finish their review. :confused:

 

I'm back with the next day's installment. Been a busy week. I do apologize for taking so long to get to it, I have been jonesing to sit down for a few hours and start writing all week. Finally got some free time to do so tonight. I am glad everyone has enjoyed what I have posted so far and hopefully I won't go another week between postings again, lol.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

It's only been a few days. I know how hard they are to write and sometimes you can only get a chance to write one day a week. I am not counting him out yet.

 

 

Haha, fear not, I am back with Day 3. It just takes a lot of time and effort and it's hard when I don't get a couple uninterrupted hours to sit down and write this thing up like I really want to. I don't want to do it half-you know what, so I do take my time to get it done right. Thanks for being patient and bearing with me. I will try to get more than one day done this coming week though, :).

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Yep - I appreciate the effort you are putting into this.

 

We have just retired and are looking at various overseas travel options so will be following this and, hopefully, learning from it.

 

I am glad you like the review. That's part of the fun of these reviews. Yes, they are entertaining, but they often help others in the planning of their own cruises. I know I have read some awesome reviews of ships and itineraries on here and it helped me know what to expect on a future cruise and even helped me make a decision on which ship to pick for a vacation when I had previously not been able to make up my mind. Hopefully this helps you in your decision process going forward.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Good evening everyone, here I am once again, back with Day 3 of my Alaskan Jewel cruise adventure. I appreciate all the nice comments I have received from you all, and I am glad you are enjoying following along. I have been very busy this week, so I apologize in advance for taking so long to reply to everyone’s comments and for not getting to the next day’s recap and pictures until now. Today was a sea day, as we made our way up into Alaska, from Seattle. Here goes.

DAY 3: FIRST SEA DAY

Today was a relaxing, lazy day at sea, as is normal for a day where there is really nothing to do other than familiarize yourself with the ship and relax from the hectic embarkation day before. So, I took advantage of the freedom of this day and just hung out some.

I woke up sometime around 1000, as we were still sort of feeling the time change and getting used to it and I really didn’t feel like going up to breakfast at the buffet right away so I hung around in the cabin some and did some more unpacking. Thankfully, we did not completely unpack our stuff as I will get into our cabin change saga in just a minute. I checked out the Freestyle Daily to see what was going on around the ship on this day to see what I wanted to do ultimately. I also got a picture of the nice calm seas from the balcony and smooth, calm seas was the norm on this cruise, rather than the exception. To add, it was probably mid-60s and clear, really great weather for early May.

Morning pic from balcony:

I did get hungry shortly thereafter and headed up to the Garden Café to get some breakfast around 1100. They still serve breakfast at this time, but you have to get it at the very back of the ship, as they are in the process of changing the main buffet over for lunch service. Still, I got a nice breakfast of sausage, bacon, pancakes and a ham and bacon omelet. The line was not long at all for the omelet and it was pretty good. Their breakfast spreads are pretty good if you ask me. Good taste and variety. No Bacon Police either, as seems to be the norm on some...ahem…other lines, lol. I have to say I also discovered the turkey sausage on this ship and it was good, if not better than the traditional sausage as it wasn’t as greasy.

After walking around the upper decks some, I settled on going to the lido pool area around noontime to see what was going on there and they sure enough, had another poolside barbecue going for lunch. Of course I jumped right on that and got myself a plate, with chicken, sausage and rice. I believe they had grilled corn on the cob also but it honestly wasn’t that great and was a little too soggy, which happens if the corn that is being cooked isn’t really fresh. Still, I had plenty of food in the other stuff. I got a Pepsi to go along with it from the Topsiders bar, located right near where the bbq was set up. Now, not knowing any better, I was getting spoiled at this point by the bbq they served each day and thought that this was an everyday thing. It turned out that it was not served every day but we would get to experience it again later on in the cruise.

Poolside bbq, nice touch:

My mother and our friends had gone off to do whatever for a while, and so we agreed to meet at O’Sheehan’s at 1500 for lunch. I got there early of course, and sat down with some wings and ordered a 20-ounce Newcastle draft from the bar. Good value those are, as it cost $6.95 plus 18 percent gratuity and a 12-ounce is like $5.75 or something. They finally showed up and ordered their things, chicken fingers and fries and I also got a Pepsi to go after I finished my beer. Good late lunch.

O'Sheehan's, again. Newcastle 20 oz draught, good value as far as onboard alcoholic beverages go at least:

O’Sheehan’s is centrally located, on Deck 8 midship, and you can get to it from the lower decks by staircase, which is the easiest way to get there. We planned on Cagney’s steakhouse tonight for dinner, so we wouldn’t be able to take advantage of O’Sheehan’s special dinner entrée which sounded enticing at the time but I can’t recall what exactly it was now. They seemed to have a really good special dinner offer there every night even though we only got to go there for dinner once.

So, it was nearly 1700 by the time we left and what to do, what to do? I took a nap of course. I was thinking of checking out the hot tubs/pools but I would rather take a nap instead. Besides, the hot tubs and pools are only open until 2200 on this ship. That was unusual, as most other lines are open until at least midnight. That was kind of a bummer but I worked around that later on in the cruise. We had a reservation at Cagney’s, the ship’s upcharge steakhouse for 1830, so I had to be up a little before that to get ready. Here comes the part about getting our cabin changed, lol.

The cabin phone rang around 1815, and it was guest services. They had a dilemma. While we were booked into a handicapped-accessible cabin, they explained, some traveling party in another cabin, who had recently become disabled, asked to be switched because they couldn’t navigate a standard balcony cabin. They told us no other pax in our situation were willing to switch, but of course, my mother agreed to the change of cabin. In reality, not a huge problem but my issue was that this should have all been taken care of before the cruise, or at the least, on the first day. Not on the second day, when we were pretty much all settled into the cabin. And, I would figure they would give us quite a nice bit of compensation for the inconvenience, but we only got a couple hundred in onboard credit for our trouble. Again, not to make a huge deal but it could have been handled better if you ask me. We told them we would take care of the move after dinner, as we already had steakhouse reservations and were in a hurry to make it there on time.

So, at 1830 we hit Cagney’s. It is the ship’s signature steakhouse, located on one of the upper decks of the ship and is one of the extra-fee restaurants onboard. Since we had the UDP included for free, we didn’t have to pay anything extra for our meal. Standard fare is an appetizer, entrée, and dessert, drinks extra of course. I got some jumbo shrimp as an appetizer and a New York Strip steak, cooked medium for my entrée. I got some ice cream cake for dessert. Honestly, the service and atmosphere was just OK, and the food was fine but not wonderful. Probably worth the $30 if I was paying out of pocket, but not anything I would seek out again if I sailed this ship in the future.

Steak dinner at Cagney's. OK NY Strip, nothing exceptionally special. My mom got the ribeye, which was far more flavorful. Also got a glass of white wine, $10 with gratuity was steep I thought but whatever, we are on vacation, right? It was an off-time for seating so it was not crowded either. Supposedly very early or very late are more crowded, so if you like to dine at those times, best to make a reservation.

 

So, after dinner, it was back to the cabin to re-pack our stuff and move it to the new cabin, on the other side of the ship, all the way at the other end. LOL, ok. The guest services manager helped us through the process and ship staff did move our bags to the new cabin for us but still, major, major, major inconvenience for us in my opinion. I did politely ask the manager for a bottle of white wine for our trouble and it was no problem for her to get us one. It didn’t show up until the next night (lol) but it was still nice as we could sort of drink it a little at a time out on the balcony or whatever during the cruise.

Come around 2100, after all the craziness of moving was completed, it was time to get settled into new surroundings again. This new cabin was nowhere near as large as the other one. Pretty cramped actually. But whatever. We will just have to deal with this, right? Funny that there was a sign at guest services earlier saying that due to the ship sailing full, room changes would not be accommodated. Guess exceptions can be made though, eh?

We all went to the Band on the Run show in the lounge this evening at 2115 and it was OK, as it featured the ship’s singers and dancers and what I believe, was live music. It cannot be overstated how much live music improves production shows. Other lines have gotten rid of live bands recently, and their shows, for lack of a better word, suck now for the most part.

Once the show was over about 2200, we went back to the cabin to finish unpacking and to get a good night’s sleep as tomorrow was our first port of call, Ketchikan. And, since we were sailing further west, we moved all clocks back another hour. The next day would be an early start, and a full, action-packed day.

Towel animal, chocolates and the next day's Freestyle Daily. We got these in our old cabin before we moved:

So, I will leave it off at that and will pick up again with DAY 4: KETCHIKAN as soon as I can. Thanks again for reading and I am happy to see many of you are enjoying this cruise review. Much more to come, as it really gets fun and interesting once we start visiting ports each day. Happy cruising as always!

　

　

[Porbeagle12]

Awesome review keep it coming! Did the Baltic with Norwegian in 2013 and cannot wait to do Alaska. How was the weather?

[Tamrann]

I am so enjoying your review! We did a 7 day Alaska in 2013 on the Jewel, we had an absolute blast! We are leaving for Alaska again on the 7th of June, on the Pearl this time! Your review is making the last week until we are on board, bearable!! Thanks!:D

[OceanDreaming2]

Thanks for updating your review. Can't wait for the next half! :)

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Awesome review keep it coming! Did the Baltic with Norwegian in 2013 and cannot wait to do Alaska. How was the weather?

 

Weather was awesome. Rained a very little bit in Juneau, but was warm and generally at least partly sunny the entire time. We packed way too much, expecting it would be colder than it was. You will love Alaska. Thanks for reading along.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

I am so enjoying your review! We did a 7 day Alaska in 2013 on the Jewel, we had an absolute blast! We are leaving for Alaska again on the 7th of June, on the Pearl this time! Your review is making the last week until we are on board, bearable!! Thanks!:D

 

I am glad that you are enjoying. I visited Alaska back in 2007, but it seemed to be more fun this time and I took everything in more I think. Maybe I kind of knew what to expect and am older this time around, who knows? Enjoy your cruise, it will be a blast. The Pearl was sort of shadowing us most of this trip, maybe you will see the Jewel a few times during your trip as well. Have fun!

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Thanks for updating your review. Can't wait for the next half! :)

 

Not a problem, I have Part 4 all ready to go. Lots of pics in this one also. First port visit. I don't want to go so long in between updates, but I also couldn't pass up all the overtime I have been doing either, I can pay for two more cruises with that if I wanted. :D Hope you continue to enjoy.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

And I’m back with the continuation of my Norwegian Jewel Alaska Cruise Review! Finally got a few days off and am ready to go and get on with sharing my experiences with everyone. I believe this review has been awesome and I have put some nice pictures of the ship and of Seattle out there, but now it gets really cool as we finally arrived in ALASKA this day and things really got going. Dozens of beautiful pics to share from this day as well. Day 4 of the review and Day 3 of the cruise itself features a visit in Ketchikan, so here we go. Enjoy!

DAY 4: KETCHIKAN

Today we visited the town of Ketchikan, in Southeast Alaska’s Inside Passage. Ketchikan is a town built on fishing, tourism and government operations. The entire metro area has a year-round population of 13000 but that grows with seasonal workers who help handle the summer cruise and tour season. It is the southeasternmost city in the state and is located on Revillagigedo Island. Its climate is cold and rainy/snowy in the winter and temperate in the summer.

As I have mentioned before, I am not a morning person, so I did not make it up to see the sunrise, but that is okay because it seemed that there was not much of one as there was a very low cloud deck which obscured it quite a bit. We did have an early excursion however, so I was up around 0800. I got cleaned up and dressed and we headed out towards the gangway. I skipped breakfast this morning as we planned on getting some lunch in port after our excursions.

This is what I mean about not having a great sunrise view. Taken from my balcony, facing the island across the water. Town was on the other side of the ship. Low clouds which did recede a little during the day, it was probably about 60 this morning. Not bad at all.

So, we had a 0900 excursion and thus exited the ship right before then to meet the group at the NCL-purchased excursions point. For ship excursions on all lines pretty much, they have guides holding up signs guiding you to where you have to meet your group. We had two excursions planned for today and the first one was a duck boat tour through town. We chose the early one so we would have time for our second tour, later on. We met our tour leader and headed over to the duck boat to board.

We boarded a little after 0900 and were on our way. The duck boat tour company is a national thing, with unique tours offered all around the country. I know this because these guys also operate in Philadelphia, doing tours of the Delaware River and Center City. I had never been on one but it seemed like a cool thing to try and the price was reasonable, so we went ahead and booked it. I have to note that most of these tours are offered through the operators themselves, if you book them when you get off the ship but they are often sold out ahead of time so you are taking your chances if you wait. I have had excursions sell out on me before. You can save some money however, as the cruise lines like to mark the prices up on the ones they sell.

So, anyway, we first did a water tour of Ketchikan. We headed down the main street and into the water at a boat ramp, located in the industrial fishing section of town. We went all through the Tongass Narrows, the body of water that the town sits next to. This is also where the Bridge to Nowhere was to be built about a decade ago, but it never happened in this spot at least, so ferry is the only way to get across the narrows to the island and airport across the channel. We got all kinds of nice shots of the harbor area and the shoreline, which stretches up a mile or so either direction from downtown. The town itself is not that large but the general area does stretch pretty far in either direction.

 

I will tell you, it is weird riding around the water, looking up at the mountains shrouded in clouds. Eerie but cool at the same time. We rode up near the airport and back along the shore, through the harbor area and our tour guide explained to us that the narrows rarely freezes due to the milder Japanese currents that run through the area in the winter. However, the storms can get extreme and produce 100-mph wind gusts. That affects the way things are built in town, as if you build out towards the water, it can literally be impossible to even stand up or hold onto items. She had a funny story about a fast food restaurant that was built towards the water and went out of business because transactions couldn’t even be done due to the way the building faced when it got windy.

Our guide, by the way, was born and raised in Alaska, but has lived all around the country and recently returned to Ketchikan. Our driver/captain was also from there, and he didn’t talk much but he did navigate the vehicle very adeptly through the area. The duck boats are highly regulated and maintained to the highest standards, so if you are concerned about that stuff, don’t be. They are perfectly safe. Eventually, we headed back onto land and when we did, our guide had to wash off and inspect the bottom of the boat to make sure there wasn’t any seaweed or any other obstructions on the boat. If you drive through the streets and leave debris behind, it is a fine from the local police in town.

While we waited, it was explained that May is the transitional month in this area. Winter ends, things thaw out, and wildlife begins to come to life again. There are bears in this area, as everywhere in Alaska but we did not see any and they generally don’t come into town. Salmon is a huge thing here. Although it was a few weeks early to see it, it was explained that the narrows is completely filled with salmon in early summer. We rode up into the residential areas of the city, where the Ketchikan Creek runs, and it was said that at the height of spawning season, one can cross the creek on foot due to the sheer thousands of fish that completely fill the waterway. None there yet that we saw however.

We saw the general residential and business areas there and it was explained that since many homes are built into the side of the mountains and thus are not accessible to the street, stairs are built up to meet these homes and they are actually designated as active streets by the city and thus have to be cleared of snow in the winter. They have a public works department that does this in the snowy season. Pretty neat. Long climb to get to some of those homes though, lol. We headed back towards downtown afterwards, and the tour began to wind down.

It was explained to us that the two 10-story or so buildings near the shore were originally built for seasonal industrial workers, but in recent years they are actually used as standard apartments for residents. They call them their skyscrapers, haha. As with everything here, housing is expensive compared to other areas and consumer goods cost more due to the fact it is an isolated area and everything has to be shipped or flown in.

Now, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the relationship that these towns have with aviation. It is really a lifeline, literally for these people. If you get sick and cannot be treated in town, you have to be flown out to Juneau, and that is by chopper or plane. Lots of supplies are also flown in and all travel has to be done either by ship or plane and flying is obviously much quicker. Ketchikan’s airport is located across the narrows from town and is accessible by ferry. You can see and hear operations going on here all day long from the town. Pretty cool. Lots of general aviation and Alaska Airlines flies here many times a day, serving cities all across Alaska. More on that later but they also have a water runway, located right near the ship and tours were coming and going here all day along, using seaplanes.

 

So, come around 1100, the tour was over and we were dropped back in the port area. Nice tour. It does have to be noted that if you have mobility problems however, it can be a little difficult to get off the duck boat as it is a pretty steep ladder climb to get down. Keep that in mind if that is an issue for you. After this, we had a 1200 reservation for the lumberjack show, held at the fairgrounds at the back end of downtown.

While we waited for the show, we stopped in the local mini-mall and shops, located centrally in the middle of everything. They have gift shops, you can buy local food products and they also have a few local deli and bistro-type restaurants. I got some popcorn, a Snickers bar (I wasn’t going anywhere for a while) and a dried, smoked salmon filet for later. I didn’t get much of anything else though, just went outside and sat around while we all waited to go into the lumberjack show.

The show featured two teams of two guys, from all across the USA, who competed in a number of skills, ranging from saw work to climbing up a log on a rope, to hatchet toss, to log rolling in a pool. Two guys represented the USA, and two represented Team Canada. The audience was split into two groups, and we rooted for our side, either USA or Canada.

After a short intro by the narrator and a history of the logging industry in the area, the competition went on. It was fun, a little cheesy, but the guys really were skilled and it showed. It ended up with Canada winning the log roll at the end, breaking a tie and leading to victory, but it was a good bit of fun. Anyone can enjoy but I know it is geared towards families and the kids really loved it. The lumberjacks would autograph things after each event and bring them to give to someone in the stands. After the show, people posed for pics with the lumberjacks and people were allowed a chance to buy little gifts and trinkets from the gift store. Of course I didn’t get anything but there was some interesting stuff in there.

So, at about 1330, after the show, it was where were we going to get lunch, and where were our friends going to shop? LOL. My mom and I looked for a place to get a good local lunch and our friends shopped in a while. They have a good selection of Made in Alaska stuff there, along with the usual touristy stuff and the usual stores like Diamonds International and Del Sol. We met up with our friends after they got done shopping and headed to a restaurant located across the street from the ship, called Fish Pirates Saloon.

This port area reminded me a lot of St. John, Canada, in its layout and atmosphere. I had visited there on the Carnival Glory a few years ago and although Ketchikan is a lot smaller, there are similarities between the two. The restaurant is located upstairs, and there was not a long wait for seating for lunch. I got a local Alaskan Beer Summer Ale, which was only OK, but worth trying for obvious reasons and got some fish and chips for my food. Pretty good. The uniqueness of the restaurant is what we were going for and that was accomplished as it was a nice experience. Our ship was scheduled for a 1600 departure, all aboard at 1530.

I walked around the port area some more and got some pictures, and stopped by the visitors center one more time before heading back to the ship around 1500. The visitor center is very nice there and I have to note that there were a lot of people from the Philly area who seemed to live in Alaska. I got a lot of comments about my Phillies hoodie, I just found it interesting that many people from the east coast settled in Alaska, so far away.

Anyway, I went back out to the balcony to hang out for a while and wait for sail away and watched the seaplanes fly right past the ship. We all went back to the lido deck for a late lunch and to watch us leave Ketchikan. We pushed away from the dock at around 1615, and watched as the town we just toured and spent the day in got further and further away. The next part is cool for geeks like me (and more than a few other people as well).

The airport we looked at all day (KTN) was in the path of our sail away. As we went up the channel, we went right past the terminal and to watch pushback, taxi and takeoff of an Alaska Airlines 737-400. I think they are the last major US carrier to fly these classics and if I am correct, they are configured as combi, half passenger, half freight. Don’t know if they still do it but they used to in the past. A huge lifeline for this region for sure. I think this plane was headed towards Sitka. It is funny, they were in position and a little Cessna 172 or something floated down and landed. Of course, being a 7000 foot runway with no exits except at either end, this thing took forever to get off the runway and the AS plane had to wait for about 5 minutes to begin his takeoff roll. Got a few comments from others about how much fuel he wasted having to wait. Not that much but still funny.

Anyway, after that excitement, I stopped by the poolside grill and got a burger and a piece of pizza from the buffet at the back of the ship. Just enough to keep me over until dinner. I was amazingly still getting 4G phone coverage here, about 20 miles from town, so I sent some pics back home and looked at the weather in our next port and at home and shut it down once we got out of range of any local towers. Come around 1800, I went back to the cabin, laid down for a little while, and got ready for dinner. Tonight’s dinner would be at Teppanyaki, the hibachi-style place.

Reservations are a must for here. They only have a few seatings and each seating only accommodates about 35 or so people. Very intimate atmosphere. It is an upcharge restaurant but it is included in the UDP, so no additional charges for us. I think it is $25 if you pay for it yourself though. We are seated, they take drink orders, serve everyone soup and the chef shows up with the correct ingredients that are going to be used for everything we ordered. Our chef was funny and entertaining and also was very efficient at his job, cooking. Everybody gets a grilled veggie appetizer and freshly made fried rice, then whatever entrée they ordered. I got chicken and shrimp, but my mom got steak and so did our friends. Mine was very good, but very filling and my friends had some stuff they didn’t finish that I tried to eat after I finished mine. I did eat some of it but I was full. I cannot honestly remember what the dessert was. It was all good, and worth the price tag if you ask me. I enjoyed this much more than Cagney’s. We also added a $5 tip on our ship cards as the service was good and were on our way.

About 2100, after dinner, I just walked around some and took in the evening entertainment in the lounges. I also went out to the deck to get a great shot of sunset. Things really did clear up during the day, allowing me to get a great shot of this. Sunset was at about 2130 on this night, far from midnight sun but still more light than we see at home at any time of the year. I headed back to the cabin for a minute, we saw the next day’s Freestyle Daily, and towel animal, and I headed back out to the casino to check that out. We finally received our bottle of white wine as well, and I found room in our small fridge to store and chill it for future use.

The casino is located on Deck 6 I believe, forward, and is the only place that allows smoking. I don’t smoke but I also didn’t mind as it wasn’t too intrusive and the ventilation there is good. Better than Carnival, which puts its casinos right in the middle of the action and the smoke drifts out all over the promenade deck due to its location. I played penny slots for a while (true penny slots, not 9 cent minimum pull) and while I did lose about 10 bucks, I played on that for a few hours. Fun. Only downside is that you cannot charge casino spending to your sail and sign card, you have to use purchased vouchers or cash in the machines. If I was doing that wrong however, let me know. Perhaps there is a way to charge to your s/s card.

Anyway, I headed to bed sometime around midnight, in order to get ready for the next day’s activities. Many, many more pics from this day to come in just a minute. It was a fun day, and tomorrow would feature a visit to Juneau, the state capital. So, hope you enjoyed and I can’t wait to get to the next day’s fun and photos. Happy cruising!

　

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Across the street from the ship. Visitor center a block down the street to the right.

 

 

Lumberjack show

 

 

 

 

 

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

After lunch, local Ketchikan police car patrolling the area. I thought that was kind of cool. Not that different from everywhere else, huh?

 

Walking around town, a pic of the mountains that tower over the town. This was between Diamonds International and Fish Pirates Saloon. Just across from the ship.

 

Lunch at the restaurant

 

 

 

Me in front of the ship

 

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Seaplanes seen from my balcony. Neat.

 

Leaving port - Crystal Cruises was parked next to us, we left first.

 

 

Alaska 737-400. Front row seat for taxi and takeoff from Ketchikan Airport. Really neat.

 

 

20 miles away from Ketchikan. Nice evening

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Teppanyaki dinner

 

 

 

 

Sunset

 

Towel animal and Freestyle Daily

 

 

The bottle of wine we finally got because we were inconvenienced by moving cabins the night before

[NancyL2]

Very, very nice...love all the pics!

We also booked the duck tour in Ketchikan for this September...after your review I'm really looking forward to it. Even though it is very "touristy" lol

I've been thinking about doing the lumberjack show...will have to check it out.

It's such a great little town.

Thanks!

[Colin B]

This is a question that I have found hard to get a straight answer to so maybe someone can help me out?

 

How much do shore excursions like the Duck tour and various shows like the lumberjack display cost?

 

We are considering the Alaska cruises but really need to nail down just how much to budget for over and above the basic costs of airfare and accommodation. It would not be much fun having to stay on the ship or just walk around the various stops.

[jenseib]

This is a question that I have found hard to get a straight answer to so maybe someone can help me out?

 

How much do shore excursions like the Duck tour and various shows like the lumberjack display cost?

 

We are considering the Alaska cruises but really need to nail down just how much to budget for over and above the basic costs of airfare and accommodation. It would not be much fun having to stay on the ship or just walk around the various stops.

 

You can see prices right on the NCL website.

[min2758]

This is a question that I have found hard to get a straight answer to so maybe someone can help me out?

 

How much do shore excursions like the Duck tour and various shows like the lumberjack display cost?

 

We are considering the Alaska cruises but really need to nail down just how much to budget for over and above the basic costs of airfare and accommodation. It would not be much fun having to stay on the ship or just walk around the various stops.

 

You can find things to do on the cheap that are more involved than just walking around the tourist traps - I mean, SHOPS. Alaska is a BEAUTIFUL place and hiking is free. Taking a shuttle or city bus is an option depending on the itinerary you pick and length of time in port. Excursions can get as expensive as you can imagine (like $500+ for a glacier top dog sledding), or cheap like $30 to ride on a tour bus around town. If you like more active things to do, look for hiking or consider renting a car to go a bit further than walking around those traps- I mean SHOPS!

 

My splurge for our family's upcoming cruise was the Deadliest Catch Fisherman's Tour, which I think was $169/per adult and a little less for kids. In our other two Alaska stops we are renting a car (I know where I want to go and what I want to see) and in Victoria, I'm playing it by ear. The car rental in Juneau is about $60 and in Skagway $125. We plan on visiting Mendenhall in Juneau and there's a small fee for the visitors center, and we plan on going to Eagle Beach if there's time and maybe even Glacier Gardens ($25 pp adults, kids are less). Overall for the 3 of us, that day should cost $70+gas without Glacier Gardens. Anyway, point is there are lot of things you can do for free, cheap, or go all out expensive. Bottom line- You don't have to spend a fortune to have a good time. Decide on a budget, and you can find activities to fit within in.

[D&J38]

Thanks, FlyingCruiserNJ, for the great detailed reviews. We leave tomorrow for Seattle for the same cruise leaving Saturday, so I'll miss the rest of your posts and just get to live it! Can't wait!!

 

Colin, when I was looking, it seemed the Duck Tour and Lumberjack Show were surprisingly the same price either booked directly or done through NCL ($42 and $35, respectively), so I booked them through NCL to be sure and get a spot. Same for the Mt. Roberts Tram at $33 in Juneau; same price either way. Going to take our chances, though, in Juneau and get the $20 round-trip bus to Mendenhall. Looks like it will be easy enough to do.

 

Janice

[OceanDreaming2]

FlyingCruiser - A quick question for you. Did you stop in Sitka and/or Icy Strait Point? These are the two ports we haven't visited previously and am a bit confused as to what to do. Walking doesn't bother us, so we do plan to walk from ISP to Hoonah. Thank you!

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Very, very nice...love all the pics!

We also booked the duck tour in Ketchikan for this September...after your review I'm really looking forward to it. Even though it is very "touristy" lol

I've been thinking about doing the lumberjack show...will have to check it out.

It's such a great little town.

Thanks!

 

The duck tour was cool. Got to see a lot of the city that I didn't see the last time I visited and was relaxing. The lumberjack thing was cute, but fun and entertaining and the guys were actually pretty skilled. Although it was only a show, the bios of the guys competing were actually impressive and they are really skilled tradesmen back in their hometowns when they are not putting on a show. The price tag for both excursions was like $75 or so. Definitely not overpriced for what we got.

 

And yes, Ketchikan is a nice little town. Not much fun to be there in winter I would think, but nice in summer.

 

And thanks for reading! Glad you are enjoying the review. Day 5 is coming right up.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

This is a question that I have found hard to get a straight answer to so maybe someone can help me out?

 

How much do shore excursions like the Duck tour and various shows like the lumberjack display cost?

 

We are considering the Alaska cruises but really need to nail down just how much to budget for over and above the basic costs of airfare and accommodation. It would not be much fun having to stay on the ship or just walk around the various stops.

 

I forget the exact prices but affordable. Definitely under a hundred for both tours and that is with the ship markup. Probably spent under $400 a person for all the tours we took total on this cruise.

 

Obviously you can spend much more, or nothing at all and do your own thing or as I said, you can book the same tours through the local companies in some cases and save money that way. You don't get the cruise line guarantee that if you somehow get stranded somewhere, the ship cannot leave until you get back whereas if you don't book it through them, you are out of luck. Some things, like zipline or snorkeling, or vehicle tours in some places can cost hundreds but pretty much every port offers something inexpensive to do. I usually don't book that many excursions through the ship on my shorter cruises but some of the places we visited here didn't have much going on outside of the tours offered by the cruise line.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

You can find things to do on the cheap that are more involved than just walking around the tourist traps - I mean, SHOPS. Alaska is a BEAUTIFUL place and hiking is free. Taking a shuttle or city bus is an option depending on the itinerary you pick and length of time in port. Excursions can get as expensive as you can imagine (like $500+ for a glacier top dog sledding), or cheap like $30 to ride on a tour bus around town. If you like more active things to do, look for hiking or consider renting a car to go a bit further than walking around those traps- I mean SHOPS!

 

My splurge for our family's upcoming cruise was the Deadliest Catch Fisherman's Tour, which I think was $169/per adult and a little less for kids. In our other two Alaska stops we are renting a car (I know where I want to go and what I want to see) and in Victoria, I'm playing it by ear. The car rental in Juneau is about $60 and in Skagway $125. We plan on visiting Mendenhall in Juneau and there's a small fee for the visitors center, and we plan on going to Eagle Beach if there's time and maybe even Glacier Gardens ($25 pp adults, kids are less). Overall for the 3 of us, that day should cost $70+gas without Glacier Gardens. Anyway, point is there are lot of things you can do for free, cheap, or go all out expensive. Bottom line- You don't have to spend a fortune to have a good time. Decide on a budget, and you can find activities to fit within in.

 

This, pretty much. I had done the Mendenhall Glacier tour before, so I didn't do it this time. It can be pricey also, as was the whale watching tour option. But yea, you can find something interesting for pretty much any budget and if you are adventurous, you can surely plan your own activities for touring town.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Thanks, FlyingCruiserNJ, for the great detailed reviews. We leave tomorrow for Seattle for the same cruise leaving Saturday, so I'll miss the rest of your posts and just get to live it! Can't wait!!

 

Colin, when I was looking, it seemed the Duck Tour and Lumberjack Show were surprisingly the same price either booked directly or done through NCL ($42 and $35, respectively), so I booked them through NCL to be sure and get a spot. Same for the Mt. Roberts Tram at $33 in Juneau; same price either way. Going to take our chances, though, in Juneau and get the $20 round-trip bus to Mendenhall. Looks like it will be easy enough to do.

 

Janice

 

It's my pleasure to post this review. You will love your cruise. Glad you are enjoying my adventure. I do apologize for not being able to get this completed sooner, but I am definitely making progress. Hopefully this will be done by the time you get back and can compare your experiences to mine. And you are right now that I think about excursion prices - they were not that much different from NCL to street prices. But still affordable either way. Thanks for reading along and enjoy your adventure!