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

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Thank you for sharing your wonderful vacation with us. I have always had Alaska on my bucket list and, considering my age, think I had better get going! You are very kind to take the time for this great review of your trip. It is one of the best. A great job and beautiful pictures.

 

Not a problem, it was my pleasure to share my experience. I'm glad that people really are enjoying reading about it. I guess I should consider myself lucky that I'm only in my mid 30s and I've been to Alaska twice already. I didn't know what to expect the first time but I sure did this time. I saw tons of young at heart people on this ship though, really all ages but you will have a great time. Thanks again for reading and for the kind words and hopefully you get to Alaska soon as I am sure you will love it.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

what train tour did you go on?

 

The White Pass train. It was offered as a hybrid bus/train tour where we rode the bus up the Klondike highway into Canada and took the train back to Skagway. I think it can be done in reverse but we went bus first, train second. You can buy tickets in port but I don't know what they charge in comparison to what Norwegian marks theirs up to. But there's always the chance that the train could sell out if you wait to buy tickets when you get off the ship. I have taken this train tour twice, each time I have gone to Alaska and enjoyed it both times. I highly recommend it to anyone who asks me.

[Colin B]

Thank you for all this information Flying Cruiser.

 

We have just arranged a cruise with Princess which covers most of what you did on this trip so reading through your experiences has helped our planning.

 

We are still tossing a coin about Skagway - do we take the combined bus/train tour or hire a car and drive it ourselves? I have seen mixed reviews of the tour with some saying the train trip was disappointing if you are sitting in the wrong place. I also like the idea of being able to stop where and when I like rather than being tied to a schedule.

 

Do you have any thoughts on this?

[FraudBroad]

Thank you SO much! I know how time consuming these review are and you did an amazing job! Such beautiful photography as well! I started reading your review before I left on my Alaska cruise (6/21 Pearl) so you really got me excited! Thanks again for everything!!!

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Thank you for all this information Flying Cruiser.

 

We have just arranged a cruise with Princess which covers most of what you did on this trip so reading through your experiences has helped our planning.

 

We are still tossing a coin about Skagway - do we take the combined bus/train tour or hire a car and drive it ourselves? I have seen mixed reviews of the tour with some saying the train trip was disappointing if you are sitting in the wrong place. I also like the idea of being able to stop where and when I like rather than being tied to a schedule.

 

Do you have any thoughts on this?

 

It was totally my pleasure to share with you. I went on the Golden Princess back in 2007 to Alaska, when I went there the first time. I am very happy that you got some ideas from my review and were able to use it to plan some of your trip.

 

I will say that the bus/train tour is the main way to get up into the mountains, but I believe that it is not the only way. I know others went up further than we did and some people even did tours on their own up in the wilderness but the train and bus tour was the quickest and safest way we thought we could see the Klondike. We had done the tour in reverse back in 2007 and I liked it so much then that I knew exactly what I wanted to do there this time around. There are really no set seating arrangements on the train, except for which car you are assigned to sit in when you begin the trip and you can move all around the car and even go outside to get better pictures and views if you choose. I felt that if I had a lousy view in one place, that I would just move somewhere else and get a better one. Then again, our train was not very crowded but might be in the middle of high season so it could be a bit harder to sightsee now but I am not sure. I wouldn't not book that trip just because of that though.

 

I like to go off on my own in ports in the Caribbean, especially if I have been to the place in the past, but in Alaska we just went with organized tours because of the uniqueness of the place. You can surely do your own tours if you like in any port, but we chose to book organized tours this time. Just keep in mind in places such as Skagway and Hoonah, there really isn't that much to do and they are relatively small and isolated places, so going off on your own might not give you the experience that you could get from an organized tour and a knowledgeable guide can give. In places like Juneau and Victoria, there is more to do.

 

But honestly, whatever you decide to do will be fine. Go with your instinct and do what you really want to do. You will have a great time no matter what you decide. And thanks again for reading along and for the really kind words, it means a lot to me to see that people really did get something out of this review. As I said before, I just feel that doing these reviews is paying it forward in that I have read some great reviews about all lines in past years and gotten so many excursion and on-board ideas on what to do and it is my turn to do it for others to benefit from.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Thank you SO much! I know how time consuming these review are and you did an amazing job! Such beautiful photography as well! I started reading your review before I left on my Alaska cruise (6/21 Pearl) so you really got me excited! Thanks again for everything!!!

 

I am glad you got to use the review as a little pre-cruise warm up so to speak. The reviews do take a lot of time, it probably took me 2 hours to write up and include pictures from each day I wrote about but it was all worth it in the end. I don't consider myself a pro photographer by any means, lol but I feel like I have a knack for capturing moments in photo form. It sure does help to tell the story a lot better and when I look back and show friends what I did on vacation, I can show them exactly what I saw. How did you like the Pearl? I know it did a very similar itinerary to the Jewel and we did see it pass by a few times during our cruise. It was my pleasure to share my experience with you and thanks for following along!

[SweetpeaOne]

Very nice review. Glad you had a good time. Beautiful pictures also.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Very nice review. Glad you had a good time. Beautiful pictures also.

 

Thanks, good to hear you liked it! Alaska is all about the beautiful scenery. I did have a good time and would not hesitate to cruise NCL or to Alaska again in the future either.

[Tinknock50]

Really great review! I just booked for next May 28th and you added to the excitement.

 

Especially liked your O'Sheehan's comments because my cabin mate is handicapped and we are the first cabin back from there. It would be easy to get something to eat that way.

 

Were there good views out the window from O'Sheehan's?

Edited October 28, 2015 by Tinknock50

[Tinknock50]

Another question....What were the excursion options to Butchart Gardens?

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Really great review! I just booked for next May 28th and you added to the excitement.

 

Especially liked your O'Sheehan's comments because my cabin mate is handicapped and we are the first cabin back from there. It would be easy to get something to eat that way.

 

Were there good views out the window from O'Sheehan's?

 

I am very happy to read that you liked my review and am glad that it helped you plan your cruise for next spring. I did explain a little bit about why May is a great time to do the itinerary I went on and I see that you are going around that time. You will have a great time.

 

O'Sheehan's is great. Many times, you read about a place and overhype it so you are disappointed when you actually experience it but it surpassed my expectations. Great food and good atmosphere. Open all night also. I would say the views are decent if you are seated right near the windows but a lot of the tables are located in the middle of the area and you can't see much. However, unless it is really, really crowded and it wasn't when we went, you can pretty much seat yourself if you want to I think and you can get a seat near the windows if you want.

 

I actually am looking to cruise NCL again next year sometime as they are still doing the free UBP or free specialty dining vouchers for booking and the rates for some nice sailings are very reasonable. I did enjoy Norwegian and the Jewel and it was a good first experience on NCL.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

Another question....What were the excursion options to Butchart Gardens?

 

I am not sure at this point, it was a while ago and I can't remember as I think I threw away the excursions information packet that I had by now.

Edited October 30, 2015 by FlyingCruiserNJ