Cruise to Alaska - A Pearl Review (8/9 - 8/16)

[chasinraynbowz]

Monday, August 10, 2015 - Day 2

 

After a wonderful nights sleep, we woke up to coffee from room service and cool air on our balcony!! Coming from hot and humid Memphis, it was a wonderful treat!!! :D

 

After breakfast in Moderno (which is where the suite guests and VIP guests had breakfast and lunch) we headed to the Bliss Club for our Meet and Mingle. Dummy me... forgot my camera!!!! GRRRR!!! We had a great time meeting the Captain and his officers and meeting each other. The ship provided cookies and coffee and tea for us. We stayed and visited long after the officers left. It was GREAT to finally meet everyone face to face. Greg and I hit it off with one of our CC couples... Karen and Denny... and we ended up spending lots more time with them!!! After the M&M and lunch in the buffet, I headed to the Latitudes Party and Greg headed back to the cabin.

 

Here are Karen and Denny (heyyyyyyy you two!!!)

 

 

 

Now here is a chance for you all to laugh at me... trust me, I laugh about it too!! For some reason, I could NEVER remember my cabin number. I tried going into other peoples cabins and wondering why my key would not work, I would walk right past our door when we were going to our cabin at night.... I just had the most horrible time for some reason.

 

So, here I am, by myself at the Latitudes party and they start giving out prizes.... by cabin number.... lol. You guessed it. My number got picked!! And there I sat... hahahaha. Then it hit me...OOOH that is MY cabin!!!! I giggled and told him it was probably too much rum punch that made me forget.... LOL.

 

I won the following prizes:

 

 

 

After getting back to the cabin, I found this waiting for me. They were yummmy!!!!

 

 

 

This night we decided to have dinner in the Summer Palace again and turn in our "Happy Anniversary" card for a free cake. After dinner, we were so full, we could not touch that cake, so they sent it to our cabin.

 

 

 

 

See that sign at the top - "For tray removal, please call 6500"? I can't tell you how many times we saw dirty trays on the floors outside cabins. We just left ours on our desk and our steward took them for us each morning.

 

After some time in the casino, we headed to bed for our first port - Juneau!!

Edited August 20, 2015 by chasinraynbowz

[chasinraynbowz]

Tuesday, August 11 - Juneau - Whales and Mendenhall Glacier

 

As you will see from my pictures, we woke up to fog and rain and much cooler temperatures. But we did not complain!! Greg had been checking on weather each day and knew it was due to rain today, so we came prepared. We brought rain jackets and all weather hats to protect us from the elements.

 

I will let my pictures tell about our day!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chasinraynbowz]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chasinraynbowz]

 

 

 

 

 

This shows the entire glacier. Do you see the "You are here" sticker? The glacier is massive!!!

 

 

 

 

[Kaptivate]

It is so great to see what we have to look forward to next month. These pictures are great!

 

 

 

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[chasinraynbowz]

 

This was taken at a salmon hatchery. This tour actually bothered me a bit watching those poor fish trying to swim upstream. I know its their lifecycle, but it still bothered me... lol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this nice little treat was waiting for us when we got back!!

 

 

That was our wonderful day in Juneau. We did the Mendenhall Glacier Tour with a visit to a Salmon Hatchery and then onto a Salmon bake!! Lots of fun with Karen and Denny and lots of beautiful scenery!!!

 

Back to the ship and early to bed because we have a train to catch in Skagway in the morning early!!!!

Edited August 20, 2015 by chasinraynbowz

[chasinraynbowz]

I will post Skagway tomorrow. Sorry its taking so long, but I have only gone thru 250 pictures.. hahaha. I took sooo many!!!!

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!!

[chasinraynbowz]

It is so great to see what we have to look forward to next month. These pictures are great!

 

 

 

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Thanks so much!! What tours are you doing?

[asubaru]

Thanks! We loved the Chihuly glass. Didn't get many pictures, except for the few I posted. I took well over 1,000 pictures and am still going thru them... lol.

 

Hi Pam,

 

Enjoying all the photos, particularly the Chihuly of the pre-cruise batch.

 

Thanks for doing such a labor intensive task. I don't sail the Pearl until next year but am very interested for planning purposes. I am glad you're writing about VIP perks....no doubt, you enjoyed them!

 

Look forward to reading and "seeing" more!

Edited August 20, 2015 by asubaru

[Kaptivate]

We are doing the rainforest hike and whale watching in Juneau and then the trail hike and float in Skagway. Waiting to use our shore excursion credit for Ketchikan. We are planning to do the murder mystery luncheon on the sea day and have already gotten our names down for that. The concierge desk has already been so helpful. We also have the dining package so we can eat at the specialty restaurants all we want.

 

 

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[Keith1010]

Enjoyed your review.

 

Great photos.

 

And writeups.

 

Keith

[katfer]

I am so enjoying your review! That cruise is on my bucket list! What was your intinerary? Would you have done anything differently? How did you get upgraded through M and M? Thanks in advance,Pam!

[chasinraynbowz]

Hi Pam,

 

Enjoying all the photos, particularly the Chihuly of the pre-cruise batch.

 

Thanks for doing such a labor intensive task. I don't sail the Pearl until next year but am very interested for planning purposes. I am glad you're writing about VIP perks....no doubt, you enjoyed them!

 

Look forward to reading and "seeing" more!

 

Thanks so much! I am glad you are enjoying the pictures!! Yes, we enjoyed the VIP perks. We loved the goodies in our room each day and breakfast in Moderno. Since we needed to be at the airport early, we also used enjoyed being one of the first off the ship. Leah met us (and a few other couples) down at the Stardust theater and escorted us off as soon as we cleared customs. We were at the airport by 8am!!

 

I will be posting more pictures tonight!!

[chasinraynbowz]

We are doing the rainforest hike and whale watching in Juneau and then the trail hike and float in Skagway. Waiting to use our shore excursion credit for Ketchikan. We are planning to do the murder mystery luncheon on the sea day and have already gotten our names down for that. The concierge desk has already been so helpful. We also have the dining package so we can eat at the specialty restaurants all we want.

 

 

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Sounds like lots of fun!! I didn't realize there was a murder mystery lunch on seaday!! Darn!! I would have loved that!!

[chasinraynbowz]

Enjoyed your review.

 

Great photos.

 

And writeups.

 

Keith

 

Thanks Keith!! I will be posting more tonight!

[chasinraynbowz]

I am so enjoying your review! That cruise is on my bucket list! What was your intinerary? Would you have done anything differently? How did you get upgraded through M and M? Thanks in advance,Pam!

 

This was one of our bucket list cruises too and boy it's so worth it!!! Our itinerary was Seattle, Sea Day, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, Victoria and then back to Seattle.

 

Would I have done anything different - hmmm. Good question. I would have booked my airfare earlier for one. I waited too long and it just went up and up. I would suggest you book the airfare as early as possible. Other than that, I don't think I would change a thing. We came prepared with warm and cool clothes and rain gear. We were set for all kinds of weather!!

 

As for the upgrade to VIP, I was given that due to the fact that I started our Roll Call and headed up the Meet and Mingle. I understand that not all ships do that, but the Pearl did. It was a wonderful surprise!!

 

Thanks so much for following along!! I am glad you are enjoying the review!!!

[Shellbelle28]

Hi Pam, I am enjoying your review, thank you for taking the time to share your experiences and photographs! We're going to be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary on the Pearl next month. It's been 10 years since we last went on a cruise, so I've been nervous about all the negative commentary that I have been seeing on this forum about the changes Norwegian has made recently. Your positive experience is encouraging! (The only thing I'm worried about now is having to tell my husband there's no lobster anymore!)

 

I'm going to send you an email to the address in your signature and ask some questions about your Meet & Mingle set up since I've volunteered to do it for the Pearl's Alaska sailing coming up on September 13 (!!!!!).

 

Hoping not to threadjack or anything, but I'd love it if any cruisers are reading this who'll be on the 9/13/2015 sailing of the Pearl would please join our roll call and click the underlined text to email me to join the Meet & Mingle!!!

[diskids2]

Thanks for your review and pictures! We are going on this cruise next year so I am dreaming over every bit!

[chasinraynbowz]

Hi Pam, I am enjoying your review, thank you for taking the time to share your experiences and photographs! We're going to be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary on the Pearl next month. It's been 10 years since we last went on a cruise, so I've been nervous about all the negative commentary that I have been seeing on this forum about the changes Norwegian has made recently. Your positive experience is encouraging! (The only thing I'm worried about now is having to tell my husband there's no lobster anymore!)

 

I'm going to send you an email to the address in your signature and ask some questions about your Meet & Mingle set up since I've volunteered to do it for the Pearl's Alaska sailing coming up on September 13 (!!!!!).

 

Hoping not to threadjack or anything, but I'd love it if any cruisers are reading this who'll be on the 9/13/2015 sailing of the Pearl would please join our roll call and click the underlined text to email me to join the Meet & Mingle!!!

 

 

I got your email and answered it. I hope I answered all your questions and if not, just email me again!!! Thanks so much for following and I am so happy your are enjoying my pictures! I am having fun going thru them and reliving our cruise!

[jenseib]

Great updates! loving the whale tales! You guys look like you got close! Was this a private tour or one booked through NCL? We did the one through NCL and it was fabulous....however we didn't get that close to the whales. I have a pretty good zoom telephoto lens and even with those it was hard to get decent shots.

 

We are doing the rainforest hike and whale watching in Juneau and then the trail hike and float in Skagway. Waiting to use our shore excursion credit for Ketchikan. We are planning to do the murder mystery luncheon on the sea day and have already gotten our names down for that. The concierge desk has already been so helpful. We also have the dining package so we can eat at the specialty restaurants all we want.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I have to ask...is this only on the Pearl? I was trying to find info on it for the Jewel and everything I could find made me think it was discontiued all together. Maybe just on the Jewel?

[jm485]

Thanks for the detailed review. We have a reservation on Pearl in late August of next year, and so I'm reading everything I can find on NCL's Alaska trips. I was planning to fly out the day before, but seeing your mention of brunch at the Space Needle -- we may need an extra day in Seattle for that!

 

Looking forward to the rest of your trip stories and pictures!

[Kaptivate]

Great updates! loving the whale tales! You guys look like you got close! Was this a private tour or one booked through NCL? We did the one through NCL and it was fabulous....however we didn't get that close to the whales. I have a pretty good zoom telephoto lens and even with those it was hard to get decent shots.

 

 

 

I have to ask...is this only on the Pearl? I was trying to find info on it for the Jewel and everything I could find made me think it was discontiued all together. Maybe just on the Jewel?

 

 

I just don't know, maybe it is a Pearl exclusive excursion if they do those? Maybe call your personal cruise advisor or the Norwegian line and ask about it. They might be able to point you in the right direction.

 

 

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[chasinraynbowz]

Great updates! loving the whale tales! You guys look like you got close! Was this a private tour or one booked through NCL? We did the one through NCL and it was fabulous....however we didn't get that close to the whales. I have a pretty good zoom telephoto lens and even with those it was hard to get decent shots.

 

 

 

I have to ask...is this only on the Pearl? I was trying to find info on it for the Jewel and everything I could find made me think it was discontiued all together. Maybe just on the Jewel?

 

The whale pictures were with my telephoto lens and then I cropped the picture to post here. I have to tell you a great little story though. We were on a friends aft balcony, checking out the wake and there was a baby orca playing in the wake. My hubby was so excited!!! Unfortunately, my camera was in my cabin at the other end of the ship... lol.

[chasinraynbowz]

Thanks for the detailed review. We have a reservation on Pearl in late August of next year, and so I'm reading everything I can find on NCL's Alaska trips. I was planning to fly out the day before, but seeing your mention of brunch at the Space Needle -- we may need an extra day in Seattle for that!

 

Looking forward to the rest of your trip stories and pictures!

 

I am so glad we made time for brunch at the Space Needle. It really made our stay in Seattle that much more memorable!! Thanks for following along!!

[chasinraynbowz]

Thanks for your review and pictures! We are going on this cruise next year so I am dreaming over every bit!

 

 

Thanks so much!! Glad you are enjoying it!!!