Review Spirit May 17-24 Alaska Seward to Vancouver

[JennKach]

On this cruise it was just me (57) and my husband (60) on cruise #17, #9 on NCL and second cruise as Platinum.  I originally booked OV and bid $105 on a balcony upgrade which came through 30 days before sailing at just above minimum bid.  I was pretty confident I’d get it because the ship had so many empty cabins, and prices kept falling so much I could almost upgrade to a balcony for less than the bids!

 

Our cruise was the May 17 Spirit 7 day sailing out of Seward (Anchorage) Alaska which did a full southward route to Vancouver and visited Valdez, Hubbard Glacier, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan.  I used to live in Valdez so it was a homecoming for me, but other than Anchorage I had never been to the other cities.  It was the first trip to Alaska for my husband and it took me 30 years to get him to come with me!  The ship was empty with crew outnumbering the 850 passengers.  As expected there were only a handful of kids, and adults were mostly 45+ with less mobility issues than I’m used to seeing on a cruise.  Our strategy was to do a lot of sightseeing and excursions prior to sailing rather than spending so much scheduled time and money during the cruise.

 

Pre-cruise Travel

We flew to Anchorage seven days early using FF miles on Alaska Air out of Detroit.  There was an 8 hour overnight connection in Seattle to a 6am Anchorage flight so we chose to sleep at SEATAC instead of wasting money and travel time getting to a hotel for maybe 4 hours of sleep.  Luckily we scored a padded curved bench area and got a little sleep.  Flights were on time and we upgraded to extra leg room, but drew the short straw on passengers sitting next to us.  One flight had the person that should have purchased an extra seat and skipped the cologne, and on the other flight the guy was either amped up on caffeine or needing a fix because he jerked and moved around for three hours!  After eight hours of manspreading, being squished in my seat or getting elbowed, having a headache and flashbacks to the toddler years, I was really tired.  Be sure to order your meals ahead of time online because they don’t have much extra on board.  With overnight connections your bags are checked straight through, so keep everything you need during the night in your carryon.

 

Anchorage

We arrived at 8:15 am and went straight to the rental car.  Make sure you reserve MONTHS in advance and keep checking for price reductions.  They sold out weeks ahead of our trip.  Also make sure you reserve your hotel MONTHS in advance for the best pricing and availability.  We stayed at the Dimond Center Hotel on a AAA rate with free airport shuttle and a really nice breakfast included.  It’s in the shopping district next to a mall, Walmart and Kane’s Chicken.

We explored Anchorage and did day trips out to Palmer, Whittier, the Wildlife Conservation Center, dogsledding in the snow, and spent a day at the Nordic Spa at the Alyeska resort.  We visited breweries, a distillery, did light hiking, viewed Denali, drove up Flat Top Mountain, saw moose everywhere, and visited the Aviation Air Museum.  On our last night we returned the rental car to the airport and shuttled back to the hotel.

When driving south of Anchorage be prepared for construction and rockslide/avalanche mitigation that can randomly close the road for a few minutes or an hour.

 

Seward

Getting to Seward was supposed to be a nice train experience in the upgraded domed cars, but unfortunately the track was still closed near Seward due to excessive snow and avalanche risk.  Instead we got to take a taxi at 5:45am to the train station to board a bus.  At least they threw in a free breakfast box.  I was very disappointed to miss this train experience as it was a surprise for my husband to splurge on first class.  Note: if there are multiple buses, one will make another stop for passengers in Girdwood.  Ask the drivers before you get on if you prefer to have a shorter trip.

The bus drops you off at the Seward train station which is right across the street from our hotel, the Harbor 360.  We spent two days here in a spotless room with a fridge and microwave.  Bring your bathing suit for the pool and hot tub.  We did the Orca Quest cruise with Major Marine which left from the hotel.  There are several great restaurants and a food truck within a block.  We used the free city shuttle to come back from our walk downtown.  You can’t beat this hotel for convenience. 

 

Embarkation

Our hotel was on one side of the large marina and the ship docked on the other.  Rather than wait for the 12pm shuttle, we walked over at 11:15.  There is a sidewalk for most of it, but you do have to cross a large gravel parking area to drop your bags.  With priority check in we had no line and also got priority through the security line.  By 12:10 we were sitting down to lunch and a drink in the main dining room.  Rooms were ready when we finished.

 

Food

Buffet – we mainly ate breakfast here but also a couple dinners and snacks.  Not much really to say about it.   I never waited for an omelet.  If you miss lunch, there is a small area from 3-5pm with basics and afternoon tea type items.  I enjoyed the fresh scones with cream.  With so few passengers we always got a window seat.   There was fresh brewed iced tea on some days in glass dispensers near the water machines that was delicious!  What a nice surprise.

Main Dining – I think we only ate three meals here.  It was fine but sometimes we just preferred the menu in the buffet and to sit in the windows watching for whales.  We had three meals in specialty restaurants and it was a port intensive cruise.

Cagney’s – Yummy as usual.  I actually liked the crème brulé this time vs the last cruise.  It tasted like the old recipe I remembered.

Le Bistro – Lamb Chops were awesome, and I had a glass of Veuve Clicquot to see what all the fuss is about.  It was good!  They gave a generous pour and refill and I didn’t let it go to waste.

Onda – I’m not sure people knew this restaurant existed.  You couldn’t pre-book online, I had to call.  It was fantastic!  The caramel custard dessert was so good that we came back a second night for just drinks and dessert.  I’m not sure they would let us do that if it were crowded.

Room Service – We only ordered once on the day we had a 9am behind the scenes tour.  We used them as our wakeup alarm and for the first time in my experience, they were late!  It was a mad scramble (pun intended) to eat our eggs and bacon, throw on some clothes and make the tour on time.  Got our morning cardio running to the atrium.

 

Cabin

We were in a balcony on deck 11.  Having two CPAPs was not a problem running the cords under the bed with the extension cord I brought.  The cabin steward provided bathrobes and distilled water at my request.  We booked at a time that included 6 complimentary large cartons of water per person and all 12 were sitting on the desk, plus the two Latitudes waters.  We barely drank half of it and I’m not a fan of spring water.   Cabin service was fine (once a day) and the steward managed to get it done while we were out of the room.  You may recall from my last review that the bathroom cleaner smell was overpowering and set me to sneezing.  Yep, they use the same cleaner on this ship but it wasn’t nearly as strong.  A quick word to the steward that we didn’t want him to use it for the week and everything was great.

 

Ports

Valdez - As I mentioned, I used to live in Valdez when my dad was an engineer on the pipeline 45 years ago.  This port was the reason I booked this particular cruise.  6 months in advance I reserved a Turo vehicle for the day so I could show my husband all the sights I remembered, plus see the new salmon hatchery and take pictures by the Oil Terminal, original town site and the waterfalls up in Thompson Pass.  Unfortunately the people that rented the car on the cruise before mine were hit while turning into the gas station.  The car was totaled (they were ok thank goodness) so I had no transportation.  This was a bigger disappointment than the canceled train!  Valdez has no Uber or taxi service, and bikes were sold out so we were on foot.  We made the best of it and walked as far as we could, and visited a couple museums.  I’m glad we made it this year because Valdez is not on the NCL schedule next summer.

 

Hubbard Glacier – the day turned out to be foggy and rainy so the glacier was not very visible.  The captain turned the ship around a couple times so everyone had a “view”.

 

Skagway – we walked around the small town, no excursions planned.  I must say they have the best and most plentiful public restrooms I’ve ever seen!  I was in the Parks Service Visitor center and overheard them recommending a free tour of the Parlour Museum.  We really enjoyed it.  They only have a couple tickets per tour and it’s a quirky little place.  Most people take the White Pass railway tour here but we weren’t interested this trip. 

 

Juneau – again, no organized tour here.  This is a tender port.  We took a leisurely walk up to the capital building and the governor’s house.  It’s a leg workout for sure on steeper hills than San Francisco.  My husband was still wanting some King Crab so we had lunch at Tracy’s.  It’s fun watching the sea planes take off and land right next to the ship.

 

Ketchikan – the ship docks in Ward Cove and there is a 20 minute shuttle bus to town, but not actually in the center of town.  It’s still a bit of a walk to Creek Street and the main area where all the other ships dock.  We ended up joining a private bus excursion for $75 that took us to Saxman Village, Eagle Point, a short presentation by a native Alaskan, a city tour, salmon ladder and dropped us off at Creek Street.  Ward Cove has a very nice shopping area right there with reasonable pricing.

 

Entertainment

The comedian was the only show we saw in the theater.  We caught the Not So Newlywed Game which wasn’t that great.  It felt like one couple was exaggerating stuff and putting on a performance and it dragged on forever.  The band in Spinnaker at night was very good.  I played slots for an hour and came out $0.09 ahead.   

 

Pools

I saw a couple people swim, but mostly they used the hot tubs.  We got in one day and enjoyed the views.  The chlorine smell stayed with us for a couple days though so we didn’t go back in. 

 

Latitudes Perks

This was our second cruise as Platinum.  We got priority embarkation, and a nice treat plate with two strawberries and a few other items.  The free laundry is a game changer for packing!  Since we had a week on land first, we immediately used one free bag of laundry to wash what we had already worn.  Then, on day 5 we used the second free bag for the rest of it.  We used our two free dinners, free bottle of wine, discount on one photo, and participated in the Behind the Scenes tour.  I hadn’t planned to do the tour again, but I’m glad we did because we learned way more than on the last cruise.  We skipped the cocktail party and wine tasting though.

 

What to Bring

I see lots of discussions about what to bring or wear.  It really depends on what you plan to do, and how heavy you like to pack, but in May we encountered everything from 32 degrees with wind and rain, to 65 and sunny.  We walked in 8” of snow, and in puddles, mud and rain.  Some days we walked 12k steps and other days much less.  We slept in an airport with a blanket.  What worked for me was thin, light layers.  My best purchases were a long puffer jacket with hood that fits in a small pouch, a waterproof rain layer with hood, a zip up fleece, and waterproof hiking shoes.  Other things I used a lot were a drawstring pack, binoculars, gloves and lip balm.  I sometimes layered leggings under jeans.  Wool socks and athletic shoes are very warm.  We spent a lot of time on deck leaving ports and it got really cold underway.  For some reason I didn’t think my skin would be dry but I really missed my forgotten lotion.  It is totally doable to only bring a small suitcase and a backpack on this trip.

 

Wildlife

Of course everyone wants to see wildlife.  From our experience you can’t guarantee it, and it is often unexpected.  Anchorage has moose like Michigan has deer.  We saw lots of moose but not on wildlife tours, we were just driving around the city.  Eagles are also everywhere and often perched on a lamp post.  From the ship we saw a huge pod of whales while having dinner in the buffet.  There were porpoises in the ship wake leaving port.  Harbor seals hang out next to the ship docked in Valdez.  On our whale watch tour we saw killer whales, humpbacks, sea lions, sea otters, black bear, porpoises and beautiful harlequin ducks.

 

Miscellaneous

I didn’t see any pier runners and I don’t think we left anyone behind.  

 

Spice H20 is a really nice place to watch for wildlife and take in the scenery.  You can easily go from side to side and there is a bar nearby.  Lots of covered space to get out of the sun and wind.

 

Booking Alaska in May?  Pros: less crowded, hotel cheaper, rental car cheaper, land based excursion discounts, can dogsled on snow without a helicopter, cheaper cruise, no bugs, no kids.  Cons: Colder, some tours not running yet, Alaska Railroad routes limited, no scheduled bus to Seward yet, some port businesses closed, Tram at Mt Alyeska closed, salmon not running.

 

Jet lag is harder the older I get.  It’s 4 hours different for us and it took several days to adjust each way.  I’m so glad we arrived early to be all set for the cruise.

I had trouble spending my $100 OBC.  It doesn’t cover extra tips, but it does cover the room service charge, and meal/drink upcharges.  We also bought snacks for the trip home, a T-shirt, and a photo.

 

Passengers were pretty boring so I don’t have any crazy stories to tell.  

 

I stocked up on CruiseNext certificates.

 

Get your travel insurance!  A lady fell on some steps in Juneau and was being taken away by ambulance.  It’s not just major medical emergencies or extreme activities that can derail your trip and finances.

 

Disembarkation

We did the NCL air promo for the flight home and had a 1:45 pm flight out of Vancouver.  With no reason to hurry, we vacated our cabin at 8:30 as instructed and headed up to the buffet for breakfast.  The daily said we had to be off by 9:30, but they were announcing final call at 9:00.  It’s a pet peeve of mine that they say to relax and enjoy your breakfast until XX time but in reality they push you to leave earlier.  There was no line to get off, we found our luggage easily and were on our way in minutes.  The Vancouver port is right downtown.  We called an Uber which arrived in 1 minute and were at the airport about 30 minutes later.   

 

Trip Home

NCL air gave us two flights home on United with a connection in Chicago.  After my last immigration/customs/tight connection nightmare in Chicago, I was pleasantly surprised to find out we get our clearance in Vancouver instead.  After checking bags you go through traditional security.  They are more thorough than usual and don’t recognize TSA Pre-check since it’s Canada.  In addition to taking off shoes and taking out liquids and tablets, they had us take our CPAP’s out for inspection too.  Then you get in line for immigration. It still took awhile but at least we didn’t have to deal with it later.  We made it to the gate by 11:00 am, in time to nap a bit and grab lunch before takeoff.  Miraculously we had a row to ourselves for a comfortable flight home. 

 

Final thoughts

NCL did it again with an outstanding ship and crew.  My husband declared the Spirit to be his favorite ship because of the intimate spaces that allowed conversations even when music was playing or the area was crowded.  We had gorgeous weather most days but used ALL of the layers and footwear we brought at some point in the trip.  It’s a casual vibe on this itinerary so don’t bother dressing up.

 

[littlelulu01]

5 hours ago, JennKach said:

On this cruise it was just me (57) and my husband (60) on cruise #17, #9 on NCL and second cruise as Platinum.  I originally booked OV and bid $105 on a balcony upgrade which came through 30 days before sailing at just above minimum bid.  I was pretty confident I’d get it because the ship had so many empty cabins, and prices kept falling so much I could almost upgrade to a balcony for less than the bids!

 

Our cruise was the May 17 Spirit 7 day sailing out of Seward (Anchorage) Alaska which did a full southward route to Vancouver and visited Valdez, Hubbard Glacier, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan.  I used to live in Valdez so it was a homecoming for me, but other than Anchorage I had never been to the other cities.  It was the first trip to Alaska for my husband and it took me 30 years to get him to come with me!  The ship was empty with crew outnumbering the 850 passengers.  As expected there were only a handful of kids, and adults were mostly 45+ with less mobility issues than I’m used to seeing on a cruise.  Our strategy was to do a lot of sightseeing and excursions prior to sailing rather than spending so much scheduled time and money during the cruise.

 

Pre-cruise Travel

We flew to Anchorage seven days early using FF miles on Alaska Air out of Detroit.  There was an 8 hour overnight connection in Seattle to a 6am Anchorage flight so we chose to sleep at SEATAC instead of wasting money and travel time getting to a hotel for maybe 4 hours of sleep.  Luckily we scored a padded curved bench area and got a little sleep.  Flights were on time and we upgraded to extra leg room, but drew the short straw on passengers sitting next to us.  One flight had the person that should have purchased an extra seat and skipped the cologne, and on the other flight the guy was either amped up on caffeine or needing a fix because he jerked and moved around for three hours!  After eight hours of manspreading, being squished in my seat or getting elbowed, having a headache and flashbacks to the toddler years, I was really tired.  Be sure to order your meals ahead of time online because they don’t have much extra on board.  With overnight connections your bags are checked straight through, so keep everything you need during the night in your carryon.

 

Anchorage

We arrived at 8:15 am and went straight to the rental car.  Make sure you reserve MONTHS in advance and keep checking for price reductions.  They sold out weeks ahead of our trip.  Also make sure you reserve your hotel MONTHS in advance for the best pricing and availability.  We stayed at the Dimond Center Hotel on a AAA rate with free airport shuttle and a really nice breakfast included.  It’s in the shopping district next to a mall, Walmart and Kane’s Chicken.

We explored Anchorage and did day trips out to Palmer, Whittier, the Wildlife Conservation Center, dogsledding in the snow, and spent a day at the Nordic Spa at the Alyeska resort.  We visited breweries, a distillery, did light hiking, viewed Denali, drove up Flat Top Mountain, saw moose everywhere, and visited the Aviation Air Museum.  On our last night we returned the rental car to the airport and shuttled back to the hotel.

When driving south of Anchorage be prepared for construction and rockslide/avalanche mitigation that can randomly close the road for a few minutes or an hour.

 

Seward

Getting to Seward was supposed to be a nice train experience in the upgraded domed cars, but unfortunately the track was still closed near Seward due to excessive snow and avalanche risk.  Instead we got to take a taxi at 5:45am to the train station to board a bus.  At least they threw in a free breakfast box.  I was very disappointed to miss this train experience as it was a surprise for my husband to splurge on first class.  Note: if there are multiple buses, one will make another stop for passengers in Girdwood.  Ask the drivers before you get on if you prefer to have a shorter trip.

The bus drops you off at the Seward train station which is right across the street from our hotel, the Harbor 360.  We spent two days here in a spotless room with a fridge and microwave.  Bring your bathing suit for the pool and hot tub.  We did the Orca Quest cruise with Major Marine which left from the hotel.  There are several great restaurants and a food truck within a block.  We used the free city shuttle to come back from our walk downtown.  You can’t beat this hotel for convenience. 

 

Embarkation

Our hotel was on one side of the large marina and the ship docked on the other.  Rather than wait for the 12pm shuttle, we walked over at 11:15.  There is a sidewalk for most of it, but you do have to cross a large gravel parking area to drop your bags.  With priority check in we had no line and also got priority through the security line.  By 12:10 we were sitting down to lunch and a drink in the main dining room.  Rooms were ready when we finished.

 

Food

Buffet – we mainly ate breakfast here but also a couple dinners and snacks.  Not much really to say about it.   I never waited for an omelet.  If you miss lunch, there is a small area from 3-5pm with basics and afternoon tea type items.  I enjoyed the fresh scones with cream.  With so few passengers we always got a window seat.   There was fresh brewed iced tea on some days in glass dispensers near the water machines that was delicious!  What a nice surprise.

Main Dining – I think we only ate three meals here.  It was fine but sometimes we just preferred the menu in the buffet and to sit in the windows watching for whales.  We had three meals in specialty restaurants and it was a port intensive cruise.

Cagney’s – Yummy as usual.  I actually liked the crème brulé this time vs the last cruise.  It tasted like the old recipe I remembered.

Le Bistro – Lamb Chops were awesome, and I had a glass of Veuve Clicquot to see what all the fuss is about.  It was good!  They gave a generous pour and refill and I didn’t let it go to waste.

Onda – I’m not sure people knew this restaurant existed.  You couldn’t pre-book online, I had to call.  It was fantastic!  The caramel custard dessert was so good that we came back a second night for just drinks and dessert.  I’m not sure they would let us do that if it were crowded.

Room Service – We only ordered once on the day we had a 9am behind the scenes tour.  We used them as our wakeup alarm and for the first time in my experience, they were late!  It was a mad scramble (pun intended) to eat our eggs and bacon, throw on some clothes and make the tour on time.  Got our morning cardio running to the atrium.

 

Cabin

We were in a balcony on deck 11.  Having two CPAPs was not a problem running the cords under the bed with the extension cord I brought.  The cabin steward provided bathrobes and distilled water at my request.  We booked at a time that included 6 complimentary large cartons of water per person and all 12 were sitting on the desk, plus the two Latitudes waters.  We barely drank half of it and I’m not a fan of spring water.   Cabin service was fine (once a day) and the steward managed to get it done while we were out of the room.  You may recall from my last review that the bathroom cleaner smell was overpowering and set me to sneezing.  Yep, they use the same cleaner on this ship but it wasn’t nearly as strong.  A quick word to the steward that we didn’t want him to use it for the week and everything was great.

 

Ports

Valdez - As I mentioned, I used to live in Valdez when my dad was an engineer on the pipeline 45 years ago.  This port was the reason I booked this particular cruise.  6 months in advance I reserved a Turo vehicle for the day so I could show my husband all the sights I remembered, plus see the new salmon hatchery and take pictures by the Oil Terminal, original town site and the waterfalls up in Thompson Pass.  Unfortunately the people that rented the car on the cruise before mine were hit while turning into the gas station.  The car was totaled (they were ok thank goodness) so I had no transportation.  This was a bigger disappointment than the canceled train!  Valdez has no Uber or taxi service, and bikes were sold out so we were on foot.  We made the best of it and walked as far as we could, and visited a couple museums.  I’m glad we made it this year because Valdez is not on the NCL schedule next summer.

 

Hubbard Glacier – the day turned out to be foggy and rainy so the glacier was not very visible.  The captain turned the ship around a couple times so everyone had a “view”.

 

Skagway – we walked around the small town, no excursions planned.  I must say they have the best and most plentiful public restrooms I’ve ever seen!  I was in the Parks Service Visitor center and overheard them recommending a free tour of the Parlour Museum.  We really enjoyed it.  They only have a couple tickets per tour and it’s a quirky little place.  Most people take the White Pass railway tour here but we weren’t interested this trip. 

 

Juneau – again, no organized tour here.  This is a tender port.  We took a leisurely walk up to the capital building and the governor’s house.  It’s a leg workout for sure on steeper hills than San Francisco.  My husband was still wanting some King Crab so we had lunch at Tracy’s.  It’s fun watching the sea planes take off and land right next to the ship.

 

Ketchikan – the ship docks in Ward Cove and there is a 20 minute shuttle bus to town, but not actually in the center of town.  It’s still a bit of a walk to Creek Street and the main area where all the other ships dock.  We ended up joining a private bus excursion for $75 that took us to Saxman Village, Eagle Point, a short presentation by a native Alaskan, a city tour, salmon ladder and dropped us off at Creek Street.  Ward Cove has a very nice shopping area right there with reasonable pricing.

 

Entertainment

The comedian was the only show we saw in the theater.  We caught the Not So Newlywed Game which wasn’t that great.  It felt like one couple was exaggerating stuff and putting on a performance and it dragged on forever.  The band in Spinnaker at night was very good.  I played slots for an hour and came out $0.09 ahead.   

 

Pools

I saw a couple people swim, but mostly they used the hot tubs.  We got in one day and enjoyed the views.  The chlorine smell stayed with us for a couple days though so we didn’t go back in. 

 

Latitudes Perks

This was our second cruise as Platinum.  We got priority embarkation, and a nice treat plate with two strawberries and a few other items.  The free laundry is a game changer for packing!  Since we had a week on land first, we immediately used one free bag of laundry to wash what we had already worn.  Then, on day 5 we used the second free bag for the rest of it.  We used our two free dinners, free bottle of wine, discount on one photo, and participated in the Behind the Scenes tour.  I hadn’t planned to do the tour again, but I’m glad we did because we learned way more than on the last cruise.  We skipped the cocktail party and wine tasting though.

 

What to Bring

I see lots of discussions about what to bring or wear.  It really depends on what you plan to do, and how heavy you like to pack, but in May we encountered everything from 32 degrees with wind and rain, to 65 and sunny.  We walked in 8” of snow, and in puddles, mud and rain.  Some days we walked 12k steps and other days much less.  We slept in an airport with a blanket.  What worked for me was thin, light layers.  My best purchases were a long puffer jacket with hood that fits in a small pouch, a waterproof rain layer with hood, a zip up fleece, and waterproof hiking shoes.  Other things I used a lot were a drawstring pack, binoculars, gloves and lip balm.  I sometimes layered leggings under jeans.  Wool socks and athletic shoes are very warm.  We spent a lot of time on deck leaving ports and it got really cold underway.  For some reason I didn’t think my skin would be dry but I really missed my forgotten lotion.  It is totally doable to only bring a small suitcase and a backpack on this trip.

 

Wildlife

Of course everyone wants to see wildlife.  From our experience you can’t guarantee it, and it is often unexpected.  Anchorage has moose like Michigan has deer.  We saw lots of moose but not on wildlife tours, we were just driving around the city.  Eagles are also everywhere and often perched on a lamp post.  From the ship we saw a huge pod of whales while having dinner in the buffet.  There were porpoises in the ship wake leaving port.  Harbor seals hang out next to the ship docked in Valdez.  On our whale watch tour we saw killer whales, humpbacks, sea lions, sea otters, black bear, porpoises and beautiful harlequin ducks.

 

Miscellaneous

I didn’t see any pier runners and I don’t think we left anyone behind.  

 

Spice H20 is a really nice place to watch for wildlife and take in the scenery.  You can easily go from side to side and there is a bar nearby.  Lots of covered space to get out of the sun and wind.

 

Booking Alaska in May?  Pros: less crowded, hotel cheaper, rental car cheaper, land based excursion discounts, can dogsled on snow without a helicopter, cheaper cruise, no bugs, no kids.  Cons: Colder, some tours not running yet, Alaska Railroad routes limited, no scheduled bus to Seward yet, some port businesses closed, Tram at Mt Alyeska closed, salmon not running.

 

Jet lag is harder the older I get.  It’s 4 hours different for us and it took several days to adjust each way.  I’m so glad we arrived early to be all set for the cruise.

I had trouble spending my $100 OBC.  It doesn’t cover extra tips, but it does cover the room service charge, and meal/drink upcharges.  We also bought snacks for the trip home, a T-shirt, and a photo.

 

Passengers were pretty boring so I don’t have any crazy stories to tell.  

 

I stocked up on CruiseNext certificates.

 

Get your travel insurance!  A lady fell on some steps in Juneau and was being taken away by ambulance.  It’s not just major medical emergencies or extreme activities that can derail your trip and finances.

 

Disembarkation

We did the NCL air promo for the flight home and had a 1:45 pm flight out of Vancouver.  With no reason to hurry, we vacated our cabin at 8:30 as instructed and headed up to the buffet for breakfast.  The daily said we had to be off by 9:30, but they were announcing final call at 9:00.  It’s a pet peeve of mine that they say to relax and enjoy your breakfast until XX time but in reality they push you to leave earlier.  There was no line to get off, we found our luggage easily and were on our way in minutes.  The Vancouver port is right downtown.  We called an Uber which arrived in 1 minute and were at the airport about 30 minutes later.   

 

Trip Home

NCL air gave us two flights home on United with a connection in Chicago.  After my last immigration/customs/tight connection nightmare in Chicago, I was pleasantly surprised to find out we get our clearance in Vancouver instead.  After checking bags you go through traditional security.  They are more thorough than usual and don’t recognize TSA Pre-check since it’s Canada.  In addition to taking off shoes and taking out liquids and tablets, they had us take our CPAP’s out for inspection too.  Then you get in line for immigration. It still took awhile but at least we didn’t have to deal with it later.  We made it to the gate by 11:00 am, in time to nap a bit and grab lunch before takeoff.  Miraculously we had a row to ourselves for a comfortable flight home. 

 

Final thoughts

NCL did it again with an outstanding ship and crew.  My husband declared the Spirit to be his favorite ship because of the intimate spaces that allowed conversations even when music was playing or the area was crowded.  We had gorgeous weather most days but used ALL of the layers and footwear we brought at some point in the trip.  It’s a casual vibe on this itinerary so don’t bother dressing up.

 

Great review. We were on your sailing.  The Spirit is my new favorite ship too. Idk if it was so few passengers or if the ship is really just that easy to get around.  We never had waits, experienced polite and friendly passengers and crew, and were able to slide right into vacation mode the second we boarded.

 

I had some great excursions planned but many were cancelled due to lack of participation or weather.  Our train and bike back to port from Canada only had 7 participants. We got stuck on our bikes for quite a while at the border due to the Canadian holiday but the group we were with had fun chatting and time flew.
 

[KDebreuil]

Thanks you very much for posting this.  I will be on the Spirit in a month, and I was wondering about the Onda situation.  I had phoned and booked some reservations, including Onda, but I was concerned that it may be closed as it wasn't available on-line.

[njkate]

Great review, thanks for writing and posting it.

I love the Spirit, was the first NCL ship I sailed on many years ago.

Doing Alaska in August but on the Jewel also a smaller ship

[Seas2mountains]

Thank you so much for your wonderful and detailed review! It makes it more exciting to hear that your husband and others who are experienced cruisers are saying that the Spirit is their favorite ship.

 

We will get on the Spirit on June 21st-July 5th for a B2B. It looks like there are plenty of cabins still available for both sailings and I am sure while the cost to cruise may be low, the cost to get to and from Anchorage or Vancouver is the barrier for people to book last minute. We are hoping that neither cruise is at capacity like you experienced.

Thank you for providing details on what you did at each port. We are still trying to figure out what to do in Valdez and it is what got us so interested in this itinerary rather than the Jewel is because of Valdez. Your comments are helpful. I'm sorry you weren't able to take the train and also missed having a car rental in Valdez.

We have also stayed at Harbor 360 in Seward and do recommend it and find it so convenient to get to the port or to explore the city. We also loved the excursion with Major Marine. We found it easy to walk down to the Sea Life Center, too, from the hotel as we love taking long walks.

I agree with you that many on the Alaskan cruise don't tend to dress up as much in the evening compared to warm weather cruises but I think it is also because of the long stops in each port.  It's also helpful that you noted you were asked to get off earlier than listed in the disembarkation guide. 

 

Have a great time on your next cruise! 

[JennKach]

I forgot to add that Anchorage has plenty of transportation options if you don't have a car.  Uber, Lyft, Yellow Taxi and public buses are easy to get.  I was concerned about the early 5:45 am pickup and didn't want to risk not having a ride, so I pre-booked a Taxi the night before on their easy to use phone app.  He was 5 minutes early and we had a very pleasant ride to the train station.  For some reason the App wouldn't let me add my credit card so I just paid cash.

[amygutman]

Thank you for the lovely review. 

We are on the Spirit for the June 2025 Alaska to Hawaii repositioning and cannot wait. On the Encore for our first Alaska cruise and it will be interesting to compare the "mega-ship" vs "small-ship" experience. Both have pros and cons in ship "feel" and itineraries, so we are eating up reviews like yours. 

I am glad you had a nice time and am jealous of your wildlife sightings. 

Warmest, Amy

[vacation44]

17 hours ago, JennKach said:

I forgot to add that Anchorage has plenty of transportation options if you don't have a car.  Uber, Lyft, Yellow Taxi and public buses are easy to get.  I was concerned about the early 5:45 am pickup and didn't want to risk not having a ride, so I pre-booked a Taxi the night before on their easy to use phone app.  He was 5 minutes early and we had a very pleasant ride to the train station.  For some reason the App wouldn't let me add my credit card so I just paid cash.

Thank you very much for taking the time to report your experience and thoughts.  Sorry about not being able to take the train.  Did they let you know in advance and did they issue any refund as you had purchased the more expensive ticket?

 

Also, what App did you use for the taxi?    And why did you choose to reserve a taxi instead of an Uber?   Sorry for all questions as we will be also taking our first Alaskan Cruise this August on the Jewel and feel so out of our element with the planning. 

[JennKach]

7 hours ago, vacation44 said:

Thank you very much for taking the time to report your experience and thoughts.  Sorry about not being able to take the train.  Did they let you know in advance and did they issue any refund as you had purchased the more expensive ticket?

 

Also, what App did you use for the taxi?    And why did you choose to reserve a taxi instead of an Uber?   Sorry for all questions as we will be also taking our first Alaskan Cruise this August on the Jewel and feel so out of our element with the planning. 

We found out about the train cancelation via email four days in advance.  They stated a refund of the difference between Goldstar class and regular would come within a month, which it did.  I thought the regular price was still a bit steep for a bus ride though.

 

The App is called "AK Yellow Dispatch".  We chose a taxi because I wasn't sure of Uber availability at 5:30 AM, and we didn't have room for error at that point.  I wasn't going to miss the only mode of transportation to Seward that day since we had a whale watch cruise scheduled just after noon.  A taxi seemed to be the most reliable way of having a ride on time.  

[bortman23]

On 6/5/2023 at 6:37 PM, JennKach said:

don’t recognize TSA Pre-check

 

That's because there's no TSA in Canada 😉 We have the CATSA (Canadian Air Transport Security Authority). I love having Nexus as that gets me expedited security in Canada.