Saint Greg's Jewels - Live - August 12, 2024

[bluesea777]

Welcome back to NCL! I read your fantastic review of last year's Jewel AK cruise. We did our b2b AK cruises on the Spirit from Anchorage-Vancouver-Anchorage last year.

 

Great job snagging the 8.5 hour Major Marine Kenai Fjords cruise out of Seward. We did the 7.5 hour one and it was fantastic. If you like crab legs we had the best ones ever at Ray's Waterfront restaurant in Seward - fantastic legs at half the price of other places namely Tracey's in Juneau, etc. It's still light after dinner so take a stroll thru the waterfront and marina - those boats are interesting to look at. The SeaLife is very good.

 

About Icy Strait Point ... I would suggest you give the Spassky tour a miss and do the ZipRider (this includes the SkyGlider) instead. We did both (one after the other) - enjoyed the thrill on ZipRider but the Spassky one was a meh - didn't see any bears, except that we saw a speck of one moving and it was so far away from the path we were walking on. When I saw your video of bears last year I just went WOW you got close to see those great bears, you wouldn't have been able to do that on ANY of the other tours, including the NCL ones.

 

We did the Original Streetcar in Skagway and it was good and fun.

 

ENJOY!!!

 

Edited August 8 by bluesea777

[bluesea777]

One more thing, you need to understand what the so-called Gold Panning involves. This activity is for families with kids who are bound to go gleeing with excitement as they discover "gold" nuggets in their pans ... not the real thing.

 

 

[Hogladyrider]

@Saint Greg I really ENJOY all the detail you provide with preplanning and once on board.

 

Very helpful.  

 

Let's see how many pages this review can get up to!

 

We are doing 35 day Hawaii Tahitti next Feb. but I do not have the patience that you do for a live review.

[xkritter]

I look forward to following along while on board the Encore. I agree that the $50 excursion credit is nice and really makes some of the excursions very reasonable.

 

I really wanted to go back to Icy Strait Point but Glacier Bay won out. Oh well...great reason to book another one.

[Southern Dan]

My wife and I will be joining you on the Jewel, it will be our first trip to Alaska and I'm sure it won't be our last.  Hopefully our paths cross onboard!

[depplep]

I will say I'm going to miss the nightly Municipal Waste videos.

[zqvol]

3 hours ago, dallasdan said:

Is there a limit to the $50 off?  Do you have to prebook for the credit or can you get the credit if booked on board?

You still get the credit if you wait and book on board. 

[Saint Greg]

8 minutes ago, depplep said:

I will say I'm going to miss the nightly Municipal Waste videos.

If I play that song on Norwegian, something has gone terribly wrong.

 

Edited August 8 by Saint Greg

[www3traveler]

I can't wait to hear about your Jewel adventure.

 

I know there has been a turn-over of staff, am curious about that and what you think.

 

A friend from Vancouver, B.C. will be on board with her father.

 

Enjoy

[bluesea777]

54 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

I can't wait to hear about your Jewel adventure.

 

I know there has been a turn-over of staff, am curious about that and what you think.

 

A friend from Vancouver, B.C. will be on board with her father.

 

Enjoy

 

Yes, they will board when Saint Greg disembark.

 

 

[heffy2]

I hope you have another incredible cruise! I'm less than two weeks out from my first trip to Europe, and my first sailing on NCL as a guest. Thanks for the youtube tip. 

[Saint Greg]

This was from a couple weeks ago.
 

 

 

[Saint Greg]

Also a couple weeks ago I had a packing mishap. I was reaching around in my backpack and I had a razor in there. Well the plastic piece came off and I sliced my middle finger and nail a little bit.
 

I keep having to cut that nail shorter. This is an important finger. I may need it. The people that follow Sid’s thread know I just had to use it on a truck driver recently.

Edited August 8 by Saint Greg

[dctravel]

Yes! Another review! I just back from Alaska on the Celebrity Solstice and excited to see this different itinerary, as we have talked about doing a one-way trip in the future!

[pcrum]

6 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Thanks. I'm booked on Encore, Prima, and Epic so I'm going to be around here more often starting next year.

What is the Epic cruise? That’s our fav ship. Have been on her twice and considering another TA on her. 

[pcrum]

6 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

One of the things I like about Norwegian is the $50 off excursions. While they may hike up their price a little bit to make up for some of it, they are a good deal overall. There are a couple of hardcore Carnival people who will dispute this. I doubt they’ll be on this thread but here it is for everything I booked this trip. Norwegian first, Carnival second.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I could not find a comparable tour on carnival that only included a salmon bake but I don’t think the have any tours anywhere under $30.

 

You will never convince the Carnival cheerleaders. Once we found NCL with the free at sea, we’ve never looked back at Carnival. Since we don’t gamble enough for any casino specials, Carnival costs more for an inferior product. Like you, I’ve done the side by side comparisons. NCL wins!

[Saint Greg]

10 minutes ago, pcrum said:

What is the Epic cruise? That’s our fav ship. Have been on her twice and considering another TA on her. 

That one is 2026. It’s San Juan, Tortola, Antigua, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, San Juan.

 

Edited August 8 by Saint Greg

[PrincessPatti]

Okay, Page 2 and I’m in!  

[LatinaInTexas]

Wow that's one heck of a jam packed adventure and if anyone can pull it off and make it look easy it's you lol. Looking forward to seeing more of Alaska since I prob won't be making it back.

Flying out tomorrow night for my Jade cruise so will have a lot to catch up on when I return. It's looking like we will be having a lot of rain chances also booo.

Stay safe out there in bear country!

 

[AKR2011]

Welcome back, Greg! I'm excited to follow along again and I'm wishing you safe travels. You definitely have some exciting things planned ❤️⚓️

[fethiyeden]

Managed to get here on page 2.

Have a fabulous trip, I think you will need another holiday after this one to recover, it’s a full itinerary.

[Saint Greg]

1 hour ago, fethiyeden said:

Managed to get here on page 2.

Have a fabulous trip, I think you will need another holiday after this one to recover, it’s a full itinerary.

Thanks. Maybe I will.

[Utenaleina]

Yes! Welcome back! Looking forward to another great review. This will tide me over until I set sail on my NCL Bliss Alaska cruise on 8/17!

[ecslady]

Looking forward to another great live review.  Thank you so much for all the details you provide.

[spethstation]

I love your reviews @Saint Greg, looking forward to following your Alaskan adventure! This is a destination I will end up visiting eventually, but the excursion planning seems more daunting than the European cruise I'm doing next month! 🤪