Just Back from Alaska on the NCL Pearl

[bhamcruzer]

We just returned from our cruise today. What a wonderful trip it was!!! We had clear, sunny days in Ketchikan, Glacier Bay, and Victoria, a semi-sunny day in Skagway, and a cloudy, normal Alaskan day in Juneau. The Ketchikan residents and the cruise staff I talked with said that we were very fortunate (1st time in at least a month it was sunny for the Pearl in Ketchikan), and the park ranger said that it was the first time in awhile that they had clear day in Glacier Bay. If anyone has any questions about any of the ports, the Pearl, or anything else feel free to ask, and I will do my best to answer.

[brunolvr]

We just returned from our cruise today. What a wonderful trip it was!!! We had clear, sunny days in Ketchikan, Glacier Bay, and Victoria, a semi-sunny day in Skagway, and a cloudy, normal Alaskan day in Juneau. The Ketchikan residents and the cruise staff I talked with said that we were very fortunate (1st time in at least a month it was sunny for the Pearl in Ketchikan), and the park ranger said that it was the first time in awhile that they had clear day in Glacier Bay. If anyone has any questions about any of the ports, the Pearl, or anything else feel free to ask, and I will do my best to answer.

 

Glad to hear you have a good time and that the weather cooperated for you! Did you encounter any rough seas?

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Thanks for posting. I'm glad you had nice weather--hope we have the same (leaving on the 15th).

 

What did you do in the ports?

 

Thanks!

Jayne

[kootz]

Was there any problems with disembarkation or did it go smoothly and early? We are on Sunday's cruise and have a very early flight the following after the cruise.

[Budget Queen]

Was there any problems with disembarkation or did it go smoothly and early? We are on Sunday's cruise and have a very early flight the following after the cruise.

 

I strongly suggest you only consider self disembarkment if you have an early flight. You have to be able to handle all your own luggage, but I've been off the ship about 7:30am doing this my last 2 Seattle NCL cruises. There is a cab line right at the curb and allow 30 mins. to get to Seatac, plus another hour- at least for check in/security.

[CruisinRoxy]

We were actually thinking of the Pearl, also. We have cruised once on the NCL Dawn and twice on RCI. Did you like the Pearl and what kind of cabin did you stay in? How was the food? I am 50-50 with freestyle vs traditional dining. Did you like it? What was the average temperature?

Thanks so much.

[Budget Queen]

We were actually thinking of the Pearl, also. We have cruised once on the NCL Dawn and twice on RCI. Did you like the Pearl and what kind of cabin did you stay in? How was the food? I am 50-50 with freestyle vs traditional dining. Did you like it? What was the average temperature?

Thanks so much.

 

I do like NCL very much and have sailed with them a LOT the last few years. :) The Pearl has an excellent itinerary with Glacier Bay. I am one who the food doesn't matter much- and really like freestyle. It offers me the flexability to do what I choose in the evening, then fit in dining as needed. :)

 

I booked a cheap inside cabin. However, their front deck viewing is crappy. :( The Seatte trips are excellent until third week of May with the humpback migration.

[bhamcruzer]

Glad to hear you have a good time and that the weather cooperated for you! Did you encounter any rough seas?

 

The roughest seas we had were 9-15 ft seas when we were on our way to Victoria on Friday. On Monday we had fairly choppy seas, but it was constant for about 7 hours. A lot of people were feeling sick Monday morning through early Monday afternoon. All in all it was not that bad though...try bowling in 9-15 ft seas...it's a real challenge! :-)

[bhamcruzer]

Thanks for posting. I'm glad you had nice weather--hope we have the same (leaving on the 15th).

 

What did you do in the ports?

 

Thanks!

Jayne

 

Juneau- Mendenhall Lake Canoe- Awesome excursion and probably the most underrated tour in Juneau. It is not for the faint of heart, however. It, honestly, was a lot of work (you have to paddle against the wind and the current), but it was so worth it. We had 8 people in a 12 person canoe. You paddle to within 400-500 ft of the face of Mendenhall Glacier, then you try and paddle through a waterfall which was a blast. You have a little snack, and then paddle back. There are icebergs on the lake, which are quite large, that you paddle up to and touch. The blue ice on those was very cool to see. It took about 4 hours from pick up at the dock to drop off. I have pics if you want to see.

 

Skagway- Ultimate Yukon and Whitepass Adventure- Another awesome excursion, and one which I highly recommend! You ride a bus from Skagway to Emerald Lake, then you drive back to Fraser, BC and take the train back to Skagway. Here's the itenerary:

 

1. Bus ride with scenic stops to Caribou Crossing, Yukon Territory, where you eat a barbecue chicken lunch (possibly the best BBQ chicken I've ever had). There's a museum a taxidermist has created with polar bears, grizzly bears, a wooly mammoth, and other animals. You can also pan for gold ($10/person), take an ATV ride ($30/person) or take a ride on a cart pulled by sled dogs ($30/person) at this location. It's a nice stop after riding the bus for a couple of hours.

 

2. Next you travel ride the bus to Emerald Lake where you stop for picture taking.

 

3. Next you ride to Carcross, Yukon Territory where you have about 30 mins to walk around. It was a neat little town. We got our passports stamped at the post office there and had some ice cream.

 

4. Next you go back to Fraser, BC (Fraser is the Canadian Customs Office) where you pick up the White Pass Railroad for the 27 mile trip back to Skagway.

 

It is an 8 hour tour, but if you want to see scenery this is the way to do it. It is absolutely beautiful on both the bus and the train. We still had a couple of hours to walk around and shop in Skagway.

 

Ketchikan- no excursion booked through the cruise line, but picked up a little wildlife tour right at the dock (You can't miss it). It was a two hour tour and cost $40 a person. We saw dozens and dozens of bald eagles, and just missed a bear. You ride in a 12 person van and you are taken to a stream where there are dozens of salmon, bald eagles, and the occasional bear. The van is driven by a Ketchikan local, so the information you get about the town and its history is very interesting. Not an A+ tour, but it's good if you just want something to do. At the end of the tour, you are taken to Saxman Village (where the totem poles are) and are allowed to walk around for about 30 mins.

 

Victoria- We just walked around town. Make sure you don't miss the street muscian group Jambanja. They are very cool. Just look for a crowd of people in downtown around 9-9:30 pm. It's an experience, let me tell you...I will also say that people who went on whale watching tours in Victoria had a marvelous time. They said they saw a very large number of whales, and that they were playing, jumping, etc...That's not guaranteed to be the case every time, obviously, but just for your information.

 

I hope this helps, and have a great trip!!!

[bhamcruzer]

Was there any problems with disembarkation or did it go smoothly and early? We are on Sunday's cruise and have a very early flight the following after the cruise.

 

How early is your flight? I believe the earliest you can get off the ship was 7:30 AM. They offer a BAGS program where you set your bags outside your door the Saturday night, and the next time you see your bags is at your final destination airport. It costs $15/person, but I can't remember if there was any restrictions on flight times. Disembarkation went very smoothly. No long line at customs. You just walked out of the ship, your bags were sitting with all the same color tagged luggage, and you walked out. It was the smoothest disembarkation out of the 3 cruises that I have taken by far. Embarkation was a breeze as well.

[bhamcruzer]

We were actually thinking of the Pearl, also. We have cruised once on the NCL Dawn and twice on RCI. Did you like the Pearl and what kind of cabin did you stay in? How was the food? I am 50-50 with freestyle vs traditional dining. Did you like it? What was the average temperature?

Thanks so much.

 

The Pearl is an extremely nice ship. It has a great layout. We had a normal aft balcony cabin, category BC. It was just a normal cruise ship cabin. We had 2 twin beds that converted to a queen and a little love seat. Balcony was fairly spacious. Closet space was adequate. Drawer space was a little tight. If you stick all of your suitcases under the beds like we did you can make it just fine.

 

The food was good, but not great. Princess and RCL have better food, but the food still was good. The best meal we I had was at the Lotus Garden, one of the restaurants where you had to pay a surcharge ($10 a person). It is an Asian food place...lots of spicy stuff, soups, teriyaki dishes, etc. It was extremely good. The Italian restaurant was very good as well. The buffet is, again, good but not great. Nothing you get in the Indigo or the Summer Palace dining rooms will blow you away. Like I said, good but not great. The Chocolate Bar on Friday night is Outstanding!!!

[bhamcruzer]

We were actually thinking of the Pearl, also. We have cruised once on the NCL Dawn and twice on RCI. Did you like the Pearl and what kind of cabin did you stay in? How was the food? I am 50-50 with freestyle vs traditional dining. Did you like it? What was the average temperature?

Thanks so much.

 

The Pearl is an extremely nice ship. It has a great layout. It is decorated to be hip and appeal to a younger crowd. Hence it is a little gaudy in places. There were a large number of families on our cruise with children of all ages. We had a normal aft balcony cabin, category BC. It was just a normal cruise ship cabin. We had 2 twin beds that converted to a queen and a little love seat. Balcony was fairly spacious. Closet space was adequate. Drawer space was a little tight. If you stick all of your suitcases under the beds like we did you can make it just fine. If you want a little bit of space, the mini-suites are a good choice, as, honestly, there was not much space to move around in our cabin. We were really only in the cabin to change clothes and sleep, so it did not matter.

 

The food was good, but not great. Princess and RCL have better food, but the food still was good. The best meal we I had was at the Lotus Garden, one of the restaurants where you had to pay a surcharge ($10 a person). It is an Asian food place...lots of spicy stuff, soups, teriyaki dishes, etc. It was extremely good. The Italian restaurant was very good as well. The buffet is, again, good but not great. Nothing you get in the Indigo or the Summer Palace dining rooms will blow you away. Like I said, good but not great. If you are going on a cruise and expecting 5-star meals every night, the Pearl is not for you. The Chocolate Bar on Friday night is Outstanding!!!

 

Personally I liked the freestyle dining. You get a great variety of choices with the freestyle dining. The buffet, the Italian place, the Blue Lagoon (open 24 hours and has a little bit of everything), a Mexican place, and the Indigo and Summer Palace dining rooms are all included in the cruise fare. The Indigo and Summer Palace dining rooms shared a menu that changed nightly. I believe all the other menus stayed the same throughout the entire cruise (the Italian place and the Blue Lagoon stayed the same for sure) Indigo was just more laid back than the Summer Palace dining room. Summer Palace was like a traditional cruise dining room. If you prefer to eat at the same place and the same time, you can talk to the maitre'd and it would be arranged. There were at least 5 other restaurants that charge a surcharge from $10-$20 a person depending on the restaurant. Included in those were a steak place, a French cuisine place, a Japanese place where the cooks cooked on a grill on front of you, and an Asian place. If you like to get to know your waiters throughout the week, Freestyle dining is definitely not for you. If you don't care about that and don't like structure, Freestyle dining is wonderful. If you like variety, Freestyle dining would be the ticket for you. I liked the flexibility in deciding what time I wanted to go to dinner.

 

The temperature ranged from low to mid 50's to mid 60's. It was great weather. There was always a brisk wind blowing. I only wore shorts on the ship. Anytime we were in a port I was in jeans.

 

I hope this helps. If I can answer anything else let me know.

[bhamcruzer]

I do like NCL very much and have sailed with them a LOT the last few years. :) The Pearl has an excellent itinerary with Glacier Bay. I am one who the food doesn't matter much- and really like freestyle. It offers me the flexability to do what I choose in the evening, then fit in dining as needed. :)

 

I booked a cheap inside cabin. However, their front deck viewing is crappy. :( The Seatte trips are excellent until third week of May with the humpback migration.

 

I really didn't have a problem with the front viewing. Like you mentioned, there is no true front viewing, but you are up high enough that it does not really matter. You still have front viewing, but it is through glass, and it is on the top-most deck, recessed back from the front of the ship. There is plenty of space on the upper decks for anyone who wants to be on the rail to have a spot. The front-viewing area was not an issue for me at all. I was on the rail all day on Decks 13 and 14 in Glacier Bay, and I saw everything just fine.

[Cruise Leprechaun]

Sorry - but what did you mean by "The Seattle trips are great until the third week of May with humpback migration"? Does tha mean you dont see whales after late May? We are planning on doing this cruise next July and were wondering how much, if any, whales we may see just from the cruise itself - not from scheduled excursions.

[Budget Queen]

Sorry - but what did you mean by "The Seattle trips are great until the third week of May with humpback migration"? Does tha mean you dont see whales after late May? We are planning on doing this cruise next July and were wondering how much, if any, whales we may see just from the cruise itself - not from scheduled excursions.

 

The Seattle trips have the least scenery, since they go outside Vancouver Island, essentially you can count on 2 sea days. The humpbacks are migrating in May, so, this routing allows you to see them.

 

IF you are planning on just viewing whales from your ship, you need to commit to a lot of time and know areas, and be happy with a 1 minute distant view. Necessary is a good pair of wide angle binoculars and front deck viewing in proper attire. You need the full front so to track from ahead. You don't want to spot them from the back, with the ship pulling away, nor miss the other side, with a side viewing.

 

Luck is a big part- and you will see plenty of posts of good ship whale watching- it isn't the norm.

 

I spend most all my time out on deck, and have been greatly rewarded with many wonderful sightings, but you will also always see me on whale watches. Just far superior for extended close up viewing.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Juneau- Mendenhall Lake Canoe- Awesome excursion and probably the most underrated tour in Juneau. It is not for the faint of heart, however. It, honestly, was a lot of work (you have to paddle against the wind and the current), but it was so worth it. We had 8 people in a 12 person canoe. You paddle to within 400-500 ft of the face of Mendenhall Glacier, then you try and paddle through a waterfall which was a blast. You have a little snack, and then paddle back. There are icebergs on the lake, which are quite large, that you paddle up to and touch. The blue ice on those was very cool to see. It took about 4 hours from pick up at the dock to drop off. I have pics if you want to see.

 

Skagway- Ultimate Yukon and Whitepass Adventure- Another awesome excursion, and one which I highly recommend! You ride a bus from Skagway to Emerald Lake, then you drive back to Fraser, BC and take the train back to Skagway. Here's the itenerary:

 

1. Bus ride with scenic stops to Caribou Crossing, Yukon Territory, where you eat a barbecue chicken lunch (possibly the best BBQ chicken I've ever had). There's a museum a taxidermist has created with polar bears, grizzly bears, a wooly mammoth, and other animals. You can also pan for gold ($10/person), take an ATV ride ($30/person) or take a ride on a cart pulled by sled dogs ($30/person) at this location. It's a nice stop after riding the bus for a couple of hours.

 

2. Next you travel ride the bus to Emerald Lake where you stop for picture taking.

 

3. Next you ride to Carcross, Yukon Territory where you have about 30 mins to walk around. It was a neat little town. We got our passports stamped at the post office there and had some ice cream.

 

4. Next you go back to Fraser, BC (Fraser is the Canadian Customs Office) where you pick up the White Pass Railroad for the 27 mile trip back to Skagway.

 

It is an 8 hour tour, but if you want to see scenery this is the way to do it. It is absolutely beautiful on both the bus and the train. We still had a couple of hours to walk around and shop in Skagway.

 

Ketchikan- no excursion booked through the cruise line, but picked up a little wildlife tour right at the dock (You can't miss it). It was a two hour tour and cost $40 a person. We saw dozens and dozens of bald eagles, and just missed a bear. You ride in a 12 person van and you are taken to a stream where there are dozens of salmon, bald eagles, and the occasional bear. The van is driven by a Ketchikan local, so the information you get about the town and its history is very interesting. Not an A+ tour, but it's good if you just want something to do. At the end of the tour, you are taken to Saxman Village (where the totem poles are) and are allowed to walk around for about 30 mins.

 

Victoria- We just walked around town. Make sure you don't miss the street muscian group Jambanja. They are very cool. Just look for a crowd of people in downtown around 9-9:30 pm. It's an experience, let me tell you...I will also say that people who went on whale watching tours in Victoria had a marvelous time. They said they saw a very large number of whales, and that they were playing, jumping, etc...That's not guaranteed to be the case every time, obviously, but just for your information.

 

I hope this helps, and have a great trip!!!

 

Thanks for sharing! None of our excursions match what you did--that's one of the things I love about an Alaska cruise--there are so many great excursions!

 

In Sitka, we're doing a four-hour wildlife quest with an independent; in Skagway, we're renting through Avis and driving to Emerald Lake (did the train last time and not interested in doing it again). In Juneau, we're renting a car and going to Mendenhall Glacier, Glacier Gardens, Shrine of St. Terese, etc. No way could I do the excursion you described--I've got arthritis in my spine, but if I didn't, I would love that! And, in Ketchikan we're flightseeing with Island Wings.

 

Our cruise doesn't call in Victoria, but I've been there several times (we live in the Pacific Northwest)--as a matter of fact, today's our 14th wedding anniversary and we honeymooned in Victoria. :D It's lovely there.

 

Best wishes!

Jayne

[CruisinJul]

Hi Bahmcruzer, It sounds like you had an amazing trip! I would love to see your pics of the canoe trip. I can handle the workout, but not sure I am that adventurous.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome home. I am glad that you had a wonderful Alaskan cruise.

[bhamcruzer]

Hi Bahmcruzer, It sounds like you had an amazing trip! I would love to see your pics of the canoe trip. I can handle the workout, but not sure I am that adventurous.

 

Here's a slideshow of our Mendenhall Glacier Lake Canoe Excursion in Juneau.

 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=wnmuys8.17hzj1no&Uy=gpljde&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

 

***Note: The rafts shown in the first picture are for the Mendenhall River Float Excursion. We were in a 12-person canoe.

[photodoodle]

I really love the pictures of the floating ice from the canoe point of view. It's a great perspective.

[qiangf2]

The Seattle trips have the least scenery, since they go outside Vancouver Island, essentially you can count on 2 sea days. The humpbacks are migrating in May, so, this routing allows you to see them.

 

IF you are planning on just viewing whales from your ship, you need to commit to a lot of time and know areas, and be happy with a 1 minute distant view. Necessary is a good pair of wide angle binoculars and front deck viewing in proper attire. You need the full front so to track from ahead. You don't want to spot them from the back, with the ship pulling away, nor miss the other side, with a side viewing.

 

Luck is a big part- and you will see plenty of posts of good ship whale watching- it isn't the norm.

 

I spend most all my time out on deck, and have been greatly rewarded with many wonderful sightings, but you will also always see me on whale watches. Just far superior for extended close up viewing.

 

Also it seems the water is rougher when sailing from Seattle while on an open sea.

[CruisinRoxy]

The Pearl is an extremely nice ship. It has a great layout. It is decorated to be hip and appeal to a younger crowd. Hence it is a little gaudy in places. There were a large number of families on our cruise with children of all ages. We had a normal aft balcony cabin, category BC. It was just a normal cruise ship cabin. We had 2 twin beds that converted to a queen and a little love seat. Balcony was fairly spacious. Closet space was adequate. Drawer space was a little tight. If you stick all of your suitcases under the beds like we did you can make it just fine. If you want a little bit of space, the mini-suites are a good choice, as, honestly, there was not much space to move around in our cabin. We were really only in the cabin to change clothes and sleep, so it did not matter.

 

The food was good, but not great. Princess and RCL have better food, but the food still was good. The best meal we I had was at the Lotus Garden, one of the restaurants where you had to pay a surcharge ($10 a person). It is an Asian food place...lots of spicy stuff, soups, teriyaki dishes, etc. It was extremely good. The Italian restaurant was very good as well. The buffet is, again, good but not great. Nothing you get in the Indigo or the Summer Palace dining rooms will blow you away. Like I said, good but not great. If you are going on a cruise and expecting 5-star meals every night, the Pearl is not for you. The Chocolate Bar on Friday night is Outstanding!!!

 

Personally I liked the freestyle dining. You get a great variety of choices with the freestyle dining. The buffet, the Italian place, the Blue Lagoon (open 24 hours and has a little bit of everything), a Mexican place, and the Indigo and Summer Palace dining rooms are all included in the cruise fare. The Indigo and Summer Palace dining rooms shared a menu that changed nightly. I believe all the other menus stayed the same throughout the entire cruise (the Italian place and the Blue Lagoon stayed the same for sure) Indigo was just more laid back than the Summer Palace dining room. Summer Palace was like a traditional cruise dining room. If you prefer to eat at the same place and the same time, you can talk to the maitre'd and it would be arranged. There were at least 5 other restaurants that charge a surcharge from $10-$20 a person depending on the restaurant. Included in those were a steak place, a French cuisine place, a Japanese place where the cooks cooked on a grill on front of you, and an Asian place. If you like to get to know your waiters throughout the week, Freestyle dining is definitely not for you. If you don't care about that and don't like structure, Freestyle dining is wonderful. If you like variety, Freestyle dining would be the ticket for you. I liked the flexibility in deciding what time I wanted to go to dinner.

 

The temperature ranged from low to mid 50's to mid 60's. It was great weather. There was always a brisk wind blowing. I only wore shorts on the ship. Anytime we were in a port I was in jeans.

 

I hope this helps. If I can answer anything else let me know.

Thanks so much for all your info!

[Eldemila]

We are booked on the Pearl for next month and I've yet to book an excursion - would love to know if anyone went, or knows of someone who may have gone, on the following - what I've narrowed down that I think we may like doing...

 

Will probably go through NCL to book - first timers and don't want to get stuck anywhere.

 

In Skagway, Toast of the Goldrush (hubby doesn't want to do the 8hr train - is the 3hr good enough? This one is 5 hours)

 

In Victoria Butchard Gadrens & Victoria Highlights

In Juneau Mendenhall Glacier & Salmon Bake

 

Not sure about Ketchikan yet. Thought about Best of Ketchikan by Land & Sea, Misty Fjords & Wilderness Explorer, Ket. by Horse-Drawn Trolley

 

Do you do an excursion in every port???

 

Hubby says wait to book, not sure if that's a good idea. For sure the Mendenhall Glacier, not sure if it's worth it for the salmon bake, or how good it is - anyone??

 

We are not cruise people at all and this will be a very new experience for us. We are use to traveling on our own schedule, never on a specific time frame. I want to make sure that I chose the best excursions for us and for the money we are going to spend on them. Plus, it's hubby's 55th birthday and the excursions are on my dime!

 

We would love to walk the cities - we love to go and see the local areas but again, not sure what there is to see - we don't really like tourist traps. Any places you suggest that are in the towns that should be seen. Someone told us about The Red Dog Saloon??? Open to any and all suggestions!!!!

 

THANKS FOR ANY OPIONS AND/OR SUGGESTIONS!!!:)

[Toyz711]

check the websites for the ports:

http://www.traveljuneau.com/

http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/districts/mendenhall/

http://www.visit-ketchikan.com/

http://www.skagway.com/

 

for juneau, if you don't want to do the salmon bake, you can go to mendenhall on the shuttle for $6 pp each way. you can catch the shuttle at the base of the tram, right at the docks.

the round-trip train is fine, the views are great. it's just that you come back down the same way, it's quiet coming down ....a good time for a nap. with any of the combo trips..the bus is on the opposite side of the valley with different views.

ketchikan is great for just walking around or getting a city tour out to the totem poles. very easy town to enjoy.

if you think you want to do any flightseeing tours or bear watching....book early. these do fill up and sell out.

[anick]

Thanks for posting the beautiful pics! We're booked on a glacier flightseeing tour, but if it's cancelled, I hope there are openings on this excursion :)