Pearl to Alaska Review - June 7 -14 (Long)

[shellgoodman]

Seattle – The start of our trip was almost a disaster. Our flight was to leave from DFW to Seattle with a connection in St. Louis. As we were about to take off to St. Louis, the captain told us of a radio problem on the plane. We then had to try to find an open gate to return to and for the mechanics to work on it. It was really stressful as we sat on the plane. I knew that most of the direct flights to Seattle were completely booked and we needed 4 seats if this plane was not fixable. It turns out it could not be fixed and they found everyone new flights. Problem was our bags. American was not willing to transfer bags to all the new planes and our bags would not arrive in Seattle until the next day at 1pm. My husband ended up talking to a pilot who was sitting in first class. Apparently, he was supposed to be our pilot from St. Louis to Seattle. My husband explained that we were going to Alaska on a cruise and we really needed our bags. The pilot personally went down to the baggage handlers and found all our 5 bags for us. This pilot was amazing and we were so grateful. We got on our new flight and when our bags came through baggage claim in Seattle, we jumped for joy.

 

Embarkation – We had Already There Towncar pick us up at the Embassy Suites by the airport at 10:00am. Got to the port at 10:20 and dropped off our bags by 10:30. We then walked to a little deli by Pier 66 to buy some mixers for the bar setup I had ordered a couple of weeks back for our cabin. At 11:30, we were on the ship getting our champagne and pictures taken. This was by far the easiest embarkation we have ever had on a cruise. Since we couldn’t get into our cabin until 2pm, we checked out the kids club (smaller than other lines we’ve been on), the spa, fitness center and walked the ship to check out the dining venues. We ended up eating at the Garden Café which was a madhouse. I waited ½ hour for a table as not only do people eat here but they camp out here as well waiting for their cabins to be made up. We were going to go to Summer Palace and eat there but for some reason which I can’t remember we did not. There was not any food served by the pool because of the Seattle weather (wasn’t raining though) so the Garden Café is jam packed and not relaxing in the least bit.

 

 

Cabin – Our AF portside minisuite (11586) opened up at 2pm. It is under the kids club although it wasn’t noisy at all throughout our entire trip. Cabin has a decent sized balcony. Bathroom was really good sized with a separate toilet area and shower with tub. My kids slept on the pullout sofa sleeper which was fine for them. I suppose 2 adults could sleep in it too if they had to. The one and only gripe I had about the room is that you cannot blowdry your hair in the bathroom. The one outlet in the bathroom is for an electric razor which could not accommodate my blowdryer. The blowdryer in the cabin is located on the desk by the tv about 25 – 30 ft away from the bathroom. I had brought an extension cord but not long enough to go from the desk to the bathroom. My kids slept in a lot and I had to blow dry my hair 1 ft away from them every morning. Next time I will bring a 25 ft extension cord with me. I am so grateful I listened to the cc board and got a balcony for this trip. We spent a lot of time on the balcony looking for wildlife and at the glaciers. Now I understand why everyone recommends a balcony for an Alaskan cruise. Lots of towel animals for my kids during the week. Got the info on the laundry special but never got the bags from the cabin steward.

 

Ship – Very beautiful and easy to get around. No big atrium like most ships and not a whole lot of shopping on board. There is a big Nintendo Wii with a seating area instead to greet everyone. Also there is a bar, shore excursion desk, dinner reservation area, and a shop, Wish the pool area had an enclosure to swim. It was too cold for us to swim although some did. Unless the air and water is at least 85 degrees, I won’t sit around a pool or go into one either.

 

Dining: Well, my DH had made the proclamation at home that since he had paid for the cruise and the dining already, we probably weren’t going to the specialty restaurants. It was a statement out of principle for him. It turned out that we ate dinner in the main dining rooms only 2 times and it was passable. It was just ok. We ate at Le Bistro, Le Cucina, Mambos, and at Lotus Garden (Sushi) twice. We didn’t eat at Cagney’s because we eat all the time at upscale steakhouses in Dallas or around the country. My kids aren’t interested in steak either so the main entrée selections were limited for them. Everything else on the Cagney’s menu appealed to us but ultimately we went back to Lotus Garden for a low key meal. We had done a Benihana’s at home so we didn’t go to Teppanaki either. We paid ½ price for our kids in all of the restaurants and they/we ate as much as they/we wanted. All in all, we paid maybe $200 more on the trip for 5 restaurants for 4 people that were really, really good. It was well worth the money. We ate about $100 worth of sushi alone at Lotus Garden one night and spent $30 plus tip. The kids ate the Chinese food there while we ate sushi. While we are usually huge proponents of MDRs, we loved the freestyle concept. We wore what we wanted (dressed nice casual) and went when we wanted. We usually made reservations the night before. The night that we were in Juneau, NCL offered ½ dinners in Mambos or Le Cucina.

 

Shows: Welcome Aboard party, Garden of the Geisha, and the dancing shows were ok. We went for our kids but only my 9 year old was interested as she is a dancer. Sharkbait was great and we went to their Q & A in the Spinnaker Lounge which was interesting. Second City night was fun too and my kids were laughing their heads off.

 

I have to add that my 9 year old loved the entertainment and became an entertainer on the ship herself. She karaoked and danced her days away. When they had dancing in the Spinnaker Lounge late at night, she was there with all the adults. She danced many nights with Julie the cruise director and Aris the dance instructor. She ended up dancing in the Talent Show while her reserved parents and sister watched her thinking “how is she related to us?” These are memories we will never forget. I wish I had her energy!

 

Kids Club: My girls are 9 & 11 and went a few times to kids club. I thought the counselors were good but the activities were sometimes boring. By the end of the trip, My older one didn’t want to go but went because my little one said she’d go. Tweens and teens are difficult age groups so it can be hard to please everyone. The kids area is small compared to RCCL, Carnival, and Disney but that does not matter to me as long as the activities are fun. My kids rate the NCL kids club in the middle of the other lines. It was ok but not fantastic.

 

Excursions:

We didn’t do any real excursions through the cruiseline. Here is what we did:

 

In Juneau, we went to Mendenhall glacier via the shuttle and climbed boulders over to the cascading waterfall. Shopped in Juneau.

 

Skagway: Favorite part of the trip! Instead of the train, we rented a car by Avis and drove to Emerald Lake in the Yukon . Stopped at our own pace along the road. Took pictures of 4 black bears and tons of beautiful scenery. Went to a dog sled camp where my kids fed husky puppies.

 

Ketchikan: Went to the Lumberjack Show which was cute. Shopped more.

 

Victoria: Got there at 6pm. Beautiful city. Didn't go the gardens due to the length of the bus ride and we were exhausted. Shopped even more.

 

Debarkation: I did not realize that I had to go to the customer service (misunderstood the Freestyle Daily) to get luggage tags as I thought that the tags we put on our luggage originally was fine for debarkation. In the past, other cruise lines have put the luggage tags on our beds in the cabin the day before departure. Our luggage ended up in the lost luggage area which was easy to find. We were off the ship by 10am and our driver picked us up to bring us the airport for a rental car (long story). Easiest debarkation ever on a ship.

 

Seattle:

Did the Duck Tour, Experience Music Project and ate the Crabpot on Monday following the cruise. Had a blast!

 

 

Overall:

Loved the ship, the freestyle concept and had an amazing trip. NCL has done a great job with the freestyle concept although I don’t love advertising it on the side of the ship (seems tacky to me). Our family decided that this was our favorite cruise of all that we’ve been on (nine cruises). We thought the service was terrific and the crew even knew my girls names by the end of the trip which made them feel special. I don’t love the service fee and prefer the old days of tipping with envelopes but this is something we can overlook. We tip extra where we can. We will now be looking at cruising through NCL next summer as they have won us over. I have my eye on the Gem for a Mediterranean cruise with the family!

[Molokai-Chuck]

Thanks for your review! Sounds like your family had a really nice sailing.

 

Chuck

[McDebbie]

So glad to hear your bags made it to Seattle, how nice of that captain to help you out. Sounds like you had a wonderful time, we can't wait to go in August.

[toothy26]

Are you Shelley Goodman who used to live in Philadelphia?

Sounds like a great cruise.

I'm booked for 2010.

Is there really only one shop onboard?

[shellgoodman]

Are you Shelley Goodman who used to live in Philadelphia?

Sounds like a great cruise.

I'm booked for 2010.

Is there really only one shop onboard?

 

 

No, never lived in Phillie. Married a Goodman though.

 

There are maybe 4 small shops on board. Not impressed with that but shopped at all of our ports.

[CaseyJr]

Thanks for your review. We'll have our 10 year old daughter and 7 year old son. Our 7 year old will be easy to please as long as there is a screen around. ;-) Our 10 year old tween is another story. Can you go into a little more detail about what types of activities they had for that age group?

 

Thanks in advance.

[shellgoodman]

Thanks for your review. We'll have our 10 year old daughter and 7 year old son. Our 7 year old will be easy to please as long as there is a screen around. ;-) Our 10 year old tween is another story. Can you go into a little more detail about what types of activities they had for that age group?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Your kids might end up together like my kids did. We went the first week of June so there were approximately 250 kids on board. The kids club is smaller than what I have seen on Disney, RCCL and Carnival. The kids were primarily playing games together in one big group. The Tween daily and the 6 - 9 Daily were exactly the same. They also had a pizza making party and a pajama party which my kids did not attend. My kids enjoyed the kids club although they didn't beg to go to it like when the were younger. We ended up taking them to all of the shows and then went to the Spinnaker Lounge for some dancing every night. My 9 yr old was dancing til midnight with Aris the dance instructor many nights.