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Cruisin Nana
Cruiser
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Posted: Tue May 20th, 2008 04:51 pm | 1st Post |
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First, let me say this was a very awesome cruise, but please allow me to get the negative out first so I can elaborate on the positive. We had a balcony cabin that was sandwiched with another balcony between mini-suites on Deck 9 along the back of the ship. There was apparently one, if not more smokers, in the cabins above us. So to whoever those smokers were, I hope you enjoyed your nice clean balcony because you covered ours with ashes, cigarette butts and trash. We had to clean off our railing and chairs every time we wanted to use them and were constantly tracking ashes into our cabin from the deck of our balcony.
Now that is out of my system, let me proceed with the account of our wonderful trip. I hope you enjoy it!!
Last May, we took the brand new Pearl for our second cruise to Alaska and loved her so much that we had to do it again this year. And she is just as fabulous and beautiful as the first time! We had a wonderful stewardess and steward, Rosalie Lusterio and Guillermo Lopez. They took very, very good care of us and were SO friendly! Unfortunately, if you are cruising during the next two months, you will not be able to enjoy Rose as she was leaving the last day of our cruise to go home to the Phillipines to be with her family. She was SO excited as it had been 10 months since she had seen her 4-year-old daughter. We hope you have a wonderful vacation, Rose, you deserve it!!!
Before we left on our cruise on the Pearl last May, I won 2 free airline tickets on Continental in a contest. This prompted us to take advantage of NCL's Cruise Rewards Program where we paid a $250 deposit during that cruise towards our next cruise (this one) and got $100 onboard credit towards the cruise we were on. Earlier this year, Chief and I decided to buy a third ticket for our flights so we would have plenty of room on the plane. It was a huge pay off for us because both our flights from and to Houston were completely booked.
Note for everyone interested in the Thrifty Car Rental arrangements at the pier. We rented the first car at SeaTac and returned it to Pier 48. We did not have to pay a return service charge for a one-way rental. It was the same for when we returned: we picked up the car at Pier 48 and returned it to SeaTac without paying a return service charge for a one-way rental. I’ll elaborate more later on renting from Thrifty.
FRIDAY, MAY 9, 2008
We left Houston at 7:40 a.m. Our extra seat seemed to upset the apple cart for the flight attendants. Understandably, they had to check our boarding passes to make sure we were not pulling a fast one. Although, the attendants were rather snippy through the whole flight, it really didn't matter, because we were quite comfortable with our 3 seats. As we were flying into the Seattle area, we saw four beautiful snow-capped mountains (volcanoes - Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood) sticking far above the surrounding mountains. It was a beautiful and awe-inspiring sight!
We arrived in Seattle around 10:30 a.m. The weather was beautiful and mostly sunny with the highs in the 60's. Quite a pleasant change from the 90 degrees weather we left in Texas. First, we noticed that the trees, bushes and flowers were in beautiful full bloom. Spring hits Houston around February and we were already well into summer here. I loved spending the two days going through Spring again and seeing all the different beautiful flowering plants in the Seattle area! We lived in West Seattle for 4 years in the late 70's to early 80's and I had forgotten how truly beautiful it is.
Once we gathered our suitcases, we picked up our rental car from Thrifty Rental. We actually signed the contract at the desk in the baggage area of the airport and then was shuttled to an off-site area to pick up the car. This process took roughly 45 minutes from the time we got to the desk in the terminal to the time we actually left the car lot. After picking up the car, we ate lunch at Denny's nearby. Then we tried to check into our hotel, the Fairfield Marriott at SeaTac, but they said our room was not ready. We left to go catch the Southworth ferry from West Seattle, across Puget Sound, to the Southworth area just east of Port Orchard. Of course, we got lost getting to the ferry landing, but had a beautiful drive through West Seattle to find it. What gorgeous homes and yards!!! We got in line to wait for the next ferry to pick us up, and I felt so at peace with the breeze from the Sound blowing through the car window. The ride across the Sound was not long - maybe 20 minutes - and we drove straight to our destination: A lot that was for sale we found on the internet last year after our cruise. The price was unbelievably great for a lot only 300 yards from the Sound, but after checking into it, we found out it was for recreational purposes only. Apparently, the perc test showed it could not accommodate a septic system. However, it was wooded and beautiful and SO close to the Sound! We drove a little bit around the very quaint area, then drove back to the ferry landing and caught the ferry back to West Seattle to try to check into our room again. This time it was a go. After dropping off our luggage, we went in search of dinner.
One huge thing I’d like to tell about that you may want to keep in mind when planning the financial end of your trip. We are not seasoned travelers, so we were unaware of this. Thrifty rental car company put a hold on our credit card while we had the car for the amount of the rental plus 15% or $250, whichever is the greatest amount, so we had a $250 deposit pending on our credit card. This pending charge was supposed to drop off our account when we turned in the car and paid for the usage (it did fall off at some point during our cruise). When we checked into the hotel, they also put a hold on our credit card for the amount of our stay, plus an additional amount for "incidentals" - even if we had planned to pay in cash when we checked out. So after we checked out and paid for our room, we had a double charge (pending and actual) on our account for a few days. The pending charge dropped off sometime during our cruise.
We noticed that there is no range between drive-in restaurants and expensive restaurants around SeaTac Airport, except for Denny's - it's either one or the other. That's why we drove to Southcenter Mall (south of the airport) in search of the Cheesecake Factory. We had a lovely dinner, then drove back toward the hotel. We stopped at a small lake, Angle Lake, on International Boulevard, hoping for a walk, but there was no walking trail around the lake. We stayed only a few minutes, then went back to the hotel room. When we initially made the reservation, we thought it would be lots of fun to have a "jacuzzi" room, which has a two-person jacuzzi within a few feet of the bed. Well, I guess the reality of it is if a couple has been married for almost 35 years, the "cutesyness" of it is somewhat lost - especially after a day of travel. We returned to the room around 8:00 (which is 10:00 p.m. in Houston) and about an hour past my regular bedtime. Chief, being the sweet guy he is, allowed me to be the first to use the jacuzzi. I couldn't wait for those soothing jets of water massaging away the stress of traveling. After filling the tub, I pushed the button to "Calgon, take me away" and nothing happened. We turned on the timer and looked for every possible switch or button, but nothing happened. After a thorough search of the room, Chief headed down to the desk to report the problem and also to let them know we had no washcloths, also. Meanwhile, I simply soaked in the huge hot tub of water, then got out and got ready to go to bed. The assistant manager had to come to the room to ascertain that we were not idiots and that the tub definitely did not work. There were no more jacuzzi rooms, so we had the choice of staying where we were or move to a regular king-size room across the hall, either way with a $10 discount. We chose to stay where we were. They were sending a maintenance guy to the room the next day to try to find the problem.
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Pat
NCL Spirit - 9/3/05 (Wonderful!)
NCL Pearl - 5/27/07 (Fantastic!)
Return to the Pearl - 5/11/08 (Fabulous!)
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Cruisin Nana
Cruiser
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Posted: Tue May 20th, 2008 05:01 pm | 2nd Post |
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SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2008, LEAVENWORTH
Saturday, we got up to do a short workout in the hotel gym and fuel up with the hotel's continental breakfast. We then took off approximately 100 miles northeast of Seattle to Leavenworth, Washington, a Bavarian town in the Cascade Mountains. The sky was cloudy and the temperature was roughly in the 50's. We had a fabulous, scenic drive through the Cascade Mountains, along beautiful rivers with numerous rapids, and over Stephens Pass, which is over 4,000 feet above sea level. This area of the mountains still had tons of snow along the road and on the sides of the mountains. We arrived in Leavenworth at lunchtime and found ourselves in the middle of May Fest. We ate lunch at a restaurant at the opening to the town because the May Fest parade was blocking the road. What a cute parade!! The part we were fortunate to watch had folks in Bavarian dress with all kinds of dogs, but mostly the Burmese Mountain dog. What a fabulous breed! I love my Golden Retriever and other 2 mutts, but this was a beautiful breed. Don't think they would fair well in hot, humid Houston, though. After lunch we walked to the village square and watched a Maypole dance. Now, I've heard of this dance for all my life, but had never seen it. What fun!! The dancers were dressed in Bavarian outfits and danced around the pole for a little bit. Then they each took a ribbon hanging from the top of the pole and weaved it around the pole basket-style. Then, they skillfully danced in reverse to unweave the ribbons. Next, they danced in a hodge-podge style and tangled the ribbons, then danced in reverse and skillfully untangled them. It was remarkable how easy they made it look! We walked a little bit through the village square and a few of the stores. Then we sadly made the 2-1/2 hour trek back to Seattle.
We got back to the hotel around 5:00 and found out that the GFI outlet to our jacuzzi could not be fixed, so we got a small discount for the room. Oh, well!!! We went out and searched for a medium range restaurant without having to drive into Seattle, and again ran into the issue of drive-through versus expensive. We ended up in Burien and ate at The Keg, a steakhouse. We got very little food for a big, big price, but were too tired to drive around looking for anything else. Our dinners consisted of a steak and baked potato with a small serving of bread. The bill came to right around $60. We decided to go back to the hotel and get our luggage and things prepared for our second rendezvous in the morning with the beautiful "Miss Pearl."
SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2008 (HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ME ‘CAUSE WE’RE CRUISIN’!)
We arose early to cloudy skies and stiff cold winds. The forecast was for rain intermittent throughout the day. We ate our continental breakfast and then left to turn in our Thrifty rental car at Pier 48. We had to make a quick stop at Fred Meyer to purchase a fleece jacket for Chief and fill the tank of the car. The price of regular unleaded gas was $3.73 per gallon at Fred Meyer, which was much cheaper than Thrifty's cost to fill it at $6.99 per gallon. So be sure to fill your rental car with gas before returning it to the company. We arrived at the Thrifty lot at Pier 48 around 10:45 and found a few folks in line ahead of us. It took roughly 45 minutes to check the car back in, wait for the Thrifty shuttle and reach the Pearl.
The embarkation process was different this year from last year. I don't know if it is because last year we took a taxi to the pier instead of the rental car shuttle we took this year. Last year, porters took our luggage for us and processed them. This year, we stood in line to have our luggage processed and go through the security check. Then we went upstairs where we were directed to an NCL representative who took our credit card information, took our pictures for our room key cards and gave us room key cards. We boarded the ship, and of course, we had to stop on our way into the ship to have the first of many professional photos taken on the ship. The whole process took about an hour because we arrived at the same time as many others.
Once we got through the boarding process, we went directly to the Summer Palace and had a leisurely lunch while watching the boat traffic in Puget Sound. At 1:00, we were pleased to hear Simon Murray, the Cruise Director, was still on board when he made the announcement that the staterooms were ready for us. "SMASHING!" We finished eating and went to our balcony room located directly on the back of the ship. We walked into our room to see a breathtaking view of the Seattle skyline. We set down our carry-ons and went directly to the Garden Cafe to make our reservations for dinner at Cagney's on Monday night, then spent most of the rest of the afternoon exploring the ship. We made a few Mother's Day phone calls to our moms and then waited for the ever exciting and entertaining mandatory lifeboat drill. Everyone looks SO thrilled sitting in the Summer Palace waiting for our instructions. Once we returned our vests to the room after the drill, we went to the Sundeck to wait and watch our departure. It drizzled a little on us as we were leaving, but soon it stopped, and the sun came out. We decided to go back to the Summer Palace for dinner and then went to the Spinnaker Lounge for a couple of drinks and to watch the karaoke entertainers. Suggestion to those brave singers: Don't quit your day jobs, Guys and Girls!!! We were passing through the Straits of Juan De Fuca and saw the majestic Olympic Mountain range. Many of the peaks were snowcapped and beautiful! We stayed for a couple of hours then exhausted (or maybe it was the alcohol I was drinking), we retired to our cabin for the night.
(continued)
____________________
Pat
NCL Spirit - 9/3/05 (Wonderful!)
NCL Pearl - 5/27/07 (Fantastic!)
Return to the Pearl - 5/11/08 (Fabulous!)
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Cruisin Nana
Cruiser
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Posted: Tue May 20th, 2008 05:02 pm | 3rd Post |
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MONDAY, MAY 12, 2008 – JUST CRUISIN’
We arose to cloudy skies and rain, with Vancouver Island still visible in the distance on the starboard (right) side of the ship. The temperature was in the upper 40s. We headed to the Body Waves Fitness Center for me to participate in the 8:00 a.m. aerobics class. For a half hour class, this was very invigorating and gave me a good work out. Most of the equipment in the gym was in use, so Chief started on the recumbent cycle, then moved to a treadmill when one become available. Afterwards, we went back to the cabin to shower, then headed to the Garden Cafe for breakfast at 9:30. It was packed, but we managed to find a table for 2 by the window. Vancouver Island was no longer in view and it was very rainy, windy and gray outside. The seas were slight at 1-1/2 to 4 feet swells. We heard that several folks were "a little under the weather" (seasick). Lightweights!!!! I danced merrily to the shops with Chief in tow and picked up a few little items of interest. One was a model of the Pearl that we had been hoping to find since our trip on her last year. We went back to the cabin for me to begin work on my journal and plan the rest of our day. Because of all the rain, it looked like planning inside activities was the order for the day.
We sat in the Spinnaker Lounge for a while and watched our progress toward Juneau. The wind was blowing Gale Force 8 and the ship was taking a few slight rolls. It was fun! As we were leaving the Spinnaker Lounge, two women and a man were excitedly playing with one of the outside doors and had to show us the whistling noise the door made when it was very slightly opened and how hard the door was to open. This is a good example that there is an activity for everyone on the Pearl! We made our way to the Blue Lagoon to enjoy their famous and fabulous fish and chips and potato skins.
Around 3:30 and much against his better judgment, Chief agreed to take the Ballroom Dancing class with me that was offered in the Spinnaker Lounge. We are HUGE fans of the "Dancing with the Stars" television show, so this was going to be a real treat! We learned the Rumba which was lots of fun - Chief even enjoyed it. The class was an hour long, and we were both sweating after a good workout.
We went back to our cabin and got ready to go to the Latitudes Party which was held in the Spinnaker Lounge at 5:30 p.m. We were only going to be able to stay a half hour because we had reservations at Cagneys for dinner at 6:00. We walked in and immediately had our picture taken with the Captain and sat down. I had the complimentary champagne and a finger sandwich and Chief had fruit punch and several finger sandwiches. The internet manager, Jason Buehler, sat down next to us and began visiting with us. He is from Canada and has such a wonderful personality. We were delighted to listen to his story about how he got his job with NCL. If you are reading this, Jason, thank you so very much for such an interesting and delightful visit! Soon, the senior crewmembers marched to the stage behind the Captain who introduced himself and the other members to us. When they were finished, they left and we left behind them to go to Cagney's.
Ahhhh, Cagney's! Such an incredible treat! I ordered the shrimp cocktail, lobster bisque, filet mignon, baked potato, and the Sinful Chocolate Obsession (oh, so good!) for dessert. Chief had the shrimp cocktail, lobster bisque, surf and turf (with lobster), baked potato and the Sinful Chocolate Obsession. Cagney's is the one restaurant (yes, it does have a surcharge) that is SO worth spending the extra money. The regular surcharge is $20 per person; however, if you order the surf and turf, it is a $30 surcharge. The filet mignon simply melts in your mouth like butter. After dinner, we had our photos made in the Crystal Atrium for "dress up or not" night. We sat in the photo gallery windows for a while watching the waves and the rain while we were cruising through the inside passage. We saw a beautiful quaint red and white lighthouse located on some huge rocks in the channel. Suddenly, a pilot boat came speeding around the back of the Pearl and we found out it was picking up the Canadian pilot. That could only mean we were in or very close to Alaska. We sat in the Crystal Atrium for a little while and listened to the singers that were performing at that time. At 9:15 we gathered in the Stardust Theater to watch the "Garden of the Geisha" show, which was absolutely fantastic. The show is performed by the Jean Ann Ryan dancers and has aerobatics and colorful lighting and background. A beautiful and enchanting production!
Tonight, we gained an hour and set our clocks back.
TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2008 - JUNEAU
We awoke on Tuesday to 41 degrees and not as rainy but still cloudy and windy conditions. We ate breakfast at the Summer Palace, then proceeded to the Spinnaker Lounge again for our second installment of ballroom dancing. Our lesson was swing dancing and what a hoot and a workout it was! We really nailed this one except for one particular turn. We'll work on that where we have more room at home. We even tried practicing on our balcony but only managed to accomplish the giggles. Thank goodness no one could see us!!! Our first whale sighting was during our dance lesson, so we were unable to run to the window. We settled down on our balcony and read a little and rested until lunch. We ate lunch at the Garden Cafe as we were nearing Juneau. We arrived about an hour early and had to sit in the harbor until the Star left to give us access to the pier. We took our time leaving the ship once we docked because our excursion was the evening whale watching tour in Auke Bay and it did not leave until 5:00. We walked through several shops in town and picked up a few souvenirs. We took our possessions back to the ship, then met our tour bus for the ride to Auke Bay. The sun had broken through the clouds and the evening turned out to be sunny and beautiful for our trip. The evening whale quest serves a catered dinner during the 2-hour trip. We had not gone far into the bay when we spotted an Orca pod. It appeared to consist of 2 females and a baby. The male stayed a little distance away from them. Several times, they swam very close to our boat and we were able to get an up-close and almost personal encounter with them. Then the captain spotted a "blow" in the distance and we raced over to get a look at the humpback. We spotted several humpbacks, but never got real close to them. The boats, by law, have to stay 100 yards from them, but I don't think we ever got that close. We also saw sea lions swimming around us and one was chasing seagulls that were resting on the water.
We got back to the Pearl around 8:30 in time for her to set sail at 9:00. We had an early morning in Skagway and decided to go back to our cabin and get some sleep. During the two nights before, the ship had rolled a bit, but this night was peaceful and we slept well. We kept the sliding glass door open all night, so the cabin stayed nicely brisk and we were snug under our duvet. We both seemed to have issues with the pillows this time - one is not enough, but 2 are too many. I don't remember having this problem last year. The bed, however, was very comfortable - not too hard, not too soft.
(continued)
____________________
Pat
NCL Spirit - 9/3/05 (Wonderful!)
NCL Pearl - 5/27/07 (Fantastic!)
Return to the Pearl - 5/11/08 (Fabulous!)
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Cruisin Nana
Cruiser
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Posted: Tue May 20th, 2008 05:02 pm | 4th Post |
|
MONDAY, MAY 12, 2008 – JUST CRUISIN’
We arose to cloudy skies and rain, with Vancouver Island still visible in the distance on the starboard (right) side of the ship. The temperature was in the upper 40s. We headed to the Body Waves Fitness Center for me to participate in the 8:00 a.m. aerobics class. For a half hour class, this was very invigorating and gave me a good work out. Most of the equipment in the gym was in use, so Chief started on the recumbent cycle, then moved to a treadmill when one become available. Afterwards, we went back to the cabin to shower, then headed to the Garden Cafe for breakfast at 9:30. It was packed, but we managed to find a table for 2 by the window. Vancouver Island was no longer in view and it was very rainy, windy and gray outside. The seas were slight at 1-1/2 to 4 feet swells. We heard that several folks were "a little under the weather" (seasick). Lightweights!!!! I danced merrily to the shops with Chief in tow and picked up a few little items of interest. One was a model of the Pearl that we had been hoping to find since our trip on her last year. We went back to the cabin for me to begin work on my journal and plan the rest of our day. Because of all the rain, it looked like planning inside activities was the order for the day.
We sat in the Spinnaker Lounge for a while and watched our progress toward Juneau. The wind was blowing Gale Force 8 and the ship was taking a few slight rolls. It was fun! As we were leaving the Spinnaker Lounge, two women and a man were excitedly playing with one of the outside doors and had to show us the whistling noise the door made when it was very slightly opened and how hard the door was to open. This is a good example that there is an activity for everyone on the Pearl! We made our way to the Blue Lagoon to enjoy their famous and fabulous fish and chips and potato skins.
Around 3:30 and much against his better judgment, Chief agreed to take the Ballroom Dancing class with me that was offered in the Spinnaker Lounge. We are HUGE fans of the "Dancing with the Stars" television show, so this was going to be a real treat! We learned the Rumba which was lots of fun - Chief even enjoyed it. The class was an hour long, and we were both sweating after a good workout.
We went back to our cabin and got ready to go to the Latitudes Party which was held in the Spinnaker Lounge at 5:30 p.m. We were only going to be able to stay a half hour because we had reservations at Cagneys for dinner at 6:00. We walked in and immediately had our picture taken with the Captain and sat down. I had the complimentary champagne and a finger sandwich and Chief had fruit punch and several finger sandwiches. The internet manager, Jason Buehler, sat down next to us and began visiting with us. He is from Canada and has such a wonderful personality. We were delighted to listen to his story about how he got his job with NCL. If you are reading this, Jason, thank you so very much for such an interesting and delightful visit! Soon, the senior crewmembers marched to the stage behind the Captain who introduced himself and the other members to us. When they were finished, they left and we left behind them to go to Cagney's.
Ahhhh, Cagney's! Such an incredible treat! I ordered the shrimp cocktail, lobster bisque, filet mignon, baked potato, and the Sinful Chocolate Obsession (oh, so good!) for dessert. Chief had the shrimp cocktail, lobster bisque, surf and turf (with lobster), baked potato and the Sinful Chocolate Obsession. Cagney's is the one restaurant (yes, it does have a surcharge) that is SO worth spending the extra money. The regular surcharge is $20 per person; however, if you order the surf and turf, it is a $30 surcharge. The filet mignon simply melts in your mouth like butter. After dinner, we had our photos made in the Crystal Atrium for "dress up or not" night. We sat in the photo gallery windows for a while watching the waves and the rain while we were cruising through the inside passage. We saw a beautiful quaint red and white lighthouse located on some huge rocks in the channel. Suddenly, a pilot boat came speeding around the back of the Pearl and we found out it was picking up the Canadian pilot. That could only mean we were in or very close to Alaska. We sat in the Crystal Atrium for a little while and listened to the singers that were performing at that time. At 9:15 we gathered in the Stardust Theater to watch the "Garden of the Geisha" show, which was absolutely fantastic. The show is performed by the Jean Ann Ryan dancers and has aerobatics and colorful lighting and background. A beautiful and enchanting production!
Tonight, we gained an hour and set our clocks back.
TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2008 - JUNEAU
We awoke on Tuesday to 41 degrees and not as rainy but still cloudy and windy conditions. We ate breakfast at the Summer Palace, then proceeded to the Spinnaker Lounge again for our second installment of ballroom dancing. Our lesson was swing dancing and what a hoot and a workout it was! We really nailed this one except for one particular turn. We'll work on that where we have more room at home. We even tried practicing on our balcony but only managed to accomplish the giggles. Thank goodness no one could see us!!! Our first whale sighting was during our dance lesson, so we were unable to run to the window. We settled down on our balcony and read a little and rested until lunch. We ate lunch at the Garden Cafe as we were nearing Juneau. We arrived about an hour early and had to sit in the harbor until the Star left to give us access to the pier. We took our time leaving the ship once we docked because our excursion was the evening whale watching tour in Auke Bay and it did not leave until 5:00. We walked through several shops in town and picked up a few souvenirs. We took our possessions back to the ship, then met our tour bus for the ride to Auke Bay. The sun had broken through the clouds and the evening turned out to be sunny and beautiful for our trip. The evening whale quest serves a catered dinner during the 2-hour trip. We had not gone far into the bay when we spotted an Orca pod. It appeared to consist of 2 females and a baby. The male stayed a little distance away from them. Several times, they swam very close to our boat and we were able to get an up-close and almost personal encounter with them. Then the captain spotted a "blow" in the distance and we raced over to get a look at the humpback. We spotted several humpbacks, but never got real close to them. The boats, by law, have to stay 100 yards from them, but I don't think we ever got that close. We also saw sea lions swimming around us and one was chasing seagulls that were resting on the water.
We got back to the Pearl around 8:30 in time for her to set sail at 9:00. We had an early morning in Skagway and decided to go back to our cabin and get some sleep. During the two nights before, the ship had rolled a bit, but this night was peaceful and we slept well. We kept the sliding glass door open all night, so the cabin stayed nicely brisk and we were snug under our duvet. We both seemed to have issues with the pillows this time - one is not enough, but 2 are too many. I don't remember having this problem last year. The bed, however, was very comfortable - not too hard, not too soft.
(continued)
____________________
Pat
NCL Spirit - 9/3/05 (Wonderful!)
NCL Pearl - 5/27/07 (Fantastic!)
Return to the Pearl - 5/11/08 (Fabulous!)
|
Cruisin Nana
Cruiser
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Posted: Tue May 20th, 2008 05:03 pm | 5th Post |
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2008 - SKAGWAY
Early rise at 6:00 a.m. and we ate at the Summer Palace. They have great omelets and very crispy bacon - the way I like it! We met our first tour at 7:35 which was the White Pass and Yukon Railroad and Klondike Gold Dredge. The weather was cold and rainy. The ship's log channel said the temperatures were in the low 40's; however, no doubt it was much colder. We traveled slowly up the mountain to the White Pass Summit - the border between Alaska and the Yukon. About halfway up to the Pass, it began to snow and continued to snow in an almost whiteout condition until we returned to Skagway. Unfortunately, almost immediately after we started up the hill, our tour guide's personal microphone, as well as the railroad's announcing system both quit working at the same time in our railcar. So we had no narration on our trip. Someone spotted dall sheep on the opposite mountain, but we did not see them. I think the local wildlife was probably still sleeping as there were no more sightings. At the summit, we were given a lunch that consisted of a salmon salad wrap, baby carrots and ranch dressing, a small fruit compote and 3 pieces of candy. It continued to snow on us all the way down to Skagway. When we returned, each family on our car was given a free DVD of the railroad as a consolation gift for the lack of narration. For our next leg of this tour, we took a bus to the Klondike Dredge. Most folks were panning for gold behind the store, but it was SO cold, we weren't willing to stick our hands in the freezing water. Besides, I found the gold I was looking for in the nice warm gift shop!
Our next excursion was to a musher's camp. Now this was an incredible trip in spite of the cold weather. When we arrived, we boarded a sled on wheels that was pulled by 16 dogs. Traditionally, folks may think of these dogs as Huskies, but very few of the over 350 dogs they had on site were true Huskies. Most of the dogs are mixed breeds and truly incredible! They were jumping up and down, making lots of noise by howling and barking, because they were so anxious to start pulling us! When the six of us were loaded onto the sled, the musher gave the signal and off they went as if shot out of a gun! What a thrill! And to add to the ambience, it began to snow heavily again. After the sled ride, we went back to the main area to listen to a professional musher talk about his experience and the necessary equipment for his four Yukon Quest races. Then, the absolute best part of the whole excursion was going to the pen where we were allowed to visit with a beautiful 4-month-old sled dog named Sasha and in another pen, we were allowed to hold one of seven 4-week-old puppies. They were SO cute and cuddly! I felt bad for Sasha, though, because she was laying on the ground shivering from the cold while we all stroked her beautiful coat. Too soon, the excursion was over and we headed back to the ship.
The tour bus dropped us in town and we did a little shopping, then headed back to the ship. As we were getting thawed out and ready to go find some dinner, the Captain made the announcement that there were a couple of reports of suspected “N” virus, and warned that we all had to be extra special careful with our hygiene and wash our hands often. From then on, we were no longer allowed to serve ourselves in the buffet which caused serious backups in the serving lines. We couldn't even salt and pepper our own food or use the ketchup or mustard containers. We could not pick up our own utensils wrapped in the cloth napkins - they had to hand them to us. They also blocked the drink stations and had crewmembers give us our drinks. Many new hand cleaner dispensers suddenly appeared all over the ship, including inside the elevators, and a crewmember was at every entrance to the Garden Cafe and at the gangplanks to spray our hands with the disinfectant. I truly applaud Captain Lars Bengtsson for being so straightforward in letting us know about the situation, but not over dramatizing it. Throughout the cruise, Captain Bengtsson showed throughout the cruise what a wonderful and personable man he is! He never once talked down to us in his many informative, funny and entertaining announcements. It will be an extreme honor to sail with him again in the future!
We ate a late dinner at Indigos, then hit the sack after a long, cold, snowy day of touring.
THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2008, GLACIER BAY
The rangers boarded the ship around 7:30ish a.m. and began their periodic explanations of the scenery. We ate breakfast at the Summer Palace and watched as the beautiful snow-covered mountains slowly drifted by our window. We first encountered Reid Glacier while we were eating, but did not get to see it as it was on the port side and we were eating on the starboard side. Then we stopped at Marjorie Glacier around 9:00 a.m. for about an hour. It was a little drizzly and a lot windy, so standing outside was a little uncomfortable. Marjorie managed to give us a couple of tiny calves and that was the end of the show. We then sailed to Johns Hopkins inlet where we saw the Lamplough Glacier. It is a very, very blue glacier and the sun had come out which enhanced the blueness. I did not see any calving here. The ranger announced that we would not be visiting Johns Hopkins Glacier because there was too much ice in the water, and because there is so much ice, the seals use this area to escape from the Orcas. We were not going to disturb them and their babies. By noon, we did a slow "drive by" of Reid Glacier on our way out of Glacier Bay. Chief and I spent the afternoon playing dominoes, napping, reading and working out at the fitness center. The Captain was on the recumbent bike when we arrived for our workout.
We waited too late to get a decent reservation time in any of the restaurants that require them, so we ate at the Summer Palace. We strolled around for a little while, then went to the Stardust Theater for the jugglers, Sharkbait. These two performers were former Barnum & Bailey Circus clowns for 8 years before branching out and doing their own show. The show started a little slow, but turned out to be very entertaining and funny. Next, we went to the Spinnaker Lounge to watch the "Perfect Couple" contest. I don't remember laughing this hard in a long time. Four couples had to accomplish three physical tasks in order to earn points to win. However, the couple that won the most applause at the end won the competition. I won't go into detail about what they had to do so I won't spoil it, but it is well worth going and watching. After the show, we stayed a short time to watch the dancing and listen to the music of Kenosis, then went back to the cabin. It was going to be another early morning for our Ketchikan excursion.
(continued)
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Pat
NCL Spirit - 9/3/05 (Wonderful!)
NCL Pearl - 5/27/07 (Fantastic!)
Return to the Pearl - 5/11/08 (Fabulous!)
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Cruisin Nana
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Posted: Tue May 20th, 2008 05:04 pm | 6th Post |
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FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2008, KETCHIKAN
We were up at 6:00 a.m. to catch breakfast in the Garden Cafe before we met our tour guide on the pier at 7:35. We walked a few blocks to the Lumberjack Show which is very entertaining and fun. Even with a bit of sleep still in our heads, we rallied and hollered with the rest of the spectators. After the show, we boarded a bus to the Totem Bight State Park and took a short hiking tour to look at the totem poles. Our bus driver, Matt, was incredibly informative, interesting and funny. If you take this tour and get him as your driver, you will not be bored! When we were getting ready to board the bus for our return to the ship, we heard eagles screaming in the trees nearby and saw two eagles guarding their nest and babies in the tree above our heads from attacking ravens. Pretty exciting stuff, but Matt said it was time to leave. The rest of the day turned sunny with temperatures near 60 degrees.
On the bus trip to the park, Matt pointed out an eagle sitting on a cross located on the top of a spire of a church. He made the joke - which appears to be a common one in Alaska - that eagles like to sit on top of churches because they are birds of "pray." When we returned hours later to our cabin, I could see the church from our balcony and the eagle was still sitting there. I laughingly made the statement to Chief that perhaps this was a wooden bird put there for the use of the tour guides. However, while we watched with our binoculars, it turned its head. About 15 minutes later, it flew from the spire, circled above the church a few times, then flew away. All I could say is that eagle was very, very patient to be able to sit on that cross for so long without flying away.
Chief caught a cold in the cold wet weather in Skagway and wasn't feeling well, so he laid down to take a nap and I sat on our balcony to read. The ship sailed from Ketchikan around 1:30. We took our last ballroom dancing class which was the waltz. Let me just say it isn't as easy as it looks. We will definitely need to work on this one!!! After the class, we went back to the cabin to clean up and get ready for our second dinner at Cagneys. We were sitting by the window in Cagney’s on the starboard side and saw four whales headed toward Alaska. Our whale sightings had been very lean this trip, and it is my guess that they were still trying to migrate to Alaska. Later, we heard in the hallway that the four whales we saw were a pod of about 8 whales. The other four were on the port side.
After dinner we went to the Jean Ann Ryan Dancer's "Sealegs, A Showgirl Revue." Honestly, this one kept putting me to sleep. After the show, we were given the opportunity to show our appreciation by applause to many of the crew members for our wonderful cruise as they marched to the stage of the Stardust Theater.
I was determined this trip to see the Northern Lights and because it was a mostly clear night, we went back to sit on our balcony and watch the northern sky. Well, of course, exhaustion took over around 11:30 and I just couldn't stay awake to see if they were going to dance for me that night.
SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2008, VICTORIA
We love to keep the balcony door open and have the sound of the water lull us to sleep. The cool, crisp air, the cozy duvet, and the sound of the water make it very difficult to drag out of bed in the morning. We had to turn our clocks forward an hour during the night, and it was 8:30 before we could muster the energy to get up and get out for breakfast at the Summer Palace. The skies were almost completely clear of clouds, and it was a beautiful sunny day. The temperature was in the mid-50s. We spent most of the morning in the cabin working on updates to this journal. This turned out to be a bigger production than I had realized.
We ate lunch at the Blue Lagoon and stopped afterwards at the shops to ask the jeweler to attach the charms I bought in Skagway to my charm bracelet. That took maybe 5 minutes, then we meandered around the ship for a while. We tried going into the Spinnaker Lounge to watch our progress, but a private party had it booked. This was the second time this happened during our week on the ship. Just my humble opinion, but I feel that private parties should be held in venues that are closed, such as Le Bistro or other restaurants that aren’t being used to serve a meal, instead of public places that are supposed to be available 24 hours for use by anyone. We spent the rest of the afternoon getting our bags packed and ready to put in the passageway by our doors for the 2:00 a.m. pick-up. They are delivered to the terminal where we get them after our arrival in Seattle on Sunday.
We arrived in Victoria an hour early, but had to wait for the Princess ship to dock before we could. Due to a slight delay in clearing customs, we were roughly a ½ hour late leaving the ship for our excursion in Victoria. “Victoria Highlights” is an excursion we do not recommend because, frankly, it is boring. We felt as if we were being driven around by a real estate agent showing us properties. We rode through downtown and the bus driver pointed out a few places of interest, then we went up to Mt. Tolmie where we stood around watching the tour buses fight for space. Then we rode through some neighborhoods, by several golf courses, and then back to the ship. Of course, because we left late on our excursion, we were a few minutes late getting to our 9:00 reservation at Mambos, but they held the table for us. We had the chicken quesadillas, tortilla soup, beef burrito, and I had the vanilla ice cream covered with chocolate sauce and almonds. I love their pico de gallo!!!
After stuffing ourselves, we waddled around the deck to enjoy a beautiful warm night with a cool breeze off the water. Victoria is a very beautiful quaint city and port. When we finally made our way back to our room around 11:30, we got ready for bed and put our bags in the hallway for pick-up.
(one more!)
____________________
Pat
NCL Spirit - 9/3/05 (Wonderful!)
NCL Pearl - 5/27/07 (Fantastic!)
Return to the Pearl - 5/11/08 (Fabulous!)
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Cruisin Nana
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Posted: Tue May 20th, 2008 05:06 pm | 7th Post |
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SUNDAY, MAY 18, 2008, SEATTLE AND HOME
We woke to the sound of the ship docking in Seattle around 6:00 a.m. It was a beautiful sunny day with temps in the 70’s. We could see Mt. Rainier in the distance. We went to the Summer Palace for breakfast, but waffles and omelets were not on the menu this morning! Only quick to fix items to send us on our way home. After we ate, we went back to the cabin to sit on our balcony and watch the boat traffic in the Sound. Apparently, disembarkation went very smoothly, because we were scheduled to disembark at 9:00 (signified by the colored tag we were assigned), but our color was called around 8:40 instead. We were off the ship and through customs by 9:00.
This is when the long process for picking up the rental car through Thrifty at the pier began. Thrifty has a desk in the Pier 66 terminal to process the rental paperwork. Then, we had to wait about 30 minutes for a shuttle to pick us up and take us to Pier 48 where the cars are kept. At Pier 48, it was another 30 minutes just to pick up the key to the car. There were only two clerks working, and they must have been new and didn’t know the system.
We drove around West Seattle for a while and then ate lunch. We headed to the airport to turn in the rental car a few hours later. Turning the car in at the SeaTac lot took all of 5 minutes and the shuttle got us to the Continental terminal in another 10 minutes. The service at the airport far exceeds the service at the pier. Having the new arrangement at the pier probably still has a lot of bugs to be worked out.
Our flight back to Houston did not leave until 5:38 p.m. It was a little turbulent but we made it and walked into our house at 1:00 a.m. After we walked into the big welcome home we received from our 3 dogs, we went directly to bed and to sleep.
I’m sure I have left out many details in the interest of time and space, but I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have. Also, sorry for the double post - not sure how that happened!
____________________
Pat
NCL Spirit - 9/3/05 (Wonderful!)
NCL Pearl - 5/27/07 (Fantastic!)
Return to the Pearl - 5/11/08 (Fabulous!)
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pictonite
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Posted: Tue May 20th, 2008 11:35 pm | 8th Post |
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| Wow! What a detailed review! You cruised on one of my favourite ships to one of my favourite places! Thanks for taking the time to chronicle your trip!
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OceanGirl
Founders
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Posted: Thu May 22nd, 2008 09:23 pm | 9th Post |
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What a GREAT review!!!!!!!!!!!! Most excellent! Thanks for posting!
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DOLPHIN- A FREE roaming mammal found throughout the world's oceans. There are no confines large enough to justify CAPTIVITY.
http://www.inkokomo.com/dolphin/captivity.html
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Coka
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| Joined: | Sun Feb 18th, 2007 |
| Location: | New England |
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Posted: Fri May 23rd, 2008 12:58 am | 10th Post |
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Cruisin Nana!
I loved reading your review. Wow! You are lucky lucky lucky!!!
1. Alaska (my most memorable cruise ever)
2. on the Pearl (a perfect ship)
3. and dancing as much you can (yet you have a man to do it with)!
You are my new role model!
(sorry cosmo)! 
Coka
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AD Peterson
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| Joined: | Sun Jul 22nd, 2007 |
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Posted: Fri May 23rd, 2008 02:18 pm | 11th Post |
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Coka wrote: Cruisin Nana!
I loved reading your review. Wow! You are lucky lucky lucky!!!
1. Alaska (my most memorable cruise ever)
2. on the Pearl (a perfect ship)
3. and dancing as much you can (yet you have a man to do it with)!
You are my new role model!
(sorry cosmo)!
Coka
Mine too ..great review Pat & Leon. Gonna miss you this year on the cruise.
Jeff
____________________
Future Cruises:
NCL Pearl May 2008
RCCL Liberty of Seas Oct 08
NCL Pearl April 2009
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Cruisin Nana
Cruiser
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Posted: Fri May 23rd, 2008 09:57 pm | 12th Post |
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Coka wrote: Cruisin Nana!
I loved reading your review. Wow! You are lucky lucky lucky!!!
1. Alaska (my most memorable cruise ever)
2. on the Pearl (a perfect ship)
3. and dancing as much you can (yet you have a man to do it with)!
You are my new role model!
(sorry cosmo)!
Coka
Thanks, Coka! I've never been anyone's role model before!
____________________
Pat
NCL Spirit - 9/3/05 (Wonderful!)
NCL Pearl - 5/27/07 (Fantastic!)
Return to the Pearl - 5/11/08 (Fabulous!)
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KerCar
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Posted: Fri May 23rd, 2008 10:56 pm | 13th Post |
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Great review! Thanks for sharing
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Tobin
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Posted: Mon May 26th, 2008 08:59 pm | 14th Post |
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| Thanks for all of the information on the Pearl. We have an aft cabin (on deck 11) booked for next May on the Pearl and was concerned about the garbage, cigarettes butts etc ending up on the balcony from the Great Outdoors. We were considering changing to deck 8, 9 or 10, but it dosen't seem like it would make a difference. Did you notice if one of those decks seemed more protected and less likely to end up with the garbage?
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Cruisin Nana
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Posted: Thu May 29th, 2008 08:55 pm | 15th Post |
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I would just be guessing, but the higher you go, the less chance this will happen.
Our balcony on Deck 9 extended a little farther out than the balconies above us on Deck 10. When standing at the rail of my balcony, I could turn around, look up and see the railing of the balconies on Deck 10 and the people standing on them. I didn't look to see if Deck 10 balconies extended out farther than the ones above them.
Another guess, but I don't think smoking is allowed at the Great Outdoors. Hopefully, someone else is more knowledgeable about this and will respond.
____________________
Pat
NCL Spirit - 9/3/05 (Wonderful!)
NCL Pearl - 5/27/07 (Fantastic!)
Return to the Pearl - 5/11/08 (Fabulous!)
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Tobin
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Posted: Thu May 29th, 2008 10:43 pm | 16th Post |
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Thanks for the reply, it sounds like we should be okay with deck 11. We had the deck below the Great Outdoors on the Sun a couple of years ago and it wasn't too bad even though the balcony extended out it. It must just be the luck of the draw who your neighbours are!
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BAOKIECruiser
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Posted: Fri May 30th, 2008 05:12 am | 17th Post |
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What a concise yet detailed review. Great work, Pat.........you are the best.
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RCCL Splendour of the Seas - April 2006 (Cozumel)
NCL Pearl - May 2007 (Alaska)
Disney Wonder - January 2008 (Bahamas)
Future Cruise:
NCL Pearl - July 2008 (Alaska)
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vreihen
Casual Cruiser
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Posted: Fri May 30th, 2008 01:33 pm | 18th Post |
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Tobin wrote: Thanks for all of the information on the Pearl. We have an aft cabin (on deck 11) booked for next May on the Pearl and was concerned about the garbage, cigarettes butts etc ending up on the balcony from the Great Outdoors. We were considering changing to deck 8, 9 or 10, but it dosen't seem like it would make a difference. Did you notice if one of those decks seemed more protected and less likely to end up with the garbage?
FWIW, we were in 11656 on the Gem back in January, and the only thing that dropped down from the Great Outdoors onto our balcony was the stern flag as they were changing it whenever we arrived/left a port. (I thought about trying to "capture the flag" whenever they did this, but was afraid that I'd pull the crew member over the rail above if I gave it a good yank and he/she didn't let go.) 
On our particular cruise, the Great Outdoors seemed to be the Great Wasteland most of the time, since I hardly saw anyone around whenever I went up there, and those action stations never seemed to be open or needed. Even so, the ship has strict rules about tossing butts or anything else overboard, so I'm going to diagnose this as a case of cold feet about taking the cruise if you're digging this deep to find a reason not to go with your selected cabin. Our cabin stewards also cleaned and re-arranged our balcony twice a day, so even if something did manage to land there it would quickly be cleaned up...probably before you even saw it on port days.....
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Cruisin Nana
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Posted: Fri May 30th, 2008 02:46 pm | 19th Post |
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vreihen wrote: (I thought about trying to "capture the flag" whenever they did this, but was afraid that I'd pull the crew member over the rail above if I gave it a good yank and he/she didn't let go.)
LOL!!!! No problem, though, because he/she probably would have landed on one of the balconies on Deck 9!!!
You know, the question did cross my mind very briefly once or twice why the balcony was not being cleaned, especially while we were in port and the window washers are supposed to come around. I noticed one particular cigarette butt that landed the first day and was completely drenched from all the rain. It stayed, as well as other trash and ashes that accumulated daily, through the whole cruise. Maybe becau | | |
