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Last Alaskan cruise of the season

Noordam Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 6

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Noordam

7 Night Alaskan Explorer Via Glacier Bay (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 23, 2007

Ship: Noordam

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 16 years ago

Review summary

As the last ship of the season, we expected good shopping deals on board and in towns. By the time we reached Ketchikan, major shops had very little merchandise and were packed to move to Caribbean. Onboard shopping guru, Chris, very informative and helpful. BE FOREWARNED: All shipboard purchases are considered taxable by customs as the ship has a Dutch registry!! We were not told about this by store staff as front desk staff said they should have. Entertainment was fine. Beware of multidemoninational slot machines as some of them revert to higher bet. Enjoyed the wildlife guides onboard...good programs. Totem Bight and city tour in Kechikan was great!! However, a friend in a wheelchair was dissuaded from going on that tour because pathways were gravel...don't believe them. It is a hard packed path and would have been a wonderful outing for her. Cabin stewards were good, room service not so great. One of our group was seasick and called room service several times to get some broth and crackers since she was too ill to leave cabin and was told repeatedly that they were too busy to take her order. Sitka was a real gem. Glacier Bay was interesting. Glaciers much smaller than imagined...others told me that Hubbard glacier is the magnificent one to view from onboard (not reached by this itinerary).

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Dinner service was great until the last day. Buffet items tended to be on cold side. Variety was good.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Joel Mason, Elton John tribute show, was the best!! Wish we would have been more informed about ongoing team trivia activity...it was great fun. Variety of activies was good but had to make difficult choices about which activity to attend when wildlife guides were onboard and regular shipboard activies were occurring at the same time.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5
Most very friendly. Coffee barista in Exploration cafe rather surly on a few occasions. Shop staff or front desk were not forthcoming about purchases being taxable by customs. Also, when we received our disembarkation color codes we were not told what times they corresponded to...if you went to the front desk they would tell you. Not sure why they didn't send a schedule with the tags to give people an idea where you were in the whole process as they called out color codes on the PA system. Shopping guide, Chris, was most helpful and informative.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
Huge ship. Clean and in good condition. Smoking area in Oak room on Deck 10 was not serviced often by bar staff or cleaning crew. Merchandise onboard in shops limited compared to other ships I have been on.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Staterooms comfortable and well kept. Stewards friendly and efficient..even remembering all of our names from the firt time we met them!!

Ports of call

Ketchikan, Alaska

5 out of 5
Large chain stores already were packing for their seasonal move so shelves were empty. Wish we had more time here because I was not able to amble Creek Street area after taking Totem Bight/City tour. Guide for Totem Bight tour was most interesting and informed. Learned alot about the town's origins and the Native history and life in the area.
Thumbs Up
Don't Miss: Totem Bight and City Tour

Sitka, Alaska

5 out of 5
Beautiful town and setting. Even reaching town by the tender was possible for a friend in a wheelchair. I found great Alaskan artwork at shops right by the dock.
Thumbs Up

Juneau, Alaska

3 out of 5
Enjoyed the State Museum. Shopping the best at this port. Did the visit to the Red Dog Saloon but not something I would do again.
Thumbs Up

Pros: Totem Bight /city tour in Ketchikan

Cons: Ship staff misinformation or lack of info

Recommends Noordam? No.

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