I felt like I was cheap (even though we spent big bucks to cruise) because you have to pay for everything. There is a beautiful spa with the only indoor pool, hot tub, steam room... Only 100 guests can purchase the use of these amnenities for $119. That would have been relaxation for me but why is it not included?
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
I hated "freestyle cruising". All this really means is that there is no assigned dinner times, tables or show times. What this does mean is that you have to wait in line(long lines with a pager system) for food and that the dinner service takes about 1 1/2- 2 hours. This means you are always missing the show you intend to get to and doing the later show. Also, they say you have all this choice for food. Both the free restaurants serve the same food and the marketplace cafe serves the same uninspired food every day! It feels like an overcrowd cafeteria. If you want variety, you have to pay which defeats the point of cruising, right?
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Lots of variety. Which means you probably won't like every night but will LOVE one night as they try several different genres of entertainment.
Children's Programs
1 out of 5
I waited until my twin boys turned 2 so I could enroll them in the children's program. They go to daycare and enjoy group activities. The first night, I dropped them off in the evening and it was after a day of traveling, an irregular schedule and little sleep. We got paged to pick them up in an hour because they were crying, which is understandable. (There are no allowances for sleeping children- if your kids can't stay up until 10pm then they are not allowed). The next night we wanted to go to dinner and tried dropping them off again. The staff gave me such a hard time because they were crying. I assured them that they cry for about 5 minutes but do great with distraction. She asked us to wait close by. Because they were crying, they put them in a separate room away from the other children and two minutes later came back saying they were not appropriate for their program. I told them this was normal two year old behavior. Overall, rude, unaccommodating, without understanding
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
I loved our room steward. He went out of his way to help us. But the rest of the staff, especially in the dining areas looked exhausted! They were too busy to smile or talk.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Standard ship. Nothing awe inspiring.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
I liked the staterooms... they were small but comfortable. Very smart storage. The bathrooms also felt clean with the way that they were divided.
Book the Wildlife and Lighthouse tour. It is not well represented on Norwegians excursion list but it was amazing! The boat is a multimillion dollar, very comfortable boat with huge windows that are ceiling to floor with two indoor levers and 3 outdoor. If you want to see whales, do this one! We saw one whale in the distance and while 5 other boats were rushing toward that one, our captain got word that there was something better 15 minutes away. We saw up close 6 humpback whales bubble net fishing. That is where they make a circle of bubbles to trap the fish and shoot straight up, mouths open to catch them. Breathtaking!
It always rains here I was told. We booked a deal at the port with a local tour guide with a "luxury bus". We even negotiated the price down. I liked it. He showed us the salmon, bald eagles, totem poles and gave us a lot of history.
The White Pass Summit was well worth it. Try to get the caboose- great views from the back of the train. They allow you to stand outside so it doesn't feel like you are inside the whole time.
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