Overall, we had a wonderful time and didn’t remember how beautiful Alaska is! It was a little cold and rained every day in May although that didn’t stop us from enjoying.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Norwegian is very organized at Seattle airport. They took our luggage and transferred directly to ship. We didn’t have to worry about getting it loaded on the transfer buses. We had a prearranged transfer due to Norwegian scheduling our flights, but I noticed people buying transfers at airport also.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Service at main restaurants seemed much slower than usual.
Sushi Bar
5 out of 5
Love the Sushi bar as a specialty dining option!
Le Bistro
5 out of 5
Our favorite speciality restaurant. The lamb was excellent
Sports Bar
4 out of 5
Still miss O’Shehans not being on many ships anymore. Also disappointed food was not served here until 3:30. Loved the Rueben sandwich
Moderno Churrascaria
5 out of 5
Lunch buffet pizza and soups were great. Didn’t try as a specialty restaurant though.
Los Lobos Cantina
5 out of 5
Spicy Margarita the best! Good Mexican food. Wish Chimichangas were on the menu.
La Cucina
5 out of 5
Love Italian!
Great Outdoors
4 out of 5
Nice area, but cold, windy and rainy in Alaska in May
Four Seasons Dining Room
3 out of 5
I felt the tables for two were much too close together in both Seven Seas and Four Seasons
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We enjoyed almost all of the entertainers
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Everyone goes out of their way to provide best service possible. I believe changes we noticed on this cruise have to do with corporate changes such as: no turn down service, chocolates on pillow, etc. (especially since gratuity charges increased) and more staff definitely needed at guest services.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Regular balcony cabin with small bathroom. Hated shower curtain. Shower did not drain properly. Other than that, cabin was nice. Extreme amount of well thought out storage. I asked for coffee maker which was delivered along with coffee & supplies daily. Also ice daily.
Ship tip
Bring binoculars to Alaska! If you are Latitudes member, be sure and sign up for wine tasting and other latitudes events on embarkation day. I didn’t and they claimed they were full. This has not happened to me on other Norwegian ships. Enjoy and try all of the Sail and Sustain cocktails!
Excursion was Skagway Streetcar. Fun little trip around town. I would recommend the White Pass Railway though, if you have never done that. We did in 2007 and it was amazing. Wanted something different this time in Skagway. We also walked all over town.
Excursion was Explore Mendenhall Glacier. It was basically a charter bus ride to the Glacier. Our driver was extremely knowledgeable and fun. We were dropped off at the glacier for our own exploration for about 3 hours, if I remember correctly. We enjoyed the Visitor center and movie. We hiked to the glacier and waterfall (about 1 mile each way). Very nice trail. Sandy beach at waterfall and glacier. Bus came back to get us, and drove a little more around Juneau. After we were back at ship (and ate) I went back into town to shop. Within walking distance.
We walked to the National park and did the totem pole trail. Saw huge Eagle in tree top. Walked around town. Visited an Orthodox Russian church. (Also part of National Park system) Very interesting. No excursion.
Cruising Glacier Bay was my favorite. Park Rangers boarded our ship and explained a lot. Ship did 360 turn at each Glacier so we could get great photos from our balcony
Major, major problem at disembarkation. Luggage was not ready for pick up as you left the ship. We were all routed out of the pier terminal to a huge line to wait 1 1/2 hr in line before groups called by color. Then everyone had to go back through security before being allowed in terminal again. Once luggage found and retrieved, then had to wait for transfer buses availability. Norwegian workers blamed the port employees, port employees blamed customs! We arrived at airport 25 minutes before our arranged by Norwegian flight. Nowhere near enough time to catch the flight. Seattle airport is huge! Luckily an Alaska Air representative was very helpful and got us on a 6pm flight home to STL. But that meant spending 7 extra hours at airport.
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