skylynx
DIS Sponsor in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2003
- Messages
- 1,280
When I started thinking about taking a cruise to Alaska, I searched Disboards for some comparisons written by those who had cruised on Disney and other lines to help us choose a ship that wouldnt be too much of a jolt after 10 Disney cruises. Now that weve cruised another line, I felt I should return the favor and share the compare with fellow Disboarders. We are a family of die-hard Disney fans, with two teens, DS 13 and DD 16. Weve only sailed on one other cruise ship now, the Norwegian Pearl, so this is really just about the Alaska cruise we just returned from. Though most comparisons are pretty valid whenever or wherever you cruised on this ship and NCL, some things (like the crowds) may have been relative to our particular cruise and not the norm. That caveat in place, here we go!
Embarkation
Not really fair to compare here Seattle is a city seaport, not purpose built for one cruise line. After a major detour and massive traffic chaos caused by the Gay Pride parade (glad we read in the paper it was going to happen and went early to the port) we were dropped off with our luggage at the Bell St. Pier (66). This is a no-frills place in the heart of downtown, with a freight train line right next to it that regularly added to the challenge of getting to the pier. Checked our bags effortlessly, went through security, then got into the queue to check in. The check-in area kind of looks like immigration, with zero décor and lots of cheap plastic chairs lined up for people to sit on while they wait for their group number to be called. A vendor was selling grossly overpriced binoculars. The agent took pictures of all of us with a web cam, gave us our key cards, and a boarding group number. They went fast through the boarding numbers, and soon we were on the gangway. We were each handed a glass of champagne (kids had juice) and directed into the main lobby. There was no fanfare, or family names announced, you just kind of wandered aboard. The Crystal Atrium is only two stories or so high, with a huge two story screen in the middle where kids were playing Wii. Seemed kind of chaotic, as a bar, the shore excursion deck, a duty-free store, the guest services desk, and bunch of scattered lounge chairs were all in the same area. We were directed to the large buffet/food court type restaurant on deck 12. The food was way more varied than DCLs initial buffet, with lots of international items (Italian, Asian, Indian, Mexican) but throughout the course of the cruise we realized it didnt vary much from day to day. We headed out back to Great Outdoors (the Pearls equivalent to the outside eating area of TopSiders/Beach Blanket Buffet.) It was cool to sit there enjoying our first meal onboard with the Seattle skyline behind us, and the Space Needle just peeking around the starboard side.
The Staterooms
Staterooms were ready at 2 as promised. OK..our stateroom. Our BA balcony stateroom is probably the closest to our usual DCL cat 6, but it was TINY. Instead of the sleeper sofa and fourth ceiling bunk running along the long walls, they ran across the sliding glass doors, making it all but impossible to get out on the balcony when the beds are made up. We had to lift and stow a clumsy table and chair on our bed and duck and crawl between the two bunks to get out onto the balcony while the teens slumbered or before the room was made up. Try doing that with hot coffee! No room service breakfast out there! The single bathroom has a toilet to one side and a shower to the other with the sink in the middle, but with only partially frosted glass doors between the shower and toilet area, it isnt exactly meant to be shared by a family with any sort of modesty at all. So one person at a time in the bathroom only. The toilet stall was really small. I do not know how a really tall or large person could manage. Theres no desk, and inadequate storage space for four people. Luckily, we had packed relatively light by Disney cruise standards (no snorkeling gear, no pirate costumes, no extra nice clothes for dinners) so we managed to cram things into the few drawers and cubbies. We had a mini bar which, unlike the DCL coolers actually keeps things cold, but had to remove the mini bar stuff from it and store it on the shelf above so we could use some space for our own drinks.
Where the famed DCL fish are outside each stateroom, NCL has cool little dials so you can indicate do not disturb or request your room to be made up. The doors have a louvered effect on the outside (but they are solid), so no door decorations. Id say the room is at least six feet shorter longways than a cat 6 on DCL, with no way to divide the two sleeping areas. In fact, the lower sleeper sofa touches the bed. The balcony was about the same size. A plus was the solid plexi walls, without the white metal railings visible through DLCs plexi balconies.
Muster drill
The muster drill was at 3:30. NCL was much more laid back about the drill you could just carry your life jacket to the muster station (ours was in one of the restaurants, so we got to sit down in comfy seats for the duration of the drill.) The ships photographer was even roaming around taking goofy pictures of everyone during the drill! We sailed away before the sailaway party officially started, with no countdown or synchronized horn sounding. In fact, the only time we heard the ships horn at all was on our last day headed toward Victoria in dense fog when the ships horn blasted every two minutes for hours.
Photos
The pictures were even more expensive than DCL. The 5x7 embarkation photo was 19.95, though if you purchased it the first night, you got a free portfolio to display it in. Other 5x7s were 12.95 and 14.95. Different event photos had different prices even though they were all the same size photo. Weird. I did break down and buy one of the portfolio frames that had a place for a photo on one side and a cruise ship on the other that lit up with lots of tiny lights. Cant help it; I love things that sparkle and/or light up. With no Mickey, Minnie, Goofy or Pluto, NCL resorted to mandatory restaurant and gangway photo ops with costumed whales, seals, bears, dolphins, and eagles. I dont think their photographers were quite as good at DCLs DH and I had quite a few laughs looking at the Pearls equivalent of Shutters and all the pictures that were blurry, or cut peoples heads off.
Eats
The Garden Café, which is the main buffet and food court restaurant has amazing floor to ceiling windows nearly its entire length for fabulous viewing while you eat. They had a kids area with a kid-sized buffet, too. Unfortunately, all the seats in the whole place are almost always all taken unless you go at a really odd time, so you most likely have to sit outside (if you can find a seat there.) Usually the only seats left outside were right along the rail where it was the coldest and windiest. Normally wed prefer to be outside, but sometimes it was just really too blustery and hard to keep your food from blowing into the ocean. We figured everyone in inside cabins had no where else to go to see the view, and it was too cold much of the first three days of the cruise to sit on the outdoor decks. So it appeared folks would hunker down at a window seat table in the morning and leave their stuff there all day. The Alaskan cruise equivalent of hogging deck chairs! It is something DCL lacks, though, an indoor place to eat or hang out with lots of seats at the windows with an unobstructed view of the ocean (not just windows overlooking outdoor decks with people on them, like at Top Siders/BBB). On this particular cruise, it was VERY nice to not have to eat at a designated time. Of course, not having a set meal time means you are more inclined just to eat whenever you start to get hungry and graze your way through the day. My big gripe is that there are way too few included sit-down restaurants that did not require an extra service charge. The Garden Café buffet was always mobbed; we never saw an empty seat inside unless we were there extremely late or extremely early. Since our kids ate almost all their meals with their teen pod, DH and I had to take turns claiming a table while the other one got food, lest we arrive to sit down with two full food trays and no place to sit. We had little interest in paying $10-$25 a head extra for the specialty restaurants, so were happy with whatever regular restaurant was available except for one night, when we went to the Italian restaurant, La Cucina, which commands a $10/head service charge. It wasnt quite Palo, but pretty close. At the no-extra-charge sit down restaurants the service was very slow and just adequate, and the food was ok but not remarkable. Since you might never see your server again, theres little effort on their part to make any personal connection. They did, however, remember it was our anniversary and brought a cake and six servers performed an a capella version of Let Me Call You Sweetheart. That was very nice. We also got a note card in our cabin signed by the captain thanking us for choosing to spend our special day on the Pearl. Classy!
Theres a wonderful and enormous lounge and bar called Spinnakers at the front of the ship that has 180 degree views with big comfy couches and chairs. Again, since the folks with inside cabins have limited places to see the view and stay warm at the same time, it was nearly always full of families that claimed a spot and hung out for hours. If you wanted a seat at all, you had to get there early, and if you wanted one of the lie down double couches (like beds!) you had to get there REALLY early. Sunrise was about 4 am, and sunset around 10. This is something else Disney lacks a large lounge available to all passengers during the day with incredible views (Promenade doesnt match up).
Alcohol
You cannot bring any alcohol on board NCL unless you are a skilled smuggler. This was a bit annoying, as it was our wedding anniversary and we wanted to bring a bottle of our favorite special occasion wine to celebrate. Would have been glad to pay the corking fee. We did hear some people were successful taking on boxed wine in their checked baggage.
Bar drinks were absurdly expensive, same as DCL, but we still enjoyed a beer or two and a couple glasses of wine.
Entertainment
We only went to a couple of shows, as we were 3 hours behind our time zone and zonked by the evening. Second City was ok (being from Chicago, Ive done a workshop with them before as part of a work outing) but not side-splitting. Comedian Bud Anderson was funny, and Sharkbaits juggling act was entertaining. We went to their Q&A about what it was like growing up in the circus (no joke, they met in Clown College).
We didnt bowl, but some friends we met said the bowling alley (2 lanes) was really expensive but fun. The nightclub the bowling alley is in, Bliss, had some exotically amazing furniture to lounge on (imagine velvet and brocade drapes, beds and chaises). Our teens pod spent a lot of time there doing karaoke and pretending to be adults. For the sporty types, theres a big sports deck like DCL has, but with bleachers for folks to watch, and a climbing wall. It was too windy most of our cruise They had tennis in the mornings, and a dodgeball tournament one night (which made DSs whole cruise he LOVES dodgeball and I think its been outlawed on DCL). There were live musicians by the pool and in the champagne bars which we enjoyed.
Pools and Hot Tubs
Since this was a cool weather cruise, there were only a couple of days people really were lying in sun loungers and swimming. There were always some polar bear cubs (little kids) in the pool and slide, no matter how cold outside. There were 2 pools and 3 or 4 hot tubs two adult-only ones. We went in the hot tub once. Didnt go in the pool, though DS did and thought it was great. Theres just one large pool area, so no quiet pool. There were a couple of places for really small kids to play in a protected area that were cute. One thing we really didnt like was that you had to leave a deposit of $10 or so for every pool towel and $25 for a blanket. While youd get it back, I wasnt into having to keep scouring our statement for charges going on and off, so we just brought ours from the room.
Service
We were surprised to find we missed building the rapport with the dining room servers. Theres always a weird dynamic there that makes you wonder if they are only being nice to you so you give them big tips. But we did miss it. We paid all our tips up front on NCL, as a daily service charge per person, and I liked that. No scramble the last night to do the math and get the little envelopes and all. Our room stewards (we had two) were great. The serving staff in the extra-charge restaurant, the piano bar, and one sit-down place was excellent; most everywhere else (with a couple exceptions) we found service was largely impersonal and unsmiling. The guest services people were clueless giving us all sorts of misinformation. For example I asked if my (under 18 year old) kids were going ashore without us in Alaska if they needed their passports to reboard. Guest services said definitely, and if we wanted we could come down and make a photocopy of the passports and use that instead. Not only did the security staff not check the kids for id, they never once checked us, either. It made sense since they had our pictures that showed up every time they swiped our keycards, but not according to the service desk. They also told us the wrong place to get the special Glacier Bay tshirts, and a couple other minor things. Our cruise director, Julie (not like the Love Boat Julie at all) did an admirable job showing up at events at all hours of the day (I wonder when she sleeps?). One thing that happened with a crew member was VERY non-Disney. DH and I were sitting in the hot tub and a crew member sidled up while we bubbled and said he wanted to make a connection with us. He asked our names and wrote them down on a little spiral bound pad. Then he asked our stateroom number. I refused to give it to him, saying there was no reason he needed that. He proceeded to ask a question or two about what we liked or didnt like about the cruise so far. He creeped me out. When he left, I asked the guy handing out towels if this person was legit, and if he should have been wandering around asking guests for their stateroom numbers. A few minutes later he came back to me and said their supervisor had told the pool attendants to casually survey guests when they were idle, and the way they proved they had done it was to show the names and stateroom numbers! Since when you get on board they make a big deal about not having your stateroom number on your key card and not sharing your room information, I thought this was a really stupid idea on someones part.
The Captain
Despite this being Norwegian Cruise Line, the captain was a Swede, with a really weird sense of humor. And he actually used the ships intercom to yell at some people who were feeding seagulls in Glacier Bay. I can see you, he broadcasted to the whole ship, and you will stop NOW. What is it about Nordic people and captaining cruise ships?
Shore Excursions
We only went on one ship-organized one, a whale watch cruise. Nearly all the Alaska excursions were really pricey. Some helicopter tours for half an hour were $300 per person. It lacked the organization of the DCL shore excursions Ive been on where everyone meets at a designated place indoors and leaves the ship together. We just kind of wandered off the ship and found our way to some buses and our excursions sign. The tour company sent smaller buses than usual, so we originally had no bus. Turns out they commissioned one small bus just for us and another family, so it was actually better! We rented a car in Skagway and did the shore excursion on our own. We had a really bad rollover car wreck in Canada (you can read about that if you like in my trip report on Cruise Critic at http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1019421
but still managed to get back on the ship before one of the White Pass railroad shore excursions organized by NCL.
The View while Cruising
This is Alaska. Theres no adequate way to describe seeing huge mountains and glaciers and ice melt waterfalls that start at peaks and tumble all the way to the sea. And a constant parade of whales, porpoises, sea lions, sea birds and eagles. Matchless.
Kids Activities
Just had teens this time, so can only talk about the teen activities. Ive referred to them as pods earlier in this post, and thats what they were. There were lots of teenagers on this cruise, and after the first evenings meet and greet, they pretty much formed pods that migrated around the ship the rest of the cruise, sometimes only passing in the stairways. The teen center itself was not as polished as DCLs, but the kids didnt seem to mind. When I asked my teens to compare this NCL cruise to their other Disney cruises, they said they liked the DCL ships better, but preferred the NCL teen club since, as they put it, there was no pressure by the counselors to participate in EVERY activity. They loved that they had places to lounge around in the adult clubs until 9 pm, and that there was a 24 hour sit down restaurant where they could go as a group and not have to scrounge up cash to pay or leave a tip. DD said there were a lot of the same teen activities as on DCL, like Gotcha.
Message Boards Meet and Greet
NCL has a nice practice of formally arranging a meet and greet for Cruise Critic passengers who make the request (and probably do this for other groups, too.) They actually designated space in one of the restaurants for an hour on our first sea day so we could meet. As with Disboarders gatherings, it was lovely to see each other in person. There was another family on board taking their first non-Disney cruise, so we had lots to talk about!
Disembarkation
This was nice you pick up color coded luggage tags based on when you want to get off the ship. We chose a very civilized 9:30 am. There was no line to get off, our bags were waiting for us, and we were off the ship and waiting for the Budget shuttle bus in five minutes. Budget just got the concession for the seaports (it was Thrifty before) and they havent quite figured out they need to have more shuttle buses on when everyone is getting on and off cruise ships with mounds of luggage all around the same time. We had to break up and go on two separate vans or wait for hours. We chose to take rental cars both before and after the cruise, and stayed one night on each end of the cruise at a nice Comfort Suites north of Seattle.
Random thoughts
Overall, I will be anxious to get back on DCL next summer. We missed the elegance of the teak deck 4, our more spacious cabin, the big screen on the pool deck, the movie theatre (none except the one in the noisy atrium on the Pearl) and the pirate party and all the theming. And maybe my kids didnt miss the characters, but I did! Im still glad we did NCL and Alaska as I fear global climate changes may eventually alter what Glacier Bay looks like, and if DCL eventually goes there, I dont know wed be willing to pay their upcharges. And there were some really nice things about NCL, like the large number of places indoors to sit and have a great view and the flexible approach to dining times.
Embarkation
Not really fair to compare here Seattle is a city seaport, not purpose built for one cruise line. After a major detour and massive traffic chaos caused by the Gay Pride parade (glad we read in the paper it was going to happen and went early to the port) we were dropped off with our luggage at the Bell St. Pier (66). This is a no-frills place in the heart of downtown, with a freight train line right next to it that regularly added to the challenge of getting to the pier. Checked our bags effortlessly, went through security, then got into the queue to check in. The check-in area kind of looks like immigration, with zero décor and lots of cheap plastic chairs lined up for people to sit on while they wait for their group number to be called. A vendor was selling grossly overpriced binoculars. The agent took pictures of all of us with a web cam, gave us our key cards, and a boarding group number. They went fast through the boarding numbers, and soon we were on the gangway. We were each handed a glass of champagne (kids had juice) and directed into the main lobby. There was no fanfare, or family names announced, you just kind of wandered aboard. The Crystal Atrium is only two stories or so high, with a huge two story screen in the middle where kids were playing Wii. Seemed kind of chaotic, as a bar, the shore excursion deck, a duty-free store, the guest services desk, and bunch of scattered lounge chairs were all in the same area. We were directed to the large buffet/food court type restaurant on deck 12. The food was way more varied than DCLs initial buffet, with lots of international items (Italian, Asian, Indian, Mexican) but throughout the course of the cruise we realized it didnt vary much from day to day. We headed out back to Great Outdoors (the Pearls equivalent to the outside eating area of TopSiders/Beach Blanket Buffet.) It was cool to sit there enjoying our first meal onboard with the Seattle skyline behind us, and the Space Needle just peeking around the starboard side.
The Staterooms
Staterooms were ready at 2 as promised. OK..our stateroom. Our BA balcony stateroom is probably the closest to our usual DCL cat 6, but it was TINY. Instead of the sleeper sofa and fourth ceiling bunk running along the long walls, they ran across the sliding glass doors, making it all but impossible to get out on the balcony when the beds are made up. We had to lift and stow a clumsy table and chair on our bed and duck and crawl between the two bunks to get out onto the balcony while the teens slumbered or before the room was made up. Try doing that with hot coffee! No room service breakfast out there! The single bathroom has a toilet to one side and a shower to the other with the sink in the middle, but with only partially frosted glass doors between the shower and toilet area, it isnt exactly meant to be shared by a family with any sort of modesty at all. So one person at a time in the bathroom only. The toilet stall was really small. I do not know how a really tall or large person could manage. Theres no desk, and inadequate storage space for four people. Luckily, we had packed relatively light by Disney cruise standards (no snorkeling gear, no pirate costumes, no extra nice clothes for dinners) so we managed to cram things into the few drawers and cubbies. We had a mini bar which, unlike the DCL coolers actually keeps things cold, but had to remove the mini bar stuff from it and store it on the shelf above so we could use some space for our own drinks.
Where the famed DCL fish are outside each stateroom, NCL has cool little dials so you can indicate do not disturb or request your room to be made up. The doors have a louvered effect on the outside (but they are solid), so no door decorations. Id say the room is at least six feet shorter longways than a cat 6 on DCL, with no way to divide the two sleeping areas. In fact, the lower sleeper sofa touches the bed. The balcony was about the same size. A plus was the solid plexi walls, without the white metal railings visible through DLCs plexi balconies.
Muster drill
The muster drill was at 3:30. NCL was much more laid back about the drill you could just carry your life jacket to the muster station (ours was in one of the restaurants, so we got to sit down in comfy seats for the duration of the drill.) The ships photographer was even roaming around taking goofy pictures of everyone during the drill! We sailed away before the sailaway party officially started, with no countdown or synchronized horn sounding. In fact, the only time we heard the ships horn at all was on our last day headed toward Victoria in dense fog when the ships horn blasted every two minutes for hours.
Photos
The pictures were even more expensive than DCL. The 5x7 embarkation photo was 19.95, though if you purchased it the first night, you got a free portfolio to display it in. Other 5x7s were 12.95 and 14.95. Different event photos had different prices even though they were all the same size photo. Weird. I did break down and buy one of the portfolio frames that had a place for a photo on one side and a cruise ship on the other that lit up with lots of tiny lights. Cant help it; I love things that sparkle and/or light up. With no Mickey, Minnie, Goofy or Pluto, NCL resorted to mandatory restaurant and gangway photo ops with costumed whales, seals, bears, dolphins, and eagles. I dont think their photographers were quite as good at DCLs DH and I had quite a few laughs looking at the Pearls equivalent of Shutters and all the pictures that were blurry, or cut peoples heads off.
Eats
The Garden Café, which is the main buffet and food court restaurant has amazing floor to ceiling windows nearly its entire length for fabulous viewing while you eat. They had a kids area with a kid-sized buffet, too. Unfortunately, all the seats in the whole place are almost always all taken unless you go at a really odd time, so you most likely have to sit outside (if you can find a seat there.) Usually the only seats left outside were right along the rail where it was the coldest and windiest. Normally wed prefer to be outside, but sometimes it was just really too blustery and hard to keep your food from blowing into the ocean. We figured everyone in inside cabins had no where else to go to see the view, and it was too cold much of the first three days of the cruise to sit on the outdoor decks. So it appeared folks would hunker down at a window seat table in the morning and leave their stuff there all day. The Alaskan cruise equivalent of hogging deck chairs! It is something DCL lacks, though, an indoor place to eat or hang out with lots of seats at the windows with an unobstructed view of the ocean (not just windows overlooking outdoor decks with people on them, like at Top Siders/BBB). On this particular cruise, it was VERY nice to not have to eat at a designated time. Of course, not having a set meal time means you are more inclined just to eat whenever you start to get hungry and graze your way through the day. My big gripe is that there are way too few included sit-down restaurants that did not require an extra service charge. The Garden Café buffet was always mobbed; we never saw an empty seat inside unless we were there extremely late or extremely early. Since our kids ate almost all their meals with their teen pod, DH and I had to take turns claiming a table while the other one got food, lest we arrive to sit down with two full food trays and no place to sit. We had little interest in paying $10-$25 a head extra for the specialty restaurants, so were happy with whatever regular restaurant was available except for one night, when we went to the Italian restaurant, La Cucina, which commands a $10/head service charge. It wasnt quite Palo, but pretty close. At the no-extra-charge sit down restaurants the service was very slow and just adequate, and the food was ok but not remarkable. Since you might never see your server again, theres little effort on their part to make any personal connection. They did, however, remember it was our anniversary and brought a cake and six servers performed an a capella version of Let Me Call You Sweetheart. That was very nice. We also got a note card in our cabin signed by the captain thanking us for choosing to spend our special day on the Pearl. Classy!
Theres a wonderful and enormous lounge and bar called Spinnakers at the front of the ship that has 180 degree views with big comfy couches and chairs. Again, since the folks with inside cabins have limited places to see the view and stay warm at the same time, it was nearly always full of families that claimed a spot and hung out for hours. If you wanted a seat at all, you had to get there early, and if you wanted one of the lie down double couches (like beds!) you had to get there REALLY early. Sunrise was about 4 am, and sunset around 10. This is something else Disney lacks a large lounge available to all passengers during the day with incredible views (Promenade doesnt match up).
Alcohol
You cannot bring any alcohol on board NCL unless you are a skilled smuggler. This was a bit annoying, as it was our wedding anniversary and we wanted to bring a bottle of our favorite special occasion wine to celebrate. Would have been glad to pay the corking fee. We did hear some people were successful taking on boxed wine in their checked baggage.
Bar drinks were absurdly expensive, same as DCL, but we still enjoyed a beer or two and a couple glasses of wine.
Entertainment
We only went to a couple of shows, as we were 3 hours behind our time zone and zonked by the evening. Second City was ok (being from Chicago, Ive done a workshop with them before as part of a work outing) but not side-splitting. Comedian Bud Anderson was funny, and Sharkbaits juggling act was entertaining. We went to their Q&A about what it was like growing up in the circus (no joke, they met in Clown College).
We didnt bowl, but some friends we met said the bowling alley (2 lanes) was really expensive but fun. The nightclub the bowling alley is in, Bliss, had some exotically amazing furniture to lounge on (imagine velvet and brocade drapes, beds and chaises). Our teens pod spent a lot of time there doing karaoke and pretending to be adults. For the sporty types, theres a big sports deck like DCL has, but with bleachers for folks to watch, and a climbing wall. It was too windy most of our cruise They had tennis in the mornings, and a dodgeball tournament one night (which made DSs whole cruise he LOVES dodgeball and I think its been outlawed on DCL). There were live musicians by the pool and in the champagne bars which we enjoyed.
Pools and Hot Tubs
Since this was a cool weather cruise, there were only a couple of days people really were lying in sun loungers and swimming. There were always some polar bear cubs (little kids) in the pool and slide, no matter how cold outside. There were 2 pools and 3 or 4 hot tubs two adult-only ones. We went in the hot tub once. Didnt go in the pool, though DS did and thought it was great. Theres just one large pool area, so no quiet pool. There were a couple of places for really small kids to play in a protected area that were cute. One thing we really didnt like was that you had to leave a deposit of $10 or so for every pool towel and $25 for a blanket. While youd get it back, I wasnt into having to keep scouring our statement for charges going on and off, so we just brought ours from the room.
Service
We were surprised to find we missed building the rapport with the dining room servers. Theres always a weird dynamic there that makes you wonder if they are only being nice to you so you give them big tips. But we did miss it. We paid all our tips up front on NCL, as a daily service charge per person, and I liked that. No scramble the last night to do the math and get the little envelopes and all. Our room stewards (we had two) were great. The serving staff in the extra-charge restaurant, the piano bar, and one sit-down place was excellent; most everywhere else (with a couple exceptions) we found service was largely impersonal and unsmiling. The guest services people were clueless giving us all sorts of misinformation. For example I asked if my (under 18 year old) kids were going ashore without us in Alaska if they needed their passports to reboard. Guest services said definitely, and if we wanted we could come down and make a photocopy of the passports and use that instead. Not only did the security staff not check the kids for id, they never once checked us, either. It made sense since they had our pictures that showed up every time they swiped our keycards, but not according to the service desk. They also told us the wrong place to get the special Glacier Bay tshirts, and a couple other minor things. Our cruise director, Julie (not like the Love Boat Julie at all) did an admirable job showing up at events at all hours of the day (I wonder when she sleeps?). One thing that happened with a crew member was VERY non-Disney. DH and I were sitting in the hot tub and a crew member sidled up while we bubbled and said he wanted to make a connection with us. He asked our names and wrote them down on a little spiral bound pad. Then he asked our stateroom number. I refused to give it to him, saying there was no reason he needed that. He proceeded to ask a question or two about what we liked or didnt like about the cruise so far. He creeped me out. When he left, I asked the guy handing out towels if this person was legit, and if he should have been wandering around asking guests for their stateroom numbers. A few minutes later he came back to me and said their supervisor had told the pool attendants to casually survey guests when they were idle, and the way they proved they had done it was to show the names and stateroom numbers! Since when you get on board they make a big deal about not having your stateroom number on your key card and not sharing your room information, I thought this was a really stupid idea on someones part.
The Captain
Despite this being Norwegian Cruise Line, the captain was a Swede, with a really weird sense of humor. And he actually used the ships intercom to yell at some people who were feeding seagulls in Glacier Bay. I can see you, he broadcasted to the whole ship, and you will stop NOW. What is it about Nordic people and captaining cruise ships?
Shore Excursions
We only went on one ship-organized one, a whale watch cruise. Nearly all the Alaska excursions were really pricey. Some helicopter tours for half an hour were $300 per person. It lacked the organization of the DCL shore excursions Ive been on where everyone meets at a designated place indoors and leaves the ship together. We just kind of wandered off the ship and found our way to some buses and our excursions sign. The tour company sent smaller buses than usual, so we originally had no bus. Turns out they commissioned one small bus just for us and another family, so it was actually better! We rented a car in Skagway and did the shore excursion on our own. We had a really bad rollover car wreck in Canada (you can read about that if you like in my trip report on Cruise Critic at http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1019421
but still managed to get back on the ship before one of the White Pass railroad shore excursions organized by NCL.
The View while Cruising
This is Alaska. Theres no adequate way to describe seeing huge mountains and glaciers and ice melt waterfalls that start at peaks and tumble all the way to the sea. And a constant parade of whales, porpoises, sea lions, sea birds and eagles. Matchless.
Kids Activities
Just had teens this time, so can only talk about the teen activities. Ive referred to them as pods earlier in this post, and thats what they were. There were lots of teenagers on this cruise, and after the first evenings meet and greet, they pretty much formed pods that migrated around the ship the rest of the cruise, sometimes only passing in the stairways. The teen center itself was not as polished as DCLs, but the kids didnt seem to mind. When I asked my teens to compare this NCL cruise to their other Disney cruises, they said they liked the DCL ships better, but preferred the NCL teen club since, as they put it, there was no pressure by the counselors to participate in EVERY activity. They loved that they had places to lounge around in the adult clubs until 9 pm, and that there was a 24 hour sit down restaurant where they could go as a group and not have to scrounge up cash to pay or leave a tip. DD said there were a lot of the same teen activities as on DCL, like Gotcha.
Message Boards Meet and Greet
NCL has a nice practice of formally arranging a meet and greet for Cruise Critic passengers who make the request (and probably do this for other groups, too.) They actually designated space in one of the restaurants for an hour on our first sea day so we could meet. As with Disboarders gatherings, it was lovely to see each other in person. There was another family on board taking their first non-Disney cruise, so we had lots to talk about!
Disembarkation
This was nice you pick up color coded luggage tags based on when you want to get off the ship. We chose a very civilized 9:30 am. There was no line to get off, our bags were waiting for us, and we were off the ship and waiting for the Budget shuttle bus in five minutes. Budget just got the concession for the seaports (it was Thrifty before) and they havent quite figured out they need to have more shuttle buses on when everyone is getting on and off cruise ships with mounds of luggage all around the same time. We had to break up and go on two separate vans or wait for hours. We chose to take rental cars both before and after the cruise, and stayed one night on each end of the cruise at a nice Comfort Suites north of Seattle.
Random thoughts
Overall, I will be anxious to get back on DCL next summer. We missed the elegance of the teak deck 4, our more spacious cabin, the big screen on the pool deck, the movie theatre (none except the one in the noisy atrium on the Pearl) and the pirate party and all the theming. And maybe my kids didnt miss the characters, but I did! Im still glad we did NCL and Alaska as I fear global climate changes may eventually alter what Glacier Bay looks like, and if DCL eventually goes there, I dont know wed be willing to pay their upcharges. And there were some really nice things about NCL, like the large number of places indoors to sit and have a great view and the flexible approach to dining times.
