It's been a crazy week since we got home, 2 to 3 appts a day, or lessons, etc, alot of running!
We had a great time, weather couldnt have been more perfect!
We sailed on the NCL Pearl (no not Black Pearl=(). We sailed from the 14th to the 21st and visited Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and Ketchikan and Victoria,B.C.
For those of you who have sailed on the
DCL, believe me when I say that we are spoiled!
The ports were great, I will give a highlight from each:
Ketchikan~ Whale watching, see photo! It was amazing! The boat got as close as we could, which was pretty close and after we saw whales our skipper took us over to see something that I would think you would only see in Sea World!
Sitting on top of this bouy was an eagle, acting like he was king of the world. On the bottom half were these Harbor seals, sunning if you will. This other one was in the water and he kept swimming arounf, "barking" at the others to let him up. Then this other one comes up, looks at the first and then jumps up on top like it was nothing and the first just kept barking! It really was funny as the boat is only allowed to get within 100 feet and you could hear this guy from 100 feet away!
Skagway~ we took the train up White Pass following the Klondike trail all the way to Fraser, Canada! Just beautiful! I t makes me want to read Call of the Wild! Fraser is an artic zone so I imagine this would be similar to the Baltics!
I could have taken the train all of the way to the Yukon!
On the way back we stopped at this touristy place called "Liarsville" and it was a replica of a camp that the miners would have stopped at before they headed to the Yukon. DS referred to it as "HeeHaw H***"! I thought it was neat!
Glacier Bay~ The weather was so good that we were able to actually see John Hopkins Glacier which you cant always see. We couldnt get too close, the Harbor Seals are in birthing season.
We did see the ice beaking in spots and it was really interesting to hear it!
Banana and I took turns spotting and calling out the waterfalls we saw! There were so many!
Ketckikan~ This is what I imagined Forks to look like (You know what I mean!
)
Banana and I went Ziplining!!!!!!!!!
Ok, she's a spider monkey and I was a wreck! And Im disappointed in myself!
Something I always wanted to do and I just couldnt get the hang of it!
See photos! Banana, right way, me, wrong way! Out of 6 times my guide had to come and get me 3 times! Kyle was so cool tho, everytime,
"What are you doing Rita, just hanging out?" They got a good tip!
Victoria~ DH and Banana went to Butchart Gardens and DS and I went around the city on a bicycle ricksha thingie. Very pretty!
You know the saying "you get what you pay for"? The price was right for the cruise. We got 2 rooms and it was ok, but small! Not the Magic! It took 2 rooms compared to the one we're used to. But the verandah was very nice and we really enjoyed it.
Shows~ For DS I think this was better. Second City was there and he got to talk to them and he got permission to go to their adult show and they were cool to him, so for a 15 year old, good. Pearl also has a comediene named David Naster, cool guy, very funny!
Staff- ok, again no Magic here. Cms really do work for those tips and you can tell! No bonding with anyone here and bare mininmum with housekeeping. Not dirty but just wasnt the same.
Food~ OMG! Guys I do not cook and dont pretend too, but even I could do better! You could pay to go to the better resturants, which we did several times, and their buffet at lunch was ok, but the desserts were tasteless and at night you would think it was purposely bad to get you to go to the resturants.
Towards the end of the week we started saying that we just wanted to go home, "To the Magic!".
Believe it or not, by the time we're ready to go to Hawaii, if NCL still has the market we will use them, but that would probablybe our last trip on them (They are the last to cruise Hawaii!).
We're not disappointed that we had a bad trip, it just wasnt what we were used to and we did go in with an open mind.
So, overall a 7 and that is mainly due to Alaska and the shows.
So, thanks for listening and I will get DH to post photos sometime tonight!
Rita
home RITA!!!!
