So No Glacier Bay With DCL - is It A Big Deal?

[BWV Dreamin]

I just got a quote for NCL Pearl that sails into Glacier Bay. For $900 more dollars than my DCL quote I get a full window, mid ship balcony on deck 10 (instead of a 7A Navigator) and AIRFARE FOR 2 WITH TRANSFERS. This is a great price. I haven't fully looked into everything NCL, but I'm not seeing where there are extra dining expenses? Looks to me at least two restaraunts are included. I see a couple of restarants you can pay 10-30 pp for those dining venues (I see that as the same as paying for Palo). I have no problem departing from Seattle. We will stay one night pre-cruise. We were going to do that anyway with DCL.

 

[justmestace]

The Pearl has some of the upsell restaurants like Disney's Palo & Remy....a steakhouse, a French restaurant....but they still have two main dining rooms, and they also have another sit down restaurant (with table service) that overlooks the atrium lobby (I forgot the name of it) along with all of the quick-service places that Disney has.

We LOVED the Pearl...which is what we cruised Alaska on. It has WAY more outside viewing deck areas, and also a LOT more inside public areas where you can sit and watch the scenery go by.

Sailing out of Seattle is a huge plus. It's less expensive than getting to Vancouver, and if you go in a day or two early, there is SO much to see and do there.
When sailing out of Seattle and going up the coast, they do take the outer route, but there's still a lot to see. It's beautiful. Sailing back down, they're on the inside.


Here's a list of the dining options on the Pearl, and the surcharges for the ones that aren't included in your cruise fare:

Summer Palace - Main restaurant, seats 558
Indigo - Second main restaurant, seats 304
Mambo's Latin/Tapas - Tex/Mex cuisine, seats 96
La Cucina - Italian restaurant, seats 92
Blue Lagoon - 24 hour food court, seats 94
Garden Cafe - action station casual restaurant, seats 390
Great Outdooors - outdoor dining
Teppanyaki- Asian Japanese grill restaurant, seats 32, $20 pp surcharge
Cagney's - steakhouse, seats 160, $15 pp surcharge
Le Bistro - French restaurant, seats 129, $10 pp surcharge
Lotus Garden - Asian cuisine, seats 100, $10 pp surcharge
Sushi Bar - sushi, sashimi, and Shabu-Shabu, $12.50 pp surcharge

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Thank you!! Also just got an AARP discount ( another $165) off this cruise! So a difference of $1000 with better stateroom and they go to Glacier Bay! Going thru your list of restaurants now, thanks again for this info. Also including one day pre cruise stay in Seattle thru NCL. Right in town at the Crowne Plaza.

Well I have to say this is a no brainer and will be making my deposit with NCL tomorrow. I do have to thank my Disboards friends though for all this help!!

The Pearl has some of the upsell restaurants like Disney's Palo & Remy....a steakhouse, a French restaurant....but they still have two main dining rooms, and they also have another sit down restaurant (with table service) that overlooks the atrium lobby (I forgot the name of it) along with all of the quick-service places that Disney has.

We LOVED the Pearl...which is what we cruised Alaska on. It has WAY more outside viewing deck areas, and also a LOT more inside public areas where you can sit and watch the scenery go by.

Sailing out of Seattle is a huge plus. It's less expensive than getting to Vancouver, and if you go in a day or two early, there is SO much to see and do there.
When sailing out of Seattle and going up the coast, they do take the outer route, but there's still a lot to see. It's beautiful. Sailing back down, they're on the inside.


Here's a list of the dining options on the Pearl, and the surcharges for the ones that aren't included in your cruise fare:

Summer Palace - Main restaurant, seats 558
Indigo - Second main restaurant, seats 304
Mambo's Latin/Tapas - Tex/Mex cuisine, seats 96
La Cucina - Italian restaurant, seats 92
Blue Lagoon - 24 hour food court, seats 94
Garden Cafe - action station casual restaurant, seats 390
Great Outdooors - outdoor dining
Teppanyaki- Asian Japanese grill restaurant, seats 32, $20 pp surcharge
Cagney's - steakhouse, seats 160, $15 pp surcharge
Le Bistro - French restaurant, seats 129, $10 pp surcharge
Lotus Garden - Asian cuisine, seats 100, $10 pp surcharge
Sushi Bar - sushi, sashimi, and Shabu-Shabu, $12.50 pp surcharge

 

[Danmangto]

I was in Glacier Bay 5 years ago on the NCL Pearl. It was the highlight of the trip in my opinion. We are on the Wonder this August and wanted to try Disney out since my coworkers rave about it.

Thats the problem with Disney.. Their Alaska itinerary is rather lacking compared to HAL, etc. They charge more $$ than HAL, at least for a verandah room.

 

[mrsklamc]

I think a lot depends on what you are personally looking for on your cruise. I thought Tracy Arm was gorgeous. Maybe Glacier Bay is even prettier, but honestly...well, I'm from FL, so a glacier is a glacier is a glacier.

I am glad you loved your cruise, but I promise you would not say that if you had experienced Glacier Bay. It is not looking at a glacier like Tracy Arm or Mendenhall. It is pulling up NEXT TO a glacier immensely larger than the ship, and cutting the engines. Everything and everyone is silent. After a few minutes, you hear a noise that is similar to but not quite like thunder...and a piece of ice the size of your house tumbles into the sea. It is unbelievable, not like anything else I have ever experienced.

 

[justmestace]

I am glad you loved your cruise, but I promise you would not say that if you had experienced Glacier Bay. It is not looking at a glacier like Tracy Arm or Mendenhall. It is pulling up NEXT TO a glacier immensely larger than the ship, and cutting the engines. Everything and everyone is silent. After a few minutes, you hear a noise that is similar to but not quite like thunder...and a piece of ice the size of your house tumbles into the sea. It is unbelievable, not like anything else I have ever experienced.

I totally agree. I live in Arizona and it was years before I ever went to the Grand Canyon. I kept saying "It's just a big hole in the ground."
Then, I went there. I walked up to the edge, and had my breath taken away!! Never again will I say "Eh, it's probably no big deal."

And coming from the desert, I couldn't get enough of the glaciers!!

 

[justmestace]

Thank you!! Also just got an AARP discount ( another $165) off this cruise! So a difference of $1000 with better stateroom and they go to Glacier Bay! Going thru your list of restaurants now, thanks again for this info. Also including one day pre cruise stay in Seattle thru NCL. Right in town at the Crowne Plaza.

Well I have to say this is a no brainer and will be making my deposit with NCL tomorrow. I do have to thank my Disboards friends though for all this help!!

What's really great is that the upcharge (if you choose to dine other than in the main dining rooms) isn't really that much money. Especially compared to Palo & Remy....and Cagney's Steakhouse and Le Bistro are both far beyond excellent!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

What's really great is that the upcharge (if you choose to dine other than in the main dining rooms) isn't really that much money. Especially compared to Palo & Remy....and Cagney's Steakhouse and Le Bistro are both far beyond excellent!

Plus I read on cruise critic if you choose to dine at one of the specialty restaurants between 5:30-7:00p it's 2 for 1 up charge so if it costs $20 pp you get 2 people to dine for $20 total ( kinda like a dining BOGO)

 

[johnlatte]

I did a side by side comparison of NCL vs DCL for Alaska and went with NCL. I saved $5k on a 2 bdrm suite with concierge and butler on the Jewel vs a 1 bdrm suite with concierge on DCL. The itinerary was basically the same, both sailing from Seattle. Sorry Mickey, I couldn't justify paying DCL the difference, and would rather put the $ towards some really cool excursions and dinning in the NCL excellent restaurants.

 

[justmestace]

I did a side by side comparison of NCL vs DCL for Alaska and went with NCL. I saved $5k on a 2 bdrm suite with concierge and butler on the Jewel vs a 1 bdrm suite with concierge on DCL. The itinerary was basically the same, both sailing from Seattle. Sorry Mickey, I couldn't justify paying DCL the difference, and would rather put the $ towards some really cool excursions and dinning in the NCL excellent restaurants.

We actually did the same thing. We had already decided to "splurge" a little on a suite, for my husband's birthday, so we got a Courtyard Villa. HOLY COW!!!! I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!! It was less money than what a one-bedroom on DCL would have cost, and it had TWO bedrooms, plus the whole courtyard area, right outside our door! Private viewing deck, private pool, hot tub, sauna.......wow.
I'm really disappointed that Disney didn't do something like this with their new ships.

 

[PizzieDuster]

This thread got me interested in NCL.

There's a KIDS SAIL FREE offer on NCL until July 7th. Date didn't work for us for an Alaska cruise. Sept. 23, 2012. ETA, oh, it's a 5 day. But at least it has me looking there.

I'm really going to start doing some research on comparing DCL vs. NCL Pearl for next summer. Thank you!

 

[runskyhy]

When we looked into cruising Alaska, it was going to be less expensive to cruise Princess with more glacier stops on the itinerary. After cruising with Glacier Bay on the itinerary, I wouldn't cruise again w/o it (as long as I'm footing the bill, that is. )

From reading the other posts, it sounds like it's a personal preference though.

 

[dsnydaddy]

This thread got me interested in NCL.

There's a KIDS SAIL FREE offer on NCL until July 7th. Date didn't work for us for an Alaska cruise. Sept. 23, 2012. ETA, oh, it's a 5 day. But at least it has me looking there.

I'm really going to start doing some research on comparing DCL vs. NCL Pearl for next summer. Thank you!

I bought my parents an Alaska cruise on the Pearl a few years back. She loved the cruise and when she came back she had to tell me all about it. Funny thing was that the whole time she was describing the cruise itself, I couldn't help comparing he experience to my experiences on DCL. I'd think "well, that problem would never have happened", or "you'll never see that go on on a Disney ship", or "on Disney they don't charge for that.". My final conclusion was that if your cruising for the cruising experience to Alaska then do DCL, but if Alaska is the focal point and not so much the cruise then it's probably better to go with another line.

 

[johnlatte]

We actually did the same thing. We had already decided to "splurge" a little on a suite, for my husband's birthday, so we got a Courtyard Villa. HOLY COW!!!! I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!! It was less money than what a one-bedroom on DCL would have cost, and it had TWO bedrooms, plus the whole courtyard area, right outside our door! Private viewing deck, private pool, hot tub, sauna.......wow.
I'm really disappointed that Disney didn't do something like this with their new ships.

Great! Which NCL Ship, the Pearl? We love freestyling, it is just a more relaxed atmosphere. Their suites are way better than DCLs offerings. The Haven on the Epic is where we are headed after next summer. Disney is certainly different than NCL, but not necessarily better. When you are going to be outside looking at the scenery or off the ship mostly, then I think DCL is way overpriced for what you get. Think about what it would have cost if they had put the courtyard style areas on their new ships.