Cruise Review:  Norwegian Sky to Alaska

To view the full picture gallery from our cruise to Alaska, click the button below to view the full album on Shutterfly:

 

Seattle, Washington
My wife and I arrived in Seattle the night before and stayed at an airport hotel.  We tried to get budget transportation to Pier 66 in downtown Seattle on the Seattle Express shuttle which takes travelers from the airport hotels to Pike Place Market, the area where cruise ships from Princess, Holland America, and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) depart.  Unfortunately, when the van arrived at our hotel it was chalked full of other passengers and there was no room for us, let alone my luggage.  Fortunately, to our surprise, we found out the cab fare between the airport and downtown is very reasonable -- about $25 to $30 if you negotiate correctly.  We arrived at Pike Place Market and checked my baggage in at the Marriott Waterfront hotel, directly across the street from Pier 66 where we were to board our cruise ship.  We had about two and a half hours to check out Pike Place Market and experience everything it had to offer.

The most incredible thing about the market is the amount and abundance of flowers available.  You can get a really nice arrangement for $3 to $5!  And of course, the variety and selection of seafood -- including Dungeness crab, salmon, and king crab legs, is awesome.

Embarkation
When noon time rolled around, we headed back to the Marriott Waterfront hotel and collected my bags.  We decided to head over early at 12:30 p.m. and get in line to check in.  I called NCL two days prior and they had indicated that we would not be able to start embarkation until 1 p.m.  When we got to pier 66 we discovered that this was not entirely true.  The entire embarkation process for our cruise was well under way.  Luggage is checked in at a separate part of the port.   I was given a SARS health disclosure which I was asked to complete and turn in when I checked myself in.  The entire embarkation process was well organized, and the crew and staff seemed to do a good job in taking care of the older passengers who had questions or who were unsure of themselves.

About the Ship
The Norwegian Sky is in very good condition (it was built in 1999). Everything was working (pools, spas, elevators, etc.). The only exception I noted was that the plastic outdoor tables in the Great Outdoor cafe are looking a bit rough and should be replaced.

The Norwegian Sky in Juneau Harbor During Our Six Hour Stay

There are 10 passenger levels (3 through 12).  Access is made through several staircases and elevator banks located forward, mid ship and aft.  We tried to take the stairs whenever possible.  When taking the elevators, we usually opted for the inside bank of elevators vs. the scenic elevators (which aren't very scenic as they look inwards to the atrium of the ship).  Most of the outdoor activities take place on level 11, where there are two pools and four spas mid-ship, as well as a small pool and another spa forward.  There is also shuffle board and basketball on level 12.

Our room was a "Superior Inside Stateroom" located mid-ship on the Fjord level.  It was bigger than I expected, and was a pretty comfortable stay overall.  The shower in our room was a curtain that draped around a corner with drains arranged along the curtain.  The system worked pretty well, except for the morning we disembarked  when the drains started to back up.

Safety
The safety drill (which you have to participate in before the ship leaves home port on day #1) ran smoothly.  I give NCL high marks for safety and safety preparation.  I did a snorkeling excursion in Ketchikan and was impressed with amount of attention given to safety by our excursion leader, Paul.

Staff and Crew
Shaun, our port and cruise consultant, was fun and entertaining. Linda, our cruise director, barely made her presence known. When she finally did "surface", she demonstrated a demeaning, off-key sense of humor when she mocked some of the "stupid questions" she receives from other guests. She also shamelessly tried to coerce guests into beefing up their scores on their guest comment card. As an aside, Linda and all the female hostesses dress like Nora Dunn's character "Miss Madress" from the movie "Heartbreakers". They should let their hair down and smile a bit more.

The staff overall does not bend over backwards to cater to you on the outset.  But I noticed that those passengers who took a few minutes to exchange conversation with their servers got much more favorable service.  Our room attendant stuck to a strict time schedule for making up our room in the morning and in doing the turn down service at night, after which we would have to hunt him down whenever we needed more ice or towels.

When children stay in your cabin, the staff will make
a cute animal out of the bathroom towel (a new towel
animal will appear each night of the cruise).

Hassle Free Tipping
If you are not already aware, NCL has implemented a practice they call "no hassle tipping".  This means that you will be charged $10.00 US per day per person (13 and older) to cover all tips for all crew members (the only exception to this being the luggage porters at the embarkation / debarkation points).  While I found this to be easier to deal with than stuffing cash into envelopes the last night of the cruise, I have a problem with using the term "tipping" with this program.  The term "TIP" or "TIPS" is actually an acronym for "To Insure Prompt Service".  If you were a service employee of NCL, it would easy to see there is not much incentive to work harder at being prompt when you know your tip is already in the bank.  I think NCL should rename this program "Hassle Free Yet Mandatory Gratuity", which at least would true up what the money is going for.

Freestyle Cruising (Food and Beverages)
We ate our dinners in the Four Seasons and Seven Seas restaurants -- very good service.  We ate breakfast and lunch at the Great Outdoor Cafe in the aft part of the ship.  The older passengers showed up at the adjoining indoor Garden Cafe (the other buffet) before sunrise to reserve the best spots, so we didn't even try.  There is a cool hidden secret for food on the ship -- the Pizza buffet.   It runs 24 hours a day and serves up great cheese, veggie, and pepperoni pizza!  It is located next to the Sports Bar on the aft part of the ship on level 11.

As I had read in several reviews written by travelers the same age group as me, the older guests on the cruise ship tended to demonstrate at lack of self-awareness when it came to either cutting off other guests in line at the buffet, stopping in the middle of a busy walkway, or just taking too long to make up their mind about how many pieces of bacon to put on their plate.  My parents are in their 70's, so I went out of my way to demonstrate understanding and restraint against saying or doing anything disrespectful -- but it wasn't always easy.

The quality of the food in the Great Outdoor Cafe and the Garden Cafe is buffet food -- no better, no worse.  If you are looking for quantity in your food -- eat in the buffet.  If you are looking for quality without extra cost -- eat at the Seven Seas or the Four Seasons restaurants.  If you don't mind paying extra money over and above the price of your cruise, you might want to check out the dining at the premium restaurants -- Horizons (Italian Cuisine), Le Bistro (French Mediterranean Cuisine), and Ciao-Chow (Sushi & Asian Cuisine).  You will have to pay $10 per person to dine in Horizons and Ciao-Chow, and $12.50 per person to dine in Le Bistro.  You also have to book a seat ahead of time, which they do on level 5 near the reception desk.

Watch Out for the Juneau harbor crows when eating
at the Great Outdoor Cafe, you may just get some
extra "cream" in your coffee!

From reading other traveler reviews regarding NCL, I knew that it would be a good money saver to purchase the "all you can drink soft drink" sticker since we like to drink soft drinks.  Each sticker cost $27.50 for the week.  Luckily, the charges for the stickers never showed up on my final bill -- no complaints here.

Night Life and Entertainment
Night life was boring and, to be honest, totally non-existent.  However,  we booked the cruise knowing that.  Activity on the ship pretty much wound down at around 8:30 p.m. at night.

There were a couple of folk artists (Rick & Vince)  on the ship who played in the smaller bars, including the Windjammer and Gatsby's.  The main music group on the ship was called "The 60280 Band", the lead singers of which were to dynamic Filipino women who could really sing and had a wide range.  However, either because of the older audience on-board or for some other reason not apparent to me, the 60280 band lacked some sort of "spark" which was needed to draw the masses out onto the dance floor.  I think they would fair much better with a younger crowd on a Caribbean destination.  All of the big production number shows are done in the Stardust Lounge located in the aft part of the ship.  I watched a show called "Hey Mr. Producer!" which was a review of several of the most popular musicals in existence including CATS, Miss Saigon, Oklahoma, Phantom of the Opera, and a few others.  I liked the production very much and thought it was very well done, considering it was on a cruise ship.

Ports of Call and Shore Excursions
Our seven day itinerary included our departure from Seattle on Saturday (7/12), Ketchikan on Monday (7/14), Juneau and Sawyer Glacier on Tuesday (7/15), Skagway on Wednesday (7/16), Victoria Island on Friday (7/18) and then back in Seattle on Saturday (7/19).

In Ketchikan, there are a limited number of ports available.  As it was, all ports were taken when we arrived -- so we had to tender (take smaller boat) to get to Ketchikan.  I opted to try the snorkeling excursion (yes -- I love hanging out in cold water), and I was rewarded with a very close citing of a humpback whale that was breeching just off the shoreline (which happened to be 300 feet deep).  As a port, I found Ketchikan to be interesting for two primary reasons.  First, it has the most rainfall of any city in North America, and yet on the day we visited -- we had clear skies and sunshine!  Second, the tide can very up to 24 to 30 fee each day.  Wow!  The main attraction in Ketchikan are the Totem Poles.

Juneau was by far the best port and I wish we could have stayed there longer.  The two main attractions of this port are Whale Watching (Humpback) and the Mendenhall Glacier (you gotta love being in a city where you can take a city bus out to a glacier).

We had to be back on the ship by 1 p.m. for our cruise by Sawyer Glacier later on in the afternoon.  Sawyer Glacier was breathtaking (not to mention a little chilly)!

Pictures of Sawyer Glacier Taken from the Deck of the Norwegian Sky

Skagway was a tourist trap -- not much to see. I could not justify spending $80 to $100 for a train ride on the White Pass Railroad. All land tours can be booked cheaper if you do them yourself when you're in port. The only tour I would book with the cruise ship would be the White Pass Railroad, since it will likely be sold out by time you can get to the ticket office in town.

The Train Engines of the White Pass Railway in Skagway, Alaska.
The engine on the left is for removing snow.

Victoria Island is beautiful.  The two main attractions at this port of call are Butchart Gardens and Whale Watching (Orca / Killer Whale).  If you do not have a designated tour, you will need to either take the city bus or hire a cab to get you downtown to the Gardens and the Whale Watching.

Disembarkation
For the most part, disembarking from the Norwegian Sky was pretty easy.  If you buy any alcohol in the duty free shops on board, be careful to hold the box they give you for your bottles on the bottom.  One couple we passed on the way out was reeling from the despair of having their very large bottle of Absolut Vodka fall through the box and break apart on the sidewalk just outside the ship.

Final Thoughts
We would definitely take Norwegian again, but probably not to Alaska as the night life is just too boring if non-existent.  One final note about the Norwegian Sky - I found out during a future cruise presentation that it is going to be rebadged as "The Pride of Aloha" mid-2004 and redeployed as a US flagged ship in Hawaii.