Norwegian Sun - September 16 - 23, 2006
Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) has introduced a new twist to cruising – at least new for us. They call it Freestyle Cruising. Basically – you have no assigned tables and no assigned dining time. You decide if you want to eat in one of the formal dining rooms or in one of the cafés or restaurants on board ship. The only catch is that the restaurants charge a “cover charge” to eat Italian, Mexican, Japanese, or what ever specialty restaurant you may choose. For the life of me, I have never understood why someone would take a cruise for which they paid good money which includes all the food you want, only to pay more for some other type of food on the cruise.
Now, another aspect of Freestyle Cruising is the dress code. The only code is no blue jeans, tee shirts or swim wear in the formal dining rooms after 5:30 PM. Resort Casual is the dress every evening. There are two formal nights; well actually they are optional formal. So if you want to dress up, you do, if you want to dress down you do. If you want to wear jeans or shorts, you eat in the café. It really is very simple; just not too sure if I like it.
The Norwegian Sun is a smaller ship than we have been used to. The upside is that it is easier to find your way around and not get lost. The staff are friendly and very helpful. The stateroom was clean - unlike the last couple cruises we took. The shower was probably the smallest with about a two foot diameter circle - really, a circle.
The food is not the most upscale in the restaurants, but our waiter Eugene and his assistant Simona were great. We had s couple others at lunch and decided to always ask for Eugene and Simona - the utmost attention to detail and friendly too. Kudos to both of them.
Ketchikan
The first port of call was Ketchikan, Alaska. “Alaska’s First City” is a culturally laden port of call, characterized by having more Totem Poles than anywhere else in the world. It’s actually known by many names including, “Totem Town” and “King Salmon Capital of the World”, Ketchikan is home to the largest Native population in the state of Alaska.
Before Spanish settlers showed up in the 1700’s, Tongass and Cape Fox Natives called it “Kitchk-him”, the meaning of which is unknown, but believed to be associated with “eagle winged river”, as Ketchikan does spread out in the distinct form of an eagle in flight. Like many towns in Alaska, it was the Yukon Gold Rush that helped it grow,. During WWII it turned into a hub for pulping activities. Today, between 8,000 and 15,000 people call Ketchikan home, depending on the season of course.
Even though the first day at sea was grey, cold and rainy this second day in our first port of call was beautiful. The “liquid sunshine” as the Master of the ship called it gave way to sunny skies and temperatures in the mid to upper 50’s. If it were not for the temperature and the obvious Alaskan souvenirs in many of the shops, you would almost think you were on St. Thomas or some other Caribbean island. The same jewelry shops lined the streets filled with gold, diamonds, emeralds, sapphires and all manner of gemstones.
We didn’t take any excursions. I must say – this had the highest costing excursions that I have ever encountered. Many were in the $200 - $350 range. To be fair though I must say that most of the high priced excursions required a seaplane or helicopter flight.
Juneau
The second port of call was Juneau, Alaska. Juneau is dramatically set on the Gastineau Channel at the base of Mt. Roberts. While it is the capital and the third largest city in Alaska, its small town atmosphere still exists today. It lies within the world’s largest temperate rain forest, the Tongass National Forest. Encompassing 3,105 square miles, it is the largest city in the area in the United States, although its population is about 30,000.
We didn’t take any excursions in Juneau either. We were only in port for about 6 hours which meant getting up early to take most of the tours. Frankly – panning for gold in some salted gravel or grabbing a salmon bake (remember my reservations about buying food when on a food inclusive cruise) did not warrant an early rising.
We did wander around town. My highlight was visiting the Red Dog Saloon again. I was there about 20 years ago when I visited Alaska on a travel agent fam trip. (I moonlighted as a travel agent with World Wide Travel Magic – Hi Anna, Nancy & Cindy!) The Red Dog Saloon has a long history as an early frontier saloon. It is still known as the place to meet people and to leave your mark. The floors are strewn with saw dust (no smoking allowed anymore); the walls, tables, chairs, ceilings and anything else standing are marked by graffiti of thousands of visitors. A couple walls are covered ceiling to floor with business cards. A cheeky piano player adds to the environment.
While crossing the street in a pedestrian crossing, Ron was hit by a car. Luckily he jumped back as the car hit his forearm resulting in bruising only. Ron was more concerned about the old man who hit him and kept trying to calm him down so he would not have a heart attack. I was busy taking pictures of the Red Dog Saloon and missed getting pictures of the accident. I didn’t even realize it had happened until Ron told me after it was all over.
Sawyer Glacier
After leaving Juneau we cruised up Tracy Arm Fjord to Sawyer Glacier. Tracy Arm is a long narrow fjord extending about thirty miles into the wilderness. At the upstream end of the fjord is the glacier. The raising and lowering action of the tides cause icebergs to be calved from the glacier face. We encountered many “icebergs” enroute to the glacier. Most were small – in the 2 to 4 feet range. However, remember that only about 10% shows above the surface so that can leave a pretty scary amount under the surface. Occasionally we could hear the scraping of ice on the hull – dredging up memories of the Titanic.
It rained the whole way which really put a damper on the sights. Add that to the fact that we could not get close to the glacier because it has retreated back so far (obviously this did not happen in the past year due to the distance) the experience was mostly disappointing. We were told that this cruise used to, and most cruises do, visit Glacier National Park. I have seen exciting video from GNP showing relatively close proximity to the glacier face and calving (the breaking off of ice chunks) occurring with the famous white thunder roar. Once again, my expectations far exceeded reality. I guess I must work on getting my expectations under control.
You can see in the picture the closest we got to the glacier. It is behind the island between the two dipping mountains. Frustrating? You Bet!
Skagway
Skagway, Alaska is our third port of call. It lies at the head of the Lynn Canal and is the gateway to the Golden Interior. This small town sits at the top of the Inside Passage, framed by the deep waters of Taiya Inlet and the rugged Coast Mountains. Its distinctive name comes from the Tlingit word skagua, which is said to mean “home of the north wind.” Legend has it that as the wind blows so much; you will never breathe the same air twice. Downtown Skagway was restored with old shop fronts and buildings and looks very much the same as it did when it was a gold rush boomtown in the 1890’s. In many ways, Skagway remains a gold rush town today. You can relive the “Days of 98” on the “Skagway Street Car” or become a prospector and try your hand at gold panning at the “Klondike Gold Dredge.”
We took an excursion here. The White Pass Scenic Railway tour was most interesting. It is about a 26 mile round trip up to the White Pass border between the United States and Canada. Build in about 2.5 years in 1898 – 1900 it filled a need for a better method of transportation for “stampeders”, as the gold rush guys were called, to get from Skagway – the last stop by water and the gold fields in the Yukon. Until then they had a narrow trail up the mountain to the pass. What made things more difficult was the Canadian government required each prospector to bring a year’s worth of food and supplies with them in order to enter Canada enroute to the Yukon. This equates to about 2,000 pounds of food and supplies. Because of the altitude and steep incline, mules and horses could not be used. Most those were used ended up dying under the weight before reaching the pass. It is rumored that at one spot on the trail horses would commit suicide rather than continue the trek. As a result, prospectors had no alternative but to make multiple trips up and down the mountain to bring their grubstake to the boarder. The average load that a prospector could carry was 50 pounds. When the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad was completed, the ticket cost $5.00. Today it cost us $106 each – but a cut goes to NCL. I was told that the ticket purchased direct from the WP&YR RR cost $95.
I am not sure if the trip was worth $106, but it was a beautiful trip. Unfortunately it rained most of the way up and down with low clouds blocking much of the view. We did get a quick glimpse of a Bald Eagle and a good look at three caribou as well as going through a couple tunnels and over a couple wooden trestles. As beautiful as it was, I can only imagine what it would be like on a clear day. The railroad shuts down next week (because of weather) and reopens in May. This is also NCL’s last cruise of the season. This ship is repositioning to the Caribbean next week.
A learning experience presents itself here. You can always find the same, or similar, excursions onshore when you arrive at a port of call for less than what you would pay on ship. However, if you book your own excursion and do not return to the ship on time – for whatever reason – the ship will sail without you. Depending upon what port you are in, this can cost you thousands of dollars to get to the next port of call to re-board the ship. We booked through the ship. We paid more. Our train arrived back 10 minutes after the all aboard time and the gang plank was still down and waiting. The next train got back 40 minutes late – 30 minutes after the all aboard time and 10 minutes after the set sail time and the ship was still waiting. The ship will wait for any shore excursion it arranged it will not wait for any shore excursion you arrange. The little extra paid can be considered as insurance against any unforeseen problems. In my opinion, money well spent. You see, I always loose money in casinos, so you can bet I would loose on this bet too.
Prince Rupert, Canada
Prince Rupert is located on Kaien Island and is home to one of the world’s largest naturally ice-free harbors. The Tsimshian and Haida nations of indigenous peoples were the first inhabitants of Kaien Island. Prince Rupert was founded in 1906 as the western terminus of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. It was intended to compete with the Vancouver operations of the Canadian Pacific and Canadian Northern Railways. The town’s design was inspired by a proposal for Tacoma, Washington that was developed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. In 1906 the Grand Trunk Pacific ran a contest to name the new city. The winner was “Prince Rupert” after the first governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company. When Prince Rupert was incorporated in 1910 the railway transferred its control of the settlement to the city. Prince Rupert holds the title of the rainiest city in Canada with an average annual rainfall of 94.4 inches. Guess that means no sun for this port of call either.
Well I was wrong. The day was relatively warm with no rain – overcast but no rain. We did not take any of the excursionsto see the native sights. We did take a quick drive around town and stopped at a mall – yuck, and a strip of tourist stores with grossly overpriced native crafts. We did pick up a toy submarine (that came in cereal boxes in the 50's and runs on baking powder) at one of the shops. We were told that last week there were 38 bald eagles spotted in the trees over the tourist strip, but the only thing in the trees this week were crows. We did see three totem poles in our trip around town. All in all – this is a port of call that can be missed in my estimation.
End of Cruise Overview
Overall, this was not one of our better cruises. The food was not up to the standard I have come to expect of cruise ships. The chef(s) used way too much salt in most of the food – especially the soups. There was no salt substitute available (however, I was told that they have Egg Beaters when I asked for salt substitute – the lesson is ask anything and you might find out something). All the chowders had cream of celery as its base – obviously the chef was not from New England. One night Ron had a 2 inch piece of straw wrapper in his soup and I had a 1.5 inch stick and two bay leaves in my manicotti. The asst. Maitre D’ came over and apologized. She said the chef has been informed and wants to “make it up to us” and asked for our stateroom number. A couple hours later room service brought a plate of mixed fruit to the stateroom. When I brought it back to the Maitre D’ she just could not understand that we would not want more food. I tried to explain that the chef sending more food to apologize on an all you can eat cruise is meaningless; that there were more meaningful ways to "make it up". She never understood and we never heard more about it. I am sure they think the issue is over, I am not so sure it is.
The entertainment was good – not great. The ports of call were all great except Prince Rupert. The food was attractively presented but not the tastiest. (I did love the escargot and a couple other dishes.) The table service was generally slow and we had to remind the waiter of items ordered and not yet received – especially at breakfast. [With the outstanding exception of Eugene and Simona as previously noted]. There were no sommeliers on board - the waiter took care of wine needs. The drink waiters were aggressive, but that is not unusual. The drinks were overpriced – more so than I recall on other cruises. The experience with the glacier at Tracy Arm was disappointing. The cabin steward was efficient. Overall the entire staff was knowledgeable and solicitous.
The Freestyle Cruising concept on the other hand is brilliant. The ability to walk into a formal dining room any time while it is open and get a table of any size you want and request a specific waiter is great. The demand on the wait staff is bigger; timing all of their tables based upon different start times is difficult. Of course there are other cafés open too which allow shorts and swimwear if that is your preference.
Overall Score would be a C+ – Slightly above average.
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