NCL Sun on May 2nd

My wife and I are trying to get information on the cruise we have already booked. The NCL Sun leaves Vancouver on May the 2nd. Will we be able to go to Sawyer Glacier as advertised or will there be too much ice? Will most of the tour companies be up and running that week? What type of weather shoujld we expect? Our cabin is at the front of the ship on the Pool deck. What extra fees will NCL charge us. Can we wash our clothes on the ship? If you could only choose one excursion, which one would it be?

Thanks for your help.

NCL Sun on May 2nd

Welcome to TA.

Chances are slim to none that you will get to the glacier. But the scenery in the fjord is tremendous.

Many tour companies will be operating by then, especially the ones contracted by the cruise line. Which one(s) are you especially interested in? I generally book independent operators and you need to check directly with those to see if they are operating.

Weather is the biggest if. Expect rain and extreme cold (below 50?) some days. But the packing list is basically the same as for a cruise in July - layers, hat, gloves, rain gear.

There is a whole message board called cruisecritic.com that will tell you more specifics about things like extras (very little is ';mandatory'; except for maybe the tips that are strongly suggested). I rarely have a large on board bill but I spent most of my time off the ship and when on the ship I am up front watching the scenery and looking for wildlife.

The laundry question can also be answered by looking at the NCL threads on cruisecritic. I have done laundry in Skagway before. Very convenient - one of the first off the ship at 7am, laundry done by 8am, doing the NPS activities before 9am, then had a nice long hike up to the Upper Reid Falls.

John

NCL Sun on May 2nd

Thank you for your post. Even if the cruise ship doesn%26#39;t go to Sawyer Glacier, would the tour companies go?

Thanks John.

Me again

We are not fans of cruising but knew this was the easiest and most affordable way for us to do the Inside Passage, a long time dream of my husbands

We picked NCL for the freestyle and the Inside Passage.

We usually stay at All Inclusive resorts so we felt very nickled and dimed all the time. No cash, they swipe your room card, add a tip then leave a line to add more if you want! I think a Coke was $3.50! But we knew this before we went and planned and not doing much extra on the ship.

We did do two different Free style dinners but mostly ate at the buffet and included diners. Food was very good but felt service to be rude and cold, not what we are used to at other places.

Cabin was nice, plenty of room. We brought a laptop to do research, keep intouch with family at home and to burn pictures and videos. Also watched a few movies as TV wasn%26#39;t great and to do anything activity wise on the ship was an extra charge.

As I said before in another post we booked whale watching and the White Pass train. We have done whale watching in Mexico and it was amazing and wanted to see them again. Our tour was very good and informative but to take pictures was nearly impossible. You are inside a glass enclosed area, it was crowded and it was pouring rain. We saw a few whales and other wild life but we saw just as much or more from our balcony.

The train again was beautiful and very imformative. We did not see any wildlife except for a few mountain gaots but they were so far away we couldn%26#39;t get good pictures.

Eagles we saw from the cruise ship each time we came into port and as we were leaving.

I would like to have done the helicopter trip onto a glacier but I am terrified of flying and no way could I do that! Plus very expensive.

If I had to pick one of the two, it would be hard. What water life we saw was great and the train was beautiful.

I did do laundry on the Pearl, not sure if the Sun has laundry open to the public or not.

Feel free to ask any other questions you might have