Alaska Cruise on Norwegian Pearl- Part I- Pre Travel

There was a saying prevalent in the 90s that cruises were for the “newly wed or nearly dead”. It has been a long time since then, and the demographics of the annual 27 million cruise passengers is far more varied and complex.  We took a 7-day Alaska cruise with Norwegian Cruise Lines (www.ncl.com) as part of our family vacation in the United States.  Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., headquartered in Miami, FL, operates 26 ships under the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands, totaling approximately 54,400 berths.  Seattle in the northern state of Washington is the most common origin for Alaska cruise route. 

 

For a first time cruise passenger, the decision making can be somewhat overwhelming.  There are 4-6 major decisions to be taken if one has to make an informed choice.  This is particularly important because of the costs involved, and the strict cancellation rules.  Full payment is taken four months before the sailing date, and about 75% of the full cost becomes non-refundable within two months of the journey (100% in the last week).  I will try to present this article from the perspective of an international tourist and a first time cruise passenger.  The major decisions to be taken before booking are as below:

 

• Month and date (Alaska cruises operate between May-September, 20-25 sailing options each week)
• Cruise route (one way vs. roundtrip; port of departure; preference of locations if any)
• Preference of cruise line (12 cruise lines operate)
• Direct online booking vs through travel agent
• Choice of cabin (six types- prices vary widely depending on choice)
• Choice of one or two from among 5-6 on-board free offers from the cruise line    

 

The first decision to make is whether you want to do a round trip to/from the same port (Seattle,  Vancouver or San Francisco), or a one-way (in which case, you will take a flight from the other end).  Roundtrip is usually the easier for first time international travelers.  This route covers the highlights of Southeast Alaska and return to the same port.  In the second option, travelers see the same locations of Southeast Alaska but also spend more time on land in south central and interior parts of Alaska.  There are five broad types of itineraries-

 

 

Picture courtesy: www.cruisealaska.com

 

The Seattle Inside Passage is the most popular itinerary, with about one-third of all weekly departures being on this route.  This protected waterway is one of the most scenic in the world and one of the few locations where deep-draft vessels can sail close to steep mountain walls.  The attractions in this route are emerald green water, glaciers, forest-clad islands, fjords and charming coastal towns.  Once the route is chosen, one can go either by the preferred date of departure (up to three options on any given day of the week), or by a preferred cruise line if there is any.  Alaska cruises operate between May-September, with 561 sailings listed in a calendar year.  Twelve cruise lines operate in this sector- Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Carnival, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Silversea, Disney Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Crystal and Seabourn Cruise Line.  Between them, the companies run 22-25 cruises in the Alaska region every week.  The cruises are almost always for seven nights.  Some cruises originating in San Francisco are for ten nights.

There is a very helpful cruise calendar for 2018 available in this website: http://www.cruisealaska.com/cgi/calendar2.pl?all+2018

   

Frankly, I did not know much of this when I did my booking.  I have never been on a cruise before.  Our trip was planned at very short notice of less than two months.  Apparently, cruise passengers research, plan and book a year or more in advance.  For us, roundtrip from Seattle, on or about mid-May, was pre-ordained because of our overall itinerary.  So (fortunately) our choice narrowed down significantly.  Among the options, the name Norwegian sounded vaguely familiar; the price point seemed competitive and the date of sailing on a Sunday matched my overall schedule.  For the ticketing, I could easily book online using credit card; but I paused at the last minute and explored local travel agent options.  I called up two from among I knew.  One surprised me by saying they had a group booking of 20+ doctors from Kolkata in the same month, but the date did not exactly match my schedule.  Then I contacted Gainwell Travel (www.gainwelltravel.com) and found that they do cruise bookings, including for Norwegian.  The price they offered was very competitive and comparable with the online rate.  I am glad I booked through them- not only I now had the advantage of making Rupee payment, but also I benefited from their knowledge about cruises and their patience with nagging first time cruise passengers asking dumb questions.  I think their tolerance with me was tested most severely when I had a last minute panic attack 48 hours before the cruise and called them up while traveling on Amtrak train towards Seattle to ask whether food is included in the price of the ticket.  They assured me that “all is well” and I should not worry.  The dumbness of the question became apparent when on board we realized the food options were more than we could gorge on in 7 days- a 24X7 Café serving elaborate breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks buffet and six specialty dining restaurants- all complimentary!

 

There is a wide choice about type of room to choose on a cruise ship.  Our ship had 18 Haven category mega suites at the top deck of the ship, with personal butler and concierge; 10 number 2-bedroom family suites with balcony; 20 Penthouses; 134 mini Suites; 360 rooms with balcony; 243 rooms with ocean view but no balcony and 412 Inside rooms with no view.  These can be at the rear (Aft), middle (Mid) or front (Forward) part of the ship.  Usually the higher category rooms are at the upper decks- 8-12.  Most rooms and suites accommodate an average of 4 guests. 

 

The last major decision is about choosing free on-board offers, if applicable with the category of ticket purchased.  There is a discounted ticket category termed “Sail Away” rate, which usually can’t be combined with other deals and discounts.  The free offers are unlimited beverage package, free specialty dining package, $50 shore excursion credit, 250 minutes of free wifi worth $125, and reduced rate for friends and family.  I wanted unlimited beverage and wifi- I was told our ticket category could only provide the free 250 minutes of wifi.  The beverage package and wifi are the most worthwhile in my opinion.

 

Two other sundry points need to be considered- travel insurance and Canada visa.  There is lot of confusion whether overseas travel insurance covers cruise or not.  Considering that there is significant cost in evacuating a passenger by helicopter in case of a major emergency, this should have been explicitly stated by the insurance companies.  I received two contradictory opinions of yes and no from two different executives of the same company.  Most insurance agents say it is covered, but the brochure is silent about inclusion or exclusion.  I was further confused to note that the offline policy details provided by agents did not match the details provided by the company online.  The online rates were lower too.  At the end, I chose the Indian philosophical way of not worrying about it and just booked a comprehensive travel insurance for my overall trip which included by cruise dates.  There is also a compulsory requirement of Canada visa for Indian nationals.  Seattle based round trip cruises have a compulsory docking in a Canadian port under the U.S. Passenger Vessel Services Act 1886.  Norwegian and most other cruises stop at Victoria in British Columbia.  It takes 3-4 weeks to obtain Canada visa from Kolkata in peak travel season.  We applied 5 weeks in advance and were worried, but luckily received the passports back with visa well in time.

 

The next part of the blog describes out travel experience during the 7-day Alaska Cruise with Glacier Bay on board Norwegian Pearl in May 2018.