Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Life Aboard

Thought I would mention a couple of things today that would be helpful to our NEW cruisers, and a reminder to our old hands.

As you can imagine, if you own a ship that gets about 1 INCH to the gallon of diesel fuel, you have to have lots of sources of income besides just the basic fare price.  ALL CRUISE lines therefore have other ways to make money.  We have a page of the specialty restaurants with the cover charges, so you already know about that. 

They have several "stores" on board where you can buy everything from razor blades to the most expensive jewelery and perfume.  As this is the next to the last Alaska cruise, you might find some bargain things related to Alaska that they would rather discount than send back to Florida for next year.  The best bargains will be after we leave Prince Rupert on our last night at sea. 

Photographers will want you to pose at every port in front of a sign, as well as circulate through the dining rooms to take pictures.  On formal night they will have a number of locations set up to take formal photos.  All these are displayed in the area reserved for them and you can buy them or pull them from the rack and put them in the recycle containers located there. 

Of course the Casino will make some money as well as the Spa.  They may also have the drink special of the day which if you ask for a PLAIN GLASS, you won't have to pay for the plastic souvenir glass it would otherwise come in.  There are other things you may be asked to purchase during the cruise.  It is always acceptable to just nod your head no, and say "no thanks."

Before we leave Seattle, we will have a life boat drill.  This is required by the US Coast Guard.  You will be directed to your "muster station" so you will know where to go in case the STAR sinks.  The cabins ARE CHECKED to see that EVERYBODY shows up at their station.  Your muster station is shown on a card attached to the inside of your cabin door.  People in wheelchairs and anyone who is claustrophobic will be ushered to a separate area adjacent to the outside deck area where they would have normally been placed.  Otherwise you line up, usually 5 rows deep on the outside deck, listen to the instructions, wait till the ship sounds its horn and then you are free to go to your cabin.  This will be about 4:30pm on Saturday.

Monday, July 25, 2011

46 DAYS TO GO !

I added some more feedback from Star cruisers to the blog today.  At the bottom of the page "BEEN THERE - DID THIS" in the section about the SHIP, (last section on the bottom of the page) I combined some feedback by topic.  So you will see 12, 12a and so on reflecting that several reviewers are offering comments about that topic.  A number of the ship's restaurants are now highlighted in that section with comments from cruisers about what they experienced.

One of the shore excursions that is getting RAVE reviews in Juneau is the catamaran boat trip to the Sawyer Glacier.  You'll find all the review info under the yellow highlighted "Tracy Arm......" on the "BEEN THERE - DID THIS" page, in the Juneau section.  If you would really like to get within a few hundred yards of a glacier face, this is THE trip for that!  The tour is on the Juneau page, in the bottom section of that page where the NCL tours are located.

If you have completed your registration process on the NCL website, you might check back there to see if your E-Docs are ready to print.  These you need to print yourself.  Your passenger "packet" which is mailed to you does not have the information that your E-Docs contain.  If you booked NCL shore excursions they will appear on your E-Docs.  Check that out.  I have a booking for an excursion I never made, so I have to call and cancel that.  When you get to the dock in Seattle you need the E-Docs, your passenger packet, passport and credit card with you. 

"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO" is being updated everytime I get an email from you about your plans for shore excursions.  It's surprising to see how many excursions there are with few duplications among our group!

Keep checking back  :)

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Still Tinkering 'round

My earlier efforts put some of the comments of our fellow travellers in with the tour descriptions on the port pages.  I realized recently that additional comments were going to really clutter up the tours, so today I cleaned all the Port pages of reviews / comments of others who have taken these same excursions, and pulled them all over to the "BEEN THERE - DID THIS" page.  The are arranged on that page by the Port.  As more people return from their cruises we will see more infomation coming to that page. 

I added some pictures to the "LETS EAT" page last night.

We had a post on "WHAT TO BRING" that was getting buried here on the home page.  So I took that off and made a page for that by itself.  On the Cruise Critic site, we had a seven page discussion going about things that other cruisers had found helpful to bring along.  There were about 24 really good suggestions to add to the page, so take a look at that page.  If you think we missed something that would be useful, drop me an email and we will add it to the list for everyone.

If you have your registration completed, you probably received some email from NCL today.  As we get in closer to sailing time, you will see more from them.  Your sailing documents will be mailed to you in another couple of weeks.  These include among other things all your acknowledgment paperwork and lugage tags for you bags.  If you are flying, don't put the ship tags on until you claim your bags at SEA-TAC.  These are color coded for your deck and help the stewards get your stuff to your room after it is Xrayed. 

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

NEW PAGE !

Hi Cruisers - 
Yea - we are in the single digit count - down to our cruise! 
  • The blog has a new page called "LETS EAT"  Besides being pampered by your attentive room steward, cruising is a good opportunity to try out some different cuisine.  The new page gives you the list of all the restaurant and eating spots that are included in your cruise fare.  Below that is the list of all the Specialty places, and I did get all the menu's for all of them.
  • If you haven't responded to me about the Meet & Greet that will take place on the ship, please email me.  We need a good head count for the food and refreshments being planned.   
  • Check the "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO" page for the latest updates on what shore excursions our group is planning / booking.  Lots to see and do in all the ports - the challenge is how long we are there and the cost.  If you haven't shared yet, email me with your info so I can add it in.  So far you all have made a wide range of choices - so there will be lots to talk about in sharing our experiences!
  • The "WHO IS GOING" page is complete.
  • I checked today with the local Verizon store, and they assured me that you will have cell service in all the Alaska ports, and for most plans - NO roaming charges.  This will be handy to stay in touch while in port between you and whoever, rather than rely on walkie-talkies.  If you use another provider - not Verizon - check to see they have free coverage. 

Saturday, July 16, 2011

EXCURSIONS

Several of you have picked your excursions.  By the way - the White Pass Railroad one is NOT sold out, it was a computer glitch and it is still open for booking on the NCL offering (see previous post).  You might like to know if anyone in our group is going to be on your excursion with you.  Perhaps you can save them a seat, or share some time during the excursion.  To make that possible, if you would like to share the excursions you have chosen, send me an email.  You need to be sure to give me your departure time as some excursions run multiple times during the day.

I also updated the port pages with information about what other cruise ships will be in port when the Star with you on board arrives.  They will have different arrival and departure times.  All our ports will be gangway to pier - no tendering by small boat to a wharf. 

When you get on board you will get a photo ID which you have to either swipe in a machine to get on and off the ship, or it will have a bar code that will be read with a scanner.  The purpose of this is to keep the ship's computer updated with where you are.  If you got off, when you got off, and when you got back on.  The ship uses this information at sailing time to insure that all guests are back on board.  If you are not back at sailing time, one of two things can happen.  If you are on a NCL excursion, the ship may wait for you to get back before sailing.  Or they may arrange for you to meet the ship at the next port (very rare).  You still have to use diligence about returning before sailing time - but the ship will not leave without making an effort to locate you.  Tour operators that contract with NCL and other cruise lines have to meet performance standards, and part of that is to make sure passengers are not delayed beyond sailing time. 

The Who is Going? page has been updated again today

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

More Updates

Added some more folks to the "Who is going page" and put the port times on the pages that were missing that.

Remember when you are looking at the pages on the blog, to scroll down to the absolute bottom before you leave the page.  I have heard from some of you that you aren't seeing some things that are there, and that is because you are not going all the way down the page.  Some of the pages are really long.  Also, you might find that the port pages are loading slower, that is because of all the graphics that accompany the NCL shore excursions.  So wait for the page to fully load and be sure to scroll down !

I have an inquiry in regarding the White Pass Railroad excursion in Skagway.  The NCL web page to book the tour is acting like it is sold out.  If it is I will be getting information on how to get on a wait list if you are interested.  That information will appear here on the home page, so keep checking in to get the latest!

10 weeks from now you will be sailing from Seattle !!!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Page UPdates

Added another entry to the Who is Going? page.  I am hoping to get that completed shortly.  It is interesting to me how we are all linked together in some way or another.  I hope you will find the page interesting.

The Been There did This page got updated today with sample menu's for some of the on-board ship restaurants.  You don't want to read these menu's if you are hungry!  The menu's and the various dining rooms are explained at the bottom of the page.  I would not say that these will be the exact menu's you will see, but they are going to be pretty close.  The Room Service menu should be completely correct.

Keep checking back here - more stuff to come !

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Bridge Camera

Not a lot to see, but you might take a peek from time to time to see what it looks like from the bridge of the Star.

http://www.ncl.com/shipcams/starcam/fullsize.jpg

Added the parking garage cost to the "Get me to Seattle" page - see the yellow highlight there.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

ALL NCL Shore Excursions on the blog !

8pm Wednesday evening, and I have loaded the last of the shore excursions to Skagway and Ketchikan.  Now you have more things to choose from than ever before!  When choosing just be mindful of the amount of time you have in each port.  It is tempting to do several things, but each of these has a expected amount of time it takes to do, so being able to do 2 things in a day might be pretty much the limit.  

I'll be working on a couple of more things for the blog as we go along.  You might want to check in at the Been There -  did this page for updates from cruisers coming back from this cruise and what their experiences have been. I will be updating that a lot in the next few weeks.  Lots of good tips can come from learning what works and what didn't. Some of them might save you either money or time.   

Also be looking for a new page - all about YOU!  You can hum the tune "getting to know you..." and read a few lines about each of you that will be on board.  You might find you have a lot in common with someone else in the group.  

Finaly, keep checking back here !  Sorry to sound like a broken record on that point, but if you don't stop in to visit you just might miss the thing that was really important to you!     

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Important Thing # 1

So it is time to start the next phase of getting on the ship.  That's called REGISTERING.  While our agent Donna has done all the front end work, you still have to register.  When you get to the check in counter in Seattle on Sept 10, they will have everything they need from you except to swipe your credit card number and show you on board!  So here's what you need to do:

go to http://www.ncl.com/

In the top right corner you will see "Register".  If you have salied NCL before, you can "log in" if you have your user name and password.  For most of you "Register" is the place to click.  You are going to need a couple of things to fill out the forms.  First you need your RESERVATION number.  That's on the paperwork you received from Donna.  Next you need you PASSPORT number, and expiration date.  After that it is who to notify if you get into trouble and need bail money (Alaska jails are terrible!).  After you complete all that you can book at shore tours that you have chosen from these blog pages.  The titles for the tours on my pages are exactly the same you will see on the list that is presented to you.  Also, if you want to choose your tours later, you can come back to the home page of NCL and book your tours later.

If you have any problems or questions you know my email address  :)

Important Thing # 2

I completed my on-line booking today (more about that later), and despite the fact that one page on the NCL website gave me 3 shore excursions for each port,
                       .......... when I completed the booking activity, and looked at reserving an excursion, I found a huge list of excursions for each port. 

So, on one page of the NCL website you have the limited choices that I have shown for the past several weeks, and when you complete your booking - hello ! there is a entirely new list ! 

So I will re-work my pages to include those things from NCL.  . Just another example of web MANIA !

The Prince Rupert page and the Juneau page are now reworked.  Tomorrow for the other two.. phew !!!  35 new things to see and do with NCL in Juneau, and 4 new ones for Prince Rupert..