We just came back from 6/23/07 cruise on NCL Star's Alaska Sawyer Glacier trip. It was simply AMAZING! For those of you who are THINKING of going to Alaska, think no more - book one as soon as you can! For those of you who have already booked the trip and are just waiting for the day to arrive, RELAX -- you will enjoy the trip! You need to plan ahead to get the best deal. Alaska trip is very costly, especially if you add the shore excursions. Discuss with your family and choose the ones that best suite your interest and budget. (Of course, if money is no object to you, you can ignore this advice.) Remember to bring your passport. You will need it.
We are a family of four from Long Island and have cruised on NCL before. We can't quite afford a room with a balcony yet (still paying junior's hefty college tuition), so we settled for the next best thing - an Obstructed View Stateroom on the 8th floor. I booked this room (8068) because it was in between a small boat and a larger one. I gamble on the fact that we can see more from this view - and I was right. The window was large enough to see the ice caps on the top of the mountains and icebergs on the water below. The view was worth the price. I booked this room in the early spring and was very glad I did. I also booked our flights into Seattle in advance through Cheaptickets.com. (It was much cheaper than booking through NCL.) The website notified me of any flight changes through email. It was all very convenient. At the same time, I also booked our hotels in Seattle. I picked the hotels based on the cruise critics' recommendations. So, many thanks to all the people who wrote about their experiences - even the negative ones. It was both insightful and helpful. Thank you for taking the time to do that.
We flew into Seattle the night before on American Airlines. We stayed at Sleep Inn and had their courtesy shuttle pick us up from the airport. The driver was very friendly, even at 11:00 PM! In the morning there was a free continental breakfast. The hotel was clean, comfortable and cheap. A room with two double beds cost $89.91, taxes included. The hotel also arranged a town car to pick us up in the morning and take us to the pier. This cost $40, not including tips.