When dreaming about an Alaska vacation you may
envision the romantic essence of yourself reeling in King Salmon, roaming the Alaska wilderness shooting wildlife pictures or simply observing the awe-inspiring beauty…but there’s more. cruise booking
Alaska still remains one of the last frontiers on our
planet. Its harsh extremely rugged environment can put any well-equipped adventurer to the test. Yet for the wise, you can engage in a thrilling Alaska vacation, experience the rugged Alaska environment, the awe-inspiring beauty and participate in Alaska’s beckoning adventurous surroundings as much or as little
as you want. And you can do it all from the safety of your home away from home!
Your Alaska vacation setting, your home away from home, is
aboard one of the most spectacular means of transportation known today, a luxury cruise ship. Granted, these cruise ships are monstrous in their own right, dwarfed by jutting mountain peaks and colossal glacier ice fields. Yet, you have the opportunity to experience some of Alaska’s finest, right from the luxury and comfort of your home away from home, a cruise ship. What a theprerollguys
romantic way to travel!
Advantages Of Living In The Northwest…
For those living in the Pacific Northwest, you have the ease and
advantage of experiencing a wondrous Alaska vacation by driving a vehicle to your departure port, either Seattle, Astoria
or Vancouver, B.C.; making your Alaska vacation that much more of a vacation.
You’ll experience the joys from NOT having to deal with the anxieties of a possible flight delay or flight cancellation and no additional strain on the pocket book requiring additional money for flights or possible hotel stays.
If you’re driving, the ideal is to find a friend or family
member to drop you off and pick you up. You do, however, have the option of parking at the Bell Street Garage located directly across from Pier 66, the cruise terminal in Seattle.
Fee: $12.00 per day.
On-line reservations are available through Republic Parking.
Location: 9 Wall Street. Enter at the corner of Alaskan Way and Wall Street.
- 25 handicap parking stalls.
- No oversize or RV parking is available in the garage. Vehicles must be less than 6’6″ high.
- Republic Parking operates the garage. Questions? Call the garage staff at (206) 783-4144.
The ability to leave home and drive to your cruise ship
is truly remarkable. We took that opportunity to engage in an Alaska vacation with Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) the summer of 2004. Previously we’d explored Alaska by air; vehicle, foot and most recently the favorable moment came, to explore Alaska by way of a cruise ship. meridianshrooms
Past Vacations Were Work…
In the past, our Alaska vacation required an immense amount of
planning, organization, and ultimately, “work”, yielding very little time for some true relaxation and quality time with loved ones. An NCL Alaska Cruise allows you to truly relax and spend the necessary quality time with loved ones. The cruise gives you options. If you want to engage yourself into an intense schedule, you can. If you don’t want the intensity, that’s your option.
Cruising With NCL…
We elected to cruise with NCL for various reasons:
they’re very competitive in price, they offer “Free-Style Cruising”, they have fabulous children programs (we could spend some quality romantic time together while the kids were fully involved in the children programs), superb entertainment, an international crew and they were the first cruise line in Seattle. We had to check them out…and that we did!
Six of us, 2-adults and 4-children, set off to explore the
qualities of NCL on an Alaska vacation. Our vessel, the “Norwegian Spirit” was docked at the Port of Seattle, the Pier 66 Terminal. Our scheduled departure was a Saturday afternoon allowing us the relaxing time to get some last minute things together. We were in no rush whatsoever. We could arrive at the ship between 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm. How soothing this was to all the family members.
Arriving at the terminal was a little confusing; it appeared as if every passenger descended on the ship at the same time. Amongst the confusion we found a courteous NCL employee who directed us to the appropriate baggage check-in and ticketing lines. We were impressed how quickly and orderly the lines
flowed. NCL did a fantastic job of getting us through the baggage check-in, ticketing and on-board the ship.
Each passenger is issued an ID card before boarding.
This ID Card serves as your room key, boarding pass and credit card for any onboard shopping. It’s imperative that you guard it like your credit card, do not leave it unattended. You’ll need it in ALL ports of call for departing and boarding the ship.
Before the ship left the Seattle dock, on to our Alaska
vacation, we were exploring. The Spirit carries 1,996 passengers with a crew of 920. That’s nearly 1-crew member for every 2-passengers! And we have to say; the crew was there to serve us and make sure we had the absolute best Alaska vacation. We appreciated all of the nationalities represented on the Spirit. It’s truly a vessel of international flair.
Our kids, of course, loved the stern section of the ship,
the Kids Club. It’s amazing, an entire mini-amusement park with tunnels, tubes and balls, a pool with slides, fountains and a mock pirate ship yielding water-spouting cannons that make up the upper portion of the stern section. This is a kid’s heaven. When our kids were tired of the water games (that rarely
happened), the arcade was only steps away. universalblogs
The restaurants on board were numerous from fine dining to
buffet style and fast food offered 24-hours a day. You’ll never go hungry. If you’re dieting to lose weight, put the diet on hold for the duration of the cruise. You’ll want the flexibility to enjoy all the fabulous food entrees.
The Many Options…
We especially enjoyed the many options of simply watching
whales spout, the beautiful scenery passing us by, picking up a movie in the theater, dining, playing cards, trying our luck in the casino, listening to some live entertainment at one of the many bars, lounging on the deck by one of the pools, pumping iron at the gym, shooting some hoops on the basketball court…the
list seems endless. This is the ultimate Alaska vacation; you can do it all, part or nothing.