From reviews of our scenery to our attractions and dining, we cull the reports those that have dropped in for a visited and posted their thoughts about on the cruisecritic.com website
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August 2010
Norwegian Star
KandJCruising-- Since the prop was working again we added Prince Rupert back to the lineup. We just walked around town in Prince Rupert and enjoyed a little local seafood. (full cruise review) No Port of call rating provided
Travelling withKids-- Prince Rupert was so disappointing. Looks pretty from afar. We took a tour of the city and viewed houses. I'm not kidding you! We saw new houses, old houses, stores. Not fun. (full cruise review) No Port of call rating provided
Sailorgirl222--We did not book an excursion in Prince Rupert and I must say that I have yet to figure out why any ship would dock there. It is very small and there is absolutely nothing to do. We saw the entire town by foot in 1 hour. There is a little shopping area (read: 3 stores) near the dock with specialty (expensive) merchandise. There is a mall but don’t waste your time. It is nearly empty. (full cruise review) No Port of call rating provided
July 2010
Norwegian Star
lalex-- They are always better excursion deals outside the ship; except Prince Rupert. The NCL cruise will not allow you to book anything outside of them at this port. This was probably our most disappointing port. We went walking around for about an hour and returned back to our ship. We ate supper and then took a Crab Discovery Excursion. It was informational and good for small children, but definitely not worth the $130 per person. You also received a crab dish and complementary drink. Make sure you get back to your ship by the designated time or your ship will leave you. Many people were left behind. The Discovery Sea Life & Crab Excursion crew asked us to put reviews in so other cruise ship will stop at this port. It was my least favorite port, there is not much to do here. NCL had all the excursion bookings for this port. So it was very expensive. I had booked in advance the Kutzeymateen Bear excursion, but received an email 2 weeks prior to embarkment that they cancelled this excursion. So I am scrambling at the last minute to find an excursion. So we did the Crab Excursion. The crew was very knowledgeable about the sea life and eagles. They put crab traps in the water and we collected them later in the trip. They cooked some crab for us to eat. They threw fat up to the eagles, and they swooped down to collect the fat around our boats. It was not worth the $130/pp charge. (full cruise review) Port of call rating 2.0
davideb-- Short times in port. Had to leave Juneau at 1:30, for example. (But unlike many people, we actually enjoyed Prince Rupert, because it seemed like a real town, not a tourist trap, and wasn't filled with other ships). (full cruise review) No Port of call rating provided
knotgillty-- We woke up to beautiful views outside our balcony (again) and just lounged around since we did not dock in Prince Rupert until late afternoon. After eating a yummy breakfast in the main dining room, we hung out and played a little bingo. Once we docked in Prince Rupert, we left the ship and made the mistake of going up the hill where the shopping consisted of a mall. If I wanted to go to a regular mall, I can do that at home. So we walked back down to the ship and shopped in the 4 or 5 small shops right next to the Star at the bottom of the town. Prince Rupert is relatively small and we did not find a lot to do. Our excursion was cancelled because of a lack of participation so we just shopped. The ladies found a craft fair and enjoyed that while the guys briefly shopped and then returned to the ship. I did get some great video of an eagle that was sitting on a roof top (about 30 feet away) eating a pigeon. That was really cool. There were several eagle nests nearby and 4 or 5 eagles were always close to us at the bottom of town. Prince Rupert has a few touristy souvenir type shops near the boat at the waters edge of the marina. Make sure you don’t make the uphill walk away from the marina unless you want to shop at a typical mall, the likes of which you can find at home (full cruise review) No Port of call rating provided.
chaslexi-- Prince Rupert (Canada) was forgettable except for the scenery. Don’t forget your passports which you also need to re-enter the US in Seattle. I ended up taking my daughter on a 3.5 hour kayak tour which was well worth it. However, not being experienced kayakers we got very tired 1.5 hours into it and found ourselves dying by the end to get back to the beach where we started from as the clock ticked towards 8pm and getting darker and colder. But the tour cooked up free crab and donuts at the end and they were very friendly and informative. (full cruise review) No port of call rating provided.
purplecatlady-- If Skagway is the place to be, Prince Rupert is the place not to be. If your looking to just go for a walk Prince Rupert is for you. Make sure you buy any souvenirs prior to getting here, because they don't have much other than art work from natives in the area. You will see bald Eagles here, which is nice. If you have the money, make sure you take a shore excursion here, otherwise you'll probably be bored. (full cruise review) Port of call rating 2.0
travelstudy-- Prince Rupert was a total waste of time, although it is a short walk from the ship there is nothing much to do unless you book an excursion. NCL is the only ship to stop at this port which may tell the visitor something since most go on and stop in Victoria where there are more sights and interesting places to visit. Prices are higher in the stores by at least three or more dollars. There are two museums, but they tend to be overcrowded since there is not much of anything else to do in the town. Beautiful view of the ocean, but nothing special. (full cruise review) No Port of call rating provided.
June 2010
Norwegian Star
legato-- Pretty setting, weather unexpectedly sunny. Dreary port town with no touristy shops like the previous 3 ports that we could find on a quick look. Returned to the ship to eat in the main restaurant. Too much time in this port. Would've prefered super-touristy but interesting Victoria as our Canada port. (full cruise review) Port of call rating 2.0
Raven Lightfoot-- and finally my favorite, the Sealife and crab extravaganza in Prince Rupert. The crab was great, but the close encounters with many amazing eagles that is what I loved the most. (full review of cruise) No Port of call rating provided
steelgoddess-- Prince Rupert - no scheduled excursion. Great weather so we just walked around a while. Had Fish and chips again, this time at Smiles next to the marina. Very good. Large portions so order a large and split it. Across the street was Cowpuccinos. Cute coffee shop with a nice view of the marina. Don't expect much from Prince Rupert and you won't be disappointed. I took some of my best pictures there. Colorful area with lots of eagles. Bought Canadian Maple Syrup for gifts. Use small american dollars because all change is given in Canadian dollars and cents. (full review of cruise) No Port of call rating provided
sweetnlo-- Ports of call--all great choices but Prince Rupert??! Not a tourist destination at all. I saw other reviews that said the same. I've never been to a port that had nothing to offer.Not a tourist destination! No reason to stop there. An hour walking around and people were lined up to get back onboard! I've never seen that happen before. (full cruise review) Port of call rating 1.0
medford 2--We pulled in to Prince Rupert at 4pm on Thursday. We were scheduled to pull out at 10pm. It was a cloudy, cool, drizzly day, and started raining harder after we returned to the ship. Prince Rupert, BC, is a picturesque small town nestled into the mountains, right on the coast. From the number of boats I saw, I would say commercial fishing is the mainstay of their economy, along with our cruise ship. I don't know if any other ship besides ours stops here or not. We just got out and looked around a little. It was a stampede for everybody to get off the ship, even though we had a hamburger basket at the Blue Lagoon when disembarking started to give the crowd a little time to disperse. Don't forget your passport. All we basically found was a tidy little town with the customary tourist trap souvenir gift shops close to the dock. Then there was a stampede back on the ship when everybody realized there really wasn't anything here. Got my picture taken with a Mountie. Told him I was a cop too. He didn't seem impressed. In my opinion, if I had a choice of visiting Prince Rupert, or spending the time at sea, I'd pick Prince Rupert, but I'd much rather take Prince Rupert completely off the itinerary, and give us more time in the other three ports. (full cruise review) Port of call rating 1.0
sadied--One of the ports was Prince Rupert where it rains almost constantly. There is little other than the museum to see and that has been sewn up by the cruise line so it is really a useless port when they could have stopped instead at Vancouver or Victoria, both glorious cities. No doubt hey are cutting costs but the passenger doesn't get any benefit. Someone needs to wake up Norwegian.( full cruise review) No Port of call rating provided
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May 2010
Norwegian Star
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Clicquot- Don't bother to get off the ship, There is NOTHING here. The one gift shop Number 2 on the Where to Shop pamphlet) is about 500 square feet. It's easy to miss, we walked right past it. (full cruise review) Port of call rating 1.0
tpen!66-- Honestly, aside from being in another country... was not worth getting off the boat. Very little to see or do there. We did go to a nice museum which was worth the $6 admission. The highlight there was an entertaining eagle and some good pics. (full cruise review) Port of call rating 1.0
BKBMN--The only reason I can figure that NCL stops in Prince Rupert is to have a foreign port before returning to the US. We saw no NCL shore excursions that looked remotely interesting, and none of the trips being sold on the dock were any more interesting. The weather was nice, so we walked up the hill into town and to a mall, where we were able to buy Wi Fi access for $2 per hour. Half of the storefronts in town are vacant. There are several blocks of vacant lots, and even a burned out building. The town center appears to mainly serve fishing crews. How else would you explain 5 barber shops, and a bar that does not open until 9 PM? The fire museum just up the hill from the dock is somewhat interesting and is free (donations accepted). There were some little craft shops in Cow Bay, down by the dock. We also stopped for a beer at Breaker’s Pub in Cow Bay. They had some interesting Canadian beers and free Wi Fi. Nearby, we watched a bald eagle in a nest. (full cruise review) No Port of call rating provided
????--There is absolutely NOTHING in Prince Rupert, so I consider the time there to be a total waste of time. The biggest attraction was the very friendly RCMP Mountie taking pictures with the tourists. I would rather leave from Vancouver than from Seattle if it means skipping Prince Rupert. Don't even bother to get off the ship in Prince Rupert, nothing to see or do. (original post on the cruise critic site has apparently been removed)
Darnoc--Scenic but tiny Prince Rupert was, mysteriously, allotted the same time as Juneau with a 4pm arrival time. (full cruise review) No Port of call rating provided
lunarp--We spent most of the day sailing, with a stop in Prince Rupert, B.C. in the evening. We had no excursions planned and visited a few museums. I enjoyed the tiny Police/Fire museum, and the train museum was pretty cool as well. I generally hate museums, and the one at the visitor center was boring as hell. I split away from my parents afterwards, as they were wet and grumpy and I don’t mind the rain. I walked around a bit and found a pub, where I pretended I was Canadian by drinking Canadian beer and watching hockey. I even cheered for Montreal. I was very annoyed at lunch when I found some scallops in the baked pasta which was labeled “baked pasta” with no mention of scallops (what if I had a deadly shellfish allergy?), and then found ham in the (unlabelled) waldorf salad. Thus far I’d had no qualms with the food, and this vexed me. Granted, I shouldn’t assume that the food is meatless, but it had been until that point. I was angry with myself for not analyzing it beforehand. I then found a tiny sliver of pepperoni on my cheese pizza. I stopped eating and fumed silently. This special snowflake had started to melt. I got over it, though. My displeasure was voiced via comment card. (full review here)
No port of call rating provided
No port of call rating provided
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