hawgwildterry

I was on the Jewel and the ship goes into glacier bay. We chose the jewel because of the times we were in ports.

This year the Jewel is scheduled for the Sawyer Glacier. From what I was told by the Suites Concierge during a phone call yesterday the Jewel will not actually go into Sawyer Glacier Bay but cruise by as close as possible.

We will be in a Jewel deck 9 forward Penthouse the first part of June. Although some believe this is an inside passage cruise it is in fact not. It will cruise on the west side (ocean) of Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada. It also cruises "by" and not into Sawyer Glacier...but the Captain will get as close as possible to the entrance of the glacier.

Thank you for the thread. Just ordered Cruise Tag Caddy 8 Pack Luggage Etag Holders Zip Seal & Steel Loops plus a Belkin 3-Outlet Mini Travel Swivel Charger Surge Protector with Dual USB Ports, 5 Charging Outlets Total (1 AMP / 5 Watt) from Amazon.

In the past I always printed our tags and used shipping/packing tape to make them stronger...and of course had to either pack a stapler or find one once at the pier. :)

Perfect.....two well detailed replies to my question. Now to see the expression on my wife's face when we start embarkation and get escorted aboard. She thinks we are doing a mid-ship balcony. :)

I just checked the availability of 14014 & 14514, they are both booked for our cruise date in June. At least it was worth checking on. Thank you for the suggestion.

We have cruised in the HAL Neptune Suites and are now booked in a Penthouse SE Suite on the NCL Jewel. Can anyone give a comparison as to sizes, pros & cons? I know we will really miss the Neptune Lounge that HAL offers.

Thank you ahead of time for your constructive replies.

Found the Jewel dailies - thought I had seen them in the review by Jenseib. For 2015 on Jewel captain photos were at 5:45 on Day 2 (Sunday).

 

T

Perfect TMC.....just trying to figure what time to make dining reservations after the photo-op with the Captain and didn't want to feel rushed.

Here is a daily with Captain Photos listed at 6:30 on day 2....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=353196&d=1434995467

 

T

Thank You TMC.....that's the information I was looking for.

I have done a forum search and not found the answer to this question. Going out of Seattle round-trip to Alaska this coming June and would like to know from previous years what night the photo-op will be with the Captain? Also, what are the times for this event as we would like to book a specialty dining venue afterwards.

Thank you for replying to my question ahead of time.

Lisa,

Can you email me again at hogwildterry@hotmail.com

Thank You

Terry

After two recent cruises in a mid-ship balcony on the Jewel, we decided to try out a mini-suite. IMHO the mini-suite isn't worth the upcharge. Here are a few reasons.

 

1. The closet is in a really inconvenient spot. Next to the head of the bed -and about 1 foot away from the bed. It's very hard to open the doors and very, very hard to pick up shoes from the closet floor without hitting your head on the door hinges that stick out!

 

2. The sofa bed is rock hard and so wide you can't comfortably lean back.

 

3. The bathtub. The side is about 2 feet high making it difficult to climb in and out.

 

I'm going back to the balcony for my upcoming Alaska cruise.

Thanks for the info.....I was wondering if the mini-suite was really worth the extra $$$$ especially for a Panama Canal Cruise and the price difference between balcony and mini-suite. On top of that it seems the mini-suites have plenty of activity areas on Deck 12 that could potentially generate noise downward to Deck 11.

Lisa,

I sent you an email this morning but I'm not sure it was to the correct email address..... @aol.com?

Thank You for the email Lisa. I have replied and look forward to hearing from you.

Lisa,

I have some questions for you about the Jewel. If you have the time, would you mind emailing me so that we don't bog down this thread?

hogwildterry@hotmail.com

Terry

Lisa,

Taking a leap of faith and I just booked the NCL Jewel to Alaska for this coming June. Barb does not know that I have booked Penthouse 9002 (forward). It will be interesting to see how it compares to the HAL Neptune Suites. Not sure we will really use the butler and I'm already thinking I will miss the Neptune Lounge.

This will be a precursor cruise on NCL to see if we want to do a Fall 2017 with them or find a different line to go with. So I hope I made the right decision and that you and JD are right about NCL.

Terry Green

Thanks Lisa....appreciate your input.

Suites with a modest price but get the full Suite Experience in categories SF and SE. That is basically how we do it with our Aft Suites. Which are basically the same price as HAL's Signature Suites. While HAL's Signature Suites are a nice layout with larger bathrooms everything else provided is inferior to what NCL offers. Especially the attention to passengers by the crew. :)

Lisa........still trying to figure out some sort of price point for a possible 2017 Fall Panama Canal cruise. I'm guessing that the NCL Pearl and Jewel will still be making the West to East journey unless NCL starts running their larger ships with the new section of the Canal opening in 2016. Intrigued by the Aft Suites but if the pricing is comparable to the Neptune Suites on HAL they might just be a little to much for this old retired guy.

Lisa, hard to imagine the suites on NCL being better than the Neptune Suites on HAL and especially the Neptune Lounge perk. Looking to do the Panama Canal Fall 2017 and waiting for the schedule to be published. Pretty sure we won't be doing a suite but might be able to swing a mini-suite if I can save enough $$$$$$$.

Lisa, James D emailed me with information that you have been cruising on NCL recently. Like you, HAL and then Princess were our favorite lines. JD mentioned changes had been taking place at HAL and Princess and not for the good. Looks like its time for Barb and I to take another look at NCL since our last cruise with them back in 1994.

Thank You to everyone who took the time to answer my question about the noise level in the Deck 11 mid-ship mini-suites. From what I read, it looks like our best bet is aft. We are planning to be part of a group and several members of the group want to have inside cabins and it does appear that there are an assortment of inside cabins in the aft area also. Mid-ships would have been preferred due to less movement but hey....I will take a little movement any day over noise.

Again, thank you everyone.

Thinking of giving NCL another try after a 12yr break. HAL had become our favorite cruise line with Princess being second.....but given the recent decline in the HAL and Princess product it's time to explore NCL.

Looking at a Pearl mid-ship Mini Suite on Deck 11 but notice that Deck 12 is an activity area to include dedicated kids areas. How much noise gets transferred to down into the staterooms on Deck 11? Would we be better off with a mid-ship balcony stateroom and give up a little room for less noise?

Thank you in advance for useful information in our decision making process.

Terry Green

Marysville, WA

Easy to tell: all starboard side cabins have odd numbers, Port side have even numbers. EM

On the Island Princess Caribe Deck, staterooms C507 through C529, are the stateroom doors located on the port or starboard side. The ships deck plan does not show and my email to Princess has gone unanswered for over a week now.

Royal Caribbean Song of America, 1991 Western Caribbean.......hooked.........absolutley! :D

Royal Caribbean Song of America, 1991 Western Caribbean.......hooked.........absolutley! :D

Strugis is all that you have read and heard about and then some. I have been twice and will be going back in 2006. I'm not sure that you will see much if you are there in September. The town starts to transform towards the end of July and a week after the rally which is the first week of August you would never know that anything had been there. If you are interested in looking at the Sturgis web cam I have included the link: http://rally.sturgis.sd.us/ Once at the website just click on 'Live Web Cams'.