wil e coyote

Ours did, and it was great. But the tub in the other DOS did not.

We stayed in a DOS on the Jewel for an Alaska cruise this past May. We used the hot tub almost every day. The DOS on the Jewel-class ships are special - they are the highest rooms on the ship, and you have a view forward as well as off to the side from the balcony. The garden villa on Jewel also has a hot tub, but the view is only off to the side of the ship. We'll probably never get a cabin that nice again, but for Alaska it was worth it!

One other thing which has been implied, but bears repeating - Harvest Caye has a pier, so you don't need to use tenders to get back and forth from the ship, as at GSC. It is a bit of a walk, but you can come and go between the island and the ship as you please. We like that!

As @debenson0723 said, you can't even start until the 21 day mark. You'll read a lot of posts on CC about people checking in right at midnight of the 21st day so they can get the boarding time they want. But since you are in the Haven, this is much less of an issue. The Haven has a dedicated boarding line. Enjoy!

We did the "just walk up and go" option a few weeks ago - the only thing to keep in mind is they only run a few shows a day (on 5/13 they were at 10 and 2) so you need to factor in time to catch the shuttle from Ward Cove and then a 15-minute walk from the drop-off point to the venue. But for us it was worth it!

Thank you!!!!!! Unfortunately, it appears the vendor purges the photos after 30 days, so the photos from our excursion on 2/3 are gone. But this will be valuable for others who have the same question!!!

We've used NCL several times and it has always worked out for us. That said, please keep in mind that you don't get any say in the timing of your flights. You might have short connections. You might have an arrival time in Texas that is close to the all-aboard time. Or you might not. Part of deciding whether to use the NCL flight option is your own personal comfort level and need for control. If you get stressed out about the unknown, you might be better off doing your own flights, or flying in a day early (if you can.) Enjoy!

Wow - Coffee Mate brand half & half? I've never heard of such a thing - I guess this means we have to go on another cruise so I can personally verify this. 🤪 Dear...where is the credit card?

It seems like Coffee Mate and half and half are both around on NCL ships. On our sailing on the Jewel earlier this month, I could only find Coffee Mate on the ship for the first half of the week, and then all of a sudden everything changed over to half and half for the last few days. We had a similar experience on Escape in January. It seems like the ships get a pallet of one, and use it up, then get a pallet of the other, but I really don't know. I agree they are not the same, and I definitely prefer half and half!

We have also used NCL Air multiple times over the years, with no issues. As others have noted, there are lots of happy (and quiet) people for every one who is unhappy and loud. Are you using the NCL bus transfer from Anchorage to Seward? It's a 2-3 hour ride, but once you're on the bus, you should be safe to make the ship. Enjoy! We just did Seward-Vancouver on the Jewel last week and it was fantastic!

It doesn't surprise me that the cruise lines charge more for a given excursion than if I booked it myself with the same provider. When you book through the line, you are paying them for doing the research to find a reputable provider, make arrangements with them, give you tickets in your cabin, put someone on the pier with a sign who can lead you to the drop-off point, hold the ship if your excursion is late, and so on. You're also paying for the convenience of doing that all within NCL's system as a single reservation with NCL rather than separately for yourself. All that has a certain amount of value, and so it should cost more if booking through the line. Now, I understand that some people (including us) like doing the research, finding the bargains, and so on, and for those people, booking privately is "worth it." But I would never expect the cruise line price to be exactly the same as what I could find privately.

This was our first time on the Jewel, but we did walk by that little platform multiple times and wonder what it had been for. Do you know? Thanks for the info on the salt/pepper grinders. We looked at those every day and totally missed the little rings on the caps! Now we know for next time!

Yes, we did. We flew up to Denali, flew around it for a while, then landed at Talkeenta to stretch our legs (and use the bathroom!). Then we got back in the plane and flew back to Anchorage. We were in a "regular" plane (with wheels) since the lakes were all still frozen. I think if you do the Denali trip in a floatplane they will land on a lake near the mountain so you can get out and walk about, then get back in and fly back. Definitely worth asking them for the details.

There was a Latitudes offer earlier this year for 50% off 2023 Alaska cruises on certain ships. Unfortunately, I think the offer ended last month.

It is supposed to - I have a friend who went on it last year and highly recommended it. We were booked on it but it got canceled last week.

FWIW, @YVRteacher posted the dailies from last week's sailing, so check those out!

That sounds fantastic! You'll love the floatplane adventure. I hear the train is really nice. It drops you right on the pier in Seward. It wasn't an option for us as it started running the week after our sailing. Enjoy!

Actually, I think the Haven pool on Jewel is similar to the -Away class ships, if you ignore the weird, 6" deep part of the Haven pool on the newer ships. I've never understood the logic of the wading pool part of the Haven pools.

Thank you for clarifying. I did not know that!

Your butler will deliver food from the standard room service menu or any of the restaurants on board, as long as they are open. As Two Wheels said, there is only a charge if you're ordering from a specialty restaurant and not using a dining credit. Just so there is no confusion, this is only available in the Haven. If you're anywhere else on the ship, you are restricted to the room service menu in your cabin, and there is a $9.95 service charge.

FWIW - flying to Anchorage from New England/New York is a pain - and while I've had good experiences with NCL Air, we've only used them to go to Florida. There are lots of flights and airport options in the Miami/Port Canaveral area, so I have always figured that if something went sideways with our flights to those ports, we could come up with a solution to get to the boat. But Anchorage is different. There is only one airport, and limited flights from the Northeast. So that was part of the decision to book our own flights.

We used Rust's Aviation. They were recommended to us by someone who used to be a bush pilot up there. Rust's was really great to work with and the pilot sure knew his way around the area. I'd highly recommend.

Hi - we have used NCL Air for other cruises, but didn't for this one - mostly because we had some very specific schedule constraints before and after the cruise that I wanted to make sure we could meet. We flew into Anchorage two days early and did some sightseeing, including a "flightseeing" tour of Denali. I didn't mention that in my review because it wasn't part of the cruise proper, but it was one of the highlights of the trip for me and I HIGHLY recommend spending the money on it if you are in Anchorage. To get to an NCL Seward cruise, you have to fly into Anchorage, and then get from there to Seward, which is 2-3 hours away on a two lane road with major construction along the way. NCL offers bus transfers from the airport, or you can get private bus transfers either as a direct 2 hour drive or with a stop at a wildlife sanctuary. We actually chose a private van transfer since it was basically the same price for the 5 of us as buying bus tickets. Bottom line - allow plenty of time to get to the dock. Once we got to Seward, the embarkation process was super-easy. The weather was not bad considering it was May and Alaska. Highs in Anchorage were in the 50s, and that was true for most of the cruise. There was rain on a couple of days, but the only all-day rain was in Ketchikan. The final day (sea day) was in the 60s and sunny in the afternoon, and people actually hung out on the pool deck and sunbathed. It was pretty much what we expected for the Pacific Northwest.

OK, we've been home long enough for me to catch up on everything else, so now I have time to jot down a few thoughts about last week's sailing from Seward to Vancouver aboard the NCL Jewel. First, a few disclaimers: 1. This is the same sailing that @YVRteacher covered in her excellent live review of her 5/1-5/15 BTB on the Jewel - so I will not cover the day-by-day details. Read her review if you want that - I couldn't do a better job than her live review. 2. If you are the type who likes to read the ending first, the bottom line is we had a fantastic cruise in just about every respect. All that said, I will share our experiences and thoughts in case it helps others who might be considering sailing on this itinerary or ship. Background: This was the first cruise with our (now grown) children in 5 years, so we splurged and used the 50% off coupon that came out a few months ago to buy the Deluxe Owner's Suite. This is way above what we normally buy for a cruise, but we wanted to have a space to all gather (our sons were in an inside cabin), and my DW really liked the idea of having a hot tub on our balcony. As it turned out, this was a great decision (more on this later.) I have to admit that I was somewhat inspired to go for the DOS after reading @Sthrngary write about doing this for a family cruise - thanks again, Gary! Also, we just reached Platinum status, which entitled us to some new perks for this cruise. Ship condition, crew and capacity: This was our fourth NCL cruise in two years, and the Jewel was easily the cleanest, best-maintained ship we have been on so far (others were Getaway, Breakaway, and Escape). Ships generally show wear and tear very soon after an overhaul just from the thousands of people moving around every day, but the Jewel showed almost no scuffs, scrapes or stains. The crew was outstanding as well. Everyone was good to excellent in terms of attitude and service. All of the waitstaff in the MDR was top-notch, even when we accidentally showed up for lunch one day right at closing time. I hate doing that to people, but the staff insisted it was no problem and took great care of us. Our room steward and butler were the best we can remember. The Jewel was less than 50% full - we were told there were about 1200 passengers, so nothing ever felt full. The Azura dining room was closed for the week, and the theatre shows only ran once a night at 8:30, but even so the dining room and theatre had plenty of space. This was the first sailing of the season from Seward to Vancouver for the Jewel, so that might have had something to do with it. Food: I wasn't sure how food would go, since there isn't a Haven dining room on the Jewel. But we had some of the best food we can remember on this sailing. The Haven breakfast and lunch in Moderno/Cagney's were as good as being on a bigger ship. We had dinner in Moderno, Cagney's, and Teppanyaki, all of which were quite good in their own ways - Moderno for the "meat-fest", Teppanyaki for the show (and the food was good too), and our Cagney's experience was our best on any NCL ship. The big surprise was the MDR, which was outstanding. Every meal there was excellent. On the less-great side, O'Sheehan's was so-so. I've read other reviews that rave about it, and so I keep hoping that this time will be better, and it just doesn't happen for us. Our only really disappointing meal was in Chin-Chin. None of our dishes were very good - we ended up going to the MDR afterward for dessert just to have something good for our meal. Entertainment: We really enjoyed the shows in the theatre on this sailing. The Jewel didn't have a Broadway-style show, but the aerialists, the diva, and the troupe on board were all quite good. The theatre in the Jewel is huge for a ship of its size. The musicians around the ship were OK. It didn't matter for us since we didn't hang out in Bliss or the atrium, but we heard them as we went through. Some were pretty good, but others made us want to keep walking. Cabin: I will simply say that renting something like the DOS is something everyone should have the chance to do once. We'll probably never do it again, but for this itinerary, on this ship, it was the best. There are two DOS on the Jewel, and they are on Deck 15 - the only cabins (or enclosed space) on that deck. You're above the entire ship, just aft of the main pool, so we had an amazing view from our windows and the balcony. As my DW expected, the hot tub was a winner - it was really fun to sit in the tub and watch the wilderness go by. Our steward, butler, and the hot tub attendant were all fantastic. Ports/excursions: We did kayaking in Icy Strait Point, the White Pass Railroad/Cycling excursion in Seward, and the Duck Boat tour in Ketchikan. All were fun. We were supposed to take the Glacier Explorer trip in Endicott Arm, but it was canceled due to ice in the water. We understood, but it was a bummer. The other bummer was that the Jewel couldn't get close enough to the end of the Arm to see the glacier, also due to ice in the water. We had a great time walking around the ports, even in the rain and chill at Ketchikan. So all in all, it was a fantastic time, and we would definitely sail on the Jewel again. Happy to answer any questions anyone might have.

Similar to others - we had reception in every port with our Verizon phones (Anchorage/Seward, Icy Strait, Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan. Even on the ship we had good reception while in port. Bear in mind that reception will be much better near windows/balconies than when you're deep inside. We had spotty reception while en route between ports. (I mostly know this from my kids, who can't stand having their phones turned off!) 😀