LIVE - on the Jewel - 9 days Alaska

[sc2011]

Misc Notes:

 

Letting you know that Florentina is the concierge fresh off vacation.

 

There is NO charge for room service other than $3.95 surcharge from Midnight - 5am. The room service menu is the same as what we've seen before with no cost associated with ordering. There are no notices of the inability to take food back to rooms from buffet and restaurants. I'll keep checking on this.

 

There is an unlimited wifi plan for $24.99 per day.

 

The spa pass for 9 days is $149.

 

Chef's Table is $99.

 

Suites have breakfast in Moderno from 6:30-9:00 am on Ketchikan and Skagway day. 7:30-9:30 on Sea Days, Juneau, Glacier Bay and Victoria. 7:00-9:00 at Icy Strait and Seattle. Suites have lunch in Moderno from 12-1:30 all day.

 

Suite reserved seats in the Stardust Theater are located on Deck 7, portside, in the front of the balcony.

 

Steve Jacobsen is the Hotel Director.

 

My husband and I are platinum members and we BOTH got dinner for 2 + wine vouchers. On the voucher it says they can be used at Le Bistro, La Cucina or Moderno. We get ONE free bag of laundry for the stateroom.

 

There is a latitudes party for silver, gold and platinum members with wine and cheese - on our cruise it's Tuesday at 5pm in Spinnaker. There is a VIP cocktail reception hosted by the Captain - Niklas Persson - on our cruise it's Friday at 6:30 pm in the Haven. There is a platinum cocktail reception Friday at 2:15 in Spinnaker on our cruise.

 

Platinum members get a behind the seas tour - length 45 min - 1 hour. Platinum members get concierge service, priority disembarkation and priority tender - even if not in a suite. For platinum the sparkling wine, Godiva chocolates and chocolate covered strawberries the evening of the first sea day.

 

The comedian currently onboard is Jean Pierre Parent. The first night show is "A taste of things to come" at 7:15pm and 9:15pm.

 

There are manager bar specials each day.

 

Embarkation - Seattle is awesome and check in was easy. Everyone has been super friendly so far. The Turkey Burger and Carrot cake are as delicious as ever on the suite lunch menu. We do not have the UBP or UDP as we booked way before that promotion started. The lifeboat drill is at 3:15.

 

I'll try and post each day anything noteworthy. Feel free to post any questions and I'll try to find the answers.

[Loving My Life]

Really excited to read this review. I am currently researching Alaska cruises for next year and seriously considering a similar 10 day first-cruise-of-the-season on the Pearl that goes from Vancouver to Juneau, Skagway, Sitka, Glacier Bay, Icy Straight Point, Ketchikan, Victoria, and ends in Seattle.

 

I've read that one of the drawbacks of an early May Alaska cruise is that not all excursions are up and running yet. Have you found this to be true? Also interested in the weather this early in the season as far as temps and amount of rain.

 

Thanks and enjoy!!!! 😄

[ejincali]

Thanks so much for sharing your initial observations! I'll be on the Jade next month, so I'm in countdown mode....

 

I've never done an Alaska cruise because I'm afraid of possible cold weather :)

 

So, interested to hear of your continued progress

[theloo]

Will be following you out of Vancouver tomorrow on the Sun.

[mommyto2girls]

Thank you for posting…Florentina is amazing. Maybe your words will calm the masses a little. Have a wonderful trip

[hpecorari]

Hmmm, the roll out schedule for room service for the Jewel shows it starting May 7th. When did this cruise start?

 

Harriet

[mommyto2girls]

Hmmm, the roll out schedule for room service for the Jewel shows it starting May 7th. When did this cruise start?

 

Harriet

 

Where is there a roll out schedule?? It departed Seattle today.

Edited May 7, 2015 by mommyto2girls

[sc2011]

Departing Seattle today. Beautiful sunny 66 degrees. First cruise of season. I've never been before so I'll post as much as possible to help others as well. I'll post my freestyle dailies upon my return.

[mking8288]

Thank you for the update - happy cruising Alaska ...

so, it is just ONE (1) bag of free laundry per cabin regardless of the fact that there is two (2) Platinum member in your stateroom, is that part of the official welcome packet ?

 

We'v read from previous reports that the Latitude department on the Jewel has been known to do that, giving just one free bag of laundry. Don't let that ruin your wonderful vacation - DW & I had one laundry coupon each for our 7 nights and we only took advantage of one.

 

BTW, you should be enjoying dinner soon but we assumed that you are using ship's satellite internet WiFi to connect, how is the speed - reasonably fast.

[mommyto2girls]

Thank you for the update - happy cruising Alaska ...

so, it is just ONE (1) bag of free laundry per cabin regardless of the fact that there is two (2) Platinum member in your stateroom, is that part of the official welcome packet ?

 

We'v read from previous reports that the Latitude department on the Jewel has been known to do that, giving just one free bag of laundry. Don't let that ruin your wonderful vacation - DW & I had one laundry coupon each for our 7 nights and we only took advantage of one.

 

BTW, you should be enjoying dinner soon but we assumed that you are using ship's satellite internet WiFi to connect, how is the speed - reasonably fast.

 

 

seems to be only the Jewel that is reporting one bag of laundry. Odd !

[toyotaford]

We got off the Jewel today and had 2 bags of free laundry. My husband and I are both platinum. It may have been because we were on a 19 day cruise. Also the unlimited internet was $19.99 a day. May have been less because of the length of the cruise. It wasn't as fast as home but plenty good enough. We had a great time and hope the first cruise it Alaska this season is a huge success.

[sc2011]

Internet is great so far. Speed is good. I'm in a forward suite and even on balcony it's working great. On previous cruises it's been spotty, going in and out. But this has worked perfectly so far.

I'm going to inquire higher up about laundry and will report back. No problem if it's just one, but I'd like to know.

[mking8288]

Thanks again, would you be kind enough to check out those obstructed oceanview staterooms on deck 8 to see (if you could) the windows are all blacked out, or maybe it's just for select cabins with the lifeboats outside - if you walk outside on the promenade deck #7, look up & you should be able to tell - we're on the Jewel a few years back when it was based on NYC.

[amarvel]

Thanks for posting! I'm excited for you to post how things are going :)

[gg_galaxy2002]

This is so awesome, thankyou so much for doing this!

[spotfish]

Looking forward to your posts! we are on the jewel at end of June, and have suite 10000 booked for next year also, which suite are you in? have fun!

[hpecorari]

Where is there a roll out schedule?? It departed Seattle today.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2203849

 

Room Service

• Room service will now have a $7.95 convenience charge

• As Pizza is already part of the new Room Service menu, the Pizza 24/7 program will no longer be offered anywhere on the vessels

• The roll out schedule will be as follows:

o America – Saturday, May 2

o Breakaway – already implemented

o Dawn - Friday, May 1

o Epic Sunday, May 3

o Gem – Saturday, May 2

o Getaway – already implemented

o Jade – Saturday, May 2

o Jewel – Thursday, May 7

o Pearl – Saturday, May 2

o Sky – Friday, May 1

o Spirit – Thursday, May 7

o Star – Monday, May 11

o Sun – Friday, May 8

__________________

 

Harriet

[hpecorari]

Departing Seattle today. Beautiful sunny 66 degrees. First cruise of season. I've never been before so I'll post as much as possible to help others as well. I'll post my freestyle dailies upon my return.

 

Let us know if the dailies say anything about room service fees tomorrow on.

 

Harriet

[sc2011]

Looking forward to your posts! we are on the jewel at end of June, and have suite 10000 booked for next year also, which suite are you in? have fun!

 

We're in 10004 with adjoining 10002 for my inlaws. But we know who's staying in 10000. I'll take some pictures of it and post when I return.

[sc2011]

Thanks again, would you be kind enough to check out those obstructed oceanview staterooms on deck 8 to see (if you could) the windows are all blacked out, or maybe it's just for select cabins with the lifeboats outside - if you walk outside on the promenade deck #7, look up & you should be able to tell - we're on the Jewel a few years back when it was based on NYC.

 

I'll be happy to and will report back!

[sc2011]

Dinner tonight at Tsar's Palace Main Dining Room

Starter: Beef burger slider w/ sriracha coleslaw on a potato bun.

Main course for me: Thai green chicken curry w/ basmati rice.

Main course for husband: Beef meatballs with mashed potatoes and peppercorn sauce.

All was great. The slaw on the slider was very spicy. It was served with a small wedge with a really nice light dressing. Curry wasn't very spicy, but chicken was tender and juicy. Meatballs were likely previously bagged frozen like you get at Costco; however, the brown gravy on it was fantastic. With the mashed potatoes it was very tasteful. Dessert was the warm chocolate volcano w/ strawberry compote and vanilla ice cream. When I first saw it, the volcano caked looked pitiful. I was disappointed. But the taste was great. The warm chocolate center oozed out of it when I used my spoon. It was not super sweet and paired perfectly with the compote and ice cream.

Must say that these selections were all fantastic. Last couple of times, main dining room food has just been dinner - not memorable. Seems it may have changed for the better. Great start to the cruise!

 

One note - with an owner suite you get 3 bottle of liquor out of a selection, a bottle of champagne and then a sparkling wine for being platinum. We were able to trade the champagne and sparkling wine, which we don't like, for 2 bottles of Merlot. Pretty happy about that.

 

Also, our butler Theodore is over the top fantastic. By far best butler we've experienced. He has 4 months left on this contract. He handles 14 suites per cruise. He is seriously amazing! Treating us like royalty, and like we're his only suite to buttle.

[djmess]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2203849

 

Room Service

• Room service will now have a $7.95 convenience charge

• As Pizza is already part of the new Room Service menu, the Pizza 24/7 program will no longer be offered anywhere on the vessels

• The roll out schedule will be as follows:

o America – Saturday, May 2

o Breakaway – already implemented

o Dawn - Friday, May 1

o Epic Sunday, May 3

o Gem – Saturday, May 2

o Getaway – already implemented

o Jade – Saturday, May 2

o Jewel – Thursday, May 7

o Pearl – Saturday, May 2

o Sky – Friday, May 1

o Spirit – Thursday, May 7

o Star – Monday, May 11

o Sun – Friday, May 8

__________________

 

Harriet

 

I wonder if the Jewel is doing what the Pearl is doing in the room service roll out.

 

According to Cary the hotel director on the Pearl, they are not starting the room service charges until they complete the re positioning. For the Pear that is May 17, when they begin the 7 day round trip Alaska itineraries. Maybe the Jewel is doing the same thing and delaying the start

[hpecorari]

I wonder if the Jewel is doing what the Pearl is doing in the room service roll out.

 

According to Cary the hotel director on the Pearl, they are not starting the room service charges until they complete the re positioning. For the Pear that is May 17, when they begin the 7 day round trip Alaska itineraries. Maybe the Jewel is doing the same thing and delaying the start

 

That could very well be what is happening! However, it will eventually be implemented on all the ships.

 

Harriet

[NCMtnGal]

Thanks for doing this. We are on the Jewel in September to Alaska. First for both Alaska and NCL. I will keep watching to see what you post next. Thanks again!!

[UFLaw]

We are in the Haven 2 bedroom suite in just 12 days!!! Let us know how the Haven is.

 

Have a blast!