The Alaskan Jewel! Welcome Aboard….You don’t Exist!

[jenseib]

Enjoying your review so far, but now I'm hoping Florentina doesn't become the concierge on Pride of America! lol Last cruise we were on, our concierge Carlos (a few people mentioned him in this thread already) was amazing!

 

thanks for reading!

LOL. I think chances are good you won't have her.

 

We are sailing on the Jewel this January. I am enjoying seeing the ship ahead of time, can't wait to see more.

 

Hopefully this can help you a bit with getting familiar with the ship and whats offered.

[InTheWASide]

This set of pictures puts a great big smile on my face because I love the Jewel's Garden Cafe and I have about 65 more days till I can enjoy it.

 

Is it as different from Pearl as I'm thinking it is? Or am I just not properly recalling Pearl's setup?

[jenseib]

This set of pictures puts a great big smile on my face because I love the Jewel's Garden Cafe and I have about 65 more days till I can enjoy it.

 

 

I wish we had more time on the ship to eat at other places. We mainly just had breakfast there, and it was good....but too many places to try and not enough time!

[jenseib]

We decided to walk around and just look at things. Typically when I board a ship I go around and explore it and take pictures and have a good idea of the layout before the Muster Drill. This obviously did not happen today with all our issues so we just wandered a bit.

I believe this was the card room.

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And the Library.

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And the Spa.

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I typically go in and look around the spa on the first day as well, but this is all the further I got the whole trip.

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We headed downstairs. I am not sure if we had something in mind or if we were just walking.

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[jenseib]

We came upon the Atrium and also O’Sheehans.

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I think this is the best picture I ever got of the name on the mirror…One of those things I meant to come back and do better at a later time.

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I asked Claire if she wanted to stop and get a snack to eat. Sure, why not.

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We were seated in a corner with a nice view.

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We took a look at the menu and decided to share a few appetizers.

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[jenseib]

Claire loves Mozzarella Sticks so I think I was lucky to get one…though it was a small order to begin with.

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Claire doesn’t like Artichoke dip, but she did eat some of the chips.

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And we both like chicken wings.

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For dessert…yes we had dessert too…heeheehee….we both got Brownie Cheesecake…no sharing this time around.

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It was all very good. And we weren’t that hungry to begin with and now we were bloated and rolling around as we were so full. I wish we had eaten here more often, but I think we only made it back one more time. Just not enough time to eat at all the places I wanted to.

We rolled out.

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And decided to check out the Atrium a little better.

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[jenseib]

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Here is Carlos Bake Shop….just a small corner of the Java Café.

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We never tried any as they are an extra cost and not included in the dining package either. We really had no need to try them as there were plenty of options for us to eat all day long. In case you didn’t know, the Bake shop is by the Cake Boss star Buddy Valastro.

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This Atrium is only 2 stories tall, where many ships are usually at least 3 levels. It did feel a bit smaller but still was a nice place. I know a lot of people seemed to gather here to watch presentations and just relax. We never really did much. I liked the Atrium on the Caribbean Princess much better for activities.

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[jenseib]

Guest Services.

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This area often had info there if needed and where luggage tags were later in the cruise for disembarking.

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This is the art Gallery and the internet café is also in here ….I believe I took a picture of that later in the cruise.

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Well looky who we have here!!!!

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We walked out on deck 7 and just watched the world go by for a bit.

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[jenseib]

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We decided to head back to the room so I could do some unpacking…By the Way, the luggage came extremely fast…all there before we even sailed away.

Evidently we were walking through the hall at warp speed.

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Actually I think it was the setting on my camera as several of the pictures I took later are all whacked out like that.

We got back to the room and at some point Skip showed up as well. We now had excursion tickets too! BUT…..only for 2 of the 3 I had made. The Deadliest Catch one wasn’t there. UGH! Of all the excursions made, that is the one I know Skip wanted the most. Honestly, Deadliest Catch the show was one of the main reasons Skip wanted to sail to Alaska. I gave Florentina a call and let her know. She said she would check into it and our tickets should arrive tonight, if not early tomorrow.

Skip lay around and watched TV. Claire fiddled around herself and I put away clothes and told each to make note where I was putting their things. Claire remembered…Skip would ask me daily where his socks, underwear, shirts, etc. were. Yet he can remember some off comment I made 10 years ago. LOL.

Up next…This time it’s my fault.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Is it as different from Pearl as I'm thinking it is? Or am I just not properly recalling Pearl's setup?

No it is very different from when we were on the Pearl with you, not sure if the Pearl now looks like the Jewel at the Garden Cafe or not:confused: I actually love the Garden Cafe and the Great Outdoors. Our last two NCL cruises have been on the Jewel and of course returning in 9 weeks.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I wish we had more time on the ship to eat at other places. We mainly just had breakfast there, and it was good....but too many places to try and not enough time!

 

I totally agree especially when you also have Moderno available for breakfast and lunch. We have narrowed it down to ones we really like we skip the Italian. I personally do not care for Moderno at night but husband still likes it so we are going on a day that we are eating lunch in port so at night I will just have the salad bar. Oddly while being in a Suite we could eat in Moderno for lunch I really prefer the Garden Cafe. :)

[crayola1932]

No it is very different from when we were on the Pearl with you, not sure if the Pearl now looks like the Jewel at the Garden Cafe or not:confused:

On the Pearl the food is distributed on smaller islands--the Jewel has larger, longer food counters. I think the Pearl food organization is more efficient.

 

On the Pearl, the seating area (once you pass the food area) is organized into smaller round tables (more 4 person, fewer large oblong tables). I think the Pearl seating area is more attractive, but when the buffet is super crowded, it is much less efficient than the Jewel. If you're trying to find a place to sit, it's easier to sit down with other people at the end of a large oblong table than to invade some family party on a 4 person round table.

[ncklhaus]

I am thoroughly enjoying your review. But what really sets it apart from the others is the way you posted your pictures. I love that you have the black border around each one. It's like looking through a real photo album or at framed pictures.

Can't wait to read more.:)

[jenseib]

I totally agree especially when you also have Moderno available for breakfast and lunch. We have narrowed it down to ones we really like we skip the Italian. I personally do not care for Moderno at night but husband still likes it so we are going on a day that we are eating lunch in port so at night I will just have the salad bar. Oddly while being in a Suite we could eat in Moderno for lunch I really prefer the Garden Cafe. :)

 

I think we only had lunch there boarding day and the first sea day. We were in ports a lot so that made it harder to ever get there too. We had lunch in port 2 days and 1 day we got back too late for Moderno so we had O'Sheehans for lunch. I would love to go for 2 weeks and be able to try more options. We were so busy most days and we did have a few relaxation times but just not enough time for everything. This was my husbands first 7 day cruise and I think he really realized how nice they can be.

 

 

I am thoroughly enjoying your review. But what really sets it apart from the others is the way you posted your pictures. I love that you have the black border around each one. It's like looking through a real photo album or at framed pictures.

Can't wait to read more.:)

 

Thanks...I got that tip about framing a few years back. It can make some really crappy pictures look halfway decent too. ;)

[Vacationdreamer<><]

How do you do that with your pictures?

[jenseib]

How do you do that with your pictures?

 

 

I do it in photoshop...I would have to go back and look how it is set. I set it up a few years ago and all I have to do is push 1 button and it adds them to each picture...but I had to set it and record the action to get it to do that.

[jenseib]

I continued to unpack and put things away. At one point I asked what time it was as I wanted to go to the first show of the evening. No one answered me, so I pulled out my phone, which was now on airplane mode and looked at the time. It was just after 6 so I got myself ready and changed and Claire changed as well.

Once we were all ready we headed towards the Stardust Theatre.

We passed through Chin Chin (we never did eat here but it looked very popular.)

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As we were working our way to the theatre a ton of people were walking against us. I couldn’t figure it out. Why are so many people come FROM the theatre direction when the show is going to start in the next 5-10 minutes.

And then we arrived to a fairly empty theatre.

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I asked the guy what was going on? I thought the show started at 7:15. It did…it is now 8:15. Hunh? My phone says 7:15. OMG!!!! My stupid phone reset itself. It did this when I was on the Caribbean Princess too. For some reason when it is in airplane mode for a couple of hours it just resets itself to some other time. No idea why. I have also heard a few others with iphones have had this trouble as well.

Well we missed the first show.

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Skip said he wondered why I was saying it started at 7:15 when the bedside clock said it was after 8. Um..thanks for telling me that…and thanks for answering me when I asked what time it was. (he had been blocking the clock at that time, so I never even saw it).

What to do now? We popped outside for a few minutes.

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HOLY COW! It’s cold!!!!! Extremely windy and cold. What happened to the nice warm weather we had. Ok, I am now debating this whole Alaskan thing. I knew it would be chilly and we would need coats, but the wind was insane.

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I was hoping it was just because of the movement of the ship and all would be fine later.

We decided it was time for dinner and with no reservations for tonight we were going to try one of the main dining rooms. Azura was the closest to where we were at so we headed that way.

[jenseib]

We cut through the Casino to get there.

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This is Magnum’s Champagne and Wine bar area…..and also where you enter Le Bistro.

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And Shakers Martini and Cocktail bar…which is basically connected…not sure why they have 2 different names.

This is the Maltings Beer and Whisky Bar….just a few steps away from the other 2.

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We arrived at Azura and were seated right away.

[jenseib]

We took a look at the menu. Honestly, we weren’t really that hungry.

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But of course we still ordered a 3 course meal! Hahaha

We started with rolls/bread…..I think NCL has great bread. It’s one thing I remember from sailing her years ago too. Always good rolls.

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The view from our table.

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[jenseib]

We only had 1 server. I am not sure if this is typical for NCL or just our area, but on other cruise lines we always have a server and assistant server…who handles the drinks (again never asked if we wanted anything to drink) and helps clear the table, etc.

When I think about it, even at the specialty restaurants we only had 1 server as well, but that could be different.

Claire got the Clam Chowder.

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And I got the Wild Lump Crab Cakes.

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If Skip got something I didn’t take a picture of it. Most likely he got the clam chowder as well.

We had a window seat, but my back was to it.

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I did not take a picture of our main courses for some reason. I think I was just tired at that point and it totally slipped my mind. Claire and I got the Special, which was Roasted Striploin, baked potato, corn on the cob, broccoli, creamed horseradish and beef jus.

I expected it to be more like prime rib…it was most like roast beef with thin strips cut. The meat itself was good but the beef jus was more like a gravy and we didn’t care so much for that. If I were to order it again we would order with no sauce. I don’t remember what Skip got, but I am thinking pork chop. Whatever he got, he did like it and he ended up sharing with Claire and eating some of her beef.

We asked our server for a glass of milk for each of us at one point and I am pretty sure he went to milk a cow as it took forever for it to come. He was very nice but service was very slow. We did have to remind him about the milk.

For dessert I got the Warm Volcano Cake….mmmmm! That was good….though honestly I could leave the berries off next time.

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I think Skip and Claire both just got ice-cream and no picture was taken.

After we were done we headed out towards the gift shop. Skip needed to buy cigarettes and we wanted to browse around.

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[jenseib]

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This was the worst gift shop on a ship I have ever been in. Very little selection and most of what was offered was jewelry, alcohol and cigarettes.

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They had some clothing, most was pretty expensive. Nothing with the ships name on it. I would have liked to have gotten a tee with the Jewel on it but none were ever out the whole week. I did end up getting a ship magnet, but they didn’t even have many of those. I was hoping to get a Christmas ornament…none to be found. Basically next to nothing for kids. Well at least that kept me from telling Claire no to useless stuff.

After our quick browse around the shop we went outside and saw a beautiful sunset in the distance. I only had my point and shoot with me and I took a crappy picture of it.

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It was still super cold and windy out too.

We were getting pretty tired now…remember we are 3 hours difference from home….so we headed back to the room to get ready for bed.

This guy was waiting for us.

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Claire was excited to see her bed folded out.

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We watched TV for a bit, but I was out pretty fast. Skip told me he and Claire did find the show on one of the TV channels and it was not very good so we didn’t miss much. Claire agreed that it wasn’t too entertaining…so I know Skip wasn’t just trying to humor me.

Up next……Will Day 2 be smoother than Day 1?

[arubacassie]

It has been quite awhile since I have been on a cruise in a suite. Could someone please tell me how I can request more hangers for closet in suite? Thanks in advance.

[caribill]

It has been quite awhile since I have been on a cruise in a suite. Could someone please tell me how I can request more hangers for closet in suite? Thanks in advance.

 

In any cabin, just ask your cabin steward.

[Rudyard]

We only had 1 server. I am not sure if this is typical for NCL or just our area

 

We only had one server in Azura as well. Don't remember if it was the same in Tsar's as we only ate there twice. Once was lunch on embark day and the other was breakfast on debark day, so things were a bit hectic.

Edited September 7, 2015 by Rudyard

[nschamp]

Just looking at your first arrival photos, I would have to agree with your daughter that the suite is indeed small. :) We have never cruised on NCL, just Holland & Princess. Their suites appear much larger with at least a full sofa. The balcony looks depth challenged as it looks like a lounger will just fit with no space to get around it.

 

That said; I was wondering if you had seen any mobility scooters on your cruise. The hallway picture looked narrow and difficult. Do you feel that there was enough room in your suite for a scooter? For my DW it is a must have, and the reason we book suites.

 

Thank you for your most informative story, looking forward to more.