Need Help Deciding - NCL Jewel or Pearl

[BeingMe]

I have family that just did the Alaska cruise on the Jewel and loved it. I was planning on doing the same till I saw that the Pearl has a slightly different itenerary. The Pearl has only one at sea day and one day sailing around Glacier Bay, where the Jewel has 2 at sea days.

 

The Pearl's itenerary is:

Day Cruise Ports Arrive Depart

Sun Seattle, Washington (EMBARK) --- 4:00 pm

Mon At Sea --- ---

Tue Juneau, Alaska 2:00 pm 10:00 pm

Wed Skagway, Alaska 7:00 am 8:15 pm

Thu Cruise Glacier Bay --- ---

Fri Ketchikan, Alaska 6:00 am 1:30 pm

Sat Victoria, British Columbia 6:00 pm 11:59 pm

Sun Seattle, Washington (DISEMBARK) 8:00 am ---

 

The Jewel's is :

Day Cruise Ports Arrive Depart

Sat Seattle, Washington (EMBARK) --- 4:00 pm

Sun At Sea --- ---

Mon Ketchikan, Alaska 7:00 am 3:00 pm

Tue Juneau, Alaska 7:00 am 1:30 pm

Cruise past Sawyer Glacier --- ---

Wed Skagway, Alaska 7:00 am 5:30 pm

Thu At Sea --- ---

Fri Victoria, British Columbia 2:30 pm 9:30 pm

Sat Seattle, Washington (DISEMBARK) 8:00 am ---

 

Which is better, and is AFT balcony to rough?

Edited August 21, 2015 by BeingMe

[Keith1010]

I would go with the first because you have Glacier Bay and think of Glacier Bay still as a sea day because you will be at sea the entire day.

 

If you are bothered by rough seas book mid ship.

 

The aft will be less of a problem than being all the way forward but you will feel motion more than if you are mid ship.

 

Keith

[quercus alba]

I have family that just did the Alaska cruise on the Jewel and loved it. I was planning on doing the same till I saw that the Pearl has a slightly different itenerary. The Pearl has only one at sea day and one day sailing around Glacier Bay, where the Jewel has 2 at sea days.

 

The Pearl's itenerary is:

Day Cruise Ports Arrive Depart

Sun Seattle, Washington (EMBARK) --- 4:00 pm

Mon At Sea --- ---

Tue Juneau, Alaska 2:00 pm 10:00 pm

Wed Skagway, Alaska 7:00 am 8:15 pm

Thu Cruise Glacier Bay --- ---

Fri Ketchikan, Alaska 6:00 am 1:30 pm

Sat Victoria, British Columbia 6:00 pm 11:59 pm

Sun Seattle, Washington (DISEMBARK) 8:00 am ---

 

The Jewel's is :

Day Cruise Ports Arrive Depart

Sat Seattle, Washington (EMBARK) --- 4:00 pm

Sun At Sea --- ---

Mon Ketchikan, Alaska 7:00 am 3:00 pm

Tue Juneau, Alaska 7:00 am 1:30 pm

Cruise past Sawyer Glacier --- ---

Wed Skagway, Alaska 7:00 am 5:30 pm

Thu At Sea --- ---

Fri Victoria, British Columbia 2:30 pm 9:30 pm

Sat Seattle, Washington (DISEMBARK) 8:00 am ---

 

Which is better, and is AFT balcony to rough?

 

Again, that Ketchikan to Victoria run on Pearl is >24 hours at sea, and felt like an extra sea day to me.

[lax19]

I had the same choice last year (August) and went with the Jewel. The extended time in Victoria was the deciding factor for me. Plus the cruise fare was cheaper on the Jewel.

 

We towards the aft of the ship in a balcony and didn't feel any motion.

[sherryf]

These itineraries are actually quite different. They may visit the same ports, but the times in ports are not the same. One has more time in Ketchikan, the other has more time in Juneau and Skagway. You should consider what you'd like to do in each port and which itinerary gives you enough time to do them.

[Budget Queen]

They pretty much have the SAME about of "sea day" time. 2 days of open ocean. You have chosen, the roughest sailing potential of Alaska cruise routes.

 

The significant difference is the glaciers. In my opinion- IF you want to see glaciers, then it is "necessary" that you book the ship contracted Tracy Arm add on tour. This is grossly superior compared to the cruise ship transit. You are not likely to get anything more than a partial distant view of the South Sawyer glacier from the cruise ship.

 

I too agree with Sherry- you, NOW, need to determine WHAT you are going to be doing in these ports. In my opinion, 50% of an Alaska trip- is shore excursions. :)

[BeingMe]

Ok, to be honest I haven't even thought about shore excursions. I know we want to go out of Seattle and want a 7 day cruise. In my room will be 2 kids (4 and 10) and 2 adults. I was told NCL was great for kids and cost. We are also traveling with grandparents. I have family that just did the Jewel and loved it.

So with that, what do you recommend?

Also, I did not know water would be rough in August. My in sister in law just did one 2 weeks ago and no complaints. Is it much rougher at the end of August?

[live2vayk]

Ok, to be honest I haven't even thought about shore excursions. I know we want to go out of Seattle and want a 7 day cruise. In my room will be 2 kids (4 and 10) and 2 adults. I was told NCL was great for kids and cost. We are also traveling with grandparents. I have family that just did the Jewel and loved it.

So with that, what do you recommend?

Also, I did not know water would be rough in August. My in sister in law just did one 2 weeks ago and no complaints. Is it much rougher at the end of August?

 

My husband and our two teen daughters took the Pearl RT from Seattle last year in August. It was smooth sailing the entire trip. You just never know. We have not been on the Jewel, but we loved our trip on the Pearl. We had a mini suite which gave us a bit more room, it was perfect. We had a balcony, and a friend of mind said we probably wouldn't use it much because it would be to cold, but it was beautiful out, we were on it every day!

 

You can't go wrong really, you are going to Alaska, you will love it! Enjoy!

[BeingMe]

My husband and our two teen daughters took the Pearl RT from Seattle last year in August. It was smooth sailing the entire trip. You just never know. We have not been on the Jewel, but we loved our trip on the Pearl. We had a mini suite which gave us a bit more room, it was perfect. We had a balcony, and a friend of mind said we probably wouldn't use it much because it would be to cold, but it was beautiful out, we were on it every day!

 

You can't go wrong really, you are going to Alaska, you will love it! Enjoy!

 

Did you have any noise from above in the mini-suite?

[Budget Queen]

Ok, to be honest I haven't even thought about shore excursions. I know we want to go out of Seattle and want a 7 day cruise. In my room will be 2 kids (4 and 10) and 2 adults. I was told NCL was great for kids and cost. We are also traveling with grandparents. I have family that just did the Jewel and loved it.

So with that, what do you recommend?

Also, I did not know water would be rough in August. My in sister in law just did one 2 weeks ago and no complaints. Is it much rougher at the end of August?

 

Take a look at a map. The round trip Seattle route- is 2 days of open ocean, the roughest potential of Alaska cruises- during the ENTIRE season. I have sailed this route about 20 times, and have indeed had rough sailings with sick passengers. Of course I've been on the other itineraries with sick passengers as well, depending on the area- basing on about 50 cruises. I sailed the Pearl the last week of August last year- 2 days with the barf bags out, along with 5 out of 7 days of rain. :) One of 7 Alaska cruises I took last year.

 

I noted some differences above, are you not going to do any Alaska touring? Any preference for the glacier differences? Only you can decide what is going to be the best choice? What to the others say? Doesn't matter "what I recommend". :)

[live2vayk]

Did you have any noise from above in the mini-suite?

 

We did not, but you do have to choose carefully. We had #11098 and I had picked this cabin after doing research on the CC boards. I had also read about some mini suites being under things that made the cabin noisy so my goal was to avoid those cabins. We had no issues in this cabin. In fact, I loved every thing about it!

 

I just pulled out my folder from our trip and the dates we sailed were from August 17-23. We went early and stayed a few days in Seattle on the front end to explore. Our weather was beautiful, and we had mild and mostly sunny weather the entire trip. A few sprinkles a few times, but mostly just gorgeous weather. I remember being too hot in Skagway! I also remember the Captain telling us that we had the best weather out of the last two months of sailing. You can't predict the weather in Alaska, you just have to prepare for it all, and roll with whatever you get. We got lucky! ;)

[Orygungirl]

Just returned from my second cruise on the Pearl this year. I love it because of Glacier Bay. It is amazing. Multiple glaciers and plenty of time to see them from all parts of the ship. Absolutely beautiful.

Had an aft balcony both times, deck 9 and deck 10. No noise, not too rough. Highly recommend.