Jewel to Alaska Summary- Fabulous!

[Cindyscruising]

Aug 22-Aug 29 2015 Jewel to Alaska family group of 7

 

We flew in to Seattle and used "Already There" service from airport to hotel to Pier 66 and back to SeaTac. Highly recommend this business, they were prompt, friendly and reasonably priced

 

Stayed at the Kimpton Vintage Hotel in downtown. Its in a safe area and within walking distance to Pike Place Market, the monorail, restaurants and shops. They offer a lovely wine tasting each night for guests to get to meet each other and mingle and they serve complimentary local Washington State wines. The staff here was very pleasant and helpful. Rooms were a bit small but very clean and the beds comfortable

 

While in Seattle we visited Pikes Market, Chihuly Exhibit and the Space Needle. All were fantastic. The Chihuly and Space Needle are a must see and are simply dazzling. We were lucky enough to have great weather all week so the views from the Space Needle went on forever as the day was super clear and sunny

 

Onto the cruise!

 

We stayed in a Haven 2 bedroom suite. Our concierge was Florentina and our butler was Ronald. We were very satisfied with both of them and loved the Haven in general.

We had the UDP and UBP and there were no issues with either one at all. I had some concerns about lines after reading some comments from other posters but we did not encounter any wait times for drinks.

We ate at La Cucina, Le Bistro, Cagneys, Moderno, Haven courtyard and had two lunches at Tsars Place. All the food was excellent and the staff exceptionally friendly. The entertainment was top notch, the ship in general is easy to navigate, in good condition and I found all the employees to be happy and upbeat

 

We did the following excursions ( first three booked through NCL)

 

Ketchikan: Trolley around town and to Saxman Village (amazing)

Juneau: Mendenhall Glacier Explorer ( walked to Nugget Falls- breathtaking)

Skagway: White pass scenic Railway (magnificent views)

Victoria: High Tea at Empress hotel ( so elegant and scrumptious) - this is a lovely city, full of blossoming flowers everywhere

 

We have a family group of 7 ranging from middle schooler, college teen, parents and senior citizens. Everyone agreed we hit a home run on our excursion selections. There were so many to chose from and we took a long time to finally decide which ones to sign up for. We were absolutely thrilled with what we did at each port. I highly recommend each of the above excursions if you are researching going to Alaska.

 

The scenery on this trip was just exquisite. We were blessed to have sunny days and clear nights and we brought along a good pair of binoculars I ordered from Amazon prior to the trip. ( Celestron skymaster) We saw bears, eagles, porcupines, mountain goats, salmon and one night we even saw the northern lights!

 

I have the freestyle dailys if anyone has a question I can try to answer for you.

Overall in summary this ship and itinerary are a 10 out of 10 :)

[Shellbelle28]

We're heading out on the Pearl this month and I was wondering if we'd maybe have northern lights, so it was good to see you encountered them! Was It just happenstance you saw them, or was there some kind of announcement?

[Cindyscruising]

The staff alerted us to keep a watch around 11pm because it was such a clear night. It looked like a small little rainbow in the sky in the distance, it was gorgeous

[Shellbelle28]

The staff alerted us to keep a watch around 11pm because it was such a clear night. It looked like a small little rainbow in the sky in the distance, it was gorgeous

Very cool!

[twokids0204]

Aug 22-Aug 29 2015 Jewel to Alaska family group of 7

 

We flew in to Seattle and used "Already There" service from airport to hotel to Pier 66 and back to SeaTac. Highly recommend this business, they were prompt, friendly and reasonably priced

 

Stayed at the Kimpton Vintage Hotel in downtown. Its in a safe area and within walking distance to Pike Place Market, the monorail, restaurants and shops. They offer a lovely wine tasting each night for guests to get to meet each other and mingle and they serve complimentary local Washington State wines. The staff here was very pleasant and helpful. Rooms were a bit small but very clean and the beds comfortable

 

While in Seattle we visited Pikes Market, Chihuly Exhibit and the Space Needle. All were fantastic. The Chihuly and Space Needle are a must see and are simply dazzling. We were lucky enough to have great weather all week so the views from the Space Needle went on forever as the day was super clear and sunny

 

Onto the cruise!

 

We stayed in a Haven 2 bedroom suite. Our concierge was Florentina and our butler was Ronald. We were very satisfied with both of them and loved the Haven in general.

We had the UDP and UBP and there were no issues with either one at all. I had some concerns about lines after reading some comments from other posters but we did not encounter any wait times for drinks.

We ate at La Cucina, Le Bistro, Cagneys, Moderno, Haven courtyard and had two lunches at Tsars Place. All the food was excellent and the staff exceptionally friendly. The entertainment was top notch, the ship in general is easy to navigate, in good condition and I found all the employees to be happy and upbeat

 

We did the following excursions ( first three booked through NCL)

 

Ketchikan: Trolley around town and to Saxman Village (amazing)

Juneau: Mendenhall Glacier Explorer ( walked to Nugget Falls- breathtaking)

Skagway: White pass scenic Railway (magnificent views)

Victoria: High Tea at Empress hotel ( so elegant and scrumptious) - this is a lovely city, full of blossoming flowers everywhere

 

We have a family group of 7 ranging from middle schooler, college teen, parents and senior citizens. Everyone agreed we hit a home run on our excursion selections. There were so many to chose from and we took a long time to finally decide which ones to sign up for. We were absolutely thrilled with what we did at each port. I highly recommend each of the above excursions if you are researching going to Alaska.

 

The scenery on this trip was just exquisite. We were blessed to have sunny days and clear nights and we brought along a good pair of binoculars I ordered from Amazon prior to the trip. ( Celestron skymaster) We saw bears, eagles, porcupines, mountain goats, salmon and one night we even saw the northern lights!

 

I have the freestyle dailys if anyone has a question I can try to answer for you.

Overall in summary this ship and itinerary are a 10 out of 10 :)

 

We were on the same cruise as you... Also loved it, the staff was awesome, the food was great, the scenery magnificent. Would definitely do it again.

 

The Northern Lights were the only thing we missed. :(

 

It was the Juneau day, we were up at 6:00 am, also did Mendenhall. Back on board, and enjoyed the cruising through Tracy's Arm to Sawyer Glacier, and by the end of the night we were BEAT! We tried to stay up but just couldn't. It's our only regret for the whole week. I did see some pics from other guests the next day.

[deladypilot]

Thank you for taking the time to review your cruise. We head out in 10 days for our 10 day Alaskan Cruise on the Jewel and we are so looking forward to it. Hopefully we will get lucky and see the lights

[MandyMommyof2]

I love reading all these Alaska reviews!! Makes me want to take one, instead of a Caribbean. Sounds like you and your family had a great time!!! I would love to see the Northern Lights!!

[Paulchili]

We are doing our first NCL cruise in 3 weeks and it will be on the Jewel.

I had asked this elsewhere but did not get an answer.

Which, if any, of the specialty restaurants are open for lunch? Is Chin Chin (?) open for lunch?

Is there a "Haven" restaurant and if so, when is it open (breakfast/lunch/dinner)?

TIA

Edited September 7, 2015 by Paulchili

[Cindyscruising]

If you are staying in the Haven you can have lunch at Moderno or right in the Haven courtyard. On this ship ( unlike Breakaway if you have been on that one) there is not a specific dedicated "Haven only" indoor restaurant. Eating out on the Haven courtyard is delightful and relaxing

[Cindyscruising]

The Haven courtyard is open for breakfast and lunch, not dinner

[twokids0204]

We are doing our first NCL cruise in 3 weeks and it will be on the Jewel.

I had asked this elsewhere but did not get an answer.

Which, if any, of the specialty restaurants are open for lunch? Is Chin Chin (?) open for lunch?

Is there a "Haven" restaurant and if so, when is it open (breakfast/lunch/dinner)?

TIA

 

Chin Chin was not open for lunch...

And if by "specialty restaurant" you mean additional charge... Chin Chin is free (and worth every penny).

[Paulchili]

Thank you both for the replies.

I don't imagine Moderno serves the same churascaria menu at lunch as they do at dinner.

[ngrund]

Thank you both for the replies.

I don't imagine Moderno serves the same churascaria menu at lunch as they do at dinner.

 

correct, they are just using the space for breakfast and lunch service reserved for Haven and Penthouse suite guests.

 

if you go for breakfast I recommend the crab cakes benedict

Edited September 8, 2015 by ngrund

[OceanDreaming2]

Thank you so much for sharing your review!

 

We have our 4th Alaska cruise, coming up in just 10 days! It'll be our 3rd time on the Jewel. No suite for us this time but we'll just have to make the best of it. ;)