Jewel to Alaska - June 11 to 18

[southerngirloutwest]

About a year ago, I had the bright idea to take a family cruise to Alaska - mom & dad, aunt & uncle, brother & wife, and hubby & me. It was a tough sell for the men - they wanted to send the us on a "girls' cruise." But, after some hard-selling about family, fun, and nature....I got everyone on board!

 

Our Alaska adventure on the Jewel included 3 first-time cruisers, 3 with one cruise each, and hubby & me - #6 for us. I chose the Jewel because hubby and I cruised the Caribbean last year on the Getaway and loved it. We really enjoyed the NCL product - no formal nights, no set dining times, plenty of food choices, and a relaxed atmosphere. I knew that formal nights and set dining times would be dealbreakers for some in my group! We chose the Seattle round trip for ease of planning. Hubby and I did a northbound from Vancouver for our honeymoon and it was fabulous, but that meant coordinating 4 sets of flights in two different cities for this group. Round trip helped us keep it simple!

 

Four of us flew from Denver to Seattle on Saturday morning. We arrived about 10:15 and took a taxi to the port. Yes, I know that there are other transportation options, but, honestly, this was the easiest for this group of people. One couple flew from Memphis and arrived around noon. My brother and his wife arrived in Seattle the night before. None of us had any flight hiccups, thankfully.

 

When we got to Pier 66, we dropped our luggage with the curbside porter (never done that before!) and waited for my husband to get back with a case of water. (Ship water and I do not get along, sadly.) He walked UPhill to a convenience store near the port and made a deal with the guy working. He's the best! In the meantime, my mom and dad had entered the building. Mom uses a wheelchair for long distances or long stand times so they used the accessible entrance. When my husband got back with the water, we went to check in, too. WOW! That was a loud, confusing room, and it wasn't the best first impression for my first-time cruising parents. It took us a few minutes to figure out the lay of the land and get in the correct line. Come to find out, Mom & Dad hadn't even checked in; they'd just used the bathroom and were waiting to board. After the initial confusion, we got them squared away and then we were off to the Jewel.

 

We boarded around 12:00 so our rooms weren’t ready yet. Having been up since 5:30 MT, we decided to eat lunch at O’Sheehan’s while we waited. Our first lunch at O’Sheehan’s was good but not stellar. The food was warm but not hot. Sadly, this was a theme that we would revisit throughout the week. Our cruise was booked through a travel agent who offered the Ultimate Beverage Package and onboard credit as a bonus. My father and husband (who aren’t big drinkers) really enjoyed the UBP. They got to try all kinds of stuff that they wouldn’t have if we had to pay for each drink.

 

Promptly at 1:00, our rooms were ready and we were eager to see them. Hubby and I had cabin 10008; my parents had cabin 10034. Both were standard balcony cabins – smallish with plenty of storage space. The only part that seemed cramped was the bathroom/closet area. The space between the bathroom door and closet door was only one person wide. It was a little awkward getting ready in the morning! Our cabin had an enclosed balcony which was strange at first but turned out to be a good thing on the cool, rainy sea days. The balcony was larger than the Getaway balconies; we could sit in the chairs without our knees touching the glass!

 

While waiting for the muster drill, I unpacked our bags and my husband and father explored the ship. At 3:30, we all motored to the Stardust Theater for our drill. I don’t understand why some cruise lines scan your cruise card, but others still take attendance with paper and pencil. Our drill seemed like a combination between safety information and a sales talk. After the drill was over, we went out to the promenade deck for sailaway. We watched Seattle fade into the distance and took tons of pictures.

 

Finally, at 5:30, we met the rest of our party at Azura for dinner. All eight of us hadn’t been together in over a year so we were glad to see each other. Our first dinner at Azura was good. I don’t remember what each person ate, but we enjoyed all of it. After dinner, we went out to the promenade deck to walk and chat.

[southerngirloutwest]

Day 2 was a sea day which was new for many in my party. Lots of motion sickness remedies were tried!

 

We met for breakfast at Tsar's Palace and it was very good. We had a great waiter who taught the newbies about ordering different items if their first item wasn't good (runny scrambled eggs...ewww). After breakfast, we went to trivia. My sister-in-law is a game nut; she will play almost any game so this was right up her alley.

 

We ate lunch at Chin Chin and were disappointed. The food could have been really good if it had been hot. But, our steamed potstickers were barely warm and my noodles were not hot at all. We didn't complain to the wait staff, but we also didn't return to try it again during the week.

 

For dinner, we ate at Teppanyaki. It was delicious. Our chef was Ron and he was very entertaining. All of our entrees were served correctly. I really appreciate that they check and double check with those of us who have allergies. I am allergic to shellfish, and they made sure to cook my food in a separate place on the grill. We tried all of the appetizers, salad, and dessert, too. I loved the fruit sashimi; others ordered the green tea cake & ice cream. I don't know how it tasted, but it didn't look appetizing.

 

After dinner, we headed over to the Stardust Theater for Le Cirque Bijou. Those of us who stayed for the show really enjoyed it. The dancing and acrobatics were incredible!

[DanzOma]

Enjoying your review! Looking forward to more :)

[Laszlo]

Following

[Clarea]

Enjoying the review so far.

[jkantrow]

Great so far! Did u get pictures of the main dining room menus? Dailies? Etc.

[southerngirloutwest]

Great so far! Did u get pictures of the main dining room menus? Dailies? Etc.

Sadly, no... I was so caught up in having family time that those things didn't cross my mind until I got back and started this review.

 

:eek:

[southerngirloutwest]

We made it to Ketchikan on day 3. My land-lubbing family was glad to be able to get off the boat. This was going to be the day to test out my mom’s rented scooter. We wanted her to be able to get out and do things with the rest of us, so we convinced her to rent a scooter for the cruise. After a bit of initial trouble on embarkation day (it wasn’t in their cabin, but it was close by), everything was straightened out and she was learning to drive it pretty well.

 

For our day in Ketchikan, I reserved a tour with Wild Wolf Tours. We were set to meet our guides at the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center at 10:45. Well, at 7:00 we were exiting the ship! We had several hours to walk around town. Several members of the group wanted to shop for souvenirs so we hit the stores first. Then we walked down to Whale Park and over to Creek Street. By 10:00 all of us had made it to the Discovery Center so we waited for our guides to arrive. Serena and Norman showed up at 10:35ish and introduced themselves as our guides for the day. One of the guides balked at transporting the scooter, but the other had dealt with one recently so the men of our group hoisted it into the back of one of the minivans and we were off!

 

They drove us along the coast southeast of Ketchikan, making several stops to see wildlife and totem poles. We say countless eagles. Seriously, so many eagles we couldn’t believe it! They were just hanging out near the water. We stopped at a local jam/jelly stand where some of our group loaded up on Alaksan-made jellies. Then we headed back toward Ketchikan and out to Totem Bight State Park. Norman is a local native and he did most of the talking during this part of the tour. We saw lots of totem poles, learned the significance of different types of poles, and visited the clan house. Norman explained the construction and details of the clan house, and he explained the significance of his tribe shawl. After the clan house, we walked down the boardwalk and saw several other totem poles and learned the stories behind them.

 

Totem Bight Park was the last stop on our tour so when we left it, we had Serena and Norman drop us at Annabelle’s for some fish and chips. It was close to 1:30 by this time so we had to hurry with our food. My husband explained that we wanted to eat, but we only had about 30 minutes before we needed to head back to the ship. Our waiter was a rock star; he served our drinks quickly and turned in our order right away. Our food was out in a flash and it was super-tasty. We stopped for a few last minute souvenirs and made it back to the ship on time – we never want to be pier runners!

 

Sailaway is one of our favorite things about port days so we sat out on our balcony and watched Ketchikan fade into the distance. Crazy float planes were flying in and out and seemed dangerously close to the ship. After sailaway, we met my parents at Azura for dinner. Once again, I don’t remember what anyone ate, but we all enjoyed our food. Then we walked around the promenade deck to work off some of the calories. Since all Alaska cruises have early port days, shortly after dinner and a walk, we went to bed dreaming of the next day in Juneau.

Edited June 24, 2016 by southerngirloutwest

[southerngirloutwest]

More pictures from Ketchikan...

 

How do you embed pictures directly into the body of the post?

[buddy1755]

My wife and I are planning an ALASKA cruise in 2018, we are debating one way from Alaska and do a land tour before the cruise or round trip Seatle, or Vancouver, it will likely be in June, how was the weather on your cruise? What would you do differently?

[southerngirloutwest]

Day 4 of our cruise brought us to Juneau. Once again we started early, meeting at Java Cafe at 7:00 am. We quickly disembarked and found the shuttle into Juneau (we were docked at the southernmost berth which is a mile from the Mt. Roberts tram.) My dad, husband, and brother met with their representative from Alaska Travel Adventures. They signed up for sea kayaking. My husband always wants to try new & adventurous things while in port, but I'm a big chicken. This was his chance to do something outdoorsy with other like-minded individuals! Then they walked down the main street looking for coffee and a new jacket for my brother.

 

My aunt, uncle, sister-in-law, and I signed up for the city tour and glacier view ($45 with M&M Tours). We had time to souvenir shop and get coffee before our tour left.

 

Sunny was our tour guide and she did a great job. She showed us the main sights of downtown Juneau and then took us across the bridge to Douglas where we were able to photograph downtown Juneau and the cruise ships in port.

 

After the photo stop, we drove out to Mendenhall Glacier where we had 1 hour to explore. We fast-hiked to Nugget Falls and back. It was like hiking on a two-lane highway; people were coming and going the entire 45 minute hike. We met Sunny back at the van at 10:25 as planned. On the drive back to town, she dropped my aunt and sis-in-law at the Juneau City Museum and took the rest of us back to the tramway.

 

When my uncle and I got back to the tramway, I bought Mom a t-shirt and then we headed back to the ship. My mother was worried about getting around Juneau on her scooter without my dad so she stayed on the ship in Juneau. She would have had no problem with the tour or the shuttles that we used, but, alas, she didn't feel comfortable enough to do it without my dad. Upon returning to the ship, I met up with Mom and we ate lunch at O’Sheehan’s (tuna salad for her, pot pie for me). Over the course of the next hour, the rest of our party trickled in and we had a good time eating and socializing. The guys who went kayaking enjoyed their experience and came home dry with all of their electronics (GoPro, pocket cameras, and phones) intact. Win! Win! Win!

 

After the lunch party broke up, hubby and I went to the spa to use the hot tub and tile loungers. We've decided that Norwegian has the best spas for the money. Our first experience was on the Getaway and it was delightful! I stayed for an hour and then got ready for dinner. Then, mom & dad, my aunt & uncle, and hubby & I met at the back of the ship (The Great Outdoors) to view the cruise into Endicott Arm to see Endicott Glacier. The glacier was AMAZING!! We were supposed to go to Tracy Arm, but the captain said it was too iced in and this was a good alternative. Having never been to Tracy Arm, I can't compare the two. Hubby and I cruised Glacier Bay several years ago and that was fabulous too. I mean, getting to see glaciers up close, what's not to love!

 

After a few hours of viewing the glacier and surrounding beauty, it was getting close to bedtime. We had to be up early the next morning for our excursion in Skagway.

[southerngirloutwest]

Some more pictures from Juneau...

[southerngirloutwest]

My wife and I are planning an ALASKA cruise in 2018, we are debating one way from Alaska and do a land tour before the cruise or round trip Seatle, or Vancouver, it will likely be in June, how was the weather on your cruise? What would you do differently?

 

We did a northbound to Alaska from Vancouver several years ago and really enjoyed that one, too. All the ports were the same for both cruises; the only difference was the glacier viewing. On the one-way, we went to Glacier Bay. On this one we were supposed to go to Tracy Arm but ended up going to Endicott Arm. I think in Glacier Bay you get closer to the glacier; we were able to video it calving.

 

Both of our cruises have been in June, and on both, we've enjoyed good weather on port days. Highs from 55 in Ketchikan to 80 in Skagway and mostly clear skies. We got rained on once in Ketchikan.

 

Doing a land tour sounds fabulous! The only thing that I might do differently is to spend a few days in the embarkation city before/after boarding the ship. It would be nice to have time to explore those cities a bit.

[southerngirloutwest]

Our group was up and at ‘em early on day 5. We met outside the ship right off the ramp. For our day in Skagway, we booked the Yukon Rail and Bus Tour with Chilkoot Charters. We met our guide, Mike, at the weather shelter right across from the cruise ship. He took us to the White Pass & Yukon Railroad boarding station where we boarded the train. We had the next-to-last car on the train which was nice for taking pictures of the length of the train. We rode the train up to Fraser, BC and learned about the railroad and gold rush of 1898. I like the fact that you can go outside the train car to take pictures or take in the scenery without any windows. Also, in my case, the fresh air helps ease the motion sickness a bit. While we were riding the train, our tour guide was headed to Fraser to drop off a group for the train and pick us up.

 

At Fraser, we left the train and climbed aboard a 20 passenger bus for the remainder of our tour. From Fraser, we headed north to Carcross. We drove through the teeny-tiny town of Carcross, which was originally known as Caribou Crossing until mail started getting misdelivered among all of the towns with the same name. After Carcross, we headed to Emerald Lake – so clear and beautiful. Finally, we stopped for lunch at Caribou Crossing Trading Post. This was a pretty neat place. (I know it’s for tourists, but I enjoyed my time there.) We had a lovely BBQ chicken lunch, and they had the tastiest cinnamon-sugar donuts for dessert. On the grounds, there was plenty to see and do. We spent most of our time with the animals – sled dogs, mini horses, alpacas, and goats. We didn’t spring for a sled dog ride, just watching them get harnessed up was enjoyable enough. And… they had a gift shop. Amazing, right? Promptly at 1:27, we loaded up for our return to Skagway. Mike stopped at the Yukon and Alaska borders for group picture opportunities. On the way back we kept our eyes peeled for wildlife. We saw a bear! It was an adolescent male foraging for food near the highway. Yay! We also saw some Dall sheep waaaay up on a rocky slope. When we returned to Skagway, Mike dropped some passengers off in town because they wanted to check it out. He took the rest of us back to our ships.

 

For dinner, we ate at La Cucina, the Italian restaurant on board. The fee structure is a la carte - you pay for the items you order instead of a flat cover charge. I had the minestrone and pasta carbonara. Hubby ordered a salad and a steak. Mom & Dad ordered lasagna; my brother and sister-in-law ordered penne with marinara. Our food was ok, but not spectacular. The penne with marinara looked exactly the same as the pasta bar from the buffet. No one’s food was hot enough for our tastes; the butter on my husband's steak had a hard time melting. :eek: On the positive, when my father stated that his food wasn’t hot enough, our server did take it back to the kitchen to reheat it, and it came back steaming hot. As a group, we were not impressed with La Cucina. It took a long time to get our food and drinks. Our server spilled my drink down my shoulder and back. It was just a perfect storm of blah.

 

After dinner, several of us went to the show “Band on the Run.” Hubby and I aren’t big 70s music fans, but the show was entertaining. Once the show was finished, we took a lap around the promenade deck before heading to bed for the night.

 

We didn’t spend a ton of time in our room during this cruise because we were trying to cram in as much family time as possible. However, the television choices on this cruise were standard for any ship – several ship-related channels, a couple of news channels, a kids channel, a movie channel, and a channel that plays network TV shows. We had two remotes in our cabin but neither one worked well. In addition, our TVs reception was a bit fuzzy.

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for sharing your review.

[gsc500]

Enjoying your review.

[southerngirloutwest]

Day 6 - At Sea

 

I wish I could say that we did lots of activities and met tons of people on our last sea day, but that would be a lie. We had a lazy day - slept until 8:15 then I sent hubby up to the buffet to grab "room service" for me. He's a keeper! The entire family met at O’Sheehan’s for lunch at 11:00 only to find out that they don’t serve lunch until 11:30 so we hung out there until lunch was served. Even though we had some issues with food temperature at O'Sheehan's, the service we received was great each time we went. They accommodated our party of 8 with no questions or complaints. Our waiters and bartenders were friendly and professional. No complaints about service on the Jewel!

 

We did Beatles Trivia and watched the Up Close Magic Show at 4:30. At 5:30, we met at Tsar’s Palace for dinner. Everything we ordered was delicious, maybe one of the best meals we had on board. After dinner, most of us went up to the buffet for dessert and sat around talking and taking in the vast ocean around us. This was the perfect time of day to see whales off in the distance. We never saw one fully breach the water, but we did see lots of puffs, spouts, backs, and tails. After the excitement was over, we headed back to our cabins for the night to get ready for Victoria, our last port. Sigh…

[southerngirloutwest]

 

 

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[southerngirloutwest]

Our last day! The morning was spent like most others. Hubby and I had breakfast at the buffet then he went up to use the spa. I started packing our bags so I wouldn’t have so much to do after our stop in Victoria. Around 11:30 we met for our last lunch on board. Naturally, we met at O’Sheehan’s because their service had been so good for so much of the cruise. We’re a group who gets pretty set in our ways so we ordered the same things we always ordered - chicken pot pies, tuna sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, fish & chips, and fruit plates. The fruit plate in O’Sheehan’s was consistently good – plenty of fruit, a bit of yogurt, and a slice of banana bread. It was the perfect plate.

 

After lunch, we prepared for disembarkation in Victoria. From my balcony, I was able to catch a video of the pilot boarding the ship. It’s always amazing to me that someone jumps from a small vessel to a huge one! Around 1:30 we met back on the promenade deck and got in line to leave the ship. All of our morning disembarkations (?) were fast with almost no line to speak of. This one was waaay different! I think it was partly because it was in the afternoon and more people were awake and moving about. Also, on day 6, the navigation update mentioned that we might get to Victoria early so people were anxiously waiting for that. We did NOT get off early in Victoria; in fact, we were about 15 minutes late. I think it had something to do with Canadian customs because they kept calling for a particular family over and over.

 

We finally exited the ship and started making our way to Victoria. My mom (who was driving her scooter) and dad were delayed because they had to use the elevator to get down to deck 5. Once they finally made it to the ramp, my poor parents had a mishap with a bird :eek: and had nothing to clean it up. I found a very helpful crew member who got us a rag and some “washy washy” liquid. We got them cleaned up and then we were on our way into Victoria.

 

Once we were off the ship, we split into different groups. My aunt and uncle took a Pedi cab tour of Victoria; my brother and sis-in-law headed out to Butchart Gardens for the afternoon. My parents, husband, and I headed over to the Inner Harbor. We followed the waterfront path past the wharf over towards the British Columbia Legislature Building. My dad and husband decided to take a float plane trip over the harbor and Victoria so they trekked over to that building while Mom and I waited at Starbucks and people watched. Unfortunately, there were no more flights that would fit our time frame so we started back to Fisherman’s Wharf. (IF we ever get back to Victoria, I will prebook a flight for my husband. He loves that kind of stuff!) We stopped at Barb’s Fish & Chips for some fish and chips, of course. While we were there we saw several happy harbor seals who were being fed by all of the kids in the area. After dinner it was time to finish our walk back to the ship. Vacation was almost over. Seattle was only a short sail away.

[southerngirloutwest]

Oh my goodness! I apologize for the craziness of my pictures. I'm having a hard time getting that part right!!

[southerngirloutwest]

Here are a few pics from our time in Victoria...

 

 

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[texasmelrose2]

Thanks for your review! We will be on Jewel in 6 weeks. Sounds like a great ship!

[MandyMommyof2]

Really enjoying your review! Alaska is on our list! :)

[southerngirloutwest]

Disembarkation - Seattle

 

It's always sad to leave a cruise - especially when you've had tons of family fun like we did. We arrived in Seattle in the early morning hours Saturday. Hubby and I were up and ready for breakfast by 6:30, and then we met the rest of the family at 7:00. Disembarkation was EASY. We did walk-off with our own luggage at 7:30ish and were through customs by 7:50. My parents are Starbucks fans so we hailed a cab to Pike Place Market for coffee and a photo op. Then we were on our way to the airport. Sadly, we had lots of time before our flight to Denver so we set up camp near our gate and then explored the airport. If we ever do this again with family, I will make sure to plan a little bit of city exploration to fill the time instead of waiting at the airport. It was brutal!

 

Has anyone ever left something valuable in your cabin? I did on this trip - my iPad. :eek: I didn't notice that it was missing until we arrived at our hotel in Denver. I called NCL customer service first thing Monday morning, but after waiting on hold for 30 minutes with no response, I gave up. I called again on Tuesday and talked with a very helpful representative. She said an iPad matching my description had been reported on the lost & found list! But I would have to wait for the ship to return to Seattle, then they would offfload it and send it to their corporate headquarters in Miami. When they received it, someone would call me to confirm that it was mine, and THEN they would ship it to my house. Finally, TODAY (7/7) I got a call from Miami. They called to confirm that the tablet was mine and my shipping address. It's on the way back to me. I'm so relieved!:)

 

Final thoughts about NCL Jewel and Alaska...I'll start with negatives.

1. Food temperature was widely varied - cold things were always cold, but hot things were not always served hot.

2. The ship's decor is dated. If you want the newest and most stylish decor, this is not the ship for you.

3. We had the UBP on this cruise because it was a bonus from our travel agency. I'm not sure that I would pay for this on another cruise. Sure, it was fun to try out different alcoholic drinks that we would never drink at home, but it didn't cover bottled water or specialty coffees which would have been more beneficial to me. And we wound up drinking more calories than we should have each day!

 

The Positives...(in no particular order)

1. Main dining room service was fantastic each time we ate there. Our food was hot, fresh, and delivered as quickly as you could expect it.

2. Our room stewards were fabulous - Naylin and Kamong. They took care of us on the balcony deck.

3. Teppanyaki was awesome. It was the only upcharge restaurant that was worth the extra money.

4. Of course, Alaska is incredible. The scenery, the wildlife, the friendly people, just everything. Everyone should go at least once in their life.

5. All the staff members that we encountered on the Jewel were friendly, helpful, and professional.

6. The ship was the perfect size for cruising newbies. It has plenty to see and do without being overwhelming.

7. My husband enjoyed the spa because they have lots of amenities and are on a high deck with fantastic views.

8. The promenade deck! We loved being able to hang out and chat on the chairs and loungers. Most of us enjoyed walks around the deck each day for fresh air and exercise.

 

Thanks for reading my first cruise review!

[Kaseylol]

great review