Jewel or Pearl for Alaska?

[KarimaJ]

Hi. We are looking into an Alaska cruise for this summer, just me and hubby for our anniversary. I like the idea of flying into Seattle and these 2 cruises seem to have this option. Which of these ships would you pick? Is there an indoor solarium type pool on these ships? We did enjoy that on RC.

[Laszlo]

My wife and I sailed the Jewel last September. Really liked the ship, neither has an indoor pool but they do have a thermal spa which we bought and used everyday. Fly in at least a day ahead. We stayed the night before at The Edgewater Hotel, its literally a block from the ship. You can roll your luggage down the sidewalk to board. We bought passes for the Space Needle and the Chihuly Glass Museum for Saturday morning. We arrived at 8am, (walked) did the needle and museum, walked back to the hotel, checked out and were on the ship at 11:30am. Don't forget Pikes Market

 

 

You can see my two Alaska Video's here.........https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zseRIYyAfA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited January 17, 2017 by Laszlo

[BostonGal35]

Pearl includes Glacier Bay, i believe Jewel does not. If that's a factor for you, then you want Pearl.

 

that said, the Jewel is our fave ship and you will love her if you sail her.

[kdzkatz]

In regards to the ship choice I don't think you can go wrong. They are sister ships and very similar. We have cruised Alaska 8 times in the last 9 years all on NCL.

 

In regards to itinerary the big difference is glacier viewing. If Alaska is something you plan on only doing once then I recommend the Pearl as it goes to Glacier Bay. You have the best chance to see a glacier calving here if that is something you want to experience in person. Tracey Arm is beautiful as well but many times you cannot get very close to Sawyer glacier.

 

If at all possible I would recommend doing each itinerary but if you are only going once I would spend a little more money and visit Glacier Bay.

[Laszlo]

Pearl includes Glacier Bay, i believe Jewel does not. If that's a factor for you, then you want Pearl.

 

that said, the Jewel is our fave ship and you will love her if you sail her.

 

Jewel sailed up Endicott Arm which was fantastic, see video. We were close to the glacier and saw many whales

[laurabegorrah]

AS someone mentioned, they are sister ships, so on board experience will pretty much be identical (other than color schemes lol).

 

If you are willing to splurge for the anniversary, you should look into a Haven room. The Haven does have a very small indoor pool area. While there are no windows to see the views only a glass roof, you will have a nice place to lounge that is inside and comfy.

[KarimaJ]

Pearl includes Glacier Bay, i believe Jewel does not. If that's a factor for you, then you want Pearl.

 

that said, the Jewel is our fave ship and you will love her if you sail her.

 

The one thing I'm confused about are the itineraries. The Jewel looks like it sails the inside passage. From what I hear this is a must. Does the Pearl do Glacier Bay instead or does it go through the inside passage? It looks like it bypasses an area, but I'm not sure where the desirable paths are.

[kdzkatz]

The one thing I'm confused about are the itineraries. The Jewel looks like it sails the inside passage. From what I hear this is a must. Does the Pearl do Glacier Bay instead or does it go through the inside passage? It looks like it bypasses an area, but I'm not sure where the desirable paths are.

 

Neither ship will go on the east side of Vancouver Island (even if the NCL map shows that is does) which is the southern part of the inside passage but both do the northern portion of the inside passage.

 

NCL is terrible about correctly representing your correct route when it comes to Alaska cruises. In 2010 we left Seattle and took the east side of Vancouver Island. It was amazing! So much better than the normal sea day. You have land on both sides of you and there is much more to see. One big reason we booked our cruise last year was because their map showed us going that same route. We did not nor did any other cruise from Seattle last year. Very deceptive. It had nothing to do with tides either. We love cruising NCL but we certainly did not like that they can't even provide an accurate map of our cruise route.

 

As Laszlo stated they went up Endicott Arm which is the alternate route when Tracey Arm is too icy.

 

The glacier viewing day, to me, is quite different between Glacier Bay and Tracey/Endicott Arm. I think Glacier Bay is more about the destination of Marjorie Glacier as you get quite close and have a wonderful view. Tracey/Endicott Arm is more about the journey up as it feels more intimate with cruising up the fjords.

 

They are both amazing and beautiful in different ways. After having done them both several times I would do Glacier Bay over the other but in the same breath I don't think you would be disappointed with either.

Edited January 17, 2017 by kdzkatz

[Laszlo]

The one thing I'm confused about are the itineraries. The Jewel looks like it sails the inside passage. From what I hear this is a must. Does the Pearl do Glacier Bay instead or does it go through the inside passage? It looks like it bypasses an area, but I'm not sure where the desirable paths are.

 

Yea, the Map is wrong. NCL really needs to correct it. You don't know how many people we ran into on our cruise who thought we were going up the inside. First sea day was a big surprise for them Lol

 

 

The main reason we took the Jewel over the Pearl was the last day. The Jewel docked in Victoria at 2:00pm, we had plenty of time to go Orca watching. The Pearl does not dock until 6:00pm. Its a cruise I would do again in a heartbeat! I think its a shame NCL is going to have the Bliss there in 2018. That terminal is going be really crowded!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited January 17, 2017 by Laszlo

[kdzkatz]

Yea, the Map is wrong. NCL really needs to correct it. You don't know how many people we ran into on our cruise who thought we were going up the inside. First sea day was a big surprise for them Lol

 

 

The main reason we took the Jewel over the Pearl was the last day. The Jewel docked in Victoria at 2:00pm, we had plenty of time to go Orca watching. The Pearl does not dock until 6:00pm. Its a cruise I would do again in a heartbeat! I think its a shame NCL is going to have the Bliss there in 2018. That terminal is going be really crowded!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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NCL is putting millions (I think 15) into updating the cruise terminal (pier 66) to accommodate the Bliss. It will be interesting to see what they do. That terminal has always been very easy to navigate through for the Jewel class ships. I hope it continues after the improvements.

Edited January 17, 2017 by kdzkatz

[NCLfamily]

In regards to the ship choice I don't think you can go wrong. They are sister ships and very similar. We have cruised Alaska 8 times in the last 9 years all on NCL.

 

 

 

In regards to itinerary the big difference is glacier viewing. If Alaska is something you plan on only doing once then I recommend the Pearl as it goes to Glacier Bay. You have the best chance to see a glacier calving here if that is something you want to experience in person. Tracey Arm is beautiful as well but many times you cannot get very close to Sawyer glacier.

 

 

 

If at all possible I would recommend doing each itinerary but if you are only going once I would spend a little more money and visit Glacier Bay.

 

 

8/9 years? Wow. We are sailing Alaska for the first time in July. Pearl from Seattle.

 

So on the first sea day we will sail to the West of Vancouver Island? Close enough to land to see anything? Does it get choppy out there?

 

Thanks

 

 

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[Laszlo]

So on the first sea day we will sail to the West of Vancouver Island? Close enough to land to see anything? Does it get choppy out there?

 

Thanks

 

 

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You are 10-15 miles off the coast, I don't remember seeing land. We did see some very large pods of dolphins being chased by Orca's, guess they were hungry. I also saw 14 whales the first sea day. The weather was different every two hours. We had full sun, to full clouds back to sun the fog came in around 3pm. It was so dense you could not see the starboard side of the deck from port....it was unreal

[sueandkent]

Honestly, I'd do a one way itinerary either out of Vancouver to Alaska or the reverse. I would also make sure to pick a sailing that goes in to Glacier Bay. We sailed Princess and it was amazing. We did Glacier Bay, had park Rangers on board with us. Lots of guest lecturers, we learned so much. It's a great trip and expensive so make sure you choose wisely.

 

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[NCLfamily]

You are 10-15 miles off the coast, I don't remember seeing land. We did see some very large pods of dolphins being chased by Orca's, guess they were hungry. I also saw 14 whales the first sea day. The weather was different every two hours. We had full sun, to full clouds back to sun the fog came in around 3pm. It was so dense you could not see the starboard side of the deck from port....it was unreal

 

 

That sounds fantastic. I love the idea of sailing in fog too, bizarrely.

 

Can you remember if the ship is early to ports in relation to the scheduled times? I know from experience they usually are, but my experience is Mediterranean and Caribbean cruises.

 

Thanks

 

 

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[Laszlo]

That sounds fantastic. I love the idea of sailing in fog too, bizarrely.

 

Can you remember if the ship is early to ports in relation to the scheduled times? I know from experience they usually are, but my experience is Mediterranean and Caribbean cruises.

 

Thanks

 

 

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We were about 30 minutes early each port. Victoria I think we were about an hour. This was the first cruise we did not rush to get to the pier. It was nice being able to sight see Saturday morning, check out and walk on the ship

[NCLfamily]

Sounds good. A couple of the ports we have excursions booked a good bit after docking, but in Juneau we are due to be collected at 2/2.30 and the ship is due to dock at 2. Should be fine, they'll wait on us

 

 

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[Laszlo]

Sounds good. A couple of the ports we have excursions booked a good bit after docking, but in Juneau we are due to be collected at 2/2.30 and the ship is due to dock at 2. Should be fine, they'll wait on us

 

 

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No, they won't wait:D My wife and I went to Mendenhall Glacier. We walked down to Nugget Falls.....now that was a sight. You can see it at 11:05 in my video.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited January 17, 2017 by Laszlo

[NCLfamily]

We are doing a whale watching tour with Captain Harry and then being dropped at the Mendenhall visitor centre, we plane to walk to Nugget falls [emoji1360]

 

 

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[Laszlo]

We are doing a whale watching tour with Captain Harry and then being dropped at the Mendenhall visitor centre, we plane to walk to Nugget falls [emoji1360]

 

 

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Its an easy 2 mile roundtrip walk. They will let you know if they have had bear sightings, we saw them not too far from the trail

[NCLfamily]

Bears are on my Alaska bucket list, but I did rewatch The Revenant the other evening [emoji15]

 

 

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[KarimaJ]

No, they won't wait:D My wife and I went to Mendenhall Glacier. We walked down to Nugget Falls.....now that was a sight. You can see it at 11:05 in my video..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysr0U02jDi0&t=1007s

 

 

 

 

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Love the videos, looks beautiful! And it's so irritating that NCL has inaccurate routes on their website.

[Laszlo]

Love the videos, looks beautiful! And it's so irritating that NCL has inaccurate routes on their website.

 

Thanks! I don't get it, its been like that for years. I even offered to redraw it for them:D

[SoloCruzr]

No, they won't wait:D My wife and I went to Mendenhall Glacier. We walked down to Nugget Falls.....now that was a sight. You can see it at 11:05 in my video.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Excellent Video. Thanks for sharing!

[2travelcats]

Hi - I'm looking at Alaska cruises for 2018. I'm worried now about the NCL maps being wrong. If we leave from Vancouver will we be sure to cruise the inside passage? I really like the northbound, June 11, 2018 cruise on the Sun. It leaves from Vancouver and goes to both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier.

 

I'd love your advice and opinions - Johnette

[jimsig]

We did the Pearl last summer and loved it. I have a trip report with pictures if you are interested. You can find the link in my signature below.