*REVIEW* Jewel of the Seas - Arctic Circle Norway

[renebfl]

Per person

[MillbrookMom]

6 minutes ago, renebfl said:

Per person

@renebflThanks.  I had thought we had a decent price for our interior, but then I saw yours for a balcony.  But ours was for 2 people and in Cdn $.  

[renebfl]

3 minutes ago, MillbrookMom said:

@renebflThanks.  I had thought we had a decent price for our interior, but then I saw yours for a balcony.  But ours was for 2 people and in Cdn $.  

Yes, we had two people. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it either so I called all my friends. Ended up they were seven of us. The girl who went solo Room got the $2400 fare before final payment.

[MillbrookMom]

2 hours ago, renebfl said:

Yes, we had two people. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it either so I called all my friends. Ended up they were seven of us. The girl who went solo Room got the $2400 fare before final payment.

Very nice.  We paid just under $2300 in US (when I do exchange at current rate), that's for the 2 of us, not each, for our interior.  I do think you got a good balcony rate, but I am definitely happy with what we paid for the interior.  

[ReneeFLL]

On 7/10/2024 at 1:24 PM, MillbrookMom said:

…June 4 - Honningsvag - This is the most northern point you go to.  After considering various tours, we decided the best bang for our buck was to rent a car.  That would give us the freedom to go where we wanted around Mageroya island at our own pace.  Unfortunately the weather wasn't that great, but we were able to see all that we wanted.  We drove up to the North Cape (Nordkapp) and got some great photos before the fog rolled in (which was also a very cool experience to watch it engulf everything and be so thick you could barely see 20 feet in front of you).  We then drove to a villages on both sides of the island, admiring the desolate landscape and plentiful groups of reindeer.  Hightly recommend a car rental.  
 

 

 

 

Who did you rent a car from and were you able to pick up and drop it off at the port?

[maggieq]

On 7/10/2024 at 1:24 PM, MillbrookMom said:

We recently did a Norwegian Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise on Jewel of the seas from May 30 - June 11, so thought I would share my thoughts and some pictures.  

 

Ship - We were the 2nd sailing on Jewel after a drydock and while no major additions were made, for an older ship she was looking pretty good.  While in general we enjoy the larger ships, we have no complaints about Jewel.  A nice size ship for this itinerary and she handled a few rougher nights at sea pretty good.

 

Room - we had an interior room as that was all that was in our budget (we spend 2 weeks in Europe before the cruise so had to watch our $ a bit).  We were very happy with it and slept well, especially north of the Arctic circle were the sun doesn't set!  

 

Staff - Overall we found the staff to be relatively friendly.  While we had mytime dining, we had the same servers for the whole cruise as we requested to sit in their section every night except the one night we had Chef's table.

 

Dining - I would say we weren't as impressed as we normally are with the quality of the food, but still found it pretty good overall.  Our chef's table experience was almost exceptional, with my only "complaint" being that my steak was cooked to medium vs the medium rare and while I could have sent it back, I am not picky enough to do that if it still tastes pretty good.  

 

Entertainment - I only went to one show myself as we were always up so early I just couldn't stay up for the late shows.  My husband saw a few others as well (a comedian and a magician I believe) and we both enjoyed what we did see.  

 

Itinerary - WOW!  This was a 12 nt cruise from Amsterdam.  I will breakdown the itinerary and what we did at each port as well as add a few photos.  

 

May 30 - Amsterdam

May 31 - Sea

June 1 - Geiranger - Here we got up early to watch sail in through the Fjord.  Having done Alaska fjords before, we found Norway to be very beautiful, but it doesn't have the ruggedness of Alaska.  Many little towns and villages along the fjords in Norway, where Alaska is all wilderness.  Once docking we decided to hike up past the Storfossen waterfall, past the Fjord Center and up to the Flydalsjuvet viewpoint (we took the trail up and the road back).  The views are just spectacular.

  

 

June 2 - Sea day

June 3 - We took the cruise line bus transfer into town as we planned to do a lot of walking around Tromso.  We walked across the Tromsobrua (bridge) to the Arctic Cathedral.  It's a beautiful building, but we decided not to go inside.  After taking some photos we walked back and then through town to Telegrafbukta beach.  My husband has a think about swimming places we go in the world so swimming north of the Arctic circle was a must.  The beach is lovely, has bathrooms for changing (they are pay as you go, but all were unlocked when we were there).  

 

 

 

 

June 4 - Honningsvag - This is the most northern point you go to.  After considering various tours, we decided the best bang for our buck was to rent a car.  That would give us the freedom to go where we wanted around Mageroya island at our own pace.  Unfortunately the weather wasn't that great, but we were able to see all that we wanted.  We drove up to the North Cape (Nordkapp) and got some great photos before the fog rolled in (which was also a very cool experience to watch it engulf everything and be so thick you could barely see 20 feet in front of you).  We then drove to a villages on both sides of the island, admiring the desolate landscape and plentiful groups of reindeer.  Hightly recommend a car rental.  

 

 

 

 

 

June 5 - Sea day, but we passed back through the Arctic circle so the ship held their Blue Nose Ceremony where you coud jumb in the pool.  My husband of course had to participate.  LOL 

 

June 6 - Alesund - Here we decided to walk through town and up the 418 steps to the Mount Aksla viewpoint.  Afterwards we wandered around town and found a great spot for some delicious fish and chips.  

 

 

 

 

June 7- Flam - We had previously booked the Flam Railway and the Stegastein Viewpoint transfer, both through Norway's Best.  Would definitely recommend this as they were both cheaper than booking with the cruise ship and the railway you are on the exact same train as the excursion through Royal, just in a different car on the train.  Sitting on the right side going up has the best views.  Afterwards we walked around Flam and had a Norwegian waffle at a bakery in an old train car.  

 

 

 

 

June 8 - Stavanger - We had seriously considered doing the hike to pulpit rock, but there was news of a hiking dying shortly before the summit a few days before our arrival, coupled with the fact that they weather wasn't supposed to be very nice so we decided to do a Lysefjord cruise instead.  We heard that some from the ship who did the hike didn't make it to the top because you are time restricted so that would have been extremely disappointing for such an expensive excursion.  While we did have rain on our cruise, getting so close to the walls of the fjord was quite the experience.  We also walked around Stavanger in the morning before any of the shops opened so was nice to have the town to ourselves.  Old town Stavanger right beside the ship is also worth a walk through.  

 

 

 

 

 

June 9 - Kristiansand - This was our last port and since it was a Sunday not too much was open.  We just did a walk around the port, and the town before having some local shrimp to eat before heading back on board.  

 

 

 

June 10 - Sea day

 

June 11 - Arrival back in Amsterdam

 

Overall we had an absolutely amazing cruise.  The weather was pretty good, Most days even when calling for rain had fair weather.  We certainly couldn't complain.  We just love these longer cruises with so many ports.  Norway is a very beautiful country and if you have the chance, I strongly encourage you to visit.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.  

@MillbrookMom  thanks for posting. We were on this cruise as well. 
 

we enjoyed it based on visiting Amsterdam and Norway for the first time.  The scenery in Norway was beyond stunning/amazing

we have cruised cruised on the jewel a few times and while we had a good time, the evening entertainment and additional venues you get on bigger and newer ships was lacking for us.  Chops was a great dining experience. We tried Giovanni’s and it was disappointing as it was last November.  
 

we only got half way up the pulpit rock.  Disappointing for sure but we watched a lady almost face plant on a large rock on the way up in the rain and that was enough for me.  
 

 

[maggieq]

We started out with an ocean view until I saw a balcony guarantee.   I hopped on it and we actually got a pretty good deluxe balcony cabin just under $3,600 for both of us - 12 nights - we thought we got a great deal for sure. 

[MillbrookMom]

5 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Who did you rent a car from and were you able to pick up and drop it off at the port?

Nordkapp Bilservice 

They are in a yellow building right beside the tourist office when you dock.  

[MillbrookMom]

3 hours ago, maggieq said:

@MillbrookMom  thanks for posting. We were on this cruise as well. 
 

we enjoyed it based on visiting Amsterdam and Norway for the first time.  The scenery in Norway was beyond stunning/amazing

we have cruised cruised on the jewel a few times and while we had a good time, the evening entertainment and additional venues you get on bigger and newer ships was lacking for us.  Chops was a great dining experience. We tried Giovanni’s and it was disappointing as it was last November.  
 

we only got half way up the pulpit rock.  Disappointing for sure but we watched a lady almost face plant on a large rock on the way up in the rain and that was enough for me.  
 

 

I agree the scenery is just Wow!  I honestly didn’t mind the lack of entertainment, but that was only because there were so many ports and I never stayed up late enough for the shows because I was always up so early.  
I heard many people didn’t make it to the top.  We actually have friends who are a Celebrity ship right now and they just did pulpit rock a few days ago and while they made it they only had enough time for a few quick photos before they had to return and they said they were spent.  
I am sorry you didn’t make it, that’s a very expensive excursion to not get to see the top.  

[ReneeFLL]

19 hours ago, MillbrookMom said:

Nordkapp Bilservice 

They are in a yellow building right beside the tourist office when you dock.  

Thanks

[Cruisefanatic71]

Wow! That itinerary looked really good. The pics are great. I am looking forward to cruising into the Arctic. Glad you enjoyed your cruise. 

[MillbrookMom]

15 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Thanks

@ReneeFLLhope it works for you.  We had given the info to another family on our cruise and we ran into them when we stopped to take photos of Reindeer and they thanked us for the suggestion. 

[MillbrookMom]

13 hours ago, Cruisefanatic71 said:

Wow! That itinerary looked really good. The pics are great. I am looking forward to cruising into the Arctic. Glad you enjoyed your cruise. 

The itinerary was almost perfect.  I would only have switched maybe Kritiansand for Bergen.  But we are still thrilled to have been able to do this trip.  It was amazing!