jmh3791

I doubt the crepes are GF, at least they weren't on the Jewel.  I'm not celiac, but have a sensitivity.  The buffet is really good with cross contamination, so you may be fine having lunch there.  I was assigned a Chef at the buffet who would help me with lunch  options there.   But check with the dietary specialists when you get on board.  They are very helpful!  Also, they won't be prepared for you the first night, so you might do well to hit Cagney's or Moderno that night as they have their own kitchen and more GF choices than the MDR.   

A lot of times the cheese sauce they use to make nachos will have gluten in it, so the nachos may not be an option unless you do it without the cheese sauce.   

I was on this cruise as well!  I can see why the Jewel won an award for the friendliest ship - the crew is AMAZING! We had gone to Alaska with them in May and loved the crew so much that we went back for this cruise.  We were so impressed that many of the crew remembered us (tbh it was mostly bartenders that remembered me! 🤣🤣)  I can't wait to go back again, but unfortunately, their schedule doesn't match mine for next year.   😥

Thanks for the photos of Oregon!  I got sick from the rocking the night before, so the only thing I remember from Oregon was going through customs.  I suspect a bit of my day was spent at the bars, so that could be another reason why I don't remember!   That may have been the night where we hit Moderno and Magnolia became my new best friend.  She kept me stocked up on Pineapple 

🍍 the entire rest of the cruise!

We did the tour of LA with the stop at the farmer's market after the cruise.   I would have rather spent more time in San Francisco.  BUt now I know I don't need to spend any more time in LA. HA!

Here are some of my photos of the F-35 and Blue Angels.   

I've been on the Jewel twice this year and have not seen any pool tables.  There is a sports court, ping pong, and shuffleboard.   

I saw some TA's in another group say NCL notified them that they were ending the free airfare 10/30 to rework some problems with it and it would return around April.   

I've had bartenders make me drinks not on the menu (sometimes I've had to tell them how to make it,) and I've had them dr. a premade drink that I didn't necessarily like (adding tonic and less sugar to a caipirinha, etc.. It still didn't taste like Rio)  and they've all done it with a smile.   Of course I usually tip them or give them candy.   They only time I've seen them NOT make a drink request was if they didn't have those ingredients at that specific bar.   Sometimes when they aren't swamped I'll tell them to make their favorite and I"ve gotten some delicious drinks from that. 

I believe Chocolate and expresso martinis are both more than the $15 limit so you will have to pay the difference.   If you're looking for the chocolate one in specific, try the Rum Cake Martini.   It's quite chocolately and VERY delish!!

Home Departure City -  Colorado Springs

Arrival/Destination City - Vancouver

Airline(s) used -  Delta/West Jet

Number of Connections - 2

Outbound Flight departure/arrival time - 8:30am MST/4pmPST

Departure City - Los Angeles

Destination City - Colorado Springs

Airline(s) used -  United

Number of Connections - direct

Return Flight departure/arrival time 6:35pm PST / 10pm MST (flight was delayed 1.5 hours by United)

Deviation:  Paid $25 each for 3 people to fly in a day early.  DId not use any transfers but did book an excursion on debarkation day that ended at LAX

How many days out when you were ticketed- 31days out  (booked cruise at 42 days out)

On 10/15/2019 at 10:12 AM, dmbcanada said:

Just got off the Jewel following 6 night Pacific Coastal and received an email from NCL asking about our cruise experience.   I completed the survey and had some not so nice things to say about the cruise, will NCL contact me to follow up or do these not really get read?   

Sorry to hear you had a bad time.  We were on that exact cruise and had a wonderful time.   If you are having an issue, the best time to complain is when the issue is happening.  The crew will most definitely try to fix the issue and continue to check in with you the entire cruise to make sure everything is ok.  Unfortunately, not much can be resolved after the fact. 

A couple of things not mentioned - 

Free/reduced airfare:   Read and reread the terms & conditions, you are only guaranteed that people on the same reservation (i.e. in the same cabin) will be on the same flight.  Therefore, if you have 4 cabins, you may have people on 4 different flights.  Transfers w/ fees will be automatically added. but you can ask for them to be removed.  You can pay $25 per person to go in a day or 2 early, so you don't have to worry about flying on the day of embarkation, but you will be responsible for your transfer to the ship. Once you have been notified of your flights, you can go to the airline's website to choose your seats.   You will be ticketed economy, so it may cost more to choose a seat, if you choose not to pay extra the airline will assign you a seat, and it is not guaranteed that you will sit with your travel partner.  If none of the above bother you, the free/reduced airfare may be for you.   We saved about $700 using this perk. 

Drink Package:  With getting the PBP ( https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/premium-beverage-package-2019.pdf) free and just paying gratuities that equates to ~ $20 per person/per day.  This covers drinks under $15, wines, beer, soda, and juices.  The soda package will be ~$9.50 per person/per day.  If you think you might have a couple of glasses of juice, or a couple of drinks (they have GOOOOOOD drinks), this perk is worth it.   If you don't do soda or juice, skip this perk.  Coffee, tea, iced tea, lemonade and flavored water are available for free with juice at breakfast.  

Specialty Dining:   Some people swear by it.  It comes with the take all perks (again you'll prepay the grats,) when you book a balcony, but you don't have to take it.  NCL has a variety of dining rooms and restaurants, so it's not necessary.  

Destination:   ALASKA!!!  There are things there that EVERYONE (including the youngsters) will enjoy.  The scenery, wildlife and excursions are all spectacular!  Think trains, whale watching, glaciers, gold panning, dog sleds....

The boys: 1.) which ships are you looking at?   The larger ships are going to have all the bells and whistles - think ropes/climbing walls, laser tag, race tracks, etc...   The smaller ships will still have a pool, but not all the other fun stuff.  2.)  Both ships will have a kids club for the younger boys.  While I don't have kids, I did run into a couple of the clubs several times on the Jewel on my last cruise, and the littles (5) and the tweens all seemed to be having a great time with each other and the club staff.  

One last thing to consider for NCL:  Freestyle!!  Dine when you want, where you want, with whom you want, and wearing what you want! My dad (73) loved that he could wear his jeans and a polo shirt or a sweatshirt for every meal.  It also makes packing a whole lot lighter when you don't have to bring extra clothes for dinner.  In fact, my dad loved his cruise so much that we're going back next week and taking mom with us!

On 9/28/2019 at 5:21 PM, ckre4d said:

Does anyone know if Chai tea is available - either hot or iced? I may have to bring some with me if it is not offered.

I have the UBP perk, I don't drink much, but am looking forward to trying some fruity drinks and frozen concoctions! 

Cheers!

It may be in the specialty coffee bar, but it's not readily available on the ship.  NCL uses Lipton, so you'll get black, peppermint, decaf, and possibly and orange or chamomile (if you ask and they haven't run out.)  I'll be taking some tea with me (actually, I"m looking forward to picking up some new flavors in Victoria) next week. 

Have one coming up next week. 

Paid $25 to go in a day early, (fee can be waived if we stayed at their hotel, but it was at airport and we wanted to be downtown.) Notified of flights at 31 days out. 

Colorado Springs to Salt Lake (1 hour layover) to Calgary (2 hour layover) to Vancouver on Delta and WestJet.  Not thrilled with 2 stops, but since COS is a smaller airport it's not unexpected, and we'd prefer the layovers to having to fly from Denver.  Home is a direct flight from LAX to COS on United leaving at 6:30pm, so we opted to do an excursion in LA that day. 

We're not sitting together on the plane, but we don't really care since we'll be watching a movie or reading.  I was able to go into some of the flights to pick seats, but some of them required us to pay to choose seats (we're cheap - as long as we have a seat, we don't care!) 

We're happy and feel like the flights were just as good as any we could have booked ourselves, and using the reduced airfare saved us around $700.  More than that, we're tickled pink that we don't have to go to Denver, and we're on VACATION!!  🍹🍹

You do you.  If you wish to send a token of appreciation, do it!   Some people just like being nice to others.  Just beware that NCL may limit the $$ amount of a monetary gift.  I've worked for several companies that didn't allow me to accept a gift worth over $50 in value.     

Did Seward to Vancouver end of May this year.  We flew in a few days early, spent a day driving around Anchorage to see a few moose (with babies), took the Kenai Fjord Tours out of Seward to see otters, puffins, seals (with babies, ) Sea lions, dall's porpoises, orca's (with babies,) and humpbacks (with babies.)  Eagles were everywhere and we saw whales while docked at Icy Straight.   No bears for us (tho people on the Skagway train saw them on that trip), and too early for the salmon to be running.  We were also too early to see the Beluga Whales off the Seward Highway.   August may be the ideal time to see the most of everything, but you'll also see a LOT of people during that time.  

Depending on how close the cruise is, some of them have been offering OBC as an incentive for booking. 

On 7/22/2019 at 8:58 PM, Paleochick said:

Captain Giorgio

General Manager Steven

Cruise Director Dan The Man. 

 

That’s all I can remember. 

Ooohh...   new cruise director since June.   We had Jake. 

On 8/2/2019 at 8:39 AM, LeesaB said:

Ditto on being hugely thrilled to finally see a recent southbound review!  We're doing this in early June next year, also with a few days in Anchorage beforehand.

 

(And I completely didn't even notice the 9PM departure time, so thanks for noting that.  That gives us pretty much another day to explore.)  Please keep the details coming especially on Seward, since now I have to (ok, be serious, I *get to*) plan something fun to do there now too.

 

Happy late birthday to your son!

My dad and I did the southbound from Seward in May.   I highly recommend Kenai Fjord Tours.   We did the full day with dinner at Fox Island and loved every minute of it - even in the cold, pouring rain!  We saw tons of wildlife and got to within about 1/4 mile of the Aialik Glacier.  The crew was fabulous about giving extra info.   

We also book a private halibut fishing tour with Captain John and Current Affairs Charters.   He was fantastic with giving us information about the bay, all the islands, and pointing out relics leftover from WWII.  We were able to very quickly catch two halibut before we all got seasick and had to head back in.   He did take us by places that the glacier cruise didn't go to the day before and did offer to go find some whales, but that that point we just wanted land.  ha!  

early to mid october if you want to see the best colors. 

We checked into and off of the ship with open bags of nuts, cheese, bars and apples in our backpacks with no problems.  We also brought candy from ports back onto the ship in our jacket pockets with no issues in May. 

On 4/16/2019 at 9:52 PM, drumming cruisers said:

Looking at Pacific Coastal cruises. Anyone been on one? Looking at Jewel because it stops in  Monterey, and Astoria. Do you have to tender? Wondering about weather in October?

What airline did you use to fly to Vancouver BC? Looks like it would have to be one way for us and another airline from Los Angeles.

Anyone been on Jewel lately?  Prices look VERY HIGH for a Jewel class size ship. Why is that? Way more expensive than Bliss or Joy. (Going on Joy in June, been on Bliss twice)

Have only been on Breakaway class last few years. 

 

Thanks for any tips!

I'm looking at this cruise as well.   Did the Jewel for Alaska Southbound in May and LOVED her and her crew. Prices for this ship look pretty comparable to the Joy and are actually a little lower compared to the Bliss' Pacific Coastal itinerary.  The Jewel is going to be a much smaller ship than the other two and it's quite a bit older.   If you like the larger ships with all the newest activities, you may not like the Jewel.   We flew home from Vancouver on WestJet and were very happy with them. 

5 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

 

Where can you order the Basil Berry Julep? I feel like most bartenders wouldnt know what this is or how to make it! 

I'm guessing this is going to be a tough one for them.   They have a strawberry mix, but I never saw berries or basil for garnish.   That said, it never hurts to ask.  I feel like your best bet would be The Great Outdoors or The Spinnaker. 

Bailey's is not a premium liquor, so you should be good with that.   Chambord is tho, so no Chambord in your hot cocoa.   😞

We had all kinds of bars, crackers, nuts and a couple of sandwiches in our backpacks and got on with no problems.   I think they're more worried about bottled water and soda. 

We did the Southbound cruise so took the train from Anchorage to Seward, we loved it!!  It will be daylight until at least 10:30, so plenty of time to see moose, bears, eagles, swans and more glaciers.  Possibly beluga whales at Beluga Point (will be on the left side of the train.)  Our train slowed down a little when we came up on wildlife.

Enjoy your trip!  I loved the Jewel so much I may go back in October.  Tell Jesus (Cruise director team) and bartender John in the Spinnaker that Jill from Colorado said Hi!

16 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Just tell the bartenders what you want (fruity, dry, sweet, or a flavor you like) and they'll make something for you.   That's how I stumbled upon the grapefruit mojito I ended up loving!

16 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

 

Anyone have suggestions on common drinks that are not on the menu that can be requested? I always work my way through the menu, but then want to change it up and draw a blank on what to ask for.

 

*Edit* Nevermind, just opened CardFan's quite extensive list... that will keep me busy and my belly full. Will be printing this out as a reference, many thanks!

1 minute ago, FaithPlus1 said:

 

Thank you! I was planning on doing that. You may have just saved me money. I have this fear of missing out if I don't do it in Juneau, but I'm okay now. Did you see Humpbacks too? How about bears?

On the Kenai Fjords tour we did the 8 hour tour with the Fox Island dinner (highly recommend the crab legs!) We saw 1 humpback with a baby, several pods of Orcas with a baby, otters, seals with babies, sea lions, mountain goats with babies, puffins, bald eagles, and tons of other birds.   We were there early in the season, so I can't imagine that you wouldn't see whales in July.   We saw whales in port in Icy Strait, so that could be another option for whale watching.   If you follow them on facebook, they'll post what they're seeing on which tours.  They've been seeing breaching humpbacks this week.  

I had talked with a few people who were seeing whales from their balconies as we were cruising.  I spent a lot of time whale watching from the Spinnaker and saw a few spouts.   The Captain said we should see whales and possibly bears while going through the Inside passage.  I didn't in may, but you might in July.   The only time we saw bears was when we went to https://www.alaskawildlife.org/ near Anchorage.  I did talk to several who saw bears on the Train excursion in Skagway.  

Every line has good reviews and bad reviews.   Since you're already booked, quit reading them.  I just finished my first cruise with Norwegian and was very pleased.   The food could have been better (it wasn't bad,) but with so many choices, if you couldn't find something you liked, you just wanted to be a miserable person. Pretty sure my dad had ice cream for or with every meal. The service/crew were phenomenal, and my dad and I really enjoyed the entertainment on board.  As we talked with others who had cruised a lot, it seems each line has it's pros and cons.  

Don't set your expectations for "ultimate luxury," and you'll have a fantastic time.  Consider getting a drink package. The bartenders are a hoot, and a few martinis make everything better.