CindyLouWho2

The crab bisque and mini crab cakes were soooo yummy at Tracy's! I would love to go back.

Before I start this, I will say that I am a Canadian. I do not see why a Canadian would expect an American company to give a 30% +/- discount to a Canadian because the Canadian Government does not have the economy to compete with the US. If the Canadians want better values then isn’t it up to the Canadian Government to strengthen the economy to make the Canadian dollar stronger against the US and not up to an American company to discount its fair unfairly to satisfy the shortcomings of the Canadian economy?

Because they have offered it as a promotion, if they offer an "at par" rate for Canadians then they need to honour it and have it actually at par...not the same price as it would be after exchange. If an American company doesn't want to discount it's fare to that level then don't offer it as a promotion at all. Canadians, and I'm sure no one, do not want to feel hoodwinked...

The Pearl also departs from Seattle and goes on the outside of Vancouver Island.

You are correct, sorry I did not read it closely and just went off what had occurred when we went this year. My mistake.

I did the Jewel this summer, amazing experience. However I would choose the Pearl itinerary if I was making the choice now. The jewel takes a route on the outside of Vancouver Island, Pearl travels in between the island and mainland. Also, the length of time in the cities in Alaska is better on the Pearl. Also, everything I have read since then is that Glavier Bay is even more spectacular than Sawyer. Our family picked Seattle embarkation due to cheaper flight prices but now even if we were taking Pearl and leaving from Victoria I would fly to Seattle and take one of the many, quick transportation options from Seattle to BC. Didn't know about that option before. Good choice on getting a balcony too. The best part was the incredible sunrises early in the morning...the best I have ever seen, and who wants to go up on deck to see it at 4:30 in the morning? I was up to see it, stayed in my jammies and went back to sleep. Enjoy your trip!

Hmm...my cruise to Alaska in August on the Jewel was brought back a day early and we had to completely miss Skagway for the same repair, sounds like they have not really gotten it fixed. I was devastated that we lost out on a third of the Alaska we were to see, once in a life time trip. Hope they really get the issue addressed.

In Ketchikan we took the city bus to Totem Bight for a few dollars round trip. I'm pretty sure it was 2.00...20 minute bus ride to the park and I was very happy to have researched on here and found out about this option. We loved walking through the two totem parks that are there. Some beautiful scenery, neat to find out some information about each of the totem poles through the free pamphlet at the visitors centre. My whole family enjoyed it. It was recommended to us from one of the city bus drivers to go to the museum and wait for the bus there, it comes at 26 and 56 after the hour, we got better seating by walking the three blocks to the museum. And...added bonus because we went straight There we got some great pics of creek street sign with no one in them.

Juneau - I did Harv and Marvs whale watching (145) but my family paid the 30.00 for round trip shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier and really liked the falls they were able to hike to and the view of the glacier. Our 63 year old mother with bad knees did it so it must have been a fairly easy walk.

Had Tracey Crab Shack and it was delicious! The soup and crab cakes were amazing. Not cheap but really good food.

Our ship skipped Skagway :( so no reccomendations there.

Victoria we just walked around the Harbor area.

Sorry, had to wait to get the off a computer that someone else had. And...we apparently didn't take any before we messed up the room with all our stuff. But, here you go. I found the curtain between the beds and couch very handy!! It was nice to close out the light from the balcony early in the morning when others were up and out there but I wanted to sleep.

I took Harv and Marv in August and had a great time. I paid the larger boat rate but when it came time there were only five others so it was great to have a small group. Free water/pop available, guide was great with the stories and they were on time as well as helpful in directing me to my next stop. I also appreciated that they respected the rules for Whale Watching. I would definitely recommend Harv and Marvs.

I cruised in August to Alaska and I vote definitely do the balcony. Before this cruise I was on the not balcony side. I really didn't want to pay the added cost for the balcony, but I was outvoted by the other members in my room. And I am so glad I was! I don't really do mornings but the sunrises at 4 am were spectacular close to Ketchikan and Juneau, the best I shave ever seen. I would not be likely to get up and make myself presentable and go to an upper deck to have seen them. It was relaxing just sitting there gazing at that beauty! It was nice to sit out there and just watch things go by whenever I needed down time. Beautiful. Go for it! And Carnival will be just fine, in Alaska it's about what's around you.

We just stayed pre-cruise at the Four Points by Sheraton on Roy Street - it was cheaper than the central down town ones but was in a great location - 10 minute walk tops to the space needle, museum etc. and that was with a somewhat older person who has to walk slowly. From there it is a quick (5 mins?) monorail ride to central downtown and can walk from the monorail stop to Pike Place market in less than 10 minutes. It was the cheapest place we could find to put 6 of us in one room, in the end it worked out cheaper to do that then rent two rooms more central downtown.

It cost us 7.00 total to cab from the hotel to the Pier and was about a five minute drive. The hotel has a shuttle for 7 per person, but clearly not worth it when it was so cheap to do a cab. The hotel has a nice courtyard area that can be used, was close to good food and close to attractions so we were happy. I would definitely stay there again.

As far as I understand all the minisuites in jewel, including the one I was in, do not have a Pullman. They just have the couch which was wide and long enough for two adults to sleep on as we did. That's the benefit of the minisuite vs. Family balcony, the balcony door does not get blocked by the Pullman.

I'm so sorry, I am not on here often and forgot to follow the thread so did not get notified of your question. I do have a pic but not with me right now, as soon as I can get it will post.

I was in Jewel in early August and in our party 6 of us used it without issue. We had pre-downloaded it and used it often to text and call each other. I never once had an issue with messages/calls not going through, we found it handy for connecting around where we would each be.

I just got off the Jewel two weeks ago in 11134. There was absolutely no noise from the garden Cafe above, not during meal times and not at night during clean up. I am a bit of a night owl and was awake but heard nothing. It is awesome that it is out of your room, a few steps and then one set of stairs and you are in the buffet. This was nice for grabbing water/juice at night to have in the room. Balcony was spacious, we had four chairs comfortably on it. There was no noise in the hall from foot traffic given it was at the end of the ship so people were not passing through except the few who's rooms were past ours. I wouldn't hesitate to take that room again.

I'm not too far from you, live in London, On. I did not do Carnival but did just get back on Saturday from Alaska with NCL. we did Seattle, I would definitely do Vancouver...we sailed on the West side of the island going out when leaving from Seattle and from what I could see typically ships leaving from Vancouver you do the East side which has better scenery and less motion felt. Seattle was a beautiful city but so is the Vancouver area. We had a balcony but there were four of us in the room so the cost was significantly less (3&4th sail free) as we divided total cost amongst us. Balcony was great during glacier sailing but even more so for the 4 am sunrise that was spectacular! That alone was worth it. In terms of Alaska ports you can definitely do things cheaply and still have a great time. In Ketchikan we took the city bus (Silverline Southbound) to Totem Bight park and saw the totem poles there and at Potlach Park. The park itself was beautiful to walk around in. Total cost 2.00 round trip. Ride was about 25 minutes so saw some sights on the way out. Walking along creek street was free and nice to see, also saw the Salmon swim upstream, it was neat to see those big fish battling the Rapids. Ketchikan cost 2.00 beyond our shopping in some of the local stores. Juneau I did whale watching with Harv and Marvs 200 Canadian and it was awesome! But my sisters did the 30.00 round trip shuttle to the glacier and waterfall, they saw a bear on their walking path. Also a cheap but good "excursion"! Lots of details but my point is it is totally possible to do Alaskan excursions cheaply. I am not an active person but with just a little walking there was lots to experience.

Too much ice has prevented pretty much most ships from going to Tracy Arm this year so we went to Endicott and it was stunningly beautiful. Either way you would be fine, it's all beautiful.

Weather was pants and tshirt for the most part, except the glacier day which required a thick sweater and hat and mitts. Otherwise it was great weather all around.

Whether you go now or a little later GO! It was an amazing trip and I recommend it to everyone.

Thank you! Much appreciated.

Is anyone able to post a copy of the email or the wording regarding getting the refund? We have not received the email informing of the credit, and when I called this evening they said they would only be providing the 100.00 OBC. That said, we never got the original email changing the itinerary and I found out on cruise critic...funny because they made sure we got the drinks email!

As far as I can tell (http://www.cruisetimetables.com/visitingjuneaualaska-09aug2016.html) there are five ships but two come in the afternoon. Fingers crossed that everything on these itineraries stays the same, I have a 7:30 whale watching trip with Harv and Marvs!

Thank you for the replies.

Can anybody tell me if the Jewel has to tender at any ports in Alaska? Just trying to be concious of excursions booked off ship and the timing and I am

not sure where to find that information. Thank you.

Perfect, thank you very much!

Hi,

I wondered if you could answer a quick question for me, I know it has been quite a while since your cruise but was hoping you might be able to help me sort it out. I have this exact cabin booked (11134) on the jewel for an Alaskan cruise in a month. Do you recall whether the balcony was enclosed at all? I've tried looking at pictures of the aft starboard side but cannot for sure see which one might be ours. Thank you...:)