NCL Jewel to Alaska May 20-27 2017 - An Absolutely Amazing Alaskan Adventure!

NCL Jewel to Alaska

May 20th –27th

As I was researching for our upcoming Alaskan cruise on the Norwegian Jewel I found very few (but nicely done!) recent reviews. I was determined to write a detailed review to help future research obsessed travelers like myself. I’m not sure I fully succeeded, as I remembersaying several times “Damn, I forgot to take a picture” before scoffing that delicious desert, or “what did we do on Tuesday again?”, but here goes...

August 2016 to May2017:

I was traveling with my kids, 21 and 22 years old. I chose the Jewel as it sailed the inside passage which in my mind meant less rough seas (my son gets motion sick). Our last trip was in an Aft balcony on the Breakaway and I wanted to stay in the Aft but upgrade a bit if possible. I booked very far ahead and saved up to pay for an Aft Penthouse Suite. I felt like this would give us the balcony we wanted and when you factored in the extra room and perks that are included would suit our purposes.

Commence the frantic searching for information on Alaska, the Jewel, Suite perks, etc. etc. etc.

Flights: booked December 4th through Amex using points, 3 round trip non-stop from Boston to Seattle, American/Alaskan airways.

Hotel: bookedin January using American Airlines points, 1 night, deluxe double room at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront. This hotel is expensive but is literally across the street from the pier, no transportation needed on the day of the cruise. More later…

Airport Car Service: Seaview Airport Service (booked in March 2017), pick up on Friday May 19th at SEATAC, drop off at Seattle Marriott Waterfront. Total price $176.75 (includes gratuity of $21.75).

Excursions: Choosing the excursions for our trip was probably the most difficult part of the planning. Alaskan excursions seem way more expensive than those in the Caribbean and even Bermuda. I had some sticker shock and almost reconsidered, as it seemed like you needed to book some sort of excursion, or rent a car, to get the full experience. Of course, I didn’t reconsider, and used cruise critic extensively to getr ecommendations and determine which would work best for my small group. More on these later…

I'll continue this recount/review in installments, let me know if there are any specific questions that I can answer before the installments are complete. Happy cruising!

Hi,

Thank you very much for this. Who was your cruise director for this trip? How were they.

Thank you

May 19th –

We flew Alaskan Air from Boston to Seattle. Our driver picked us up as planned and we hada great chat on the way to the hotel. Asexpected, the hotel (Seattle Marriot Waterfront) was very nice, and we had a room on the 3rdfloor with a great view of the harbor.

Trying to upload pics and failing... will continue to work on this...

Hi,

 

Thank you very much for this. Who was your cruise director for this trip? How were they.

 

Thank you

Our cruise director was Keith... he seemed pretty underwhelming actually, but it didn't affect my cruise.

The view from our (very small) hotel balcony looking to the harbor (pre ship arriving)

The view of the hotel from the ship... in the top right corner you can see the beginning of Pikes Market, a short walk from the hotel (about 10 minute) and there's an elevator that allows you to avoid climbing the hills!

The next morning we woke up to this view!

Looking forward to reading more about your trip!

May 19th –

After checking into our room at the hotel, we called an Uber and got dropped off at the Seattle Center. I had wanted to check out the Museum of Pop Culture as I knew my son would particularly enjoy it. The MoPop is located right next to the Space Needle (which we weren’t interested in however was very cool to look at). This is a really fun area to walk around and had much more to see than I had originally thought. The Chihuly Glass Garden is here as well, and although I wanted to check this out, we were tired from our travels and only got to the MoPop.

The MoPop had an awesome music jam section with all sorts of recording rooms with guitars, drums and keyboards. You could record vocals, with any assortment of instruments and the kids had a blast. My son went to a pretty prestigious music school and is a professional musician, however we could hardly get him out of this area! I wish we had something like it in Boston when he was growing up.

There was also an Indie Gaming room and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, which were also big hits with both kids. My highlight was the Culture Kitchen (a Wolfgang Puck restaurant), which was a counter service type of place with excellent food. I had tacos and the kids had cheeseburgers which we all really enjoyed.

We went back to the hotel to relax and ended up having some drinks and appetizers for dinner (expensive but good). I was looking forward to the surprise I had for the kids the next day :cool:

Enjoying the review.. will be following, I am dying to see Alaska, but I am set on Norway for my 40th in 3 years.

Enjoying your review. Nice photos!

Sent from my iPad using Forums

May 20th –

Sailing Day! As Imentioned I had originally booked an aft Penthouse Suite for the trip. I received the “let’s get you upgraded” email and notification on my NCL account about 30 days prior to our departure date. I was able to bid on a non-haven 2 bedroom penthouse, a haven 2 bedroom penthouse, an owners suite and the gardenvilla. I put the lowest offers possible on the haven upgrades, as I didn’t think we would use the haven amenities onthis Alaska trip, and a “fair” bid on the non-haven 2 bedroom penthouse. I was notified on May 15th that that bid had been accepted! I was really psyched, but had some initial second thoughts about losing our aftbalcony. Doing more research, however,alleviated my fears as the aft balcony on the Jewel is not as large as those on the Breakaway and the weather was most likely not going to be such that we would be sunbathing out there.

One of the perks of Suite sailing is priority embarkation. We didn’t have to rush to the terminal to ensure that we were on the ship early, so my daughter and I had breakfast at the hotel (expensive but good) and walked to Pike’s Market. This was a very short walk from the hotel and there’s an elevator about 1 block down thatallows you to skip the hike up the hills!

We walked around the market area a bit... It's mostly shops and bars and restaurants...

Amazing looking seafood, but alas no method to cook it...

As we wandered we happened upon the Gum Wall (disgusting) that my daughter wanted to see... If you walk down the stairs of the main market area you should be able to find it.

After this we walked back to the hotel to pick up my son and head to the pier!

May 20th – Embarkation

We walked across the street from the hotel around 10:15 with our luggage. I had tagged the bags with our priority luggage tags (which I needed to download from my NCL account due to the change in my cabin number). The luggage drop off is on the right side if you’re looking at the pier. We got in a line that moved pretty quickly. There were people who had not tagged their luggage and that slowed things down. Also you need to flash your passport here (not sure why, other than to make sure you had it?).

Once the bags were dropped off, we went back towards the left side of the pier and went through the security line. There were very few people in line so this didn’t take any time at all. There was an escalator that took you up to the waiting area. We were told to proceed to the left, however I asked if there was a “suite” waiting area (I knew there was) and the man (looking surprised) checked our name against his list and waved us into the room to the right. This room has comfortable chairs and two women who checked you in, reviewed the paperwork,etc.

We sat down to wait and then Bruno, our concierge, came over with our key cards and information about our dinner reservations (made previously) and suite privileges such as breakfast and lunch in Moderno. The room had a table with coffee and juices and a few snacks.

Around 11:15 or so Bruno split us into groups and different NCL employees brought us up to the elevators (we had to walk through the "regular" waiting area where people were waiting to board and this was semi awkward.( I was happy to board early but didn't need to parade past those who couldn't).

Once we made it to the gangplank we merged with others who I believe had priority boarding as well (maybe CAS?) and it took a bit to make it to the point where they scanned your key card. Once there, we walked into the main atrium where various people tried to shoo us to the Garden Café. We followed our "leader" and were walked to the elevators where we went to deck 13 for lunch at Moderno.

So excited to read this! We are headed to Alaska on the Jewel in June. Thanks for the info!

So excited to read this! We are headed to Alaska on the Jewel in June. Thanks for the info!

I hope you have a great cruise! This was my favorite so far, although Bermuda was beautiful of course...

May 20th – continued (this was a loooong day!)

Lunch at Moderno was very nice. The restaurant overlooks the pool area, and we could people watch as more boarded the ship. I had read that the Moderno lunch menu does not change throughout the cruise, and this was indeed the case. The offerings were fine, a few entrée type meals and sandwiches. There were soups and salads and shrimp cocktail as a starter. And of course, desserts!

I ordered the French Dip and it was very good... the kids ordered it later and it was much more fatty (Son's interpretation: They were at the end of the roast, they should have known better than to order (?!)).

My daughter ordered the rotisserie chicken and polenta. I believe she liked the taste, but doesn't like chicken that's still on the bone so not sure why she ordered it but I've stopped questioning (they're adults right??).

Son was very hungry, hence the pic with the bites taken out :D. Alaskan Amber became our favorite beer of the trip!

Although we were stuffed full... there's always room for dessert, right?? (Cruise philosophy)

I believe this was the banana cream pie...

Best dessert ever, the brownie with caramel brittle and ice cream Yum!

DebQ5,

Were there any staff members who stood out to you?

DebQ5,

Were there any staff members who stood out to you?

Oh absolutely. Rodney our butler was great! We didn't ask for anything crazy, but did have breakfast in the room several times and a dinner. He checked on us at least twice a day and always called us by our names and made us feel at home! Resley, our room steward was excellent! He was very friendly and always said hi to us as we passed him, calling us by name (I'm terrible at remembering names so this was amazing to me). We loved our suite and spent more time there then we would normally in a room but Resley always accommodated our schedule, even though we told him not to worry about cleaning. He was clearly worried about doing his job well, and one time made the towel animal in front of the kids as he didn't want them to not have one (21 and 22 years old remember lol).

Again, I'm not good at names but we spent a lot of time in the FYZZ lounge and there was an excellent bar tender there from the UK. She was so nice and remembered us and our drinks each time! Even while having to listen to karaoke!

The entire crew was friendly and professional. I said good morning and have a good day in response to crew more times this week than I have in my entire life! There were a few exceptions, not bad service, but overly friendly, but this was the exception, not the norm.

I hope you have a great cruise! This was my favorite so far, although Bermuda was beautiful of course...

Thanks! We are excited. My husband is concerned about the beer selection-he's kind of a snob. I realize this is an incredibly minor problem, but it is vacation! Did you happen to notice the beer selection? Thanks :)

That is the banana cream pie. I think the the Jewel is still using the old suite lunch menu? Or possibly a hybrid? The brownie is the "old" style as they have basically converted it to cubes of the brownie.

Thanks! We are excited. My husband is concerned about the beer selection-he's kind of a snob. I realize this is an incredibly minor problem, but it is vacation! Did you happen to notice the beer selection? Thanks :)

Hmmm.... well they definitely had the Alaskan Amber and I believe an Alaskan IPA. I didn't drink a lot of beer, mostly mixed drinks, but my son had budlights, coronas, and the alaskans. I know I saw Sam Adams. I may have a picture ot two of a bar here and there to make out whats on tap.... stay posted!

That is the banana cream pie. I think the the Jewel is still using the old suite lunch menu? Or possibly a hybrid? The brownie is the "old" style as they have basically converted it to cubes of the brownie.

I can't believe I forgot to take pics of the menus. It was one of the things I would search for when researching to make sure I made reservations at restaurants that everyone would like. Sorry about that!

I was on the same cruise, and look forward to hearing everything from your viewpoint!

I was on the same cruise, and look forward to hearing everything from your viewpoint!

Oh fun! Hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to chime in with your viewpoint :)

Thank you so much..we are on The Sun southbound in August..can't wait for more of you review!!

Post this on alaska board...please...