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

[Danrvman]

We were on the NCL Jewel May 20-27, 2017 to Alaska and experienced a negative outcome: Both My husband (began Tues.) and myself (began Thurs) were/are ill with dry cough, chills fever, tiredness, body aches. 5 out of 10 from our city became ill during the cruise. Would like to hear from others who became ill.

Found this blog from an ill passenger from the week before on the Jewel who remarked that many passengers were coughing their lungs up, which is the same that we experienced . http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=577035

Thanks

 

 

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[DebQ5]

We were on the NCL Jewel May 20-27, 2017 to Alaska and experienced a negative outcome: Both My husband (began Tues.) and myself (began Thurs) were/are ill with dry cough, chills fever, tiredness, body aches. 5 out of 10 from our city became ill during the cruise. Would like to hear from others who became ill.

Found this blog from an ill passenger from the week before on the Jewel who remarked that many passengers were coughing their lungs up, which is the same that we experienced . http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=577035

Thanks

 

 

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Oh that's too bad! We did not experience any sickness. We always availed ourselves of the washy-washy disinfectant so maybe that helped? I was feeling only so-so on Sunday but that, I'm sure, was a direct result of the Mr. Worldwide and Rebellious Fish drinks of the day before and the rich, yummy food. (I highly recommend both!). I hope you're feeling better now!

[Danrvman]

It seems to be more of an air con or shower water handling affecting upper respiratory tract. More like this: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/mobileart.asp?articlekey=25522

 

 

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[DebQ5]

Thought I would post some miscellaneous documents that we received on the first day... Most of these are specific to suites.

 

 

I had requested a feather free room and an egg crate mattress for the 2nd smaller bedroom. Both were there when we arrived.

 

 

We did go to this but didn't stay long. I found the Haven courtyard small, although nicely appointed, and didn't need the free drinks as we had the UBP. It was nice to see it and be invited.

 

 

This one suffered from an accident with the coffee machine.. still legible though..

 

 

My kids drink only water (or alcohol, lol) and I did pre-order 12 bottles of water for our room. This was the perfect amount (I over ordered for our Bermuda cruise by A LOT). I know people complain about bottled water not being included in the UBP, but I can understand this as most people waste bottled water. My kids were always able to get a glass of ice water at a bar (tap water, I assume, but they didn't complain).

 

[Bxmt54]

I am so enjoying your review...we will be on this cruise 6/10 so I am reading intently on what all you experienced. Please continue on....

[DebQ5]

Bring on the Dailies! Below are from Day1. You'll see a few things circled. This does not mean we went to them, just that we wanted to. For Day 1, however we did go to Trivia, and met a great new friend (hi Mick!) and the Sing it to Win it game which was fun, however don't look to win, as the NCL staff is very loosey goosy with the point allocation and rules... We tend to be hugely competitive and needed to remind ourselves that we were on vacation and it didn't matter if we won or lost... much alcohol was needed to accept this fact in light of our clear superiority over the other team (right Mick and Jan???)! :eek:

 

 

 

 

[DebQ5]

I am so enjoying your review...we will be on this cruise 6/10 so I am reading intently on what all you experienced. Please continue on....

 

I'm glad you're enjoying it! If you have any specific questions please let me know and I'll do my best to answer! Happy cruising!

[Danrvman]

Here's another link: https://www.drugs.com/cg/pontiac-fever.html

 

 

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[Danrvman]

Norwegian Jewel Alaska May 20-27, 2017

 

 

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[DebQ5]

Room 11524 - Pearl Suite

 

For those of you interested, below are some pictures from our suite. We absolutely loved this suite and are now spoiled... I think it was particularly good for this cruise to Alaska as we seemed to have more downtime (? lack of activities compared to Breakaway) and much more beautiful scenery to look at. It was so nice to sit on the couch in the living room and just look out on the balcony. It was very easy for the 3 of us to find our own space, which was nice. It is stated that the suite sleeps 6, but I think this would definitely be a bit crowded.

 

Some of these pictures were taken on the last day to ensure that I had some to post. Don't hold Resley (room steward) responsible for any mess!

 

This is what you see when you open the door from the hallway. The 2nd bedroom is on the right. It's interesting that you can shut this hallway off from the rest of the suite. We loved the lights with the stars!

 

 

A little further into the room (forgive the "kids", we were all a bit punchy at this point!). On the table are some awesome cookies that Rodney would bring about every other day... some sort of snack arrived once or twice a day, and towards the end peanut m&m's!

 

To the right of the daughter, is the opening to the main bedroom/bathroom.

 

 

Many people have noted that this ship is showing its age, and this is one of the only places that I really saw it. The couch looked somewhat sad compared to the rest of the suite, but it served its purpose well! We did not need this made up as a bed as daughter and I shared the main bed and if one of us got up early we would go lie on sad couch (it didn't seem to mind). Note our flower arrangement on the coffee table.

 

 

Not fantastic pictures of the 2nd bedroom... once the bed was made up it stayed that way, which worked for my son as he loves to sleep. It was nice for him to have his own space and television and led to a lot less arguing I believe. We did need to roust him occasionally to make sure he actually participated in the cruise itself!

 

 

The best part was him having his own bathroom for sure!

 

 

[DebQ5]

Room continued....

 

I had originally been afraid that the balcony would be too small (when compared to the aft balcony) but actually it was just right for this cruise. It came with the two chairs pictured here and the table. Resley, our hero room steward, found another chair (not the same type but fine) so we had 3 chairs and the table (3rd chair to left, obscured by curtain). I had bought/brought blankets which we used while out here occasionally. It extended the balcony time and were useful on the sad couch as well. I'm sure we could have gotten blanket(s) from Rodney or Resley but I really liked these blanks and they fold into a pouch, are flannel on one side and waterproof on the other and actually can make a poncho but my daughter would never let me wear that!

 

 

The main bathroom area was huge! It was somewhat awkward, however as it is all open, with glass doors. My daughter and I shared this room, but we don't share everything so there was a lot of "I'm taking a shower, shut the door", etc. There is a slider door that shuts the main bedroom and bath off from the rest of the suite which is nice. The bath is so large though, that it seems like it could be designed better. We did not use the bathtub which had a funny little TV, but which also was quite visible from the balcony which again would have been awkward.

 

 

There was tons of counter space with the double sinks, which was great. Opposite the sinks is the extremely small toilet area, like really small... strangely small... with a door with frosted stripes.. and then a lot of storage, double closet, drawers, hooks, etc.

 

 

The shower was simply awesome... it had a full length window, which seems odd but was very cool when one didn't want to stop looking for dolphins and whales. The temperature was always hot enough and there were little shower heads about halfway down the wall which were neat (note: turn these on and let them come to temp like the main shower head or you'll get a blast of cold water from two directions!

 

 

The main bedroom was nice, had a TV and some additional storage. The bed was comfortable, it was a little tight to walk around, when needed. Ok, the "elephant in the room" is the completely bizarre portrait of the naked woman. Really? I'm not offended in the least, however it seems a really strange choice for a cruise ship, and didn't really go with the rest of the décor... oh well it was something to laugh about.

 

 

Lastly, a view of the coffee machine/bar area. I used the coffee machine every day and really enjoyed having it. The bar area provided more storage and a place to keep papers, etc. It was a very nice set up. We did have breakfast and dinner on this table occasionally and again it was the perfect size for the 3 of us.

 

[GadaboutGranny]

I am really enjoying your cruise review as we are leaving aboard the Pearl on July 9--also in a 2 bd suite though not Haven so I am thankful for your pictures as well. I am looking forward to seeing the rest of it, particularly any comments about your excursions.

[NancyL2]

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).

 

 

Enjoying your review very much...we are a party of five. Will be in the 2 bedroom Haven This September.

For your car service....is that price for oneway or roundtrip?

[DebQ5]

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).

 

 

Enjoying your review very much...we are a party of five. Will be in the 2 bedroom Haven This September.

For your car service....is that price for oneway or roundtrip?

 

 

That was round trip... it's about 20 minutes from the airport. It was nice not to have to wait for the shuttle!

[DebQ5]

I am really enjoying your cruise review as we are leaving aboard the Pearl on July 9--also in a 2 bd suite though not Haven so I am thankful for your pictures as well. I am looking forward to seeing the rest of it, particularly any comments about your excursions.

 

Oh wonderful, you'll have a great time! I'm going to get to the excursions soon! If you need any specific answers prior to that let me know!

[NancyL2]

That was round trip... it's about 20 minutes from the airport. It was nice not to have to wait for the shuttle!

 

I take it you were happy with their service. I've been checking quite a few car/shuttle services and right now I'm late in booking. lol When you booked....did they hit your CC right away?

Thanks for the help.

Edited May 30, 2017 by NancyL2

[DebQ5]

I take it you were happy with their service. I've been checking quite a few car/shuttle services and right now I'm late in booking. lol

Thanks for the help.

 

Yes we were very happy with their service. The car itself was nothing special, an older model white Lincoln, but they were communicative and punctual and got us to and from the airport without any incidents.

[riclop]

Glad you loved it.

[DebQ5]

May 20th - the looooong day continued

 

I had gotten spa passes for myself and my daughter so we went to check out that and the rest of the ship. I have never bought spa passes before and only did so because I knew my daughter would enjoy it, particularly if the unthinkable happened and it rained every day. This did not happen, but she went to the spa almost every day and I went a few times. I have nothing to compare it to, but it was nice enough, with an extremely hot hot tub (the ended up turning it down a bit as it was almost scalding), a therapy pool thing and heated loungers. The view was truly amazing, the full front of the ship. It was in here that we saw whales, we believe they were orcas as they were on the smaller side.

 

My son and I went to sail away and had fun watching people dancing to the DJ from the sky high bar (? Deck 13 I believe). They had some of the NCL staff come out and dance. It wasn't a wild scene by any means, but entertaining and the drinks were excellent :).

 

This was actually the view from the Moderno restaurant where we had lunch

 

These are from the Sky high bar. This is a smoking area, which I only noticed later in the cruise, hence the power of the cocktails!

 

 

 

 

[DebQ5]

After sail away we walked around the ship a bit. It was very similar to the Dawn which we had been on several years ago. I loved the Breakaway, but did miss the Spinnaker lounge, which I thought was a great place to go, catch a view, and relax. We went to Trivia here several times and several times in the Fyzz lounge.

 

 

Let's keep in mind that this was post sail away.. the pictures get blurrier with time...

 

 

 

We walked around and took some other pictures... the atrium was small and wasn't used for much. I did like the atrium on the Breakaway, as if you were sitting at O'Sheehan's there was usually something to look at. It was small for some of the activities, but always hopping. The screen in this atrium was mainly used for port information and NCL advertisements. My daughter and I sat at the Java Bar and I got one of the best Margaritas I have ever had from a young guy from Bosnia. We had a nice chat with him.

 

 

We walked up to the sports area, but never went back...

 

 

I really like the theater on this class of ship.... they are larger and the seats are more comfortable.

 

[Dart17]

Following! Hoping to see Alaska in the future!

[Amanda_14wa]

We just got off the Pearl to Alaska may 21-28. We pulled in behind your ship in Juneau last Tuesday. Wasn't the weather amazing? We got lucky...

[DebQ5]

We just got off the Pearl to Alaska may 21-28. We pulled in behind your ship in Juneau last Tuesday. Wasn't the weather amazing? We got lucky...

 

Hi Amanda,

 

I hope you had as good a time as we did on the Jewel! The weather WAS amazing, What did you do in Juneau?

[afwminseattle]

The doorway in your picture of the Gum Wall leads to one of the best dive bars in all Seattle, The Alibi Room. It's never crowded and a lot of the Pike fishmongers are known to drink there after closing.

 

The Gum Wall is super gross tho, and to think it was totally scraped clean less than 2 years ago.

[DebQ5]

Special Edition - Excursions

 

I know that many people are looking for excursion reviews. I'm not sure how much help this will be, but I thought I'd add a quick recap, as the full reviews with pictures is going to take a bit.

 

Note: We do not enjoy small planes, so didn't even consider any float plane/helicopter excursions (well I did but the kids voted me down and they are very expensive so not a difficult choice). We also avoided any small boats, as my son gets motion sick. We do not typically like organized tours on buses, where we are at the mercy of a lot of other people or a strict schedule. This led us to private taxi tours in 3 out of the 4 ports.

 

Ketchikan: After researching here on CC, I contacted Ketchikan Taxi Cab Tours. David Freeman replied, and we set up a 3 hour private tour for $80/hour. We were advised that we could have up to 6 people for the same amount of money, but we kept it just to the 3 of us. We were met at the dock by Lisa, a native Cliquot (sp?), who is one of KTCT drivers. Lisa did mention several times that she will be opening her own business, but I'm not sure when. She is also writing a book, which we heard a lot about. It was raining most of the day during our tour, but we had a great time. Lisa provided some great history, got out at every stop with us and told us about each place in detail. We went through the town, to Bear Creek, various spots looking for Eagles, which we saw, Potlatch Totem Park, a very cool water fall, etc. I would definitely recommend this tour if you're looking to experience a little bit of everything. The best part is that you can stay as long as you'd like at each place, add or remove stops, etc. At the end of the tour she dropped us off at Creek Street and we walked that for a bit, and then had the best pizza I've had in a long time at Fat Stan's Sports Bar and Pizzeria. I highly recommend it!

 

Juneau: This port took me the longest to book. I knew I wanted to go to Mendenhall Glacier, but didn't want to be constrained to one hour there. I thought about taking the shuttle service, but then wasn't sure what else to do, wasn't sure if the Tram would be worth it if the weather wasn't good, etc. etc. So once again I booked a private taxi tour. I reached out to Evergreen Taxi due to the positive comments here on CC. It took them awhile to get back to me, due to a server malfunction (?), but once contacted I spoke with Shane about the things we'd like to do. The tour ended up being very good, but started out a bit bumpy as they were 45 minutes late for our 8:30 appointment. The worst part is that we left the ship and walked to the meeting area where it was chilly and windy at that time of the day. We were about 15 minutes early so total wait time was about an hour. I did not have Shane's phone number (note: get a contact number!), but sent him an email and he responded pretty quickly, said there had been a mix up, and that he would come himself to get us... the kids were less than happy and started a "Game of Throne's" chant of "Shane, Shane, Shane". This kept them busy until he arrived. Shane apologized and got right to the tour. There was no offer of a discount, but in the end the tour ended up being great, so I didn't push it. Shane brought us all around the city and pointed out a lot of highlights. He's very knowledgeable about the area and has a funny personality. The kids warmed up (literally and figuratively) and had a good time with him. We greatly enjoyed Mendenhall and the Alaskan Brewery!

 

Skagway: This was the first excursion I booked. It was a no-brainer for me to book the White Pass Train excursion. We are not "full day excursion" people so we booked the White Pass Summit Rail & Bus tour with Chilkoot which is 3.5 hours total. I chose the 12:00 pm time, which was nice as we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn. The only issue with this was that Chilkoot picks you up on the cruise dock (no other option) and the town as about a 15 minute walk/shuttle bus ride away. We went to town before the tour to look around and get snacks for the train (only water provided) and then had to hustle back to meet our guide. Our guide showed up in the circle area at the end of the dock with a Chilkoot sign and checked us off his list. I liked being able to pay for this excursion ahead of time $129/pp. We ended up on a mini bus with our driver Anne and 11 other people (nice small group). We waited a bit for 2 others (getting antsy of course) but they didn't show and Anne noted that they could put them on another tour if they did show up. As noted on the CC boards, if you book with Chilkoot you may get the caboose of the train. This was true! And it was perfect for pictures and viewing (will be posting pictures soon). Note, you need your passport for this trip, as it ends in Fraser, BC. We then met Anne again with the minibus for the ride back. Anne was an excellent guide and made many stops for pictures, helping expedite them and organizing and taking group shots. Both kids voted this excursion the highlight of their trip! They thought it was the perfect amount of time. I agree!

 

Victoria BC: Having no interest in Gardens (although I'm sure it's beautiful) I once again booked a private taxi tour. The one with the best reviews on CC was London taxi Tours. I emailed Sarah Found and she responded quickly providing all the details. This was the most expensive tour, at $95/hour, but it was worth it. Sarah and her driver (it was nice to have 2) took us to all the highlights, a beautiful park where we fed wild peackocks (she brought food), beautiful scenery where we stopped for pictures, a run through really nice neighborhoods, and the highlight of feeding the seals at the marina (again, she brought the food). It was nice to have all this taken care of for us, and Sandra was a great guide! She kept reiterating that it was "our" tour and we could stay as long as we wanted, go where we wanted, etc. I highly recommend! She dropped us off at the waterfront/harbor area where we walked around for a bit, got a beer, and took a taxi back to the ship ($10).

 

I hope this was helpful, and I will be posting more details with pictures as I get the chance. Don't hesitate to reach out with specific questions!