Question for Recent Jewel Alaska Cruisers

[v3cruiser]

We are doing Alaska next year on the Jewel one way seward to vancouver. Did you have to tender or where you able to dock?  My ncl documents show dock but ncl's website when doing a mock booking shows it as a tender port now. Im just curious. I am considering a non ncl tour and if we tender we may not be able to get to our tour meeting point in time and we will look at other tours. Below is ship schedule from the CLA of alaska whom Im hoping can give me more info. Thanks in advance.

 

JNU NORWEGIAN JEWEL 07:00 - 20:00

JNU SOLSTICE 08:00 - 17:00

JNU NOORDAM 13:00 - 22:00

JNU RUBY PRINCE 13:00 - 22:00

[vacation44]

We were on the Jewel last month, Seward to Vancouver and did not have to tender once.  Our ports were Icy Strait Point, Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan.

[njkate]

I was on Jewel 8/28-9/4  Seward to Vancouver no tendering at any of the ports

Edited September 29, 2023 by njkate

[julig22]

Might help to say  which port.  Tenders not usually necessary on that route but that does depend on the port and the number/size of the other ships.

[v3cruiser]

SORRY!! The coffee boost hadnt kicked in yet. I am referring to the Stop in JUNEAU. 

[n4w]

NCL uses the farther away AJ Dock (where the Pearl is in the pic), other lines dock in town.

[v3cruiser]

thanks for pic! we have to get from the ship to basically where the sheraton hotel(in yellow)is to get to our tour. 

[n4w]

Free shuttles are available between the AJ dock and the Mount Roberts Tramway (about where the Celebrity ship was docked); they will get you more than halfway there.  Easy walk from there to the Sheraton.

 

If you walk the entire way, you have to go around (the bottom left area cut out of the picture, you cannot take a more direct route by following the water).  It's like a 20 minute walk between the ship and tram with a decent uphill portion.  

Edited September 29, 2023 by n4w

[BirdTravels]

19 hours ago, v3cruiser said:

thanks for pic! we have to get from the ship to basically where the sheraton hotel(in yellow)is to get to our tour. 

wrt to your original question, the port schedule in your original post does not indicate any need to tender. NCL uses the AJ dock almost exclusively. And you would only get bumped to tendering if another NCL ship was in port (which your schedule does not indicate). Even during the pandemic when there were no ships at the main downtown docks, NCL would still be off on the AJ dock by themselves. 

 

Get off the ship early. Catch the shuttle to the Goldbelt tram station (formerly Mt. Roberts Tram) and walk the rest of the way to your tour pickup. The lines for the shuttle can be long - allow time. If you have extra time, lots of shops along the way to your tour pick-up point. It's about a mile from the dock to the tramway, industrial, uphill, somewhat isolated (paranoia made us feel a bit unsafe) - not the nicest walk. We have walked a couple of times... never again. 

 

On your return, allow time to reverse the process. Allow time for lines to catch the shuttle back. Don't miss the ship's departure.  

Edited September 30, 2023 by BirdTravels

[eileeshb]

I'll be on Norwegian Bliss in a couple of weeks and for some weird reason if you look up that cruise at the moment the itinerary also says Tender for Juneau. I will ask once aboard to find out why it's changed on all future NCL itineraries. There hasn't been any communication from NCL to say that it has changed to a tender port for my cruise so my fellow guests on the roll call and facebook are all continuing with the assumption that we will be docked.

It doesn't make any sense that Juneau would suddenly become a tender port as they are already restricting the number of ships allowed to visit so it's not like they're running out of dock space. 

[v3cruiser]

19 minutes ago, eileeshb said:

I'll be on Norwegian Bliss in a couple of weeks and for some weird reason if you look up that cruise at the moment the itinerary also says Tender for Juneau. I will ask once aboard to find out why it's changed on all future NCL itineraries. There hasn't been any communication from NCL to say that it has changed to a tender port for my cruise so my fellow guests on the roll call and facebook are all continuing with the assumption that we will be docked.

It doesn't make any sense that Juneau would suddenly become a tender port as they are already restricting the number of ships allowed to visit so it's not like they're running out of dock space. 

I called NCL today and they confirmed the time as well as we would still be docking. I've just got off a ncl cruise earlier in year where tender ports went from 1 to 4. They said it was just a miscommunication and the website was slow to update. Lol. so it's going to take me awhile to build that trust back up in what NCL is telling me. 

Edited September 30, 2023 by v3cruiser

[InFullertonCA]

Very much like everyone else, I was on the Jewel 7-31 to 8-7 and had to tendering in any ports.  My trip was Seward to Vancouver.

[Beer Belly]

20 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

 . 

 

On your return, allow time to reverse the process. Allow time for lines to catch the shuttle back. Don't miss the ship's departure.  

Just to clarify, they provide a shuttle from the ship, expect lines. They also provide shuttle back ???.....sounds like the ship will not wait till all shuttle runs are completed ?

[InFullertonCA]

Yes, shuttles both ways.  I was off the ship pretty early so I had no wait for the shuttle into town, but getting back to the boat I was in line for about 30-40 minutes.  I didn't hear anything about people being left behind, but I think it's important to plan for a line on the return if you are coming back later in the day.

 

Enjoy your cruise!