JEWEL Alaska Review - 7/13 - 7/20

Somewhat abbreviated review - still jet lagged :)

Day 1 - Seattle weather was beautiful. Easy embarkation, rooms ready by 1pm, had aft balcony mini that was great. We just took it easy, explored the ship a bit, had some beverages, etc... Evacuation drill went quickly, everything was very smooth. On piece of info - dropping off @ Pier 66 can be a bit hectic. It is a relatively small drop off area with high congestion.

Day 2 - At sea. Again, beautiful weather (that is a constant theme for this cruise). Did some gambling, took it easy. We did try the Italian restaurant - not impressed. Although, if you eat breakfast/lunch at the Garden (aft, deck 12), you can slide over to the same Italian restaurant for some additional seating. This was a great find until about Friday when word got out.

Day 3 - Ketchikan. We went fishing - and while it was fun, it was significantly over priced. We only caught pinks (captain did not want to have to process any keepers), and by his own admittance, he was worn out from tourist season. Limited instruction (we are from the midwest - no clue what a down rigger is) - just said "fish on" and expected us to be the Bill Dance of the deep blue sea. Ketchikan was beautiful. But as we found out, most of the shops are contracted by the cruise lines - so look for shops that say "locally owned". Dinner was at Tsar's - i'm not a big guy, but the portions could barely fill up my 7 year old. Steak was horrible. I would say that food is one area where RCC has a leg up on NCL. Again, weather was beautiful - sunny and warm (i think low 70s?).

Day 4 - Juneau/Sawyer Glacier. Wow. Easily the highlight of the trip! We went whale watching with Orca Enterprises. Captain Larry was full, so we went with Pam and Josh (and 12 other people). On the drive, we got to see Mendenhall Glacier (beautiful). We saw Orcas on the float to Juneau, so when we heard we were going to see Orcas, we were a bit deflated (Orcas do not typically go to this area, so they were excited). Saw 4 or so Orcas playing, then went to view Humpbacks. WOW. We were so lucky to see a pod of 5 Humpbacks! As we were getting ready to return, they decided to get playful - 2-3 breaches! Then we lost them....until someone heard the blowing of water - they appeared on the starboard side of the boat. Holy Cow were they close!!! Josh had to shut off the engine - and we could hear them talking to each other (singing?)!!!!! Then they decided to breach a few more times. At this point we were a bit behind schedule, so we had to high tail it back to the dock. Josh even said that was his best ever Humpback experience. Orca Ent dropped us off at the ship (about 25 mins before all aboard time) and we just soaked in what had happened. We started comparing pictures (which i will post as soon as i figure out how), and headed to Sawyer Glacier....

Sawyer Glacier - beautiful. I had read previous reviews where other ships blocked the view. We were relatively close (with no ships around) and the Capt turn the ship so all sides could see. Since we were in an aft mini, we had a nice long view. On to Skagway.....

Day 5 - Skagway. Population 800. Nice town - we just took some time to do a little shopping and walk around. We were going to eat at Cagney's this night, but reviews were so so. Teppanyaki (sp?) seemed like a hit, but we didn't plan far enough ahead to make reservations.

Day 6 - Sea. Lazy day, not much happened.

Day 7 - Victoria, BC. Beautiful city. $10 round trip on the bus - drops you off downtown in the center of the action. Did some shopping, and ate lunch at an Irish Pub. Food was great.

Day 8 - Returned to Seattle. Disembarkation was easy. We were the 9:30 group, so we ate one last breakfast, went through customs (they just collected our forms), and grabbed bags. Off to the airport and returned home.

All in all - Alaska was great. Everything it was supposed to be and more. Weather was unbelievable. JEWEL - so so. We went took this cruise due to the destination, not the ship. The ship is nice - although starting to show her age a bit (just getting broke in). Shows were ok (the couple we were with went to the Cirque type show, said it was good), food was mediocre.

Will post pics shortly.....

Cheers -

JJ

thanks for the great review. I will be on her sister ship '' the pearl ''. I love hearing about the tours and how the weather was. im so glad you had a wonderful cruise to beautiful Alaska.

Fishing by jj_4981, on Flickr

Leaving Ketchikan by jj_4981, on Flickr

Ketchikan by jj_4981, on Flickr

Whale Watching by jj_4981, on Flickr

Whale Watching by jj_4981, on Flickr

Whale Watching by jj_4981, on Flickr

Seattle by jj_4981, on Flickr

Whale Watching by jj_4981, on Flickr

Whale Watching by jj_4981, on Flickr

IMG_0460 by jj_4981, on Flickr

IMG_0458 by jj_4981, on Flickr

IMG_0619 by jj_4981, on Flickr

IMG_0515 by jj_4981, on Flickr

IMG_1719 by jj_4981, on Flickr

IMG_0758 by jj_4981, on Flickr

wonderful shots. thanks again :)

We were on the same ship. Certainly couldn't have asked for better weather. It was gorgeous!

We were in the Garden Villa. John (concierge), Nelson (butler) and Alfonso (room steward) made this the trip of a lifetime for us. They were fantastic!

Thanks for the review and the great pictures. Alaska is definately on my bucket list.

Nice review and photo's.

Thats BS about your fishing trip. Since the captain was so worn out from tourist season I hope you were to worn out to reach in your pocket for a tip

Day 3 - Ketchikan. We went fishing - and while it was fun, it was significantly over priced. We only caught pinks (captain did not want to have to process any keepers), and by his own admittance, he was worn out from tourist season. Limited instruction (we are from the midwest - no clue what a down rigger is) - just said "fish on" and expected us to be the Bill Dance of the deep blue sea.

BEAUTIFUL pictures! Thanks :)