Review: Alaska on the Jewel, May 18th - 25th

[OzCanuck]

Here is a very quick time lapse of the Pearl arriving in Juneau. She had to wait until we cleared out:

 

[bonvoyagie]

The small boat going past the Jewel is the Tracy Arm Explorer for the Jewel. The boat pax will re board the Jewel in front of Sawyer Glacier.:)

 

The Explorer for the Pearl - a smaller boat - leaves the dock around 2:30 PM and returns around 9:30 PM.

[seaandsea]

Do you have pictures of the your suite? We are going on the Jewel in July in a 2 bedroom suite and I was wondering how small the second bedroom is? Are there 2 separate beds in the second bedroom? Can the beds in the master be moved apart? Someone told me it was a queen bed that could not be separated.

I have enjoyed your review, and am now very excited to cruise on the Jewel.

Thanks,

[<3 <3 <3]

Do you have pictures of the your suite? We are going on the Jewel in July in a 2 bedroom suite and I was wondering how small the second bedroom is? Are there 2 separate beds in the second bedroom? Can the beds in the master be moved apart? Someone told me it was a queen bed that could not be separated.

I have enjoyed your review, and am now very excited to cruise on the Jewel.

Thanks,

 

We went in a 2 BR suite yesterday before we left the ship. Truly a beautiful suite. We were in a 1 BR penthouse suite and enjoyed seeing the difference. The second bedroom is small. Once the couch folds out the room is almost entirely bed. Also, there is a fold out bed from the wall in that room. As far as the master bedroom it is one solid "Bliss Bed". It cannot be separated. And, of course, the main living area has a couch there that can make a bed also. The bathroom is amazing!

[OzCanuck]

Do you have pictures of the your suite? We are going on the Jewel in July in a 2 bedroom suite and I was wondering how small the second bedroom is? Are there 2 separate beds in the second bedroom? Can the beds in the master be moved apart? Someone told me it was a queen bed that could not be separated.

I have enjoyed your review, and am now very excited to cruise on the Jewel.

Thanks,

 

Just to echo the points above - yes the main bedroom bed is one unit - cannot be separated.

 

The second bedroom is very tiny, here's a shot from the foyer:

 

I could lie and say that it's from the Jewel - but that photo is from the Jade. They are, however, identical in every way. Suited our needs perfectly - they put a pack'n'play in this room. If you've got two people who are not that comfortable with each other, it will be a long cruise for them.

[OzCanuck]

Duplicate

[seaandsea]

Just to echo the points above - yes the main bedroom bed is one unit - cannot be separated.

 

The second bedroom is very tiny, here's a shot from the foyer:

 

I could lie and say that it's from the Jewel - but that photo is from the Jade. They are, however, identical in every way. Suited our needs perfectly - they put a pack'n'play in this room. If you've got two people who are not that comfortable with each other, it will be a long cruise for them.

Thanks for the picture, is the pink door on the right the second bathroom?

[OzCanuck]

Thanks for the picture, is the pink door on the right the second bathroom?

 

Yes - and it's a beige door with pink reflection from the floor. Shower is fairly decent sized. You can see the murphy bed in that photo as well I just noticed - in the reflection of the mirror.

[seaandsea]

Awesome, thanks for the info!

[OzCanuck]

Ports –Skagway

 

Skagway was the port we were really looking forward to on the cruise. LM, like most toddler boys, has an obsession with all things train. The White Pass & Yukon railway seemed tailor-made for his passion; and a very easy excursion for us.

 

I checked out the excursions with NCL, and was slightly put off by the pricing and the timing. They were either too long or too expensive for what you got. Doing research, I ended up going with Chilkoot Tours. We booked their tour that takes you up to Fraser, B.C. by coach, and then returns you to Skagway on the train. Seemed ideal, it would only take 3.5 hours.

 

I saw the other bus passengers cringe when we climbed aboard with LM, and thankfully there were several free seats on the bus. It was a typical tour-bus, about 20-25 seats – not your full motor coach. We got a brief tour of Skagway (indeed, I don’t think you can have a “long” tour of Skagway), and then we started up the highway to Fraser, catching some nice views of the train on its outbound journey.

 

LM obliged everyone by quickly dropping off to sleep – ensuring his full participation in the train portion of the trip. The drive up was beautiful – lots and lots of snow on the ground still, and right at the physical border it was actually snowing outside.

 

After a quick immigration inspection at Fraser, we boarded the train to start the ride back down into Skagway.

 

I kind of thought it would be boring, but it was actually really, really cool. There was always changing scenery, decent commentary from the train guide, and it was great watching LM have so much fun on the ride down. I did set up my time lapse camera on a window for the trip, and I’ll post it as well – unfortunately the camera ran out of memory about ¾ of the way through the ride but you can really get an idea of the amount of snow.

 

We finished the day with a stroll around Skagway, trying to find a place to eat. Unfortunately with four ships in port, finding a restaurant with less than an hour wait for lunch was not possible, so we just headed back to Cagney’s for yet another veggie burger (and Alaskan IPA).

 

We were again blessed with wonderful weather for the rest of the day, cruising south out of Skagway and getting ready for the return journey down to Victoria and Seattle.

 

 

Some photos from the day.

 

A shot of the train as we drove up the highway:

 

 

At the physical border:

 

 

At the political border:

 

 

No train yet:

 

 

Choo Choo!!!! (LM)

 

 

All aboard!

 

[OzCanuck]

More shots from the train ride:

 

 

You can actually see the ships in port if you zoom:

 

 

 

Always wanted to hang out a train and take a picture:

 

 

Back in the 'way:

 

 

A pair of jewels:

 

[OzCanuck]

And still more:

 

Departing back up the pass:

 

 

The awesome snowplow they still use:

 

 

Berthed next to the Pearl:

 

 

Another picture perfect night for cruising:

 

[OzCanuck]

Ports –Victoria

 

We disembarked with the other 2000 passengers in a very slow moving crawl through deck 4. From there, it was a pleasant 20 minute walk to the harbour area. We did a very quick shopping detour (diapers) and then met up with some family for a leisurely late afternoon lunch at Milestone’s. We were back on the ship by 7pm.

We didn’t do any sightseeing in Victoria – I have been there many times previously and we really wanted to catch up with family.

 

Butler & Concierge

 

I have voiced my opinion on a couple of other threads about our butler and concierge, and don’t really feel like re-hashing it all.

 

In a nutshell, we didn’t feel our concierge made any special attempt to do anything for us. That’s fine, don’t go above and beyond if it’s not part of your job. Do, however, go above and beyond if you want to leave a lasting impressing and be compensated for your troubles. The day we met John, and mentioned to him that we were vegetarian, he jotted down the extension of the special diet phone number and told us to call them with any special requests. Errrr….isn’t that your job, John?

 

The one time we ordered in a meal (Skagway), our butler Naveen couldn’t figure out where to get the veggie bean/lentil burgers that we enjoyed every day at Cagney’s. Even when I told him I ordered them at lunch in Cagney’s, he couldn’t find them. Eventually he did, and lunch arrived 45 minutes after we ordered it. And then he couldn’t open my beer because he didn’t have a bottle opener. That was really our only interaction with him, other than asking him to get some milk for the fridge. Quite disappointing, but hey – everyone has an off day I guess.

 

Of the three concierges we’ve dealt with – John (Jewel), Karabi (Jade), Monica (Pearl) – Karabi was by far the best and I felt she really exemplified what a concierge should do for you. Monica and John were nowhere near as helpful.

 

I know others have very strong opinions about these staff members and that’s fine – but it is a very, very subjective thing.

 

Going home

 

We got off the ship very late – around 9:15, and caught our shuttle to the Airport Hilton. Our room was ready, and we quickly hopped on the train back to downtown Seattle and enjoyed the day strolling around the market and the shops. A very nice city that I would like to spend more time in.

 

Unfortunately our flight left the following morning at 6:30am to Vancouver so it was an early morning for us. We were back home in Toronto by 5pm and quickly the cruise became a pleasant memory.

 

Overall, we loved the Alaska cruise. Even more so than the Eastern Med in Feb/March. The Jewel is a lovely ship and the weather was fantastic. We have no current plans to take another cruise but we’ve now achieved Gold in the Latitudes program (I know, it doesn’t mean much), so I’m sure we’ll be back for more soon…..

[Kaduka1]

Thoroughly enjoyed your review and pictures. We've only just started thinking about an Alaskan Cruise but it definitely in now on our list. Prior I think it was just the whole concept of cruising, we wanted to go someplace warm not colder, so Alaska was out. Then it was the price of the excursions, face it, the good ones in Alaska are expensive. More and more though, it just looks like a beautiful place and definitely a must see.

[taffystay]

What a great treat to find your post, as my husband and I will be on the Jewel with our son who will be 20 months when we board, too! He, too, loves trains (and firetrucks, construction vehicles and cars!), so I'm glad to hear he will have plenty to see at the stops. This will be my first cruise - not to mention our first time cruising with our toddler, so I have a few questions:

- Is a carseat necessary?

- Does the Jewel provide cribs? (I'm waiting for a call back from NCL about this.)

- Where did you dispose of diapers?

- Did your son enjoy the children's areas/activities on the ship?

- Are there any areas/things to watch out for in terms of our toddler being out and about in the central areas of the cruise ship?

 

Thank you!!

[OzCanuck]

[quote name='taffystay']What a great treat to find your post, as my husband and I will be on the Jewel with our son who will be 20 months when we board, too! He, too, loves trains (and firetrucks, construction vehicles and cars!), so I'm glad to hear he will have plenty to see at the stops. This will be my first cruise - not to mention our first time cruising with our toddler, so I have a few questions:
- Is a carseat necessary?
- Does the Jewel provide cribs? (I'm waiting for a call back from NCL about this.)
- Where did you dispose of diapers?
- Did your son enjoy the children's areas/activities on the ship?
- Are there any areas/things to watch out for in terms of our toddler being out and about in the central areas of the cruise ship?

Thank you!![/quote]

Cool coincidence...

- Is a carseat necessary?
We have not traveled with a car seat, and I won't get into an argument about the ethics of using one or not using one.. when we've rented a car at a port for embarking or disembarking, we've gotten one with the car and used it. Apart from that, we've used buses and trains.

- Does the Jewel provide cribs? (I'm waiting for a call back from NCL about this.)
They do provide standard pack'n'play cribs on the Jewel, as with all NCL ships. Book one early, though I would hope they would have enough to go around. At 20 months, our "little" guy was/is at the 99% for height, and around 40% for weight. The pack'n'play is ALMOST too small for him, but he made do. Bring your own travel crib sheets though - it's nice to have the extra padding.

- Where did you dispose of diapers?
We used the little individual baggies - wrapped them up and left them in our bathroom garbage. Room steward was very good about checking frequently to empty it. We tipped him appropriately.

- Did your son enjoy the children's areas/activities on the ship?
Well honestly at 20 months old he just enjoyed being somewhere that wasn't home or daycare. The children's activities are very usually just painting with organic paints or story time. It's over pretty quickly but gives you the opportunity to socialize with other parents, which is a good thing. The under three play area on the Jewel is windowless and depressing, however. He loved walking around the ship, both inside and out. We didn't use the kiddy pool on this cruise. They say no diapered kids in that pool, but no self-respecting child out of diapers would be seen in the kiddy pool (the water is about 3 inches deep).

- Are there any areas/things to watch out for in terms of our toddler being out and about in the central areas of the cruise ship?
You know, not really. The public areas are surprisingly quite child "proof". Of course, you have many stairways to contend with - our little boy is just starting to enjoy walking up and down the stairs, so it was more of a challenge than a hazard for him. Definitely take in the shows! Go about 10 minutes early, and sit in one of the 'wings' on the lower floor. Go in about 4-5 seats, let yours sit between you and your SO, and if he gets restless, he can walk down to the end of the seating row and back. Of course, do that within reason - if he fusses then get him out of there. Ours really enjoyed Cirque Bijou - he was mesmerized by everything! You MUST get there VERY early for that show, as it fills completely.

The staff are very, very accommodating for little ones. As I mentioned above, our best strategy for supper was ordering our food and telling them to bring everything at the same time. Or - if you have a patient eater, then just pace the meal normally. Just be adaptive to their changing moods...

Our biggest mistake on our first two cruises was not doing much stuff off the ship. Get out there and enjoy the ports! Do excursions! I know - he won't remember them, but you will, and you'll have photos to prove it....

Oz.

[Krazy Kruizers]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=4]Wonderful review.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=4][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=4]Pictures are great.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[taffystay]

Wow, great info. Thank you so much!!! I talked to someone from Norwegian yesterday and asked if I needed to reserve a crib. She said I didn't, but from I've read from your post and others, it sounds like it's wise to book one. I'm going to call NCL again today and see if I could speak with someone else about it... Thanks again!

[PathfinderEss]

[SIZE=4][COLOR=darkred]Really enjoyed the review of your cruise. Sounds wonderful and the pictures were great.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[epaul78]

Great review and photos. Looks like you had nice weather!

[steveinoregon]

great pics OzCanuck post more of them they are great

[jertom]

OzCanuck,
Great review !
We are going on Pearl July 14 (no toddler) and your review makes us even more eager.
Thanks !

[Fins2theleft]

Thanks for the review, Alaska is on my bucket list.