brunolvr Posted June 8, 2014 #1 Share Posted June 8, 2014 We had a great cruise on the Jewel to Alaska. The weather was beautiful in Seattle on May 31,2014 for our sail away and we had great weather in every port except for Juneau where we had off and on showers (mostly on). Lots and lots of ice in Tracy Arm Fjord. I was a little disappointed in the Jewel, though, as she is starting to show her age. I guess I was expecting a little more since we were the 3rd cruise out of her dry dock. There was new carpeting in all the main wear areas. The new O'Sheehan's is still waiting for their new furniture. I couldn't tell if there was new carpeting in our Haven Suite or not, but everything else in there was starting to show it's age. And there was all kinds of "junk" stored up near the Haven's private viewing area in the area and behind the seating for the sports arena -- they're still in the process of installing the "scrubbers" and you can't access the 14th deck from the Haven's private viewing area. To me it looked like they needed a longer dry dock to accomplish all that they needed. I have saved my Freestyle Dailies and will try to get them scanned later this week. I took pictures of a couple of the menus but was told they're still in the process of "tweaking" the main dining room menus so they may still be changing. I'd be glad to answer any questions if I can but I won't have much time for the next few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie51 Posted June 8, 2014 #2 Share Posted June 8, 2014 We cruise on Jewel in November. I'm sorry to hear the dry dock didn't get everything finished. Which port will be used to get the furniture aboard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinnamjs Posted June 8, 2014 #3 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Going on the Jewel at the end of July and cannot wait to see the dailies! Did you go on any excursions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinMommyByGrace Posted June 8, 2014 #4 Share Posted June 8, 2014 We'll be on the Jewel in August. Hopefully they'll have everything finished by then. Looking forward to hearing more when you have time! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtahCruise Posted June 9, 2014 #5 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Leaving on the Jewel on the 21st. Anything that is a must see or do? We booked a guarantee ov, we usually do balconies so I am a litttle nervous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airlink diva Posted June 9, 2014 #6 Share Posted June 9, 2014 My parents and nephew are sailing on June 28(?). I will check back for the scanned info later this week. Any suggestions, will be helpful! Hate to hear coming out of dry dock things were not so shiny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare www3traveler Posted June 9, 2014 #7 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Do you remember who the Captain and Staff Captain were? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PathfinderEss Posted June 9, 2014 #8 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Enjoying your review, looking forward to the Freestyle Dailies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunolvr Posted June 9, 2014 Author #9 Share Posted June 9, 2014 We cruise on Jewel in November. I'm sorry to hear the dry dock didn't get everything finished. Which port will be used to get the furniture aboard? They really didn't say because they weren't sure -- they said they were hoping to get the new furniture soon. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunolvr Posted June 9, 2014 Author #10 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Going on the Jewel at the end of July and cannot wait to see the dailies! Did you go on any excursions? On this cruise we did the Tracy Arm Fjord and Wilderness Explorer out of Juneau (a must); in Skagway we did the train (we did it 11 years ago but this was the first time for our daughter) and in Victoria we went to the Butchart Gardens. We didn't book anything in Ketchikan -- just did our self-guided walking tour. This was my husband's and my 10th cruise to Alaska but only the second for our daughter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunolvr Posted June 9, 2014 Author #11 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Leaving on the Jewel on the 21st. Anything that is a must see or do? We booked a guarantee ov, we usually do balconies so I am a litttle nervous. Keep checking the prices and if they go down, I'd try to upgrade to a balcony. We used our balcony a lot on our cruise -- I'd never cruise to Alaska without a balcony. We even had breakfast out on our balcony a couple of times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunolvr Posted June 9, 2014 Author #12 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Do you remember who the Captain and Staff Captain were? Our Captain was Captain Kenneth Harstrom but he got off in Seattle with us on Saturday and said he would be back sometime in August. I believe he said the new Captain coming onboard on Saturday was going to be Niklas Persson. Not sure who the "staff captain" was. I took a picture of their pictures, so I'll see if I can find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunolvr Posted June 9, 2014 Author #13 Share Posted June 9, 2014 One thing I would recommend is that if your cruise has a "Meet & Greet", sign up and go to it. The dining with an officer was only offered to those attending our Meet & Greet on our cruise. We were privileged along with another cruise critic family to dine with the Captain! and others dined with the Hotel Director and others with another officer (not sure who). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtahCruise Posted June 9, 2014 #14 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I have been watching the prices right now the ov has jumped from 629 to 1299 for our week. I am hoping they will drop. Looking at the cruise that leaves on this saturday the price difference would be 240 more pp. What is a good deal on an upgrade? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sona2013 Posted June 9, 2014 #15 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Thank you for your review. We are leaving this Saturday. Can you tell me about the shows? What did you do on sea days? As you can see, I am a cruise newbie :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amarvel Posted June 9, 2014 #16 Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) Keep checking the prices and if they go down, I'd try to upgrade to a balcony. We used our balcony a lot on our cruise -- I'd never cruise to Alaska without a balcony. We even had breakfast out on our balcony a couple of times! I cannot ditto this enough. Ive had a balcony (free upgrade) on a mexico cruise and it was nice, but not necessary, in alaska we live on our balcony :) Good to hear about the meet and greet! I havent done one yet, but am already on the thread for our boarding. What room were you in? Edited June 9, 2014 by amarvel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkNC Posted June 9, 2014 #17 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Thanks for the report! Glad you enjoyed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunolvr Posted June 9, 2014 Author #18 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I'm trying to figure out how to post the Freestyle Dailies from our cruise. I hope this works. Here is Day 1: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunolvr Posted June 9, 2014 Author #19 Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) I have been watching the prices right now the ov has jumped from 629 to 1299 for our week. I am hoping they will drop. Looking at the cruise that leaves on this saturday the price difference would be 240 more pp. What is a good deal on an upgrade? Not sure what might be considered a "good deal". If it sounds reasonable to you and you can afford to upgrade to a balcony, I'd do it. I've found on a lot of the cruises, the "mini-suite" prices go way down so you might also check that. Edited June 9, 2014 by brunolvr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunolvr Posted June 9, 2014 Author #20 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Thank you for your review. We are leaving this Saturday. Can you tell me about the shows? What did you do on sea days? As you can see, I am a cruise newbie :) We went to most of the main shows held in the Stardust Theater except for two. We really wanted to see "Jean Pierre Parent" but we were dining with the Captain that evening and it just didn't work out that we could go. Day 1 was "Stardust Showtime, A Taste of Things to Come" which we enjoyed especially since they introduced the Captain and the Senior Management onboard. Day 2 was "Spotlight Showtime: Band on the Run" -- it was okay Day 3 was "Comedian Bill Hildebrandt" which we enjoyed very much Day 4 was "Duo Deja Vu" which was exceptionally good Day 5 was "Jean Pierre Parent" which we missed but heard was very good Day 6 was "Le Cirque Bijou" which was very, very good! Don't miss it! Day 7 was "Farewell Concert" which we missed because we got back late from our excursion and had a late dinner. Lots of fun things were going on in the Fyzz Lounge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunolvr Posted June 9, 2014 Author #21 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I cannot ditto this enough. Ive had a balcony (free upgrade) on a mexico cruise and it was nice, but not necessary, in alaska we live on our balcony :) Good to hear about the meet and greet! I havent done one yet, but am already on the thread for our boarding. What room were you in? We were in Haven Suite #14512! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunolvr Posted June 9, 2014 Author #22 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Thank you for your review. We are leaving this Saturday. Can you tell me about the shows? What did you do on sea days? As you can see, I am a cruise newbie :) Oh, and on sea days we mostly explored the ship taking lots of pictures. There's so much going on that it's hard to keep track of everything! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lax19 Posted June 9, 2014 #23 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Thanks for posting the first day daily. We'll be on the Jewel in August! Was the cruise director Jamie DeSousa? She was the CD when we were on the Star a couple of years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtahCruise Posted June 9, 2014 #24 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Thanks for posting the daily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunolvr Posted June 9, 2014 Author #25 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I'm trying to figure out how to post the Freestyle Dailies from our cruise. I hope this works. Here is Day 1: The second page is wrong -- I don't know how that turned up but here's the correct page: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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