Review: NCL Jewel in Alaska, 7-5-2014

[buoyantbeans]

...and a bathroom with a view.

 

 

Edited July 17, 2014 by buoyantbeans

[TwinMommyByGrace]

Great pictures and review! Can't wait for more :). Are the pics of the Tracy Arm & glacier from your balcony? Were you starboard or port? Thanks again for the review. We're a little over ever 5 wks away and I'm chomping at the bit! :D

Edited July 17, 2014 by TwinMommyByGrace

[amarvel]

More from Tracy Arm

 

 

 

Wow you guys got a lot of the glacier in view! That's the most I've seen someone post that wasn't on the excursion in recent sailings!

 

Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2

[buoyantbeans]

Yes the Tracy Arp pix were from our balcony port side, deck 9 forward. You are going to love it.

[buoyantbeans]

We did seem to have a long time at the glacier. We only spun around once, but we have a view from our port side for probably 15 minutes. Of course as soon as we turned and started heading out, the skies started to clear and everything got brighter. Be sure to bring some binoculars. I had a pair of 7x35, and bought a second, cheap 10x25 pair on Amazon before we left for about $20. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SABC/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) While the cheap ones had a smaller field of vision, there were OK, and great if you have kids. Spotted a bunch of eagles on the way out, and loved looking at the waterfalls up close.

Edited July 17, 2014 by buoyantbeans

[TwinMommyByGrace]

Thanks for the advice on the binoculars. It will be so much fun to sit out and see what we can spot from our balcony. We're on the starboard side. You mentioned you spun around. Does that mean both sides of the ship got to view the glacier as you did from your balcony?

[buoyantbeans]

Yes, depending on the conditions, the captain will spin the ship around so both sides get a direct view of the glacier.

[buoyantbeans]

We picked Chilkoot Charters for our afternoon excursion. (http://www.chilkootcharters.com) We did this one on our own, and had a great time with our driver, Stanley (a lady). Highly recommend the bus and rail tour, just the right amount of time on the train. A must do, especially with all of the seasonal waterfalls flowing.

 

 

 

TIP: you get seated by tour group, so the folks on the train from the ship were crammed into their cars, we had about 20 of us on our private tour in a train car that probably seated 50, lots of room to move around, and chances to get on the platforms between cars to take pictures.

Edited July 18, 2014 by buoyantbeans

[Floridanamaw]

I'm glad you posted this about the train excursion. This is exactly the one I was looking at but was unsure about booking outside of the ship. I've heard several good things about this company so I think I will book with them. Thanks.

[buoyantbeans]

finally got the videos of the DD spinning plates at the Splash Academy Circus Show on youtube. Give them a thumbs up!

 

 

http://youtu.be/1El7DFhWqSc

Edited July 18, 2014 by buoyantbeans