The Alaskan Jewel! Welcome Aboard….You don’t Exist!

[jenseib]

Your pictures are beautiful. I am loving your review. Thank you for taking te time to post everything!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

What a lovely review! Thank you so much for all the effort you are putting into it!

 

Thank you!

[jenseib]

Thank you for all the beautiful pictures. As I was showing them to my husband, we realized we had seen his work in the Bellagio in Las Vegas. I was wondering about going during the day vs at night. It looks like they have the inside rooms set up to light up the items so they're at their best for viewing. I imagine the gardens are very different at night, when they are lit up in the dark.

 

Now I'm looking forward to your review of the Jewel. We'll be on her in 42 days for Mexico. Haven't been on the Jewel, have been on the Pearl twice. Will be interested in what you have to say about the Jewel in the next few weeks.

 

I bet it does look great at night. The bad thing is I believe it closes at 10PM and that is about the same time it was getting dark, so you wouldn't get that full effect in the summer.

 

I tried to take pictures around the ship...but I had some issues the first day...shall we say....and that is usually when I go all over the ship for pictures, so I didn't get as many as I usually do, which makes me sad. Though I tried to get as many as I could during the cruise.

 

We (my husband and I) went to Chihuly Gardens when we were in Seattle before our Alaska cruise in 2012. I was the one that decided to go there - but he (for a change) didn't give me a hard time....and once we got there he was just as amazed as I was. My only wish was to see the outdoor garden display at night - it looked like they are lit, and I can imagine how stunning it would be then. Oh well, guess we'll have to plan another Alaska cruise out of Seattle!!!:D

 

Laura

 

I think Skip would've liked it had he gone too. He often turns his nose to a lot of things till he actually tries it. LOL.

Yes, I think I need to go back to Seattle too and do some more things that I now keep hearing about...after I get back. LOL.

[jenseib]

I spoke to someone from the Getaway at Magen's Bay last year and she did not care for it. She said the rooms were too small and the public spaces were not large enough to handle the crowds of a large ship. Just an FYI, might work for a new cruiser.

 

We went to Alaska in June and did a tour of Seattle. We only got to go to the Space Needle but my granddaughter, who is an artist, wanted to go to the museum. She will love it when I am able to show her your pictures! So thanks for all you posted!

 

I wanted to tell you that our tour guide told us that more earth was moved to build the Seattle waterfront than was moved during the original building of the Panama Canal. I have not been able to verify that for sure but my research appears that 48 Million cubic feet was moved for the Canal and 50 Million for the waterfront. We all know the internet cannot be taken as gospel, but he told us that and I know tour guides can exaggerate also!

 

What he also said that I found was very interesting is that Seattle basically stopped at the bottom of those hills in the late 1800, early 1900's. There was a lumber mill at the bottom of this one particular hill, where we were, on the southern side of the waterfront. That I have been able to verify. So ALL that land that is where the cruise terminal is, that is flat, was fill dirt brought in. I remember before I knew this thinking how remarkable it was that there was such a narrow flatland in front of the cruise terminal. Basically the street, train track, another street and then straight uphill. Don't mean to hijack your report but you are a detail person like me so I thought you would enjoy knowing that since the hills amazed you also. This FL girl certainly had never seen hills like that before.

 

My friend on the Getaway said the same thing about the rooms...I am not sure if they are smaller than other DCL ships or since she is used to Disney that they just seemed smaller. she was in an inside though too. I do most lines are much smaller than Disney though. I would say a mini suite on the Jewel is probably about what a balcony is on DCL. Claire thought our Penthouse suite was smaller but she was way off! LOL.

 

I would like to go back and do lunch in the Space Needle. If we do go back I will be staying an extra day after the cruise in Seattle. Skip was already having a fit that we were going on a SEVEN day cruise, so I didn't push my luck. I had even thought about flying to CA to go to Disneyland, but again didn't want to push my luck. Of course the day we left he wanted to stay another day and was willing to give up our seats on our flight if they asked and said how come we aren't staying another night? Go figure! Next time I am just going to do it and not worry about it.

 

That is really interesting about Seattle. In some reading that I have done, which isn't a lot....they said the Worlds Fair was mainly there to put Seattle on the map. Before that not many people really knew about it and it wasn't that big and the Fair really made it a booming city.

That does totally make sense about the waterfront area.

That kind of stuff fascinates me.

[dtiger]

I love your fantastic photos and review. Thanks for taking the time to write it and post the photos.

[New2cruise1483]

Loving your review so far! We went to Alaska on the Pearl earlier this year,and your review is really taking me back so far. We did dinner in the space needle, and boy was it spendy, to the tune of $300 dollars for tree of us !!!:eek Not hard to do when the least expensive dinner is $39 lol. VERY VERY good through, one of the best I've ever eaten, and the experience really is a lot of fun with the restaurant revolving, so your view is always changing :D. I'm glad you really got to experience a lot of what Seattle has to offer, I was born north of there, and it is always fun for me to visit there. Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[mizdkc]

I enjoyed all your pics of the glasswork. Some friends and I were just there a month or so ago and thought it was spectacular.

 

But we all focused on one thing very quickly. How do they clean those sculptures? They are spotless. How can they reach it all? :eek:

 

We were compelled at the end to stop and talk to staff about it. :rolleyes:

[roboref]

Thank you, thank you for such gorgeous pictures of the Chihuly Exhibit. Most are worthy of a coffee table book. Loved them! I was already looking forward to visiting there before our cruise next May. Now there's no way I'll miss it. We're going to be in Seattle for 4 or 5 days before the cruise and I think the Seattle CityPASS will be well worth the cost.

Thanks again! --Pam

[caribill]

But we all focused on one thing very quickly. How do they clean those sculptures? They are spotless. How can they reach it all? :eek:

 

We were compelled at the end to stop and talk to staff about it.

 

And the staff said???

[jenseib]

I love your fantastic photos and review. Thanks for taking the time to write it and post the photos.

 

Thanks so much!

 

Loving your review so far! We went to Alaska on the Pearl earlier this year,and your review is really taking me back so far. We did dinner in the space needle, and boy was it spendy, to the tune of $300 dollars for tree of us !!!:eek Not hard to do when the least expensive dinner is $39 lol. VERY VERY good through, one of the best I've ever eaten, and the experience really is a lot of fun with the restaurant revolving, so your view is always changing :D. I'm glad you really got to experience a lot of what Seattle has to offer, I was born north of there, and it is always fun for me to visit there. Looking forward to the rest of your review!

 

Yes, I read to expect at least $50 a person too, so I knew it would be pricey...and then my husband would have a heart attack! LOL!

[jenseib]

I enjoyed all your pics of the glasswork. Some friends and I were just there a month or so ago and thought it was spectacular.

 

But we all focused on one thing very quickly. How do they clean those sculptures? They are spotless. How can they reach it all? :eek:

 

We were compelled at the end to stop and talk to staff about it. :rolleyes:

 

That is a REALLy good question....did you ask?

 

Thank you, thank you for such gorgeous pictures of the Chihuly Exhibit. Most are worthy of a coffee table book. Loved them! I was already looking forward to visiting there before our cruise next May. Now there's no way I'll miss it. We're going to be in Seattle for 4 or 5 days before the cruise and I think the Seattle CityPASS will be well worth the cost.

Thanks again! --Pam

 

I am so glad this is helping you. I would love to go back and stay another couple of days. I really think staying downtown was so worth it for us as well. I am glad I didn't go with my cheaper thoughts in the beginning of staying near the airport.

[jenseib]

Day 2, Aug. 1, 2015, Boarding the Jewel

I always wake up on vacation fairly early and with a time zone change it was even harder to sleep in, but I did OK. But finally I couldn’t make myself sleep any longer so I got up and ready to start the day. Of course I let Thing 1 and Thing 2 sleep longer. Claire was in her element. She has ALWAYS been one to go to bed late and sleep in late….even as an infant. I have always teased her that she was on California time.

I was antsy and not much to do in the room with 2 people sleeping so I headed downstairs to explore. Stupidly I only grabbed my phone. I am not sure why I didn’t grab a camera or external charger for my phone…..but I didn’t.

This is my first picture, so I must’ve gone outside for a bit.

plaza1 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

I then went and looked around on the 2nd floor where the restaurant is. It was pretty pricey so we never ate there.

plaza2 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

plaza3 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Looking down at the Lobby.

plaza4 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

And then back outside after looking around. Over by the fountain across the street on a bench there was a pile of stuff and I think someone was sleeping there. I guess that is where a homeless person makes camp for the night? I tried to make sure I didn’t get him/her in my picture.

plaza5 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

As I am standing out there I kept looking down towards the waterfront. I couldn’t tell how many blocks it was, but I knew it wasn’t too far. And I bet the Jewel is in port now too! One reason I wanted to stay at the Marriott was because you could see the ship right there. Oh heck! I am going to go see if I can see it. I debated going back to the room to grab a camera, but I just didn’t feel like wasting the time to do so, so I headed on my way with just my phone in hand. I really wish I would’ve went back and gotten a camera to go with me.

walk1 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

As I walked down down down…I was messaging my friends Brook and Deb. They are on the East coast so they were up and ready to chat!

[jenseib]

It ended up being a bit further than I expected it to be, but it wasn’t bad. The bad thing was I knew my whole trip back would be uphill. And I even had to go down a flight of stairs at one point to get closer to the waterfront.

This picture was to help me remember where to turn back towards the hotel.

walk2 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

walk3 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

No ship in sight from here….but here is the Seattle Great Wheel. No wants or urges for me to ever ride that….I call them death traps!

walk4 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

I went up closer by the Great Wheel and was looking around and then I spotted her.

walk5 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Oh and look at the Navy ships…No wonder so many sailors were in town.

I went up closer to the Great Wheel to get some shots.

walk6 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Then I moved on. This area had a ton of joggers going back and forth. I assume because it is a flat surface here it makes for easier jogging.

walk7 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

[jenseib]

walk8 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

There were a lot of steel sculptures all over the place and I took a few pictures here and there.

walk9 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Getting closer to the ship!

walk10 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

walk11 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

I loved that the name of the road was Alaskan Way.

walk12 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

There she is!!!!!!!

walk13 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

And she was bigger than I expected. I swear this always happens though. You just forget how big these ships are till you get close to them.

[jenseib]

I think this was a homeless guy in my shot. They were a lot of them walking up and down here as well.

walk14 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Pier 66!

walk15 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

This area is so different than any other port I have been too. I could get pretty close to the ship.

walk16 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

My friend Brook told me to take a selfie in front of the ship, so I did. I am the world’s worst selfie picture taker. I am trying to get me, the ship and smile….and I can’t do all three at the same time and of course I am looking at the screen, so you can tell I have a forced smile.

walk17 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

walk18 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Under the glassed in area up there next to the life boats I could see people getting off the ship.

walk19 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

[jenseib]

walk20 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

I then went and walked around the front of the terminal.

walk21 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

There is the Shuttle Express tent…good to know since we will be using them to go back to the airport.

walk22 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Various buses out front, I assume NCL transfer buses.

walk23 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Going around to the other side I wasn’t able to see the ship any better so I turned back around.

walk24 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

walk25 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

[mizdkc]

The staff told us Swiffer-like devices with long handles.

 

Not in a million years would I want that job. :eek:

 

But when you look, I swear there is not a speck of dust on anything! Just amazing!

[jenseib]

This is where the baggage drop off is.

walk26 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

And I took a quick peek inside where people were coming through after getting off the ship.

walk27 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

Back around the other side I took a picture of the gangway.

walk28 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

This was much different than any other ship I had ever boarded. You actually board the ship on the Promenade deck outside and then go in. Now I had seen pictures that this is how it is done for this ship, but it still seemed weird to me.

Brook and Deb told me to find my room and take a picture.

walk29 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

I am the 2nd balcony down on the aft…right on the corner.

walk30 by Jennifer Dowling, on Flickr

I have to admit I was now super excited. Seeing the ship makes it much more real. I also felt better seeing the port area and having an idea of how it looked now. That makes me a bit nervous when I am not familiar with the area.

It was neat to see people getting off the ship and I wondered how their experience was. I also wondered how cold it had been as it was pretty hot here already in Seattle, but most people were getting off wearing jeans or long pants.

My phone was getting low on battery and I had never told Skip where I was going, so I figured now was a good time to head back and get ready for all the fun in store for us.

[russianmom]

Your pictures are fantastic! :)

[Donna_In_India]

I was excited to see your Castaway Club backpacks! I use mine ALL the time!

 

Looking forward to hearing about your cruise.

[3kidsncats]

I'm still about 130 days out, but seeing the photos of the ship is certainly making it feel more real for me too!

[jenseib]

Well, they've made it to the hotel:) One poster is going Sept. 5!

 

Well I have been honest from day one. I am not writing a ship review or a destination review...I am writing a trip report which is written as a story.

I also said it would take me months to finish it and it would probably not help people sailing to Alaska this year.

 

I guess I don't understand why those who don't like it keep coming back. I am not going to change my style of writing...so this is how it will be...slow and full of pictures. Posts number really don't mean anything to me as cruise critic only allows 6 pics per post while other forums allow 25-35 or more. Typically one update of mine contains 25-35 pictures.

[jenseib]

Your pictures are fantastic! :)

 

Thanks so much

 

I was excited to see your Castaway Club backpacks! I use mine ALL the time!

 

Looking forward to hearing about your cruise.

 

It's amazing how many former DCL crew there was on the ship. I was constantly running into people who said they used to work on the Magic or Wonder.

[jenseib]

I'm still about 130 days out, but seeing the photos of the ship is certainly making it feel more real for me too!

 

It was so fun to see the ship early that morning. It really did build the excitement!

 

The suspense builds!!!!!!

 

;)

[ala1017]

I think she's ok with that. And It's ok... The suspense is killing me too.. I get it. I think that's what a good writer does..captivates your attention so you'll come back for more. We knew you couldn't resist it. I check daily. Love the review, report, novel.. Whatever it is.. It's good

[crayola1932]

I love it!! I love the building excitement. However, my poor computer is a little weak on memory and bandwidth, and I have to give up on threads when they get too long. I'm going to have to figure out some strategy to keep up with your saga. But you go girl!! You write and illustrate a great story.