Norwegian Jewel for Alaska Cruise

[LB_NJ]

Never cruised on NCL.

 

Thinking of booking an inside cabin on Jewel for an Alaska cruise and was looking for any comments on that ship.

Don't really want to spend on a balcony.

 

I have questions like is there enough outside space to look at the glaciers (eg, Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay)?

 

How is the ship?

 

Is the food good or will I need to spend for the for fee dining?

 

Does the ship feel crowded?

 

We like smaller ships so the Jewel is probably the largest ship we would want for this type of cruise.

[JAFA13]

When are you thinking of going? I’m booked on the Jewel’s May 20 Northbound Vancouver to Seward. Will be happy to report back afterward. I’m booked in an inside cabin and it was fairly cheap. I just booked two weeks ago though so well after final payment. 

[www3traveler]

The Jewel is a wonderful ship with a great staff.

 

Lots of outdoor space:  The Great Outdoors-- aft Deck 11, Deck 7  Promenade Deck,  Spinnaker Lounge-- forward Deck 13.

 

Food is always good.  At least once a cruise, I will eat in Cagney's.

 

Most of the time She never feels crowded except when the shops put out their sales tables in the lobby.

 

Love The Jewel-- have done several Alaskan cruises on Her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LB_NJ]

51 minutes ago, JAFA13 said:

When are you thinking of going? I’m booked on the Jewel’s May 20 Northbound Vancouver to Seward. Will be happy to report back afterward. I’m booked in an inside cabin and it was fairly cheap. I just booked two weeks ago though so well after final payment. 

 

Looking at June 2020.  Was thinking of Princess however they might be banned from Glacier Bay.

[Budget Queen]

I sailed the Jewel 3 times last season in Alaska.  Have also sailed the Pearl  multiple times there.   Add to the mix,  an excellent itinerary.   Yes there is space for viewing the magnificent glaciers.  Just keep moving,  to avoid crowds.    Many people will be under prepared in their attire,  which also is great crowd control.   :)    So be well prepared for viewing glaciers-   hat gloves, layers.    :)  

 

Have a great time.   

[bearette]

I did the Jewel a few years ago in an inside.  I liked hanging out in OShennigans ( though it has a new name I believe now).  I could get snacks and food with large picture window views.  Plus it was inside so I could avoid the wind. They would open the front of the ship for glacier viewing, and while crowded you could look and snap a few photos.   otherwise you could always get a view from any of the decks. While it wasn't my favorite ship, it worked fine in Alaska.

[Von & John]

Loved the Jewel!

We did the TransPacific - Sept/Oct 2018...

Vancouver to Tokyo... 
Our Alaska Stops included:  Ketchikan, Sawyer Glacier (Cruising), Juneau & Seward.

Great spaces (both inside & out for Glacier Viewing)...

We had GORGEOUS Weather!

However, plan for changeable weather & pack layers!!!  As suggested by Budget Queen - Hats, Gloves & I'll add lightweight longies (both tops & bottoms)  --  it's amazing the difference they will make.  Our weather is always flexible - so plan for both sun & rain (the cold rain can be bone-chilling).

Don't forget the sunscreen!

 

[erdoran]

We did Bliss for Alaska first week in September.  Weather was spectacular and we didn’t need coats or gloves -EXCEPT FOR GLACIER VIEWING which was FREEZING!  Bring your warmest gloves and a hat.  I had regular gloves and my hands were freezing.

 

GREAT experience, no matter what ship you take.  We did the Tracy Arm excursion so we got much closer to the glacier than if we stayed on Bliss.  Someone had posted on the Alaska board that this is a must-do and I certainly agree.  

[bonvoyagie]

I think the Jewel is the best NCL ship for AK - good itinerary - good port times- excellent glacier viewing esp NB.

As far as ships go the Jewel is a nice mid sized ship she does not have as many of the bells and whistles as the mega ships - but personally I would rather see Alaska than ride a go kart or play laser tag. I would also never book an inside room esp for AK as there is just too much to see and having your own private balcony is so nice. You can also book  B2B or stay over a couple of extra days and see the interior of AK. 

[don't-use-real-name]

5 hours ago, bonvoyagie said:

I think the Jewel is the best NCL ship for AK - good itinerary - good port times- excellent glacier viewing esp NB.

As far as ships go the Jewel is a nice mid sized ship she does not have as many of the bells and whistles as the mega ships - but personally I would rather see Alaska than ride a go kart or play laser tag. I would also never book an inside room esp for AK as there is just too much to see and having your own private balcony is so nice. You can also book  B2B or stay over a couple of extra days and see the interior of AK. 

Also with the JEWEL the cruise begins or ends at Vancouver with something of interest both going to and from Alaska !

At Anchorage (Port of Seward) a whole bunch of land tour packages are available to see more glaciers - ride scenic

railroad cars (AK RR) - see Mt. Denali - see Alaska Iditarod puppy dog farms - Wild Life Reserve - whitewater rafting -

paddle-wheel steaming and more - 3-4-5 day land tour packages. Vancouver has its own excursions and with Seattle

just across the border even more - there certainly are no boring cruises here. 

[Seawoff]

On 4/20/2019 at 8:20 AM, LB_NJ said:

Never cruised on NCL.

 

Thinking of booking an inside cabin on Jewel for an Alaska cruise and was looking for any comments on that ship.

Don't really want to spend on a balcony.

 

I have questions like is there enough outside space to look at the glaciers (eg, Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay)?

 

How is the ship?

 

Is the food good or will I need to spend for the for fee dining?

 

Does the ship feel crowded?

 

We like smaller ships so the Jewel is probably the largest ship we would want for this type of cruise.

Been to Alaska before but not on the NCL 

 

It is a great trip and you will enjoy it.  

 

Public viewing is available via many places which are open to the public but the forward bow is the place to be to get a good view of the glaciers.

 

BIDDING FOR AN UPSELL

Since no one has mentioned to you yet if you get a chance to bid on a balcony it usually cost about $50 to 100 dollars per person to upgrade to a balcony. 

 

At 80 days out the NCL sends out "Lets get you and upgrade".  Not every one get the offer   but most of us do.  

 

A balcony will greatly improve you adventure,  have a nice trip

 

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2019 by Seawoff
ADD INFORMATION

[Yukon Cruiser]

Just got off the Jewel on the Alaska cruise, doesn’t feel crowded, we had an inside cabin and spent most of our time in the public areas, Spinnaker lounge for viewing, library for quiet time, lots of outdoor space to view the glaciers all around, they even set up the forward area on deck 8 so you can get really close. 

Food in the MDRs was good, lots of daily choices, we never went to a gourmet restaurant. We went to Tsar for breakfast and most lunches, Azura for dinner, O’Sheean for snacks & lunches. Once in a while we went to the buffet and the great outdoor.

Truly the glaciers and the wildlife are the stars of the cruise (pod of 8 orcas in Glacier Bay, porpoises, sea otters, whales). Enjoy. 

Edited May 28, 2019 by Yukon Cruiser

[farjar]

On ‎4‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 8:53 AM, JAFA13 said:

When are you thinking of going? I’m booked on the Jewel’s May 20 Northbound Vancouver to Seward. Will be happy to report back afterward. I’m booked in an inside cabin and it was fairly cheap. I just booked two weeks ago though so well after final payment. 

We will be doing the Jewel northbound Vancouver to Seward in late August.  I would love to hear anything you have to report about your trip.  Did you see the shows, take any excursions, have copies of the dailies to share, did you use NCL's airfare offer?  Any information would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

[Notnewtoit]

Big advocate of the Jewel class here (if you don't have kids), was in Alaska last year on Pearl, or was it Jade, it's a blur 😉 Will be on Jewel in Alaska in August again. 

 

I want to second the advice to either bite the bullet and pay for a balcony or shoot for an upgrade... basically every minute of your cruise in Alaska is part of the 'excursion', from scenery to whales, the Captain will often just call over the tannoy to "check the port 3 o'clock" or whatever. 

 

Also, I have been tracking prices on our August 2019 cruise and they have dropped substantially over recent weeks (thank you NCL for those refunds); there literally has not been a better time to buy this year.

[K_e_short]

Just to add some information about bidding.

Im booked on the Jewel for the July 29th sailing.

 

I'm booked in an inside cabin.

 

The cost to upgrade to an ocean view is $100 - $300 per person.

 

The cost to upgrade to a balcony is $150 - $500 per person.

 

Someone else mentioned $50 - $100 to upgrade - I wish!

[elwood_98034]

We did the inaugural Jewel trip to Alaska some years ago. It was a nice trip, but the only memory that really sticks with me is that the exact same people staked out all of the window tables in the cafe very early in the morning every day and then never left during the entire course of the day. That made finding any table at all very difficult at meal times. Good for them, but everyone else was left walking around with plates in their hands looking for somewhere to sit. It was a major PITA, and we ended up doing room service a lot. I see reviews now from people saying that they can't get somewhere to sit on other Alaskan ships, and wonder if it isn't still the same situation.

To view the glacier we booked the Italian place just so we could get a window view and be inside out of the cold. It was otherwise a very nice and extremely social pool crowd. Lots of people in the pools (don't drink the water), and the restaurants were nice. It was a nice trip. Thumbs up!

We are on the Joy in August. We have booked the Haven based on the Jewel experience. We plan to do the Haven restaurant on the glacier day. 

[elwood_98034]

12 hours ago, Notnewtoit said:

Big advocate of the Jewel class here (if you don't have kids), was in Alaska last year on Pearl, or was it Jade, it's a blur 😉 Will be on Jewel in Alaska in August again. 

 

I want to second the advice to either bite the bullet and pay for a balcony or shoot for an upgrade... basically every minute of your cruise in Alaska is part of the 'excursion', from scenery to whales, the Captain will often just call over the tannoy to "check the port 3 o'clock" or whatever. 

 

Also, I have been tracking prices on our August 2019 cruise and they have dropped substantially over recent weeks (thank you NCL for those refunds); there literally has not been a better time to buy this year.

Yep. You need a balcony. No shadow of a doubt. Otherwise you might as well stay at home and just stick a picture of a whale on the back of your bathroom door.

I spent many hours sitting on my balcony watching the world go by.

[TSUmom]

I am interested in peoples thoughts of the Privasea or hull balconies....they are a bit cheaper and I would guess help if it is rainy or windy.....

[crayola1932]

On 6/2/2019 at 6:50 PM, elwood_98034 said:

We did the inaugural Jewel trip to Alaska some years ago. It was a nice trip, but the only memory that really sticks with me is that the exact same people staked out all of the window tables in the cafe very early in the morning every day and then never left during the entire course of the day

I took the Norwegian Jewel Alaska cruise a few weeks ago.  NCL is now posting signs on all the buffet tables, asking people to avoid hanging out in the buffet, so that other people can find tables.  They also open up  La Cucina across the hall for buffet overflow. I could always find a table, even during the lunch rush, especially towards the aft end.  

Although having a balcony is wonderful, I think there are plenty of public spaces for glacier viewing.  I never go to the bow,, because it's so crowded.  Even though we had a balcony, I preferred to use the Promenade deck for Glacier viewing.  That way I could run back and forth between port and starboard, depending on what's on view.  And it's never crowded.

I love the Norwegian Jewel.  It's a wonderful ship, and not too crowded. 

[pbenjamin]

We were on the 5/27 southbound and didn't observe issues with table hogging.  We did our glacier watching from the balconies of members of our group and also from the Great Outdoors.  La Cucina has long been used for overflow from the buffet, that's not an Alaska thing.  The promenade deck is a great idea, hadn't thought.  The Jewel is a great ship.

[ute_fan]

I love the Jewel class ships!  There's not much difference between the Jewel and the Pearl, and we did an Alaskan cruise in 2008 on the Pearl in an inside cabin.  It was an unplanned trip -- but thanks to a $200 credit from NCL for some issues we had on our 2007 Jewel cruise (due to it being the first sailing of that itinerary) and a $200 airfare credit from Delta for an overbooked business flight, we decided to go, but needed to do it as cheaply as possible.

Our inside cabin was on deck 8.  Deck 7 on the Jewel class ships is the promenade deck.  At that time, at least, they had a lot of chairs and loungers on deck 7, and we treated it as our own personal balcony.  I can't promise that they're still there since it's been several years, but between that seating and other indoor public spaces where I could see out, I didn't really miss a balcony that much.  A couple of my favorite indoor areas on the ship were the card room and the library.  They were seldom used, and had nice windows to look out of.  

We just got back from the Joy, and in spite of it being a newer ship and recently renovated, I prefer the layout of the Jewel class ships.

 

[disneyochem]

Have been on the Jewel twice to Alaska and am booked on a NB cruise next May.

 

The Jewel is a great ship for Alaska--lots of great outdoor spaces.  My favorite hangouts are the Great Outdoors (good for whale- and porpoise-watching) and the Spinnaker Lounge.  I also spent quite a bit of time on the promenade.  

 

First time was in a balcony, second time was an inside cabin.  Found that we spent so little time on the balcony that an inside was fine.  It was.

 

We do tend to experience a little bit of "food fatigue" on the Jewel (and on NCL in general).  My advice is to mix it up with speciality dining.  You can dine in those restaurants on the money you saved booking an inside cabin. 😁

 

Didnt experience much chair chair hogs in the buffet but we are not really buffet people. Found more chair hogs in the Spinnaker Lounge!

 

enjoy your trip to Alaska!