Jewel 7 Day Alaska Northbound dailies/reviews/comments wanted

[farjar]

The NCL Jewel will begin its 7 day northbound Vancouver to Seward starting tomorrow (May 20th)  If you happen to be on this or any similar cruise we would appreciate any dailies, reviews or comments about your experiences/shore excursions.  We don't sail until August but would like to have as much information as possible so we can plan according.  Thank you. 

[MHKBCrusin]

We are doing northbound in Auuest (Aug 12) as well. We have started a cruise critic roll call for that date but don't have many people commenting yet so waiting to see more. We have done a number of Alaska roundtrips from Seattle but never a straight northound so this will be a bit of a learning experience. Have done it on Jewel, Pearl, and Bliss. Loved Bliss the most because it has so many more amenities onboard but did miss being able to get closer to glaciers etc because of its size. Will be very interested to see everything north of our previous turn-around point and the trainride from Seward to Ankorage.

 

[Sauer-kraut]

Going Southbound next week!!  I can't wait 😄 

Just hoping the flight isn't full so we can get on standby.

[farjar]

Now that people have returned from this trip I'm hoping someone will be able to provide information about their recent cruise to Alaska on the Jewel northbound.  Any dailies, NCL flight package insight, shore excursion experiences or other comments would be appreciated. We don't sail until late August. 

[Dawnya00]

On ‎6‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 6:07 PM, farjar said:

Now that people have returned from this trip I'm hoping someone will be able to provide information about their recent cruise to Alaska on the Jewel northbound.  Any dailies, NCL flight package insight, shore excursion experiences or other comments would be appreciated. We don't sail until late August. 

 Agree. I would love to see the dailies of the NB on Jewel.

[MTCruiserToo]

We get on board the Jewel on July 15th from Vancouver to Seward. As soon as I get home, I will upload all the Dailies :) What else would you guys like to see?

[farjar]

Seeing the dailies would be wonderful.  They will allow us to plan sea day activities and book specialty dining nights based on evening shows.  If you are using the "free airfare" offer could you let us know how the transfer from Seward to Anchorage went. NCL has us booked on a 1:00pm flight home and are interested in what time they got you to the airport from the ship.  If you did a shore excursions you really enjoyed or didn't think was worth the money we would like to know that too.  We've been on the Jewel twice before so we are familiar with the ship but not to Alaska. Thank you in advance.  It is much appreciated.

53 minutes ago, MTCruiserToo said:

We get on board the Jewel on July 15th from Vancouver to Seward. As soon as I get home, I will upload all the Dailies :) What else would you guys like to see?

 

[Sauer-kraut]

Ketchikan's main street is torn up for major construction.  Walked up to Creek At., over to the museum to get on the free bus to go to the Totem Heritage Centre.  Free bus back to the shopping area and walk to the ship.

The shows are twice nightly....7:30 and 9 pm.  2 musical shows, we had 2 night of Tim Kaminski (who is now on vacation for the summer), 1 night was the lead female singer doing a one singer show.  First night was the welcome aboard show which we didn't see.

Boarded the ship about 4 pm, no waiting, walked right in.

Icy Point Strait was our only excursion private whale watching on a 6 passenger boat, fantastic!  Icy Point has a nice shopping area, and the zip line looked cool.

 

 

 

Just adding that we embarked in Seward, not sure of boarding times for Vancouver.

Edited June 13, 2019 by Sauer-kraut

[MTCruiserToo]

32 minutes ago, farjar said:

Seeing the dailies would be wonderful.  They will allow us to plan sea day activities and book specialty dining nights based on evening shows.  If you are using the "free airfare" offer could you let us know how the transfer from Seward to Anchorage went. NCL has us booked on a 1:00pm flight home and are interested in what time they got you to the airport from the ship.  If you did a shore excursions you really enjoyed or didn't think was worth the money we would like to know that too.  We've been on the Jewel twice before so we are familiar with the ship but not to Alaska. Thank you in advance.  It is much appreciated.

 

We booked our own flights. We took advantage of the Free alcohol package instead. I don't think free airfare was an option actually. As of right now, we don't have any excursions planned but that of course could change. I know we may be doing some sight seeing in Vancouver for sure. We are staying in Anchorage after the cruise for a few days to sight see. I will definitely answer any questions if i can. This is our first trip to Alaska, and first time on the Jewel. So if you know anything about the Jewel that would be useful, we'd appreciate. Thank you.

[farjar]

49 minutes ago, MTCruiserToo said:

We booked our own flights. We took advantage of the Free alcohol package instead. I don't think free airfare was an option actually. As of right now, we don't have any excursions planned but that of course could change. I know we may be doing some sight seeing in Vancouver for sure. We are staying in Anchorage after the cruise for a few days to sight see. I will definitely answer any questions if i can. This is our first trip to Alaska, and first time on the Jewel. So if you know anything about the Jewel that would be useful, we'd appreciate. Thank you.

Our previous cruises on the Jewel were a 7 day Mexican Riviera in 2016 and a 5 day Pacific Coast in 2017.  Both were before the recent dry dock so the renovations will be new to us.  Aside from the two specialty nights our platinum level provides we will eat all our dinners in Tsar's MDR.  We prefer its floor to ceiling windows at the rear of the ship compared to Azura's darker atmosphere.  Since we are early diners anyway we will wait at the door for the restaurant to open and nearly always get a table for 2 by a window.  With the recently rolled out new menus many of my favorite entrees are no longer available. We are, however, able to find something we like and it is more relaxing than the Garden Café.  Except on early shore excursion days we will also eat breakfast there.  Most anything available in the buffet is on the menu, you don't have to fight crowds and it is brought to you.  NCL now has only one terrible MDR lunch menu that doesn't change the entire cruise so we will get Grilled Rueben on rye sandwiches in O'Sheehan's at least twice and buffet lunches or eat ashore the rest of the time. We also visit the self serve ice cream machine in the Garden Café often and look for afternoon cookies in the Great Outdoors. The Spinnaker Lounge is a great place to spend time although it is used for other activities that can be a bit distracting.  I always bring a couple paperback books to read then use the library's free book exchange when I'm done with them.  Bring along pencils with erasers if you intend to pick up daily crossword or Suduko puzzles there.  That's all that comes to mind now. I hope you have a great time with wonderful weather. 

[Sauer-kraut]

I wonder what your thoughts about the "new" artwork in Tsar's will be after you see them. 

[Love my butler]

Pray for good weather.  The cruise is 10x better if it isn't rainy, windy and cold.

[Love my butler]

13 hours ago, Sauer-kraut said:

Ketchikan's main street is torn up for major construction.  Walked up to Creek At., over to the museum to get on the free bus to go to the Totem Heritage Centre.  Free bus back to the shopping area and walk to the ship.

The shows are twice nightly....7:30 and 9 pm.  2 musical shows, we had 2 night of Tim Kaminski (who is now on vacation for the summer), 1 night was the lead female singer doing a one singer show.  First night was the welcome aboard show which we didn't see.

Boarded the ship about 4 pm, no waiting, walked right in.

Icy Point Strait was our only excursion private whale watching on a 6 passenger boat, fantastic!  Icy Point has a nice shopping area, and the zip line looked cool.

 

 

 

Just adding that we embarked in Seward, not sure of boarding times for Vancouver.

Your show times are inaccurate.

[TSUmom]

On 6/13/2019 at 2:31 PM, Sauer-kraut said:

Ketchikan's main street is torn up for major construction.  Walked up to Creek At., over to the museum to get on the free bus to go to the Totem Heritage Centre.  Free bus back to the shopping area and walk to the ship.

The shows are twice nightly....7:30 and 9 pm.  2 musical shows, we had 2 night of Tim Kaminski (who is now on vacation for the summer), 1 night was the lead female singer doing a one singer show.  First night was the welcome aboard show which we didn't see.

Boarded the ship about 4 pm, no waiting, walked right in.

Icy Point Strait was our only excursion private whale watching on a 6 passenger boat, fantastic!  Icy Point has a nice shopping area, and the zip line looked cool.

 

 

 

Just adding that we embarked in Seward, not sure of boarding times for Vancouver.

We are doing the southbound....Dailies would be awesome!!

[Sauer-kraut]

I didn't bring them home, read and tossed.

[farjar]

I still hoping someone returning from this itinerary will post the dailies. 

[CardFanDubG]

21 minutes ago, farjar said:

I still hoping someone returning from this itinerary will post the dailies. 

Will be taking the northbound July 1. I will scan them in when I return.  

[Yo Adrienne]

8 minutes ago, CardFanDubG said:

Will be taking the northbound July 1. I will scan them in when I return.  

 

If you're able to get any pics from the speciality restaurants, would love to see those, too...! 🙂 

[farjar]

34 minutes ago, CardFanDubG said:

Will be taking the northbound July 1. I will scan them in when I return.  

That would be very much appreciated.  I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time. Counting down the days until we leave.