Sailing to see Santa (almost) —- Jewel of the Seas Arctic Circle voyage - June 17, 2023

[mac_tlc]

It’s almost time to embark on our 12 night Arctic Circle cruise on the Jewel of the Seas! Originally, we were booked on this cruise last year, but we cancelled and rescheduled for this year. Traveling will be me, my DW, my DS and my DDIL. 
 

As long as the internet cooperates, I will try to answer any questions people may have.

 

Some details:

 

Cruise leaves this Saturday, but we fly from Newark to Amsterdam tomorrow (Wednesday) and will stay n Amsterdam two nights pre-cruise. We are in central CT, will rent a minivan one-way to EWR today and drive down tomorrow. There are lots of different ways to get from CT to EWR, none of them particularly inviting. Final decision will be made tomorrow when I pull out of the driveway depending on what the traffic looks like. 
 

Flights were booked through Air2Sea in business class. At the time we booked them, prices were half of what the airlines were charging for a direct booking. Plus payment was not due until final cruise payment. We are flying SAS from Newark to Stockholm, then Stockholm to Amsterdam.

 

Today is final packing day and picking up the minivan. 
 

More details to follow!!
 

 

mac_tlc
 

[LindaD22]

Following along! Safe travels 

[smwg]

Sounds like fun!  I'll be checking in for updates. 🙂

[A&L_Ont]

Safe journeys and thanks for bringing us along too. I don’t think I ever remember a review of these ports so it will be interesting. 

[cruisegirl1]

Following.  So many nice ports in Norway.  We are taking the Jewel TA  from Amsterdam to Cape Liberty.  Our cruise is called Arctic Circle as well, but we visit Iceland and Greenland.

 

Sailed Jewel in January and February.  

have fun 

 

M

[RobInMN]

Did this last summer. You're going to have a great time! Norway is stunning.

 

[westwood65]

Enjoy, we where on the Jewel in May. We did the 8 day Norway and 12 day Iceland/ Scotland cruises.  Norway is so beautiful, will be following along and reliving some of your stops and excited to see and hear about the ones we did not go too  The Norway cruise is one of the top 3 cruises we have been on.

 

[clochette]

Looking forward to following you, sounds like a great cruise

[mac_tlc]

Here is our cruise itinerary:

 

 

We have an overnight in Honninsvag, which is interesting for two reasons:

First, it is overnight on 6/21 —- the day of most daylight, the sun will not set at all! 
 

Second, the 22nd is my birthday —— and my wife’s birthday! What are the chances? ( actually it’s 1 in 365, or so). 
 

Should be fun! 
 

In the “you never know what is going to happen” department, I received an email from SAS this morning around 8:25 that our flight from Newark to Stockholm has been cancelled. 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳.  The email said they would send another one when they have us rebooked. I was not in the mood to wait so I called A2S immediately. They had not yet received the “new” flights and recommended calling back when I received the email from SAS. 
 

About 11:00, For the heck of it, I checked the SAS app and our new flights showed up—-

 

Newark to Zurich, Zurich to Amsterdam.

 

New flights leave a few hours later tomorrow, which is fine, and gets into Amsterdam a few hours later, which is also fine — now our hotel room should be available.

 

I called A2S back to check on the seat assignments, they were able to modify the ZRH to AMS leg and are awaiting info on the EWR to ZRH leg. They have been very good all day, and there is zero wait before someone picks up.

 

As is often said on CC, always leave a day of two before your cruise for s@&@ to happen. 
 

More later on hotel, Amsterdam transportation, show excursions, etc . 
 

mac_tlc

 

Edited June 13, 2023 by mac_tlc

[kneadsdough2cruise]

Great Itinerary, have a ball and enjoy Geiranger, one of my favorite sail in/sail out.  Can't wait to hear what you think!

[mac_tlc]

As I had mentioned, this cruise was originally for June 2022, and was booked pre-Covid. We were able to snag JS 1100 and the aft balcony cabin next to it. However, when we cancelled and rebooked for this year, prices were noticeably higher and the JS was just too steep. However we were able to get two adjacent aft balcony cabins on deck 7. We are really looking forward to being able to enjoy the sail in and out of the fjords from our balcony and have a great 180 degree plus view! We had similar aft cabins many moons ago when we went to Alaska and it was great. 
 

mac_tlc
 

 

[westwood65]

 I am sure you will not be disappointed with your cabin selections.  We had the same 10th floor aft cabin for both our cruises in May.  We spent alot of time in the cabin on the deck.  Picture taking opportunities are a plenty with that location. We felt we had the best view on the whole ship!!

[Ashland]

We did the Arctic Cruise on Jewel July 2022. Enjoyed our pre-cruise days in Amsterdam at the Banks Mansion. Amsterdam port is a great port to sail out/into. Very surprised we went through the locks as we had no idea that we would.

 

We had great flights on DL One and booked directly LAX-AMS via SEA. I got an amazing price approx. $3200 for the both of us. The Air2Sea price "never" even came close and the direct booking with DL did nothing but go UP !! 

 

The port itinerary was ok (different from what you're doing) and Bergen was our favorite. Somethings at the other ports (timing, docking location etc.) were a bit disappointing. Glad we did this itinerary but not keen on doing it again.

 

Loved the Jewel and we'll be on her again July 2024 for the British Isles.

[Cherful59]

I will be following along to see how your travels progress and thoughts.  I am doing the Arctic Circle July 2024.  We have been researching hotels in Amsterdam and distance to the cruise port, so I am very interested in your review and your hotel choice and thoughts.  Enjoy your time in Amsterdam and your cruise!!

[perfect match]

Can’t wait to cruise along with you! 😎🛳️😎

[#55worktoplay]

Looking forward to this. 
 

Have a great trip.

 

Thanks

[RobInMN]

4 hours ago, Cherful59 said:

We have been researching hotels in Amsterdam and distance to the cruise port, so I am very interested in your review and your hotel choice and thoughts.

Can't get any closer than the Movenpick City Center. Here is a picture of Jewel arriving from the window at the end of the hall, and then a picture out our room window 🤣

While not literally in the city center, it's an easy walk. and something like 100 yards from the lobby to the port check in.

 

Not to hijack the thread, but here's some suggestions and tips.

Get your Anne Frank Museum tickets ahead of time. They go on sale on specific dates for the next month. We did the extra presentation at the beginning, well worth the added price.

 

Also, if you have time, catch the train to the Hauge and do the tasting at Van Kleef.

https://www.vankleefwinkel.eu/en_GB/

 

In Honningvag, the Blue Puffin North Cape tour is highly recommended, and we were not disappointed.

I found it amusing that the ship was over twice as long as the pier itself

 

My favorite picture of the ship was in Flam:

[Jomykje]

Wonderful! Safe travels. I hope you will enjoy your stay in Amsterdam.

I will be following your journey here. We will be sailing on the Jewel out of Amsterdam in 40 days on our very first cruise. Cannot wait and this will help with the waiting 😀

[Surfguyxxx]

We just finished up an 8 nighter on Jewel around Norway and most of your stops.  Great time, beautiful scenery and superb staff.  Have fun.

[mac_tlc]

Thanks to all that are following along and the well wishes!

 

So, after a slightly hectic day, we did get our new seat assignments for our flights today. Having the original flight cancelled the day before departure makes it a bit more challenging. A2S was helpful every time I called although given it was so close to flight day, I had to wait until check-in to get the seat assignments on the most important leg —— Newark to Zurich. So at 23 hrs before departure I hopped on the Swiss web site and completed the checkin. 
 

Just to make things a bit easier, earlier in the day I downloaded yet another airline app🙄 , and created an online account. Took about 10 minutes to complete and get acceptable seats. Looks like business class had only three open seats left. .
 

We checked in as soon as possible on-line and have printed boarding passes in hand —- for this trip I need to feel the paper!!

 

Our home in Amsterdam will be the Hotel Jakarta. It is a tad father from the city center that we would have wanted but the prices were CRAZY everywhere. It’s not too far from the pier though, not quite as close as the Movenpick as @RobInMN stated. 
 

We previously stayed at the Doubletree Central Station which is a very good location —- near port and near city center. However, the price was more than 3X what we paid in 2018. 
 

For our transportation from the airport, we booked a car with VIP Travel Services. I had read a good experience from @Love2Crews. Although they were a bit more than others, we will have four people, 8 bags and a folding wheelchair. Anything I can do to hopefully make it a bit easier to traverse the airport, which is pretty big, is worth it. 
 

At the end of the trip we booked transfers with Royal. Our flight is not until 2:10pm so time should not be an issue🤞. 
 

More on our shore excursions later ……

 

 

mac_tlc

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by mac_tlc

[Lady Hudson]

I appreciate you doing this.  I have done Arctic Circle trips a number of times on Cunard.  This will bring back great memories.  Loved Honningsvag, Flam and Geirenger.

 

Traveling for the first time on Jewel in September.  May have some questions about the ship if you can answer.  Thanks.  Katherine 

[Tree_skier]

On 6/13/2023 at 6:05 AM, mac_tlc said:

It’s almost time to embark on our 12 night Arctic Circle cruise on the Jewel of the Seas! Originally, we were booked on this cruise last year, but we cancelled and rescheduled for this year. Traveling will be me, my DW, my DS and my DDIL. 
 

As long as the internet cooperates, I will try to answer any questions people may have.

 

Some details:

 

Cruise leaves this Saturday, but we fly from Newark to Amsterdam tomorrow (Wednesday) and will stay n Amsterdam two nights pre-cruise. We are in central CT, will rent a minivan one-way to EWR today and drive down tomorrow. There are lots of different ways to get from CT to EWR, none of them particularly inviting. Final decision will be made tomorrow when I pull out of the driveway depending on what the traffic looks like. 
 

Flights were booked through Air2Sea in business class. At the time we booked them, prices were half of what the airlines were charging for a direct booking. Plus payment was not due until final cruise payment. We are flying SAS from Newark to Stockholm, then Stockholm to Amsterdam.

 

Today is final packing day and picking up the minivan. 
 

More details to follow!!
 

 

mac_tlc
 

excited to follow along. 🙂 

[Tree_skier]

22 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

Here is our cruise itinerary:

 

 

We have an overnight in Honninsvag, which is interesting for two reasons:

First, it is overnight on 6/21 —- the day of most daylight, the sun will not set at all! 
 

Second, the 22nd is my birthday —— and my wife’s birthday! What are the chances? ( actually it’s 1 in 365, or so). 
 

Should be fun! 
 

In the “you never know what is going to happen” department, I received an email from SAS this morning around 8:25 that our flight from Newark to Stockholm has been cancelled. 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳.  The email said they would send another one when they have us rebooked. I was not in the mood to wait so I called A2S immediately. They had not yet received the “new” flights and recommended calling back when I received the email from SAS. 
 

About 11:00, For the heck of it, I checked the SAS app and our new flights showed up—-

 

Newark to Zurich, Zurich to Amsterdam.

 

New flights leave a few hours later tomorrow, which is fine, and gets into Amsterdam a few hours later, which is also fine — now our hotel room should be available.

 

I called A2S back to check on the seat assignments, they were able to modify the ZRH to AMS leg and are awaiting info on the EWR to ZRH leg. They have been very good all day, and there is zero wait before someone picks up.

 

As is often said on CC, always leave a day of two before your cruise for s@&@ to happen. 
 

More later on hotel, Amsterdam transportation, show excursions, etc . 
 

mac_tlc

 

What an amazing itinerary...  I'm hoping to do this one in the next couple years.  Aalesund is my fathers birthplace.  I have been a few times but I'd like stop in one more time. :) 

[Sea Dog]

Have a great cruise. I will be excited to follow on this great itinerary. I do hope you see Santa!!!

[mac_tlc]

1 hour ago, Lady Hudson said:

I appreciate you doing this.  I have done Arctic Circle trips a number of times on Cunard.  This will bring back great memories.  Loved Honningsvag, Flam and Geirenger.

 

Traveling for the first time on Jewel in September.  May have some questions about the ship if you can answer.  Thanks.  Katherine 

Thanks for following. Ask away! I’ll try to answer any questions.

 

mac_tlc