Alaska - Gulf of Alaska Cruise Reviews

This is my second Alaska cruise but the first time I visit Hubbard Glacier and Marjorie Glacier (inside Glacier Bay). These two days made the entire trip for us. I highly recommend itinerary! The Star Princess is an old ship but it is kept well. There is a lot of maintenance and cleaning in the common areas constantly. Its a smaller ship but it was just the right size for us.

Excellent trip! Had great fun! Met new people and have kept in touch with them! Staff were friendly and helpful! A great experience for us and the friends we took with us on their first cruise!

Cruise went without a hitch. Everything is really well planned out.

We really enjoyed this cruise. The itinerary kept us busy and gave us plenty to see and do. We also chose the land portion (Alyeska and Train) portion that gave us a stopover on day 1 at the Alyeska Resort (wonderful), where we had dinner at the top of the mountain in the restaurant, Seven Glaciers. We then stopped for a little over 2 days in Denali, with our stay located at the Denali Park Village (cabins, hotel rooms). I was okay with this location as it was conveniently located just a short ride to Denali Park. We then had a Deluxe Dome Train Ride to Talkeetna that offered many wonderful views of Denali Park (yes, for 3 days in a row, we saw the top of Denali). My biggest issue is that NCL advertised the train ride ending up in Anchorage (we booked in 11/2017), but the train ended up in Talkeetna where we then had an hour ride to Anchorage. We found out that NCL saved around $90 pp and the majority of our 40+ people on our bus were very unhappy about this. Ironically, NCL is still advertising the train ride all the way to Anchorage. Our "Alaska Guide" tour operators told us this has happened frequently and not just to our group.

It was a good cruise. Ship needs some updating. The staff was very friendly.

Overall a good experience. The Princess website did not allow us to book transfers to Whittier and we ended up having to find our own way. The drinks package that I bought was apparently meant for Stateroom use only- I found that out on the last day: Rookie mistake

Free internet should be provided as part of our cost

Wonderful cruise and the glacier bay portion was amazing. The shire excursions were nice and made each port of call enjoyable, while leaving time to visit each city as well. Whittier is a challenge due to travel from the port and you need to plan ahead with an excursion or make your own travel arrangements.

The only complaint is the Garden Café was always crowded and by the time you found a seat, your food was cold. Very disappointing for this trip. This was our 2nd time on the Jewel. We have sailed on the Pearl twice and Pride of America and the Star. Really like Freestyle Dinning.

The itinerary was great. We arrived in all of the ports on time or early, which was really nice. Would definitely recommend getting a balcony. There's so much to see as you're sailing, it was nice to do that from my own cabin/balcony.

Our booking process was made very easy by kirchelle our agent. We had a fantastic time in Alaska and would defiantly recommend this trip. Thanks to for making this easy and a wonderful vacation.

Loved the size of the Jewel, but it did limit the restaurant and entertainment options found on larger, newer ships. But, cruise was more about the beauty of Alaska than about the ship itself. Great itinerary and loved the ports of call. Be sure to take advantage of all the locally-run excursions (not the NCL tours with the throngs of fellow passengers!). While we were a little disappointed by the food and entertainment, it will go down as one of our favorite vacations!

I only gave a good rating for ports in Alaska mainly due to the weather. We had drizzly days which required a rain jacket. We were told that we were actually lucky it only drizzled. Apparently it rains a lot. Vancouver was supposedly sunny, but the smoke from the fires in BC cast a blanket over the city. Since the fires won't last forever, any other time will allow you to see this great city in all its glory. Be sure not to miss the Granville Market and Victoria was interesting but made for a very long day.

Overall a nice trip. The food was not the quality of other cruise ships we have been on. We had to send back a few meals. Also we got cold food that was supposed to be hot. The staff in the sit down dinning was not friendly some actually seemed angry or unhappy. The man that attended our room was excellent.

Overall good passenger experience. Dinner waiters, Head Waiter, Alvin Dela Cruz and Asst. Waiter, Victor Del Valle did excellent job. Dinner were great. Two dress up / formal dinners right number to have.

Vinton Fernandes our steward was great. Service in the dining room needs improvement. Towels could have been nicer. This was our first cruise and Vinton made us want to come back.

Generally a very enjoyable cruise. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The idea of traveling to Alaska was foreign to us for many reasons, the myths surrounding cold unbearable weather, rain, insects and a host of other insane comments over the years from folks....that was phony baloney . I was amazed at how affordable the vacation package was and the list of excursions that was being offered. We didn't do everything, but boy we did had a blast, the Helicopter ride to Mendenhall Glacier, Dog sledding, Ziplining and the unforgettable Bear hiking through the forest was funny yet extremely entertaining. Thanks Island Princess

Alaska was amazing and we had a good time on our first cruise. I highly recommend cruising to Alaska but I would only recommend the Norwegian Jewel with reservations. The ship itself is okay - a bit tired and out dated but the staff were friendly and helpful and it was very clean. I thought the gym and spa were great but the push to buy their products was annoying. Food was a hit or miss and I wished there were more fresh/healthy options. The french restaurant was by far the best. The kids weren't impressed with the kids club (too babyish for our 7, 10 & 12 yr olds) but the card room and shows were fun and they loved the freedom they had to explore.

we would cruise on the Jewel again. The cruise tour was well orgainzed and we saw a lot of Alaaska, particularly Denali. I have already recommended the cruise tour to many friends.