Would take a different cruise line.

Norwegian Jewel Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 95

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Jewel

7 Night Alaska Sawyer Glacier (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 13, 2016

Ship: Norwegian Jewel

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 11034

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

So this cruise is billed as using the inland passage which you would think means going between Vancouver Island and the BC mainland.  The route map on Norwegian Cruise Lines website actual shows this as the route.  We specifically booked our baloney suite on the starboard side to see the coast line. We left Seattle 3 hours late for some unknown reason.  The ship sailed straight out to sea and fog until our first port of call.  

 

We went to the passenger services desk for an explanation and the fellow there acted like to were wrong to even question their route. He further pulled out a map showing the route as out at sea which is totally opposite of the NCL website, basically they lied.  

 

The food on board was sub-par at best.  Our cruise price included three "specialty" restaurant night dinners.  Japanese steakhouse was ok, the other two were terrible.  If you do book on this cruise don't waste your money on their specialty dinning.  Main restaurants were ok, the buffet was also not good.

 

On the positive side our room was well cared for and in a timely fashion.  We had three shore excursions and all were very good to excellent.  We snorkeled at the first port of call and got to see much sea life.  This excursion would not be for people with small children or people not in reasonable shape.  Our 2nd excursion from Juneau was to see the Mendenhall Glacier and then by boat to whale watch.  The whale part was great and we got many great pics.

 

Our last excursion was on a narrow Gage train ride up a mountain trail used by the gold rush pioneers to the Yukon.  We chose the deluxe car and it was worth every penny.  Good food, drinks and great scenery on a four hour ride.  The final stop in Victoria was great too, but we chose to just walk or take taxi to anything we wanted to see. Cheaper and you can manage your own time. 

 

Summary we would not use Norwegian again but the trip itself was very worth while.   

      

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5
See below

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
We were up against a bulkhead which help the cabin from a noise standpoint.

Ship tip

Unlimited drink package is a scam. They close half the bars or restaurants all the time so lines for a drink are terrible.

Ports of call

Seattle, Washington

5 out of 5

Ketchikan, Alaska

5 out of 5

Juneau, Alaska

5 out of 5

Cruise Sawyer Glacier

5 out of 5

Skagway, Alaska

5 out of 5

Victoria, British Columbia

5 out of 5
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