Great first cruise!
Norwegian Jewel Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 45
7 Night Alaska Sawyer Glacier (Seattle Roundtrip)
Sail date: June 24, 2017
Ship: Norwegian Jewel
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: 5504
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
It was a great first cruise. From Entertainment, to food, to excursions. It was the vacation of a lifetime. A visit to Alaska is one for the bucket list.Embarkation
Embarkation was smooth and orderly. We printed out our luggage tags ahead of time and had tag holders so that saved a lot of time. We were in group 5. It was a little hard to hear the guy that was calling the group numbers.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
For our Free at Sea option, we chose the Specialty Dining Upgrade. We chose Teppanaki the first night, Cagney's Steakhouse on Tuesday and Le Bistro on Thursday. Teppanaki was the only one that was just okay. One member of our party had steak and it looked a little off before it hit the grill. Despite having the handicap of not being able to set the grill on fire, the chefs were really creative in their tricks. We did the breakfast buffet most mornings. It was crowded but they opened up nearby La Cucina for extra dining space. All the buffet items were fresh and plentiful. Except for the specialty dining nights, dinner was in the MDR. Service was attentive without being intrusive and the food was excellent. A couple of lunches were at O'Shennian's. All the reviews I had read previously held true. The best wings at sea and the chicken pot pie was excellent.
My only complaint is about the water after one port stop but it's not really the ship's fault. The water in Ketchican tastes horrible. It has a metallic, chemical taste. Luckily I brought some lemonade Mio and that helped mask the taste. Once the water was replenished in Juneau, it was fine again.
Onboard Activities
I played bingo twice and Deal or No Deal once. I didn't win but had fun. I also played trivia several times and my team won the last day of the cruise. I spent a lot time in the library as I had found a book I wanted to finish. One of the activities was scavenger hunt. I didn't participate but one if the items on the list was a photo of someone asleep in the library with a book on their head. I happily played the part for a participating team. There was a good variety of books in the library. In the Card Room, there were cases for three Mah Jongg Sets but they were not complete and all had pieces missing. The two days at sea were a little rough and they did have to close the pool.
Entertainment
We saw the magician show and also the comedian, Heath Hyche. Both were very good and entertaining. Heath had two shows that we attended. A family oriented show and also a more adult oriented one. There were also several musical acts that we did not attend. Most of the musical acts were 70's music.
Children's Programs
No kids were in our party
Service and Staff
Service was great! All staff members we encountered were friendly and helpful. Our room steward, Christopher was great and very friendly. Always calling us by name several times a day and he made towel animals for us three nights... a bear, a monkey and an elephant. He also kept ice bucket filled so that made me a happy camper.
Ship Quality
The Ship did not feel crowded at all, Public areas were well maintained.
Cabin / Stateroom
For three people, this cabin was a little snug. Storage space was plentiful though. We did hear a bit of engine noise on port days and the sailing through glacier bay we could hear the ice bergs scraping against the hull.
Ship tip
Unless you really like pushy sales people, avoid the Spa and the Fitness center. Any "free" seminar from the Spa or Fitness Center ended with them trying to sell you something. Some were extremely pushy and did not seem to accept a polite "no" for an answer.
Thumbs up
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Ports of call
We did zip lines through the rainforest with Southeast Exposure. Our guides Jasper and Peter were excellent and knowledgeable about the area and we were able to see several bald eagles during the trip.
We did a helicopter ride to the Herbert Glacier through Coastal Helicopters. Our pilot and guide was Pete. The helicopter ride was exciting. We all wore headphones for noise protection that was also fitted with microphones so that we could communicate during the ride. Once on the glacier, we were allowed to walk around, take pictures and enjoy the sites. Pete directed us to an area where we could fill up our water bottles with Glacier water. The cleanest, coldest water on the planet.
Skagway is about as small as a small town in Alaska can get. The permanent resident population is about 600 year round. It's the town I think of the old TV show Northern Exposure. Our excursion for this stop was the Sled Dog experience and Mushers camp. Yes, there is no snow this time of year but riders are pulled on a specially designed cart around in the woods of Dyea about 10 miles outside of town. Our driver gave a history of the area on the way to the camp. Our guide at the camp was a Iditarod racer and the team were her own dogs she uses on the race. The tours are summer training for the dogs and afterwards we get to thank the dogs for a great ride with ear scratches. Back at the main camp, there is a brief history of the race and how far equipment has advanced. Then the highlight up the trip! Getting to play with puppies! The trainers want the dogs socialized at an early age so they are used to being handled out in the field. We got to hold one week old puppies and also play with three month old juveniles.
We got there on June 30, the day before Canada day so all the colors were flying high. There was also a street festival with food trucks and bands playing. Our excursion was Orca Spirit Adventures Whale Watching by Zodiac boat. Our guide was Sarah and was excellent. She was very knowledgeable and you could tell that she loved her work and these majestic creatures. She took us out to an area where a family of orcas were foraging for food. We did not get close, only about 1/4 of a mile a away so as not to disturb them but with my zoom lens, I did get some good shots. We did have to walk from the dock to the excursion office but it was a nice 15 minute walk through a pretty residential area.
Disembarkation
We got to chose our disembarkation time. We chose 9am because we were meeting friends in Seattle that morning.