Beautiful Alaska

Norwegian Jewel Cruise Review to Alaska - Gulf of Alaska

helmsj25

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 49

Overall rating:

3.7 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Alaska Glacier Bay Northbound (Vancouver To Seward)

Sail date: July 29, 2019

Ship: Norwegian Jewel

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: GTY

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

We had a great time on this cruise. I picked Norwegian because it is supposed to be very kid friendly. I did not feel like there was much to offer for my kids. They were most excited about the arcade and the sports court. The basketballs were all damaged, the golf clubs were all for left-handed golfer’s, shuffleboard equipment was damaged and not usable, the sports court had a net over it which is about 4 feet above the hoop so it was always hitting a nap and people were very frustrated with that and the sport court was not accessible. We had a great time on this cruise. I picked Norwegian because it is supposed to be very kid friendly. I did not feel like there was much to offer for my kids. They were most excited about the arcade and the sports court. The basketballs were all damaged, the golf clubs were all for left-handed golfers, shuffleboard equipment was damaged and not usable, the sports court had a net over it which is about 4 feet above the hoop so it was always hitting the nap and people were very frustrated with that and the sports court was not accessible. There were two tiny hot tubs and one pool. Hot tubs were always so busy that you didn’t even want to sit in there because they were overcrowded. Just wasn’t a whole lot to offer on the ship for children unless you want to throw them in the splash Academy all day and not spend any time with them. I have cruised a lot and this is the first time I have used Norwegian. I did love their main dining at any time. That was very convenient. Overall I wasn’t. Impressed with them.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Very smooth process. Wasn’t chaotic at all.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Did not utilize the specialty restaurants because they are very pricey. The buffet food was average. I felt like the buffet was always closed. Seem like they were hotdogs and hamburgers all over the ship. The site of another hotdog or hamburger make me wanna vomit because that’s all we saw constantly. Drinks were way overpriced, even for a cruise ship seems more overpriced than normal. Staff in general wasn’t very friendly.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Brought my two boys ages nine and seven. Very disappointed that the sports court closed at 5 PM. We went to three different scheduled events for the sports court and all three were canceled. Weather was fine but for some reason they were canceled. A lot of times we would show up to play and the 14-year-old kids would have scheduled events. It was very frustrating because that is what my kids wanted to do the most and the sports court was not very accessible to them.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Went to a different show every night. Shows were OK. The game shows were more fun but not a lot of options compared to other cruises in the past.

Children's Programs

I could check out the splash zone but did not want to participate.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

our room steward was amazing. He was a great guy and did a great job. I was not impressed at all with the majority of the staff who served us our food and drinks. A lot of times my kids would order drinks and the staff were very rude and treated them like little children. I had several times where our staff was rude and they weren’t overly friendly like I’ve experienced in the past and cruises. I had one guy asked me to quit asking so many questions. I was asking questions about the debarkation process…

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Ship was average. Just went through an update but it felt jaded to me. It was clean but didn’t have the wow factor.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Cabin is exactly what I expected. It worked out well and accommodating.