Alaska is a must see for everyone

Norwegian Jewel Cruise Review

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 138

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5
Norwegian Jewel

7 Night Alaska Inside Passage Southbound (Seward To Vancouver)

Sail date: August 05, 2019

Ship: Norwegian Jewel

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 11137

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Alaska is an absolute must for anyone who likes to travel. I was a bit skeptical about doing a cruise there, but it was a good way to go. Definitely recommended!

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Seward embarkation was stupid easy as the ship is in port till late.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Food was just ok. Plenty of fruits and veggies, but selection was underwhelming. The whole isle was devoted to Indian food during the entire cruise, but Italian only got 1 isle for 1 night? Kind of ridiculous. Sweets were a compete letdown. If it wasn't for the mdr, I'd give it 2 stars for sure.

Tsar's Main Dining Room

5 out of 5

My favorite dining place on the whole ship. Great views and great staff.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5
Since this is an older and smaller ship, on board activities are really lacking. There was plenty to do for 50+, kids, and shopaholics. Being in my early 30s, I ended up drinking heavily on sea days..

Basketball / Volleyball Court

4 out of 5

Pretty good setup and the net is actually covering the whole court. For whatever reason the balls were missing most of the time, but I enjoyed kicking the ball around and shooting hoops during sea days.

Fitness Center

5 out of 5

Not bad at all, considering the size of the ship. Good selection of equipment and classes.

Jogging Track

3 out of 5

Short and crammed. In a few places it's almost impossible to fit 2 people wide so you'll end up breaking the stride.

Entertainment

3 out of 5
This is a tough one.. Do we compare the entertainment to the bigger ships or to the similar ones? If you compare overall, entertainment was mediocre at best. If you consider the size of the ship, then I think it was ok. 1 comedian, a couple of bigger shows, mostly the same tricks. One thing that annoyed me was the lack of any sort of plot / story for these shows. Actors / singers are good, lights and music are good, the set is awesome, but none of it is memorable.

Spinnaker Lounge

5 out of 5

Very nice multipurpose venue and it's right in the front of the ship!

Children's Programs

4 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5
Most of the staff was lethargic and tired looking. We are speculating that they are about to get off the boat and are just counting days. Cleaning lady was simply terrible - tons of excuses as to why we didn't have fresh towels. Bar and restaurant staff kept the whole operation afloat.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
Everything is close and easily accessible.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Surprisingly good - plenty of storage and power plugs. I was positively surprised. It's still tiny, but it's comfortable.

Ship tip

Elevators are slow - take the stairs.

Ports of call

Cruise Sawyer Glacier

5 out of 5

Seward (Anchorage), Alaska

5 out of 5

Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Alaska

2 out of 5
Useless stop, really. Zip line is cool, but that's about it. My suggestion - go for a walk on the loop trail. It's relatively peaceful and beautiful.

Cruise Hubbard Glacier

5 out of 5
Glaciers are awesome and jewel gets close!

Juneau, Alaska

4 out of 5

Ketchikan, Alaska

3 out of 5

Skagway, Alaska

4 out of 5

Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia

4 out of 5

Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska

5 out of 5

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
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3 Comments

Cruisers4Lyfe     5 months ago

Thanks for sharing

iceman73    5 years ago

I went on a cruise to Alaska on the same ship I loved every bit of it. It was my first cruise and i can't wait for my next cruise which will be in March of 2020 to the Caribbean

Summerholiday    5 years ago

We just loved Alaska was one of the best cruises we had been on ..

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