Pick another company and don't take excursions

Norwegian Jewel Cruise Review to Alaska - Gulf of Alaska

sallynr

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 19

Overall rating:

3.4 out of 5

7 Night Alaska Glacier Bay Northbound (Vancouver To Seward)

Sail date: September 04, 2023

Ship: Norwegian Jewel

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8024

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Do not chose the 2for1 airfare option like I did. Cruise has to be paid in full before you get your ar tics 30-60 day prior to departure. No info in my itinerary about air terms and conditions. When I talked to my consultant about air travel concerns, was told to call air division once tics received. Rec'd tics mid July, I live in Edmonton, Alberta Canada and my flight was from Anchorage, Chicago, Denver, Edmonton - 18 hours. I found an acceptable for me flight and called to change and was then told that I paid $1100 CDN for the 2 for 1 tics and there are no changes, cancellations, refunds. So I then paid to buy tics home that would only take 6 hours, and these tics were less than what I paid for in the first place so I flushed $1100 CDN down the sink. Terms and Condition for air are not included with the others under that tab in my Itinerary but buried deep on the ncl.com site. Not clear and transparent. The communication is awful, staff on chat are not knowledgeable, have to transfer to different phone numbers for booking, shore excursions, air. I will never use NCL again. For a cruise that cost me $12,000 CDN for a week, I do not feel that I received good value for my money. The shore excursions are all over glorified and very disappointing and overly expensive.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

If you have mobility issues at all, this will be a very painful experience as you have to walk a long way

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Enjoyed the washy washy breakfast and dinner greater in the Garden Cafe. Food was fresh, great selection, tasty

O'Sheehan's Neighborhood Bar & Grill

4 out of 5

Spent most of our time here. Great place to chat to others and the bartenders are friendly. We would stop here for an afternoon cocktail sitting at the bar. Good selection of drinks

Chin Chin Asian Restaurant

2 out of 5

Very rushed. Waiter asked us if we wanted dessert while we were half way through out meal. Ordered Kung Pow Chicken and it I like spicy but this was over the top. Could not even eat half. Perhaps to avoid wastage, they need to have an option for spiciness like most Asian restaurants do.

Moderno Churrascaria

4 out of 5

Awesome, very enjoyable. Salad bar great and selection of meat was perfect.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Loved the hot tubs in the cool weather but they need to be warmer as it is chilly outside.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Most staff were friendly and accommodating

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Was fine, nothing to write home about

Ship tip

Do not cruise with NCL

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia

3 out of 5

Very long walk from the parkade through the terminal to the ship. If you have any type of mobility issues, I would suggest requesting a wheelchair. But Vancouver is an amazing city

Thumbs Up 0

Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska

3 out of 5

Ketchikan, Alaska

3 out of 5

Was cute but I am so sad that the cruise lines buy up all the land close to port and turn it into their own stores, hiring their own people. You have to walk a distance to find local stores. Ports are created by cruise lines and you don't really get to interact with the culture and the people that actual live there. Did the Mahoney Lake UTV - Not worth it at all so don't bother. Way to expensive for a 10 mile UTV ride up and down.

Thumbs Up 0

Juneau, Alaska

3 out of 5

My comments about all the ports in relation to the ports being created by cruise lines will be consistent with every port we stopped at. Very sad that the local stores are pushed away and main focus on cruise company owned stores. Did the the River Float - no gloves or rain jackets provided, far from glacier, shore excursion descriptions of highly glorified and what you actually get is not really how they are described and extremely expensive and not a good value for money

Thumbs Up 0

Skagway, Alaska

3 out of 5

Cute little town but again created and kept by cruise companies.

Thumbs Up 0

Cruise Glacier Bay

3 out of 5

Was okay, glacier pretty, had to change route as medical emergency on board, so didn't get to see all that was outlined, but I am okay with that as it was more important to get the person appropriate medical assistance.

Thumbs Up 0

Cruise Hubbard Glacier

3 out of 5

Amazing to see this Glacier however paying almost $1100 CND for a two hour boat ride, and having to then pay for food and drinks was very disappointing.

Thumbs Up 0

Seward (Anchorage), Alaska

2 out of 5

Nothing to see here folks. But did enjoy the train excursion to Anchorage. Saw buluga whales

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

1 out of 5

Everyone to assemble in Stardust Theatre. No instruction, rude staff, pushing past people without an excuse me. No clear direction.

9 Comments

cbyron3 1 year ago

So many bad decisions. Using cruise line for flights, using cruise line for excursions, not reading all the guest reviews for excursions.... way over paying for the cruise. Hopefully lessons were learned.

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Gwbigdog 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

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Tropicgal 1 year ago

Definitely make your own flight plans. Thanks for reviewing.

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ASYoung 1 year ago

I've considered the 2 for 1 "deal" but doing the math, it's never cheaper in the long run, therefore we've never used this option with NCL. However, our next cruise is with Princess, we compared flight costs booked by us and by our Princess consultant. Flights through Princess are 1/2 the cost of what we would have paid dealing directly with the airlines. We have decent flight times, and have already picked our seats for all flights. Do your homework, know your costs and don't fall for the scams some cruise lines offer.

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cruising2004 1 year ago

Sorry to hear of your experience. Agree with others to book your own flights.

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bubbles60 1 year ago

We had a great time when we visited Alaska. Like with most cruises, there is lots of walking. We have used NCL for airfare many times. It has been fine. Sorry your flights did not work out as you had hoped.

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javawoody 1 year ago

20 years ago when I first cruised Alaska it was much different.

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karlgrgurich 1 year ago

Booking flights thru the cruise line scares me……you have the perfect example why. We always book our own, or have our trusted travel agent do it if it’s more complex

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JimOhio 1 year ago

Sorry you had such a poor experience with the air portion of your trip. Your review reinforces why I would NEVER book airline tickets as part of the cruise line, ANY cruise line's promotion, even if the tickets were free. Airlines are a third party to the cruise line, so the cruise line has no control over what the airlines do to the poor passengers. For my upcoming cruise, I'm flying out TWO days early and staying in the disembarkation port one full day after. This will take a lot of potential problems out of the equation.

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