Norwegian Jewel Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Our favorite part of the cruise were the views, and the weather.

Food was pretty good overall, a couple of the specialty places to dine were not worth the money.

Cleanliness of the ship was poor. Our room was full of dust, and our balcony had dirt, debris, and hair on it. Didn't appear to have been cleaned in a few trips. 

The worst part was our toilet was broken 5 out of the 7 days we were on the ship. And when we called the first couple days they acted as if we were not using it properly. I had to go get our room attendant and have him come try to flush it so he could call someone and get it resolved. I ended up doing this same thing about 6 times over the next several days. We had 4 people staying in this cabin so not having a toilet, or having to go use one of the public bathroom was very frustrating.   

This cruise could not have been any better! Our room was 10592 near the Elevator with a Balcony. This was perfect for us. The clientele on the ship is very international and the food was very international. There was something for every one. We loved the food!  When we were in Seattle, we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn. It is only one year old, They have a marvelous chef. Alaska is truly The Last Frontier. It is awesome and the Glaciers are beautiful. Everyone on the ship works very hard to make sure you have a good time. The activities on board are diversified, pick what you like. In a nutshell, GO!

From Carol and Gordon Kelsen  Dallas, Texas

We enjoyed the relaxed dining. The food was mediocre. We really enjoyed the Haven services. It would have been nice to have been better informed about the benefits of the Haven Suites. The Haven event that we attended was very nicely done. For example, is there a special area for these guests. There were not many places to just sit and relax. The smoking was terrible! The use of the casino was not enjoyable because of the smoke. The odor often drifted up to the areas above. The staff was often very disorganized.

Loved the fact that the carpet told us which way  to the front of the ship.

Loved the food and the food service. 

The ship was beautiful and the staff was very attentive.

Do not gamble or drink so can't comment on those things.

The shows were good.

Our room steward was super and we loved the towel animals.

My agent Brian was extremely helpful and attentive.

The cruise itself was a great experience, the crew was nice and helpful. Food was good. My excursion at Ketchikan was not all that great, I booked it somewhere else but our tour guide was not good at all. So I felt like we wasted our money on that excursion.

Cruising at sea, food & room steward care were great.  Sights were spectacular.  Will go again.   The Garden Cafe waiters were very helpful, courteous & efficient. 

Seeing wild life. we did see whales from the boat. and lots of Bald eagles. I guess we are not cruisers. I don't think so for the money, I would say plan your own trip do things the way you want to.

Very exciting trip and enjoyed the time on the cruise.  Wish the info for on land portion is more informative beforehand rather than tied to the cruise arranged activities only. 

The favorite part of the cruise was the easy walk-off.Loved that! One thing we didn't like was having to pay for breakfast in your room.Loved doing that on other cruises, but not this one.The people were very welcoming and helpful.Overall a GREAT cruise!

The best times were not on the ship except for our vow renewal ceremony. I can't imagine going to Alaska and not going on an excursion in every port. We saw whales, eagles, sea lions etc. only wish we would have seen a bear. The glaciers and views were breathtaking and only enhanced by the people that brought us. Celebrating our 10th anniversary this way was the best idea my wife has ever had and the ceremony and friends we met that celebrated it with us was incredible.

The garden villa was amazing,  I did not think it would make that big a difference but the family spent more time together since we had the space.  Normally the service is top notch but they beat the service from my 40+ previous cruises.  Zip lining in Skagway was awesome - highly recommend it - 4 people w/ 2 guides.  My only compliant, they said we had a ultimate dining credit.  That was not an ultimate dining package - it was a $75 credit per person.  Not a welcome surprise.  Ship was very clean, food was terrific.

This was my first NCL Cruise and perhaps my last.  I have another cruise paid for already for next spring, but I may cancel after this disappointment. 

We arrived at 12noon.  However, the toilet is too tall (my feet weren't flat on the floor).  It was very close to some disembarkations and we could hear the anchor dropping and other noises.

The Stateroom attendant Errol Davis, from St. Vincent was GREAT!!!!

I traveled with my 2 sons ages 8 and 11, and my best friend.   Upon registration for Splash Academy, I was advised that my youngest sons card had my picture on it instead of his.  Therefore, he couldn't be registered.  I went down to the customer service desk and assumed it was taken care of.  Only to find out at Splash Academy, it was NOT.  Now the card has BOTH of our pictures on it.  We go back again to Splash and the front desk, this time it has his picture and my birthday.  So finally, the manage Rose, from South Africa, offered to go with us to the front desk.  By this time it's 4pm.  So after waiting in line for almost an hour, we got it taken care of.   Zorro, from South Africa, in Splash Academy suggested we could call him to get my son registered, so we don't have to return and his bracelet will be ready upon his return.  At 6pm, I received a letter on my bed....that I needed to return to the front desk because my youngest son and my customs information was incorrect....YA THINK?  I went down there again and asked what they needed.  They said "Just bring everything, so we can make a copy". I spent 6 hours and 6 times at the customer service desk.

Felipe, from Chile, was an awesome bartender.

Petar, from Serbia, was the BEST food attendant.

Tomato, at Splash Academy, always made us smile!!!! 

Steven from the U.S.A., the hotel manager, did listen to my concerns, apologized and sent a bottle of wine to the room.

A laundry facility, would be nice.  With a family, it would be nice to do our own laundry and not pay $20 for a bag.

NCL, you may need to "Washi Washi" of the employees at the Pier 66 check in, if they can't get our information correct!   Also, the young lady told me 4576 was not my room number.  I booked the cruise last year and have always had this room number.   She advised me to go to the front desk, once I got onboard the ship.   Her co-worker came over and said "I'm sorry ma'am, your room is 4576". 

I loved the freestyle cruising and the laid back atmosphere. I would have like the seen more seafood available in the complimentary restaurants. I do not enjoy the days at sea. I prefer a port everyday. Overall, we had a wonderful time!!!

Favorite part was there was always something fun to do when you were on board ship, great excursions made this trip perfect.  I would highly recommend the 7 day Alaskan cruise aboard the Norwegion Jewel to anyone!!

I've sailed NCL before and this by far was the worst ship encounter.  The Embarkation was a fiasco.

The staterooms are fine, they vary by decor ship to ship.

The entertainment shows were great.  The Magician and Comedian were the best part of the entertainment.

The food was acceptable.

The best part of our trip was the helicopter flight and trek to Mendenhall Glacier.  Which I highly recommend.  be prepared for high cost excursion.  

This was our first cruise and trip to Alaska and we found some pros and cons, mostly pros tho.

Pros:

- Decent weather and only drizzles 3-4 days of the trip.

- Do the Gold Rush Sled Dog excursion in Skagway, so much fun learning about the Iditarod from a man that has done 5+ himself, play with dogs and puppies too!

- Alaskan Brewery tour in Juneau was great fun.

- Good main dining option besides the buffet

-3 decks/promenades to walk on and get nice views when going from one end to the other

-So many smiling and happy employees everywhere you turned

-Alaska's view and wildlife was beautiful

-Ultimate Drink package with 4 specialty dinning days

-Specialty dining was a fantastic way to try food we never had before, Bison steak, escargot, sword fish, duck breast, duck leg, wagyu beef and an abundance of desserts. With specialty dinning we could choose multiple appetizers or starters and not worry if we didn't like an option.

- We didn't get to see the Tracey Arms glacier due to ice, so they did a bit further to another glacier and we got so many great shots along the way and at the glacier as well.

- Plenty of shopping to do in Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. (Didn't get off in Victoria, see cons)

- Jewelry and native art galore!

- Easy on and off at excursion ports and the last day of sailing.

- Easy off options where great, we got off quickly by carrying our own luggage off the ship.

- We found a new hobby, art auctions! They are fun, we learned a lot, found some wonderful artist and bought a couple pieces for ourselves.

- Other shows and entertainment was not bad, played silly gold one day, watched the magician another.

- 

Cons:

- Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan were basically the same for shopping, so we hit up local old saloons for something different.

- Unless you are tight on time getting back to the ship, do not buy excursions directly thru Norwegian. Instead buy it once you get off the ship from a local seller at much cheaper for the same thing. Gold Rush Sled Dogs with 40 below was only $45 each instead for us.

- The beds and pillows are horrible, extra extra firm bed with absolutely no support pillows.

- I gained 3 pounds, my husband gained 10 because of all the good food! Walking a lot helped, so did using the stairs or it would have been more.

- 7 days was too much time for us, by day 4.5 we were ready to be back.

- We didn't get off at Victoria, $12 each for shuttles. You can walk 1 mile round trip to the nearby warf easily tho, any true downtown attractions are several miles away tho. Plus the gardens and castle attraction would still require a taxi to do on our own, or an expensive excursion.

- We were not aware of the daily fee for the ship ( $189 total when we went) until a couple weeks before. Makes budgeting easier if you know this when signing up.

-Emarking took forever! Stand in line for 20 minutes to go thru security. Then stand in line for 40+ minutes to check in before even boarding the ship. 

Overall:

An experience and cost I wouldn't take back. Th likely hood of another cruise for us is pretty low, unless it is a short 2-3 day cruise ending with a land trip.

Great food.great service. Too expensive. Got nickel and dimed to death. Shouldnt have to pay once onboard. Esp wifi and extras like pop.  I racked up over 500 in expenses on the cruise. It is one big money pit.ship staff were very nice and attentive. Also had to pay 300 in gratuities in advance

.too expensive for my taste. Not very economical. Wont cruise again for a while if ever. Plus seasick in rough water. Didnt see any whales either

Apparently this seems to be an horrible cruise I ever had!

Since boarding to this NCL Jewel cruiseship, NCL has provided a headache, heart-breaking and troublesome to our group on the 1st evening onboard that we will NEVER forgot.

Not sure the issue is or NCL.  Hope that someone can give me a true answer and HOW COULD THIS EVER HAPPEN ?!

Not just for me and my group of 10.  Hope this situation never happen to other folks that try to have a great and happy cruise vacation.

Fact: We have purchased two Dinner and one beverage packages that offerred from the NCL Jewel and paid in advance before our cruise started on 5/12. All three packages have been confirmed by our agent Sandy URAM via email and on our personal NCL account via NCL website.  However these three packages did not show up on our staterooms, which said by the  NCL Service personnel on the ship. He checked our accounts and told us we did not have purchased these Dinner and Beverage packages, and told me to contact my agent Sandy to send the proof of our packages to NCL on that evening on the cruiseship. Even though I had shown our purchased packages email to the Service guy, and he said (the NCL Service guy):" It does not matter and it won't prove anythig, we need your agent to send your purchases confimation to us". What D * is happeing? Shall all of this confirmation between and NCL be done before our cruise start?  Infact, this confirmation email that I showed to the Service guy was from Sandy (), BUT that meant NOTHING to him (NCL Service)???

AS I cruise customer, I had to wait inline for 1.5 hour in order to talk to this Service guy on the Cruiseship and this issue did not resolve after 3 hours later after I had to talk to another service pernonnel.  To me this seems to be a rip-off feeling; you paid for the packages BUT they said we did not. This issue has lead to me I will never cruise with NCL in the future!

Since the 1st evening on the NCL Jewel, my head was spinning and felt real bad due to this issue and hoped that I could cancel this vacation IF I could and get off the ship. That feeling has already ruined our vacation on this cruise, my whole group and I did not enjoy on this cruise at all !

Do not take this cruise! The food was garbage! The glacier they take you to see is a joke! The ship smelt. They nickel and dime you for everything. Save your money!!!!!

We can see close the famous Sawyer Glacier, up to White Cap, to Yukon... And service of Cruise was very well. We will take Cruise again.. in future. Thank NWG.