Norwegian Jewel Review
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We chose this cruise for several reasons. We wanted to go in June, and we wanted to be on a smaller size ship. We sailed on the Jewel about 9 years ago out of New York. It has been refurbished and looks very nice. Prior to the start of the cruise, we did the five day land tour. If one can afford it, then I highly recommend it. We did the rail tour and rode several trains and went to various cities that one can't go to on a ship including Denali National Park.The best outcome of the land tour is that we met so many marvelous people on the tour and formed lasting friendships.
COVID testing and ship: We did a COVID test before leaving for the land tour because it states on the Q&A under the sail safe plan that people on Cruisetours would be tested by the cruise tour prior to embarkation. If they have proof of negative test before leaving for the tour, then they would assist with expenses if you tested positive prior to embarkation. (I don't remember the exact wording.) About 1/2 of us wore masks on the bus and inside during the land tour because we were so worried about testing positive at embarkation. We were tested on the morning of embarkation at our hotel prior to taking the train from Anchorage to Seaward. Fortunately, no one from our group tested positive. There were other positive cases in the other groups. I don't know what happened in regards to quarantining and refunds. I just saw several teary people. Our guide confirmed that the other group had several positive cases.
One last note on COVID, once we got on the ship, masks were optional. Also, it seemed so was reporting of symptoms. There were so many people coughing and sneezing and it only become more pronounced as the week progressed. The majority of the passengers did not wear masks on the cruise. All the staff wore masks. All of us in our group did test positive upon returning home and are quarantining. We wore masks on planes and inside areas. However, we didn't always wear them on the ship. As the number of people coughing increased, we did wear our masks more often. Obviously, that didn't help. We are not upset. We knew the risks before cruising.