Our previous cruise was on NCL and in booking a trip to Alaska, we choose it again and were not disappointed. The NCL Jewel was updated last fall and feels like a new ship. Our mini-suite was perfect with a little extra room and full bath. We were traveling with our adult children, so it was nice to have the extra space when they visited us or used our balcony for glacier viewing. The staff are exceptionally friendly and are committed to providing a high level of service. While we don't have another cruise line to which we can compare our experiences, we are usually very active on vacations and were hesitant to even consider a cruise. We enjoy the "freestyle" options on Norwegian. Dining hours are flexible, you can find plenty of healthy options and the upgraded dining options are excellent and worth the cost. The thermal spa is an add-on, but is something you might consider--a peaceful getaway and great place to read while enjoying the gorgeous scenery from the front of the ship. And there are plenty of night life options for all ages. The promenade on Deck 7 is great for walking while enjoying 360 views. We saw a number of whales while walking the morning we entered the inside passage. We chose the one way trip from Seward to Vancouver. We arrived early in Anchorage and spend four days in Denali with a rental car. We then took a bus from the Anchorage airport to Seward to board the ship. The Bike, Hike and Float excursion in Skayway was our favorite and a great value. In Juneau, we were disappointed in the kayaking near Mendenhall Glacier (only an hour on the water and seemed to go in circles), but also had time for a hike to the top of Mount Roberts (and then took the tram down). In Icy Strait we walked to the nearby town of Hookah. Overall, a great trip and would choose NCL again. Read Less

Alaska cruise was great. The ship was extremely clean, the staff goes out of their way to be friendly, The entertainment was good in quality of shows and variety. The cruise from start to finish was well organized. NCL made it easy to get on and off the ship. The two big disappointments on the ship were 1. The food served on board the Jewel was a huge disappointment. NCL does a lot of things right but because the preparation and food was so bad we will never cruise with NCL again. If anyone from NCL is reading this don't take our word for it pull up a chair and dine in one of your restaurants. . I recommend starting in O'shea's. The 2nd disappointment was the smoke filled casino. I understand there are plenty of people that like to smoke while they gamble and I understand that. There are also some of us that don't enjoy cigarette smoke. How hard would it be to reserve a small section for non smokers. Other cruise lines do a much better job in accommodating smokers and non smokers in the casino area of the ship. Our overall experience was great. We would not select NCL again on any of our future cruises for the reasons identified above. Kind regards, Kevin. Read Less

Alaska is always a great destination, even when it was cold and rainy. But my concern is that the food on NCL seems to have gone downhill rapidly since our last cruise on the Jade last September. It was bland. Buffet looked like they had thrown together and mashed the food together from the night before on several occasions. Even the meals in the dining room sub par. My daughter had to remind the waiter on 3 occasions about missed things and one night a waiter got the orders wrong 4 different times. He just wasn't listening. Nodding his head and off he went. That happened more often then usual from our past cruises. We were Mid ship 5067 and 5069. Inside. But don't ever book anything in that area because the bars are above you and all you get until 2 in the morning is banging, sliding of equipment and noises I never knew existed. Sleep was challenging to say the least. If you have any mobility problems don't do the Thermal Spa. Trying to get in and out of the hot tubs was difficult. I wasted $186 and could only go there once. I was terrified I'd fall trying to get in and out. I was not the only one who felt that way. Others had the same concerns. Unfortunately when they refurbished by the Jewel and the Jade they left the seats in the Stardust theatre with no upgrades. When you sit down it is almost like falling onto the floor and the seats are slanted downward so it is uncomfortable. Unless there is a destination only NCL does at a decent price, I am not sure I would cruise with them again. The specialty restaurants were okay but found the ones on the Jade better. Read Less

Did a lot of research before choosing this cruise for me and my teenage daughter. We knew we wanted to spend a few days in the Anchorage area before cruising. This cruise started in Seward and ended in Vancouver. It was the perfect size ship with the best itinerary, entertainment and price. We are not big foodies so mostly ate at the buffet which always had great variety and different themes every night. The entertainment was excellent and changed nightly. The comedian was hilarious, the production cast soooo talented. Anna and Vlad were amazing. The singers (Hanna was awesome) and dancers were fantastic. We loved the port heavy itinerary, got to see so much of Alaska with this cruise. Glacier viewing from Spinnaker Lounge was very comfortable but also the outside viewing options were perfect. Whale watching in Icy Strait was so cool. Loved seeing orcas from the ship in the Inside Passage thanks to the captains announcement! Service on the ship was A+. Our cabin steward was awesome. Loved the extra touches like being greeted with hot chocolate or cucumber soup when coming back from excursions. All around a wonderful trip! Read Less

We celebrated my 40th birthday on the cruise ship as well has a 30th wedding anniversary of a family member. The ship was extremely small and had limited shopping and things for kids to do. The outdoor activities, ping pong, golf, basketball were shut down by 8pm. The arcade was basically the size of a closet. My kids are 10 and 12 and could not go to the teen club and the other kid activities were oriented for kids in diapers or toddlers. I would definitely not go on this ship again with my children. Too boring for them. The store on the ship was horrible. Poor options for clothing and prices were extremely high. The excursions we went on were definitely not worth the money we paid for them. One of the excursions was to a free park. We paid $114 each for 2 adults and $79 each for 2 children for a 20 minute bus ride to a FREE park. The amount of time spent at each port was too short to really enjoy the locations. The best thing about the ship was our cleaning staff member. He made sure our room was sparkling clean every day. He always addressed us by name. Read Less

Cheap, cheap, cheap! If you want even bottled water, pay up! You can buy different drink packages ranging from about $12-$70/day per person. If you don't, you can have water, tea, lemonade, or coffee. When disembarking on land excursions, there was a cruise employee offering bottles of water......but only if you paid extra for that package. When we were viewing Hubbard Glacier from the stern of the ship it was very chilly outside and a server came around with hot chocolate..........only for passengers who bought the refreshment package for $29/day/person. We chose not to pay these exorbitant prices, and we ended up feeling like have-nots. A person can still buy drinks per item, and my husband paid $56 for four drinks (including the mandatory 18% gratuity). We bought our own wine on board for the above reasons, and sometimes had difficulty getting wine glasses from the bartenders because they were afraid they would run out. Food in the Windjammer cafe and Cascades dining room was mediocre at best; service in the dining room was slow. The dining room employees were always working very hard, so my guess is that food services was not well run. I was told by another passenger the specialty restaurants (for an extra charge) were not very good. There was a speaker on how to get a flatter stomach, but he turned out to be selling his product, so it was really a sales pitch. The onboard entertainment was so-so, nothing great. The exercise room was ok, but some of the machines were broken and the doors to the outside of the ship were often broken. There is nothing state-of-the-art about the ship, except the prices. All of the servers and room attendants were very friendly and helpful. They work 7 days/week and many hours a day. My understanding is their wages are not that high compared to American standards. This means the thousands of dollars we spent are mainly going to the upper echelon employees and not to those doing the hard work. If you call Royal Caribbean customer service, be prepared for a different answer every time. Royal Caribbean did not communicate logistics of the land portion of our tour very well ahead of time. Every time I called to ask a question, I got vastly different answers. So Royal Caribbean is not spending money training and communicating with its customer service reps. Finally, part of our package included a transfer from the airport to hotel on the 1st night of our trip. I called and gave Royal Caribbean our flight info (several times in order to get to someone who understood what I was talking about), and called and confirmed the transfer the day of our flight. Even so, my husband and I were stranded at the airport at 11:45pm as no one showed to pick us up. When I asked the tour director, she was apologetic and called the company to see if we could be comped and was told no - we were listed as a no-show at the airport. Impossible. We looked all over baggage claim both inside and outside, and there was no one holding up a sign and no van that indicated it was part of a tour company. Our belief is that the driver didn't want to be at the airport at that late hour and didn't show, but claimed they were there. It would have cost the company nothing to comp us a couple of drinks, but they didn't. Again, cheap, cheap, cheap! Read Less

We went with our daughter and her family on this Alaska cruise. Alaska was wonderful, Royal Caribbean was terrible. We have traveled on many cruises, but this was our first Royal Caribbean cruise (and Last). Royal Caribbean does their remodeling during their active cruise trips. Shocking! The carpet in our hall was torn out and replaced with new carpet. The carpet and the glue smell was so toxic our family got very sick. I had a head ache, sore throat and my eyes were burning, for the last two days of our trip. Our daughter was on this trip, in a separate room, she is a type 1 diabetic. Her immune system is already challenged, adding the toxic chemicals made her very sick. She couldn't even get out of bed. Our little grand daughter ended up in the emergency room after we got off the boat. The staff were non attentive. After the trip, numerous calls to Royal Caribbean were not answered. Put on hold and then disconnected after 30 minutes holding, this happened 3 times. I finally got thru, and was supposed to get a call back, big surprise, no call back. We were in a suite and the attention was terrible. No bottled drinking water was available even at our $1,000 per night price. I am surprised this cruise gets any positive feedback, I'm assuming the people that received free trips are the ones reviewing. Save your money and go on a different cruise line.The dining room was ok, food was edible. Not much to do as far as activities.We had 2 days at sea and would have enjoyed something to do with our grandchildren. I heard the entertainment and thought is was karaoke, but it was main singer. Shore excursions were expensive. I tried to purchase online, but Royal Caribbean site showed excursions sold out. I had to call Royal Caribbean site to book shore excursions and paid 30% high to get the same excursion. I have never submitted a negative review. This cruise line was so bad others need to be warned. I wish we had known before we spent so much hard earned money on this disaster cruise. Read Less

With daughter and son-in-law to celebrate birthdays and anniversary. Daughter has serious food issues, and the crew took fabulous care of her. The food is good, especially liked the buffets. The chef made several beautiful chocolate cakes for us. The ship is beautiful, and different from other ships we have been on. We loved our cabin, a penthouse suite. Loved the double sinks and large shower. The bed was wonderful. Enjoyed the planetarium shows, a unique feature. Enjoyed the shore excursions, but especially enjoyed sitting and reading in the afternoons. Since the was an inland passage crude, the view were wonderful. The onboard lectures were always top notch and very interesting and informative. ON the minus side, one night our Halibut was way over cooked, but that was just one occasion. The embarkation could not have been smoother. We also loved the public entertainment - very talented people. We would definitely sail again with Viking. PS loved the bird sounds in public bathrooms. Read Less

Love Viking. Always wanted to go to Alaska. Room is a little small. A/C is so so. Love the drink package, speciality restaurants, shore excursions. Internet a little slow. Crew is very nice. Food is great. Boat is beautiful and so clean. Already booked another cruise. Can fit luggage under bed. Has more drawer space. Loved our balcony. Do the helicopter ride to Mendenhall Glacier and dog sledding. Loved the train ride and the excursion on the Deadliest sea boat. Manifred I had excellent steaks. Loved not always having announcements, no children, and older crowd. This was our 2nd cruise with Viking. The spa is wonderful. The pools excellent. Bar service is above all other. Entertainment could be a little better. Love having wine, beer, soft drinks included. And being able to stay pre or post at beginning and end ports. Airfare is great. Top of the line in cruises as far as I am concerned. Read Less

We joined my brother Mike Martin, his wife Sherry on this cruise. My brother had wanted to sail the Inside Passage on an Alaskan cruise. My husband and I had cruised to Alaska on two other occasions but enjoyed it so much that we were glad to go again. The embarkation went smoothly. I was glad we didn't have to wait to board ship when we arrived at the dock. For desembarkation I suggest that passengers be made aware that they can wait onboard until their color group is called My cabin review is below. Our dining experience was excellent due to the expertise of the kitchen staff. The consistently provided us delicious meals. The wait staff were always very friendly and attentive to our needs. We thoroughly enjoyed the Orion Vocalists performances, especially the ABBA Songbook and the Beatles Songbook. We also very much enjoyed the Viking Classical Duo performance of Movie Magic. We enjoyed our shore excursions especially the Kenai Fjords by boat near Seward, the Columbia Glacier Cruise near Valdez and the Potlach Totem Park near Ketchikan. Read Less

We have a big family reunion come all of the world. before this cruise the biggest worry for me was the condition of the ship, I saw many reviews that people talking about how bad the ship was. First the embarkation went smoothly, even was raining that day at Seward, there were umbrellas available for walking up the ship, no long line at all, took us about 15-20 mins to get on ship. The ship was clean and well maintained, even it was an old ship from the décor I could tell, but it was tasteful and nice. we had various rooms from balcony to inside cabin, I visited all and they were nice and clean. Only first day one of our cabins had issue with hot water and they were moved to an ocean view from an inside room, One room had plumbing issues and was handled right away. The staff were very polite and helpful, the cabin-keeper introduced themselves to us and most impressed was Vista Dining room server, they are not only professional and also very friendly. As we expected the onboard activities was not much but the main stage show were fine, Lincoln Center performance were delightful, we did not attend any other shows. The food at Vista Dining Room were excellent, meet our expectation. Buffet had good days and some day were par. We bought some excursion on board, but we did find the price for similar tour were cheaper at the port off the ship. Unfortunately due to weather, they canceled helicopter glacier landing and dog sled. We did White Pass train ride, that was ok, I enjoy the ferry ride from Haines to Skagway better than the train ride. Over all, we really enjoy this cruise, HAL showed us great time. Disembarkation was little mess due to taxi line issue, so took us long time to get out Port Canada. Read Less

This ship is not too big not too small. Easy to navigate with plenty of elevators. The Crew is friendly and attentive. Food in all restaurants was great. Lobster night had full size tails all you can eat. Prime rib on two nights and it was very good. The buffet breakfast and lunch were large and plenty of good choices. Several Indian and Asian dishes as there were many guest from those countries on board. Pool side grill had dogs and burgers with really good french fries. We had the drink package which included many top shelf brands and plenty of beer choices and wine. Our balcony 7027 was clean and had plenty of storage. A night light in the bathroom is great. Hot water at all times. A large TV on the wall is great. But not a large amount of channels. Entertainment was great with the exception of one comedy act which was so so. A lot of energy and talent in all the shows. Cruise director Manuel was terrific. The bartenders at the Martini bar put on a great show of mixing drinks. The ship is very modern and light and airy decor. The trip to Hubbards Glacier was the highlight as the ship gets very close and then slowly turns 360 so everyone gets a great view. This is our 7th cruise and first with Celebrity. It was as good as advertised. We self debarked which went smoothly. The guest services people were terrific and helpful. The celebrity app works great. Only booked the White Pass train ride through Celebrity which was nice but pricey. Other trips were booked with other vendors. All the ports offer trips and tours for less. Read Less

Our ship came by recommendation from our travel planner. The first day on the cruise we experienced a problem in the main dinning (Metropolitan) with seating our family. This was an issue throughout the cruise and while it was taken to upper management nothing changed. The food in the main dining was pre-prepared, cold, and bland(but we are used to more spice). There was a general air that the staff wasn't there for your enjoyment but to merely do a job. The food in the Ocean view restaurant was sub-standard and generally tasteless and this became worse towards the end of the cruise. Room service was very good but that only runs from 6-11 and not on the last morning. The last morning everyone is sent to eat at the ocean view which is a terrible idea due to inadequate seating and food stations(Bad for a last day impression). There was very little entertainment or activities on the ship even though a program ran 24/7 on the tele with the ships entertainment coordinator touting all that could be done. There is so much promotion of upgrading, visiting this restaurant or that (reference to uncovered specialty dining that's extra), tours, excursions, and general buying on ship. We felt like we were on a floating commercial. At one point we were playing UNO in the ocean view (because really there wasn't much else to do and we got asked to leave to open the table...if there weren't so many exclusive eateries than that shouldn't be a problem, and also there weren't many people in at the time. Read Less

We chose this ship because my husband and my daughters did the same trip six years ago. They were very happy about the trip. There was nothing similar. I want to start with airport to cruise ship transfer. We booked it previously and it looked very convenient. At the airport they took all our luggages and we were told they would have delivered luggages directly to our room. We embarked at 1pm. Around 6 pm when there was no luggage called the guest service. They told us very rudely luggage would be delivered until 9 pm. We didn't have any appropriate clothes for dining rooms. We were told we can eat at other open buffet. Luggages came at 8.30pm. Food was horrible. Same type of food every day. Chef had a strange taste. Everything including deserts had sweet and spicy together. In restaurants there was not a special theme any day. We never ate this kind of tasteless food in anywhere. I only give you an example to make everyone understand food quality. We ordered brownie with ice cream in our last night at the restaurant. There came regular cake with raisins with ice cream!!! It wasn't even brown!! For tea, coffee and water you have to go certain areas. In only deck 12. Not a single convenient place when you use the sun deck or other quiet places. Is there any housekeeping? They came only once a day. They brought enough towels sometimes, they forgot to pick up used glasses or dishes. They left lotion only once during seven day trip. I sailed Norwegian and other cruise lines before. Housekeeping was always incredible. Whenever we left the room they were in the room to clean. It was always spotless. In this trip it was just disappointment. Guest service was so rude. They were ordering us what to do not to try help. The best thing in the ship was shows. The team were amazing.We had good memories with them to remember. I will never sail again with Norwegian. I will never advice this ship to anyone as well. Read Less

We were part of an 18 member family party on a cruise from Vancouver BC to Anchorage AK. The staff were generally helpful, the facilities fine, the Alaskan scenery amazing, the food ok, yet my experience was largely negative. We brought our three small children with us. Mistake. The marketing literature implied “child friendly” but that is misleading. The kids center “Club Hal” was fun for older kids (mostly they watched movies) though occasionally with limited hours, but unfortunately not available to toddlers. But THERE WAS NO SAFE PLACE ON THE SHIP FOR OUR TODDLER. Lots of ways he could get hurt. For example, on Glacier Bay day we rented a cabana and we were on high alert (hard to enjoy) because he could easily slip thru the bars and fall 11 stories to certain DEATH. Deck 2 was the floor with the entertainment on it, and it included a Casino with sounds and lights which seem designed to attract toddlers. CASINO STAFF (manager Tom) WERE MILITANT ABOUT NO KIDS. So I spent endless hours in the evenings going up and down the stairs and elevator, trying to keep our toddler entertained, safe, and out of the casino. BEING TRAPPED ON THE WESTERDAM WITH A TODDLER WAS A FRUSTRATING, STRESSFUL, and EXHAUSTING EXPERIENCE. Never again. For the most part, with the exception of the casino staff, the WESTERDAM staff were empathetic and helpful to our situation, but still a horrible way to spend a vacation. In retrospect we should have just told the family we were not going with them. Read Less

Disclaimer - this was our first cruise and perhaps our expectations were unrealistic. The ship was beautiful. The food and service were spotty. We enjoyed the food and experience at Silver Note, Kaiseki and Indochine. Atlantide was the most disappointing. The service was inconsistent (i.e. at the empty Grill at lunch it was hard to get anyone's attention for a second glass of wine and when it finally came it was not with a smile!). We couldn't get a decent steak on board. Our son ate steak at practically every restaurant and a request for 'medium' came back either blue or brown - never pink! That was a real let-down. The Hot Rocks concept was gimmicky and not worth the effort. The over-sized dentist bibs they provide did not protect our clothing from getting spattered with grease. La Dame and Terrazza both had decent food and the service was outstanding - especially the maitre d' (Rodel) in La Dame - he was a real charmer! Service is where we feel Silversea really dropped the ball. We had a large suite with a separate dining area so we decided to have breakfast in the suite each morning. It arrived cold every day and on the second day I asked our butler how many suites he serviced. He responded 14, which surprised me. I asked him what happened if everyone wants breakfast at the same time and he said he tries to get his colleagues to help. He was hardworking but rushed off his feet. It wasn't unusual for him to be paged by another suite while he was with us and he would then use our phone to call and see what his other guests needed. While 1:1 service is impossible, one man servicing 14 suites will never equate to luxury service. We felt bad for him so tried to ask for as little as possible. He was also off-duty from 12-4 and during that period no one answered his phone. We never used his service after 6pm so I'm not sure if the timing of the break is the most sensible? Silversea offers a 'dedicated butler' which I think means only that you'll always see the same face? In our experience it put too much pressure on one person and it would be much better to have a team helping each other and ultimately the guests. Echoing other reviewers, the pool area, while pretty, was not restful. It was teeming with young kids. We traveled with our mid-teens and although they fancied going for a swim or in the hot-tub the atmosphere was always off-putting. We loved the afternoon trivia, ping-pong and the kids appreciated the large selection of streaming media. This was our first time in Alaska and we were impressed by the ports and the people. We didn't do any shipboard excursions but we thoroughly enjoyed the trips we privately arranged - whale watching in Juneau, Emerald Lake/Yukon tour in Skagway, Wildlife Boat Tour in Sitka and Anan Creek Bear Tour by float plane in Ketchikan (this is a must do if you don't mind the small plane). One of the on-board highlights was the afternoon at Hubbard Glacier. Having the forward deck was a huge plus. I thought that the Captain turned the whole ship 360 at the glacier, but all it did was pivot to port and starboard a few times. We saw plenty of spectacular calving. We had fully intended to re-book Silver Origin for the Galapagos while on board but our experience just wasn't compelling enough. On our return we were offered a sizable incentive to re-book but we decided to try Celebrity Flora instead - even though it was slightly more expensive. I waited a few weeks to write this review to see how the experience settled on us, and while I wouldn't say it dissuaded us from cruising again, I don't think we'd ever revisit Silversea. Read Less

I wanted to go to Alaska, experience wonderful and beautiful scenery, experience of a lifetime. Food was good, room with a balcony was perfect. Me and my husband do not do the nightlife, bars or lounges, but we enjoyed the trip, stayed on our balcony and eat whenever we wanted. Dressed up two different nights and went to the restaurants. The bike excursion was one of the best, loved it! Train excursion was amazing, and the kayaking was an awesome experience. We went along with my sister and her husband, no children. The choice of excursions were good, and we had a really enjoyable time. Loved the balcony, that made our trip the best it could be. You need an ice cream bar, not just the dispensers with ice cream. The food was good would have liked more fish salmon etc. Boat needs to be updated, but all in all it was amazing. Read Less

At the urging of our son-in-law and daughter and wanting to go to Alaska, we decided to take our first cruise. We went to Alaska first and then took the cruise from Seward down to Vancouver. It was a wonderful trip including the beautiful scenery along the way. My wife and I were surprised with all the very nice restaurants, the variety of food and the wonderful service we had all the week. The food was wonderful everywhere we ate with a great variety of items. At the four ports we took advantage of four excursions which made the trip more memorable. My wife was impressed with the towel animals that were left on our bed. The cabin was very nice and kept clean twice a day. I enjoyed sitting on the balcony and taking photos of the snow capped mountains as we cruised the straits. We were impressed with the Norwegian Jewel and would recommend this trip to everyone. Read Less

My husband and daughter always wanted to go to Alaska. Chose Viking because we had a previous trip with them from Amsterdam to Budapest which was awesome. Small ship, great service and beautiful sites. Already booked this May 2020 for Homelands Trip. Customer service was excellent and provided us with updates on our luggage which was lost on airlines. Meals were excellent with a variety to choose from and coffee bar available throughout the day. Explorers lounge had a wonderful view and service was outstanding Cabins were cleaned twice a day and Daily bulletin was delivered every night. Morning Room Service was delivered on time each morning with a hot cup of coffee and whatever we ordered the previous night. Highly recommend Viking Cruises and would not travel anyt other way. Beautiful ship, clean with excellent staff of people. Great rooms with excellent views from balcony and easy access on board ship. Read Less

We have had four Viking cruises so far, with a fifth on the horizon. It’s an adult-level cruise and they treat their guests accordingly. The operation of the vessel was seamless - the passengers never had to worry about any of the details, they just showed up. Meals were perfectly handled. Some cruise lines like to make people sit around big tables so you “can enjoy the company of others”, whereas Viking has tables-for-two where it’s your choice to engage with people at the next table or not. Funnily enough, our favorite food item was the European-style bread - vastly superior to North American bread. There was no nickel-and-diming on Viking cruises. The included self-serve laundry, the wine/beer, Internet, each not expensive but it raises a tiny bit of guilt on other cruise lines - on Viking we just get to enjoy the cruise. We traveled with a group of 20, mostly relatives, and saw them only when we wanted to, our choice. Shore trips were well-vetted before Viking guests landed. All were well done. I’m still working through the hundreds of photographs I was able to take on shore excursions and each one brings back happy memories. Cabins were perfectly done. Clean, modern, very functional. There was no need for a fancy suite for our purposes because we primarily just used them to sleep - we were out and about most of the time. (Not for this cruise, but the Viking Sky cruised by Mt. Stromboli, an active volcano north of Sicily, just in time to see a major eruption in the dark of the evening. Well planned, Viking!) Read Less

I lived in Alaska as a child so I was super excited to go back and see it as an adult. I have sailed with Viking 7 times before the Alaskan cruise and absolutely love what Viking has to offer. After we arrived in Anchorage, we had a two hour bus trip to Seward. The views were amazing! My luggage was already in the room waiting for me as I used the Luggage Forward company. As always the food was delicious and since we were in Alaska, we had crabs and lobster and fish available frequently. My friend and I met two other couples at the bar and therefore ended eating a lot in the pool cafe and the casual restaurants. We had chosen great excursions such as whale watching, riding in various zodiacs, taking the train up the mountains and several catamarans to see the glaciers and whales, seals, and birds. I found the towns at the various ports quite delightful with plenty of shopping after our excursions. One night it was so foggy, you couldn't see out of the front window at the main bar. All night long you could hear the Orion's foghorn to ensure safe passage. The entertainment consisted of young performers singing and dancing but they were fun to watch. I hated for the cruise to end because we had made such good friends onboard and I wanted to see more. The disembarkation was not much fun since there were at least 5 cruise ships also there. The airport was packed. It took 2 hours to get through United etc. but when we finally got through I saw the sign that said "Welcome to the United States" and I pulled out my Global Entry card and was through in 2 minutes. I am seriously thinking about taking the cruise again with different excursions. The ambiance of the Orion is special. The spa with the pool, cold bucket of water dump, the snow room were so much fun. To sit in a room where it snows on you and then to hop in a warm pool was exhilarating. Around the spa are several shops where I bought a beautiful rain jacket and travel backpack. Also on this floor is a baby grand piano where a young man would play at different times during the day. We would get a tasty drink at the bar there and sit and listen to him almost every evening. The tearoom was packed during "high tea" every day at 4. They served delicious teas and sandwiches with many sweet macaroons and cakes while we sit and meet so many new people. Service on the Orion was fantastic. They always have a smile on their face and are so willing to help you. The bartenders can make any drink you want and love to talk with you. I love sitting at the main bar at the front of the ship as you sail towards the next destination. But all of us who ended up hanging around together felt the Bloody Marys at the bar on the first floor were the best!! Read Less

We chose this cruise because of our budget, the free perks like 3rd and 4th passenger sail free, the smaller ship size, and the itinerary, specifically to see Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier. I highly recommend NCL Jewel for families with young kids. The kids center, Splash Academy, was open from 9 am until 10:30 pm (and even later for a fee) every day! We thought that the closing time would be too late for our 4 and 8 year old but they loved it so much and never wanted to leave. We gave up on 8 pm bedtimes. The staff did an awesome job with keeping the kids entertained and happy. There were theme nights, active games, silly songs and jokes, sports, prizes, and at the end of the cruise, they had the kids put on a circus show. My hubby and I really enjoyed our free time! Some of the food was just okay but some of the food was fantastic too. Garden Buffet had hits and misses but was decent overall. The kids loved the Garden Buffet. Fruit, tomatoes and salad greens were super fresh at the beginning of the cruise but started to look wilted at the end. The grilled fish, burgers, prime rib (served only the first 2 nights), raita, were good but other dishes like stir fries, fried rice, indian dishes, casseroles, and stews, basically any hot entrée with sauce weren't that good. Salads, fruit, made to order omelettes, made to order pastas, bacon, and eggs benedict were good. Desserts weren't that good. Self service coffee and espressos weren't good but passable. We had 2 really good meals at Tsar's Palace and 1 that wasn't. Desserts were good. The sirloin steak at Azura was cooked perfectly but the peppercorn sauce wasn't good. O'Sheehans burgers and fries were fine. But the nachos were terrible and the fish and chips weren't that good. We didn't try it for breakfast but wouldn't recommend it for lunch or dinner. The fee based dining at Cagneys, Le Bistro and Moderno were EXCELLENT. We ordered macaroni and cheese for my 5 year old; it's her favorite; and it was a terrible dish at all the restaurants. The worst mac and cheese ever. Even Kraft Dinner would have been better. I couldn't tell what was is in it. It was orange and looked good but it was awful, had a powdered chicken soup stock after taste. I spoke with serving staff and they agreed that it was really bad. At Tsars Palace, Azura and O'Sheehans, some of the staff were friendly, helpful and fast, even going beyond, while I felt ignored by some of the staff. For example, we didn't get any water for 15 minutes one time at Tsar's, I normally wouldn't have noticed it but we were super thirsty, and it seemed like there was confusion on who was looking after us. But one server at Tsar's would pleasantly fill my wine glass without me asking, sourced out the french baguette that my fussy 5 year old would only eat, and even offered us complimentary cappuccinos. Service at the fee based dining was wonderful. I didn't really see our room steward, although he was friendly, that much while I did see the neighboring steward often. On our first day, we noticed all these brown reddish flakes on our bed. The neighboring steward cleaned it up because our room steward was returning in the evening from his time off. The neighboring steward thought that it came from the AC/heating element. We didn't have that problem again. The main pool was salt water and pleasantly warm. We enjoyed the pool even on rainy days. The production cast shows were FANTASTIC. They are so talented! We enjoyed Velvet, Rock You Tonight, Aerial Duo and Le Cirque Bijou. On our second night, we kept hearing a consistent banging below. We were on deck 9. Someone from guest services came up and determined that because the water was so choppy, that a lifeboat on deck 8 was likely making that noise. He apologized for the noise and we said that it's no trouble and it's out of their control. Later, we heard someone working on the lifeboat below while water spray was hitting our 9th deck window! The banging stop and I felt so sorry for the person who had to work in that weather. We were lucky to not have booked any excursions in Skagway, one of the scheduled ports, because the Captain decided to stop in Haines instead, explaining that there had been a barge carrier jet fuel leak where we were supposed to berth. But then I heard all these different stories from other people, and they were angry and just wanted the truth. The bars were good. We really enjoyed the drinks from the bar in the Atrium. The bar in the Spinnaker Lounge (at the front of the ship) wasn't as good as the Atrium one. We had the best pina coladas at atrium, and mojitos at Topsiders (even better than the mojito bar). The driving range, and tennis/basketball court/soccer field were fun. Embarkation and disembarkation from all ports were efficient and smooth. Luggage management was efficient and fast. The Discovery Center in Ketchikan was fantastic and informative. Our kids earned a cool junior ranger badge there. Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay were awe inspiring. But it was depressing to see how much Glacier Bay has retreated and to learn from the Park Ranger that it, and other glaciers, will be gone in 20 years because of climate change. Read Less

We went on The N.C.L. Jewel The Cruise was from Seward, Alaska to Vancouver,British Columbia. This was a wonderful seven day Alaskan Cruise. We were located in the two bedroom family villa suite in The Haven and it was sufficient for the four of us I believe it might not be should you have more than four people. The service in our suite was superior and give most of the credit for that to our concierge Dilip he made sure we were happy and brought everything we could wish for, he helped us get off the ship very easily at the different ports of call he escorted us off at each port of call.Dilip also helped us get to the entertainment we wanted to see. My only regret is that I purchased a spa pass I probably would not have purchased had I known that the roof of the Haven Center Spa was covered, on some other cruises sometimes the roof area of the Haven Pools have not been covered and it gets too cold. The food was excellent and the spa services were very good, however they did not have acupuncture on this cruise, which really disappointed me as that was one of things I was really looking forward to. I got a shave and tooth whitening from Lynda and she knew her stuff it was the best I have ever had, she is brilliant. The other spa treatments I had where three massages from Rumbi, Should you need a massage she is the best. ‘:The food was very good especially at the specialty restaurants.9 Read Less

Alaska was on our "bucket list" so we started out with a 6 day NCL Land Tour from Fairbanks, ending in Seward. That trip alone was well worth it...but on to the cruise! Embarkation from Seward was a piece of cake. The first meal in Azura was bit slow and clunky but the food was good and we weren't in any big hurry! Overall the meals were fine, particularly the specialty restaurants. The food in the main dining rooms was "good", and the service was more than adequate. Specialty restaurants were SUPERB, especially Le Bistro and La Cucina! Our mini-suite was perfect and our Room Steward, Rolando did an excellent job keeping it clean and tending to any of our requests...kudos to Rolando! The extra USB ports were a nice add. Overall the refurbished ship was clean and redecorated nicely. I was a bit disappointed that the seats in the Stardust Theater were not replaced during the refurb. They were low and uncomfortable two years ago and they are the same now. We were so busy, we managed only one show..."Rock You Tonight". It was GREAT...wonderful singers, dancers and band. An awesome production! I do like the smaller ships like the Jewel where you do not need to make reservations to get into every event. The ship entertainment was good...some very talented folks. Lots of pop music & jazz. I do wish there was some "Classical" music on board, maybe in the main lobby. It might give the ship kind of a "high class" feel. (There is a grand piano there which I have never seen used.) The gym was clean and all the machines seem to be working. The bar service was spot on. I will say the wine in the wine tasting event was a step lower that those I've been to in the past...and believe me I am not a wine snob. But I did pay extra for some GREAT wine in the specialty restaurants. Of course you go to Alaska for the spectacular views and scenery. The glacier viewing was excellent. I did spot humpbacks on three occasions from our balcony. Lots of good "Kodak Moments". Just staring out the balcony at the snow capped peaks was awe inspiring (especially for a couple from "flat" Florida!) The best part of the cruise were the ports and excursions. We did the Zip Rider/Wale watching tour...WOO HOO, what an adrenaline rush! We did the Helicopter Ride to the Glacier and Dog Sled Mushing, which was probably the best shore excursion we've ever been on! We also did the Wilderness Glacier trip where we canoed up to a glacier...also an outstanding trip! Between my camera and my Go-Pro I took over 2100 pics...many great memories. Overall the ship, crew and cruise met all of our expectations. Kudos to General Manager Steve for running a tight ship. Kudos to Jenny, Group services Coordinator for coordinating the Meet & Mingle and kudos to Dilip our Concierge who was always ready to assist us! Now that Alaska is crossed off the bucket list, it's time for French Polynesia/Hawaii in 2020. THANKS NCL! Read Less

There were 8 people in our family group, 6 adults and two children aged 8 and 12. Previous cruise experience ranged from none to 4 cruises. None of us had been on Norwegian or the Jewel. We had 4 cabins: 11012 (SC 2 bedroom Suite) 11628 (MB Minisuite port side near stern) 11554-11156 (connecting aft-facing M1 Minisuites). All seemed quite pleased with their cabins and experienced no real noise issues. The SC was under the library, the MB under La Cucina and the M1s under Great Outdoors. Public Spaces. We enjoyed the Great Outdoors quite a bit, both for food and drink. Dining. We enjoyed the Great Outdoors quite a bit, both for food and drink. We had dinner in Tsar’s Palace once and Azura 3 times. The food was neither outstanding nor awful. A couple of our group had breakfast in Tsar’s Palace once or twice. Our first specialty dinner was in Cagney’s, no complaints. It isn’t Ruth’s Chris but pretty good for a cruise ship. Moderno was a hit, most not having eaten in a churrascaria before. Our final specialty restaurant was La Cucina, which was my favorite. Being in a suite I had breakfast in Moderno one time. If I didn’t have family with me I would have eaten there for breakfast and lunch more frequently. We didn’t make it to Le Bistro, Teppanyaki or Chin Chin. Chin Chin doesn’t take reservations and there always seemed to be a line. I liked O’Sheehan’s, had a couple of lunches there and one breakfast there. The fish and chips were good, but the corned beef hash didn’t live up to its hype. The butler brought us breakfast in our suite most days. I’m not a fan of buffets. I only had breakfast there once and it was cereal and bananas. Oddly the milk choices were whole milk and skim. I am used to seeing 2%. I didn’t find much that interested me for lunch. The pizza was not very good, even when it first came out of the oven. The crust was doughy and the sauce bland. My doctor would have liked me to have a turkey burger or a garden burger, but the sign said it would take 15 minutes to prepare. They were making paninis a couple of the days. The Cuban one was tasty, the Mexican one not so much. My wife liked the buffet a lot. Drink. We found ourselves at Magnum/Shakers/Maltings fairly frequently, nice place for a before dinner drink or for a night cap. Topsiders and the Pit Stop were the closest bars to our suite, limited selection but a quick and easy place to grab a drink for the cabin. One pet peeve was that the menus listed Bulleitt Rye but no bars had it. Twice I ordered it and saw the bartender grab the bottle of Bulleitt Bourbon. I spoke with the Beverage Manager about this, and he said he’d look into it, but it never materialized. Service. Our butler (Lazaro), concierge (Dilip) and steward (Jonex) were great. We had sent a letter in advance asking for help in setting up a brief Bon Voyage party/toast. We didn’t arrive at the port until 5 pm, and the party was set for 6:45. I had my doubts about it getting set up, having read reports that such requests are typically ignored, but everything was ready and perfect. We had to tender in Icy Strait Point because the Norwegian Joy behemoth was in port. Dilip arranged priority tendering for our entire party of eight. The bus crew in the buffet were way too intrusive, often trying to grab one’s plate before it was finished. In dining rooms, on a couple of occasions, I had my glass of San Pellegrino ($6 a bottle with gratuity) “refreshed” with iced tap water. Fitness Center. We used the Fitness Center a couple of times. There was plenty of modern well-maintained equipment. My only criticism was that there were only 4 bikes (2 upright, 2 recumbent), making them often unavailable. In another room on Deck 12 (labeled Aerobics on the deck plan) there were a large number of bikes not in use, apparently for some sort of spinning class. Based on the demand I saw, some of these should be moved the Fitness Center. Splash Academy. There weren’t a lot of kids onboard, given that school was still in session in parts of the country. Age groups were combined. Our 8-year-old granddaughter had a blast. Her 12-year-old sister went once and did not return, not being interest in hanging out with little kids. Entertainment. Stage shows are not our thing, did not attend. The lounge and pool side performers seemed talented. Cruise Director. Don’t normally care but this guy’s voice was extremely annoying. Excursions. Icy Strait Point. We did the “Wildlife and Bear Search Tour” from Alaska Shore Excursions. We were aware that May was not the best time to see bears, but we did see a few and several eagles. The tour guide was informative and entertaining. The best option in ISP may well be whale watching, but all in our group had done a whale watching tour out of Dana Point a few years earlier. We all had fun and he dropped a few of us in Hoonah on the way back. We had beers in a brewery pub and walked back to town. Juneau. “Dogsledding on Mendenhall Glacier by Helicopter” This was our only NCL excursion. Worth every penny of it, once in a lifetime experience. Copter ride over mountains and glaciers landing on Mendenhall Glacier at the dogsled camp. We all got to take different positions on the sleds, way cool. Got to know the dogs as well. Skagway. We rented two Jeeps from DIY Jeep Tours. The jeeps had CB radios to communicate back and forth, as well as audio narration. I had also purchased Murray’s Guide to the South Klondike highway. We did a round trip to Emerald Lake in the Yukon. The rental place was a bit disorganized. Make it clear when making the reservation that you want the included lunch and be aware that you are going to have to refill the tank when you are done. This took us much farther than the White Pass Railway, we saw a lot of the same scenery and were able to stop and take pictures when we wanted to. Skagway is a nice little town and much less of a tourist trap than Ketchikan or Juneau. Ketchikan. Not much to see here, lots of opportunities to separate you from your money. Creek Street is a nice photo op. We just walked around, shopped, found a dive bar. Transfers. Embarkation. This cruise was in a tight window and half of our group didn’t get into Anchorage until late the night before embarkation. The train to Seward is quite popular be it leaves way too early to suit our late arrivals. We purchased the “Anchorage to Seward Wildlife Tour & Transfer” from Alaska Shore Experts. Nice scenery and narration along the way, a stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and a 5 pm arrival at the port. It suited our needs well Disembarkation. We bought the $15 transfer to the Vancouver Airport from NCL. It was awful. We stood in line in a hot room for nearly an hour waiting to board the bus. Overall. We really liked the Jewel. If we were to cruise on Norwegian again we’d definitely seek out a Jewel class ship if it were an option. I find it ironic that it is considered a small, old ship. It carries 2367 passengers and was christened in 2005. That makes it about the same size as others ships we been on (discounting the 700 passenger Adonia) and the newest ship. It looked sharp after its dry dock. The size made it not seem crowded, didn’t see any long lines (although the concierge helped a couple of times). Read Less