CAKEisgood

It’s a little bit chilly (for us Floridians) but the sun is out and it’s a gorgeous day

Good morning from Port of Tampa,Florida and we are embarking on our first NCL cruise on the Jade. We have a beautiful suite in The Haven. I will provide daily updates and answer your questions as best I can. Cruise ports are Bahamas and Great Stirrup Cay. It’s a 5 night cruise. Parking was easy. No long lines to get into the terminal. And check in has been very smooth.

Apparently the 2nd pic at the port is for customs, so we were told by the person who completed our check in at the port. I don’t know if this is true,but it seems plausible

Sounds like you are having a super trip. Enjoy the cruise! 🚢

Thank you for this post. We had the same experience on the our NCL trip in Feb 2022 Good to know they are still up and running and y’all had a good time 🥳 Our boat had about two dozen passengers and the catamaran did not feel crowded. We brought our own snorkeling gear. However, the gear they provided was good quality. Rum punch was offered freely on the boat trip back to the ship. It was a beautiful trip.

Wonder if the cost to play mini golf and darts will continue? We were on the Prima in January and they did not charge us to play golf. We didn’t play darts, but that also didn’t have a charge. we had fun playing mini golf. It is a fun little course.

Have a wonderful cruise!

Agree! I watched a guest walk away from the buffet with a plate in one hand and licking the fingers of her other hand. I was so disgusted I felt like I needed to go take a shower.

This has been my experience - -return next day by mid-day, nicely folded in a basket.

gorgeous pics. Thank you!

We had the same sparkling wine on the Escape just last week. We brought the bottle home and look forward to tasting it soon. Thank you for this live review.

I found the biscuits tasted really salty and were dry. Not my cup of tea. I really enjoyed the french toast!

Have a fabulous trip!

Hello and very good morning. We are cruising 🚢up the Florida coastline and disembark in a few hours. We had a fabulous trip and I wish we could stay longer. Thank you for following along on our cruise. It’s been fun doing a live review Cheers 🍷

Hello. One of the crew members told me there are “about 5000” guests! The ship capacity is 4266 double occupancy, so I’d say the ship is pretty full.

Hello. We didn’t have reservations for Food Republic. We eat 8ish and were able to walk up and get a table for 2. Also, I could be wrong, but I don’t think reservations can be made online in advance for Food Republic. I’ve read on other CC posts that NCL doesn’t book all the restaurants in advance. They leave a lot of tables open for when people get on the ship they can make their last minute reservations. You should be able to get a reservation at Le Bistro. Our waiter in Le Bistro told us the fist 2 nights of sailing all the specialty restaurants aren’t full, so you might have better luck on the first two nights at sea to get a reservation at Le Bistro. Also, we watched a family of 4 in front of us in line at La Cucina the other night get a table at 8ish sitting outside with no reservations. We also sat outside that night for dinner, and it was a lovely evening. Have fun on your cruise! 🚢

Day 7 Freestyle Daily. Great Stirrup Cay (pronounced key). Seas are calm and so I suspect we will be able to tender to the island. Get off the ship and enjoy the island!

Finally, last post for the evening. Almost sunset pic

Tonight we enjoyed dinner at Food Republic. This is fusion of Indonesia, Japan and Korea. I enjoyed Miso chicken and pork pot stickers. My husband had the Kimchi with shrimp. I paired mine with semi sweet Riesling. after dinner we enjoyed Manhattans ( buffalo trace bourbon) 🥃 at the Prime Meridian bar that is next to Cagney’s. We like this bar because it has an old fashion Sinatra vibe

@Vagabond Knight the seas are a little bit higher as we head WNW. I’m mid ship and can feel the rocking and rollin’ 🌊

Yesterday we did a little shopping in Tortola, BVI. There are fun shops at the end of the pier. I recommend checking them out. There aren’t many, but you might find something unique. The shop keepers are having good deals for Christmas. Be careful not to over indulge. 💸 I bought a few items from a seller that I always go to when in BVI. She always has the recently released Havana slippers 🩴 and other odds and ends There was a reggae singer at the end of the shops and he had an incredible voice. Leaving BVI we had an incredible view from our balcony

I really enjoyed the lemon cheesecake in La Cucina. I paired it with lemoncello and it was delicious We have not gone to any shows. Just our preference. But we did casually walk past the Rumours show in the Pour House and it sounded incredible. The Choir Boys show is well regarded by guest

Yesterday we enjoyed the Old world v New world wines paired with tapas wine tasting in The Cellar. First, this is our 2nd time doing this tasting and we loved it so much the first time, we signed up again. The whites were Sauvignon Blancs. One from New Zealand and the 2nd from the Loire Valley, France. I’m not a Sauvignon Blanc fan. My husband is and he enjoyed them. the middle reds were Pinots. They were both from Burgandy region. I enjoyed them both. the third row of reds were Cabernets. The lower was the NCL proprietary wine East West bottled by Michael Mondavi winery in Napa (Robert Mondavi’s son). The upper was from the left bank of Bordeaux (Medoc region) and was bottled by Rothchilds (but not the estate wines which are $1000+ 🤑). I enjoyed both. I prefer wines that are primarily cab and not Merlot, which come from the right bank of Bordeaux. We bought a bottle of the East West wine to take home (can’t buy it off the ship and we got 20% discount with our beverage package). my only not so good comment is about the tapas. They paired it with almonds, cheese and bacon with fig. This is not tapas, in my opinion, this was bar snacks. In February we did the same tasting with Som D on the Escape and the wine was paired with tapas from Pinchos. It was fabulous. NCL really scaled back the “tapas” and that was a disappointment. The other guests at the table had the same opinion. The Som is from South Africa (name starts with “S”, sorry I can’t recall his full name), and he is very knowledgeable and willing to answer all of our questions. I am going to feedback to NCL about the scaled down tapas with the wine pairing. The wine selection was good. I would have preferred a Chardonnay to taste, but that’s my preference. The reds were pleasing, easy to drink and had nice flavor and scent. My favorite was the Cab from Rothchilds vineyards from the Medoc region. My point of view is just me. I’m not an expert on wines. I drink what I like no matter if it is inexpensive or pricey. I prefer Old World wines (wines from Europe) over New World (US, NZ, South Africa) because it includes a taste of the minerals ((dirt) and is normally lower in alcohol.

I have to apologize for some of the misspelling and grammar. Writing on an iPhone in the CC website and sometimes not so good internet connection can be challenging. Thank you for your questions and please keep the coming.

Have a safe trip to Port Canaveral. And woo hoo time to enjoy vacation. Have a wonderful cruise 🚢 🥳