nadeki

I hope our fear haven friend gets on board and just enjoys himself. Also, please come back and let us know how the adventure turned out.

It really is at the no turning back point....so just go and enjoy the experience.

On 5/28/2023 at 8:17 PM, MTV43 said:

Also, attached are images I captured during the trip.  These are in order of each port of calls, each morning I was up on the deck 12 at 6am to capture the sceneries changed as the ship slowing sailed to port.

You are a fantastic photographer. Thank you for sharing.

I am so sorry this has happened. Positive thoughts being sent your way while you search for the reason and planning your next path.

Happy Belated Birthday. I am so happy you are enjoying your time on the Jewel. It really is the best crew.

Gary I agree with everything you say. We are completely loyal to NCL. I know these are first world problems but boy some changes are getting really noticeable. The menu changes in restaurants are slim. The spa prices are through the roof ( and not the best service). The cabin stewards doing more rooms and cabins not ready on the first day are a big deal.

Funny thin was today I was thinking how great that most NCL Loyalists feel bad for the crew and  really appreciate their efforts. We try to take care of them as best we can with our gratuities. Funny we are making their job better and encouraging brand loyalty for their career. I hope NCL appreciates it!!

Again, we are fortunate to have these problems. As someone said, the genie is out of the bottle for cost savings. I hope all the savings are not just paying bonuses to the executives. 

We want to be there for the brand, however we all have our limits when the value and the experience are gone.

Nancy

Just got off the jewel. We had the most amazing eight days. 
 

The captain was Stefan ???

sorry, I could not find the board with the photos and names. 
 

The team in the Haven is very special. 
 

We did have toilet problems all week. Absolutely did not upset us. We had many laughs about out lack of whooshing. 
 

Sad to be sitting in the airport to go home. 
 

ncl is definitely missing out by not giving incentives onboard to book your next trip. We are going to bug would have liked to have it done 

Just now, YVRteacher said:

I love that you shared this! Thank you. I had a feeling the Jewel would restore my faith in NCL. For the Bliss, I still had a great vacation. Just so many things went wrong that it was evident the management was not great and the cutbacks were impacting passengers on an overly full cruise.

My feelings exactly. This week is just do amazing. My mom and uncle are enjoying being spoiled in the haven. 

I forgot to add. They have been making crepes in the buffet. 

I don’t want to hijack your thread. 
 

we were on the Bliss in January and had the same experience as you. 
 

Thus week we are in the haven on the Jewel. It has restored my faith in cruising. The Courtyard butler is fantastic. The ship does not feel full when we go out of our comfort zone. 
 

And the captain has the best announcements. 
 

you and your dad are going to be sooo happy. 
 

yesterday we went to play deal or no deal. The wifi crashed halfway through and they had to refund everyone’s money. I felt like I really left a winner. 
 

Nancy

10 hours ago, Happycrafter123 said:

These are great tips, thank you!  At that time of life where I can't bear heat, ice baggies sounds excellent (and something I can do this summer in golf season too), I'm adding ziplocks to my list of stuff to pack!

 

I hear you about the the guides, on our last cruise it was really hit or miss, we are crossing fingers especially for the museum that will likely be boring without a good guide.  Hubby is not a big museum person and is never going to read plaques on the wall or next to a statue, but does like to listen to a guide talk about history and explain what we are looking at.

We have discovered in our family that this expression is true: "there are two kinds of people in the world, those that read the signs and those that wait for them".  

I am definitely in a comfortable location waiting for the rest of my crew.

11 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

I’m really appreciating your review and perspective because I was worried I was being too picky while on the Bliss for spring break but seeing that you are experiencing the same service issues/waits/challenges I did just confirms that the Bliss is understaffed and that management is not focused on the quality of guests’ experiences.

Unfortunately we felt the same way in January. Previously the Bliss was our favorite ship. This time we thought if it was our first cruise we would not go again. My thoughts were really with the crew, this was not their fault yet becomes their problem.

We have done the Bergen funicular twice by ourselves. Purchase your tickets ahead of time and you will skip most of the line. 

This past summer is was POURING rain and we still walked there and went to the top. Not enjoyable doable.

There is no need to do an NCL tour. It is a lovely town to walk around when you get finished with the top of the mountain.

It is cold!

5 hours ago, New2cruise2022 said:

The one where you grind one direction for salt and the other direction for pepper?

Yup, we really liked it. We did. not bring one home.

We were on this sailing. I would have LOVED for a decent ranch dressing. 

NCL used to have the best buffalo wings in the Local.Now, they are fair and definitely need dressing to dip into. The amount of allocated dressing that is coming in the little silver container is about 1/4 full.It is not near enough and the staff was not around to ask for more.

We did not go hungry but were disappointed this time in the food and beverage service.

On a side note, we discussed the salt and pepper shaker as a memorable souvenir also! It was good looking.

24 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

If you’re going to consider booking the Haven, you might want to look at alternative lines. We have come to love Viking Oceans.  Their veranda prices are similar to suite prices on Norwegian on regular cruises and can work out to be less than NCL if you catch a promo or a special.  

Thank you for this suggestion. I will look into the options. At this time being such a creature of habit I will keep this one on NCL despite coming home and now the price is $1800 more than quoted on the ship as a GUARANTEED done deal. I knew better. He would not let me take a photo of his computer screen, said it was against company policy. Grrrrrr

We were on this cruise as well. We are Sapphire level NCL and have cruised on the Bliss before ( we call it our favorite ship). This cruise was "off" from the beginning. 

We spent time feeling sorry for the staff ( they never complained) and did. not see many smiles. You are correct, I never heard my name.

We went to the cruise next desk four times trying to upgrade a future cruise to the Haven as we were definitely feeling the need for a concierge. Besides spending time in line four times our promised request to upgrade the reservation ( for another $7000) was not handled. 

We could not get reservations to dine in spite of empty restaurants.

If this had been our first cruise we probably would not return.

However, it is. our 17th cruise on NCL and we are addicted. We will keep trying.

I would not recommend the London Pass. I bought it for six people for five days last June. We did not come close to getting our moneys worth. I struggled to find what was included and ended up purchasing passes to places that wold have been free. At the Shard we ended up paying more to get the VIP pass to go up thirty minutes earlier as they are time entrances and there was no exception for a pass holder.

It was too much to try and plan times etc and pack more into one day.

We have used the Oyster card in the past. This time we used taxis everywhere. It was not cheap but not as bad as US prices.

We have been in these suites and used it for two adults and they LOVED it. I have also done it as one adult with two children.

It is absolutely worth it to have the extra room and perks of the suite.

6 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

We saw the Ceremony of the Keys several nights ago. And yes, we loved it! How amazing to be inside the Tower at night, and then get to watch this ritual that has been going on for more than 730 years!  The text has not changed over the centuries, except for the name of the monarch, which only so recently changed.  In fact, during the Warder’s introductory remarks to us, he slipped for a moment and referred to the monarch as “she.”  Totally understandable after 70 years. 
 

What a great evening. Thanks again for mentioning this! 

Thanks for letting me know.I am hoping to see it again next June.

Nancy

In June we used Blackberry. No problems.....just not as professional as Smiths was.

The driver was in jeans and a t-shirt and there was no conversation. A clean basic vehicle, Basically an Uber.

I missed the conversation but no complaints.

3 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

No. Will be there in a few weeks.  (We do have tickets for the ceremony. I’ll come back and post about it, assuming it takes place.)
 

What a sad time for the U.K. and the world. 

Yes, a very sad time. I am glad you should be having your ceremony. It will change to the verbiage of locking up things for the king. 

I was going to say come back and tell me if you liked it. But, I know you will LOVE it. I am so happy you got your tickets.

On 8/1/2022 at 12:40 PM, Turtles06 said:

 

Thanks, and I hope you get back!  I've been inside the Tower (it's been quite some time) but the Ceremony of the Keys will be new!  And it will be a totally unexpected addition to our trip, so my wife and I really thank you. 

 

 

Please let us know if you got to the ceremony. Are you in London at this time? 

On 8/31/2022 at 5:40 AM, FetaCheese said:

Will be staying 1st time at Hotel Continental Palacete on Las Ramblas.  Old world style hotel.  Reasonable rates.

We stayed here in 2016 and dream of going back. It is not a typical american hotel. We LOVED it and the staff that worked there.

Amit was a fantastic concierge for us. Prior to that I kept hearing No, I can't help you. Amit joining the cruise on the third day was a blessing for our reservations. They had been a complete mess from the pre cruise concierge service.

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Thanks for mentioning this!  We have a return visit to London in September, and so I checked the web site for these tickets when I read your post the other day.  As it happens, they went on sale today (Aug. 1) for all of September, and I was fortunate to be able to get a couple.  Really looking forward to it!

I am so happy for you. It was very ceremonial. Now we really want to get back and tour the tower in the daytime.

I am so glad you grabbed your tickets, they sell out quickly.