kdzkatz

The UDP going to work great for us being in a suite as we can have our butler deliver food from different specialties without having to worry about multiple surcharges. Plus the only specialty we have tried that is still around is La Cucina and we want to try them all before our 9 day next year. We will be platinum at the end of this upcoming cruise too so we figured this is great timing to see how it works for us.

It's her graduation, so it's up to her. Hubby could care less LOL I'm moving us back to the Escape. Bummer - I really wanted that balcony. Oh well :o we will have a great time regardless.

I am a NCL cheerleader but I do understand why there are differenences between cruise lines and I am glad there are. I am a NCL cheerleader because they work for us. You are obviously curious about experiencing a RCCL suite and hopefully you will be able to do so sometime in the near future. As you will be doing an NCL suite you will be able to have a first hand comparison and then can decide what works better for you.

We love NCL but we understand they don't fit as well for others. Cruise ships are like styles of music. There is no wrong answer to what style music you enjoy but not everyone will like the same kind of music. Thank goodness for options! :D

Thanks so much for your input and comments! I'm enjoying your posts - geeky' date=' nerdy me is sorta fascinated by the behind-the-scenes of dry dock! :o[/quote']

 

I'm with kroozin' thank you for the behind the scenes info on the goings on of a dry dock. I can't wait to see how all of their hard work turns out in a couple weeks :D

If you and your family enjoy yourselves in insides room then who cares if anyone else feels the same way.

We did an inside room once and never again. They are not for us and we would rather cruise less often to have at least a balcony.

For the sake of argument lets call inside rooms "country music" and balconies/suites "rock n roll". The discussion of room preference is like types of music people enjoy. If you like it then who cares if others do. It's personal preference.

BTW, I wish we did not feel the way we do about inside rooms.

We do enjoy the suite life very much. It is the entire experience not just eating at a different restaurant. I really do not understand how people that have not experienced something themselves bother to say they don't understand why people cruise in suites. Of course you don't understand if you haven't experienced it. Until you do it, don't judge it. :rolleyes:

I doubt they lost much or any time. Had they gotten in last night real work would not have started until this morning.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

I agree. As they were able to dock very early this morning I would think yesterday didn't not put them far behind much if at all (any more than they put themselves behind with wanting to get as much done as possible in 12 days).

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the May 17th cruise passengers that this delay is very minor and will not put them too far behind so their cruise begins on time and on a nice fresh ship. :D:D

Thank you so much for the updates gcvt! It is greatly appreciated for those of us that get to board her very soon.

We'll be on the first sailing after drydock, can't wait!! I'm hoping they refresh the suites a bit (especially the GV, but that's a but selfish of me ;):D).

 

I'll see if I can send some pics back once on board in less than two weeks!

 

Robin

Confirmation that Moderno will be where the Star Bar is/was. Just got our M&G confirmation for May 24th cruise and it is at Moderno located Deck 13 Midship. :D

I have read they are intending on refreshing the suites among other improvements. I do hope that does happen as we will be in a 2 bedroom penthouse in about 2 1/2 weeks not that I felt there were any condition issues when we were on the Jewel last year.

We will get pics posted once we get back as well. Pics of your shiny new GV would be wonderful!:):D

I am with all those that have given you the common sense approach.....let your cc company deal with it. They are professionals at it and WILL get results. If you decide to continue trying to deal with them directly then I would say he was looking for a hobby in retirement vs trying to get results :p

It is amazing how consistently the hold times are excessive. That would make one think if they are consistently that busy they may want to consider hiring more staff. Even when I do not need to book a cruise I always use that option as that does seem to be the shortest waiting times.

Spitballing off of the first response to your question suggesting clicking the "call me" button on the website, if they don't want to hire others maybe adding the option of allowing you to hang up but stay in the que and have them call you back when you are next would a great idea I think.

It's real easy if you're a Haven guest - you get priority according to our concierge (who booted some unlucky soul out of their slot to give us the time we wanted).

 

Sorry unknown couple :o

Personally, had I known I was getting someone booted out of their time slot I would have asked for a different time or different restaurant...I'm pretty sure :o So did they contact the non Haven guest and tell them they have had their reservation revoked? I would be one unhappy cruiser. What good is a reservation if it isn't held?

I can add a picture of the 3x5 picture frame for 500 points makes the Altas look great.

I laughed out loud when I read this. Free is nice but this stuff is so cheap I think it may do more harm than good. I would think maybe an extra certificate for a dinner in a specialty restaurant would be much more appreciated by those that cruise so much with NCL. But that's just my opinion. :)

If you are like us then the UDP is a wonderful option. We like to eat many small meals throughout the day. If you go to a specialty restaurant you can feel like you have to "get your money's worth". You try to experience as much as you can in that restaurant while you are there because if you go back again you have to pay another fee. With the UPD we can have a couple courses when the restaurants open and then a couple/few hours later we can go have a couple more courses somewhere else (or the same place again). We don't like to gorge ourselves and this will eliminate that temptation because of having to pay each time you go there. I think the only place we will make a reservation will be Teppenyaki but other than that we will look at the board to see what is less busy and that is where we will go. We are very casual which is why we really enjoy NCL :D

Main dining room is a wonderful way to start off the cruise if you are not in a suite. If you are in a suite then Cagney's is the place to be. If you eat in the main dining room after your meal to make yourself feel extra great, go check out the buffet. Embarkation day at the buffet is a free for all frenzy...lol. You just had a nice quiet meal served to you and then go see the zoo (it calms way down after embarkation afternoon) confirms you made the right choice :D

Yes, you can reach NCL 24/7. Just give them a call.

They are not available 24/7. If you call and they are closed you will get a recording with their hours. I find it hard to believe they don't have at least a skeleton crew for late night bookings but they don't. :confused:

Does anyone know if it's possible to book one of the restaurants in advance with an on board credit?

Nope. Onboard credit is credit that you must use while on board.

Depending on the weather you might end up wanting a nice cold glass of chocolate milk..lol. A couple years ago in May we were in Glacier Bay. Early it was cold and foggy but quickly the fog burned off and it was sunny and got very warm. Lots of people in shorts and tshirts. We got a sunburn..lol. It was so beautiful! :D

I'll be interested to find out also since we'll be on the Jewel when you return.

Do you happen to know who our Captain will be?

I do not. The only person I was told about was the concierge and that sounds like it is a definite maybe. I see you are also locals taking advantage of the close proximity to the pier. It is so convenient not to have to deal with the hassle of a flight before and after a relaxing vacation. :D

I heard from the current concierge Virginia that Bruno not Monica will be taking over on the Jewel when she goes on vacation in a few weeks. I would have loved to cruse with Monica again.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

Well in a month I will know for sure :D and I can pass on who the better source of info is, the pre concierge or the concierge Virginia. It's not a big deal to me as either will be new to me. So a new experience for sure :D

To cover my bases on getting info, does anyone have any recent experiences with the concierge Bruno as well on Monica?

Linda, as of this morning, from NCL, re the Jewel:

 

 

 

Here is an update on the members of staff you are requesting:

 

Cruise Director - Jasper Wade

Executive Housekeeper - Savio Dourado

Executive Chef - Lito Santos

Casino Cage Supervisor - Malou C. Viloria

Restaurant Manager - Noel Chaves

Food & Beverage Director - Messiah Ritzinger

Beverage Manager - Joe Borges

Concierge -TBA

Guest Service Manager - Alfie Barrete

Group Service Coordinator Access Officer - Cherry Bongcaras

Cruise Consultant Manager - Romeo Gittens

 

Regards.

 

Mayra Mateiro | Group Event Coordinator

 

I'm guessing whomever you 'get' for your dreamy Owner's Cabin 10004 will be wonderful...think how cush to get this post right before 2 weeks-and most of it could be vacation-in San Francisco! :p

I was informed from our pre concierge that Monica will be our concierge on our May 24th cruise to Alaska on the Jewel. Any recent experience with her? I read some not so shining reviews from 2011 and very positive reviews from last year. I do not foresee using her too much but a good concierge can sure make a difference. We have had a couple. One was absolutely amazing!! The other was not awful but just couldn't compare to Karan.

Not sure where you might have gotten this info, but, you will be charged for any entrees that come from the specialty restaurants. The exception being the Haven restaurant of course.

 

To the OP-we got the UDP last cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it. Is it necessary? No way. It's all about personal choice, i.e. free style!

Not sure where you got your info. I think we are both a little right and a little wrong. I believe there is some small print to the effect of an additional charge for more than one entrée per person in Cagneys. I am not sure about other specialty restaurants. So as to not misinform the OP if you are in a suite and you get the UDP you may want to inquire further on this.

tarps14 thank you for pointing that out. The good thing is we will make sure we only order one entree for each of us and then whatever else tickles our fancy from any of the specialties when we have our butler deliver to our room (with the exception of Teppenyaki and Moderno)

We are taking our 6th NCL cruise to Alaska next month. 2 of us in our party decided to get the UDP. We are in a suite so we can have our butler bring us food from various specialties without worrying about the various charges. Also, at the end of this cruise we will be platinum status and have a 9 day to Alaska booked for next year and thought this would be a good opportunity to try all of the specialty restaurants to see what we have been missing. We have only tried 3 specialty restaurants and 2 of them are no longer available. If we decide the UDP is for us we will get it for next years cruise. If we find feel like we have to "work" at it to get the value out of it then we won't.

We have always been happy with the included food offerings on NCL but thought we would explore our other options. Since we prepaid we won't have to be fretting about how much more each specialty meal will be...it's paid for :D

NCL cheerleader here and I must say I feel you are being pretty darn objective in your review. Obviously you are a big fan of Carnival as you have cruised them 12 times. With that being considered I think you are doing a very good job of explaining your experience and how it affected you personally without cheerleading Carnival. I am enjoying reading your review and I am sorry of the negatives that you experienced on your cruise. With some of the disrepair on the ship hopefully she is getting close to dry dock. We are super lucky as we found out after we booked our cruise for May 24th on the Jewel that she is going into dry dock from may 5th to may 17th and we will be the second cruise to enjoy the new improvements. We will be in a suite and one of the things they are going to do is update the suites so we are very anxious to see the changes. We will be sure to gets pics and/or video and post the dry dock changes that happen to the Jewel next month.

Thanks again for your review. I look forward to reading more! :D

You don't look down your nose at me for not dressing up and I won't think of you as an elitist pretentious snob thinking I am beneath you because I like to dress like I am on vacation.

I have no problem with people wanting to dress up because they enjoy the experience. I have a problem with the holier than thou people that are oh so offended to be in the presence of people that enjoy the experience of dressing casual.

Do things your way and I'll do things my way. NCL has a reputation of being more casual than other cruise lines. If formal attire by most is important to you then do your homework and find the cruise lines that cater more to that.

P.S. In honor of "you know who you are" I just might have to wear a baseball cap to dinner one night on my cruise next month......and if I'm feeling frisky I will wear it backwards :D

We are taking our 6th NCL cruise to Alaska next month. We have done the Star twice, the Pearl twice and this will be our 2nd time on the Jewel. love my butler has obviously had a negative experience on the Jewel and is very biased towards the Pearl. The Pearl is a beautiful ship. A little FYI, the Jewel is going into dry dock May 5th to the 17th and they will be updating the suites and some of the furnishings in other public areas of the ship. We will be in a suite on the second cruise after the dry dock so I will do my best to get pics to post to show the improvements. I will say between the Star, Pearl and Jewel the Pearl has been our favorite ship but I am anxious to see the shiny new looking Jewel after her dry dock. If you are only going to do Alaska once I do join the others that say Glacier Bay would be my choice after doing both. If the budget can accommodate I would highly recommend doing the catamaran that goes up Tracy Arm while you are in Juneau. I got an amazing whale fluke pic when on that excursion a few years ago. Going to see Saywer Glacier vs Margerie Glacier are very different experiences. The fjords of Tracy Arm are so cool and when doing it on a smaller catamaran you can get up much closer. We also saw a seal with a very newborn baby on an iceberg. I feel I have began ranting so I will close with saying I do not think you will be disappointed with either ship or itinerary but my vote would be the Pearl going to Glacier Bay.

We are going to Sawyer Glacier on the Jewel this year and also have a 9 day on the Jewel next year that will take us to Glacier Bay.

Focaccia bread from the Italian restaurant along with the lemon ricotta cheesecake. Also, the bread pudding and of course those yummy pretzel rolls!

I would say the chilled banana soup but they don't serve that anymore....:(:(:(