BearClaw28

They won’t even return prepaid gratuities, which is supposed to go to the crew but you know it won’t now. It’s just an interest free loan to NCL from us. 

I'm booked on the Bliss for March 22 and I'm looking to cancel.  I'm not so worried about catching the virus as I am getting stuck in quarantine for 2 weeks because someone on the ship had the flu or a cold.  

Yes. I’ve done several cruises thru CAS and they have their own priority check in line.

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Ok, 3 weeks later where was I?

Like I said, I wasn't feeling well at dinner. That wasn't the only time. This was the first cruise where I caught some stomach bug. I wash my hands religiously but there's only so much you can do I guess.

So after dinner we went to the welcome aboard show in the Amber Theater. Richard the cruise director introduced himself along with the top officers including the captain. Then the entertainers came out for a taste of what they'd be doing. It was ok but wasn't feeling it so I left during the magician who I'm sure I had seen before. For some reason the casino was closed much later than it was supposed to be so we just walked around a little until it opened. Went to bed early because of stomach and jet lag.

Passed by O'Sheehans to see the menu's for breakfast and during the day. Here are those:

Here are the Day 2 Dailies that were waiting in our cabins that night.

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Yes. I have all of them. Plus MDR menus and pics of everything I ate. Doing this review Live was impossible due to internet on board and how busy I was in Alaska. I promise I'll get this review done this week. Complete with dailies.

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Got off the Jewel in Seattle 2 weeks ago. We got to the dock at noon and there was barely any line to check our bags. We had Casinos at Sea Priority check in and were on the ship in 20-25 minutes. Regular check in wasn't terrible at this time and seemed to move pretty quickly.

Disembarkation was very easy. We picked one of the latest times to get off and by the time we were called we walked off and our bags were waiting. Walked to curb and got in our Uber.

Just off the Jewel as a CAS guest. Given priority boarding at Seattle port. Drink card, bottle water, cocktail gathering,

I ordered the mushroom soup

It was ok

Salmon tartare

Pretty good

Pan Fried Flounder Fillet

Excellent

My brother had the sushi and linguini and clams. He liked the sushi but linguini was bland.

My stomach was bothering me so I had a pot of green tea which I really liked. I've had it multiple times since. Also because I wasn't feeling well I only had a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert which I didn't bother to take a pic of.

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Welcome aboard show was eh. Cruise directors name is Richard Matis (?) from the Philippines. Ships singers and dancers were good. The magician Jean something from Canada. I'm pretty sure I've seen him before. Act was very familiar. Don't remember what else but I was glad when it was done. From there we went to Azura, one of the MDR.

NCL vs RCI - Freestyle dining vs assigned time. NCL wins out for me. I enjoy the flexibility to eat when I want. Although it is nice to have the same wait staff taking care of you every night. They knew what we wanted before we did and had it ready to go.

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Sorry. Lost cell service going on excursion.

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After the sail away we went back to cabin to chill until the muster drill. Our station was right in front of Maltings Whiskey Bar.

NCL vs RCI - NCL had the much better organized and comfortable muster drill. By far. RCI packed us into the guest relations area and forced us to watch a long heavily produced video and then listen to the captain over the loudspeakers which were inaudible.

From there we walked around the ship a little just to completely refamiliarize ourselves with ship and see if anything was new. Aside from layout of gym there's not much different from a few years ago.

Went back to cabin to rest and get ready for 7:15 welcome aboard show and then dinner at MDR.

Here are the Day 1 Dailies:

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Ok let's catch up a little.

After we got unpacked we headed up to deck 13 for the sail away. Weather was perfect and this was one of the nicest sail aways I've experienced.

There's a little BBQ on poolside with live music. Here are some pics:

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Is your doctor aware of what you eat for lunch?

If you think that's bad you should have seen my breakfast this morning.

And I have a doctors appointment the day I get back.

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Sorry for delay in posting. Internet isn't nearly as good as RCI. I'll catch up tomorrow when I'm Ketchikan and back on cell service.

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Memories of the Jewel slowly coming back to me. We were there '11 and '12 out of NYC and loved it.

 

Looks like a beautiful day in Seattle! I'm guessing you won't really be able to compare the ships too much as they are kind of apples and oranges. But there are bound to be a lot of differences between NCL and RCCL, which is the stuff that makes me nervous.

I was on Jewel a few years ago out of NYC, where I live, to Bahamas. Got my bearings very quickly. No need to explore ship like I did the Allure. If anybody wants pics of specific things just let me know.

Weather in Seattle has been absolutely perfect. Still tough to see Mt Rainier though.

Obviously this ship is much smaller and it's noticeable. But I like that. It's funny, this ship is smaller and has fewer people but seems more crowded than the Allure which was twice as big with twice as many people.

Doing muster drill now. Already this muster drill is so much better than the one on Allure.

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Got to our cabin around 2pm. Bags came about 20 minutes later. I'm in room 8072 an ocean view room with an obstructed view. We went cheap, even with CAS absorbing some of the cost. Unlike the Allure, I know this ship allows you the ability to see the views from the decks and windows. Figured we're not going to be in the room much. Also with temps in 50's not going to hang outside on balcony which is what we normally get.

Here are pics of room after we unpacked.

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Ok just checked in. It was really really easy. Very well done by NCL and the port. Got dropped off and walked out bags to the drop off point. Here's a pic.

Line moved very fast. Some people dropped bags with porters curbside but there weren't many so we just did it ourselves.

Walked inside to check in. We're here as guests of Casinos at Sea so we were able to use priority boarding. The regular line was pretty long but looked to be moving. From time we walked in to getting on board was about 20 minutes. Made out way to the buffet which was really crowded. We found a table at the very back of the ship outside. It's a beautiful day so it worked out perfectly.

NCL vs RCI

Buffet - much bigger on Allure as you'd expect. More options. Quality of food was similar so far. Maybe a little better on NCL. Personal preference of course.

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Thanks MDA. Glad to have you along.

Ok just some Seattle things. Uber from airport was $46. Uberx is cheaper but I understand you have to go hunting for the pickup area in the rental car garage. My uber select was picked up as soon as I exited terminal.

Stayed at Courtyard Marriott in downtown/pioneer square. Very convenient and walking distance to Pike Place. UberXL from there to pier 66 was only $12 for 3 people.

Pike Place was great but very crowded. Pike Place Chowder was the best thing there. BBQ pork bun was a close second and Oysters from Jacks were third.

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Accidentally put this on RC board but it still applies if comparing RC to Norwegian. On this one I'll leave out Jewel review and just compare and contrast RC and NCL if people are interested.

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About to board the Norwegian Jewel for a trip to Alaska from Seattle. I was on the Royal Caribbean Allure last month. I did a kinda live review for that cruise here on CC. I'm probably not going to get that in depth on this one but I want to do one focusing on food and shore excursion as well as comparing the 2 cruise lines since my Allure experience is so fresh in my memory. I know the ships are vastly different so I'll limit it to things I can fairly compare. Hope this will be helpful and informative.

Anyway, I'll be back soon.

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About to board the Norwegian Jewel for a trip to Alaska from Seattle. I was on the Royal Caribbean Allure last month. I did a kinda live review for that cruise here on CC. I'm probably not going to get that in depth on this one but I want to do one focusing on food and shore excursion as well as comparing the 2 cruise lines since my Allure experience is so fresh in my memory. I know the ships are vastly different so I'll limit it to things I can fairly compare. Hope this will be helpful and informative.

Anyway, I'll be back soon.

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I was on the Allure a month ago in a Central Park Balcony cabin. 12239 and 12241. I was happy with it. It wasn't too loud, too hot or too stuffy. I didn't hear too much from the pool area and barely anything from Central Park. I'd avoid 14 because of the pool noise and the floor just above the Park for privacy reasons. Central Park doesn't get very loud.

My only negatives with a Central Park Balcony cabin is the lack of a view and lack of privacy. You're basically staring at a bunch of balconies unless you look down and see the park. I'm used to see water and not have people staring back at me. I'd do it again if I got a good deal but I prefer an ocean view to remind me that I'm on a cruise.

I was on the Allure about a month ago with a party of 15. We tried to make arrangements for a table together before the cruise and again when we boarded. On the first night we were seated in the Silk dining room but at 2 different tables. 9 at one and 6 at the other. We felt detached and asked again if they could put us all together. The 2nd night we were moved to a spot against a wall with banquette seating on one side. We were tables 800-804. Originally they put them all together to form one long table but I asked them to split the tables to leave an opening in the middle and a chair on one end. So one side had 4 people on each side, then a space for people to get in and out, then 3 people on each side with a single chair on the end for the 15th person. Aside from the older folks who sat in the same center seats every night, the rest changed seats every night. This worked very well. Much better than the first night.

I recently did a sort of live review of the Allure. I started live but by mid week I started getting behind. I finished it a week after I got home. While it is time consuming, it gives you a great memento that you can look back on to remember your cruise. Here are some bits of advice:

Tapatalk is a great app to help you with your review. It's very easy to add photos. I did most of my review with my phone since all my photos were on there. But be aware that you can only add 6 photos per post. And the app will refresh itself after a break in use. So if you start a post, I would finish it and post it. It happened to me once where I started a lengthy post with multiple photos and then left it for a moment. When I returned to it, the app had refreshed and I lost the post that I had started.

As others said, first and foremost, enjoy the cruise and the time with your family. If you'll be in your cabin early as the kids sleep, it will leave you time to go back on your day and post your live review.

Take lots of pics. Even if you don't use them all in your review, you can use them to help you remember what you did when you find time to post. Plus it's always nice to have lots of pics to look back on.

Enjoy your cruise and good luck with your review.

Enjoyed your review possibly going on Allure through a casino invite after 16 comped cruises through NCL CAS. How would you compare NCL casino and casino reward program? Did you get any credit at the end and would they comp or discount in the future? How did RCL compare to NCL have gotten spoiled with free drinks and free specialty dining - not sure if they offer any perks like this? Since I'll be an invited casino guest would we get drink cards like NCL? Would like your thoughts on comparing your experiences.

 

 

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I've usually gone on NCL because I get offered comped cruises or discounts through CAS. This was my first time on RCL and I wasn't a guest of their casino rewards program. I didn't get any credit at end of cruise and honestly I didn't play enough to expect any. I mostly played poker and I don't think that would get me much from the reward program. I normally play more craps but I was turned off by the 1x odds on pass bets. I thought that was a little too greedy on their part and didn't want anything to do with it. Of the casino games I really played roulette more than anything. That should tell you something. But I was in casino every night.

They scan your SeaPass card when you sit at a table. But like I said, I don't expect much from it. Going on NCL next month and my brother and I got some discount on the cruise through CAS. I didn't see a lot of people with drink cards like I do on NCL. And the casino host didn't make himself known. On NCL I usually meet the host within hours of boarding. RCL's casino experience is more similar to a land based casino. NCL's casino experience is more intimate. Staff was excellent though. They knew me pretty quickly.

If you do go on Allure, good luck.