karoo

Matira Beaches is a good place to swim at Bora Bora, I also booked an excellent excursion with Maohi Nui. You can also book snorkelling excursions dockside. Moorea I'm not sure about beach swimming, but once again you could book snorkelling excursions once docked. Raiaitea there is an excellent excursion -Le Excursion Bleu - (not sure I've got the name exactly correct). it includes an excellent drift snorkel, other sites eg pearl and cinnamon farm and lunch. Second time there I also booked an excursion at the Information Office that included swimming.snorkelling on an island. They dropped you off for a set time got and then picked you up to do a river cruise. The snorkelling off the beach at the Island was ok, but not as good as the excursions on a boat where they dropped you in specific snorkelling spots, but the island was pretty. Both times I have been in this region I have been on Norwegian Jewel and managed to book snorkelling tours etc at the dock. PS You tender in Bora Bora and Moorea, but dock in Raiatea.

Singapore to Singapore was cancelled once Vietnam closed their cruise ports. There's also a problem with Thailand. Singapore to Dubai is a different itinerary that doesn't include those ports. As CoronaVirus continues to escalate it's hard to predict too far ahead. NCL are in a 'no win' position-if they cancel too early and all the ports remain open those passengers already booked will probably complain, then if they wait and are forced to cancel other passengers will complain. I'm sure NCL will be happy when they're out of that region. CoronaVirus is out of NCL's control -countries are putting various bans in place at short notice to keep their residents safe. I'm just thankful I'm not on the Diamond princess

Not sure what NFL is-I'm assuming it's the local US football games. I have seen these games played on the TVs in O Sheehans bar when I have been on the Jewel over the last two years and earlier this year, mainly in Aus/NZ/Asian and Transpacific waters. Maybe reception in Alaska in certain areas is difficult. Try being Australian-we usually miss out completely. I guess most of us feel the sacrifices of missing our favourite TV shows/sport are all worth the joy of being on holiday and cruising! 

11 hours ago, Petoonya said:

You may have had no problem with the Jewel but the locals may have had problems with it. And from talking to locals as I have they did.

I guess it depends which locals you talk to. I know the local tour operators that I booked through were all extremely grateful for the money they made that day. L'Excursion Bleue said it was the most tourists they've ever had in one day and I got that response from many of the operators. Nothing but positive comments. Even the Pago Pago bus driver/guide who took us to his kid's school, house etc as well as many of the highlights of the island -said when a big cruise ship (it's really midsize) visits they make lots of money. Visiting his home and family was very humbling and I'm sure the money he made that day was much appreciated. Tourism in many of these places is their number one industry. As long as we respect the people, are careful not to damage the coral I'm sure the money that pours into their economy all helps. JMO

I was on the Jewel in 2017 and cruised Papeete to Sydney. I had an absolutely wonderful time and loved the ship. So much so that I have booked to cruise again and repeat the itinerary in November. Passenger capacity was around 2,000 and it didn’t feel crowded anywhere. I did a lot of snorkelling excursions booked privately through local operators in French Polynesia. They need a certain number to operate their tour to fit the cruiseship schedule which can be hard on the smaller ships. The Jewel, being a mid size ship is very stable in the water something I appreciated when getting closer to Aus as I remember past cruises on smaller ships in this region feeling quite ill. I had no problems whatsoever with the Jewel. 

I've done the Hawaiin Cruise with NCL twice-the only cruise line I would cruise with to this region as we wanted to go and spend our time in Hawaii. We didn't want to have to fly to the west coast of the US and then sail all those sea days just to get to Hawaii. It seemed easier to just fly direct to Oahu. Both times we spent a few days pre and post cruise staying at Waikiki Beach. The NCL cruise has Hawaiian Ambassadors on board that ran various Hawaiian themed activities. We loved it so much the first time we came back 5 years later to do the activities we couldn't fit in and didn't do the first trip. 

On 7/24/2019 at 4:57 AM, gmbhardy said:

We’ve seen Million Dollar Quartet 6 times and loved every performance.

I have to admit that's the one show I can repeat watching many times. The rest that I've seen I don't need to see again. Although I think Jersey boys I would enjoy watching multiple times as I've seen it on the smaller NCL ships and I've loved it every time. 

On 7/24/2019 at 3:13 AM, Michele035 said:

So we cruised the Escape out of NY to Bermuda last August 2018.  We are doing the Escape again to Bermuda again this October.  Was just looking at the entertainment options and this canNOT be real.  the EXACT same freaking entertainment?  SAME shows?  how can this be?  I know it is the same ship and the same itinerary but it is over a year later....anyone every experience this?  any insight?  I feel GIPPED and annoyed..looks like we will be going to bed early every night...grrrrr….

I get it! i have the same feelings when I'm on the mega ships as the entertainment in the theatre doesn't have a great deal of variety. Only 2 different shows. One of the reasons I prefer the Jewel Class or smaller as there is a different show in the theatre every night and seating for all, so each night you can go to the theatre and see a different show. You don't have to book or go super early to ensure they don't give your seat away. On the Breakaway last year I didn't even bother with the shows as I'd seen both Burn the Floor and Rock of Ages 4 years prior. 

On 7/17/2019 at 1:17 AM, rxlowry said:

So a great day on the fjords.  Stunning scenery.   Amazing view of the neighbors fishing off their balcony.  I made a separate post.  I enjoy NCL but I think I’m done after this.  Not cool.  

Woah! This is so not allowed! Hopefully the ship security cameras have picked this up and he's been warned this is not acceptable! 

On 7/8/2019 at 11:11 PM, rxlowry said:

It’s a female cruise director and I missed her name but I’ll get it. I’ll ask about Aan tonight. 

I did a very similar itinerary to this leaving May 31st. The Cruise Director was Leurina so I'm assuming that's who it still is. She is excellent. So friendly and good fun! I was B2B so I also did the following itinerary Norway Solstice, so I was onboard for 26 days and had an absolutely wonderful time. Like you I stayed two nights in London, but on the morning of the cruise I got the coach from Victoria Coach Station to Southampton. I'm following this with interest as it will be great to take a trip down memory lane, revisit the itinerary and hear about the experience onboard from another passenger's perspective. 

Great review! I'm loving it. Just thought I'd add for anyone wanting to do a similar itinerary and book their tours privately. I booked the Blue Puffin Tour through the Tourist Office when I got off the ship. it was a similar price 900+ NOK, but I didn't get the early bird (booking) discount. I had disembarked around 9.30 and the tour left at 10am. It was excellent. I think from memory the CC groups left around 9, but you can correct me if I'm wrong. We had a young girl (uni student) as guide who had lived in the town/area her whole life and she was just so informative as well as interesting. I would thoroughly recommend this fantastic tour! The dried fish they had hanging up she called stock fish. (They were possibly cod originally.) I also booked on the day, the Flam Railway at the ticket/tourist office. There was plenty of availability as apparently various tourist companies book the tickets in blocks. What they don't sell they hand back a few days beforehand. I was also in Flam on the cruise before this one (B2B) and for all those passengers who wanted to book privately as they disembarked they were able to do so on the day. Some booked a package where you took the train up, then cycled down, others got off at one of the stations to zipline, while others booked a train, cruise and land combination, all available through the ticket office. I personally did the train only, but if I ever visit Flam again I will consider the biplane option.The NCL excursion is on the same train, they have about three carriages booked exclusively for the NCL shore excursions. Much more expensive, than just booking privately -but they do get a waffle and coffee. This option was also available as passengers I met onboard told me you could book to stop off for coffee etc and they combined this with cycling down the mountain. 

4 hours ago, luckybecky said:

On with our adventure!

 

Day 5

 

This was a sea day, but not just any sea day! Today, we crossed into the Arctic Circle and we had some beautiful scenic cruising to the Svartisen Glacier. Here is the schedule for today.

 

 

 

Note that the schedule shows "no sunrise" and "no sunset." We had several days of continuous sunlight, and even when there was a sunset we only had twilight, before the sun came back up again, never true darkness for the duration of this cruise. The room curtains were pretty good at keeping out the light. 

 

We enjoyed a late breakfast. I loved the made to order omelet station. Breakfast at Raffles was always good with many choices, pretty much anything you could possibly want for an American or English breakfast.

 

The day began very gray and misty, but cleared up just in time for our arrival at the glacier. We actually had marvelous weather for almost the entire cruise. We really got lucky because it can be so cold in Norway. 

 

There was supposed to be a "line crossing celebration" at the pool when we crossed the line to the arctic circle. Unfortunately the weather had not cleared up yet and it was chilly with a light rain. So nothing was happening at the pool at the appointed time. We walked over to the Galaxy lounge and did not see anything happening there either. 

 

Later, a fellow cruiser told us that they did have some activity for the line crossing in the Galaxy lounge. I don't know how we missed it because we walked through there at the scheduled time. Oh well. 

 

As you pass into the arctic circle there is this tiny island with a globe shaped monument to mark the spot. As you can see the morning was still very gray so my pictures didn't turn out well but it was still cool to mark the moment. How many people can say they have done this?

 

Yes- they relocated the crossing into the Arctic Circle into Galaxy. They had a ceremony and we all got anointed as ‘blue nosers’. Lots of photos etc with the ship in the background. The entertainment team were dressed up, Leurina had a special hat/helmet on and one of the senior officers was also assisting with the ‘blue nosing’ of the passengers. 

I'm loving your review! I absolutely loved this cruise and I'm certainly enjoying reading about the cruise from another perspective. I loved Galaxy Lounge and spent most evenings there with all my new cruise friends. It was just amazing -particularly on the many nights when the sun didn't go down. I also recognised some of the people in the Shanghai Bar- having a cabin Deck 9 just above it I usually went there for a pre dinner drink. I also did all my tours privately and had a wonderful time in all of the ports. I was also on the cruise before -so I definitely had a wonderful 26 days onboard the Spirit. I look forward to reading the rest of your review. 

I was on the Jewel for this cruise. The fire was actually an electrical fault that was quickly fixed, no problems. Tendering is always a problem in Bali as it is a half hour trip from the ship to the shore as the area is very shallow and the tenders have to go through specific channels, plus the ship has to drop anchor a fair way off shore. I had a wonderful cruise with no problems. The ship also informed us that tendering would be slow. I just went upstairs and waited until the tender for Platinum Plus was called as instructed to do so by the CD. I was on a private tour and was able to meet at the required time as the operator suggested not to start too early. It was an overnight so we didn’t have to rush to get back. This is the third time I have visited Bali on a cruise and it’s always the same situation. Yorkeys Knob Cairns also has issues as 2,000 people all returning at a similar time logistically all can’t get on the same tender. I just went and sat in the yacht club with many other cruisers and waited until the line decreased. The shore ex guy came in and informed us what tender to get on. No waiting in line for me. There were a few medical problems onboard, plus one of the gymnasts sustained an injury in training and was also evacuated in Semerang. Longer cruises generally attract an older crowd so the probability of medical issues increases. One TA I did had 5 fatalities. I had a great time on the 19 day cruise, however some people do like to whinge and overdramatize situations. This seems to be common on many cruises. The crew onboard were excellent, we had lots of variety with the entertainment onboard and most passengers I met and spent time with had a great time and enjoyed the many ports and experiences we had. 

17 hours ago, Miaminice said:

 

There really is no need to take the train! Simply use the regular taxis clearly recognizable by their color. They go by meter and it will be around 25 USD. You can also use an Uber or the like for around 20 USD. 

 

Taking the MRT is easy and possible by CC. But it takes you a while to walk to the station with your luggage.

 

I have been to Singapore a few times. It is one of the nicest, most organized, cleanest and certainly safest cities on the globe. Don’t be alarmed by a few horror stories!

Thanks-yes I've visited before-so clean! Last time though when i disembarked I took the ship tour that gave you a tour of various sites and then dropped you at the airport. This time I'm disembarking and wanting to go straight to the airport. 

On 1/11/2019 at 11:27 PM, Iluvcruising2 said:

Taxi scams!  Terrible.  That's why it pays to do some research and surf these boards.

 

Some years back, I purposely went to Marina Bay Cruise Center to make a video to help cruise passengers who haven't been to Singapore before.  Here it is again. When you disembark, you arrive at the Arrivals Hall.  Follow the signs to Taxi.  It is about a 3 to 5 minute walk to the taxi stands.  Legal taxis are all metered in Singapore and they have to go by the meter, by law. 

 

 

I made the above video in 2015, but I haven't been back to the cruise center since.  If things have changed, let me know! 

Thanks for your video. I will be arriving by cruise ship and need to get to Singapore Changi Airport. The posts here and the video have confirmed that I want to catch the train. My problem is I'm arriving into Singapore from Australia/Indonesia. I won't have any Singapore Dollars.

*Is there an ATM in the terminal? I don't want to pay the exorbitant exchange fees. 

*Can you pay for the train ticket using a CC or do the ticket machines only accept cash?

Thank You

On 2/3/2019 at 9:30 AM, fannym123 said:

Good to hear. We are still researching on other ports, for sure Pengang will be DIY tour as it seems easy. Do share other ports when you decide. Thanks Alan.

 

Langkawi there are taxis when you arrive that are cheap and will take you on island tours. Generally they're 4 hours, but you can negotiate longer. The first taxis you see are the most expensive so the advice is to keep walking. 

Penang we're looking at DIY as everything is just there when you get off. Also HOHO bus is available.

Phuket-no idea. 

On 1/24/2019 at 1:38 AM, fannym123 said:

Alan, we will have Putrajaya tour on day 1, KL tour on day 2. Hopefully traffic will be ok. 

 

Yes-we've decided to do Putrajaya through the ship Day 1 and Batu Caves and City Experience through Cruising Excursions. That's as far as we've really got. I have tentative plans for the other ports, but at this stage haven't locked anything in. 

I've done both types of cruises mainly through NCL, but not on the Joy that was targeted for the Mainland China market. I've been on Norwegian Star and the Jewel to these areas. Yes the demographic is probably different to the Caribbean Cruises, but it is very varied, but I would have to say English speaking passengers were in the majority. A lot from the US, UK and Aus as well as Asian and European cultures. Just an observation too-on  my last cruise many of the passengers who were of Asian appearance actually resided in the US, Canada, Aus, NZ etc. 

The big difference to me though is in many of the Caribbean ports you just walk off the ship and the town is there with tour guides offering tours etc. Many ports in the Asian region are a fair distance often from the town/tourist attractions. Often the ports are small, so tender service is required or they are industrial which means you need a shuttle out of the port. Sometimes the transfers are organised through the ship, sometimes the port insists on doing the tenders/shuttles etc. You will need to apply for a travel visa if visiting Mainland China or India prior to embarkation and it needs to be a multi entry one if visiting at least two ports in that country. All other visas can be processed onboard by the ship. Going in and out of countries you are dealing with their border control so often you will arrive at a port on time, but that particular country might take a while to clear the ship etc. Your passport sometimes has to be collected as the officials will often come onboard and process your entry/exit into their country. The ship has it all organised and you get a lot of notices etc informing you of the processes, forms to fill out that you are required to put in the drop box by a specified time. They also include instructions on how to fill the form out. Sometimes the border officials change their mind -they're in control. The cruises to me are worth it though as I've seen many cities/countries that I would probably not have visited otherwise. 

On 1/21/2019 at 8:51 PM, alan9945 said:

Hi Fanny

 

We are doing the long trip on day one due to the potential traffic problems. On day two we are booking a ships tour to Putrajaya and relaxing the rest of the day.

 

Alan

What tour did you decide to do Day 1? 

3 hours ago, tsutt35 said:

From what I remember and depending on your fitness I’d give it 1.5 to 2 hours.

Thanks for that! 

12 hours ago, MommyRobin said:

Hate to say this, but crocs are making somewhat of a comeback with the teen crowd. Thank Post Malone for this 🤪

Ha! Ha! Definitely not in my hood. Definitely not a fashion statement in Melbourne Aus. I sometimes see a few, very small children wear them at the local swimming pool or beach, but that's about it. 

16 hours ago, tsutt35 said:

 

I did look at private drivers when we had been planning the stop and there were ones online you could book. I can’t for the life of me remember the company but found it through CC. Off hand I think we spent about 1.5 hours at the Batu Caves. Although we’d been to KL For a few days about 10 years ago, I wish we’d gone into the city on our own rather than doing the ship tour. 

Was 1.5 hours long enough to spend at the caves? I'm just wondering how much time we should to allow to visit them. 

3 hours ago, tsutt35 said:

Can't help with prices etc but we did a ship tour through Princess and saw Batu Caves, Royal Selangor, museum and lunch. It was a pretty full on day with not a lot of down time or opportunity to explore on your own. I blogged about the day if you are interested.

 

https://tanyastravelblog.wordpress.com/2016/07/15/morning-log-bog-and-backlog-within-a-blog/

Thank You for your info and loved reading your blog.

Unfortunately our ship isn't offering any tours that include the Batu Caves  so we will have to do it privately. At this stage we're now considering just doing Batu Caves Day 1, then Day 2 just doing Kuala Lumpur city highlights etc. You can hire taxis from the port - we're just not sure how cost effective this would be or how long we would need. Day 1 we don't want to have a long day as we don't port until 11am. So by the time the ship is cleared etc, we get off the ship, organise a cab, we 're probably looking at 12pm. A 5-6 hour tour would be perfect for this day, then we'd be happy to schedule an 8 hour city tour for the next day. 

12 hours ago, JJean said:

How are the prices for a bottle of wine in Singapore to bring on the ship.  Would it be cheaper to pay the ship's prices.

Wine is very expensive in Singapore. By the time you buy the wine and pay corkage it would work out more expensive than buying onboard.