LAFFNVEGAS Live From the Jewel, Well Almost Live on 3/23/14

[AF-1]

Lisa, thank you for the answer. I have never sailed NCL, so am new to any and all info about the cruiseline, the ship, and activities on the ship. I booked an aft penthouse on deck 10 on Jade for next year. It's a 14 day cruise out of Venice, booked in honor of my wife's retirement. So I am cruising the different NCL threads learning all I can. Thanks for your post.

[Lovemy3boys]

Everything looks wonderful!!!!! We are also staying in Cabin #10666 on the Jewel! We've never stayed in their penthouse before so I'm so excited to see your posts and pictures :)

[Watson's aunt]

Hi Lisa

 

Are you stuck IN N O Or did you get out?

 

 

Mary

[Watson's aunt]

Hi

 

Ignore my post. I thought the spell was affectiiiiiiing the N O port. Its the Texas port that is affected.

 

 

Mary

[Redheel Girl]

Lisa...I am so enjoying your review. I have sailed the Jewel before and will be in 10666 in October out of Houston. Please take a picture of 10666. Love the Aft. Except on the Jewel the last cruise I had the Owners Suite. Beautiful. Take many Pictures.

[kjw869]

Hi Lisa, Hope you and Tom are enjoying your cruise. I know you love those NCL suites. I see in one of the posts you are staying in an aft Penthouse.

 

Are they the same size as the PHs on HAL ships--1,150-1,400 sq ft, and do they also have two "bedrooms" and two bathrooms? We love the larger cabins.

 

I took my 15-yr old granddaughter on her first cruise in January on the Noordam and she is also going with Sue and I along with my daughter in May. It's great they both have their own facilities.

 

I thought maybe an aft wrap PH on the NCL ship would be fun to try as it combines our two favorite cabin types.

 

Hope you have smooth seas along the way. And we'll see you next May!

 

Ken

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Good Evening from the Beautiful Norwegian Jewel,

I have to say I love the ship and crew but each time I return to Norwegian Cruise Line I truly love NCL more and more. I guess you can say it just suits our personality plus it feels more like the way Holland America use to be.

After an excellent first night dinner last night we just hit all the shops and I was able to find some cosmetics that I normally buy Although just like HAL the selection of NCL Logo wear is very pathetic. I wish they would understand that passengers would spend a whole lot more money on board if the fad the right merchandise.how about once women's shirts the ship name and nice men's golf shirts.

 

It was interesting last night that it is an 8 hour sailing down the Mississippi before you even get to open water of the gulf. It did rain last night and on the forward bow camera on the tv I watched the lightning it was quite a show.

 

This morning we got up and headed to breakfast at Cagney's, definitely one of the great things about having a suite but the best was making my coffee this morning in the espresso maker I love the lavazza coffee I had brought some Caramel Macchiato International coffee creamers so it made it perfect. Breakfast at Cagney's was great I really like the continental buffet I had a salmon Fratatta and Tom had Steak and Eggs the I always enjoy the French press coffee there. Then we headed down to see what the specials for the shops were. In all honesty I have not bought many items in years well this morning I was finding a lot of nice costume jewelry that I had not seen before, it was the Fire CZ, I ended up getting 3 pair of earrings and a bracelet. Then it was time to get the Cruise Critic Meet And Great. We had well over 50 and the placed us in Le Bistro. Over the years I have been to many CC Meet and Greats mostly HAL but have been to Celebrity and RCI for various reasons I have missed it with mr previous NCL cruises. I have to say NCL was really professional and did it nicely we had a room where it was set up nicely and all the Hotel division officers were there and the Hotel Director introduced them all and also gave us a card that listed everyone and included the phone extension. He also stated to please let them know of any problem that they would rather hear about it now so they can correct it rather than to hear about it on CC after we are home when they could not fix the problem. Over all it was a great Meet and Greet many afterwards went to a slot pull that we did not do. We instead headed back to Cagney's for a light lunch I had the Sweet and Sour soup and a small salad. Then it was off to Spinnakers, for the HAL people reading Spinnakers is the Crows Nest on this class of ship but has a small stage with lounge seating much like the Queens Lounge on the Vista Class. This was for the Latitudes Party which is similar to the way HAL use to do the Mariner party before they got the bright idea of the Mariner lunch. The cocktails were a flowing in Spinnakers and it was fun. For the drawing one of the couples from our group won one of the prizes.

 

The remaining of the afternoon was relaxing I did some reading out on the balcony but since I was so relaxed a just kept nodding off so gave and git into bed and took a nap. We had early 5:30 dinner reservations for just Tom and I in Moderno Brazilian. Then at 6:30 was the VIP party up in the Haven. It was very well attended and was quite nice the Captain, Hotel Director and Cruise Director and of course Virginia our Concierge was there to great us.

 

Tonight's show was Band on the Run and since we have seen it twice before we skipped it. Yes NCL is a lot like HAL will shows not changing for many years but I will say that the entertainment in my opinion is better and more of it. The Piano player is David and he was performing in the early evening in the atrium so it was nice having the music for dinner. While I totally understand the reason for moving Moderno up to where the Star Bar now is I will miss where it is now along with Blue Lagoon. The Jewel will be getting the make over in a few weeks in San Francisco dry dock before the Alaska season.

 

I have been typing away and Tom headed up to the Garden Cafe for a late snack and brought me back a tasty pretzel roll. The breads are so darn good here on NCL.

 

Well tomorrow is our first port and we are in Cozumel, I have to admit Cozumel and Margaritas and Tequila is my weakness ;) so I have to be good tomorrow because 37 years ago on on March 25th 1977 Tom and I were married in Cedar Rapids Iowa. Tomorrow evening 6 is us will all dine in LeBistro to Celebrate so you can see where I must be good tomorrow in Cozumel :D

 

Signing off from the Beautiful Norwegian Jewel

[rochelle_s]

Happy Anniversary to you both....enjoying tagging along on your wonderful live blog.

 

Rochelle

[dobiemom]

Happy Anniversary!

 

Keep the food pictures coming! ;)

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the update, everything sounds wonderful.

Happy Anniversary.:)

[solocanadian]

Thanks for the update. Happy Anniversary.

[footballbabe3]

Thanks you are doing an awesome job at sharing your trip. Have a wonderful time tonight.

[ger_77]

Happy Anniversary - what a great way to celebrate your anniversary, on a cruise!

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Gerry

[rwams]

Happy Anniversary Lisa and Tom! I'm enjoying your review.

Rick

[Guest USC Traveler]

happy anniversary lisa and tom. are you both from cedar rapids, ia?

thank you for sharing your cruise with us. i always enjoy reading your reviews and seeing your fabulous pictures, especially of the deserts! i'm definitely thinking of booking a ncl cruise because of your glowing reports.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Thanks so much for the Anniversary greetings:)

w

We are having fun at Pancho's with our group for lunch Yes we have been here a few times

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[knitlady037]

Lisa I have to thank you for doing your live from when you went on the Pearl. Because of that thread I booked my first NCL cruise on the Gem in an aft suite on deck 10 and have never looked back. The suite life on NCL is amazing. We were loyal HAL suite cruisers and have totally switched cruise lines. I also became a Norwegian chatter and now talk cruising all day! We do have one booked on Hal for November but are cancelling an aft balcony in favor of an aft suite for the same price.

We had Virgiia last year as our conicerge and she is amazing! Always there when you needed her and always a smile on her face. Will miss her this year on our Dawn cruise.

[Buckett]

Really enjoying your live from, and all the pictures. So glad you all are having a nice time. Does the Jewel have a nice THERMAL SUITE?? :D

[NSinMG]

What time was the Latitudes party?

 

We leave on the Jewel this weekend and are also staying at the Sheraton before the cruise. Enjoying your report and pictures.

 

Happy Anniversary!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Good morning from the Beautiful Norwegian Jewel!!

We are in Belize today, we really only have one mission and that is handbag shopping ;). That has been the plan since November 2012 when we last here.

Yesterday was Cozumel and this time we went to the Pancho's Backyard downtown for lunch it is where we always go to for lunch although usually we go to the location that is at the far pier. I was going to be good with my tequila consumption but while I rarely drink when I get to Mexico I love Margaritas and anejo tequila shots.

Unfortunately I have come down with a cold that started with a sore throat and is now the coughing and stuffy nose :( but despite that our group of 8 all went to dinner in Le Bistro the unfortunate while everyone was raving how good everything tasted to me it all tasted the same. We are planning on returning Saturday night so hopefully the worst of the cold will be gone. It was nice for our anniversary in Le Bistro they sang to us and of course brought us out a cake.

I always brag about the wonderful entertainment on NCL but I have not had a chance to enjoy any of it yet.

Tonite we are going to Teppanyaki and so I think I am feeling a bit better today wish I would have brought some Zicam or that the cold would have started before I was already on the ship so I could have bought some.

I really wish this cruise was 8 days I do love all 4 of these ports but two sea days is just not enough time to enjoy the ship. There is just much to do yet I also like to relax and do nothing.

 

Well I think I am going to sign off since the everyone will be at our cabin shortly to go get on the tenders to go ashore.

 

Signing off from the Beautiful Norwegian Jewel.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

What time was the Latitudes party?

 

We leave on the Jewel this weekend and are also staying at the Sheraton before the cruise. Enjoying your report and pictures.

 

Happy Anniversary!

 

 

It was at 1pm on Monday in Spinnakers

[jmele999]

Good Evening from the Beautiful Norwegian Jewel,

 

 

While I totally understand the reason for moving Moderno up to where the Star Bar now is I will miss where it is now along with Blue Lagoon. The Jewel will be getting the make over in a few weeks in San Francisco dry dock before the Alaska season.

 

Signing off from the Beautiful Norwegian Jewel

 

thanks for the update. Do you why they are Moderno and the Blue Lagoon? What are they doing to the space?

[knitlady037]

they are adding O'Sheehans pub in that space

[Cruiser Bruiser]

Good Evening from the Beautiful Norwegian Jewel,

I have to say I love the ship... While I totally understand the reason for moving Moderno up to where the Star Bar now is I will miss where it is now along with Blue Lagoon. The Jewel will be getting the make over in a few weeks in San Francisco dry dock before the Alaska season... Signing off from the Beautiful Norwegian Jewel

 

Thanks for your "live from..." I've enjoyed it. I'm excited about the O'Sheehan's /Moderno transformation. Having spent 5 nights in a row hanging out in Star Bar on the Pearl two weeks ago, I'm convinced they're going to wedge Moderno into the Cagney's overflow area only and keep Star Bar. While the bar itself isn't particularly busy, the bartenders are constantly making drinks for diners in Cagney's and will be mixing more for the diners in Moderno. So, they need to have a bar (and wine storage) nearby. Also, all of the new ships that have Cagney's and Moderno side-by-side have a bar in between. That tells me Star Bar will survive and it will be busier. We will see soon enough. Thanks for the scoop!:)

[mommyto2girls]

Good morning from the Beautiful Norwegian Jewel!!

We are in Belize today, we really only have one mission and that is handbag shopping ;). That has been the plan since November 2012 when we last here.

Yesterday was Cozumel and this time we went to the Pancho's Backyard downtown for lunch it is where we always go to for lunch although usually we go to the location that is at the far pier. I was going to be good with my tequila consumption but while I rarely drink when I get to Mexico I love Margaritas and anejo tequila shots.

Unfortunately I have come down with a cold that started with a sore throat and is now the coughing and stuffy nose :( but despite that our group of 8 all went to dinner in Le Bistro the unfortunate while everyone was raving how good everything tasted to me it all tasted the same. We are planning on returning Saturday night so hopefully the worst of the cold will be gone. It was nice for our anniversary in Le Bistro they sang to us and of course brought us out a cake.

I always brag about the wonderful entertainment on NCL but I have not had a chance to enjoy any of it yet.

Tonite we are going to Teppanyaki and so I think I am feeling a bit better today wish I would have brought some Zicam or that the cold would have started before I was already on the ship so I could have bought some.

I really wish this cruise was 8 days I do love all 4 of these ports but two sea days is just not enough time to enjoy the ship. There is just much to do yet I also like to relax and do nothing.

 

Well I think I am going to sign off since the everyone will be at our cabin shortly to go get on the tenders to go ashore.

 

Signing off from the Beautiful Norwegian Jewel.

 

I have to thank you, it was your encouragement a few years ago that took us from HAL to the "suite life" on NCL. As you can see from my signature we have never looked back. I love the Jewel Class ships and I love NCL. Happy Anniversary and thanks for converting us to life in the Haven on NCL.

 

Andrea