1st Jewel Cruisers out of Bayport?!?!?!?

[GrabMyWrist]

Here are the dailies.

 

Link

[snow1]

Thank you Kabbie and GrabMyWrist and everyone else who tried to attach the link. Finally got then and printed them!!

You guys are the BEST !! :D

[GrabMyWrist]

You're welcome. Glad to help.

[txhomeschoolmom]

Looks like the mods deleted the entire thread for some reason. I don't know why they would have done that. Is it wrong / against the forum rules to post scans of dailies?

 

Hi The Mister,

 

I didn't think it was wrong nor against forum rules to post and scan dailies...have seen dailies from other sailings all over cruise critic :confused:

 

Thanks for trying :)

 

[txhomeschoolmom]

Here are the dailies.

 

Link

 

Hi GrabMyWrist :)

 

Thanks much for the link...I was able to download the dailies...

 

Appreciate it :D

[FF Woman]

Took a tour of a coffee/Cocoa/Mahogany plantation in Trujillo. We were the first group to ever tour this place, so they were testing it out on us and we felt like we received extra good service. It is 390 Acres that American purchased 25 years ago to provide jobs for the people there. Seems to be working out well.

 

This is the first I've heard of this tour. Is it offered by NCL or did you book it from a local? It sounds like it might be interesting.

 

Also, I've heard there is a public beach at the port. Are there chairs and any shade there?

 

Thanks for the information. We're on the Jewel in January and I imagine things will have changed even more by then.

[fer10]

Here are the dailies.

 

Link

Thanks

[ahaught]

Here are the dailies.

 

Link

 

Thanks for getting those back up.

 

Hi The Mister,

 

I didn't think it was wrong nor against forum rules to post and scan dailies...have seen dailies from other sailings all over cruise critic :confused:

 

Thanks for trying :)

 

 

I reposted the dailies on another thread with the original title using the new link. Someone in the other thread didn't like the site I used to host the files and reported the post to an admin. Instead of breaking that link, they just deleted the thread. Sorry for the confusion.

 

New forum thread link:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44496691#post44496691

[The Mister]

Instead of breaking that link, they just deleted the thread. Sorry for the confusion.

But they broke the link first, which seemed to be a good fix, since my replacement link worked fine. I don't understand the need to delete the thread *after* the problem was fixed.

 

I should probably just let it go, let it goooooo... make some great big piles of snoooow...

Edited October 21, 2014 by The Mister

[txhomeschoolmom]

I should probably just let it go, let it goooooo... make some great big piles of snoooow...

 

here I stand and here I'll stay :D

 

Couldn't resist :)

 

I'm with you though... Not sure why the thread had to be deleted :confused:

 

Oh well... Like you said... Drum roll please...

 

I'll... Let it go... Let it go :D

[2Ccruisers]

How's parking?

 

 

As far as parking, I have some pics from when DH and I cruised out of Bayport in January of this year. The picture of the parking lot taken from the ship only shows about 1/4 of the lot. There was plenty of parking for all. You can also see in these that the terminal kind of out there alone, of course it may have changed some in the last 10 months. We loved it, parking was easy (FYI Disabled Vets park free) and embarkation was a breeze. Just thought this may help a little if anyone wanted to see the terminal. :)

Edited October 21, 2014 by 2Ccruisers

[2Ccruisers]

Couple more that you can see the terminal in. :)

[namklov]

Can anyone tell me how much a spa pass costs for a week on the Jewel for western Caribbean cruise? Any quiet locations to relax and read on deck? Were you able to leave carry on luggage in room upon boarding?how was entertainment? Thanks in advance for responses. Thanks to all for info already provided about the jewel and The new port.

Edited October 22, 2014 by namklov
More ?

[Mekamax]

Love to hear more about the Coco/Mahogany tour in Trujillo too. Thanks for all info. Love the Houston port as we went in and out of there last year on Princess. Can't wait to sail on NCL again and so glad they are back in Houston after 7 years. They used to go out of the old port. We did just get off a cruise on CCL and we did an independent tour through Coral Breezes in Belize that was a Taste of Belize Tour. I couldn't find but 2 reviews from years ago on it but our friends with us really wanted a good tour of Belize and to taste local foods so we all decided to try it. It was an air conditioned van for 12 and we had 9. A great tour and a great time... Just an idea as I was impressed. :) Good to hear about Goeffs Cay as I want to do that next time. This time was great on a van tour as it rained all day and a lot of tours were canceled.

[fer10]

Does anyone have the daily mdr menus? Would be greatly appreciated

[ranran87]

Thanks first cruisers for all the great info. I am doing this itinerary on January 3rd, and you are helping me immensely!

[Redheel Girl]

We Cruises out of Bayport Oct 18th. I came from Houston by Super Shuttle so I can't give any info about Parking. I arrived about 10:45 and gave my Luggage to the Porters. Went in and got into the line to go through Security. I only had to wait 15 minutes and the line started moving. I was impressed with how friendly the People handling the Passengers were! I was a Suites Passenger so I can't say what the lines were like. I have been o the Jewel twice and she is a very good Ship to sail on. O"Sheehans was fun and Tsar MDR is a very pretty dining venue. Love LeBistro, Cagneys and enjoyed having Breakfast in the Great Outdoors. Appreciated what NCL has done with the Photo area where they just enter your Cabin Card and it brings up all of the Photos that have been taken while you are on board on a Computer Screen. This way you don't have to look through everyone else's Pictures...Did the "Mayan Ruins" in Cozumel and enjoyed it very much. At the end of the Tour we did go to a Beach and there is great place to eat there with very good food (NCL Tour)..Altum Ha Mayan Ruins in Belize.

[tanyaheart]

we arrived just before 10:30 or so.

 

Didn't see anything about the chefs table and we were interested in doing that. i'm kind of regretting we didn't ask about it now. lol

 

trujillo was a FASCINATING experience. being the first ones there- they were beyond excited to have us. I talked to dozens of hondurans because i was so curious of their thoughts. i was told by more than one person that we (being cruisers) were their heroes. one lady who lived there but was actually from Pennsylvania said that they had a very poor economy and very few jobs. when we got on our bus it was surreal- they cancelled the schools that day and the streets were literally lined with people waving and smiling. so many people had their cameras out taking pictures of us. i heard the president of honduras was at the port too. There were multiple tv station crews out filming the whole experience. Definitely a neat experience to be apart of.

 

While i am talking about Trujillo let me tell everyone about our excursion experience. We booked a day at the banana coast resort as i'm not a fan of ship excursions #1 and #2 was scared with this being the first stop there, that they wouldn't be very organized. We loved this place and would definitely go there again. The people i talked to on the ship that went on the ship beach tour didn't seem overly excited about their experience. This was a small sample size as i only talked to a few people but overall that's what i got. Our biggest complaint was no a/c in the school bus we took back and forth from the pier. But a lady i talked to in the casino said the ship buses were the same. the highlight by far of this port was the food at banana beach resort. THE BEST FOOD WE HAD OUR WHOLE CRUISE, including Cagneys and Le Bistro. lol

 

anymore questions- lemme know

 

This is very exciting. We are going to Banana Beach Resort!

[Rudyard]

Can't believe I missed this thread. I was on the same cruise last month as Redheel Girl but am local, so I can fill you in on the parking.

 

First, the parking lot is much bigger than it looks. Right before we sailed I looked out and it was less than half full, plus they are adding another area. There will be more than enough parking for both NCL and Princess at the same time.

 

Whoever designed the parking area did a great job as far as the flow of traffic. When you come in you will take the road that leads straight to the terminal. After dropping off your bags you go back around and have the option of leaving if you're just dropping someone off, or getting in another lane that leads to the parking lot cashier booths.

 

Pay online in advance if you can. People who didn't, had to stop at the booth and the process took a couple of minutes per car to pay. At the same time there was another parking person walking the line of cars, and if you had your receipt they gave you a window hangar so you didn't have to stop at the booth. Overall it wasn't too bad and I was only waiting about five minutes. Once in the lot there were plenty of people giving directions.

 

The lines inside the terminal looked worse than they were. We thought we were going to be waiting forever, but the lines kept moving. For security and check in combined it was maybe a little less than an hour. It really didn't seem like it since we kept moving. We got to the port about 11:30 and were on the ship by 12:30. And our cabin was ready :)

Edited November 14, 2014 by Rudyard

[Toothferry]

Does anyone know if they sell water and wine there or do I need to pick them up somewhere else. WE will be arriving by taxi and it would be nice if we could get them there.

[tanyaheart]

Does anyone know if they sell water and wine there or do I need to pick them up somewhere else. WE will be arriving by taxi and it would be nice if we could get them there.

 

Must get before you get there. Nothing available close to port.

[BayouDoc]

Jewel out of Houston Bayport on 10/25/14.

The port: We drove from about 200miles away and came in from the east on I-10. The drive in was very easy with divided highways and few lights. We arrived about 10:30 AM and it was very easy to hand off the bags to a seacap at the curb of the terminal building and park nearby in the lot. They do not take water or sodas as checked baggage, you must carry these items on. The lot was less than 1/3 full.

 

Security was quick and easy. The employee gave us a boarding number and didn’t know anything about the priority lounge for suites and VIP’s. There was a sign along the left hand wall as you cleared security for the haven and suites lounge. We ignored the employee and went to the suite lounge. The check in was a little bit slow as there were 2 ladies with computers and little cameras to get your credit card and picture and one of them was being trained by the other.

 

The Haven and suites lounge area is very nice with finger sandwiches, OJ, coffee, etc. The concierge was John DeSousa and he appeared in the lounge and made a general announcement that boarding would be delayed because the CDC needed to clear the ship. Our 2 prior embarkations the concierges took the time before boarding to introduce themselves and help us with dinner reservations, chef’s table, special requests or whatever. He didn’t do this in the embarkation lounge but did touch base with us later that day after we sailed. It was about 12:30 when we were herded as one big group out of the lounge and to the boarding gangway. The 2nd general boarding group was already boarding and we were separated from the rest of the suites group in the crush of people in the general boarding. It was a very unenhanced boarding.

I went to put some of the diet coke we laboriously carted onto the ship into our refrigerator and found the refrigerator had a paper seal across it preventing use. This remained in place until around noon the next day. Likewise the amenity bottle of liquor we paid for was not available until the next day. Texas law requires any alcoholic beverages sold in Texas waters must be purchased in Texas and appropriate state taxes paid. I wish Norwegian would find a system where amenities, drinks, wine etc., could be purchased and state sales tax paid. This system they have seems to be convenient for the cruise line, not the passengers. At supper there was a very limited wine list available and the bars were likewise limited in the brands of liquor and beer sold.

The disembarkation was better than the embarkation, but not great. The easy walk off (people who carry all their own luggage) go first. These people were still getting off the ship when the priority disembarkation group was escorted off. They temporarily stopped the line for us and then resumed it. There were a large number of people going through customs but they had a lot of lines so it took about 5 minutes to get through. Just past customs there were a couple of guys who reminded me of pan-handlers who were asking people if they had any liquor to declare for Texas taxes. It seemed like everyone just ignored them and walked by. The seacaps are only allowed to take the luggage to the curb for pick-up, they are not allowed to take them to your cab or car. I think they should change this. I was able to retrieve my car and drive to the curb and pick up my luggage (and DW) without any problem and very little traffic. This may have been an advantage to the “enhanced disembarkation.” There was road work on the entrance ramp to the highway so we had to detour about 2 miles south to get on the road to go back north. Traffic was light and this was very easy.

[CruiseDirections]

Thanks for all the info.

[deb63]

For whatever reason - the quote button isn't working for me - I wanted to

say thank you for this information

 

"Security was quick and easy. The employee gave us a boarding number and didn’t know anything about the priority lounge for suites and VIP’s. There was a sign along the left hand wall as you cleared security for the haven and suites lounge. We ignored the employee and went to the suite lounge. The check in was a little bit slow as there were 2 ladies with computers and little cameras to get your credit card and picture and one of them was being trained by the other."

 

This is good to know. I know each port we have gone out of, the Suite passenger area has been different - some hard to find even.

 

 

We drove down to the port yesterday, just to make sure we knew exactly where it was (before our cruise this weekend). We were there about noon and ran into a nice bit of traffice from the Princess Cruisers, as well as a detour on Port Road. It looks like the Princess ship was delayed - sailing out today instead of yesterday, due to weather.

 

 

Anyhow, I was looking for this thread wondering if there are any other updates on how embarking, disembarking, etc is going. We are still working on what time we want to head down to the port.

[Susie51]

Thank you for updates. I sail on November 29th and this thread is very helpful.