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The “He Said”, “She Said” NCL Jewel Garden Villa 11/22/14 Review

WildcatRock

By WildcatRock,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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WildcatRock

WildcatRock

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We recently completed a cruise on the Jewel and thought it would be unique, refreshing, and frankly, down right interesting to do a review from two different perspectives: that of the Dear Hubby – Wildcatrock (aka “He Said”), and Dear Wifey - Realcindylouwho (aka “She Said”). This was a BIG cruise for us, had some really interesting happenings, and frankly, one person’s perspective won’t do justice to the experience we had. So, before the He Said/She Said debate begins, let’s start with a little background.

 

Background:

 

Wildcatrock began the cruise in his late 40’s (very late that is), and finished it in his early 50’s (very early that is). Realcindylouwho began, and finished the cruise in her late 40’s. Also along for the ride were our two sons who will be known as “Credit” and “Debit”. “Credit” is 22 and earned his name as he is a senior at Kansas State University and, thanks to an Army ROTC scholarship and other scholarships, hasn’t cost us a penny for his college. “Debit” is 18 and earned his name as…..well…he’s a senior in high school, living at home, and will be going to Kansas State University in the Air Force ROTC program…but he’s still costing us money…thus he is known as “Debit” in our family. The final two family participants in this adventure were Judy, age 72 (Wildcatrock’s wonderful, beautiful mother-in-law)MinL, and Bill, age 75, (the easily confused, never-wrong, but “great-guy” step-father-in-law)DSFinL.

 

A little further background on Judy and Bill – this was their 2nd cruise. Their first cruise was an Alaskan cruise on Royal Caribbean that frankly…..sucked. It had nothing to do with Royal Caribbean; rather, Bill got seasick then came down with norovirus. As a result, they had the pleasure of spending the last couple days of their cruise quarantined in their cabin. To top their first cruise experience off, when their ship got back to Seattle, their tour group forgot about them, and the ship’s crew forgot about them. So Judy and Bill hurried off the ship, grabbed a taxi, the taxi blew a tire on the way to the airport, they finally arrived at the airport, and…..they missed their flight. They finally arrived at the KC airport 12 hours later. Yea!! What a great time!! We asked them a few weeks later if they’d ever cruise again and their response……NO WAY!!! So…what did we do??....We invited them on this cruise!!

 

Some more background on us: We began cruising in 2009, on NCL, and have only cruised on NCL. Nothing against any other cruise line, but we’re creatures of habit and comfort, and frankly, haven’t had any reason or interest, yet, in trying any other cruise lines. Our first cruise was in an AFT Suite, loved it, loved the suite life, and have only cruised in suites…so far. On our second cruise in 2010, Debit and Credit joined us. The Monday before the cruise we received a wonderful call from the “Up-Sale Fairy” offering us an incredible deal on a Garden Villa (GV)…..which we promptly snapped up. This was back in the day when NCL would offer up-sales into the GV….. until just a few years ago when some not-smart-person who had bagged a great deal on a GV, via the Up-Sale Fairy, bragged to the poor schmuck who had paid full price on the other GV on the same cruise about the great deal they had received from the “Up-Sale Fairy”. Well, Mr. Poor-Schmuck complained to NCL and suddenly the Garden Villa, Up-Sale Fairy, phone calls disappeared. Thanks Mr. or Mrs. Not-smart-person for the ruining the fun for everyone.

 

As creatures of habit and comfort, we’ve been to the same ports-of-call several times. Why?? Because we love the relaxation and overall experience one finds with cruising – you know, turning the cell phone off and disconnecting from the “real world”. We love the view and sound of the wake from an aft room, we love the ocean, we love being on the ocean….we….well, you get the point.

 

It should also be noted that the first time Credit and Debit sailed they were in the GV….the second time they sailed…on this cruise….they were in the GV. Yes, they have a somewhat warped sense of cruising reality.

 

We love the “smaller” ships as we’ve sailed on the Pearl, Star, and now the Jewel. We have decided though to make the jump to the bigger ships and have booked the Getaway for next year. But, that’s next year…..let’s talk about the cruise we just had, this year……

 

Point of order – this will be a lengthy review so our plan is to try and post our adventure one day at a time, and will try and post a new day on Cruise Critic every day or so.

 

Day One (Friday the 21st) – The Journey to the Freaking Huge Megopolis known as Houston

 

He Said:

 

I spent A LOT of time the months before the cruise planning everything out….the transportation to and from the airports, the hotel, the excursions, etc. And let me say…I did an absolutely flawless job. Our flight on Friday, November 21st left KCI (Kansas City International Airport….I’ve never understood why it’s called an International Airport when the largest air carrier is Southwest Airlines) at 8:40 am. Due to the earlier flight, with 6 people, and multiple pieces of luggage, I thought it would be a good idea to hire a transportation company to pick us up in a van at 6:15 am and take us to the airport. Per my planning, the transportation company picked us up a little early at 6:00 am. We somehow squeezed 6 people and what seemed like 100 pieces of luggage into the just-barely-big enough van. We got to KCI easily and had the pleasure of joining 100’s of our closest friends in the line to check our luggage in. After a not-too-long wait we got checked in, got through the gauntlet known as the KCI TSA, and got on our non-stop flight to Houston Hobby.

 

For those cruisers who have booked, or are thinking of booking a cruise on the Jewel out of Houston remember this……….Houston is a freaking LARGE city!! Oh, and this freaking large city has a poor transportation system – i.e., not a lot of taxi’s for a city of Houston’s size. We had booked two rooms at the Homestead Suites in Clear Lake (more on that in a little bit), and looked at the cost of taking 2 taxis to the hotel from Hobby. Wow, no way, not gonna do that – it was going to be expensive. After realizing this a few months before the cruise, we called NCL to see if they had any suggestions. They gave us the name of the transportation company NCL uses for transfers. We ended up booking a van at the cost of $130 to take us from Hobby to our hotel. And yes, this was going to be cheaper than taking two taxis.

 

My plan for the day in Houston before the cruise was that I would take Credit and Debit to the Johnson Space Center while DW, Judy, and Bill chilled out at the hotel. Let me interject that my plan was for me and the boys to walk the short two miles to the Space Center. Yes, I am a moron.

 

About a week before the cruise, DW told me that Judy wanted to go shopping. Shopping?? On a vacation?? In freaking Houston?? Seriously?? Who does that?? That was not part of my incredibly well organized plan….but it was now. So, DW had the idea of cancelling our van reservation and booking two cars for the day in Houston. The boys and I could use one car and go to the Space Center while DW and Judy could take the other car and go shopping. Bill would be relegated to staying at the hotel. We looked into the cost and realized we could save a lot of money by doing this, and the big awesome part of this was that the car rental company had an office just a block from our hotel. So, we could rent the cars for the day, then on Saturday, before we left for the port, we could drop the cars off at the office just a block from the hotel (we’d walk back to the hotel). Great idea Wifey!! Wifey shared this news with Judy who was excited she got to go shopping. Bill, finding this out, then said he wanted to go shopping too (yes, he received several deductions in his “man-card” for this). My thought – Ha! You’re taking Bill shopping with you….priceless. So, we booked our transportation.

 

The flight was non-eventful and we arrived at Hobby…wet and rainy Hobby. We grabbed our luggage and headed to the car rental company. We got our two cars, loaded them up, and headed out. A couple comments here: First, I know it’s usually not smart to take out the liability waiver on a car rental, but I insisted we get this on our two car rentals. And I’m glad we did. As mentioned above it was wet and rainy when we got to Houston. If you’ve never been to Houston let me describe the traffic like this…….it’s horrendous!!! So, let me see, do I want the liability waiver?? Freaking huge Houston…horrible traffic…wet and rainy weather….and DW is a magnet for other cars whenever she’s driving. Uh yeah, duh….we’re getting the liability waiver. Second point, don’t make things sound hard and stressful about driving in Houston or your DW will make the step-dad ride with you. I love Bill, I really do, but man, take a “chill-pill”. I know, it’s a Dodge Charger, they’re hard to get in to. Yeah, I know, it’s freaking raining. Yeah, I know, there’s a lot of traffic. Yeah, I know, everybody’s driving fast. Yeah, I know Cindy and Judy never know where they’re going. Yeah, I know where I’m going (thank you Google Maps). OMG.

 

We made it to the Homestead Suites in Clear Lake. Very uneventfully I will add. We were able to check into our rooms early (at 12:30 pm). And headed out for a quick bite a Chipotle. Afterwards, the boys and I headed to the Johnson Space Center, and the ladies…and Bill…headed out shopping. I’ve been to the Johnson Space Center a couple times before, and it was great taking the boys there. Debit is considering going into the space program in his Air Force career so I wanted him to see and experience the history at the Johnson Space Center. If you’ve never been there, I highly recommend you going. Simply put, what mankind can accomplish is out of this world. It fills you with immense pride, and a sense of amazement and wonder.

 

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That's Debit on the left, wildcatrock, and Credit on the right

 

We had a great time and headed back to the hotel. Dinner that night was leftover Chipotle and Sonic. Yummy. Our day in Houston concluded with early bed times and our minds filled with wonderful thoughts of seeing the Norwegian Jewel in the morning.

 

She Said:

 

Although I am very wordy in person, I will try hard not to be so wordy in this review!

 

I have to second nearly everything my DH said above. Yes, the van that picked us up at home was completely packed tight on the way to the airport. But it was far less costly than driving and parking two vehicles at the airport. Secondly, there were television vans at the airport when we arrived. Hmmm, wonder why? Maybe someone famous was flying into town? No, as it turns out this was the BUSIEST travel day in the past seven years at our airport. Sweet heavenly father, look at the line! However, Southwest was completely prepared for all of us and the lines moved quickly. I sat with DM and DSFinL on the plane. I didn’t get any of my book read in flight as I was trying to teach DM how to play Scrabble on my IPod, with little success.

 

Stress. This is what I experienced driving an unfamiliar-to-me car, in the rain, in an unknown city with fast traffic, road lane reductions due to ongoing repairs and construction (come on Texas Road Authority, give us a little warning in advance that 5 lanes will become 2 in just under 20 feet!) headed to a hotel where I don’t know if they will let us check in early or make us wait around. However, we arrived safely, rooms were ready, ate lunch, went to the mall and back, ate supper, lounged around and went to bed.

 

Success! Look at how few words I used. I get the gold star for the day. But be forewarned…Embarkation day is approaching!

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medicalma'am

medicalma'am

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I agree, you two crack me up! I grew u[ in Clear Lake City and Dad worked for NASA. So I am laughing as I try to picture walking from the Homewood Suites to Space Center Houston! Glad "Wifey" had the brilliant idea to rent cars.

 

Waiting for more...

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WildcatRock

WildcatRock

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Day Two (Saturday the 22nd) – Embarkation Day

 

So, a little additional background regarding why we sprung for the Garden Villa. As we mentioned in our Day One post – this is our second time in the GV. The first time thanks to the Up-sale Fairy. For this cruise, thanks to Mr. or Mrs. Not-so-smart, we had to pay full price. We did so as this was a special cruise for us: first, Wifey and I were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary (the actual date was July 1, but we extended the celebration to this cruise); second, I turned 50 on this cruise….yes, that’s right, I turned 50. And as Molly Shannon said on Saturday Night Live…”I can kick, and I can stretch…cuz I’m 50!!”. Well not really, I’m a dude with tight hamstrings so I can’t really do both…but you get the point. The third reason we got the GV was for our boys, for their graduation presents (they both graduate in May, 2015) – Credit from college, and Debit from high school. Also, this was probably our last family vacation for a while as, after graduation and commissioning, Credit is going to Armor School to become and Abrahams tanks commander. So we have no idea where he’ll be next summer or this time next year. Plus, with Debit going into Air Force ROTC, we just don’t know what his schedule will be like. So, we treated this like our family’s last family vacation for a while. And yes, by the way, Wifey and I are incredibly proud of our boys for wanting to serve their country (there was no parental influence here – they decided on their own). So, did we get the GV in part to celebrate our sons….you’re damn right we did!

 

The last reason for the GV was to give Judy and Bill a chance to have an amazing cruising experience. Given the experience of their first cruise, we wanted them to see what a great cruise is like. Also, Judy was a single parent who raised 3 kids on her own, had a tough life, was on government assistance with 3 young kids, and worked multiple jobs to support her kids. She also watched Credit and Debit for Wifey and I over the years so we could go on vacations. I wanted her, for a week, to be treated like a Queen. And oh how did NCL deliver. Here’s how we did the GV, we booked it 709 days out from the cruise, then saved for it. It was hard, but we did it, and are glad we did.

 

One final note before we get to Embarkation Day – this He Said/She Said is going to get interesting as we get into each day as, although it was just a couple weeks ago, the days are getting foggy for me. Maybe the Jack Daniel’s has something to do with that, but I think it’s the fact I’m 50. Wifey will tell you though that my memory started going out on me when I was 24. Frankly, I’m looking forward to the She Said part of this review later in the week so I know what the heck went on.

 

So, let’s move on to Embarkation Day.

 

Embarkation Day

 

He Said:

 

I’d like to start off with some comments about the Homewood Suites and the Clear Lake area. Loved both. The rooms at the Homewood Suites are nice, very nice. I was very pleased with the hotel, the incredibly nice staff, and the quality of the hotel. I highly recommend to anyone who needs a place to stay the night before the cruise. Clear Lake is a nice area. There are a lot of restaurants and shops in the area, and a really nice mall just a half mile to the west. I say “nice mall”, that’s not me saying that, that’s wifey – my “Man Card” prevents me from ever making any comments about a shopping mall.

 

We had a 9 am commitment time to get the cars back to Budget car rental, and the transfer company was coming at 10 am to pick us up to take us to the airport. So, after a horrible night of sleep caused by the anticipation of getting on the ship (I never sleep well the night before a cruise – I’m too darn excited), wifey and I got up, ate a minimal breakfast in the lobby, and drove our two cars to Budget. We dropped them off and started our walk back to the hotel that was literally across a high way. A couple observations as we tried to cross this highway to get to our hotel that was literally a 3-iron golf shot away…..ok, for me it was probably a 3-iron, 5-iron, and pitching wedge, but you get the point….we were close. Observations: first, the Houston as the longest traffic lights I’ve ever encountered. And when I say long, I mean loooooooooonnng. We stood there for literally 10 minutes waiting for the cross-walk signal. Wifey finally said the heck with it and crossed when there wasn’t any traffic. I being the good husband said “Yes mum” and I followed quickly behind her. Lastly, where in the heck does everyone go on the weekend? All of the HORRENDOUS traffic we saw the day before had disappeared….now the traffic looked….dare I say it….normal.

 

 

You’ll recall in our comments in the Day One post that NCL had given us the name of the transfer company they use, and we had reserved, then cancelled, that transfer company from picking us up at Houston Hobby. We did, however, also use this transfer company to take us from the hotel to the port, and they were awesome. They arrived right at the reserved time of 10 am with a BIG SUV and easily got us, and our entire luggage, quickly and easily loaded. Them we headed off to the port.

 

I know, I’m a guy, which means we sometimes overstate the facts. But let me say, the Port of Houston is literally out in the middle of freaking nowhere. Yeah, sure, there are A LOT of commercial industries around it, but it’s not like Miami, Lauderdale, New Orleans, etc., where there’s some human civilization present. I’m talking the port is out in the middle of nowhere. We left the hotel for what I thought would be a short 15 minute drive. Nay, nay, it was not a short 15 minute drive. It was probably more like 25 minutes – not bad, except I felt like I was driving through western Kansas looking for a cruise port.

 

Alas, after much time, our wagon train finally arrived at the new frontier…..sorry….after about 25 minutes we saw the Jewel. And oh what a great site she was. Embarkation Day was clouded, cool, and dreary, but seeing the Jewel helped warm us up. Our driver got us to the port, dropped us off, gave our luggage to a porter, and we made our way to the front door. Easy. A little aside – Wifey and I have only ever cruised out of two ports: Miami and New Orleans. Miami is a piece of cake, New Orleans was a little tougher. Port of Houston? BIG piece of cake. You walk through the front doors, go through security. Then, if you’re in a suite, once past security, you go to the left – can’t miss the room as there’s a sign for VIP/Suite check-in and a person holding a clip board. Or, if you’re not in a suite, you just go to the right where multiple people wait to check you in.

 

We went to the VIP/Suite check in and were quickly checked in. We then went into the VIP/Suite lounge to wait meeting the Concierge (Florentina), and our Butler (Romand). One of the best parts of cruising for us is making new friends, and we were blessed to meet Mike and Kay from Wichita in the VIP lounge. What a wonderful couple they were. They had a horrible trip to Houston the day before – they were flying out of Wichita on Friday, but the airport closed due to fog. So they hopped on a Grey Hound bus and 12 hours later, arrived in Houston. They got into town around 8 am on Saturday. Boy were they tired. But, they had made it. After talking to them for a jiffy Florentina, the Concierge, told us our Butler, Roland, would be by soon to meet us and take us on the ship. Just shortly after 11:30 am Roland arrived, introduced himself to us, and walked us on to the ship.

 

Our first course of business was to do lunch in Moderno. My usual first day lunch is to have the salmon appetizer, followed by the Turkey Burger, then rounded out with Carrot Cake. The salmon was awesome, they brought me a hamburger instead of the turkey burger (no biggie, I roll with the flow), and then I had the awesome Carrot Cake. Man do I love NCL’s Carrot Cake.

 

After lunch we went to the Garden Villa. We were staying in 14000 and Roland took us up to it. Upon entering it, to put it mildly, Judy and Bill were overwhelmed with the size and beauty of it. Keep in mind, we had booked this cruise 709 days out. So we had a lot of time to give Judy and Bill all kinds of info on the GV. It doesn’t matter how much info you give someone, nothing you give them to read can ever compare to seeing it firsthand. And boy were Judy and Bill blown away….awesome. We then walked them through The Haven. Afterwards, we walked them around the ship so they could start learning the layout of the ship and all there was available to do. At 3:00 pm we did the life boat drill. Yeah ! What fun that is.

 

The Sudden Turn Right:

 

It was cold, windy, and a little rainy, so after the life boat drill we went up the GV for sail away. The 6 of us partied up on our private sun deck for sail away, listening to the music from the band on the pool deck. After a while we got cold and went into the Villa. The boys and I were standing by the front windows in the Villa, overlooking the pool deck when all of a sudden….the Jewel turned sharply starboard (to the right)….and I mean sharply. As soon as the Jewel turns, and we catch our balance, we see a small freighter pass to our port (left) really close to the Jewel. Let me emphasize again, it passed really close to the Jewel. From our vantage point, it looked like there was maybe 10 ft between the ships. Everyone outside on Deck 13 ran to port to see the freighter.

 

We actually learned a day later, in the Meet and Greet , that the Jewel was one of the last ships out of the Port of Houston. The Hotel Director said had the Jewel been delayed much later than our 4 pm scheduled departure that we wouldn’t have gotten out of port. The Port Authority has a maximum allowed wind speed of 35 mph, and the winds were pushing that limit. Plus, visibility was falling quickly. I assume the fog and winds contributed to what I consider to be a near-miss, but isn’t that what radar is for?? No big deal. No collision happened and we had alcohol in the Villa to drink to calm our nerves. Or did we?

 

Don’t get me wrong - I love Texas. It’s a wonderful state. Heck, if we didn’t have Texas then…..Oklahoma would be a Gulf state. But, to be honest, your liquor laws SUCK. One of the perks of staying the GV is that you get 6 bottles of alcohol. And you can order this alcohol your first day in the GV………….unless you sail out of Texas. Texas, apparently, has some goofy, some would say…STUPID….liquor laws. These wonderful liquor laws mean, if you’re in the GV, you don’t get your liquor until your sea day the next day. And, we got our liquor LATE afternoon on Sunday (our sea day). So this meant we had one less day to consume all 6 bottles of liquor. Included in the 6 bottles of liquor were 2 bottles of Jack Daniels’s (in our house this is called “daddy’s milk). So, thanks to the weird Texas liquor laws, we only had 6 days to drink ALL of this alcohol (including the two bottles of Jack Daniel’s)….and all I can say is…..mission accomplished.

 

We had dinner Saturday night at Cagney’s, which was awesomely good, and then caught the “A taste of things to Come” show at Stardust. Which was good. Afterwards, since we didn’t have any alcohol in the GV yet, we hit Bar City and became friends with Kumar – what an awesome bartender. I think we finished the night after spending some time at Bar City….but I wouldn’t know. Wifey will have to tell us what else we did.

 

Before I turn this over to Wifey, a few comments about Judy and Bill. To say they were overwhelmed with the Jewel is an understatement. They were, frankly, overwhelmed by the GV, and by the Jewel. I can understand how overwhelming it can be for someone to be not only in the GV, but also on a new ship. Wifey, I’m sure, will have more info on this experience for Embarkation Day, but also for the rest of the cruise. But let me say this……..it seemed at times as if we had 4 kids on our cruise – Credit, Debit, Judy, and Bill. And before I sign off, I’ll leave you with this little teaser………”No Judy, the Jewel doesn’t have Wonkavators (elevators that go diagonally or horizontally). The Jewel’s elevators only go up and down”.

 

She Said:

 

Sigh. So many points to disagree with from the DH. Where shall I begin?

 

First though I shall agree. Homewood Suites in Clear Lake is a wonderful place to stay for a pre or post cruise night. I am a clean freak. If there is any kind of questionable debris pushed up into the corners of the bathrooms floors I turn up my nose. This comes from being raised by DM who taught me how to clean a bathroom until a Q Tip passed over the trim-board in the corners stays perfectly unblemished. I carried this on into my adulthood. This is the standard by which I judge all hotels or condos we stay in. The Homewood Suites is clean!!! Also, I have great difficulty sleeping and having lights, noises or an uncomfortable bed and pillows make it nearly impossible for me to sleep. Perfectly dark, extremely quiet and perfect for me bed and pillows. Also great room temperature control. Two big thumbs up for our choice in the two bedroom suite there. We had DM and DSFinL stay in their own suite. A separated family is a happy family.

 

Now the She Said side of the arrival an embarkation story. We wove through all types of neighborhoods getting to the port. Shopping, office type and single/multi-family neighborhoods. Then the long roads to the port. It was a dreary day. Chilly, the wind was picking up and visibility was reduced due to a foggy haziness in the air. What an easy port to arrive at, walk through security through and complete the check-in process. If you are carrying wine onboard, once through security you will make a half turn to your right and someone will be at a table to look at your wine, put a sticker on each one, take your name and stateroom number and then you will be charged $15 later in the cruise for each 750 ml bottle, no matter where you consume it during your cruise. Don’t think if you drink it in your cabin there will be no charge. Once you hit the table you will either be directed to the left or the right. Left is for the VIP/suite cruisers. Your photos, credit card info etc. will be taken care of here. Next we walked into the lounge area and there were beverages and snacks available to partake in. Florentina our concierge introduced herself to us and gave us a form to select our specialty restaurants, date, time and number of guests. I really just wanted to “Freestyle” it. She strongly suggested we make reservations as it was Thanksgiving week and if we wanted Teppanyaki especially, to make our choice. She checked and they were down to just one day with two times for our party of six. So, I cannot stress enough, please either make your reservations before boarding or if you are using your OBC to make the Teppanyaki reservation as soon as you get onboard. I don’t want anyone to be disappointed. The bottles for the suite menu arrived and we needed to select 6. Of course Jack Daniels is NOT on the list but Florentina made it happen. Also, I wanted Captain Morgan Spiced Rum which was also NOT on the list, and it happened as well. This did not appear in our cabin until mid to late afternoon on the next day. So if you have pre-ordered a bottle for your cabin, please be aware that it will not be waiting for you due to NCL/Texas liquor/tax laws. Don’t know who is blaming who on this procedure but it really sucks if you didn’t know about it beforehand. We carried 5 bottles of wine on with us. I primarily drink wine. I was happy! There is also a limited alcohol menu available for all cruisers until later in the evening due to the NCL procedure. Oh, don’t think you can’t drink. You certainly can. But if you want a specialty mojito, like the Cucumber Basil Mojito, you can’t get it. You can order a basic Mojito and be happy with it.

 

Getting to our Garden Villa from the port building. Florentina announced we could all board together. Our group of six was not prepared to quickly jump up and follow. May I say now that my DSFinL (Dear Step Father for me Dear Step Father-in-Law for my hubby) doesn’t get around very quickly. He was diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis in May and has a short time with us due to his illness. He also has had some issues with his back causing leg pain. Also, they brought six bags on this trip SIX BAGS!!!! One that was large and FIVE SMALL BAGS THE SIZE OF GYM TOTEBAGS. Seriously? Of course three had to be with them at all times. So by the time we were ready to embark, I had drilled into them to count their bags before they moved anywhere. One. Two. Three. Bill. Judy. My own carryon. My husband. His bag. Debit. His backpack. Credit. His backpack. How many children do I have Two? NO FIVE! I have five children to keep track of and their possessions as well. Lord, when I get on the ship, I am opening a bottle of that wine. Pouring it into my thermal Silver Dollar City insulted mug and chugging it. I’m telling my non-drinking DM that it is water and she will be none the wiser. Florentina saw I was getting a little stressed and said we could board a bit later with our butler Roland taking us directly to the suite. THANK YOU FLORENTINA. Yes, she is also a first born and she immediately knew that I was also. We are the ones who take charge of everything, lead the mission and clean up the messes left behind. God bless Florentina!

 

Roland met us and we followed the masses up the walkway to the ship. Yes, I said followed the masses. I was certain he would whip out a special card and walk us past the hordes of people in front of us. This did not happen. However, I was glad we didn’t bypass anyone as Roland and I had a nice talk about suite passengers and butlers. I explained how we weren’t going to be guests that would like him to constantly be at our beck and call. I also didn’t expect him to unpack our suitcases. A look came over his face that was troublesome. He told me about the number of suites he takes care of daily, about his responsibilities, the demands. He wants to be the best butler he can be but the amount of work that has been put on the butlers has grown and grown. This made me feel bad and it also validated my personal opinion that the butler level of service has declined since our first suite cruise in 2009. Please understand that I’m no professional butler service judging board member, but this is my own experience. Roland pulled out the special card and UP the elevator we went to the GV.

 

Yes, Mom and Bill were overwhelmed. But they would always smile and nod their heads yes to all of the information we were giving them. They asked few questions. I thought they knew exactly what I was telling them because 1). I’m a perfect giver of information (hehe, not) and 2). They have a map in hand and there are signs all over the ship giving information and I know they can read. But in truth, they were outrageously overwhelmed, in information overload and probably tired from the traveling. As DH has said above, more on that later…..

 

Because of the NCL/Texas laws (again I don’t know who is to blame here) Bill was unable to order a non-alcoholic beer at Moderno for lunch after we boarded. I ordered three appetizers and the berries for dessert. I sampled Debit’s Brownie which was absolutely the best! It was made with butter and REAL chocolate. Now I know my chocolate and in the past, NCL’s chocolate has been bad. Supremely bad. Like Palmer’s Easter Egg chocolate bad. This dessert, please find it. Eat it. So good. Maybe NCL’s chocolate has improved across the board?

 

Sail –away was on our front sundeck overlooking the pool decks 12-13. It was damp, chilly, and breezy. Visibility was reducing, reducing, reducing. We had read about the Port of Houston having delays due to the fog. Well, I think it was coming for us. Thankfully we did start moving and it was so exciting beginning this cruise, finally! My Mom and Bill lasted a short while outside with us. The conditions were not good for Bill to be outside and they went back to grow their confusion in their cabin unpacking or doing other things. We drank, danced around, took pictures and hugged as the 709 day journey was behind us and now we could relax and enjoy. Or maybe not.

 

Yes, it does seem we almost hit a freighter while sailing out of the causeway. We were so close, if a person were to lean waaaaay over the side and spit, it could have landed on this boat. I never heard the fog horn sound either. After this happened we all ran around in the suite, hyper-excited about the near-miss, saying we could have just died like on the Titanic. We excite easily.

 

Yes, all six of us ate at Cagney’s. No, we DID NOT go to the show that night. My Mom and Bill went to the show. I’m not certain what we did after dinner but we did end up at Malting’s Bar and I met Kumar for the first time. Kent, Debit and Credit had been there multiple times already, so Kumar was already acquainted with Princess Cindy by their descriptions of me. I had a White Chocolate Martini. Not the best by far. The best was made by Frisco on the Pearl last year. This WCM was ok. Kind of watery, not the icy milky creamy drink I’m accustomed to. We spent the evening talking to a couple who actually had more to drink than Kent did that first night.

 

May I describe the wind we experienced on this cruise. By gosh, it was windy! Being in the Garden Villa, you get relative quietness from other cruise passengers. However, the entire suite itself makes noise. Lots of noise. Squeaking, shifting, watery, drainage, sliding, grinding kinds of noises. I don’t know where they come from but the sounds are above, below and to the sides of you at all times. Add in rough seas, (the t.v. said) 11.5 ft and winds at 62.5 mph and the Garden Villa was a noisy as a cafeteria in a large high school. The ship was not happy and the sounds it was making all night long didn’t provide us with a good night’s sleep. I referenced earlier about my sleep difficulties, and I will talk about the Bliss bed later in our review.

 

I’ll be the kind, loving and forgiving DW and wrap this up without pointing out the other 7-8 discrepancies that DH made in his He Said part of today’s review…I was rushing to get this completed by 2 p.m. and I am way past that time. I didn’t edit anything I typed, so please excuse my poor sentence structure and misspellings!

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ricruise

ricruise

Posted
Posted

really enjoying it!

 

Could you please let me know if the Texas liquor laws mean they don;t serve any alcohol until the ship is at sea or just that the suites dont receive their bottles?

 

Any info on the casino?

 

Thanks

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jmele999

jmele999

Posted
Posted
really enjoying it!

 

Could you please let me know if the Texas liquor laws mean they don;t serve any alcohol until the ship is at sea or just that the suites dont receive their bottles?

 

Any info on the casino?

 

Thanks

 

They do serve alcohol, but only a from a limited menu.

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albertamom

albertamom

Posted
Posted

I am truly loving your review! What a clever idea! :)

 

I have heard so many lovely things about Florentina. Did it possibly come up in your conversations with her how long she'll be on the Jewel? We sail in the Haven in February, and would be thrilled to have her as our concierge.

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realcindylouwho

realcindylouwho

Posted
Posted (edited)
really enjoying it!

 

Could you please let me know if the Texas liquor laws mean they don;t serve any alcohol until the ship is at sea or just that the suites dont receive their bottles?

 

Any info on the casino?

 

Thanks

jmele999 answered your question well. Yes, alcohol is served from the limited menu at all bars that are open at embarkation. Now that I think about it, I wonder if you board and purchase the wine package if NCL would give you your wine then, or would you have to wait until the next day for that as well? Any answers out there?

 

As for the casino, we walked through it numerous times but never ended up playing. We aren't gamblers at home (except DH's twice weekly lottery purchases) so it isn't a big draw for us on the ships. Of course Debit was excited to see the key game and was certain he could win on it. After walking by a few days and seeing only one gift had been won, he deemed it and wisely so, a rip-off! It is fun to watch people playing though!

Edited by realcindylouwho
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realcindylouwho

realcindylouwho

Posted
Posted
I am truly loving your review! What a clever idea! :)

 

I have heard so many lovely things about Florentina. Did it possibly come up in your conversations with her how long she'll be on the Jewel? We sail in the Haven in February, and would be thrilled to have her as our concierge.

 

Oh no! This may be another "He said, She said" moment! She has twin sons that are now six years old and she has newly returned to NCL. I believe she will be on the Jewel for at least 8 months. This makes it a strong possibility that she will be on the Jewel in February. I'm not certain if they get any little break or two during their contract.

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