Norwegian Jewel live 1/5/18 - 1/21/18

[andlep]

Rain and drizzle in Auckland today. Another port that has uber which came in handy for us to avoid walking in the rain.

 

Lunch today was German themed at the garden cafe. The pick of the food was the roasted pork loin. Very tender and tasty.

 

This will be my last post till Sunday as I will not have internet.

 

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[karoo]

Thanks for your interesting and helpful info- enjoy your remaining Sea Days.

 

 

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[andlep]

Daily day 15

 

 

Daily day 16

[karoo]

I hope you had a wonderful cruise. Last year on the Star I did a Singapore to Australia itinerary and Auckland to Singapore. On both cruises they had an Aussie and a NZ themed buffet. I loved the food - it also brought up the controversy of who invented the pavlova. Did they have an Aussie and a New Zealand buffet night? Hoping they do on my cruise leaving Jan 31st. I don’t normally do dinner in the buffet, but I did on those nights.

 

 

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[andlep]

The two sea days were spent chilling out. Another show by burn the floor wowed everybody, unfortunately the Billy Joel tribute was not well received.

 

We had dinner at Le Bistro, moderno and la cucina on the last night.

Moderno was great, with tasty meat and great salads. Loved the roasted pineapple. Service as always was great.

 

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[andlep]

I hope you had a wonderful cruise. Last year on the Star I did a Singapore to Australia itinerary and Auckland to Singapore. On both cruises they had an Aussie and a NZ themed buffet. I loved the food - it also brought up the controversy of who invented the pavlova. Did they have an Aussie and a New Zealand buffet night? Hoping they do on my cruise leaving Jan 31st. I don’t normally do dinner in the buffet, but I did on those nights.

 

 

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Thank you karoo, I did have a great cruise.

I didn't notice Australia or NZ theme at the garden cafe.

 

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[andlep]

Debarkation process.

 

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[andlep]

To summarise the cruise now it's all over, I would say it was great. The itinerary was fantastic. We visited all the best ports (except bay of Islands due to weather) New Zealand has to offer.

 

This was our first ncl cruise (Princess and P&O Australia our only other lines to compare to) and loved it. The service was excellent. All crew were happy helpful and efficient. Maybe one or two could be a bit more polite but they certainly were the exception. I also love the freestyle cruising philosophy of ncl and appreciated the smart casual approach to dining.

 

Entertainment was spectacular. Everybody on the ship was raving about the shows and various entertainers on board.

It was also great to see ncl assign a host for the LGBTI and cruising singles groups.

 

Food was a lot better than expected and as long as good choices were made we were assured of a great meal.

 

We had the drinks package and pre bought dinner which made for a great value holiday (considering the bills we tend to rack up every time we go out to dinner).

 

This is the first time I have posted something like this and have tried to keep it relatively short and factual.

I'd like to thank you all for your kind comments and interesting questions.

 

Kind regards

 

Andrew

 

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Edited January 23, 2018 by andlep

[karoo]

Thank you for sharing your trip with us all. [emoji122][emoji122][emoji122]

 

 

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[DarkJedi]

Thank you for doing this. Very well written and informative for those thinking about the ship or itinerary.

[Samander425]

Great job Andrew. Very helpful

[candigirl41]

Very nice review. Thanks for taking the time to post pictures. I will never be able to do this cruise so it's fun to read about and see the pictures.

 

Thanks

 

Candi

[mertziek]

The two sea days were spent chilling out. Another show by burn the floor wowed everybody, unfortunately the Billy Joel tribute was not well received.

 

We had dinner at Le Bistro, moderno and la cucina on the last night.

Moderno was great, with tasty meat and great salads. Loved the roasted pineapple. Service as always was great.

 

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I thought the Billy Joel tribute was very popular and well received. Maybe we saw it at different times.

[andlep]

Bonus photo :

 

"Steamship of beef"

Outdoor Cafe

 

Ps: thank you all for your kind comments.

 

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[Beejay4016]

Great review, Andrew - you really took the reader along with you. We've previously only sailed HAL (well, actually one trip on the Pacific Pearl, but we'll ignore that), but next month we sail on the Celebrity Solstice. I tend to steer clear of Princess because so many relatives sail with them, and who wants to be constantly bumping into cousins when on holidays. However, your review has really made me consider NCL for a future cruise. Everything looked great.

 

One thing that puzzled me, though, was the prices on so many dishes, and on the Cucina menu. I'm assuming that the meals in the MDL and the buffet are included, but are all the other menus actually priced for each individual dish rather than simply a "Dining Package" such as you get on other cruise lines? Also, what is the cost of the drinks package like?

 

 

Any photos of the actual staterooms, by the way?

[andlep]

Mmm

 

 

 

 

One thing that puzzled me, though, was the prices on so many dishes, and on the Cucina menu. I'm assuming that the meals in the MDL and the buffet are included, but are all the other menus actually priced for each individual dish rather than simply a "Dining Package" such as you get on other cruise lines? Also, what is the cost of the drinks package like?

 

 

Any photos of the actual staterooms, by the way?

 

Hi beejay,

Cagney's, Le bistro, la cucina and sushi bar are charged a la carte (plus 18% gratuities) and teppanyaki is one set price.

On our trip, we had pre-purchased a dining package @$30aud per meal (including gratuities) and also chose a dining package as one of our perks. All up we had seven meals pre-paid /included. Note that the sushi bar is not included in the dining package.

 

The drinks package was included in our fare as one of the perks. I can't remember the price if purchased separately but it was quite expensive. Ncl have lots of promotions so you can keep an eye out and take advantage of any discounts.

For example I re-ticketed our trip twice (taking advantage of price drops) and ended up from an interior cabin to a balcony for a lot less money than if I had booked the balcony first.

 

Below are a couple of photos of our balcony room.

 

Also these are my favourite youtube clips :-)

 

 

 

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Kind regards

 

Andrew

 

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Edited January 26, 2018 by andlep

[pbenjamin]

So one meal on the dining package allows you to order whatever you want at an a la carte place like Cagney's?

[andlep]

So one meal on the dining package allows you to order whatever you want at an a la carte place like Cagney's?

Hi pbenjamin,

The answer to your question should be very clear and simple however ncl does not make it so.

According to the terms and conditions of the dining package, you can order anything from the menu but only one entree (aka main course for Aussies) however depending on the waiter, you may be restricted to one of each category (ie appetiser, soup, salad, entree and dessert).

For example at Le Bistro, the maitre d' said we could order as much as we wanted but only one entree , yet when we tried to order three desserts, the waiter tried to refuse the third dessert but acquiesced when challenged.

 

I must add that the serves in all restaurants were very generous and we didn't have any more trouble ordering extra items.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[andlep]

Edit to my previous reply to beejay,

Forgot to add Moderno as a one cover charge restaurant.

 

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[Beejay4016]

Mmm

 

Hi beejay,

Cagney's, Le bistro, la cucina and sushi bar are charged a la carte (plus 18% gratuities) and teppanyaki is one set price.

On our trip, we had pre-purchased a dining package @$30aud per meal (including gratuities) and also chose a dining package as one of our perks. All up we had seven meals pre-paid /included. Note that the sushi bar is not included in the dining package.

 

The drinks package was included in our fare as one of the perks. I can't remember the price if purchased separately but it was quite expensive. Ncl have lots of promotions so you can keep an eye out and take advantage of any discounts.

For example I re-ticketed our trip twice (taking advantage of price drops) and ended up from an interior cabin to a balcony for a lot less money than if I had booked the balcony first.

 

Below are a couple of photos of our balcony room.

 

Also these are my favourite youtube clips :-)

 

 

 

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Kind regards

 

Andrew

 

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Hi Andrew. Many thanks for that info, the photos and links. It's great that you were able to cancel and rebook as a balcony cabin really is fantastic always - just being able to walk out onto your balcony first thing in the morning, or sit there in the evening with a glass of something in hand and watch the sun set. I'll certainly keep an eye out for special deals.

 

Cheers, Bev

[andlep]

Hi Andrew. Many thanks for that info, the photos and links........

 

Cheers, Bev

 

My pleasure :-)

 

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[stjohnbeachlover]

My husband and I were also on this cruise. We were in the Moderno restaurant on the day that you ate there. We didn't eat there but went up most days to the Sugarcane Mojito Bar. We made full use of the UBP. I enjoyed meeting you at some of the cruisecritic roll call activities like the LCR dice games. It was a fun cruise!

[andlep]

My husband and I were also on this cruise. We were in the Moderno restaurant on the day that you ate there. We didn't eat there but went up most days to the Sugarcane Mojito Bar. We made full use of the UBP. I enjoyed meeting you at some of the cruisecritic roll call activities like the LCR dice games. It was a fun cruise!

Hey it was great to meet you!

 

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[Gizmosmum]

Thank you karoo, I did have a great cruise.

I didn't notice Australia or NZ theme at the garden cafe.

 

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Hey Andrew I was also on CC but missed talking to you at the Meet n Greet.

They had an international day in the Garden Cafe. The only food product to represent Australia was 'Tomato sauce" and no Pavlova.

[andlep]

Hey Andrew I was also on CC but missed talking to you at the Meet n Greet.

They had an international day in the Garden Cafe. The only food product to represent Australia was 'Tomato sauce" and no Pavlova.

 

Hello! Thanks for the information :-)

 

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