Live From the Jade, Nov 13 to Dec 21, from Athens to Cape Town

[Lauren Spray]

Hi Ken,

 

Did you go to the M&G?

 

Mike put a lot of thought and effort into making the event special for all who planned to attend.

 

I haven't read anything about it.

 

I have really enjoyed sharing the trip with you since I had to cancel at the last minute.

 

I look forward to Part 2.

 

Lauri

[Ken the cruiser]

12 hours ago, LizikinsLivesToCruise said:

Enjoying this review, thanks Ken. Please explain going to "Friday" Market on a Wednesday. 

No idea why they call this daily market a “Friday Market”. I’m sure the tour guide said why, but I just didn’t catch the background behind the name. 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

5 hours ago, Lauren Spray said:

Hi Ken,

 

Did you go to the M&G?

 

Mike put a lot of thought and effort into making the event special for all who planned to attend.

 

I haven't read anything about it.

 

I have really enjoyed sharing the trip with you since I had to cancel at the last minute.

 

I look forward to Part 2.

 

Lauri

We never signed up for it as we just don’t do M&G functions. Basically, we have pretty much just stayed to ourselves on the 17 cruises we’ve been on since cruising started back up. We just don’t want to take the chance of getting sick as we’re usually on a B2B, and for the longest time had to take an antigen test before being allowed to go on the next leg.
 

However, we have talked with Mike and his DW various times on the cruise and they are super nice folks and really care about doing as much as they can for those folks that did sign up for the M&G.

[Ken the cruiser]

Our 8 hour excursion, minus the 5,000 year old tombs which were pulled from the itinerary at the last minute, lasted 9.5 hours, and from our personal point of view was our least favorite so far, with one exception. The camel auction at the end was awesome, so get ready for some pictures! 
 

First we headed out of Abu Dhabi for Al Ain over 163 kilometers away. However, since the bus driver by law can only go 80 kph, it took over 3 hours to get there including a 20+ minute rest stop along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we stopped at a signal I looked up and saw the first sign of wildlife in over 2.5 hours! But for me it definitely was worth the wait! 😁

  

 
Then we made it to a fort that was built in 1937.

 

 

 

 
Then we visited a palace, also built around the same time, where Sheikh Zayed, the President and ruler of Abu Dhabi, once lived when he was younger.

 

  

This is his family tree representing, in part, his 32 sons given birth by his 6 wife’s. It is also believed he had somewhere around 22-24 daughters.

 

 

 
Then we headed over to a nearby Oasis which used to have water back in the day, but is now periodically fed through piping in water.

 

 

 
This was a demonstration of how they pick dates.

 

 
Of course, I had to take a picture of the local wildlife! 😂

 

 
Then it was time to drive over to the hotel for a buffet lunch.

 

  

 

 
Then it was time to go to the camel auction. Sorry, put they were just too adorable, so I took a lot of pictures! 😂

 

First we drove by some sheep

 

 

 
Then is was camel time!

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then there was the clean up crew! 😂

 

 

 
Then it was time for our 3 hour drive back to the ship at 80 kph! That’s around 48 mph.
 

 

 

 
There was a pretty sunset though. 😁

 

 
We finally made it back to the ship a little after 7 pm.

 

 

The end! 😁

 

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

And we’re off! Next stop Dubai, UAE!!

 

 

[DooBop]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

And we’re off! Next stop Dubai, UAE!!

 

 

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

And we’re off! Next stop Dubai, UAE!!

 

 

Thanks again Ken,  I don’t know about you but the trip has gone quickly:). Another question. I have seen in the daily “new” regular warnings not to take food items off or onto the ship. It would seem pretty normal to purchase spices, candy (dates), etc. while on tours. Are the staff being fussy about what you bring back on board?

[frogandtoad]

I was wondering what deck was used to exit the ship while in the ports.  Do you have any suggestions for where would be a good place to meet up with other people to go off the ship together if taking a private tour?  Magnum’s Champagne and Wine Bar on deck 6 looks promising but there may be others.

[PhillyTravelBug]

1. definitely a bucket list destination, but I like the kitty cat photo! 😺 

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived in Dubai, UAE! We’re on a private 4 hour excursion this morning to see see the city highlights of Dubai! Just curious, can you see the tallest building in the world? 😁

 

 

 
Here are some of the places we’ll be going on the UAE National Day!

 

*Photo Stop at Al Seef (Al Fahidi Historical Street)
*Drive Through Bur Dubai (Meena Bazaar)
*Photo Stop at Jumeirah Mosque
*Photo Stop at Burj Al-Arab & Jumeira Beach
*Drive Through Palm Jumeirah and Photo Stop at Atlantis Hotel
*Drive Through Mall of the Emirates
*Drive Through Shaikh Zayed Road
*Photo Stop at Burj Khalifa and Drive Through Dubai Mall
*Photo Stop at Zabeel Palace
*Photo Stop at Dubai Frames
*Photo Stop at Museum of the Future.
 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

BTW we found out a few things last night which made us very happy about transition day! First, our shipboard account, to include any nonrefundable credit, will seamlessly transfer to the next leg, so it was not a use or lose situation as we previously had heard. Second, you can just go down the night before transition day and pick up your new Sea Pass at Guest Seevices.

 

  
You also get this sticker to wear on your shirt and use it as a transition card to bypass security when you reboard the ship.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

7 hours ago, DooBop said:

Thanks again Ken,  I don’t know about you but the trip has gone quickly:). Another question. I have seen in the daily “new” regular warnings not to take food items off or onto the ship. It would seem pretty normal to purchase spices, candy (dates), etc. while on tours. Are the staff being fussy about what you bring back on board?

Not sure, as we don’t usually buy anything when we go ashore. I could give you an opinion, but you might be better off to ask security that question one you’re onboard. 

[Ken the cruiser]

7 hours ago, frogandtoad said:

I was wondering what deck was used to exit the ship while in the ports.  Do you have any suggestions for where would be a good place to meet up with other people to go off the ship together if taking a private tour?  Magnum’s Champagne and Wine Bar on deck 6 looks promising but there may be others.

Sorry, we’re not on any private group excursions on this cruise. You may want to ask your question on the CC Jade Nov 13 - Dec 21 Roll Call thread. If you don’t know how to find it, let me know.

[AbeShrek]

Hello Ken!   Thanks for the detailed coverage!  At this point, did you arrange for any visas in advance for any of your ports of call?

Do you know how many will be aboard for the next leg?  

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, AbeShrek said:

Hello Ken!   Thanks for the detailed coverage!  At this point, did you arrange for any visas in advance for any of your ports of call?

Do you know how many will be aboard for the next leg?  

We have not needed to apply for any visas in advance for any of the ports we visited on the past leg, or for the upcoming ports on the next leg. If there are any needed, it’s my understanding the ship will handle the details. However, I will also add all of our excursions are through NCL. Here is a link that might be helpful.

 
http://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/cruise-travel-documents

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 20 - Dec 2 - Dubai (transition day)

  

 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Wow!! We had an awesome 4 hour “drive-by” private excursion of Dubai. We first headed to the new area (post 1998), with all of the skyscrapers, and then to the old town (pre 1998)!!

But first we had to get off the ship! 😂

 

 
 
But within 20 minutes we were off the ship, through the terminal and heading to the new area with over 105 modern skyscrapers!

 

 
I took a picture of this as it depicts a few of the more impressive highlights we’ll be seeing!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Yes, its sister is in the Bahamas! 😂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
From what I remember our tour guide saying this tower, which is currently the tallest in the world, is around 786 meters high. However, Saudi Arabia is building one that when finished next year will be 1000 meters high. But not to be out done, the Sheikh of Dubai plans on building one in 2-3 years that will be 1250 meters high! 😂

 

 

 

  

There is a 9 story Museum of the Future inside this “donut” with exhibits depicting where the UAE wants to be architecturally in the future! For example, notice there are no supports holding this building up!
 

 

 
Notice the horizontal building structure linking the two buildings? It’s also an elevator that can go either up two floors or down two floors! 😂

  

 

 

 

Dubai Creek

 

 

 

Now we’re heading over to the old “pre-1998” area.

 

 

FWIW this huge frame is covered with gold paper rather than being gold plated as some have suggested on the internet.

 

 

 

 

 

 
This is the oldest fort in the UAE. It was built in 1783.

 

 
Then it was time to head back to the ship to start our second leg of our cruise as our 4 hour tour around Dubai was over. 😁

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

15 hours ago, frogandtoad said:

I was wondering what deck was used to exit the ship while in the ports.  Do you have any suggestions for where would be a good place to meet up with other people to go off the ship together if taking a private tour?  Magnum’s Champagne and Wine Bar on deck 6 looks promising but there may be others.

BTW I forgot to answer your first question. So far we have always exited on Deck 4 Midship.

[Crazy planning mom]

Amazing photos of Dubai,

[AstoriaPreppy]

On 11/15/2022 at 3:11 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

Here is something we noticed that’s a little odd for our first sea day that probably isn’t to those who cruise regularly with NCL. We’re on this awesome 19-day cruise from Athens to Dubai. We’re going to a variety of uniquely located ports in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Oman and the UAE, many of which most of the 1,500 passengers onboard have probably never been to. And yet, there are no historical lectures scheduled or even a destination port briefing to sell excursions.
 

 

This is another unique difference we’re finding with NCL when compared to the other cruise lines we book with. But then, we’re old and enjoy listening to lectures and port presentations whereas maybe a more younger NCL demographic might not be, and we get that. But this is not your typical NCL itinerary, and a large majority of the passengers are actually 60 and older. Hopefully, they’ll add at least some port presentations to their sea day offerings later on, but we just thought this was a little odd.

 

 

On 11/19/2022 at 1:45 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

When we were on the Caribbean Princess cruise last May, we received some very good lectures about the construction of the PC, to include the initial failures of SC engineer. It would be so great if NCL offered lectures about the awesome places we will be going on this cruise. But sadly, that’s not something NCL offers.

 

This is one of the oddest things about NCL to me. The complete (and intentional) lack of any sort of enrichment content; no lectures, cultural performers, food/drink, etc. While we enjoy the freestyle vibe, it gets frustrating on longer cruises where any sort of context to frame your experience would be valuable.

 

We first experience this quirk when sailing NCL in Alaska, and discovered there was no naturalist giving talks, answering questions on deck, narrating scenic cruising outside of Glacier Bay, etc.... even Carnival has full-time naturalists onboard their ships in Alaska! 

[ecslady]

Wow!  The photos of Dubai are amazing! 

[Travelexpert35]

Love your photos of Dubai!! Enjoy your next leg of the trip as I will be following along.

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, Crazy planning mom said:

Amazing photos of Dubai,

We have to say Dubai was nothing like what we had imagined, but we were so glad we were able to take this eye-opening excursion. We have learned so much over this past few weeks from our various tour guides about this entire region from visiting Egypt to Oman now to three of the emirates of the UAE. One thing is for sure, we are definitely leaving with a whole new perspective when it comes to reading about these vvarious countries in the coming years once we get back home. 😁

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We’re off once again back the way we came, at least for the next 2 ports, Fujairah and Muscat! As usual, it was another beautiful sunset as we were getting ready to leave!

  

 

Tonight we had dinner in Le Bistro before heading to watch Chase and Kaileigh before their illusions and acrobatic moves in their always fun to watch show! 

  

 
Then we headed to the 8:15 pm game show, This or That, which was also a lot of fun! 😁

 

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

 

This is one of the oddest things about NCL to me. The complete (and intentional) lack of any sort of enrichment content; no lectures, cultural performers, food/drink, etc. While we enjoy the freestyle vibe, it gets frustrating on longer cruises where any sort of context to frame your experience would be valuable.

 

We first experience this quirk when sailing NCL in Alaska, and discovered there was no naturalist giving talks, answering questions on deck, narrating scenic cruising outside of Glacier Bay, etc.... even Carnival has full-time naturalists onboard their ships in Alaska! 

It’s funny, our attitude has changed somewhat since the beginning of the cruise. Once we finally settled into the NCL way of doing things, we’re OK that there aren’t any lecturers, as we learn a lot about each port we go to from the tour guides. But at the same time, most of our future cruises are still with Celebrity and Princess.
 

However, we now have a third “cheaper” cruise line to look at when it comes to unique itineraries that neither of those other two provide - like going to Alexandria, Egypt to see the Pyramids in late Oct 2024! Heck, on the Med B3B on the Getaway we just booked associated with going to Alexandria, a Club Balcony mini-suite with our 10% military discount and CruiseNext certificates, the cost was under $175 pp/day (before our TA adds in their booking perks)! So there is that side of the equation to look at. 😁

 

But as far as Alaska cruises go, Princess is still going to be our go-to cruise line for sure!

Edited December 2, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Level six]

4 hours ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

 

This is one of the oddest things about NCL to me. The complete (and intentional) lack of any sort of enrichment content; no lectures, cultural performers, food/drink, etc. While we enjoy the freestyle vibe, it gets frustrating on longer cruises where any sort of context to frame your experience would be valuable.

 

We first experience this quirk when sailing NCL in Alaska, and discovered there was no naturalist giving talks, answering questions on deck, narrating scenic cruising outside of Glacier Bay, etc.... even Carnival has full-time naturalists onboard their ships in Alaska! 

We have had the opposite experience.  We have sailed about 170+ days on each Princess and NCL.  We have always had enrichment lectures and performers on NCL (before covid).  In fact on Nov 2019 33 day cruise from Honolulu to Sydney, we had local performers at every island we visited.  

On Princess recently in the Baltic and Iceland (30 days) there was not a bit of information or any local performers. Well, they did have a star gazer expert onboard who did host a few nights trying to see the Northern lights.  

In my personal experience, NCL has been much better.  I guess it just depends on each sailing.