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

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 23 - Dec 5 - Sea Day (1 of 3)

 

 

 

 

  

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Here’s something new that was added starting this cruise. There is now a $4.95 service charge to have breakfast delivered to your cabin between 6:30 and 10 am. If I recall there was no service charge on the last leg for this particular service, just the $9.95 charge for room service between 10 am through 6:30 am.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Here’s a tidbit we learned today after reading about Refundable versus Nonrefundable OBC on another NCL thread.

 

Let’s say for whatever reason you have both refundable and nonrefundable OBC in your account. But in the NCL app as well as on an account printout you got from Guest Services, it lists them both under one category, nonrefundable OBC. We just checked with GS and they confirmed that their system (which only they can look at) is the only one that actually breaks down your available OBC into the two separate categories. 🤔
 

Here’s the interesting part. They will not put any excess refundable OBC back onto your credit card if there is any remaining at the end of your cruise. In addition, you cannot cash out your refundable OBC until the day before you disembark the ship. But since the “perception” is that all of your OBC is nonrefundable based on the information in both your App and GS account printout they gave you upon request, you’re going to work hard to spend it. That is unless you already know this and are periodically stopping by GS to check on how much, if any, refundable OBC is still on your account.
 

But don’t worry. On disembarkation day when you’re exiting the ship to catch a bus or taxi, the “buzzer” will sound when they scan your ship card and you will be pulled aside so they can give you the  “refundable OBC” in cash they owe you.

 

Here’s the lesson we learned today. On the day before disembarkation, we need to go down and get any remaining refundable OBC given to us in cash, as it would be super annoying to hear the “buzzer” sound if we’re in a hurry to catch our transfer bus in Cape Town to the airport which by the way includes a 7 hour excursion! 

Edited December 5, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Tonight after a tasty dinner in the Pacific MDR, we headed to watch a very funny and talented juggler, Johnny Nations, perform in the theater. The Blazing Boots production show was supposed to be tonight, but it got cancelled. Afterwards we headed up to Spinnakers to watch the hilarious No So Newlywed Game.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We had a very unexpected surprise today! When I logged onto my NCL account, it said I was at the Gold Latitudes level with 59 points! We started this B2B cruise in Athens with only 21 points each. 🤔

 

When I went to CruiseNext to ask why this happened, they said it appears we got double points, 38 in all, for our 19-day Athens to Dubai leg! Cool! So, of course, we had to check out this leg’s confirmation to see if we get double points as well. Sure enough when we compared the Promo codes on both confirmations, we found they had the same codes! So hopefully once this 19-day cruise is over, we will be Platinum with 97 points! Yes!! 😁
 

The only thing I can think of as to why we got the double Latitudes points was because we booked this B2B way back in Sep 2020 when NCL as well as other cruise lines were offering various incentives to book cruise with them. 
 

Edited December 5, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[ellenw]

14 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

 

But don’t worry. On disembarkation day when you’re exiting the ship to catch a bus or taxi, the “buzzer” will sound when they scan your ship card and you will be pulled aside so they can give you the  “refundable OBC” in cash they owe you.

 

 

We had this happen to us on our last cruise before the pandemic. We knew we had refundable OBC due to us. My sister, the very experienced cruiser, told me that it would just be applied back to my credit card. Just to be sure, I asked an officer at guest services. He confirmed that the credit would be applied back to my credit card. But, no! We got he buzzer as we were getting off the ship! They actually had someone  set up with a cash drawer counting out cash. Crazy.

 

Thanks for this great review. Love following along. 

[MedaBernice]

On 12/3/2022 at 12:05 PM, Shadygap said:

I am a solo but I am interested in the meet and greet- Cheryl! 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, MedaBernice said:

I am a solo but I am interested in the meet and greet- Cheryl! 

May I suggest checking out the Jade Dec 2 Roll Call. There may be more information about the M&G there as we did not sign up for it.

[Ken the cruiser]

A little after 10 am, I saw this unique looking bird with a long beak flying up behind the ship

 

  
and it got me wondering just exactly where were we in relation to the equator?
 

 
From what I can tell from this map, the equator cuts across the southern tip of Somalia, which we are still well north of, and we should be crossing it sometime before we get to the Seychelles day after tomorrow. Hopefully, we’ll hear more about the crossing once we get closer. 🤞

 

 
In technical terms regarding our current location:

Norwegian Jade current location is at Arabian Sea (coordinates 9.14393 N / 59.87831 E) cruising at speed of 21.6 kn (40 kph/ 25 mph) en route to VICTORIA MAHE. The AIS position was reported 27 minutes ago.

 

Edited December 6, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 24 - Dec 6 - Sea Day (2 of 3)

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kirsten1526]

14 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Tonight after a tasty dinner in the Pacific MDR, we headed to watch a very funny and talented juggler, Johnny Nations, perform in the theater. The Blazing Boots production show was supposed to be tonight, but it got cancelled. Afterwards we headed up to Spinnakers to watch the hilarious No So Newlywed Game.

 

😂 2 things difficult to believe about this…

 

1. being married 13 years classified us as newlyweds 

2. can’t believe we won!!

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, kirsten1526 said:

😂 2 things difficult to believe about this…

 

1. being married 13 years classified us as newlyweds 

2. can’t believe we won!!

Yay!! But I have to say you were all winners just for participating! 😁

[PATRLR]

23 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

But don’t worry. On disembarkation day when you’re exiting the ship to catch a bus or taxi, the “buzzer” will sound when they scan your ship card and you will be pulled aside so they can give you the  “refundable OBC” in cash they owe you.

 

Based on what I witnessed on Encore, that would be better written: 

 

“buzzer” will sound when they scan your ship card and you will be pulled aside so you can wait in another line so they can give you the  “refundable OBC” in cash they owe you

 

Just trying to impress on readers the importance to get this done ahead of time, especially if in a rush.

 

23 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Here’s the lesson we learned today. On the day before disembarkation, we need to go down and get any remaining refundable OBC given to us in cash, as it would be super annoying to hear the “buzzer” sound if we’re in a hurry to catch our transfer bus in Cape Town to the airport which by the way includes a 7 hour excursion! 

FWIW, I took care of this at 6:00AM day of disembarkation at Guest Services.  

Edited December 6, 2022 by PATRLR

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

 

Based on what I witnessed on Encore, that would be better written: 

 

“buzzer” will sound when they scan your ship card and you will be pulled aside so you can wait in another line so they can give you the  “refundable OBC” in cash they owe you

 

Just trying to impress on readers the importance to get this done ahead of time, especially if in a rush.

 

FWIW, I took care of this at 6:00AM day of disembarkation at Guest Services.  

Thanks for your insights on this issue! The GS person I talked with did mention you have up until 7 am or so on disembarkation day to clear your account. But, the previous day sounded like a much less stressful option.

 

But today we resolved our excess OBC issue as we bought a pair of binoculars! We even got 5% off since it was the last one they had of that model in stock! Hey, we’re going to be on 3 safaris on this cruise and who knows how far away the wildlife is going to be! Now we’re ready! 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

Today, between breakfast and lunch up at the buffet, we went to 2 trivia’s in the morning and one in the afternoon as well as going to watch Deal or No Deal in the theater. But after we got back to the cabin and I headed out to the balcony to post on the thread, I saw another good size bird all by itself flying behind the ship out here in the middle of no where!

 

[Ken the cruiser]

After another fun dinner at the Teppanyaki restaurant, we went back to the cabin until it was time to go to the 9 pm show, and what a show it was!! These guys were great and we recognized all of the songs too!! 😂

  

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 25 - Dec 7 - Sea Day (3 of 3 - crossing the equator around noon)

  

 

 

 

  

Today I added pages 5 and 6 of the Daily, which usually remain the same, if anyone is interested.

 

 

 

 
Here’s also the speed test I did around 8:45 am and believe it or not these pictures uploaded pretty quickly! 😁

 

 

just north of the equator out in the middle of nowhere.
 

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[thedarklord]

I'd be interested to find out what happens at the crossing the equator ceremony - we're doing a TA from Rio -> Barcelona in March, so crossing the equator then. I'd been wondering if they'd do anything special for it.

[Ken the cruiser]

9 minutes ago, thedarklord said:

I'd be interested to find out what happens at the crossing the equator ceremony - we're doing a TA from Rio -> Barcelona in March, so crossing the equator then. I'd been wondering if they'd do anything special for it.

Well since you asked! 😁

  
First, the Captain quickly walks through and then leaves 

 

 
Then the christening begins led by King Neptune!

 

 

 

 
And then it’s over. Sadly, for obvious reasons if you look closely at those being christened, there was no jumping in the pool afterwards. 😂

 

BTW the ceremony was held at noon. However, we won’t be crossing the equator until around 2:45 pm. 

Edited December 7, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

We are now officially in the southern hemisphere. 😁

 

  

 
But there wasn’t any green or red line. What’s up with that! 😂

 

 

[Busybeeva]

On 12/1/2022 at 3:38 PM, 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?

We were able to bring a soda, small bag with local baklava, etc back on ship. We had ordered a birthday cake for someone that we did not get to eat in port and that whole cake was an issue coming back onto the ship. We did not buy spices. 

[Busybeeva]

On 12/1/2022 at 4:20 PM, 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.

Deck 4 all days. We met on deck 6, as you noted, for all of our private excursions. We did about half private and half NCL. 

[Busybeeva]

On 12/6/2022 at 1:59 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

A little after 10 am, I saw this unique looking bird with a long beak flying up behind the ship

 

  
and it got me wondering just exactly where were we in relation to the equator?
 

 
From what I can tell from this map, the equator cuts across the southern tip of Somalia, which we are still well north of, and we should be crossing it sometime before we get to the Seychelles day after tomorrow. Hopefully, we’ll hear more about the crossing once we get closer. 🤞

 

 
In technical terms regarding our current location:

Norwegian Jade current location is at Arabian Sea (coordinates 9.14393 N / 59.87831 E) cruising at speed of 21.6 kn (40 kph/ 25 mph) en route to VICTORIA MAHE. The AIS position was reported 27 minutes ago.

 

Ken, loving your posts. I was on first leg and this is a nice summary even for us! Wondering the website you use for the ship tracker? 

[Ken the cruiser]

13 minutes ago, Busybeeva said:

Ken, loving your posts. I was on first leg and this is a nice summary even for us! Wondering the website you use for the ship tracker? 

 

39 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We are now officially in the southern hemisphere. 😁

 

  

 

 

 

I use Cruise Mapper. Here’s an example of what I type in my search engine to find an applicable link to a ship I’m interested in:

 

Norwegian Jade location

 

Heres the applicable Cruise Mapper link it provides.

 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Norwegian-Jade-639

 

When you subsequently click on it and the page comes up, click (tap) on the “picture” under Current Position (picture 1 above) that shows the ship. It will take you to a more detailed page (picture 2).

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[walkingmom]

On 12/3/2022 at 10:27 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

We actually only booked one private excursion and that was the one on the Dubai transition day (Dec 2) and that was through Tours By Locals. All of our other excursions on the last leg as well as the Sand Dune Adventure today have been through NCL, which we booked from 5 months to 20 months early, depending on when they became available.
 

The main reason we booked the one on transition day was because NCL didn’t offer any, other than those that included a transfer to the airport with no guarantee return back to the ship. But, we’ve always had good lunch with Tours By Locals in the past, and we were definitely impressed by the one we got in Dubai! 😁

Thanks for the info. Will look that up. 
Keep up the great daily summaries and pics.