Live from the NCL Jewel December 24-31, 2022 with YVRteacher and her Dad

[YVRteacher]

I will ask him for you!

[cruiseny4life]

On 12/26/2022 at 2:44 AM, Uff da said:

We are boarding Jewel in February for a Panama Canal cruise. I've been sad I didn't book La Cucinal as one of our dining options after our excellent dinner there on the Getaway in November. After reading your review I'm not so sad. Thanks! 😉

I'm certainly not discounting @YVRteacher's thoughts on La Cucina. It seems that inconsistency from ship to ship, and even day to day on the same ship, is what NCL is great at providing. I will say my experience on the Getaway, in September, was the polar opposite. We had a reservation at La Cucina and I didn't have the highest of hopes. I figured it would be at Olive Garden standards, at best. Well, it was definitely better! Not Atlantic City's Chef Vola great, but it was very good! 

 

In fact, the meal was so good, we canceled our Moderno plans and went back to La Cucina a second night. The pizza, lasagna, alfredo, carbonara, burrata salad were all excellent! I'm sorry YVR didn't have as great an experience as we did. That stinks! La Cucina can be excellent, but it sounds like on the Jewel it's not so great. 

 

Also, La Cucina, on the Getaway, isn't right next to the basketball court which would be really annoying while trying to have a relaxing dinner of carbs. 

[CCruiser08]

A note- We sailed the Jewel to Alaska in July 2022 and I have to agree with @YVRteacher, La Cucina was far and away our worst specialty dining package meal, the food was bland and terrible. Second worst (if I’m rating) was the Teppanyaki where our chef was over an hour late, but the mixed drinks and the food when we finally got it were good. 
 

Am really enjoying this review! 

[YVRteacher]

We had to set an alarm today for an early morning breakfast before a full day in Cabo San Lucas.  Yesterday’s jeans said no to an almond croissant but today’s stretchy shorts said yes!

 

We met in Stardust at 9:15 and were on a large tender boat by 9:25.  We had a shore excursion so did not utilize priority tendering or tender tickets.  Steven was on the little dock thing that flips out the side of the ship making sure tender operations were smooth and they were.  Jewel lifeboats as well as Cabo Tender boats were used.  We were the third ship to arrive in Cabo today and were anchored the farthest away so the tender ride was a little longer than we’ve previously experienced.  Once off the tender we had a short wait in a line up for our excursion before making our way to our sailboat.   While in line we started talking with a family from Arizona.  They had the husband’s 85 year old mother with them on this cruise and she was very worried about not being able to keep up on the cruise.  I told her there’s no “keeping up” because NCL is freestyle! 

 

Once we got to the sailboat the crew helped her out, supporting her hands and feet and letting her sit exactly where she wanted (in the back, on an actual seat and in the shade.) It was really sweet.  We had a fantastic day on this excursion: 

10:00am they served mimosas

10:05 they served barbecue shrimp, fresh guacamole and tortillas

10:10 they served rum, tequila and beer

10:15 we saw El Arco

10:20 we started seeing whales.  Many, many whales!

10:30 it got wavy and super fun.  

Me=“wheeeeeee”

Dad=“Jeepers who made these waves so big?”He did say jeepers but he also said some other words I can’t write here!

We were supposed to stop at Maria Bay but it was full so we continued on to Chileno Bay which was equally busy.  (There is a pretty high chance I got both of those wrong.  Please correct me!) I did stand up paddleboarding but there weren’t any fins on the board so I stood up and flopped into the ocean.  Since I was in the ocean I returned the SUP and swam and snorkelled.  It was like being inside a tropical aquarium!  I’m sure my eyes were wide with excitement.  There were only 16 passengers on the sailboat and more than half opted not to swim or snorkel.  

The crew seemed pretty grumpy but none of us let this ruin the experience of being out on a sailboat in the sunshine.  I do want to mention that at one point my dad needed to use the bathroom.  Every single passenger extended an arm or hand to help him get from his seat to the lower level safely.  We both appreciated that! After our 45 minute stop in the bay we headed back toward the pier.  We were served a Bento style box lunch for sharing.  There was chicken Caesar salad, ceviche, Mediterranean pasta salad and fresh pineapple, oranges and melons.  It was a huge lunch so we shared three ways: some for me, some for dad, some for the fish.

They served another round of drinks after lunch and at one point a crew member just opened up the hatch from the galley to the deck and started passing drinks through.  I said I need a magic drink hatch like that at work!

The whales were very active this afternoon (by active I mean frisky) so we saw a lot of fin slapping, breaching and chasing.  It’s mating season for both the whales and the people in the cabin next to ours!!

Making our way toward the inner harbour, we saw a little boat absolutely zooming across the water.  I said they should get a speeding ticket.  When it passed us we noticed it was a medical boat.  More on this later…

 

My dad was tired after a long day of relaxing so we didn’t walk around Cabo.  We have explored the shops and the town quite thoroughly on other cruises. The line up to get to the tender boats was massive and I quietly had a little moment of thinking “oh no-this is not going to go well” because one of the ways the stroke impacted my dad is his patience.  Line ups and waiting are genuinely really difficult for him.  Initially there was one long line but it did separate with Carnival and Disney on the right and NCL to the left.  There were tender boats running constantly and what looked like it was going to be a long wait ended up being about 5 minutes.  

Just a quick note that this morning the agriculture inspectors were checking every single person entering Cabo off the three cruise ships.  There was a sniffer dog and a bag inspection.  The woman doing the inspection was way too rough (we didn’t have any food with us.) 

Our tender couldn’t unload at the Jewel because the medical boat was evacuating someone.  It looked like the whole family disembarked and we send our thoughts and good wishes.

[mkcurran]

Sounds like a fun day.

[YVRteacher]

Day 3 part 2

We were back on board at 3:00 and we ate today’s chocolate covered strawberries from Steven before heading to the hot tubs for the afternoon.  That was fine at first...

 

This is going to sound odd but a woman came and asked my dad if she could put her book in his shoe.  She had a beer and a Big Gulp type cup.  My dad told her she couldn’t drink in the hot tub.  That did not land well.

 

Long story short we now have a new rule: dad is not allowed to tell people they can’t drink in the hot tub!! (We have definitely had our fair share of drinks in NCL hot tubs!!)

 

After the hot tub episode, one of us (me!) needed a drink so we sat on the deck in the sunshine drinking margaritas (me) and Mango Meltdowns (dad.) He sipped his first one a little too quickly and got a brain freeze.  

I hadn’t eaten very much lunch so was happy to see a charcuterie tray and canapés in our suite.  When I went to take a shower, I discovered the body wash dispenser was empty.  Our room steward needs to up his game! 

We had a VIP cocktail party with the captain before dinner and I asked the captain if the young man with him this morning at breakfast (he ate next to us in the Haven restaurant) was his son.  Captain Vicente laughed and said no, that was a colleague.  The captain has a one month old son who won’t be on board until May because babies under six months old aren’t allowed to cruise, even if their dad is the captain.

 

For long-time NCL cruisers who remember Dan Olson (Dan the Man, not Dan Dan!)

he decided to stop being a Cruise Director and instead owns a fish and aquarium business.  He misses NCL!

 

For tonight’s dinner I hadn’t made a reservation so Armando worked his magic to get us into Cagney’s and also called Kevon to make sure there were vegetarian options for me.  In true fabulous Kevon style, he had the chefs conjure the best meal I’ve ever had on NCL!  I started off with the salad bar at Moderno then the chef created a polenta dish with roasted tomatoes, fried plantains, grilled zucchini, roasted and sautéed broccoli and asparagus.  It was garnished with flower petals and it was incredible. My dad chose lobster bisque, petite filet mignon, sautéed mushrooms and potatoes is gratin.  He had a glass of red wine and I selected a spicy passion fruit mojito from Sugarcane.  We asked our wonderful waitress who takes care of us at breakfast and lunch to choose a bottle of wine for herself and she chose a Syrah. For dessert my dad ordered his favourite: raspberry creme brûlée and I had blueberry crisp.  We were both too full to finish but they were both excellent.  What a terrific experience from start to finish.  

The Newlywed Not So Newlywed game was tears running down the face hilarious.

We usually really enjoy shows in the main theatre but on this cruise the theatre entertainment has not been our thing.  Are we having a bad time?  Nope!  We go see Leo instead.  As my dad adjusts to being on vacation he is able to stay awake a little longer each day.  Tonight he made it to 9:30 before telling me his Freestyle Daily said “John’s Bedtime.”

 

We had a terrific day today!

[YVRteacher]

[YVRteacher]

Day 3 Freestyle Daily

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by YVRteacher

[YVRteacher]

Cabo and Cagney’s

Edited December 28, 2022 by YVRteacher

[luvcruzing]

You are hilarious. Can’t wait to read more. Love the photos, too.

[Niffernay]

9 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

We go see Leo instead

So jealous!!!!

[NikiPinkston]

@YVRteacher, I love your reviews! Our first cruise with NCL was on the Jewel to Alaska years ago, so she holds a special place in my heart. We were on the Bliss Christmas week of last year from L.A. to Mexico and we had one of our best times ever. I loved all of the decorations, the activities, the food and, oh, the Christmas show in the theatre! Loved that most of all. I missed cruising over Christmas this year so DH and I will be booking 2023 soon (would love to make this a standing tradition). You are wonderful and your Dad is a hoot. Reading your review is like opening a special gift! Thank you for sharing another of your adventures with us. (I love gingerbread villages, too!)

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by NikiPinkston

[YVRteacher]

Day 4

Internet is a real challenge on this cruise so it has been hard to post daily recaps as well as photos.  Photos often won’t upload so I’ll share more once I’m home. WiFi doesn’t work at all in the cabin, only in public areas and even then it’s painfully slow.  Strangely it was better in Alaska!  

 

Hello Puerto Vallarta!

No alarm needed today. We are not morning people and appreciated the chance to sleep in.

 

There are three ships in port today: Carnival Panorama, RC Splendor of the Seas and NCL Jewel.

 

We had a light breakfast (eggs and fruit) in Moderno  and I asked my dad if he was having fun on this cruise.  He said there’s good and bad.  I was surprised to hear this because he has been in such a good mood and has looked so happy so much of the time.  I asked him to tell me what was wrong and he said “NCL are real cheapskates. Do you know how awful the toilet paper is? Why are they using such cheap toilet paper?  It’s crap!”

 

The last time I was in PV was on the Bliss for Spring Break in March and the ship was trying out facial recognition for that port only.  It took two hours, the excursion didn’t leave on time and people were getting sent to the medical centre because they had sunburns and were registering high temperatures so security wouldn’t let them disembark without going to the medical centre first.  This sounds far-fetched but it’s all true.  Today was completely different: smooth, efficient, no line up.  We were early so browsed the shops in the revitalized port before meeting at Zone A.  Our excursion was Las Caletas Hideaway.  There were 200 people on our catamaran and it took a looooong time to give people wristbands and board the boat.  Once on board we sat on the top deck and had rum punch (it was good!) and just enjoyed the views and the sun.  As soon as we arrived on the island lunch was available.  Dining was al fresco and the food was excellent!  I tried many new-to-me foods but I don’t know what they were because nothing was labeled.  I loved everything but my favourite was the cinnamon sugar tortilla chips (like churros but crunchy.) Something is up with the coffee on the Jewel and today it was so bad neither of us could drink it.  I asked for a coffee on Las Caletas and it was so good.  There was cinnamon in it.  Is this typical for Mexican coffee?

 

After lunch we walked a few trails and did the wildlife viewing which was different birds.  We explored three different beaches (adult beach, quiet beach, fun beach) before choosing a spot in the sun on fun beach.  I swam and used the tubes and my dad stayed in his chair watching people fall off paddleboards or get tipped over in their kayaks (this happened a few times as the waves were breaking right on the shore.) The tide was high the whole time we were there so the actual beach area was small and it wasn’t good for exploring tide pools (we love tide pooling!) The time flew by and at 4:45 we needed to board the catamaran for the hour long boat ride back to the Jewel.  The crew did a lip sync show and a dance off and the bar was unlimited.  We didn’t drink any more because we were still full from lunch and one drink on the beach.  Beer for dad, strawberry daiquiri for me.  We didn’t see whales from the ship or the catamaran but we did see two pods from the beach.  Lots of fin slapping just like yesterday.

By the time we boarded the Jewel I was quite cold because I still had a wet bathing suit on under my beach cover up so we went up to deck 12 for hot tub time . There was a local mariachi band from Puerto Vallarta who had come on board to provide entertainment on the pool deck.  Hot tub, mariachi band and sunset.  So fun!  The band was terrific and I’m happy that NCL is back to bringing local musicians on board. 

We ate dinner in Azura: I had to read the Freestyle Daily to find out which dining room was formal and which was casual because there was no way my dad was going to get dressed up.  Azura it was.  The service was extremely slow but the food was all delicious.  We didn’t have anywhere we needed to be so it was fine that dinner took a long time.  The only thing I didn’t like was dessert.  I ordered cherry trifle.  My mom used to make mandarin orange tipsy trifle so in my experience trifle is layers of cake soaked in alcohol alternating with layers of fruit or jam and custard with whipped cream on top.  At one point I looked over and saw a waiter carrying a fluted serving bowl with red Jello in it.  I said to my dad, “ look, someone ordered Jello!” 

Oh dear.  It was delivered to me. My “trifle” was cherry Jello with some yellow liquid on top.  It was not trifle, it had no layers and it tasted like disappointment.  My dad loved his cannolis and ice cream and I went to the buffet to get a Christmas cookie for dessert.

I don’t know if this is of any interest or not but here’s what we had for dinner:

Dad= cheddar, corn and crab chowder (loved it)

Half portion of Fettuccini Alfredo with mushroom sauce and sautéed shrimp (loved it)

Cannolis and a big bowl of vanilla ice cream (ice cream is his favourite so he was happy)

Yvonne’s dinner:

Potato croquettes (loved them)

Bruschetta (loved it)

Half portion baked ziti (tasted good.  Pasta is not my favourite and both vegetarian options tonight involved pasta. The other option involved eggplant and that just wasn’t going to happen.)

 

After dinner we went into the gift shop just because we had some time before Leo’s set and I remembered we had onboard credit so we went to guest services to get a print out of our account so far.  I thought we had $100 onboard credit but it is $100 per person so we have $200.  We went back to the gift shop but there isn’t anything either of us wants.  Interestingly, when the NCL guest services man was mansplaining that the onboard credit we have is non refundable and can not be used to pay down the daily service charges (which I did not pre pay because I thought we could apply the onboard credit to that) he drew a line down the daily service charges and said “you can adjust these.”  I said “huh?”  He said, “at the end of the cruise.  You can come back and remove these charges.”  I replied, “we are not doing that.”  

If we weren’t traveling with carry on only luggage we could take some alcohol back but that isn’t an option.  There isn’t anything we want in the gift shop.  How do we use this $200 in non refundable onboard credit? Can we buy Starbucks gift cards with it?

 

We spent the rest of the evening in Bliss lounge loving every note, every chord, every second of Leo’s night of Elton John songs.  It was really sweet to see so many couples dancing and wow could they dance.  

 

Shower update: now I have soap.  I smell good today.

[Seas2mountains]

Excellent review!  It’s great to read that you and your Dad are having so much fun! 
 

To use up the onboard credit, how about a massage or spa service? Specialty dining? We tend to use the onboard credit as soon as we board by waiting until we are on the ship to get unlimited Wi-Fi. Photos? 

[Niffernay]

2 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

We spent the rest of the evening in Bliss lounge loving every note, every chord, every second of Leo’s night of Elton John songs.

@YVRteacherDoes Leo still wear his cute little hats?? 

[YVRteacher]

[YVRteacher]

33 minutes ago, Niffernay said:

@YVRteacherDoes Leo still wear his cute little hats?? 

He does!  He has a different hat every day.  On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day he had a Santa hat on top of his regular hat.

[YVRteacher]

Day 5 Part 1

Welcome to Mazatlan 

 

Dad woke up grumpy and grumbling today.  There was a light flashing on the phone that I couldn’t clear last night so that bothered him, as did his numerous old guy bathroom visits (we had Mai Tais while listening to Leo.) To add insult to injury my dad is in the main bedroom with the lovely large bathroom where they removed the bathtubs on the Jewel class ships and installed giant showers with two windows and multiple shower heads.  He said he had water coming at him from every direction hitting him in unexpected places and he couldn’t figure out how to make it stop.  He said he’s never going on a cruise again.   While I was getting ready in my room I heard voices in the cabin and when I came out I asked if people were in our cabin.  Dad said he went out into the hallway and “found a guy” to come and fix the phone.  I have no idea if this was a passenger, an entertainer or a laundry dude  and my dad didn’t know but whoever they were they stopped the light from blinking.  

When we got off the ship there was a Pharmacia at the port shops so I suggested “let’s go in there.  They might have grumpy pills!”  He replied, “they don’t make them strong enough!”

 

We have been to Mazatlan before and have done the following excursions: Sightseeing, Mexican Folkloric Show and Beach; Stone Island; Golden Zone and Beach as well as Salsa and Salsa.  Today we walked the blue line to the cathedral then kept walking to the local market.  I was in my element taking photos and we ordered yummy drinks: horchata for me, Guayaba for dad.  I’ve never had horchata before and now I’m going to want it every day!  We really enjoyed seeing the different vendors and food stands.

 

There weren’t any onboard activities we like this afternoon and there was no way I was going to the Secrets to a Flatter Stomach presentation after eating at the Garden Cafe twice today (there were build your own tacos for lunch!) so we pulled lounge chairs into the shade, had poolside drinks, read and napped.  I asked my dad what he liked most about Mazatlan today and he said it was nice to get off the ship, walk about, visit the market and get some exercise. 

We came back to the cabin to change into bathing suits and ended up watching the pier procedures for leaving Mazatlan at 2:00pm.  First the cold washcloth guy left, then the welcome back committee took leave, then they dumped the fresh water on the pier and hauled the dispensers on board, then they put the stanchions away, then two security guards and Steven came out.  All aboard time was 1:30 and at 2:00pm people were streaming onboard.  Shuttle after shuttle pulled up to the ship.  They paged a family at 2:00 and we found out later that everyone made it back on board and that the late passengers were all on an NCL excursion.  People are coming back with Mexican sun hats and sunburns and carrying wet towels.

We decided to put laundry in today and Rogin arrived as we were getting organized.  He was dropping off three trays of treats and he said to call him when we were ready for a laundry pick up and he would send someone to our cabin to pick it up right away.  Great service!

 

My bathroom floor is covered with pebbles because I swam so much at Las Caletas yesterday and they tumbled out of my bathing suit when I took it off.  I tried to clean them up with a towel but I missed a bunch and now I’m stepping on pebbles so it feels like the beach in my room.  Perhaps our room steward does not quite appreciate pebbles on the bathroom floor the same way that I do.

 

We found deck chairs on deck 14 at the bow and saw about 200 dolphins.  Granted, I was drinking a painkiller after imbibing in a Mudslide so it may have only been 2.  We tried to go in the hot tubs but they were crammed full of young people.  It was like frat party soup!

 

Wines Around the World was today at 4:00pm but we were too busy holding down the deck chairs so we skipped it.  We did make it to the Latitudes cocktail party at 5pm.  These events were so much more fun in the days before the Ultimate Beverage Package and we used to use the half hour designated for schmoozing as getting corked time.  On a scale of flop to fabulous, the party was pretty boring.  

By 2027 NCL will have 24 ships in the fleet.

 

Last night we met a couple from British Columbia who had booked their flights through NCL.  They were given a day of the cruise flight and, knowing there was so much snow in a Vancouver and at YVR, they called NCL to try to change their flight and were told it could not be changed.  Their morning flight  did end up being delayed and they made it on board with 15 minutes to spare.  A woman from Oregon overheard this conversation and joined in.  She was also on a flight that she booked through NCL that was scheduled to depart Portland at 6:00am I. Cruise day.  At 9:00pm the night before they found out their flight was cancelled.  They got in the car and drove all night long to get from a Oregon to San Diego!  Continuing with flight experiences, Rumi told us that there have been so many flight delays and cancellations that people are experiencing challenges with their luggage.  On a recent cruise there were 93 people who did not get their luggage from their airline before boarding the ship.  I said to Rumi, “that’s a lot of free underwear from NCL” and he said “yup.”  He also said people were dashing to Wal Mart to try to get a cruise wardrobe.  

 

 

 

[Crazy planning mom]

11 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Day 5 Part 1

Welcome to Mazatlan 

 

Dad woke up grumpy and grumbling today.  There was a light flashing on the phone that I couldn’t clear last night so that bothered him, as did his numerous old guy bathroom visits (we had Mai Tais while listening to Leo.) To add insult to injury my dad is in the main bedroom with the lovely large bathroom where they removed the bathtubs on the Jewel class ships and installed giant showers with two windows and multiple shower heads.  He said he had water coming at him from every direction hitting him in unexpected places and he couldn’t figure out how to make it stop.  He said he’s never going on a cruise again.   While I was getting ready in my room I heard voices in the cabin and when I came out I asked if people were in our cabin.  Dad said he went out into the hallway and “found a guy” to come and fix the phone.  I have no idea if this was a passenger, an entertainer or a laundry dude  and my dad didn’t know but whoever they were they stopped the light from blinking.  

When we got off the ship there was a Pharmacia at the port shops so I suggested “let’s go in there.  They might have grumpy pills!”  He replied, “they don’t make them strong enough!”

 

We have been to Mazatlan before and have done the following excursions: Sightseeing, Mexican Folkloric Show and Beach; Stone Island; Golden Zone and Beach as well as Salsa and Salsa.  Today we walked the blue line to the cathedral then kept walking to the local market.  I was in my element taking photos and we ordered yummy drinks: horchata for me, Guayaba for dad.  I’ve never had horchata before and now I’m going to want it every day!  We really enjoyed seeing the different vendors and food stands.

 

There weren’t any onboard activities we like this afternoon and there was no way I was going to the Secrets to a Flatter Stomach presentation after eating at the Garden Cafe twice today (there were build your own tacos for lunch!) so we pulled lounge chairs into the shade, had poolside drinks, read and napped.  I asked my dad what he liked most about Mazatlan today and he said it was nice to get off the ship, walk about, visit the market and get some exercise. 

We came back to the cabin to change into bathing suits and ended up watching the pier procedures for leaving Mazatlan at 2:00pm.  First the cold washcloth guy left, then the welcome back committee took leave, then they dumped the fresh water on the pier and hauled the dispensers on board, then they put the stanchions away, then two security guards and Steven came out.  All aboard time was 1:30 and at 2:00pm people were streaming onboard.  Shuttle after shuttle pulled up to the ship.  They paged a family at 2:00 and we found out later that everyone made it back on board and that the late passengers were all on an NCL excursion.  People are coming back with Mexican sun hats and sunburns and carrying wet towels.

We decided to put laundry in today and Rogin arrived as we were getting organized.  He was dropping off three trays of treats and he said to call him when we were ready for a laundry pick up and he would send someone to our cabin to pick it up right away.  Great service!

 

My bathroom floor is covered with pebbles because I swam so much at Las Caletas yesterday and they tumbled out of my bathing suit when I took it off.  I tried to clean them up with a towel but I missed a bunch and now I’m stepping on pebbles so it feels like the beach in my room.  Perhaps our room steward does not quite appreciate pebbles on the bathroom floor the same way that I do.

 

We found deck chairs on deck 14 at the bow and saw about 200 dolphins.  Granted, I was drinking a painkiller after imbibing in a Mudslide so it may have only been 2.  We tried to go in the hot tubs but they were crammed full of young people.  It was like frat party soup!

 

Wines Around the World was today at 4:00pm but we were too busy holding down the deck chairs so we skipped it.  We did make it to the Latitudes cocktail party at 5pm.  These events were so much more fun in the days before the Ultimate Beverage Package and we used to use the half hour designated for schmoozing as getting corked time.  On a scale of flop to fabulous, the party was pretty boring.  

By 2027 NCL will have 24 ships in the fleet.

 

Last night we met a couple from British Columbia who had booked their flights through NCL.  They were given a day of the cruise flight and, knowing there was so much snow in a Vancouver and at YVR, they called NCL to try to change their flight and were told it could not be changed.  Their morning flight  did end up being delayed and they made it on board with 15 minutes to spare.  A woman from Oregon overheard this conversation and joined in.  She was also on a flight that she booked through NCL that was scheduled to depart Portland at 6:00am I. Cruise day.  At 9:00pm the night before they found out their flight was cancelled.  They got in the car and drove all night long to get from a Oregon to San Diego!  Continuing with flight experiences, Rumi told us that there have been so many flight delays and cancellations that people are experiencing challenges with their luggage.  On a recent cruise there were 93 people who did not get their luggage from their airline before boarding the ship.  I said to Rumi, “that’s a lot of free underwear from NCL” and he said “yup.”  He also said people were dashing to Wal Mart to try to get a cruise wardrobe.  

 

 

 

This is why you were wise to fly in early.  You can choose to fly up to 2 days early with NCL airfare deal you just have to let them know at least 75 days out.  That's what we did in October when we flew to Athens.

[Travelexpert35]

Have been enjoying following along with you and your Dad on this cruise. Was wondering what type of suite you have? Enjoy the last couple of days. Good news is that I hear your snow is all gone in YVR.

[YVRteacher]

9 hours ago, Crazy planning mom said:

This is why you were wise to fly in early.  You can choose to fly up to 2 days early with NCL airfare deal you just have to let them know at least 75 days out.  That's what we did in October when we flew to Athens.

We never use NCL for flights.  

[YVRteacher]

6 hours ago, Travelexpert35 said:

Have been enjoying following along with you and your Dad on this cruise. Was wondering what type of suite you have? Enjoy the last couple of days. Good news is that I hear your snow is all gone in YVR.

Hi! We always stay in a two bedroom penthouse suite that gets the benefits of being in the Haven without actually being in the Haven complex.

[YVRteacher]

Edited December 29, 2022 by YVRteacher

[YVRteacher]

Day 5 Part 2

I am so hungry.  We have dinner with Rumi at 7:00pm.  That is late for us.  We had time to spare before meeting for dinner so I gave my dad $20 for the casino (his wallet was in the safe.) Keep in mind I had showered with the lovely L’Occitane shampoo and conditioner a couple hours ago and my hair smelled like freshly picked grapefruits and oranges from the French countryside.  Now I smell like an ashtray.  On the upside, my dad turned that $20 into $23.91 so we can afford to book another cruise.

Somehow we ended up in the art gallery listening to a loooong talk about Salvador Dali.

Dinner was fabulous.  Rumi ordered me Indian food which is my favourite.  We talked about travel, Mumbai, down time, the need to have challenges and opportunities at work, leadership, the pandemic and of course food.  

Breaking news: NCL is going to be revamping their menus again due to supply chain issues.  There are just too many items they can’t procure in the quantities they need.

When the Behind the Scenes tours resume in 2023 they will include the bridge and the engine room.

Do you know why there are no longer bathtubs in the suites on the Jewel class ships?  Three words: Frank del Rio.  He came aboard the Jewel, saw the suites and said get rid of these. I am going to write to Frank to tell him he should also get rid of the horrible couches that turn into beds with cracks down the middle in the second bedrooms of the suites and put in actual comfortable beds instead.  I will be sure to let you know when I hear back from him!

I asked Rumi how come there are no tables for drinks on the decks and he said he had ordered 250 brand new tables but the contractors threw them away when the Jewel went into dry dock.

 

Leo was sharing his talent in Bliss lounge; he has developed such a huge following on this cruise Magnum’s is too small! People made terrific requests that really suited Leo’s style and voice and it was a wonderful night.  My dad fell asleep and started snoring so I gently tapped his shoulder and said we should go back to the cabin and he said no, the clocks go back an hour tonight so it wasn’t his bedtime yet.

 

[YVRteacher]