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

YVRteacher

By YVRteacher,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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CruisinMaterial

CruisinMaterial

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It is great news to hear about the Behind the Scenes tour getting more comprehensive. You had mentioned earlier about a Dinner with the Officers. Have you heard any word about that? Someone was taking me to task about it in another thread and it was mentioned here. I'm curious to know if anything came of it. Thanks.

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YVRteacher "Live from...." Rare

YVRteacher

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Yes, we did dinner with the officers and it was fabulous.  Rumi, Steven, the Safety Officer, Tahini and someone I didn’t know all hosted tables. For us it is a latitudes perk but they were also advertising the experience in the Freestyle Daily as a paid dinner/activity.  We had 6 people at our table: 4 of us were Diamond Latitudes and 2 people were on their first NCL cruise.

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YVRteacher "Live from...." Rare

YVRteacher

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Day 6

The seas were rough last night so we were rocking not only around the Christmas tree but pretty much the whole tree farm.  My closet doors were sliding back and forth and slamming into each other.  The motion was kind of fun though.

This morning I couldn’t get into the main part of our cabin because the door had swung closed and my key was on the dining room table.  

 

We had breakfast in Moderno but I couldn’t eat my eggs Benedict because the egg was still raw.  Ugh.  The pineapple was delicious as was the almond croissant.  The woman next to us sent her shrimp toast back and ordered scrambled eggs because the shrimp toast was too spicy.  I felt badly for wasting food but I can’t eat raw egg.

 

The pools have 2 metre swells and would be perfect for surfing.  They are closed because the water is sloshing and crashing.  The deck guys have their long squeegees and they are trying to manage the pool water overflow but every time they push the water back more comes crashing out.  The whole process is more useless than a screen door on a submarine.

We enjoyed a relaxing, late breakfast in the Haven then had painkillers at Pit Stop before going to the Q and A with the captain and senior officers.  My dad really likes this so here I am.  Captain Vicente is so personable and highly intelligent so I always appreciate the chance to learn from him as well as Steven and Igor.  My dad had fun pointing out all the typos in the Jewel fact sheet.

 

We are still trying to figure out how to use the onboard credit and will likely book spa appointments.  I’m trying to convince my dad to get a pedicure and give his toes some professional attention but he doesn’t want that.  I guess the nail technicians won’t have to don their hazmat suits today.  

 

WiFi is not working ship-wide this morning.

 

The card room is well-stocked with a larger selection of games than I’ve previously seen.  We took a Scrabble game to Maltings and really enjoyed playing.  My dad said it taxes his brain too much and I said it was good to keep those neurons  firing.  I have never seen as many families and friends playing games on a cruise as I have on this cruise.  Many people brought games with them and the card room has always been full.  There are games being played in Chin Chin, La Cucina, the Garden Cafe and on tables throughout the ship.  It’s fun to see.  Today the cruise director announced that since so many people had been asking about bridge they were setting up open bridge play at 2:00pm.  I don’t know how to play bridge but maybe I’ll learn when I retire.

 

For lunch we ate in the Garden Cafe.  The theme was Bavarian.  I had a green salad and dal.  My dad had pizza, some kind of brown meat in brown sauce and a big bowl of ice cream.  He did not have any vegetables. 

 

The weather has been gorgeous up until today.  Rain and clouds happened after lunch and stayed throughout the afternoon and evening.  We watched a movie in the cabin (I was hoping there would be movies on the ship and had been reading live reviews and Freestyle Dailies posted throughout December and had been excited to see how many ships were offering movies but we haven’t had any.  I loved being on the Bliss and watching evening movies on the pool deck.) 

 

The week before this cruise I took my dad out quite a few times and I asked him every time if he needed a hair cut.  He kept saying no, his ears would be too cold if he got his hair cut.  The first morning in San Diego he said he needed a hair cut.  I told him I would take him when we got home. Well, we have this onboard credit to use so we booked a hair appointment for him at the salon onboard and today was hair cut day.  I went to the whiskey bar while my dad went to the salon.  He is not someone who relishes change so this was a big step for him and he had a great experience.  He said his stylist was so kind and he enjoyed hearing her life story.  He has a new style and it looks great.  He keeps looking at himself in the elevator mirrors.  The stylist tried to sell him some paste but he told her he didn’t need any paste. He said “she kept calling it ‘product.’ Why would I need product?”  Tomorrow I have a pedicure booked.  

 

We spent a couple of hours at Maltings chatting with a family from San Diego.  They were teachers so there was a lot of teacher talk.  

 

Skip past this part if you don’t want to read about tonight’s dinner drama.  We had a reservation for Teppanyaki earlier in the week but it was the same night we had dinner with the officers so Armando was able to get us a reservation for tonight.  We don’t always eat at Teppanyaki and for years we didn’t go.  Back in May we had a very good meal on the Jewel so had wanted to try it again.  I kind of had a funny feeling as soon as we walked in.  All 4 tables were full and there were some loud talkers that kept getting louder.  A woman at our table was being foul and kept swearing and just using vile words.  Two people were laughing with her and two people were turning away.  I asked her to stop swearing and to be respectful of other diners.  She was not sober and kept making digs at me, telling people at our table that no jokes were allowed and other things I’m not going to repeat here.  The 4 chefs started at 4 different times so there was competing noise and a lot of clanking of tools on tables.  I was uncomfortable with the feeling at our tables and how the woman was acting and I could see the noise was bothering my dad so I whispered to our waiter that we needed to leave.  He still had our room keys so we just stepped outside while he went to get them.  At this point Rogin, our butler, came by.  He asked us what happened and we told him and he offered to have the food delivered to our room.  We said we just needed a moment and he waited with us.  We decided to try Moderno and he called the maître d and walked us there.  This was so kind of him and we really appreciate him.  He also called Kevon who met us at Moderno and hugged us and just took a few moments to make sure we were settled.  I realized I had left my purse at Teppanyaki and Kevon said he would call.  He came back a few minutes later a little out of breath-he had gone down to get it and couldn’t get an elevator so he ran up the stairs!  

In the end we had a fantastic dinner at Moderno.  My dad loves lobster bisque and he only had one piece of meat: petite filet mignon wrapped in bacon.  He was happy! I had the salad bar and the sides.  I was happy too.  And so full!

 

Side note: I sure hope they sterilize the meat tongs because I saw a toddler put those tongs in a place where no tongs belong.  There were 4 babies in Moderno tonight and all 4 were crying.  It was still quieter and calmer than Teppanyaki.

 

What would you have done if you were in the situation?  Would you have ignored the foul language or said something?

 

Le Cirque Bijou is tonight and when we arrived for the early show we couldn’t get seats.  All the Haven seats were taken by non-Haven people and all the other seats were also full.  Never seen the Jewel theatre so full!  Every other night it’s been 30-40% occupied so clearly people want to get their Cirque on.  We have seen it before so weren’t crushed with disappointment.  We went to Magnums to listen to the piano player/singer and I could see my dad was starting to droop.  I asked if he wanted to go back to the cabin and he said yes.  Then he said, “unless you want to go play $20 at the casino?”  This meant HE wanted to go play $20!  He won a good chunk of money and is ecstatic.  Since we didn’t have dessert at Moderno (too full!) we went to the Garden Cafe for a cookie.  It seems like NCL’s cookie hiding days are behind them because the cookies on this cruise have been plentiful.  They always have chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, macadamia white chocolate and a tray of assorted Christmas cookies. Yum!  When we got back to our cabin we had two plates of chocolate truffles, one from Armando and one from Rumi.  Earlier we had a fruit tray and a cheese tray.  That’s a lot of food for just two tummies.

There was also an envelope on the table labeled something about disembarking.  This has been such a wonderful cruise that I told my dad I couldn’t even look at it!

 

The ocean swells must have increased because the ship is tilting from side to side and rocking up and down.  It feels like we are going to tip over! It’s going to be a “bring your life jacket and your bra to bed” kind of night.  When we walked across deck 12 the pool water was sloshing upright before spilling over the edge.  If they can build a giant ship that stays afloat why can’t they build an edge to the pool that keeps the water in?

 

Tomorrow is Ensenada and we are staying on board.  We were here years ago as a family when my mom was alive (we went to La Bufadora then walked around the town) and would rather enjoy the ship one last day.  Apparently the wine industry in Ensenada has become quite the thing and wine tours are now popular.  Anyone been on one?

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PATRLR

PATRLR

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58 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

more useless than a screen door on a submarine.

Don't laugh, it keeps the fish out 😉
 

58 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

What would you have done if you were in the situation?  Would you have ignored the foul language or said something?

Definitely wouldn't have ignored it and likely would have said something and when it was not well received, asked to be reseated.  Of course, reseating at Teppenyaki is  problem and if it was obvious that reseating couldn't be accommodated, I would have left just like you did.

Edited by PATRLR
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CruzinMel

CruzinMel

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Oh, what an awful experience- I'm so sorry that happened to you.  I think I'd have reacted as you did, especially with your Dad along.  

 

I'm going to bet that lady came in for some special attention at some point - I have seen pax get refused alcohol at bars before, and actually saw another get escorted from the Haven bar by some officers.  (He'd had a day of alcohol and was giving unsolicited friendly hugs to women who didn't ask for them.  He left.)  It's not a consolation for such an upsetting meal, though.  I'm glad Moderno was better!

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Montanagirlalways

Montanagirlalways

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20 minutes ago, odie1024 said:

I think the foul mouth female should have been asked to leave as no one should have to put up with that. Since they did not you did the right thing as I would have left also.

 

I agree. The staff should have addressed it.  Also agree that since they did not I too would have walked out.

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mypleasure

mypleasure

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It seems that NCL has decided that this sort of behaviour by others that makes others uncomfortable and distressed is acceptable. The lady should have been asked to leave and if this made them unhappy security should be called to deal with them. I  think that guests displaying poor behaviour and allowing other guests to have their evening ruined by having to terminate their own meal is just wrong.

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Ottawa Lynne

Ottawa Lynne

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Sorry to read about your experience. It would have upset me. We went there on our first cruise many years ago and I loved it but it's not for my husband. I was hoping to go back on our next cruise in 2024 but all that noise would drive me crazy. I think you did the right and respectful thing but getting out of there. I'm glad they could accomodate you in Moderno. Hope you got some sleep last night!

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WindinmySails

WindinmySails

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Yvonne!  Reading your review, and of course loving it!  You did the right thing....being the sailor that I am, sometimes things slip from my mouth and if someone were to say something to me, I'd apologize profusely and really watch it.  No reason anyone needs to put up with that.

We haven't gone to Teppanyaki just because of the noise factor.  I like a quiet dinner.  

I'll write you on your email about our lovely delayed flights.

Loving your review and sounds like your dad is in good spirits!  Best to you both for a lovely New Year celebration!

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ChiefMateJRK

ChiefMateJRK

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2 hours ago, Montanagirlalways said:

I agree. The staff should have addressed it.  Also agree that since they did not I too would have walked out.

I would probably have excused myself to use the restroom and reported the problem at the front desk.  I believe that they would have taken care of it.

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