Live from the NCL Jewel May 1-15, 2023 (caution: may contain grumpiness and sarcasm.)

[YVRteacher]

I didn’t catch the day 7 (cruising the inside passage) Freestyle Daily but I do have day 1 of the next week, Vancouver to Seward.

 

[YVRteacher]

On 5/17/2023 at 6:22 PM, carohs said:

I enjoyed your review. Thanks for letting us tag along!

Thank you!

[YVRteacher]

On 5/18/2023 at 7:04 PM, Sugar Magnolia said:

@YVRteacher thank you very much for your entertaining, lively and in depth review of your B2B on the Jewel. I also appreciate your posting the Freestyle Dailies as I prepare for my B2B and visit your beautiful city. Looking forward to reading your next live report. 

When do you come to Vancouver?

[Sugar Magnolia]

19 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

When do you come to Vancouver?

 

Arriving next Wednesday and hoping the heatwave will pass by then.

 

[YVRteacher]

The forecast is heat for Wednesday then rain for the rest of the week.  Wednesday evening looks nice, so maybe try to walk by the ocean if you can.

[Seas2mountains]

Thank you again for your wonderful review. I always love your entertaining reviews.  Your review was helpful as we considered going back to Alaska again this year. It is for sure our favorite cruise - especially from Vancouver to Seward or Seward to Vancouver. 
 

We booked the Spirit for a B2B on June 21st to July 5th.  We will fly to Vancouver on June 20th. But first we will do a family cruise with a son, his fiancée and our sweet almost 8 year old granddaughter on the Escape next Sunday. I also work in a school so I relate to the work you do when not cruising.  I look forward to your next review! 

Edited May 20, 2023 by Seas2mountains

[YVRteacher]

I went from zero degrees in Seward, Alaska to thirty degrees in Vancouver (in Celsius.)

[YVRteacher]

1 minute ago, Seas2mountains said:

Thank you again for your wonderful review. I always love your entertaining reviews.  Your review was helpful as we considered going back to Alaska again this year. It is for sure our favorite cruise - especially from Vancouver to Seward or Seward to Vancouver. 
 

We booked the Spirit for a B2B on June 21st to July 5th.  We will fly to Vancouver on June 20th. But first we will do a family cruise with a son, his fiancée and our sweet almost 8 year old granddaughter on the Escape next Sunday. I also work in a school so I relate to the work you do when not cruising.  I look forward to your next review! 

Those both sound wonderful!  I hope you have two fabulous cruises!

[YVRteacher]

We board the Spirit the day you disembark!

 

Maybe you could do a B2B2B and stay on one more week!

Edited May 20, 2023 by YVRteacher

[Seas2mountains]

12 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

We board the Spirit the day you disembark!

 

Maybe you could do a B2B2B and stay on one more week!

I wish! I work in an alternative high school with a year round schedule. I go back to school on July 6th. 

[YVRteacher]

Just adding that I booked four cruises through Cruise Next while on board the Jewel.  Two weeks B2B on the Breakaway out of New Orleans for Spring Break 2024 in a studio cabin and two weeks on the Spirit to Alaska at the beginning of July with my dad in a suite (not a two bedroom-it is a one bedroom with a separate bedroom for my dad and I will sleep in the living room on the couch/bed.)

 

There was absolutely no advantage to us when booking on board.  In fact, errors were made that I have had to spend time fixing through NCL via phone and I’m so glad I went through the confirmation emails once I got home and had internet.  If you are booking an inside, oceanview, balcony or club balcony you  do get the benefit of an in-category upgrade but this didn’t apply to either booking for us.  There was no special discount and we also did not get the latitudes offer for booking in May (anyone know what the offer is?  For some bizarre reason I don’t receive the latitudes emails and never know what the special offer is.)

 

We did get triple points for the Spirit so maybe that is a Latitudes offer.  Because we are in a suite this means we will get 5 points a night. 14x5=70 points. I did not get triple points for the Breakaway.

[Serengeti228]

Just came across your live report and will read through. I am sure the information are valuable to prepare my 3 b2bs on the Jewel, and perhaps the same itineraries for the roundtrip in Sep/Oct (+TP). The Freestyle Daily is handy. Cheers.

[Dachgraf]

We have booked the Debarkation Scenic Cruisetrain from Seward to Anchorage, departure is at 6:50a.
Is the Garden Cafe open earlier on the day of disembarkation? Otherwise the breakfast will be a bit stressful ...

[McFins]

Thanks for your wonderful and entertaining review.  I hope you land in a position that you love even more! 
 

[senorita frog]

You seem to enjoy the trivia so hopefully you can tell me, how does the 'visual trivia' work?

[Seas2mountains]

12 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

 There was no special discount and we also did not get the latitudes offer for booking in May (anyone know what the offer is?  For some bizarre reason I don’t receive the latitudes emails and never know what the special offer is.)

 

We did get triple points for the Spirit so maybe that is a Latitudes offer.  Because we are in a suite this means we will get 5 points a night. 14x5=70 points. I did not get triple points for the Breakaway.

I have not seen any Latitudes offers for 2024 yet. 
 

If you don’t receive the Latitude emails, you can view the current offers here:

https://www.ncl.com/latitudes-rewards-program/insider-offer
 

[Seas2mountains]

Do you have any excursions booked on the Spirit? I’m really looking forward to the stops in Valdez but we just plan to walk around the town and stop at the museums. 
 

We also like to walk around the area in Skagway like you did as we have done the train ride. When you and your Dad are there in July, I hope the salmon will be running in Pullen Creek near the cruise terminal as that can be entertaining to watch. 
 

Icy Straight Point is also a favorite stop to watch the eagles and we have often seen whales in the area and I know you said you also like this port. We did book a whale watching excursion in ISP as we have not done one there and we’ve read this tends to be among the best whale watching territory. We have done the whale watching tours in Juneau and Seward. 
 

I’m excited to be on the Spirit for two weeks and then I get to stay on virtually through your review if you plan to write one.  
 

 

[YVRteacher]

Yes, we did book excursions for the cruise on the Spirit.  I did all the planning and research for this trip last night.  

week one:

 

Icy Strait Point: shore ex through NCL

Spasski River and Wildlife (this is the walk that takes you to the bear viewing point.  We have done it 3 times before.)

 

Juneau: private excursion

Jayleen’s whale watching in a boat with up to 6 people

 

Skagway:  shore ex through NCL

Ghosts and Good Time Girls walking tour (done it before and I don’t want to do this again but my dad really wanted to do it so I booked it.)  We are docked at Broadway dock.

 

Hubbard Glacier: shore ex through NCL

Hubbard Glacier Wilderness Explorer (little boat off the Spirit that goes closer to the glacier.) This is to replace the shore ex I had booked for my dad’s birthday that was originally the Tracey Arm Fjord that got changed to Endicott Arm that was then cancelled due to excessive ice.  If it happens, great.  If not, we’ll try again the next week on board.  The Hubbard Glacier shore ex is quite a bit more expensive than the Endicott Arm excursion.

 

Valdez: for the first week we are going to walk around and explore.  We are back two days later!

 

Seward: private tour

Kenai Fjords Resurrection Bay and Fox Island 5 hour cruise

 

week two

 

Valdez: private excursion through Stan Stephens

8 hour Meares Glacier cruise.  I tried to book the Columbia Glacier cruise through them but they were sold out for July 11 and 13 which are the two days the Spirit is in Valdez on our cruise. 
If we booked the Columbia Glacier Cruise through NCL the cost would be $1100 for two people in Canadian funds.  If we could have booked the same tour through Stan Stephens, the cost would be less than $400 for two people in US funds.  Huge price difference!  Good thing I like to research.

 

Hubbard Glacier: we will stay on the Spirit for this one

 

Skagway: nothing booked yet.  We dock at Ore dock again and will likely walk to Yakutania point and watch planes at the airport (and maybe see salmon) before going to the Klondike Brewing Company for a brewski or two for dad.

 

Juneau: nothing booked yet

 

Ketchikan: private excursion through Ketchikan Photo Safari

 

@Seas2mountains check out the NCL excursion that does both the whale watching and the bear viewing in Icy Strait Point.  We both loved it the two times we did it. 

 

 

 

 

 

[YVRteacher]

Week 2 Day 7

Part 2

 

Blowing bubbles off the balcony in British Columbia 

Normally we walk the deck each day.  This week we did exactly two laps.

Not even enough to wear off one crepe. Even the stretchy pants are tight after the amazing meals we’ve been treated to this week.  The bagels and cream cheese I have waiting at home seem so paltry!

 

Our tradition on a cruise is to go to Cagney’s for the last supper but we broke that tonight with dinner at La Cucina.  I tried to give our waiter the free bottle of wine but he said no, they weren’t allowed to take it.  This is interesting because we gave it to our butler last week and to our favourite waitress in Cagney’s on the Jewel at Christmas.  

I don’t know what I’ll do next week without the amazing tomato sauce from La Cucina. I am now addicted this stuff.

 

The saddest thing happened after dinner: the packing of the clothes into the suitcase.  We haven’t seen our butler all day but he made sure to come by this evening as soon as we entered the cabin to remind us about tips.  Fellow has brought us fish twice when I told him no meat or seafood and he left our cabin door open this afternoon for goodness knows how long.  He kept asking us what time we were getting off and I was deliberately vague and tired of him pressuring us to tip him.

 

After dinner we took some Purdy’s chocolates to guest services for the team to enjoy then settled into semi-comfy seats in the theatre for our grand finale, Cirque Bijou.  Unfortunately some LOUD talking teenagers and their LOUD-talking aggressive parents were seated a couple rows behind us and while it didn’t ruin the show it wasn’t nice.  I turned around and said “please stop talking so we can enjoy the show” and the dad went ballistic, telling me not to talk to his kids that way and deal with him.  He talked through the entire show and I didn’t want to go to fisticuffs over rude behaviour so tried to shut it out.  Loud talking inappropriate dad, if you’re reading this, you kinda suck. I try not write mean things about people but I’m also not letting unacceptable behaviour slide by.

 

The show was incredible!  Pure energy and delight. This cast gives it all every show and their talent shines.  Thank you Jewel production cast for these last two weeks of absolutely amazing entertainment.

 

At Maltings for our final drinks of the cruise, I thought this delicious Matador

was my last drink but then Kim, the bar waiter, said he wanted to make me a special drink.  

He made two, one for me and one for dad but my dad wouldn’t try it so I poured his into my glass and drank the whole thing.  My final drink?  A peanut butter and jelly made with this:

Who knew how delicious this would be?? Kim made it then had me guess what flavours I noticed before he told me what it was.  When I smelled it I initially thought coffee but that peanut butter came through on the first sip.

 

Dad went to the cabin about 9:45 to finish packing his tiny suitcase and I stayed at the bar chatting with people I met through Cruise Critic and from being out and about.  Fabulous passengers last week and this week (well, maybe loud balcony dad was not so fabulous tonight.  Willing to give him another chance though.)

When I came back to the cabin my dad was just getting ready for bed.  He told me he was looking for the Freestyle Daily then realized we wouldn’t get one tonight.  With sadness in his voice he told me he was really going to miss the nightly reading of the Freestyle Daily.

 

You’ll likely notice there haven’t been many complaints from dad.  That’s the Jewel!  This cruise is one of my all-time favourite cruises and while Dad will say the Baltic and Iceland were spectacular, he also had a great time these last two weeks.  It’s been a very, very special cruise.  Everywhere we went tonight we saw passengers hugging crew with gratitude, giving so many words of thanks.  The crew are so outstanding “thank you” doesn’t seem strong enough.  My dad doesn’t get a lot of hugs in his day to day life.  Of course I hug him whenever I see him (usually twice a week) but I think that’s it.  He had so many hugs today!  The wine stewards, waiters, bartenders,  bar waiters, managers, Cruise Next team, head mixologist and photographers all hugged him.  When we said our goodbyes and gratitudes to Teo (concierge) my dad put out his hand to shake Teo’s hand and Teo said uh uh and gave my dad the biggest hug.  This is why we cruise Norwegian and why we love the Jewel.

 

It took my dad about six days to find a routine and know his way around and I can tell that the security this gave him increased his happiness.  Two week cruises seem to be the sweet spot but I think he could do longer.  My dad’s parents lived in China in the 1930s and 1940s because my dad’s dad was in the British Army.  My dad has never been to Asia and I know he’d love to go.  The Jewel heads to Asia in October 2023.  Wish we could be on an extended stay for 4 months to experience all the amazing ports.  China is on my dad’s bucket list.  He watched An Idiot Abroad and that changed his mind somewhat but a cruise would work for him!

 

Right before we both went to bed I went out on the balcony and called to my dad to come out.  I think we were sailing by Qualicum on Vancouver Island because I could see the airport tower.  My dad turned his head northward and softly said, “bye bye Alaska.”

[YVRteacher]

10 hours ago, Dachgraf said:

We have booked the Debarkation Scenic Cruisetrain from Seward to Anchorage, departure is at 6:50a.
Is the Garden Cafe open earlier on the day of disembarkation? Otherwise the breakfast will be a bit stressful ...

It is open at 6:00am.  

[YVRteacher]

Just checking to see if I got my money’s worth with the beverage package.  

[YVRteacher]

6 hours ago, senorita frog said:

You seem to enjoy the trivia so hopefully you can tell me, how does the 'visual trivia' work?

Hi!  They have a screen and a laptop and the images come up on the screen.  The images are numbered 1-20 and you write your answers down on a piece of paper.

 

Years ago the trivia was all done orally.  Now the typed trivia questions (spelling errors included) are projected on the big screens whether or not an image is needed.

[atticusthegreat]

44 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

Just checking to see if I got my money’s worth with the beverage package.  

love this idea, doubtful that I'd ever remember to actually take a picture of every drink, but maybe I'll give it a shot. .... 😄

[YVRteacher]

2 minutes ago, atticusthegreat said:

love this idea, doubtful that I'd ever remember to actually take a picture of every drink, but maybe I'll give it a shot. .... 😄

I’m a little embarrassed to say I definitely didn’t take a photo of every drink!  
 

I also ran out of space in the collage to include all drink photos.

[Nilbog]

18 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

I know seasickness impacts people in different ways. I am someone who gets incredibly seasick on small boats, large boats, trains, cars and swings.  I can not go on a swing!  The medication from guest services and the acupressure bands are perfect for me.  Has your wife tried them?

She brings pills, patches, and bands on every cruise.  They help her keep an even keel.  All except one night on one cruise where the dining rooms stayed empty all evening.  She's just not real comfortable on the small boats.