YVRteacher’s dad is on a cruise! Live from the Jewel Aug 19- Sept 2, 2024

njkate · September 3

I have just finished reading this trip report! Sad to see such a decline in service and food but happy you and Dad still had a good time!

Thank you for taking us all along with you, your photos were top notch!
You are a most caring fabulous daughter!!!

www3traveler · September 3

I hope that your day goes well today and that Dad is doing as well as possible.

Feels like Fall in Southeastern Washington State, gentle rain falling after a wild night of thunderstorms. Hopefully the rain will dampen all the wildfires caused by the storm system.

carohs · September 3

Yikes, yikes and more yikes! I have to say I'm really dismayed by the contrast in experiences between the two weeks. It seems again that NCL is great as long as everything goes as expected, but when it doesn't they just have such a poor response and inadequate resolutions.

ceilidh1 · September 3

3 hours ago, graphicguy said:

I welcome all reports, good and bad.

I LOVE your reviews. They are upbeat and bring back lots of fond memories of places I've also visited.

But, this 2nd leg of your trip is inexcusable on NCL's part. Again, this is a total failure of the ship's upper management. From the toilet, to the service to the condition of your cabin, totally unacceptable.

I sometimes read posts by folks who whine about things and I just shake my head wondering if they're 12 years old or adults.

This? This experience is just a failure by NCL....all the way around!

As an ongoing and frequent guest of NCL, this really ticks me off!!!!

What blows my mind is that is this is how they treat guests who are BOTH (at this point) Ambassador status, plus sail in (EXPENSIVE) suites....how do they deal with the lowly folks with no status and in steerage? Not that this SHOULD have any bearing on how you are treated, but we all know that every cruise line tends to fawn over their suites/much travelled guests - well, apart from NCL it seems. I'm shocked that they weren't jumping at the first complaint!

kitkat343 · September 3

1 hour ago, ceilidh1 said:

What blows my mind is that is this is how they treat guests who are BOTH (at this point) Ambassador status, plus sail in (EXPENSIVE) suites....how do they deal with the lowly folks with no status and in steerage? Not that this SHOULD have any bearing on how you are treated, but we all know that every cruise line tends to fawn over their suites/much travelled guests - well, apart from NCL it seems. I'm shocked that they weren't jumping at the first complaint!

As I read this, I kept thinking "and they're in the haven?!"

arizonaperson · September 3

@YVRteacher I am enjoying following along on your journey,your style of writing is fantastic. I like hearing how you experience your cruise, the good & bad. Sorry that NCL isn’t living up to all your previous ones, that is truly terrible.

Looking forward to reading more of your adventures with your Dad.

Travelicious · September 3

So, how generous was your tip to the concierge? 😆 Just kidding around. No response necessary.

purpleally · September 3

21 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Since my food was causing a drought in my mouth I asked the waiter for some sauce.

He said soya sauce.
I said some sauce.

He said gravy.

I said not gravy.

I had already told him I am a vegetarian.

This was dad’s food

Two little pieces of shrimp in his shrimp fettuccini Alfredo. Look at that broken sauce.

His dinner was served cold. He told me it was cold so I stuck my finger all the way into the middle. Cold.

At no time did the waiter check in on us.

The words for dinner tonight? Disappointing and sad. The service was the worst ever. We just sat there for an hour with uneaten food in front of us. My dad wanted dessert. I wanted to leave. I needed protein.

Tahini never came. I was so embarrassed. She could have called and left a message to say she couldn’t make it.

We were seated at 5:00pm.

At 6:05pm we walked away and went to the Garden Cafe where dad had pumpkin soup and Jell-O and I tried to find some protein. There was a dish called spinach tofu stir fry but there wasn’t any tofu in it.

There are now zero restaurants on this ship where we want to eat. Zero.

A few hours after writing this I did some more reflecting. If I went to a land-based restaurant and kept receiving such atrocious, bordering on unprofessional, service and such bad food (not every meal, but often) would I return to this restaurant? No. I would not. So why do I keep giving NCL my business when the food and service are not up to par?

I want so much to love NCL the way I used to. Instead, it’s just disappointment after disappointment.

Reading about your horrible dinner, after the mean bartender, made me want to cry

luvteaching · September 3

HI @YVRteacher Yvonne,

I've enjoyed your writing on this and I'm so sad to hear how lousy things were for you and Dad.

I hope you had a good 1st day of school and all went smoothly.

Karen

YVRteacher · September 3

1 hour ago, luvteaching said:

HI @YVRteacher Yvonne,

I've enjoyed your writing on this and I'm so sad to hear how lousy things were for you and Dad.

I hope you had a good 1st day of school and all went smoothly.

Karen

Thank you, Karen! Today was excellent. I got to teach grade 1.

YVRteacher · September 3

5 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

What blows my mind is that is this is how they treat guests who are BOTH (at this point) Ambassador status, plus sail in (EXPENSIVE) suites....how do they deal with the lowly folks with no status and in steerage? Not that this SHOULD have any bearing on how you are treated, but we all know that every cruise line tends to fawn over their suites/much travelled guests - well, apart from NCL it seems. I'm shocked that they weren't jumping at the first complaint!

I experienced far superior service and treatment as a passenger with no status on Princess than I did as an Ambassador on NCL.

YVRteacher · September 3

9 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

Wow...I'm afraid to read any further or we might end up canceling our Escape cruise next week. They should have had a seminar "How NOT to Run a Cruise Ship"...

I could have given that seminar! I have plenty of photos to accompany the talking points.

YVRteacher · September 4

Week 2 Day 5

Skagway

Remember how dad promised not to wake me up this morning?

The butler called at 8:12am and woke us both up. I’m so mad. All I wanted to do was sleep in. He wanted to know if we were coming to breakfast.

We are grown ups. We can read a timetable, we can get ourselves from point A to point B (well, dad needs a little support with this) and we know how to tick off boxes on a breakfast order form and hang it on a door handle. We do not need a phone call that wakes us up.

I barely slept last night since they were working on the toilet from the wall outside the cabin and it kept me awake until after 1:00am.
The plumbers kept making the toilet in my room flush through the wall and it was impossible to sleep through the whooshing.

There was engine exhaust smell coming in to the cabin and when that phone call woke me up I was feeling pretty gross from the fumes. I could hear a man in the cabin below puking his guts out.

YVRteacher · September 4

The bubble blowing this morning was top notch. If you saw bubbles floating by somewhere in the Lynn Canal I hope they made you smile.

gzmtlock · September 4

21 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

The bubble blowing this morning was top notch. If you saw bubbles floating by somewhere in the Lynn Canal I hope they made you smile.

Might I be so forward as to borrow your balcony bubble bonanza? We're taking my elderly mom on a 3-generation, bucket list cruise in Alaska on the Encore in about a month. She may not venture out of our suite very much. I'm thinking blowing some bubbles may bring her joy. Is there a particular type of bubbles you like, or just something from the kiddie party section at the dollar store?

Thank you so much for sharing your joy and your relationship with your dad. And that you can still find the joy, even when circumstances seem to want to beat it out of life. You have a gift - thanks for sharing it!

YVRteacher · September 4

Please do, @gzmtlock!

For years I have been using the bubbles that come in the long thin tubes. I buy them to give to my students at the end of the year.

This cruise I bought special cold weather bubbles that are formulated to not pop when they land on snow. While the bubbles are smaller than the typical ones, the colours and the long lasting powers are supreme.

This is the brand of bubbles seen in all trip photos this cruise.

I found the artwork leaned up against a dumpster in my neighbourhood and I spent hours cleaning it with a Q-tip. It is not my style but I do adore it and I think it will live on my wall for years to come.

gzmtlock · September 4

4 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

Please do, @gzmtlock!

For years I have been using the bubbles that come in the long thin tubes. I buy them to give to my students at the end of the year.

This cruise I bought special cold weather bubbles that are formulated to not pop when they land on snow. While the bubbles are smaller than the typical ones, the colours and the long lasting powers are supreme.

This is the brand of bubbles seen in all trip photos this cruise.

I found the artwork leaned up against a dumpster in my neighbourhood and I spent hours cleaning it with a Q-tip. It is not my style but I do adore it and I think it will live on my wall for years to come.

Thinking it's unlikely I will find those in North Carolina (haven't seen snow in 5 years), I checked Amazon - yes! DONE! Thanks so much!!

(And that frame! Goes so well with the artwork!!)

YVRteacher · September 4

We went to the Garden Cafe for breakfast after bubbles. The food in this buffet does not bring me joy. On Princess I was in glee-mode every time I entered Horizon Court. I took hundreds of photos of buffet food, captivated by the colour and presentation. I took no such photos on the Jewel.

After breakfast we went to Spinnaker so I could write and dad could enjoy the view.

When we returned to the cabin the room steward was standing outside the cabin saying the toilet did not work and we couldn’t use it. He kept coming in to flush it and I finally told him I needed to get changed so he had to leave.

He apologized for the toilet and I told him it was not his fault at all.

YVRteacher · September 4

We headed outside and once again had to take the shuttle bus to bypass the rockslide at Railroad Dock. Carnival and Princess paid for their ships to be docked in sensible locations.

We walked a little bit in town then headed into the neighbourhoods surrounding the tourist areas.

Last week we had excursions in all the ports. This week the only excursion was the one to Hubbard.