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

[YVRteacher]

In contrast to last night’s dinner, breakfast was excellent. Actually it was perfect. We enjoyed steaming hot, delicious lattes,

 

cranberry juice, a yoghurt parfait and half order of Eggs Benedict

 

with NO breakfast potatoes for dad. I ordered one piece of an English muffin, one scrambled egg, sliced ripe tomato and a side of Hollandaise sauce then added brie and capers to create this stacked beauty!  

 

The berries at the buffet were ripe, fresh and sweet.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made sure dad got some fruit today. His nutrition is very important.

 

 

The Maître D, Sheila, came to check in and I requested that we always have the same waiter. He did a fabulous job and was 100% accurate with our order.  Thank you to Ram for the best breakfast we have ever had on the Jewel.

[YVRteacher]

I’m writing this during the This is Alaska presentation. The Stardust theatre is full and there are many first time cruises and many first timers to Alaska.

 

1174 guests have Free at Sea and are entitled to the $50 off on each excursion.

 

After the This is Alaska presentation we looked at the Freestyle Daily and dad didn’t have anything circled so I took charge and we ended up here

 

The bar waiter was making drinks and he poured my dad’s Stella all down the sides of the glass with about 10cm of foam. I sent it back and told him to wipe the glass and serve it right.

There are only two bartenders at O’Sheehan’s and they are rushed off their feet. The people next to us have been waiting 15 minutes for someone to take their drink order.

 

One of our fabulous waiters from previous cruises is now an assistant Maître D in O’Sheehan’s. She came to hug us and say hi then she told us Armando is not coming back to the Jewel. I know he did not want to go to a big ship but he has been transferred to (she thought) the Viva when his vacation ends.

[luvteaching]

HI @YVRteacher. Yvonne, it's great to see your "live from" on your cruise with your Dad. As a retired teacher I'm impressed that you can sail so close to the start of school. More power to you!

 

I enjoyed following you on your Princess cruise and I'm looking forward to following this one. I love when you talk about the books you're reading and the book stores you're visiting. I've been to Parnassus Books in Ketchikan each cruise this summer (I've done 3 with #4 coming up in September). Have you read the book "First Ladies" about Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary Bethune? It's a great read especially if you like historical fiction. 

Have a wonderful trip with your dad! 

Karen

[schmoopie17]

9 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

 

 

DAD: What's this thing??

YVONNE: *sticks out her tongue and makes the raspberry noise*

DAD: That's not polite. I asked you a question. What is it?

YVONNE: *sticks out her tongue again and makes the raspberry noise*

DAD: I need a beer.

[cruiseny4life]

So.....I love your lives! I think you know that. Most following along do too. Here's another reason (beside the reason I left on your Princess live). 

 

You tell it how it is. You hold NCL accountable. You refuse their p!ss poor efforts at serving badly poured drinks. You let us know when things are great. And when they're bad. More folx need to do this. I'm going to remember this in February. When something isn't up to standard, it's being sent back. When a crew member gives a false answer (which unfortunately happens, since NCL isn't known for integrity), I'll hold them to getting me the right answer.

 

And, obviously, I'm going to voraciously read all your thoughts. Good and bad! I'm hoping for more breakfast moments than dinner moments for you and dad! Happy sailing!

[graphicguy]

Yay......another live.....!!!!

[Disney Deb]

So glad that you have changed your mind about doing another live! I came off the Jewel on Monday August 19th :(. We took an NCL 6 day land tour followed by the 7 day Seward to Vancouver the 12th through the 19th. I learned so much from you-my husband still says the Hubbard Glacier excursion was his favorite even though he kept protesting that it wasn't necessary before we left. That hot chocolate was the best! Every time I saw those wet scrambled eggs on the buffet I thought of you lol. I'm sad that there are so many issues with quality but we had a great time regardless. Tahani is the best!

Enjoy this special time with your dad. Happy travels!

[troyphoto]

It was so fun to meet with you and Dad. Thanks for the croissants! 
 

And if anyone gets a chance to meet John, he’s rather interesting when you get him telling stories about himself!

[Sadebud]

I enjoyed your Princess Live.  Thank you for doing another Live with your Dad this time.  Enjoy and smooth sailing!

 

[libtrek]

On 8/19/2024 at 7:27 PM, YVRteacher said:

Let me tell you about two interactions this afternoon.

 

My dad and I went to the spa to buy thermal suite passes for the week.

 

Me: hello, we would like to buy thermal spa passes for the week.

 

Spa receptionist: did you already buy the passes online?

 

Me: no, I just said I wanted to buy spa passes

🙄

 

Despite the stupidity, we did manage to buy spa passes. The next interaction was worse. We went to the Cruise Next desk to book all the Latitudes benefits.

 

There was a rep helping a couple and a rep doing nothing. He asked us what we wanted. I told him and he said the other person would be with us soon. He continued to stand there doing nothing while we waited for 15 minutes. Finally I said to the silver spiked hair guy, “this is ridiculous service. Can we please just put our names down on the sign-up pages?”

 

He did scribble down our activities on a piece of paper. At no time did he say “hello” or “welcome aboard” or anything. This was one of the worst Cruise Next “welcomes” I have ever experienced. It’s not like I’m expecting a ticker tape parade, confetti and marching band but a “hello” would have been nice.

 

Both my dad and I left shaking our heads.

 

So far, we have received abysmal service from the concierge, the waiter, the spa receptionist and the Cruise Next guy.

 

Nonetheless, we are happy to be on a cruise.

Oh my, this is not a good start. Kind of reinforces my thinking on no more NCL. My Rich is now out of the cruise loop but I have a thought to do an Iceland cruise with my daughter. Have to figure out if the perks of NCL platinum over less status on Princess. ML

[Shellbelle28]

Thanks for sharing your cruise! I booked last minute (for me) on the Jewel for a 9-day departure from Seattle cruise on October 10. We've always loved the Jewel and the Pearl. I've usually booked an aft suite, but none were available, so I'm in one of the Haven 2-bedroom family suites. I'm looking forward to late-season Alaska. I'm sad to read about some of the not-so-good experiences so far. 

[YVRteacher]

The last I wrote, we were at the bar.
 

We had a choice between Wines Around the World and Alaskan trivia.  Booze won.  I can’t drink red wine and don’t enjoy white wine so I was more a bystander than a drinker although I had two tiny sips.

 

This was not well organized and was not fun for me. I like organized. In May we were divided into 4 groups of about 12 and rotated through the stations when told. Each wine steward gave a presentation on the two wines at their station. This time it was a free-for-all and we were told to go where we wanted. There were no presentations, just pouring. My dad did enjoy it so that was a good thing.

 

Me, to wine steward, I can’t drink red wine

 

Wine steward: Ohhhhhhhhh

 

Me to dad: Do you like that one?

 

Dad: they’re all good!

[YVRteacher]

Dad normally has lunch at 11:30 so when 1:00pm approached and we still hadn’t had lunch he was quite miffed. We went to Cagney’s and savoured an excellent meal. 

Soup and crab cake for dad (both half orders in case the portions look small)

and a salad with sliced avocado and Brie on top for me. We shared the Banoffee and it was wow for our taste buds!

At one point I turned around to watch the chefs busying around in the galley and when I looked back dad was eating coleslaw out of his lap.

 

“Something fell off my fork,” he explained, “so I ate it.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

[YVRteacher]

Yesterday’s weather report is courtesy of dad:

“You don’t notice it when a bald guy walks by so you think it’s calm but when someone with hair comes by the wind whips it all over the place.”

 

 

 

 

Better than that, here’s an example of a picture being worth more than words. To get the full effect just insert your favourite cuss words repeatedly!

 

 

We watched the ocean from Spinnaker for a while then it was time for Martini tasting.

[YVRteacher]

When we sat down at the counter Dad saw this

 

and asked, “is this all for me???”

 

I said yes.

 

I have NEVER seen this many people for martini tasting before! I asked El Marie how many people did the martini tasting and she said 40. The whole team (bartenders, bar waiters, beverage managers and Aan) did an incredible job with this event.

 

Someone walked by and commented “there are martinis everywhere!”

 

We sampled:

Gin martini

Le Fizz

Cosmopolitan

Cucumber Twist (dad got a serving of fruit)

French Raspberry (delicious) (Wheatley vodka, Chambord, pineapple juice)

Chocolate (absolute vanilla, 

Creme de cacao, Irish Cream)

 

Me, when we got to the chocolate martini: I knew this would be my favourite!” It smelled like a big box of chocolate ready to be sampled.

 

Me to dad “it’s not a shot! You don’t down it!”

 

Dad: “how else do you drink it??”

 

Aan said that most people think that Long Island Iced Tea is the strongest drink a bartender makes, but they are wrong. It is the Martini.

 

I say it is the Three Wise Men I tried a couple weeks ago.

 

Aan’s son is now a bartender! He is 20 years old and is following in his dad’s footsteps.! I remember Aan talking about him as a kid and telling us how much his son loved rice.

 

Last time we did this we shared. This time we did a tray each.  We should have shared.

 

El Marie said the most she has done for martinis tasting is 47 but they have enough glasses for 50. That’s 300 mini martini glasses. Okay, I deserve credit for that. I’m 7 martinis in and can still do math.

 

Last time we did this there was a blue one. There was no blue one in our mini glasses today.

 

For his grand finale Ann made an In and Out and I took some notes:

Frosted glass

Dry vermouth (little bit)

Swish 

Dump

Glass smells like Vermouth

Bombay sapphire

Something about either onions or Gibsons

 

Me: “that was fun! Really fun! I love Aan so much!”

 

Me: “my mouth is numb! How do you feel?”

 

Dad: fine.

 

Aan made a martini fountain at the end. I got the blue one. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At one point I dribbled a martini down my hand while trying to pour the rest of mine into my dad’s glass. I couldn’t find a napkin so just wiped my hand on my pants . Now I smell like a vodka factory!

 

Sadly, martini tasting came to an end and we thanked Aan, El Marie and all the bartenders then stumbled to the cabin. Our destination? The spa! Dad asked what he should wear and I emphatically told him he needed his bathing suit. I did a swimsuit check before leaving the cabin then asked dad if he remembered what happened in May.

 

He did not remember so I told him about Full Monty 2024. Dad said “well everyone got a free show!”

 

He is not wrong. 

[ceilidh1]

Dad is my favourite!

[YVRteacher]

The spa was calm and blissfully quiet this late, foggy afternoon. I built our towel nests on the hot ceramic lounger and dad let out a long, slow “aaahhhhhh” of pure contentment. We watched the rain and I think dad was asleep within moments.

The difference between the noisy spa and a silent spa is the difference between angst and peace.

 

As I tried to extract myself from the hot ceramic lounger I commented as I held my head in my hands to stop the world from spinning, “oh, I’m drunk.”

Dad said “no more for you!”
Then we both laughed knowingly.

 

The spa was only quiet until Mr. Speedo from Italy and his mom(?) entered the thalassotherapy pool. Their conversation reverberated throughout the spa and I imagine they were saying “look at all these doofuses wearing swimming trunks.  Why would you choose the freedom of swimming trunks when you can have the compressed version of a bathing suit hugging all the good parts for all to see?”

 

I almost threw up in my mouth when Mr. Speedo got out of the pool, peeled an orange, made himself a tea and placed his food beside his thermal lounger. He was still dripping from the thalassotherapy pool as he stepped over his orange and tea and drips from his crotch region landed in his drink and onto his fruit which he then devoured.

 

 

Dad went back to the cabin before I did (I spent a long time reviewing our cabin number with him) and when I returned after showering in the spa he had a beer. He told me he went to the casino because he “got lost.” Keep in mind he was wearing his bathing suit and robe. 

Edited August 21 by YVRteacher

[YVRteacher]

As I was getting reading for the Captain’s VIP party I heard a thunk and dad called out “it’s ok. I’m okay” as he lay face first sprawled in the hallway of the cabin.

 

What happened?

 

Dad saw the door stopper, didn’t know what it was and, being an inquisitive sort who can never leave anything alone, tried to pick it up. Gravity worked its magic and dad just kept heading in a downward direction until the floor stopped him with a thud. Dad looked surprised as he told me “I fell down.” 
 

 

Next time we do martini tasting we will definitely share!

[MamaToMany]

Wahoo! Another Yvonne live! And I’m only 3 pages late… 

 

Martini tasting sounds like an absolute adventure, and a not to be missed event. Fingers crossed for a delicious dinner tonight. (Your breakfast creation this morning looked positively heavenly.)

[Hogladyrider]

@YVRteacher you have such a refreshing outlook with your Dad.  Smile and chuckle away, you both seem to be enjoying each others company!

[amygutman]

On 8/20/2024 at 5:33 PM, YVRteacher said:

Dinner in La Cucina

 

Wow. Just wow. We were shocked with the new menu and reduced options. There are few pasta dishes and no vegetarian main course options. My favourite salad, the Ensalada Mista, is gone as is the fettuccini Alfredo con funghi. This menu consists of disappointment and cutbacks.

 

 

 

For the appetizer I ordered the pear and Gorgonzola salad without the Gorgonzola. It was basically a pile of too-big lettuce in a bowl. No one even tried to make it look or taste good.

 

 

My dad had the calamari which he normally loves. He took one bite and said it was tough. He winced through the entire plate.  Good thing this was a half order. 

 

For the main course I ordered the Gamberi Fra Diavolo for dad but in a half portion and with regular tomato sauce instead of spicy. This is his plate as it was delivered to the table.

 

We were so, so disappointed in dinner and if we had one word it would be ‘disgusted.’  Nothing was done to make the meal nice. It wasn’t well plated, it definitely didn’t look like the photo standards NCL provides to their chefs and sous chefs and it simply was not good. It wasn’t even next to good.

 

We used a specialty dining meal but if we hadn’t it would have been $97.00

 

including a $35 charge for this (my dinner)

 

This is how it was presented. As I said, disgusting.

 

The fly in the water was free. 

 

I was glad the fly landed in the water and not my Prosecco.

 

We both looked at each at the same time and said “we used to love this.”

 

My dad said, “when you think of the number of good meals we’ve had in La Cucina, it’s sad to see it go that bad.”

 

We looked at the dessert menu and vetoed it. Crêpes were being made one by one in the Garden Cafe.

 

They were sad crêpes. So, so sad.

 

We noticed the Jewel no longer uses Heinz and has switched to sub-par ketchup. Last year I thought the last straw was when NCL discontinued the distribution of free anti-seasick tablets. I was wrong. 

Wow...just discovered this thread and it's a bit concerning. I mean, I love cruising as well (any day on a ship is better than on land IMHO) but it seems despite you meeting a lot of past lovely crew and staff, it has been a very disappointing first day re: food and service. Hoping it gets better!

Warmest Amy

[YVRteacher]

7 hours ago, MamaToMany said:

Wahoo! Another Yvonne live! And I’m only 3 pages late… 

 

Martini tasting sounds like an absolute adventure, and a not to be missed event. Fingers crossed for a delicious dinner tonight. (Your breakfast creation this morning looked positively heavenly.)

How is Ben and will I see him in Icy Strait Point on Saturday? How was your cruise to Alaska?

[MamaToMany]

4 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

How is Ben and will I see him in Icy Strait Point on Saturday? How was your cruise to Alaska?

He’s doing great, and you should definitely see him in ISP! Our cruise was fantastic. Many wonderful memories were made and we can’t wait to do it again. Looking forward to living vicariously through you and your dad for the next couple of weeks!

[YVRteacher]

This was written on Tuesday and posted on Wednesday. I am going to describe a pretty bad dinner but don’t worry! Wednesday’s dinner in Cagney’s was excellent and the Restaurant Manager and Executive Sous Chef are checking in with us frequently to ensure quality. 
 

I am now a full day behind in posting due to poor wifi. This one post has taken 50 minutes to upload (just giving some perspective.)  We are doing great, are having so much fun and are being spoiled by our incredible room steward and butler.

 

Tuesday Evening

We had the Captain’s VIP party and I told dad he could bring his beer with him instead of rushing it. Dad looked at me like I am daft and said no, he would finish this beer and get another beer.

 

Righty ho.

 

 

 

 

 

We had a great time at the party. Guess what dad had?

You got it right!

 

 

 

We chatted with the photography manager from South Africa who was delightful to talk to and made dinner plans for next week with Tahani and Fabrice. Tahani asked us how we were doing and I had lots of good things to say and I also showed her the photos from dinner last night.

 

As the party wound down Tahani and I helped my dad up then she took his arm and escorted him to Chin Chin, just like Armando would have done. Dad was beaming!

 

Dinner was not delightful but some items were edible. I’m trying to be tactful. 

Our server did not check on us at all. I ordered hot sake and it was served stone cold. My rice was so undercooked it crunched. Dad’s potstickers were cold. Poor dad is 0/2 with calamari as both last night and tonight he said it was tough. I can’t corroborate since there is no way I am eating anything with tentacles. Ever. 

 

 

 

These were really good!

 

 

 

 

They did listen to my request for small portions which I appreciate.

 

The maître d came to check in and I told her the hot sake was served cold, my dad’s food was served cold and my rice was crunchy. She apologized.

 

My dad said “Norwegian ain’t what it used to be.”

 

To her credit the maître d secured a properly cooked serving of vegetable fried rice and replaced our sake with hot ones. Dad was too far gone to be appeased and didn’t want any more dinner. I did order him a bowl of vanilla ice cream and that made him feel better. When the restaurant manager saw how much my dad was enjoying his ice cream he smiled and patted dad on the back. I do love and deeply appreciate all the kindness and love the Jewel team extends to my dad.

 

For dad:

Calamari 

Pork potstickers 

Sweet and sour pork

Ice cream 

 

 

For me

Vegetable spring rolls

Vegetable fried rice

Shojin roll (yum!) This is an extra charge from the sushi bar. We have a $50 dining credit that came with the booking and is in addition to our specialty dining meals.)

 

 

At the end of our meal the Restaurant Manager, Wilson, and the Executive Sous Chef, Komang, came to talk to us. Both apologized for the food we were served last night at La Cucina. The Sous Chef told us he had previously told the cooks in La Cucina not to serve sauce that looks like this.   Wilson has given us a replacement specialty dining meal which was kind of him.  Tomorrow we have dinner in Cagney’s and if Ram is there I have full faith we are in great hands.

[tcmagnum]

17 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

As I was getting reading for the Captain’s VIP party I heard a thunk and dad called out “it’s ok. I’m okay” as he lay face first sprawled in the hallway of the cabin.

 

What happened?

 

Dad saw the door stopper, didn’t know what it was and, being an inquisitive sort who can never leave anything alone, tried to pick it up. Gravity worked its magic and dad just kept heading in a downward direction until the floor stopped him with a thud. Dad looked surprised as he told me “I fell down.” 
 

 

Next time we do martini tasting we will definitely share!

As someone who is heading down this long road with both her dad and mom, I just love your attitude with your dad.  You really are someone who I look up to.  And your dad....Really love him.  

Enjoy this cruise with your dad - and don't do a share martini tasting!!  Go for it!!!