txhomeschoolmom

Hi PacificMountain2012

We're considering this excursion with Island Marketing and would love to see pictures when you have an opportunity to download them :)

Question: are there chairs on the beach? was it crowded?

Thanks much!

We were just on Goff's Caye, with Island Marketing this last week. I haven't downloaded photos yet but will shortly. Here is what I can tell you about it. There is no "real" beach there, but rather a long sandbar that run parallel with the dock. You can sit on the sand bar or in the water, which is shallow for a very long way out. I entertained out 5 year old there while DW, DD, and DS all took the snorkeling tour which they raved about. Snorkeling equipment is included with Island Marketing, but you need to get it before they take everyone out to the reef. You can snorkel in the shallow water, we saw fish, starfish, conch shells etc... there. This is a little caye, I could throw a rock across it. The facilities there are limited. There is a small changing room and next to it is a men's bathroom and women's. They are not outhouses, at least the one we went in, but have a toilet. There is food to purchase there. They have a barbeque going on. We had chicken, rice, and beans. Other choices included lobster. I recommend you buy your food early. If you have any questions, let me know. I'll post pictures shortly.

I should probably just let it go, let it goooooo... make some great big piles of snoooow...

here I stand and here I'll stay :D

Couldn't resist :)

I'm with you though... Not sure why the thread had to be deleted :confused:

Oh well... Like you said... Drum roll please...

I'll... Let it go... Let it go :D

Found you ahaught :)

Thanks much... Truly appreciate you starting this separate post...

Have a great day!

Let's try this again with another link:

NCL Jewel Freestyle Dailies from Houston 10/11/14

Here are the dailies.

 

Link

Hi GrabMyWrist :)

Thanks much for the link...I was able to download the dailies...

Appreciate it :D

Looks like the mods deleted the entire thread for some reason. I don't know why they would have done that. Is it wrong / against the forum rules to post scans of dailies?

Hi The Mister,

I didn't think it was wrong nor against forum rules to post and scan dailies...have seen dailies from other sailings all over cruise critic :confused:

Thanks for trying :)

Hi ahaught

Thanks much for sharing your experience and for posting the dailies...once I select link for the dailies, receive the following message:

Invalid thread specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

Am I doing something wrong? :confused:

Thanks much!

Embarkation went smoothly for us. We arrived at the port around 11:00. When we walked in we were handed a group number, but then saw the sign for the Gold & Platinum line. Went there and were on the ship for lunch around 12:00.

 

Parking was good, we were there earlier than most so parked close to the door and carried our luggage from the car to a porter. Also paid $75 for parking about a month in advance.

 

Went to El Cozumeleno for the second time in Cozumel. We like it. We book it through Island Mkt'g.

Went to Goffs Caye in Belize for the second time, it was alright. Water was rough, so the snorkeling was not very good.

Took a tour of a coffee/Cocoa/Mahogany plantation in Trujillo. We were the first group to ever tour this place, so they were testing it out on us and we felt like we received extra good service. It is 390 Acres that American purchased 25 years ago to provide jobs for the people there. Seems to be working out well.

 

Dailies are posted in a separate thread NCL Jewel Freestyle Dailies from Houston 10/11/14

lilcruzr

So sad you got sick on the cruise :( glad to know you were well taken care of both in sickness and in health :) hope you're feeling better and getting stronger each day :)

Have a great evening!

Thanks much for sharing your experiences...sounds like you had an enjoyable cruise :)

Hello all,

 

I plan on writing a review on the cruise critic, but will provide a little information based on our experience here. We sailed the NCL Spirit (Europe) and the Carnival Truimph last year.

 

We arrived shortly after 11 am and there were already loads of folks waiting around to check in. They didn't start processing until close to Noon. There was no indication on how the line up would proceed, so we asked one of the employees and he sent us right into line - so we processed quickly and got on the ship. Apparently they were handing out group numbers somewhere - but we never saw them.

 

We attended our Roll Call Meet and Greet and one of the officers explained that since this was their first time in this port, there were some immigration issues that backup the whole process including the check-in and loading. This was the reason for the delayed departure.

 

The ship was great in our opinion, though we didn't find the crew as friendly (especially the dining room staff) as our experience on the Spirit. The food was very good! The entertainment was good, though again, we felt it was much better on the Spirit.

 

All the ports were great. We did the Salsa and Salsa excursion in Cozmel - which we highly recommend (especially if you love Salsa and Margaritas!). Take a look at their facebook page if you want to see pictures). In Belize, we just went ashore to shop. It was very hot and the Tender ride wasn't too bad. Trujillo was definitely a different type of experience. The tender process was much smoother than Belize (probably because we were using the ships boats). We did the Historical Tram with the Nature Park and Beach excursion. The Tram was actually a van, but it did something close to air conditioning. As others said, the people were very excited to see us and welcomed us everywhere. The area is very economically depressed and shows. Our guide took us to the historical district by the fort and we walked about a bit. There was a very heavy police presence in the whole town and along the route to the Nature Park. The Nature Park is nice, though not much there - we didn't do the beach, but it looked a bit crowded.

 

Getting off the ship was a breeze - sailed right through customs and onto our bus to the Space Center then on to our airport.

 

Overall we had a great time!

SUCCESS :D Thank you!

thanks. lets try this

 

http://s1369.photobucket.com/user/dallas6/library/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-10

 

password is norwegian

 

pictures aren't great so if you're looking for something specific, let me know and i'll take a better picture and upload it. these dailies pictures were from my phone. i take a picture every morning and make it my background on my iPhone. comes in very handy for having it always with me. by the way- the concierge is worth every penny. we used it all week and was a huge help for us

Fingers crossed :)

ok, that didn't work out so well. i'll keep trying

Thanks much :)

we booked with a guy named ivar- he is highly recommended on here and i would agree. they did an incredible job. just wasn't our cup of tea. kind of pricey but overall i think it was a good value. $575 for 8 of us.

tendering process...I know right?!? :( not my favorite :(

2 people in our group have mobility issues and we're struggling to find a suitable excursion in Belize... do you mind sharing the company you went through for the private tour? that just might be the answer to our dilemma...

Thanks again!!

in belize-the tendering process was not so great- has anyone actually had a good tendering process? lol. we booked a private snorkeling trip to cay caulker. we wanted a private tour as we have 2 girls (6 and 10), and were traveling with my sister in law who has mobility issues and my wifes grandmother who is 80. we felt like having our own boat would be the best way. unfortunately this was our worst stop- it took over an hour to get to cay caulker and the boat ride was extremely rough. when we got to cay caulker we decided to eat lunch and rent golf carts to explore island. this turned out to be the best part of our day. we only actually snorkeled for roughly 20 minutes as we were pretty wiped from the boat ride. this was our 3rd time to belize and for us may be the last time. although we were talking to some people on the ship that said belize was always their favorite port. everyone has their own opinion i guess

Thanks much for answering our questions...sounds like you had an amazing experience in Trujillo :) we've also booked Banana Beach Resort and are now super excited!! Hearing about your experience there has helped reassure me that we made the right choice...

How was Belize?

We originally planned on arriving to the port at 11:00 a.m. however, sounds like we might want to rethink this plan if things don't get better...

we arrived just before 10:30 or so.

 

Didn't see anything about the chefs table and we were interested in doing that. i'm kind of regretting we didn't ask about it now. lol

 

trujillo was a FASCINATING experience. being the first ones there- they were beyond excited to have us. I talked to dozens of hondurans because i was so curious of their thoughts. i was told by more than one person that we (being cruisers) were their heroes. one lady who lived there but was actually from Pennsylvania said that they had a very poor economy and very few jobs. when we got on our bus it was surreal- they cancelled the schools that day and the streets were literally lined with people waving and smiling. so many people had their cameras out taking pictures of us. i heard the president of honduras was at the port too. There were multiple tv station crews out filming the whole experience. Definitely a neat experience to be apart of.

 

While i am talking about Trujillo let me tell everyone about our excursion experience. We booked a day at the banana coast resort as i'm not a fan of ship excursions #1 and #2 was scared with this being the first stop there, that they wouldn't be very organized. We loved this place and would definitely go there again. The people i talked to on the ship that went on the ship beach tour didn't seem overly excited about their experience. This was a small sample size as i only talked to a few people but overall that's what i got. Our biggest complaint was no a/c in the school bus we took back and forth from the pier. But a lady i talked to in the casino said the ship buses were the same. the highlight by far of this port was the food at banana beach resort. THE BEST FOOD WE HAD OUR WHOLE CRUISE, including Cagneys and Le Bistro. lol

 

anymore questions- lemme know

mdallasm1

Thanks soooo much for posting :D:D

We've been waiting to hear how everything went last week... so sad to hear you waited that long in line for embarkation :eek: what time did you arrive at the port? did they say what took so long? :confused:

Truly appreciate posting of the dailies, if everything works out :)

How was the weather?

How was Belize and Trujillo?

Hope you had a fabulous cruise!!

Thanks again!

Hey hey,

 

i rarely post on here but told myself i would this time since its the first cruise of the season from Houston- and also with trujillo being a new port.

 

To answer a couple of your questions

 

-worst embarkation process we've ever had (granted, only 5th cruise). we waited IN LINE for roughly 2 1/2 hours. If i were going again tomorrow I would show up roughly 1:30, but that's just me

 

-on the plus side, parking was the best of any port we've sailed from- go figure. $80 if you pay there or $75 if you book online. we logged on that morning to purchase and were too late to get the $75 deal, so book early i guess

 

-i will try to post dailies as well. never posted pics but i'll try

 

any other questions people wanna know

We were not in the Haven but we were in a full suite. 2 bedroom penthouse #11024. All suites (not mini suites) have access to Moderno on the Jewel for breakfast and lunch. Not just the Haven suites.

Hi Hikini :)

Thanks much for responding and for the info...you've made me a happy cruiser :D

Have a fabulous day!!

It WAS weird to go to Moderno instead of Cagney's and we most often said Cagney's instead of Moderno when we were referring where we went for breakfasts or lunches. It's the same menu, same good service and seems like Cagney's in that sense. I do like the location, which is the remodeled Star Bar (which is no longer.) It has more of a view than Cagney's has.

 

It was also a bit strange not to have the Blue Lagoon, but I do like the enhancement of O'Sheehan's. All in all, another great cruise and the Jewel is in great shape. Enjoy!!

Hi Hikini,

Were you in a Haven Suite? noticed you mentioned having breakfast and lunch in Moderno's vs. Cagney's...when we previously stayed in The Haven, were also able to enjoy breakfast and lunch in Cagney's...am looking at booking a last minute cruise on The Jewel {first cruise on this ship} and The Haven is sold out...from looking at the deck plans, your Suite appears as though it is not in The Haven...is that accurate? Looking at maps is not my strong suit :confused: so I wanted to make sure eating at Moderno's was in fact included when staying in a non-Haven Penthouse suite...

Thanks much for the info...

Have a great evening :)