ironcheftoni

My first cruise I used a TA that was an acquaintance.  I didn't get any extra deals and I felt a little slighted.  Her specialty was luxury travel (SilverSea, Seabourn, Regent Seven Seas, etc).  She made me feel like she was slumming it booking my cheap little inside cabin on NCL.  My syle is casual.  Before selecting NCL, I told her that my friends and I didn't want to dress up on vacation and have to spend a lot of money on formal clothes that would only be worn once.  Her response was "Well, be prepared to eating room service all week!".   🙄  I thought she would give me advice on excursions and other things to do.  Instead she just directed me to Shoretrips.com to book excursions so she would get a commission off our bookings.  This treatment really turned me off on TA's. 

When researching my next cruise, I accidentally got added to a TA mailing list and I got contacted by a TA from another company.  We talked at great length and I explained what happened previously.  He made me feel much more comfortable.  He was able to get our group OBC from both NCL and his company as well as a discount from the cruise price compared to booking directly with NCL. 

I was on the Jewel in June. On deck 5 forward. Our muster station was in the theater.

Ship - Jewel

Deck - 5

Stateroom # - 5504

Stateroom Category – Porthole

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – The stateroom was quiet except on port days when you could hear the ship being tugged into port or pulled away from port. This was an Alaska cruise and the trip through the Misty Fjords the captain decided to play Titanic and break up ice bergs. The ice bergs could be heard dragging against the hull.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No

Balcony View - N/A

Balcony Size? N/A

Was wind a problem? - N/A

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin? - see above about Quiet

Any other comments? -It's a cabin for three people. Two twin beds plus one Murphy bed. Not much head space between the top and bottom bunk. I was on bottom and kept bumping my head on the top bunk. Storage space was plentiful. Three shelves for toiletries in the bathroom even though it was a bit cramped.

I know you had a great time! I was on the Jewel the week after you. My review is on our Roll Call.

Thank you for the great review! I'm going with two friends on 6/24. You mentioned your son gets motion sickness. I do too and it's my first cruise. Planes usually do not bother me unless it's bad turbulence but in a car, I have to be either driving or in the front seat and cannot be reading or looking down. What precautions did your son take? It's been suggested to me to take ginger supplements a few weeks before and continue taking during the trip.

Looks like they are getting the upgrades done faster. I am on the Jewel not sailing until 06/24. We just got upgraded from Inside to a Porthole. My bid was the on the midrange of the Fair gauge.

NCL just rolled out the bidding process last year on a few ships as a Beta test. They are implementing it fleetwide in 2017. Which brings me to my question: Does anyone know (or is there a list somewhere on this board) which ships are participating at present? I keep seeing the same Breakaway class ships posted in this thread. Have any of the Jewel class made the switch to the upgrade bidding?

I am on the Jewel for the 6/24 Alaska cruise and was offered to upgrade.

I just checked ShoreTrips. They seem to only offer private tours. If that is what you are looking for, you can book cheaper directly with the tour guides than the prices listed on their website (especially for two people).

There are three of us going. My travel agent suggested shore trips as opposed to booking excursions via the NCL site.

My travel agent recommended booking through shoretrips.com. We are planning a zip line in Ketchikan, a helicopter ride in Juneau and whale watching in Victoria.

Southwest is awesome! I've flown them for over 20 years. And over the years their boarding process has gotten better. It used to be a cattle car stampede. Now, you will be in a boarding group, A, B or C with a number on your boarding pass. You will board in that order. Also check your flight. If the flight is coming from somewhere else and then continuing to your designation, there might be people already on board.

A plus to Southwest is that they have the largest leg room than American Coach seats, no baggage fees and if you have to change your flight; there is no outrageous change fee; just pay the difference.