lhsail

We were on the Jewel a couple of weeks ago and ate in one of the main dining rooms 5 out of 7 nights. One night we weren't very hungry and just got sushi and one night were treated to the French restaurant by some fellow travelers. There were a couple of nights we weren't excited about the menu offerings, but with some direction from our waiter ended up very happy with our meals. Overall I felt like the food was on par with most other cruises lines/ships we've been on.

We have just come back to NCL after 25+ years of other lines. Frankly the UBP got us a few weeks ago when we were looking for a last minute getaway. I'm trying to make concessions for the popularity of the current promotions, but we just booked a second NCL cruise for early April and I've never felt like I was running to hold on to pricing like I have with these two bookings. Is it typical of NCL to change pricing almost daily?

Thanks for the comments re flights. My concern may be valid that the flights could cost more than the cruise.

This trip certainly is enticing. Anyone have any idea of what air might run from the states in Mach? Realize there are many factors, but ballpark?

We were on the Jewel last week, standard outside cabin, starboard. Basically the same itinerary. In Cozumel we were opposite the port, Belize is a tender port so not sure it matters. We did a different stop in Roatan, but again were not facing the port.

A true beautiful lady, the SS Norway in 1982.

Thanks everyone. The Great Outdoor Cafe on a warm night would be awesome. At least I can DH it sounds very hopeful.

We were on the Jewel and there was only one version of ESPN available. If you've had better luck than that, good for you. This was not intended to get into a debate of one cruise line over another, I was just seeking information specifically regarding the NCAA playoffs.

Princess doesn't just show the major events like the Super Bowl. They will show any NFL games, often will have college basketball games, etc. We've been on Princess frequently during spring break, which is also NCAA tournament time and they've always had most of the games on, not just the championship. The only thing on NCL last week was European soccer. There was also a specific statement in the dailies about licensing issues and that's why they don't offer a variety of sports programming, or something to that effect.

Hello to All, Hubby and I are cruise newbies and I am the family researcher. I have been able to get the answers to most questions by searching on Cruise Critic. Thank you all for the help. :)

I do have a question that I have not been able to find the answer to. I am an early riser and am always the one to get the morning coffee. I usually go for a walk with both travel mugs. I am wondering where on the jewel is the best place to fill the mugs before 6 am. :confused:

NCL offers coffeemakers in some cabin categories, I believe balcony and up. I had read that others can request from their cabin steward. We were in an outside and about the first thing out of my mouth when I met our steward was a request for a coffeemaker. He asked if I could wait until the next morning since embarkation day is so crazy for them. The next morning a 4-cup coffeemaker arrived with tons of coffee. The room service route has always worked, but it was nice to get things ready the night before and just hit the button when I crawled out of bed in the morning. I'm often up before my husband and didn't have to worry about waking him with the phone call, room service knocking on the door, etc.

We just booked the Jewel for April 4th and that Saturday and Monday are the NCAA Basketball Playoff games. Last week was our first NCL cruise in like 25 years and their sports offerings as compared to Princess are pretty pathetic, which is kind of a big issue for my husband. Anyone have any experience with being on an NCL ship during the playoffs? Any chance we'll get the games? (And before anyone tells me that if it's a big deal we shouldn't cruise at this time, should do a different cruise...it's not a deal breaker and we are going with friends who have this particular week off work.)

Our son is now 21, but we did lots of cruises when he was a teenager and he usually just preferred to find other kids on his own to hang out with. But, we were just on the Jewel last week. I think it was the last night on the cruise, the teen group all came into the Tzar's Palace dining room to eat together with the ship's leader/counselor. There must have been 5 tables of them, at least. This dining room requires resort casual attire, which means at least nice jeans, and all the kids were appropriately dressed. They appeared to be having a great time and were as well behaved as a group of teenagers could be expected to be in those circumstances. My husband and I both had big smiles on our faces at the sight. At least on the Jewel, NCL must be doing something right with their teen club to get that many kids to do a "nice" dinner together.

We were on the Jewel last week. Got to the port about Noon, fairly long lines for security and check in, but they moved pretty quickly. We were able to board as soon as we got through "processing". For debarkation, the last groups weren't called until around 10:00. If you get there before 11:00 I would be prepared to be sitting outside for a while. When we got off the ship the line for customs was very long and you figure after they got everyone through customs they had to set up that entire area for check in.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Think we messed up and should have put something on hold this morning. Looks like the cruise we were considering took a pretty good price jump today. :(

I totally understand the concept of booking a guarantee, we've done it several times. But am a "newbie" with NCL as we just completed our first cruise with them since the mid-80s. Anyone have any experience with booking guarantee cabins on NCL when two couples are traveling together? I assume they can mark the reservations to reflect that you're traveling together, but what are the chances with NCL that you'll end up with cabins close together?

Prime rib was also in the main dining room the last night.

We are sailing on the Jewel in a week, first time back to NCL in 25 years. Can someone tell me if the selection of wines in Magnum's is the same as the fleet wide list or are there other options? Thanks in advance.

I apologize if this was previously mentioned in this thread, I did not read the entire thing. We haven't sailed on NCL since the mid-80s but last night booked on the Jewel for the 2/14 sailing. We were looking for an outside to get the UBP and were attempting to keep the cost down as much as possible. NCL's website kept showing outside cabin categories as available in the early stages of booking that then showed unavailable when you actually tried to book that cabin category. We did get a cabin at a great price, but it was very frustrating to have to keep going back and looking for another category. I know these cabins were booking up quickly last evening, I get that, but I looked this morning just to satisfy my curiosity and they still initially show several categories of outside cabins available.

Thanks for the comments. The Princess info is not detailed nor is it accurate. Unfortunately, they are missing a cruise for my husband so he is not yet Elite. And, of course, that's about the only cruise for which we don't have our boarding pass or ticket copy or a picture taken by the photographer, etc. Some of our cruises were over 30 years ago and some on lines that don't even exist anymore. Think I'll start with an Excel spreadsheet then maybe someday I'll figure out how to create a database.

I also posted this question on the Cruise Memorabilia forum but not sure how much activity it gets. Does anyone use a spreadsheet or database to track their cruises. I've been going through documents from our 40+ cruises, just hit Elite for Princess, and I'd love to create some record by cruise line, ship, cabin number, ports, any notes which made the trip special, etc. Just wondering if anyone does something similar.

I'm in the process of going through the documentation from our 40+ cruises, a retirement activity. Does anyone use a spreadsheet or database to document their cruises? I want to be able to summarize cruise line, ship, cabin number, departure port, ports of call and any special notes about the cruise. I'm thinking an Access database would be best, but I don't know much about creating a database in Access. Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Thanks to everyone for their input. Booked this evening. Less than half the cost I found elsewhere and with only one stop instead of two.

Go ahead and book it. Sometimes they may show a price and set of flights that is not really available. You will know for sure once you get a "confirmed" response at the end of the booking process.

 

Joanne and I are on a TA in April, too (British Isles), and I had a little difficulty getting the low price advertised,. The terms you show are in writing on their website, so it would be hard for Princess to violate them.

 

bob

Hey, Bob. Thanks for the info. We are doing the TA from Houston to Barcelona. We're also cruising the Emerald the week before Christmas. Wish Princess would shake up the ports some out of Houston, but I know we'll enjoy it anyway.

Laurie

I've done some scanning of prior posts and realize some individuals have had bad experiences with E Z Air and there's lots of info out there, but hoping for a quick answer to my question. We just booked a TA for April. E Z Air Flexible fare is less than half what I've found so far anywhere else. The provisions listed are as follows:

Fully refundable until 45 days before flight departure date

Change fees up to the full cost of the ticket apply at 45 days or less

Payment due at Cruise Final Payment

Is there any downside to going ahead and booking this while I pursue other options? I'd hate to lose this fare and end up paying double. I'm I truly under no financial obligation until final payment for the cruise?

We've had our Princess CC for years. We basically charge everything to the card and religiously pay it off every month. I have never seen any special offers such as additional OBC. We've paid for a few cruises totally with points. The bank has always been great to work with whether it's for the purpose of redeeming points or any cedit card issues.