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115 days! Soon be under 100!!!

If you order juice make sure you get them to rinse the juicer as more than once we have had some funky tastes and somewhat greenish murky oj. They seem to juice a lot of veggies.

Good tip. Thank you!

On the Jewel and Gem there was a fresh Juice Station during the morning buffet. You pick out the veggie's and fruit that you prefer. A 12 oz glass was around $3.00. :)

Thank you. This must be what I remember from the Jewel. Wonder if it's in the Epic too? We shall see and I'll report back the details.

I'll be on the Epic in April. Has anyone ordered fresh squeezed juices on the Epic or other NCL ships? I seem to remember seeing a station in the Garden Cafe on one of my past cruises but didn't pay much attention. Is that where the fresh squeezed juice station is? Can you order them from anywhere on the ship? What kind of juices are available - vegetables too? Fresh pressed apple juice? Thank you to anyone who has information to share.

I had a perfect Jewel cruise in May. Best cruise ever. I would have spent hundreds on souvenirs as well. There was just nothing that interested me. Actually left the shop disappointed.

150 Epic!

Dinner tonight at Tsar's Palace Main Dining Room

Starter: Beef burger slider w/ sriracha coleslaw on a potato bun.

Main course for me: Thai green chicken curry w/ basmati rice.

Main course for husband: Beef meatballs with mashed potatoes and peppercorn sauce.

All was great. The slaw on the slider was very spicy. It was served with a small wedge with a really nice light dressing. Curry wasn't very spicy, but chicken was tender and juicy. Meatballs were likely previously bagged frozen like you get at Costco; however, the brown gravy on it was fantastic. With the mashed potatoes it was very tasteful. Dessert was the warm chocolate volcano w/ strawberry compote and vanilla ice cream. When I first saw it, the volcano caked looked pitiful. I was disappointed. But the taste was great. The warm chocolate center oozed out of it when I used my spoon. It was not super sweet and paired perfectly with the compote and ice cream.

Must say that these selections were all fantastic. Last couple of times, main dining room food has just been dinner - not memorable. Seems it may have changed for the better. Great start to the cruise!

One note - with an owner suite you get 3 bottle of liquor out of a selection, a bottle of champagne and then a sparkling wine for being platinum. We were able to trade the champagne and sparkling wine, which we don't like, for 2 bottles of Merlot. Pretty happy about that.

Also, our butler Theodore is over the top fantastic. By far best butler we've experienced. He has 4 months left on this contract. He handles 14 suites per cruise. He is seriously amazing! Treating us like royalty, and like we're his only suite to buttle.

Thanks again, would you be kind enough to check out those obstructed oceanview staterooms on deck 8 to see (if you could) the windows are all blacked out, or maybe it's just for select cabins with the lifeboats outside - if you walk outside on the promenade deck #7, look up & you should be able to tell - we're on the Jewel a few years back when it was based on NYC.

I'll be happy to and will report back!

Looking forward to your posts! we are on the jewel at end of June, and have suite 10000 booked for next year also, which suite are you in? have fun!

We're in 10004 with adjoining 10002 for my inlaws. But we know who's staying in 10000. I'll take some pictures of it and post when I return.

Internet is great so far. Speed is good. I'm in a forward suite and even on balcony it's working great. On previous cruises it's been spotty, going in and out. But this has worked perfectly so far.

I'm going to inquire higher up about laundry and will report back. No problem if it's just one, but I'd like to know.

Departing Seattle today. Beautiful sunny 66 degrees. First cruise of season. I've never been before so I'll post as much as possible to help others as well. I'll post my freestyle dailies upon my return.

Misc Notes:

Letting you know that Florentina is the concierge fresh off vacation.

There is NO charge for room service other than $3.95 surcharge from Midnight - 5am. The room service menu is the same as what we've seen before with no cost associated with ordering. There are no notices of the inability to take food back to rooms from buffet and restaurants. I'll keep checking on this.

There is an unlimited wifi plan for $24.99 per day.

The spa pass for 9 days is $149.

Chef's Table is $99.

Suites have breakfast in Moderno from 6:30-9:00 am on Ketchikan and Skagway day. 7:30-9:30 on Sea Days, Juneau, Glacier Bay and Victoria. 7:00-9:00 at Icy Strait and Seattle. Suites have lunch in Moderno from 12-1:30 all day.

Suite reserved seats in the Stardust Theater are located on Deck 7, portside, in the front of the balcony.

Steve Jacobsen is the Hotel Director.

My husband and I are platinum members and we BOTH got dinner for 2 + wine vouchers. On the voucher it says they can be used at Le Bistro, La Cucina or Moderno. We get ONE free bag of laundry for the stateroom.

There is a latitudes party for silver, gold and platinum members with wine and cheese - on our cruise it's Tuesday at 5pm in Spinnaker. There is a VIP cocktail reception hosted by the Captain - Niklas Persson - on our cruise it's Friday at 6:30 pm in the Haven. There is a platinum cocktail reception Friday at 2:15 in Spinnaker on our cruise.

Platinum members get a behind the seas tour - length 45 min - 1 hour. Platinum members get concierge service, priority disembarkation and priority tender - even if not in a suite. For platinum the sparkling wine, Godiva chocolates and chocolate covered strawberries the evening of the first sea day.

The comedian currently onboard is Jean Pierre Parent. The first night show is "A taste of things to come" at 7:15pm and 9:15pm.

There are manager bar specials each day.

Embarkation - Seattle is awesome and check in was easy. Everyone has been super friendly so far. The Turkey Burger and Carrot cake are as delicious as ever on the suite lunch menu. We do not have the UBP or UDP as we booked way before that promotion started. The lifeboat drill is at 3:15.

I'll try and post each day anything noteworthy. Feel free to post any questions and I'll try to find the answers.

Dinner that evening was at Moderno the Brazilian Steakhouse. The salad bar was wonderful and the amount of meat that comes around is unbelievable. I tried the traditional strawberry caipirinha which I would recommend avoiding. The drink was so strong that I had a hard time finishing it.

Totally agree with you. After 2 sips I had them mix it with other non alcoholic liquids to be able to drink it. :)

So the 18% is new as well? That is a hefty price for one meal! You could almost buy the UDP for a week.

The meal is amazing. And the alcohol is free flowing. 18% is less than the gratuity I left when we attended. These are the top servers on the ship. It's a unique experience and well worth it.

Just a quick question about Illusionarium please:

 

Is it worth it to pay full price as we will not get the UDP?

 

I am also worried that we have to line up for a long time to get a good table. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks.

The show was totally worth it to us. Loved it. Will be going again when we sail in September.

A friend of mine is a school teacher. His local authority are doing an educational trip, which I think is your cruise, but not able to get hold of him to confirm just now as he is in school. It involves 220 kids aged between 12-16.

I am definately not going anywhere near that lot. He's told me of some real horror stories from his school, which is in a rough neighbourhood.

Wow. I hope this is correct and 220 kids from a rough neighborhood would get to experience a 10 day cruise out of Europe! It absolutely would be quite educational. And how nice of whatever local authority or individual would pay the over $300,000 it would cost for that trip - airfare, food, cruise, transport, hotel, chaperones too since 12-16 year old kids can't be in a cabin by themselves. Just awesome!

We'll be on this cruise as well. Agree that it's unlikely we'll be inundated with spring breakers.

I'll second that notion

 

 

*Living Large*

Agreed.

I like preconcierge. I like the Haven being a peaceful retreat from the hustle and bustle of the big ships. I like priority embarkation and disembarkation. I like the heated tile loungers in the spa.

Getaway Haven provided our best cruise ever. The peace and serenity was exactly what I needed for my vacation. Service was awesome. Oliver the courtyard valet went out of his way to take care of us. We liked dining in the Haven and honestly rarely left the Haven area. Absolutely worth it for us. We had a courtyard penthouse and 2 Bdrm next to each other for my inlaws, husband, son and myself. Great crew. We're going back in September.

Includes spa passes for all adults in the room. Spa passes are good for the duration of your cruise. It allows access to the thermal suite with hot tubs and sauna and steam room and thermal pool. It does not include any treatments like facials and massages. We loved the spa on Epic especially the outside deck where I napped every day.

18 Days to the Jewel in Alaska!

Same here!!! Pulled out suitcases today.

My October 11, 2015 sailing on the BA for our cabin just dropped 1300 dollars, check it out if you are booked

Awesome! Feels great to have savings like that, doesn't it? Our Getaway and Epic cruises have both gone done significantly.

Down to 24 days now!

My Getaway reservation for September dropped $800 and my Epic for next April dropped $1500.

Hi,

 

We are sailing in a suite next March for the first time and newcomers to NCL (my two NCL cruises were charters).

 

I read here that dining reservations can be made 90 days head of time but I also read about the concierge making dining reservations for suite guests. Which is the best way to go? In advance or with the concierge? It's a little confusing. We will have the UDP and most likely take advantage of it for dinner each and every night.

 

Thank you!

It's really your preference. However, when you embark, the concierge (or sometimes your butler) will come to you with a form to fill out of all the dinner reservations you want - restaurant and time - and then they make it happen. Or, you can tell them daily what reservations you want. I wait until I get on the ship. That works for me.