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Norwegian Jewel Vlog - "Priority Embarkation" & Penthouse Suite Tour


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Hey everyone! I wanted to share my vlog of embarkation day and touring our aft penthouse suite on Norwegian Jewel. This was the beginning of our 10 day Hawaii cruise last October. I have never had a full on espresso machine in my cabin before! Unfortunately "priority embarkation" left quite a bit to be desired. This is the first of several installments to my vlog of this trip. Enjoy!







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Thanks for posting the video. You boarded in British Columbia, Canada? When you speak about custom agents, they were Canadian?

I mostly board in Miami and once you pass security if you are in a suite, you enter the suite lounge on your own and NCL swipes your passport for you. However there is no guarantee the process is fast. One cruise with lots of kids took forever because the Haven lounge was overflowing with kids and trying to organize their passports. The regular passengers were boarding way quicker than Haven.

Something could have happened that screwed up everything for this sailing. Each port and each sailing is different.

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Interesting video! Looks like priority boarding is hit and miss...at least one other thread right now suggesting the same thing. Looks like a great room though. I have considered the Jewel for Alaska because of its smaller size.

Thanks for sharing!

CM

 

I agree that priority boarding is hit and miss, but also don't blame NCL for this as I have had similar experiences when boarding Princess ships in Vancouver. While disembarking from my my last cruise in Vancouver, I spoke with a port agent who said that the building was constructed to accommodate 5,000 people but regularly processes up to 15,000 per day.

 

If you are cruising in a suite, I do recommend the Jewel. I've done Alaska on the Ruby Princess and Coral Princess which are also small, and I had a great time on both.

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Thanks for posting the video. You boarded in British Columbia, Canada? When you speak about custom agents, they were Canadian?

I mostly board in Miami and once you pass security if you are in a suite, you enter the suite lounge on your own and NCL swipes your passport for you. However there is no guarantee the process is fast. One cruise with lots of kids took forever because the Haven lounge was overflowing with kids and trying to organize their passports. The regular passengers were boarding way quicker than Haven.

Something could have happened that screwed up everything for this sailing. Each port and each sailing is different.

 

Yes, this boarding experience was in Vancouver BC. The port agents suggested that the delay was caused by US customs agents, but it was also clear to me that the malfunctioning machines contributed to it. That was only the first hour though so I'm not sure what caused the additional hour and a half wait before we were momentarily permitted access to the lounge. The process at Vancouver is not very well organized, and it's something I've experienced repeatedly there. I agree that each port and sailing is different, however I will say that there are two ports where I've never had any problem or delay in boarding: Seattle and San Pedro.

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At some ports your really have to press the port agents VERY hard to get to the priority lounge area. Most of the agents are completely clueless and will give you nonsensical answers. If you are entitled to priority you just have to keep asking for an agent higher up on the food chain until you get the correct answer. These agents don't know and don't care about what perks you paid good money for and are entitled to.

 

On a secondary note, the 4 shrimp cocktails are a thing of the past. These have been reduced to only 3. During lunch it doesn't matter because you can order as many as you like, free of charge. During dinner, it's 8.99 for each additional order. Thanks NCL.

 

For your convenience of course....

 

P.S. That's a large balcony? Only in NCL's small world.

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At some ports your really have to press the port agents VERY hard to get to the priority lounge area. Most of the agents are completely clueless and will give you nonsensical answers. If you are entitled to priority you just have to keep asking for an agent higher up on the food chain until you get the correct answer. These agents don't know and don't care about what perks you paid good money for and are entitled to.

 

On a secondary note, the 4 shrimp cocktails are a thing of the past. These have been reduced to only 3. During lunch it doesn't matter because you can order as many as you like, free of charge. During dinner, it's 8.99 for each additional order. Thanks NCL.

 

For your convenience of course....

 

P.S. That's a large balcony? Only in NCL's small world.

 

I went in to the port unsure of whether they had a lounge for suite passengers, so I wasn't as adamant as I could (should) have been about gaining access. In the future, I will definitely speak up for myself more. It is frustrating knowing that the port agents don't care (that was obvious). As someone who has been on 24 cruises in my lifetime I feel like I am pretty familiar and comfortable with the boarding process. For a lot of people, a cruise is a once in a lifetime experience and they would just go with the flow as we did and be pushed to the side despite the pretty penny they paid for special service.

 

That new shrimp upcharge sounds silly, wow! I saw on another forum the other day that Carnival is charging $2 for teabags if you want anything other than Lipton now. Talk about nickel and diming! 😂

 

My only other time cruising in a penthouse suite was on the Ruby Princess and the balcony had two loungers and a dining table with four chairs, so I had the same thought when I saw the "large balcony". We still had great views I was a little surprised they advertised it as "large". Had me wondering what the standard suite balcony looks like.

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On a secondary note, the 4 shrimp cocktails are a thing of the past. These have been reduced to only 3. During lunch it doesn't matter because you can order as many as you like, free of charge. During dinner, it's 8.99 for each additional order. Thanks NCL.

 

Enjoy it now, it will be 2 shrimp next year.

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I'm boarding the Jewel in less then a week with priority boarding in Vancouver. Can you advise of any tips or where to go to actually find the right place to be? Thanks!

 

My main tip is to arrive as early as possible (I shoot for 10AM). Once you get through customs, look for the boarding area where people are lined up to get their cruise cards, and head to the designated line for suite and Haven passengers. I'm pretty sure we boarded on the East berth, and boarding was on the right with the priority line furthest to the left (guarded by a port agent). They will probably try to channel you off to the seating area on the left so as Love My Butler stated, if the first person you speak with says there is no priority boarding then I would go ask someone else.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

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Thanks for the video. What did you think about the aft cabin? how was the noise level / engine vibration etc.

 

 

I was concerned about it but we were not bothered by any engine vibration or noise. It was pretty loud out on the balcony of course but not when inside with the door closed. I'd definitely stay in that cabin again.

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