A Ma'am and 2 Ma'amettes week on the Jade

[Lizzzys]

So after we had the big reveal of the suite -

 

Our luggage was already in the cabin. I had not checked in online in time to get the luggage tags sent to me so I made my own. I had to print them off and got ingenious. I had some extra tags left over from our last cruise. (September' date=' Dawn, Canada and New England with two Ma'ams and DHs). I cut out my name, the word "Priority" and taped them to our printed off tags. I wanted to make sure that we got those bags quickly! Well it worked!

 

 

 

 

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Quite clever, don't you think?

 

Dennis, our room steward, greeted us. He was wonderful all week long, I might add.

 

Charlie, our Butler, also came in to greet us and answer any questions we had. I told him that I was familiar with the espresso machine when he tried to show me how to work it. Then he showed me a paper on the dining table.......now back story here......we had the UBP for the first two cruisers in the cabin. I assigned those to the girls because I always bring my wine (which they don't carry on NCL - Rodney Strong Merlot and Cab) on board and pay the corkage fee. I had done that this cruise easily as we drove to the port. I figured that I would just pay for any other drinks I wanted along the way. This paper on the dining table was a list of liquor. You see, the Owner's Suite and above come with THREE bottles of alcohol! :eek: I just figured that I had upgraded to this suite from the Penthouse late and would not get that. WRONG, I get it!!!!!!! Wow. I love Tanqueray Gin Martinis Dirty with extra olives. So I asked if I could get Tanqueray and just pay the difference (I think Beefeaters was on the list). He said no problem. I also picked dry vermouth and Kahlua. The girls said they could have that in their coffee. Ladies and Gentlemen, when these arrived the next day, I was happy to find that they were large liter bottles! I hardly put a dent in them for the week. Now I am enjoying them at home - they will last me six months!

 

 

 

Do you have a photo of Charlie?? We had an excellent stateroom attendant on NCL in Hawaii about 9 years ago named Charlie... I am just curious if it's the same guy. :) He was incredible and I'm sure he worked his way up the ladder quickly.

[Oakman58]

I'm really enjoying your review and all the great photos you've been posting.

[bluehawks47]

Awesome review!! I can't wait to read what you did in Roatan.

[mommie_2_3_krazy_teens]

mommie_2_3_crazy_teens - So glad you are enjoying my review! You have your hands full with three teens! I only had two. I just had the curtain and rods from another cruise with my three sisters and they worked well for this suite too. I cannot think of another solution. It was view-blocking and that is all we needed. You don't need something that opens with the door like this one did I suppose. Hmmmmmm' date=' you are making me think!

 

I have some VERY strong magnet clips at work on one of my file cabinets (Office Depot) that could attach to the walls on top of the door. I cannot remember if the top of the door frame is flush with the ceiling or not. The walls on the ship are metal and magnets stick well to them. It would be worth taking some magnets to see what you can rig up. They are small and much easier to pack than a rod to (maybe 2.5" x 2.5" each). You could put them on the inside of the bathroom door and outside of the shower door like I did.

 

The Spa was adults only and it was never crowded the whole week. We usually went early in the morning or late afternoon.

 

We did use the Haven sundeck, as you will see in an upcoming post.....;)

 

Your daughters will probably see many teens on your cruise. We were told at the Meet & Greet that the closer to Spring Break or Holidays, the more the young people are on the ship.

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My husband has some magnets that are super strong! I like that idea. Then we could just use small sheets or large towels to create privacy. According to videos and pictures I have seen this may work for the toilet area, but perhaps not so well for the shower area in the family suite.

 

My kids are now 20, 17 and 17 so I have almost survived the teen years...almost! LOL My son (20) will not be going with us, as he could not get the time off. We are going with my twin girls and my brother and sister in law. It will certainly be interesting. Maybe myself and my sister in law should be looking into the spa passes?

 

I was going to ask you about the giveaway you posted about (where you won spa dollars)? Can you tell me more about this (who, what, where, and how)? :)

 

You had posted that you did not arrive in Cozumel until noon...I am curious about that because they have excursions for sale that begin prior to noon. :eek:

 

Thank you for answering my questions. I appreciate it very much!

[Huntingdon1701]

Well' date=' tomorrow is my 61st birthday and the Ma'amettes and my grand daughter just arrived to take me to dinner!

I will post more later![/color']

 

Happy birthday. I hope you had a good time!

 

A couple of questions, if you don't mind:

What was the drink a few pages back in the post with all the water slides? It looked like it had chocolate or coffee swirls in it.

 

Did you have a typical time to eat, if both La Cucina and Teppanyaki were quite empty? I'm not fond of crowds so those times might suit me.

 

Thanks

[medicalma'am]

Lizzzys - This is the only photo we all three have of Charlie. Sorry. It could be him, he was mid thirties to 40 ish maybe?

 

This is when he told me that we have three bottles of liquor. :D

 

 

[medicalma'am]

Thank you Oakman58 and Bluehawk47 - Glad you are enjoying it!

 

I just realized that many of my photos are taken with my iPhone plus because I carried it everywhere with me. There is no way to tell which were taken with which. Plus I am using some of the Ma'amette's photos. :p

 

mommie - on the first day that you board, go to the Spa and have a tour. Ask about the raffle and they will give you an entry to fill out, place it in the box. BE SURE TO RETURN AT THE APPOINTED TIME AND PLACE! This was at 5:00 pm in the Pulse fitness center. Not many people show up because it is soon after the mandatory life boat drill and just about the time of sail away. You MUST be present to win. The kept calling number after number after number of people who weren't there! Make sure your hubby fills out one too. I think that you have to be 18 to enter.

 

I have all my Freestyle Daily each day and I just looked - we arrived Cozumel at 11:00 am.

 

[medicalma'am]

 

Huntingdon1701 - Dirty Monkey ! must have! Banana, Rum, Kahlua, Pineapple Juice, Banana Liquer, Cream de Coco

 

 

Best time to eat, hmmmmm, we usually ate between 8 and 9. I think Omar was able to meet all our reservation requests withing 15 minutes. He was making them mind you. Teppanyaki was three seats empty at our seating just because those people did not show. I would say the later the better. If there is an early show, choose that then eat afterwards. We like to linger at a meal and take our time,which is easier to do later when there is no one out there waiting for your seat!

Edited February 28, 2016 by medicalma'am

[medicalma'am]

 

Okay, here we go on our day in Roatan, Honduras. The long awaited, anticipated Little French Key! I have been there three times, the Ma'amettes once. I had told them of the changes I had seen last time, and I knew that more changes had been made since I was last there in November '14.

 

The day dawned and it was cloudy. We arrived in post at Coxen Hole and put to anchor MUCH closer that yesterday in Belize. It would be a 5 minute ride in the ship's own life boats to shore.

 

 

Our arrival was 8:00 am and we wanted to be one of the first ones off the ship to take advantage of our time there. The last tender would be at 3:00 pm.

 

 

We got a quick breakfast in the buffet and headed to the Star Bar to meet Omar to take us down the super secret crew elevator and hallways to meet the tender boat line at the beginning. Love those suite perks!

 

We scanned our cruise cards and were on our way down the exterior steps to the life boats. We were paused on the steps a bit while a lady with a wheelchair was helped on. Yikes, the waves are a bit high. That life boat was up then down and the crew were doing a marvelous job helping folks onboard. This was really not near as bad as I have seen in the past though. You could tell it was new to some. Listen to the little boy in this video. He was so cute. They were some of our CC friends and were also going to Little French Key (LFK).

 

 

 

I had to laugh at the guy who got on with his drink in hand. That early in the morning I hope it was water. (not judging though)

 

 

Edited February 29, 2016 by medicalma'am

[mommie_2_3_krazy_teens]

I just read a review of a recent Jade passenger who said that day 5 was very rough waters, and that staff said this is true of all 5th days on this particular route. You being an experienced cruiser, I'd like your opinion on this...I know a lot can depend on the weather...but overall, how did you feel this route was?

 

(am planning our medication! LOL) ;)

 

Thanks again!

[medicalma'am]

 

The weather was just not cooperating with my plans for the day. It rained on the short 5 minute ride to shore. But we still have smiles on our faces.

 

 

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I am so happy to be here. I told the Ma'amettes that I was in my 'Happy Place'.

 

We exited at the dock and the 'guide' tried to coral us, but we knew where we were going. We and another group said "We have been here before" and trekked off. We headed for the little extension of the island and found a table under cover as it was still raining/misting.

 

 

I stayed with our things and the Ma'amettes went to get our first drinks.

 

 

These were Monkey Lalas, much like the Dirty Monkeys on the ship. So delish!

 

I headed off to take pictures and explore.

 

 

 

Edited February 29, 2016 by medicalma'am

[medicalma'am]

Mommie - our day 5 was okay. When you heave Honduras, you go around the Yucatan peninsula and the water can be more rough there. The Captain's log on the TV said "Rough seas" and "7.5 to 12 feet waves" but it was not bad at all. It just rocked us to sleep that night. It ended the next day and we had calm seas in the Gulf.

 

The roughest water I have been in was from the inside passage to Vancover and then on to Seattle on the Pearl in '07 and '09. We had side to side movement that I hate. This cruise was NOTHING like that, not bad at all. No worries.

 

I will never sail to the Bermudas. I think those are the roughest waters ever, off the East Coast.

[medicalma'am]

I was anxious to see the area the four Ma'ams were on our Sun cruise. It was and area away from all the hubub, was very private and quiet. It was very different. We had draggen lounge chairs to the water and were next to an old row boat.

 

It was a perfect little area now.

 

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Efficiency of space at it's best

 

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Edited February 29, 2016 by medicalma'am

[Planmaam]

Wow, you have been really busy with this review since I last checked in to Cruise Critic!

 

By the way, Happy Birthday, Medicalma'am!!!!

 

 

Enjoying your review so much, decided I needed a chocolate martini! LOL

Edited February 29, 2016 by planma'am
spelling

[ncklhaus]

Happy Birthday!!

 

I am really enjoying your review. Hope you were able to enjoy your day.

[FloridaGram]

Signing on to read the rest! I am really enjoying your report. We have been to Roatan on Carnival and they have a dock with a beach right there, called Mahogany Bay. I was concerned about tendering. You made it sound easy, although I bet it would take awhile with just lifeboats if you were not in a suite. I think I read about Little French Key one time, isn't it a family owned place?

 

I am considering the Jade, Getaway or Escape so I am really enjoying seeing how much you liked the Jade.

[Lizzzys]

 

Lizzzys - This is the only photo we all three have of Charlie. Sorry. It could be him' date=' he was mid thirties to 40 ish maybe?

 

 

 

This is when he told me that we have three bottles of liquor. :D

 

 

 

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Thanks for posting! Hard to tell from the pic. I'll check my photos tomorrow from that trip and see if we have any of Charlie to show you.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mitsugirly]

Loving your review Robin. (Although I was able to see some of it as you posted while you were on the cruise and was loving the haven pics). It looks like you all had a wonderful time.

 

So was this a different company that NCL used for the shark-ray tour? I guess I didn't realize that the company didn't provide snorkels when we went last time (since we always bring our own). I know that we were supposed to snorkel the "park" (reef) on our tour and I ask several times about it and their reply was "It's way over there, you can start swimming if you want" :eek: ...which I found to be quite rude. It would have been nice to have been able to pet the shark like you guys did. The hubby was able to "hold" one way out after everyone got back on the boat and Sakari had a fit and cried for a portion of the way about not touching one. Ugh. I would so love to do this swim over again and get a better experience. But just not with the same people as before. It sounds like you guys may have had a different vendor. Was it not H20 (I think that was who did ours last time)?

 

Little French Key is so amazing and I can not believe the changes every time we go. I can't imagine them doing much more...there's not much space left. I was so sad when I seen Simba's empty cage still. :( But Lawrence the lion was so playful this time when we went and so were the baby lions. I have to say, I didn't get an extra drink ticket...darnit. :o

 

Can't wait to read the rest of your review. I'm downloading my pictures and will start mine soon. Just trying to get over this "parting gift" I was left with from the Jade. :eek:

[hlb76]

Still loving this review.. its really helping me get out of my - Don't really want to go on this cruise after all funk! I love your day with the sharks and rays. I so want to do that!! I need to go look to see if still available. I did see a private tour that does it as well so I need to research more. I love Mr sanchos as well. I think we are just going to wing it this year we will see.

 

Excited to read the next installment

[Wildcatllamas]

 

Mortal Error. Have you read it? Wow' date=' I loved it and couldn't put it down. I have been to the book depository museum in Dallas and seen many shows, movies, and documentaries on the subject. I had been watching the price of the book on Amazon for a year (at one time it was up to $60 and I I was not willing to pay that!) and it recently came down so I bought it. I was Blow away at how much research this man did over many years. It got very technical at times but I liked that. I learned a lot from it and highly recommend it. I told my DH that he MUST read it.

 

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I did read a couple of years back. I was the same way - couldn't put it down. His research really makes a case for his theory.

 

I have a slightly different Nikon Coolpix. Still learning how to use it so hopefully someday my photos are as nice as yours.

[Bluesmania]

So, tell us how you found the restaurants and bars etc.................

[medicalma'am]

 

ncklhaus, I did enjoy my birthday! I posted all day! Thank you.

 

Thanks Planma'am, we never did get to talk on Sunday. Maybe tonight.

 

FloridaGram - I have a picture of Mahogany Bay with a couple of ships there. The tender is only 5 minutes in Roatan, easy peasy. You just wait an hour to get off and the lines are gone.

 

Lizzzys - I bet I can tell you if that is him if you have pics.

 

Mitsugirly! - Are you recovered? My daughter got the flu the day after we got off the ship. Samantha and I had our flu shots and stayed well.

 

H2O is who we had before??? Then we DID have the same tour operator! They took us RIGHT to the reef. It was waist deep water and calmer than when we were there with y'all. They called the tour Shark Ray City as opposed to Shark Ray Alley so I thought it was a different operator.

 

LFK I thought was 'built out' last time we were there too. But they have done more. I kind of hope they are done.

 

hlb76 - DON'T WANT TO GO ON THIS CRUISE! :eek: Never heard of such. Well, I will just see if I can keep you snapped out of that.

 

 

Wildcatlamas - Great camera. I have to push myself to learn how to use it. I wish they had a 200 page 'for dummies' guide to it!

 

Bluesmania - patience, patience, we will get to that. :p

 

I have a doctor appt. this afternoon and will post more after I get home. Yesterday was crazy and I have to go in early today to meet a consultant who will be in my unit. Till later.....

[kcwiak]

A picture is worth a thousand words. Then I wonder what a video is worth???? First try at a video link.

 

Our suite!

 

 

Loving your review! Can't wait for the rest!

[medicalma'am]

kcwiak - Thanks, I am glad you are enjoying it.

 

So to finish our awesome day at LFK...

[medicalma'am]

One side of the osland was developed the first time I was there. The second time there were things farther in and around the perimeter to the east. The third time there was more built in the center. This time they have the perimeter built all the way around and the center is pretty built out. They have done this tastefully, but I feel if more is done then it will be two crowded and won't feel like paradise any longer.

 

The animals are still plentiful.

 

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Edited March 2, 2016 by medicalma'am