Norwegian Jewel - Haven or Aft Penthouse

[BalconyGal]

17 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

We specifically picked that forward-facing suite for a full transit of the Panama Canal; it was our "dream cabin" for the transit. (Not that you should spend the transit in one place, but it was a great starting point in the morning for the first set of locks, when everyone else was trying to cram onto the bow.)  We did not have a problem with the motion or wind.  Certainly when the ship was underway you could really feel the wind when you were standing at the rail, but it did not bother us sitting down.  We were on a (very!) warm weather cruise; it might be different in Alaska! 

 

An extra bonus of that cabin was the dark sky at night, since there are no lights allowed on the bow (and the cabins have to keep the curtains drawn), so that the Bridge can be dark.  This made for fabulous star gazing!  We could see the Milky Way, as well as the Southern Cross in the wee hours before we got to the Canal.  Awesome.

 

As for the decor of the Jewel-class ships when they were first built, you are right.  Sooo tacky and 1980s.  This is an SF Penthouse on the Gem in 2016 (right after the dry dock in late 2015!!!), totally worn furniture, garish furnishings.  Hard to believe all they did in that dry dock was replace the carpet. Shameful.  The big mirror on the closet (can't be seen in this photo) actually fell off the closet in the middle of the night, putting shattered glass all over the carpet in front of the bathroom.  (Thankfully, we did not cut up our feet.) When it was fixed the next day, I saw that it had been put back so many times the original holes had been stripped.  

 

 

We had this one as well...The green/pink combo is awful! 

 

 

[BalconyGal]

18 hours ago, Ronin23 said:

 

I would like to try an Owners Suite however they tend to be at the front of the ships.  

The Owners suite also has a side balcony in addition to the front facing balcony.  That was one of our favorites.  It's a long walk to the front however.  It feels like a shorter walk to the aft but no owners suites back there.  

[Best Cat Mom]

We love the 2 balconies -- and having 2 bathrooms is wonderful too. We had a 2 balcony room on the Spirit and on the Jade -- Jade had the Haven too and that made it so much better. We're booked on the Jade for a TA in late April in the same stateroom. We liked it so much that we didn't even think of trading. Long walk to the Haven area? No problem, worth every step. Not right near Cagney/Moderno? Not an issue, worth every step. Our butler was very attentive and made the trip to the staterooms a few times every day. We are looking forward to the covered Haven area for all the sea days as well.

[Shellbelle28]

Ronin23:

Sorry to hijack this thread to another topic, but I'm booked on the Jewel on one of the Aus/NZ cruises in Jan 2020 and would love your thoughts on excursions. Since it's a once-in-a-lifetime trip coming from the US, I'm researching like mad already to find excursions, most "iconic" and representative of the area, for each port. NCL seems to have a really limited selection, so I'm hunting for private tour options. 

What excursions do you have planned? Or suggestions from your in-country knowledge. 

[FLAHAM]

The "small plunge pool" is an endless lap swim-against-the-current exercise pool and it's great.  It's about the only place in the NCL fleet to get in a real swim.

 

An early morning swim, followed by the courtyard butler setting up your ordered breakfast, is the way to start the day.  

Edited October 21, 2018 by FLAHAM
Addl thought.

[Samstress]

On 10/18/2018 at 8:21 PM, Ronin23 said:

 

Does it ever get too busy in the courtyard and does it tend to attract many kids with the inclusion of mainly family orientated suites in that space Samstress?

Sorry it took me so long to answer this...haven't been on CC for a bit.  We never found it busy; but we also try to travel outside of school holiday times.  It's not that we don't like children (I have a few of my own:-).  I also think that the smaller ships tend to attract a different crowd.  Maybe because there's not as many 'bells & whistles' as some of the bigger ships which makes it more appealing to families with children.  And of course if the courtyard is busy; there is always the sun deck which is a nice quiet spot.  Whichever you choose I hope you have a fantastic trip!  Cheers, Sandy

[Samstress]

On 10/20/2018 at 11:07 AM, Shellbelle28 said:

Ronin23:

Sorry to hijack this thread to another topic, but I'm booked on the Jewel on one of the Aus/NZ cruises in Jan 2020 and would love your thoughts on excursions. Since it's a once-in-a-lifetime trip coming from the US, I'm researching like mad already to find excursions, most "iconic" and representative of the area, for each port. NCL seems to have a really limited selection, so I'm hunting for private tour options.  

What excursions do you have planned? Or suggestions from your in-country knowledge. 

Hi Shellbelle28:

I thought I'd just throw my 2c worth of info in here:-)

I would suggest that you look for your roll call to  see if some of your fellow cruisers have any private tours arranged & will most likely be looking for people to join up with them to reduce costs.  If there isn't a roll call yet, you could always start one.  We have used both https://www.viator.com  and one of our favourites https://www.toursbylocals.com  with great success. And we have some bookings for our upcoming trip at

https://www.shoreexcursionsgroup.com  where you can search by your specific ship, date, etc. to see what is available.  Good luck with the planning!

Cheers,

Sandy

[Shellbelle28]

4 hours ago, Samstress said:

Hi Shellbelle28:

I thought I'd just throw my 2c worth of info in here:-)

I would suggest that you look for your roll call to  see if some of your fellow cruisers have any private tours arranged & will most likely be looking for people to join up with them to reduce costs.  If there isn't a roll call yet, you could always start one.  We have used both https://www.viator.com  and one of our favourites https://www.toursbylocals.com  with great success. And we have some bookings for our upcoming trip at

https://www.shoreexcursionsgroup.com  where you can search by your specific ship, date, etc. to see what is available.  Good luck with the planning!

Cheers,

Sandy

Thank you Sandy. I started a roll call a while back, but it is still 15 months until the cruise, so for now it's just me and one other. 🏸

I'm Googling each port and hunting down local tour operators as I can. Aus/NZ is a relatively new destination for NCL, and some of the ports are new to hosting cruise ships, so it is taking a lot of research. It may develop some after the 2018-2019 season. Toursbylocals.com has some good options in Sydney and Melbourne. 

[Ronin23]

On 10/21/2018 at 2:07 AM, Shellbelle28 said:

Ronin23:

Sorry to hijack this thread to another topic, but I'm booked on the Jewel on one of the Aus/NZ cruises in Jan 2020 and would love your thoughts on excursions. Since it's a once-in-a-lifetime trip coming from the US, I'm researching like mad already to find excursions, most "iconic" and representative of the area, for each port. NCL seems to have a really limited selection, so I'm hunting for private tour options. 

What excursions do you have planned? Or suggestions from your in-country knowledge. 

Hi Shellbelle,

 

Firstly I am sure you will love your visit down here. I may be biased but you can be sure to visit some amazing sites, both here and in NZ.

 

I can’t really help you with private excursions as I don’t have any really planned at present. And my knowledge of NZ is not the best, although I have done this itinerary before.

 

it really depends on which ports your cruise will include but some comments on ones I am sure it will:

 

Melbourne

 

This one is easy as it’s my home town, however there is lots you can do so a couple of areas that might be of interest.

 

Great Ocean Road ~ One of the worlds great road trips with stunning scenery and lovely seaside towns. You can aim to go as far 12 Apostles. Plenty of private operators will offer these tours.

 

Phillip Island ~ Famous more for the penguins and will only really work if you overnight in Melbourne as it’s a night activity but really cool and Phillip Island is great.

 

Yarra Valley ~ if you love wine then you will love the Yarra Valley. Google and you will see what I mean.

 

Thats just a snippet but maybe the main things a tourist would want to see. 

 

Tasmania

 

it depends on where you dock....Hobart and then Port Arthur is worth a visit.... Burnie then I suggest a day trip to Cradle Mountain.

 

NZ

 

No doubt you will include Milford, Dusty and Doubful Sound. Milford is the pick and is aboalulty incredible. It’s like something out of Jurassic Park. 

 

If Dunedin then I recommend the Taieri Gorge Railway. We did this as a ship excursion a few years back and it was fantastic.

 

Wellington is the capital of NZ and the only highlight of us was a Lord of the Rings tour if you like the movie

 

Tauranga is really nice and you can hike up Mount Maunganui if you are feeling adventurous. We did this and it was fun. We also did a private helicopter flight out to White Island. One tip here is don’t book a ship excursion as there are plenty of options as soon as you walk off the ship. 

 

I hope some of this helps you...

[Shellbelle28]

5 hours ago, Ronin23 said:

 

I hope some of this helps you...

Thank you! Our itinerary is Sydney (we'll have the day before sailing to do something, planning to stay in a hotel in The Rocks), Eden (able to find the least info about this port), Melbourne (our itinerary isn't an overnight, only 8am-6pm, doing the Great Ocean Road was my thought), Burnie (Port has a super website!) then across to fjordlands. I've got friends in Christchurch and Tauranga so we're hoping to have personal escorts there, but I've got to figure out Picton, Napier and Auckland (disembark there and we'll have a day before flying home). 

Any more thoughts are welcome! 

Edited October 22, 2018 by Shellbelle28