Quick embarkation review on Jade Sept 26

[dhanakorn]

View of Mykonos port in the background from the Great Outdoor. 
 

Getaway also tenders today - only MSC ship docks at the new port. 

 

Afternoon snacks after a long day in Mykonos. 

 

Chilled rhubarb soup is very delicious! It’s not really a soup but a rhubarb smoothie with vanilla ice cream. Very refreshing for the afternoon. 

[Muckyduckway]

Enjoying your reporting style - really whetting the appetite.

 

Tendering in Mykonos for this cruise this year is unusual - Santorini is normally the only tender port.  It might actually be an advantage as I imagine the tender brought people right into town (no bus required).

 

Hidden Mickey!!! 

[Carnac767]

Thanks for the review.  We're enjoying following you.

[Crazy planning mom]

Enjoying the review and pictures!

[Crazy planning mom]

On 9/28/2021 at 10:43 AM, dhanakorn said:

While food is not a strong point on NCL, the entertainment is superb. Blazing Boots last night was amazing! You can hardly disappoint with fantastic full production show on NCL. 

 

This’s a sample of main dining menu from last night. Food is highly subjective but I usually can’t find anything worth sitting 2 hours in main dining room. 

Thanks for sharing the main dining room menus.  I prefer the MDR on NCL to the buffet.

[littlegit]

Thanks for taking the time to do this report.  Love your photos!

I will be on the ship soon and have a couple of questions.  First, what time are the evening shows and second, what night is the 'dress up or not'?

[dhanakorn]

17 hours ago, littlegit said:

Thanks for taking the time to do this report.  Love your photos!

I will be on the ship soon and have a couple of questions.  First, what time are the evening shows and second, what night is the 'dress up or not'?

Usually 2 repeating shows every night. Early show starts at 7pm or 7:30pm (depending on the night). And the later show starts at 8:30pm or 9pm. 

Every night is “dress up or not”. There’s dress code for specialty restaurants, so I guess some guests dress up on the night they have reservation. 

[dhanakorn]

Last night the main dining room menu was not bad at all. I’d have a hard time choosing  between the shrimp, red snapper, or hawaiian pork belly. 

 

O’Sheehan special looks good too. 

 

Buffet had Mediterranean theme with mini chicken gyro. 

[Muckyduckway]

Are you exceptionally good at getting photos without people in the background?  It seems like there's hardly any people.  I initially assumed you are an early riser?

 

Thanks for posting the MDR menus/O'Sheehan's specials - very useful for planning and anticipation of our own cruise.

Edited September 30, 2021 by Muckyduckway

[dhanakorn]

We docked in Katakolon today. It’s a very short walk to the town on the right. By the town, I mean the the port tourist area. 

I took the ship tour to Olympia archaeological site - the birthplace of the Olympic Games. This tour turned out to be quite interesting. The tour guide was very good - she explained a lot of history and mythology of the Olympic Games. Even though it’s 4hrs history tour, it’s not boring at all. This’s the best ship excursion so far. Highly recommended if you haven’t done before. Picture below is the original site of the Olympic Stadium. There’re many ruins on the site and in the museum.

 

We got back to the ship around 1pm. It’s nice warm weather in the afternoon, the pool deck is quite full. The sail time is at 5pm, so I left the ship to explore the town and go to the beach. 

 

 

 

There’s a small beach near the port. If you leave the ship and turn right you’ll get to the tourist shopping area. But if you turn left, you’ll see this small beach. It’s not a big beach but good enough to enjoy and relax in the afternoon. It’s free and very close to the ship (5-10min walk).

 

The waterfront shopping area. 

 

This gelato shop seems to be very popular. I saw a lot of people stopping by getting a cup of ice cream. It did taste pretty good - very rich and creamy. 

 

 

[dhanakorn]

The Covid test is performed on Friday afternoon (after departing Corfu). It’s mandatory for everyone. If you skip the test, they’ll keep announcing your name. 
 

Test comes back around noon before you leave for Santorini. Mine is negative and so far haven’t heard of any positive test on this ship. 

[dhanakorn]

Santorini - the highlight of this cruise. It’s very windy and cold in the morning. I thought Santorini was going to be a dud. But by the time we reached the island, it turned out to be a nice sunny afternoon. 

I took the ship excursion to Oia - tender brought you to the old port (ferry port), then the bus took us to Oia. We got to the village around 1:30pm and stayed there until 3pm. Then the bus took us back to Fira. The guide gave us a cable car ticket and you choose your own time to get back to the ship (last tender at 8:30pm). Ship tour is more expensive but save a lot of time to get to Oia. Summer is over now — chilly weather in the evening, so bring a jacket if you want to stay for sunset. 

 

 

[dhanakorn]

The famous Espresso Martini. There’s $3.60 up-charge if you have UBP. I’m not a martini guy, so probably won’t try again.  

[dhanakorn]

Le Bistro was superb. I had tried a couple times before but never like it. This time the food was surprisingly good! The portion may look small but in the end it’s quite filling. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GatorMomInNC]

Wow, those pictures are beautiful?  Was this the Ultimate Santorini? I have that one booked; in fact, right now it is the only one available for our cruise.  Was the wait for the cable car to return to the ship very long?

[GatorMomInNC]

In regards to the testing - we need to test no earlier than Sunday for it to be of use to us for the return home, since we are flying out Wednesday.  Do you know if you can schedule on Sunday before you get off the ship?  Or alternatively, do you have to even take the test (since we will have to pay for a private test in Athens anyway?

 

 

[tinkr2]

On 9/26/2021 at 5:23 PM, Muckyduckway said:

This is great, thank you. Hope to hear more if the Wi-Fi cooperates and you feel so inclined 😉

If you notice, what are the gym hours?

The WiFi was absent horrid in our cabin . 2 days didn't work at all . Worked best on the balcony . Internet guy said they'd been having problems . 

[tinkr2]

2 hours ago, GatorMomInNC said:

Wow, those pictures are beautiful?  Was this the Ultimate Santorini? I have that one booked; in fact, right now it is the only one available for our cruise.  Was the wait for the cable car to return to the ship very long?

Yes. Allow plenty of time . We ended up walking down bc I do not have patience. 

[Muckyduckway]

@dhanakorn Looks like you're having a good time, but it's gone soo quickly.

We're almost finished packing and don't fly until Tuesday - can't wait.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

3 minutes ago, tinkr2 said:

Yes. Allow plenty of time . We ended up walking down bc I do not have patience. 

😒  Thanks for the heads up.   

 

[Muckyduckway]

Can you still use the Spinaker lounge as normal, or is it out of bounds during the periods of testing?

Do you know whether you can schedule your debark test on Saturday morning, or do you have to wait to be given a time and then ask for the time to be amended? Who overseas the achedule - guest services?

[Muckyduckway]

9 minutes ago, tinkr2 said:

Yes. Allow plenty of time . We ended up walking down bc I do not have patience. 

Approximately what time of day were you queueing? No way we can walk down (dodgy knees!) and I am not renowned for my patience either, so would like to plan for a non-peak time if there is such a thing.

[dhanakorn]

11 hours ago, GatorMomInNC said:

Wow, those pictures are beautiful?  Was this the Ultimate Santorini? I have that one booked; in fact, right now it is the only one available for our cruise.  Was the wait for the cable car to return to the ship very long?

I booked Charming Oia Village. It’s very popular - we have 3 busses on this tour. The guide will bring you to this location for obligatory photo shot of this view. 
 

On this tour, you’re back to Fira around 3:30pm to explore the town on your own, so there’s plenty of time to get back to the ship. 

[dhanakorn]

11 hours ago, GatorMomInNC said:

In regards to the testing - we need to test no earlier than Sunday for it to be of use to us for the return home, since we are flying out Wednesday.  Do you know if you can schedule on Sunday before you get off the ship?  Or alternatively, do you have to even take the test (since we will have to pay for a private test in Athens anyway?

 

 

You definitely can’t delay it till Sunday. You might try to postpone the Friday afternoon testing to Saturday but they’ll keep announcing your name on Saturday morning. Everyone needs to be tested before we d reach Santorini. 

[dhanakorn]

9 hours ago, tinkr2 said:

The WiFi was absent horrid in our cabin . 2 days didn't work at all . Worked best on the balcony . Internet guy said they'd been having problems . 

Wifi on the ship is super slow to the point that it’s barely useable. I still have over 200 minutes on the last day since I can’t use it for anything. On the last day I saw quite a few people who bought the WiFi package coming down to guest service to complain.

I’ve the roaming service on my phone. Good signal when the ship is near the port. Depend on your cell provider, have the cell roaming service is cheaper and better than buying the ship wifi.