Jewel first re-start sailing 2022.3.29 12d Panama Canal cruise going great; cancelled Nicaragua port

[Middleager]

We're on the Jewel's first re-start cruise of 2022.3.29, 12 days from Colon, Panama to San Diego.  NCL was going to do some re-furb during the dry-dock but decided to do a lot more, including changing all the carpets.

 

General Manager is Steven Jacobsen.  Cruise Director is Emma Davies.  They are good.

 

We had a very good Meet & Mingle on the first sea day 3/31.  We got confirmation NCL is allowing this only shortly before the cruise.  The NCL rep on ship Princess Tayong (yes her name is Princess) did a great job with the arrangements.  At first she said she couldn't get any prize for draw, and I told her anything small is fine.  She said she'll try to find NCL logo pen, but then managed to get 11 small prizes (key chain, bottle holders, pen, T-shirts) for draws.  Many officers came (all 3 stripes and up), we were happy to see them, and they were happy to see us.  We also had good Q&A.  It ended up being a good Meet & Mingle.

 

The cruise has been great so far, other than today's Nicaragua port was cancelled.  Nicaragua is still not allowing cruiseships to go.

 

Jewel can take >2,700 guests.  For this sailing, only 828 came on in Colon, plus 5 more (who missed Colon) got on in Costa Rica yesterday.  With only 833 guests and 1,600 crews, all the specialty restaurants are open, we're all getting pampered and spoiled.

[MissRabbit]

It would feel like a port day with that few passengers on board! 
 

how was the transportation from the airport to Colon? Did you take NCL or private shuttle? 

[lawnbowler48]

Thank you for your report, I hope that you will keep us up to date on your cruise. We are doing this same itinerary on December 12th

[lawnbowler48]

A question for you on flight. I see you are from Toronto, we are from the Lake Huron area and have decided to fly out of Detroit. Did you use the air promo from NCL and if so how were your flight times. I had looked at booking our own flights but couldn`t find anything reasonable.

Let me know about your experience - Thanks

[LMKakaThing2]

10 hours ago, Middleager said:

We're on the Jewel's first re-start cruise of 2022.3.29, 12 days from Colon, Panama to San Diego.  NCL was going to do some re-furb during the dry-dock but decided to do a lot more, including changing all the carpets.

 

General Manager is Steven Jacobsen.  Cruise Director is Emma Davies.  They are good.

 

We had a very good Meet & Mingle on the first sea day 3/31.  We got confirmation NCL is allowing this only shortly before the cruise.  The NCL rep on ship Princess Tayong (yes her name is Princess) did a great job with the arrangements.  At first she said she couldn't get any prize for draw, and I told her anything small is fine.  She said she'll try to find NCL logo pen, but then managed to get 11 small prizes (key chain, bottle holders, pen, T-shirts) for draws.  Many officers came (all 3 stripes and up), we were happy to see them, and they were happy to see us.  We also had good Q&A.  It ended up being a good Meet & Mingle.

 

The cruise has been great so far, other than today's Nicaragua port was cancelled.  Nicaragua is still not allowing cruiseships to go.

 

Jewel can take >2,700 guests.  For this sailing, only 828 came on in Colon, plus 5 more (who missed Colon) got on in Costa Rica yesterday.  With only 833 guests and 1,600 crews, all the specialty restaurants are open, we're all getting pampered and spoiled.

Thank you for the update. I’ll be on her May 2nd. Can you tell me what else was refurbed?

[www3traveler]

Have you seen and/or visited with any of the Senior Corporate Officers who are on board this cruise?

[janice2348]

We’ll be doing an 8 day on this ship next March. Very interested on how things are going.  

[Middleager]

We talked to the captain and he said it costs half a million (US$) for the Jewel to cross the Panama Canal.  That's a lot of money.   Imagine in the past people used to have to pay in cash.

 

This time I paid more attention to who the senior officers are, especially since many showed up in our Meet & Mingle, and afterwards I asked more questions to some of them.  Having organized the M&M for the first time, made me to want to learn more.

 

The General Manager Steven Jacobsen seems to be everywhere.  Maybe they were before, but this time I know who he is, and he did a draw at our M&M.

 

The ship looks new, after the re-furb (sorry I don't know all the details of what was done), and since there were no guests before us, we didn't have to wait for cleaning when we got on the ship.

 

Having less than 1/3 capacity, a lot of people were successful in bidding for upgrades.  We had inside and got a balcony with minimum bids.  We also bought thermal spa package, since we had FCCs needing to be used up, and especially after our Sept Baltic cruise got cancelled, we "took the plunge" to the spa.  It was very nice.  Yesterday the men's steam room broke so men couldn't use that (they didn't take my suggestion to send men to use women's steam room 😝)

[Middleager]

We bought the airfare thru NCL.  We did also book the leg before this (from Panama city, transit the canal, to Caribbeans especially ABC islands) and that got cancelled before we could change to add the air going into Panama city.  So we used AA points to fly to YYZ-MIA-PTY ourselves a few days before.

 

We bought NCL air for the 2021.12.5 Getaway cruise from Rome and Miami, with 2d deviation each way.  The flight times were pretty good (other than KLM not getting one luggage to Rome).  This time, our flights from San Diego back to Toronto were red-eye connecting in New Jersey (EWR).  Not good times but from the west coast that was not surprising.

 

For transport from Panama to Colon, we didn't use NCL transfer (we couldn't because we flew to PTY ourselves).  But we had 4 couples (In a spreadsheet I created for our M&M for people to fill out, we found out) staying in Le Meridien.  At first I booked a van for 3 couples, but the 4th couple could join us so we switched it to a small shuttle bus.  We left LM hotel at 8am, took 1.5hr to Fort San Lorenzo for a 1hr tour, then to Colon cruise terminal at 11:36am.  That arrangement worked out very nice, for US$270 + 30 tip.  We were happy. 

 

Fort San Lorenzo had $5/p entrance.  There's a 5-min video intro they played on a TV, nicely done.  There were signed to explained the different parts.  There were workers working to maintain the place.  It was a nice detour rather than a drive directly to the ship from Panama city.

[Middleager]

The check in process on embarkation day were ok for us.  When our small bus arrived, a security guard told us to go line up, to pay U$5/p immigration exit fee.  It was slow, in the heat (some shade) and moving slow because only one person was collecting the fee, checking and then stamping passports.

 

But some other vehicles pulled in to the curb and people were let out and they went directly inside the cruise terminal.  Some others said they saw the same.  So we lined up to pay, while others didn't have to.  After paying that exit fee and getting a receipt, going inside the terminal there was no place where they asked anyone if they paid or showed receipt.

 

There were not many porters.  We did have a porter take our luggages, to go to the first counter where we had our luggages taken by inside staff to NCL's own area.  The porter took the tip we gave to him, to give to another guy inside who was handling those luggages behind that first counter.

 

We were directed to another line, to show our vaccination records and negative Covid test result.  Someone others told us they were with a large group going through that line but nobody checked, until someone ran after them to check so they did show, but all those others in that big group were not checked.

 

There was a separate issue when we were filling in some questionaire, that some time.  Otherwise, it was mostly good and quick.  We got on some time after 12, and went to have lunch on the Garden Cafe.  There was no washy-washy person, and people would use the sanitizers if they like.  We handled our own plates and got our own food/drink.

 

We wore mask for the first couple of days.  Most people didn't wear masks.  After 2 days we started not wearing masks.  All the staff wear masks, and some guests still do several days into the cruise.

 

After we get into our room, the stewart came to say hello.  I gave him a tip and asked him to remove the stuff in the fridge (carton or water and some other bottles).  I asked if we can get robes as we have the thermal spa package.  He later got us robes.  Again, we're pampered and spoiled.

[lawnbowler48]

Thanks for all your information. Looking forward to doing this cruise in December.

[Middleager]

The Panama Canal transit was amazing.  We sailed out of Colon shortly after 5pm on day 1 (3/29) and went into sea.  That was the roughest sea of these several days.

 

On 3/30 morning we go to to Gatun Locks at 8am, and took 2 hr to go through 3 chambers there, while other ships were going the other direction.  That makes excellent viewing of the gates/chambers at work.  There was an expert on board providing narratives, but unfortunately we could not hear in many places (either sound not loud enough or the crowd noise too much).

 

It takes 8hr to do full transit.  By the early afternoon we got to the Pedro Miguel Locks, and after that the Miraflores Locks.  There is a visitor center at the last Miraflores Locks -- where we went last time in Panama and saw the exhibits.  The day of our transit was a good sunny day and there were lots of people at the center viewing, with many waving at us, and us waving back.

 

NCL smartly didn't schedule many activities during the day, because most of the people were watching the Panama Canal and marvel at the engineering feat accomplished here.

[Tatertotslady]

Thank you for posting this! We will be on the Jewel in about two months from now. It’s one of our favorite NCL ships.  
 

Are you able to post any dailies? Sometimes it works well to get screenshots from the NCL apps.  
 

We are most interested in the bands, duos or piano player/singer on the ship. 
 

Thank you! Enjoy your cruise! 

[Jldevlin]

I know it is early days for you yet but have you noticed any supply chain issues???  I hope you have a fabulous time.

[lawnbowler48]

Thanks for your posts, sounds like you are having an amazing time. Any information on excursions or ports will be so helpful.

[janice2348]

Can you find out if bath tubs have been removed from all club class suites?  I’ve only been able to find out that they’ve removed them from “ some” suites. I just booked one. If they haven’t I’ll have to rethink it.  Thanks! 

[Middleager]

4/1 Puntarenas, Costa Rica;

 

This first port day was supposed to be 7am-5pm.  But since the next port Nicaragua was cancelled, the captain changed the port time to 8am-8pm.

 

We had a fabulous time in a 10-in-1 Puntarenas tour by Odyssey.  I booked this 3^rd party excursion, and two other couples from the cruise joined.  There was another ship Viking in town, and there were two other couples from that ship, to make 5 couples or 10 people in this tour.

 

The Odyssey van had wifi which was great.  (The other two NCL excursion buses we took did not have wifi.)  The first stop was to see monkeys in the backyard of someone they had arranged with.  Those of us who wanted to try can take a small piece of banana, and monkeys may come to grab it from your hand, and/or even sit on your shoulder.  A monkey did come sit on my shoulder and played with my head.  That happened to another lady, and my wife, while another lady nearly had her sunglasses stolen.  There was also another type of monkeys howling at each other.

 

The next stop was to see birds.  The guide had telescopes and took our cellphones in turn, to take beautiful colorful pics of Macaw birds.

 

We then went to a Tarcoles River cruise with Jason.  Jason spoke very good English and explained to us the crocodiles and birds.  He even went out to stand in the river or bank, to feed the crocs, with them so close and jumping up to eat !!!  He said he’s one of the only two river tours that fed the crocs the way he does (others may just throw the fish or other meat near the crocs).  He had interesting names for the crocs, including one that was 18’ long.

 

We then went to “Vista Mar” for lunch which included fresh real watermelon or pineapple juices.

 

We went up a mountain for good view or the area, and another places for bird viewing.  Then stopped at a Santa Lucia resort to walk around, saw different trees/fruits/birds, and met a huge iguana in the road.  We got some nice pics.

Overall it was such a great tour for US$65/p (including lunch).  

 

After we were dropped off by the cruise terminal, we walked around the area to see local vendors.  Some people walked a couple of blocks away to a supermarket to buy coffee.

 

[Middleager]

On 2022.4.2 Sea day due to cancelled Nicaragua port, the ship held a session on How to run a floating hotel.  The Cruise Director Emma gave an informative presentation, including pics of the crew's rooms on the 4th deck.  It was followed by Q&A by the GM Steve Jacobsen, Food & Beverage Mgr Mohammad Hasan, and Executive Chef Peter D Costa.

 

The GM mentioned last time the Jewel was in Tahiti, Hasan cleaned out the local market.  Hasan explained corporate gives a rotating 21 days MDR menu and they choose from there.

 

Someone asked about all the food that might be wasted.  Peter (Chef) looks like a serious guy and with a straight face, said did you see all the fish following us at the back, we then catch those fish and serve to you..  That was funny.  He and the GM then explained that 4hr is the max for food (to be out) and after that need to be disposed of.

 

I asked that since this cruise started in Panama and goes through Central America countries, I was hoping they'd be papaya served onboard, and in Costa Rica maybe some coffee tasting, but wonder how much leeway do they have in buying from local market.  Hasan replied  did you see the trucks of bananas coming to the ship yesterday (in Costa Rica).  The GM also said CR is know for bananas.

 

---

 

Another time earlier I asked if they get all the supplies in the first port, Colon in this case, or do they get re-supplies and where, in longer trips like this 12d or last year in the Getaway 17d transatlantic.  Hasan said they get most from the first port, especially all the frozen.  They then get re-supply of fruits and veggies in some ports in-between.

[MrsTocko]

Love this... We get on the Jewel on the 22nd for its repositioning for the Alaska Season.  Can NOT wait.  I have been anxious/excited to learn of the refurbishing/refreshing.  Not that I have anything to compare to, as I havent been on the Jewel before.  But we like the smaller ships.

 

Where was your Meet and Greet held?  We have about 15 coming to ours. I am also organizing ours, and I always give a slightly higher count than what signed up, because I want to be sure that any last minute signups can go.  We have had 9 sign up so far.

 

Pictures of the refreshing would be great if you can.  If not, I will see them all soon...

[Middleager]

Our Meet & Greet (or Meet & Mingle) was at the Bliss Lounge.  Two previous Meets I was on were at Bliss (for 2020.2.14 Australia/NZ) for a large group, and a smaller group at Le Bistro.  The lady who organized the one at Le Bistro for a 2018.7 Alaska cruise prepared an icebreaker game sheet for everyone to go ask each other questions (who has 3 children, who came from city starting with letter, who has 3 wives or wants to have 3 wives -- ok not this last one 😁) and the winner got a bottle of sparkling wine.

 

On 4/4/2022 at 10:44 AM, Jldevlin said:

I know it is early days for you yet but have you noticed any supply chain issues???  I hope you have a fabulous time.

Only minor hiccups, no major supply issues.

 

I like Earl Grey tea, especially after dinner.  In the beginning some drink stations did not have Earl Grey teas, but after I asked crews, they supplied them.  On day 2 we ate at La Cucina, and at the end of the dinner I asked for earl grey tea, the waitress said they don't have and brought a box of different tea for me to choose from.  I told her it's ok, I'll just walk a few steps to Garden Cafe (on same deck 12) to have it.  

 

At the unisex therapy pool of the spa, a guy mentioned they were out of cups.  I walked out to tell a lady crew.  She said she'll bring cups, then she brought 2 cups.  After the guy and I each use a cup, they're out again.  When I was leaving, I told the spa frontdesk they should re-stock up, not just bring 2 cups.  After that, they are stocked.  So it's all minor so far. 

 

Oh, the MSNBC channel was on and off, and in the last 2 days was completely off (blank green screen).  I listen to that often when in the room (to hear if my stocks will enable me to take more cruises)

 

Overall the cruise has been great.  Many Crew/staff are always greeting you everywhere.  

[Middleager]

2022.4.3 Acajutla, El Salvador, in port 9a-7p.  At the end we met the GM Steven, he said this is the first time they've been to El Salvador.

 

We went on NCL excursion to hike the Santa Ana Volcano.  It's beautiful, for those able to hike to the top and from the rim to be able to see the Emerald color lake in the crater.  But it should be listed as a level 4 as it is a strenuous hike, and some people didn't make it (to the top).

 

The night before we got a re-print of the excursion ticket moving the meeting time in the theater from 9:05 to 8:45am.  When our tour was called, we were just directed out.  Last year in the 2021.12 Getaway transatlantic cruise, as people were getting out, there were crews putting a sticker on you, with the bus number you're on.  That way as you go out, people can also help to direct you to e.g. bus C2 (for tour C, bus 2)

 

There were 2 buses, both maybe just over 1/2 full.  It took 1.5hr to a place 1800m above sea level.  Many people lined up for washroom.  Someone then came to say it's 40c/p to use the washroom.  I gave US$1 for my wife and I, and he actually returned 2 US dimes.  A minute later someone said the line for men is there, so several of us moved there, and others joined, but no money collection to that line.  That took a lot of time (1/2hr) just for people to use the Banos.

 

We were each given a walking stick, which was important especially coming down.  The tour guide from the first bus lead the front, while our guide Victor was at the back.  It was a hot day, and long hike, over 2hr.  We were close to the end of the group hiking/climbing slower.  My wife is a cancer survivor, and last year when the Oncologist saw her for the 10-yr and final checkup, he did tell her to take it easy.  If she has shortness of breath, rest and take it easy.  After some time, some people decided they won't continue the climb and went down.   We continued on, and when we finally made it to the top, there was only one couple left taking pics, while all others were on their way down.

 

The guide said we are actually past the time we were supposed to be up there, the the police will tell us to go.  There was a guy selling icicles for U$1.  So I bought 5, for our guide and us, and the 2 police.  We then walked a few steps to where the other couples is -- the pic taking viewpoint.  The guide Victor took a few pics for us, then we had to begin our way down.  

 

We were at 2380m and the view was beautiful.  NCL excursion description didn't do a good job.  It didn't even have a pic.  I saw the Santa Ana Hike in other tour ops, and they had nice pics of the Emerald/green color lake below.  That was the reason I chose this excursions.  There are many volcanoes, but we came to this one for pic with that green lake.

 

Descending was not easy either, because the path is full of rocks and uneven steps.  But it was much easier for my wife and she didn't need any rest the entire 2hr down.  There was mist/cloud some of the way, to make it not so hot.  We met up with several others, to be going down together.  When we reached the Park's station (don't know if they are called Park Rangers, but definitely not like US or Canadian Park rangers) we used the Banos -- there was no light.  So the ladies were telling us men to behave (don't look their way, must be because they kept door partially open)

 

After we got back in the buses and started to drive down the mountain (remember we came up to 1800m), many people fell asleep.  It also rained hard part of the way -- which we fortunately missed.  Back at the port, we were glad to meet crews handing out wet towels.  I don't remember NCL providing we towels before, maybe I didn't see/need them before, but this is a nice touch, to make NCL feel like a luxury line.

 

When we met the GM Steven waiting to welcome guests back, I explained this should be listed as level 4 strenuous, and show a pic of the green lake.  Everyone who made it to the top enjoyed, but it is not for some people.

 

---

 

A couple who went to an NCL water fall excursion in Costa Rica enjoyed it (while we took a 3rd party 10-in-1 Odyssey tour and really enjoyed it).  This time they said they took a bus tour and there was no AC and they seemed to have got lost, let people out for a short time to view mountain/trees, then back.  They weren't happy with that NCL tour.

 

 

 

 

[Middleager]

On 4/4/2022 at 4:12 PM, janice2348 said:

Can you find out if bath tubs have been removed from all club class suites?  I’ve only been able to find out that they’ve removed them from “ some” suites. I just booked one. If they haven’t I’ll have to rethink it.  Thanks! 

I asked the GM today.  Steven says except for the Owner Suites and Garden villa suites, all have been taken out.

[janice2348]

13 hours ago, Middleager said:

I asked the GM today.  Steven says except for the Owner Suites and Garden villa suites, all have been taken out.

Thank you for finding out 😁

[Middleager]

2022.4.4 Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala; in port 6:30a-4:30p; 

 

The ship was late in getting clearance, so the CD Emma announced the onboard time is extended (from 4) to 4:30pm.

 

We were among 4 buses doing the Antigua hop-on-hop-off.  There were other buses going to Antigua.   Maybe 1/2 of the ship came to Antigua.

 

It was almost 1.5hr drive to get to Antigua, on the mountain but not as high as the base for the climb for Santa Ana volcano in El Salvador.  Our bus guide Nancy continued to be a guide on one of the small buses.  Antigua has small roads with cobble stones.  We were at the edge of the city when everyone got off, and can start to take the smaller HOHO buses which makes 5 stops, with the last one at a green color Gem Shop.  1:15pm was the pick up time for bus 4 at the Gem shop.

 

We decided to sit in the bus to go to all the stops and listen to Nancy explaining each stop.  When we got to the Cathedral and town square the 2nd time, we got off.  The Cathedral was ok.  As we walked from the Cathedral to the town sq to sit and rest, there were lots of ladies and some men selling scarves, drapes, jewels, flutes, etc.   My wife heard the lady saying $1 for a scarf and wanted to buy one, then the lady said $21.  We said no thank you, but as we walk, or sit, they kept coming to say $1.  We kept politely saying no thank you, but many still kept coming.  I feel bad to keep saying no thank you, but there were so many of them.

 

I asked our guide Nancy about coffee.  She told us the corner coffer shop BaristaLover has the best coffee, and the best coffee beans are HueHue from highest up the mountain.  We went there to have a cup of coffee.  They did not have US pricing and didn't speak English when I asked about the coffee beans.  A lady then took her phone with translation to tell me all those 400g coffee grounds or beans were $62 or the 900g bags were $112.  I bought a big bag (blend), and 3 small bags (2 Huehue and one Coban). 

 

Originally we weren't buying anything because of our luggage weights, but someone told us coffee is good in Central America and they bought lots of Costa Rican coffee.  We didn't buy coffee at CR and didn't have chance to shop for coffee at Acajutla, El Salvador (was an industrial port, no shop at the cruise terminal), so I bought those coffee here.  I'll have some carry-ons.

 

Another guide (another bus) said Antigua means city behind the walls.  It's hard to see from the street, but in many places the inside is beautiful.  At the Santa Domingo stop, we went inside to see the place, it really was beautiful. 

 

At the Gem shop, it was not well organized with lots of people waiting, especially when we were told to wait outside in the sun.  Nancy then told our bus to go across the street to wait under the hot sun.  Another bus before us was told to wait at 1:20.  After some time, people were not happy, and we all went across the street, in the Gem shop that has shade.  Still waited for quite a while before our 2 small buses came.

 

There were volcanoes along the way, and lots of trees, coffee plants, etc.

 

After we got back to the Cruise Terminal, there were many shops selling the same scarves, drapes, flutes, etc. plus hats, T-shirts, belts, dresses.  I saw someone selling coconuts, and bought the last 3 for $1/ea.  Good to have fresh coconuts.  I then bought 2 colorful belts, and wife bought a small drapes with we'll use to cover the piano keyboard cover.

 

Antigua was interesting to visit.  But the air in Guatemala was not clean, has volcanic ashes/fumes.  It's probably not healthy to breath air like that long term.  Well, we got some coffee beans I have to carry home.

[YVRteacher]

Really enjoyed reading about your day in Antigua!  Thank you!