Live from the Jewel May 2-16, 2022

[kattybiz]

@tatertotslady I'm not the OP, but I was on the April 22 cruise, and we really enjoyed the Love Brothers in the smaller venues.  Fire and Ice were also really good - if they do a Tina Turner show, it's not to be missed.

 

Honestly, I loved all the musicians.  Really good group of entertainers on the Jewel.

Edited May 10, 2022 by kattybiz

[emilysmom97]

On 5/8/2022 at 3:00 AM, YVRteacher said:

We tip with cash but not for every meal.  Only when it’s excellent.

The new muster drill process, which most cruise lines adopted, involves the passengers watching a safety video as part of the online check-in process. You will also receive MANY reminder emails before your cruise to watch the short video.  As you board the ship on embarkation day you will be guided/directed/funnelled to your muster station.  Here you check in with a crew member.  They will double check that you know where your muster station is located and confirm you watched the safety video.  Once all guests are on board the cruise director will go through safety procedures on the PA system but you don’t need to assemble for a second time.  Just stop and listen.  It’s a way better process!

Thank you so much! I'm excited not to have to do the muster drill!

[emilysmom97]

3 minutes ago, emilysmom97 said:

Thank you so much! I'm excited not to have to do the muster drill!  I tip cash at the end of the trip but I can see why you would do that at the moment and time you received great service. I like to tip the bartenders and even some in the buffet. My friend and I went on a cruise and she doesn't like the dining room. That was fine so we went to the buffet every night. One of the crew members helped us in the buffet area by getting us water, extra utensils etc. Every night he would greet us and show us the best table available. He would even go to the bar to get our drinks. In the end, he was the best private waiter we'd ever had. His tip was well deserved. He was absolutely floored when we tipped him. I got teary at his reaction.

 

 

[YVRteacher]

Day 7

Miss Yvonne, How’s Your Toilet: The Sequel

Chapter 1

Flooded Again

Chapter 2

NCL Gives Us The Runaround

Chapter 3

Now the Room Carpet is Soaked and Smelly

Chapter 4

They Bring in an Air Machine

Chapter 5

Where’s the Chocolate Covered Strawberries and The Free Cruise As Compensation

Chapter 6

We Make the Best of It and Yvonne Learns to Leap Over the Air Blowers to Get Into the Room

Chapter 7

We Think We Are Staying in This Room

Chapter 8 

We Were Wrong

Chapter 9

We Are Given 10 Minute’s Notice That We Are Changing Rooms

Chapter 10

I Was In The Shower At That Time

Chapter 11

Whirlwind

Chapter 12

I Need A Whiskey

Chapter 13

Whiskey is Procured and We Have A Wonderful Evening

Chapter 14

I Can’t Find My Pyjamas

Epilogue 

It will all work out in the end.  If it hasn’t worked out, it’s not the end.

 

[YVRteacher]

On 5/8/2022 at 3:50 PM, gerry1.10 said:

Hi

 

Can you list the officers currently on the ship

Thanks

Gerry1.10

 

[YVRteacher]

On 5/8/2022 at 5:10 PM, JustAllie said:

Thanks for sharing the procedure! 

 

Maybe I missed it, but how much are they charging for the Eurofins antigen test for the Jewel right now?  Is it the same price at the Vancouver pier as you paid on the ship for your on-ship test for the B2B cruise?  

 

Your live review is so helpful!  I was sharing your photos of the White Pass Railway ride with some friends earlier today.  We'll be there for the May 16-23 cruise! 

The Eurofins antigen test onboard NCL is free.

[YVRteacher]

Scenes from Hubbard Glacier on May 8, 2022.

[YVRteacher]

So this happened:

 

[YVRteacher]

A few photos from Seward

 

[YVRteacher]

Freestyle Daily for May 10

 

[YVRteacher]

We are having an absolutely amazing cruise.  The last two days have been go-go-go from 8am-midnight.  I’ll catch up on the writing tomorrow and will post thorough descriptions of my laundry tag removing adventures and Duck Fart consumption.

[Fruitpunch76]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YVONNE!!!!🎂🍾

 

 

Where can I buy the novel about the flooded toilet with all those exciting chapters !?!😉😃

[Von & John]

 Happy  Birthday Yvonne 🍾 🎉🍾

Enjoy your time in Seward!

[chefestelle]

Happy Birthday! Thanks for the gift of your thread!

[janice2348]

Happy birthday!  So glad you’re enjoying your cruise!

[kdmbluerzr]

13 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

We are having an absolutely amazing cruise.  The last two days have been go-go-go from 8am-midnight.  I’ll catch up on the writing tomorrow and will post thorough descriptions of my laundry tag removing adventures and Duck Fart consumption.

Thanks so much for sharing your journey!  A quick question....  once you go through checkin and board the ship in Seward, can you leave for a while to explore around Seward, come and go as you wish till that evening?  Thanks!  

[Tatertotslady]

Happy Birthday, Yvonne! Looks like you are being treated very well! Love the photos and thank you again for posting another daily. For all the parents with young kids, I hope they will be able to open Splash Academy for more hours. It is interesting to read on the daily that it is very limited now but I am sure there aren't too many kids on these recent sailings.

 

@kattybiz Thank you for sharing more about your recent experience with the entertainers! We have enjoyed listening to so many talented musicians on our past cruises. 

[JustAllie]

Awesome, thanks for the photos and dailies, and happy birthday! 

[Von & John]

Hope you are enjoying your day in Seward, the sun, the warmth & the late night sunset!!!

Cheers & have a Great Return trip to Vancouver.

I may have to try to jump on a B2B this summer - but I'll be starting & ending on this end 🙂

We always talk about watching for last minute fares, but it's so hard for us to leave AK in the summer!!!

 

[sierra89]

Happy birthday Yvonne! Thank you for the wonderful information! We’re sailing northbound on the Jewel on June 13th. Reading about your adventures makes me so excited! 34 days to go!

[YVRteacher]

On 5/9/2022 at 5:59 PM, Tatertotslady said:

Wow! The glacier photos are spectacular!  Looks like you did have a perfect day! Thank you for sharing the tip on the salmon being available. 

 

Thank you so much for posting the daily! It is reassuring to know what to expect for the smaller entertainment venues like Nathaniel Reed and Fire and Ice in Magnums or Bliss Lounge or D'Revelation in Spinnaker. We typically don't go to the Theater. 

Any favorites individuals, duos or groups in the smaller venues?

Again, thank you so much for posting the daily. If you are willing to post any others, we would greatly appreciate it! Enjoy the second half of your cruise!

Love Nathaniel and Melvin!

[YVRteacher]

9 hours ago, kdmbluerzr said:

Thanks so much for sharing your journey!  A quick question....  once you go through checkin and board the ship in Seward, can you leave for a while to explore around Seward, come and go as you wish till that evening?  Thanks!  

Absolutely!

[YVRteacher]

Day 8

Onboard this week we have 740 passengers and 1022 crew members who speak 52 different languages.  There are 99 B2B passengers but no B2B party like in the olden days.  As with last week, the feeling on the ship is one of excitement and joy.

On Sunday we had a sea day.  I love sea days and what could be better than a sunny sea day with glaciers?  We arrived at Hubbard Glacier during morning almond croissant time so quickly finished breakfast in Moderno  and headed up to the Haven for glacier viewing.  The Jewel is the first ship to do Hubbard Glacier this season so the glaciers and the surrounding snowy mountains have not yet been affected by pollution.  We can see the lines on the rocks which show how much Hubbard has receded (kind of like my dad’s hairline.)

Speaking of my dad, I had to go to the spa to ask for one of the spa robes because the luxurious robes in our cabin did not feel “manly enough” for him.  The one we have from the spa has ripped cuffs, stains and a missing belt loop.  He is very happy.

Back to Hubbard Glacier, the captain used the bow thrusters to clear a circle free from ice before he began his 360 degree turn.  He lingered with our port side facing the glacier for a long time.  We were offered all the drinks and pastries but again wanted hands free for photos.   What a spectacular day for a glacier viewing.  Bright Sun, fresh snow, ice floes, bald eagles sitting on ice, a lone seal and a pristine Hubbard Glacier.  Magic.  We stayed outside for about 3 hours, enjoying the crisp air and soaking in the majesty.

Our laundry was returned (in baskets, not on the requested hangers) and in what I consider to be a feat of true technical prowess and  ingenuity I managed to hunt down and remove all little yellow tags.  All underwear was returned, unlike my trip through the Panama Canal where NONE of my underwear was returned and the room steward brought up the whole bin of lost underwear for me to paw through.  That was a whole other level of embarrassment, but I did get my expensive underwear back. (Ladies, get yourself THINX.)

Today was our last full meet up with our Cruise Critic group on board and we spent several hours together sharing highlights and experiences from this week.  Everyone is speaking so positivity and so enthusiastically about the trip, NCL and Alaska in May.  We separated for dinner then reconvened at Maltings.  It took us a few days to find “our” bar for this trip and it is definitely Maltings with Alexis (he goes by Alex) who is pure delight.  Tonight the shots were flowing and every hour Alex made a different kind of shot for everyone.  We had Kamikazes, Duck Farts and Green Tea shots in addition to Old Fashioneds.  Alex makes the best Old Fashioned on board!  At some point everyone started singing Happy Birthday and it took me a few moments to realize it was for me.  Those Duck Farts are wicked strong!

I texted my friend today to tell her the I shut down the bar on the day before my birthday and she said, “That’s my girl!” 

Monday was disembarkation day for some and turn around day for others.  Following our standard breakfast in Maltings we went to the Atrium to check in as B2B passengers.  All this entailed was literally having a guest services person check our name off a list.  Naveen came to give us our new room keys and a guest services manager came to tell everyone that the free shuttle runs every half and hour and that it was cold and windy in Seward so please dress warmly.  That is the whole process for B2B guests.  Sensible, convenient and easy.  This is the first time NCL has been to Seward this season (and we were also the first ship in Seward in nearly 3 years!) and they did a fabulous job with all procedures from our perspective.  

When we returned to our cabin we saw NCL had put up Happy Birthday banners and sent cards, cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries and the most decadent cake I have ever seen.  Francis even made a towel birthday cake!!

We donned warm layers, winter jackets, gloves and wool hats then walked through the terminal to wait for the free shuttle.  I will post screenshot photos of the shuttle stops.  We stayed on the shuttle until the last stop which is the Alaska Sea Life Centre.  Has anyone been here before?  We both thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated our time there, with the highlight being the active and gorgeous octopus.  I follow the Alaska Sea Life Centre on Instagram and it was great seeing the animals in that I’ve come to know online in person.  

After our time at the Sea Life Center we walked along the waterfront watching seals and whales and exploring the tide pools then walked along Fourth Street through the quaint and small town before reaching the marina.  At the marina we headed onto the docks to see if we could spot any otters eating the fish heads the fisherpeople throw into the water but there weren’t any.  It rained for about 12 seconds then the sun returned and we caught the free shuttle back to the ship.  Hot tub time!  Actually, it was hot tub with bald eagles soaring above time.

To be continued…

(I’m super tired tonight from all the fun I’m having!)

 

[YVRteacher]

Seward Free Shuttle and Alaska Sea Life Centre Hours

[YVRteacher]

Day 9

Sea Day and Hubbard Glacier

Now that we are in a new and improved cabin, we both actually slept through the night.  Our first cabin (11030) rattled and creaked and there was banging and scraping  above from midnight until 6:00am.  We were moved because they couldn’t guarantee the toilet wouldn’t leak again.  The move came at the worst time possible as we had spent the afternoon in the hot tubs and were in the process of showering and getting ready for my birthday dinner when our wonderful butler, Naveen, phoned and said they are moving us and the move will be RIGHT NOW.  I was in a robe with wet hair and I told my dad they had to wait until I had clothes on.  I like to be fully dressed when changing cabins in a frenzy.

We ended up with a team of people grabbing our stuff and transporting it in their arms to the next penthouse suite.  You can imagine how much-needed dinner drinks at Moderno went down last night!

Back to today, we went for a late breakfast at Moderno.  I had asked my dad to get me some mango and papaya since I still needed to get ready and when I arrived he had prepared a plate of cantaloupe and tomato.  He is not into fruit.  

After breakfast we met up with some new friends from our Cruise Critic roll call who are also B2B cruisers.  We’ve all enjoyed each other this cruise.

One of our shore excursions for this week needed switching so we did that then stayed in the Atrium which was buzzing with people.  The crowd on this cruise seems older than last week.  Many officers came to gather and chat.  I love being B2B and knowing the officers better the second week.  

The Music Mania game was scheduled in Spinnaker and we settled in with a Mudslide and a Painkiller but the recreation staff (not the Cruise Director’s staff) leading the game didn’t seem to know how to lead the game so it didn’t happen because there were no contestants.  Whomp whomp.  Heading to Cagney’s, we ran into Armando and made some changes to our dining reservations. 

If you have a chance to cruise on the Jewel, please take time to meet and get to know Kevon.  He is the maître’d in Cagney’s and he has gone above and beyond for us this week.  The soup today was hot and sour which didn’t appeal to my dad so Kevon went to another restaurant and brought up a bowl of mushroom soup.  I ordered shrimp scampi with no shrimp but they added a whole chopped up hot pepper (remember when they were on a break and Ross slept with someone else so Rachel ordered pizza with anchovies chopped up and mixed in with the sauce?  Just like that.) I couldn’t eat it so I had some of my dad’s fries and half an avocado.  As we were eating lunch a small boat drew closer and closer to the ship and eventually our pilot for the afternoon glacier viewing climbed on board.

We slowly crept toward Hubbard Glacier and headed up to the Haven for a glacier viewing experience involving warm blankets and hot chocolate with Kahlua and Bailey’s. They also had hot dogs wrapped in pastry which reminded me of childhood birthday parties.  All they needed was green Kool Aid and some ripple chips and it would have been a 1980s throwback.

Although we had a little drizzle and fog today, the sun came out for Hubbard Glacier.  Hubbard begins at Mt. Logan and extends all the way to the sea in Alaska.  Maybe because there was a little bit of cloud today the glacier was even bluer than it was two days ago.  The ice had broken up significantly and there were massive icebergs on both port and starboard sides.  Sea lions were huddled together on a rock, quietly napping, seemingly oblivious to their photo-taking audience.  

Chatting with Rumi and Steven, they both said there were challenges with our embarkation day in Seward.  Provisions were supposed to arrive at 10:00am and they didn’t come to the pier until 2:30pm.  We had seen the ship offloading recycling and garbage and Rumi informed us that we offload in Vancouver, Juneau and Seward but Vancouver charges 6 times as much!

It was so windy out on deck I had to wrap a blanket around my head to stop my hat from blowing away.  This made hot chocolate drinking slightly challenging but I persevered.  When visiting Alaska, one needs to be willing to adapt to the treacherous elements.

We had time before dinner to play a game of Scrabble, attend the 30000 years of art history seminar (excellent!) and attempt to participate in evening trivia.  Last week we loved all the tri-bond trivia but that hasn’t been on this week.  The man hosting trivia tonight spent so much time combing his beard we missed trivia in order to make our dinner reservation at Cagney’s on time.  Dinner was so-so.  They have rotated all the restaurant staff this week so no one knows our preferences.  My dad ordered the shrimp skewers and he said the shrimp were tough.  That’s too bad because he normally loves seafood.  Per usual I had the Moderno salad bar and it was excellent.  We have both loved the grilled zucchini as a side this week but we sent back the potatoes au gratin because they were burnt and oily.  Note: I also sent back a drink in Spinnaker today because the glass was dirty and had someone else’s mouth prints with food stuck to it.  Ugh.  NCL, pay attention to what gets presented to guests. This was during the Newlywed Not So Newlywed game which, like last week, was ho hum.  Our last activity of the day was the production show in Stardust: Velvet.  Sensational singers, dancers and aerialists.  One of our Cruise Critic members didn’t enjoy the show last week because the The World’s Greatest Dancer has bigger boobs than she does but we loved Velvet both times.  Such a talented, skilled cast.  Something I’ve noticed and been quite touched by is how the entertainers on board support each other.  The guest entertainers all attend every evening show, clapping and cheering for the production cast.  The production cast, in turn, has attended each evening show in which they are not performing including the illusionist, the comedian, the aerialists and the piano guy.  The camaraderie is evident.

My dad is all tuckered out tonight.  He says he needs some down time.  It’s his birthday tomorrow so he chose whale watching in Icy Strait Point (always one of our favourite ports) and I’m not sure what we’ll do for the rest of the day.  I know Kevon has arranged a birthday breakfast surprise!  

When we were in the atrium today Kem, the General Manager’s secretary, asked if we wanted to dine with the officers this week.  We said yes.  I strongly suspect the toilet engineers will be avoiding our table that night.