Live From the Jade, Nov 13 to Dec 21, from Athens to Cape Town

[Ken the cruiser]

It appears from talking with our TA, we may have more nonrefundable OBC on the first leg than we will need. However, as mentioned earlier, we also prebooked all of our NCL excursions in advance. Our plan once onboard is to now ask the Excursion Deck folks if they would mind refaring some of our prepaid excursions, if they are not already sold out, to convert any nonrefundable OBC posted to our account to refundable OBC? This way we will be able to use the resulting refundable OBC to also pay the DSC. We learned this tactic when we used to cruise with Oceania. Wish us luck! 

 

Update: Our TA just called and they will be issuing a rebate check rather than posting additional nonrefundable OBC to our account. Yay!!

 

But I'll leave the above analogy in place just in case someone would like a potential option once onboard to convert nonrefundable OBC to refundable. 

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[phabric]

I will following along your interesting cruise.

[Ken the cruiser]

Had a potentially nice surprise today. We decided to prepay the Daily Service Charge (gratuities) for our Club Balcony cabin for both cruises online using our CC. But when we clicked on the Pre-pay Service Charges button towards the bottom of the Vacation Summary page, the cost for each leg worked out to be $15.50 pp/day rather than the expected new rate of $18.50.
 

Not sure if it’s because we originally booked this cruise back in Sep 2020, or that we get a discount for paying in advance, or what. My guess is that at some point, the “big NCL computer in the sky” will figure out the mismatch and charge our account the difference once we’re onboard. But until then, we’re going to enjoy the windfall! 😉

[Sailing12Away]

For the DSC, I think as long as you pre-pay them - you get the rate it would have been when you originally booked the cruise. So even though they went up, you still pay the original rate because that's what the terms were when you booked. If you waited until you were on board, it would be the higher one possibly.

 

$3 isn't much, but it does add up to several cocktails worth of drinks for a cruise as long as yours will be.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

47 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

For the DSC, I think as long as you pre-pay them - you get the rate it would have been when you originally booked the cruise. So even though they went up, you still pay the original rate because that's what the terms were when you booked. If you waited until you were on board, it would be the higher one possibly.

 

$3 isn't much, but it does add up to several cocktails worth of drinks for a cruise as long as yours will be.

 

That it does! That little difference will definitely offset the cost for a few extra bottles of wine along the way ($3 x 2 x 38 days = $228)! 😃

[Ken the cruiser]

There was another oddity we encountered last week that we thought was unique to NCL. When we booked our B2B cruise, we each got 500 free internet minutes since the cruise was 14 or more days. However, when we went to upgrade each of those single-device “free” perks to unlimited, we were only allowed to upgrade one of them. We had to pay full price for the second person to have unlimited internet service, which worked out to $132 more than if we were both allowed to upgrade our “free” internet perk.
 

What we don’t know is if we still have that “free” 500 minute internet perk since we weren’t allowed to upgrade it. I guess we’ll have to ask that question at the Internet Desk once we board. 🤔

[DooBop]

Thanks for doing this Ken.  We are on the Dubai to Athens leg in February so we are very interested in  your experiences.  Many of the same ports.  I am really curious as to how big local currency issues might be.  In other words, when will we not be able to use US$.  I am also very interested in the debarking for excursions as, unlike you, I am a thrill seeker:) and have booked all private tours but one.  Stay healthy and happy trails!

[Ken the cruiser]

9 minutes ago, DooBop said:

Thanks for doing this Ken.  We are on the Dubai to Athens leg in February so we are very interested in  your experiences.  Many of the same ports.  I am really curious as to how big local currency issues might be.  In other words, when will we not be able to use US$.  I am also very interested in the debarking for excursions as, unlike you, I am a thrill seeker:) and have booked all private tours but one.  Stay healthy and happy trails!

Cool! Luckily, there are no tender ports that I’m aware of on our Athens to Dubai leg, as I’ve read excursions usually take priority when tendering guests ashore. May I suggest following along on the Nov 13 Jade Roll Call and asking what some of those folks have discovered that plan to purchase items while ashore, as we usually don’t take any $$$ ashore except for excursion tip money which US$ are usually readily accepted.

[SplashOfWater]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

There was another oddity we encountered last week that we thought was unique to NCL. When we booked our B2B cruise, we each got 500 free internet minutes since the cruise was 14 or more days. However, when we went to upgrade each of those single-device “free” perks to unlimited, we were only allowed to upgrade one of them. We had to pay full price for the second person to have unlimited internet service, which worked out to $132 more than if we were both allowed to upgrade our “free” internet perk.
 

What we don’t know is if we still have that “free” 500 minute internet perk since we weren’t allowed to upgrade it. I guess we’ll have to ask that question at the Internet Desk once we board. 🤔

Can you check in your NCL reservation online? If you scroll through the Vacation Summary you should see your free at sea internet package. When we booked our 14-night cruise a couple years ago we got the 500 minutes too, but it was only for one device. We recently upgraded our cabin and it changed to the newer free at sea internet which is 300 minutes for two devices. We lost a specialty dining too, which was a bummer but we'll survive.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, SplashOfWater said:

Can you check in your NCL reservation online? If you scroll through the Vacation Summary you should see your free at sea internet package. When we booked our 14-night cruise a couple years ago we got the 500 minutes too, but it was only for one device. We recently upgraded our cabin and it changed to the newer free at sea internet which is 300 minutes for two devices. We lost a specialty dining too, which was a bummer but we'll survive.

You’re probably right. That would explain why it has only shown 1 person with the perk, of which until now we could never figure out why. That also explains why the current Internet Package T&C in our eDocs references 300 minutes vs the 500 minutes. 

 

Internet Package (Free WiFi)
Internet package is based on number of nights.
75 minutes per person for 3-6 Day Cruises.
150 minutes per person for 7-11 Day Cruises.
300 minutes per person for 12+ Day Cruises.
Offer will be applied to the 1st and 2nd guest in the stateroom.
Internet package is per person. Two logins per stateroom.
Can be used only on one device at a time.
Package is limited to number of minutes and doesn’t allow streaming.
Internet package is not available at Great Stirrup Cay or Harvest Caye.
Internet package includes activation fee.

But I guess we can’t complain too much since we’re saving $$$ by paying the DSC in advance to avoid that increase. I knew the “big NCL computer in the sky” would figure out how to tap into that savings. 😂

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Thanks to @vegas4everon our Jade B2B Roll Call, I thought I’d pass along the only (easy) way to figure out which ports, if any, are tender ports on an NCL cruise, as we haven’t been able to find that information anywhere on their website, to include the Vacation Summary.
 

It’s found on Page 3 on your confirmation. In our case there are none on the first leg from Athens to Dubai. But there are two on the second leg, Nosy Be and Mossel Bay.

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

On 11/2/2022 at 10:49 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

Wow, just saw this on another NCL thread. We obviously can’t get the 10% military discount applied to our current B2B cruise. But since we’re both retired military, it’s definitely a good thing to know if we decide to book NCL cruises in the future! 😁

 

4. How much do I save with the NCL military discount?

You save 10% off the cruise fare portion of any cruise for sailings beginning 1/1/23. To make it even sweeter, this discount is in addition to Norwegian’s Free at Sea promotion which includes unlimited open bar, free specialty dining, free excursions, free airfare^ and more. It is also combinable with other promotions that are available, but subject to change.

 

https://www.ncl.com/military

 

OK, both my DW and I just registered, and I have to stay again this is pretty cool! Also, since I mentioned earlier I would list some of the differences we encounter with NCL and other cruise lines we sail with, I just wanted to note that this is the best military discount we've encountered so far. For example,

 

- Princess: Up to $250 each in OBC depending on the length of cruise

- Celebrity: Up to $100 each off cruise price, depending on length

- HAL: $100 OBC (per stateroom)

- Disney and Oceania: Nothing that we're aware of

 

Please let us know about any other cruise lines that you're aware of that give a military discount.

 

[CruisinMama2003]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

OK, both my DW and I just registered, and I have to stay again this is pretty cool! Also, since I mentioned earlier I would list some of the differences we encounter with NCL and other cruise lines we sail with, I just wanted to note that this is the best military discount we've encountered so far. For example,

 

- Princess: Up to $250 each in OBC depending on the length of cruise

- Celebrity: Up to $100 each off cruise price, depending on length

- HAL: $100 OBC (per stateroom)

- Disney and Oceania: Nothing that we're aware of

 

Please let us know about any other cruise lines that you're aware of that give a military discount.

 

Disney offers military discount on select sailings (25% off I believe) 

 

Also, Royal Caribbean offers a military discount option you can select when booking

 

Thanks for the info on the other lines that offer military discount! We are retired military as well 🙂

[Ken the cruiser]

12 minutes ago, CruisinMama2003 said:

Disney offers military discount on select sailings (25% off I believe) 

 

Also, Royal Caribbean offers a military discount option you can select when booking

 

Thanks for the info on the other lines that offer military discount! We are retired military as well 🙂

Thanks for the info. We just checked on the Disney military discount and it's quite significant, up to 25%, but only on select sailings. Unfortunately, our 4-day Feb cruise on the Wish isn't one of them. But it's definitely good to know! 😊

 

Military Rates | Special Offers & Deals | Disney Cruise Line (go.com)

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

On 11/2/2022 at 12:58 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

Here are a few differences we've run into so far when comparing to recent Princess and/or Celebrity experiences since cruising started back up.

 

2. We had booked our roundtrip air through NCL, which was super cheap at around $1100 pp. We got the schedule for the flight to Athens about 30 days out and arrive at 2 pm, with 3-hour layovers at the two interim stops. We were quite pleased. However, on our return flight from Cape Town, we were booked in a Delta "Basic Economy" category where according to Delta you get the following:

 

- No seat(s) assigned until after check-in, not together 

- No changes allowed*

- Cancelable for partial eCredit (cancellation charge applies)**

- Last to board & not eligible for upgrades 

- No miles earned; no credit toward SkyMiles Medallion Status***

 

Mind you this is a 16+ hour flight from Cape Town to Atlanta. The main thing that annoyed us was you could not get seats assigned until after check-in. Later we heard you might be able to get seats assigned as early as 7 days prior, but that caveat has not been confirmed.

 

When we called NCL Air to try to get seat assignments, they said to call Delta. So we did and believe it or not, we were able to get our seats assigned and they are together. But we heard a few days later on the Roll Call that other folks on our NCL cruise weren't so lucky. When we told our daughter this a few days ago, she rationalized from her past experiences as a travel agent you can do certain things with an airline ticket within the first 24 hours of being ticketed (e.g., cancel a nonrefundable flight and get a full refund) before it's locked into the rules of the category you booked. She's guessing since we called as soon as we got the flight information, we were still in that 24-hour window. Needless to say, this will be the last time we book our flight reservations through NCL, regardless of the price. Just too much stress knowing we wouldn't be able to sit together on such a long flight.

 

That's some of the differences we've encountered so far in the pre-cruise phase!

Thanks to @halluxon a separate thread I opened today, we now have a potential option for future bookings to hopefully avoid encountering NCL Air “BOGO” issues associated with having to deal with last minute seat assignments - NCL Premium Air! 

 

https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/premium-air

 

[Snømann]

On 11/2/2022 at 4:37 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

We have been waiting almost two years to go on this particular 38-day B2B on the Jade from Athens through the Suez Canal to Dubai, and then along the eastern coast of Africa down to Cape Town. So many places we have only dreamed of seeing!

 

It is going to be an awesome cruise for so many reasons. Here is the itinerary which we also have some pretty cool NCL excursions booked. 

 

 

 
I realize I'm starting this thread a few days earlier than normal, but it's been a long time coming and quite the "stressful" journey at times, especially regarding the COVID-related entrance requirements of Athens, Israel and Dubai. But as of right now, all is looking good as we are up-to-date on our vaccines and boosters. And, hopefully between now and when we board our flight to Athens on Nov 12th, no significant changes will occur.

 

Travel Requirements by Port & Country (ncl.com)

 

With regards to VISA requirements, it's also looking good on that front, with NCL hopefully handling any issues that may pop up as we are booked on NCL sponsored excursions at every port.

 

Required Travel Document and Information For Cruise Vacations (ncl.com)

 

My plan with this thread is to try to share some of our experiences along the way, with one exception. As with my other Live From threads, I have no plans on posting pictures of food. Sorry. But if you enjoy seeing pictures of the shows we'll be seeing on the ship or some of the ancient ruins, wildlife and scenery we will be seeing along the way, I'll try my best.

 

Since this will be our first NCL cruise in quite some time, I will also try to share some of the current differences we may encounter along the way that seem unique to NCL (from our perspective) when compared to some of the other cruise lines we sail with. But please feel free to ask questions along the way as my DW and I enjoy going on what we call Scavenger Hunts as they also help us discover more about areas of the ship we may otherwise miss.

 

But the bottom line is we are planning on having an awesome time on this cruise and if you would like to follow along, please do!

 

Soon We will be onboard, only 25 days again 🛳️👍

[Ken the cruiser]

4 hours ago, Snømann said:

Soon We will be onboard, only 25 days again 🛳️👍

Yay!! It's going to be such a great cruise and the variety of wildlife we're going to see on that second leg on the way to Cape Town is going to be awesome!!!!

[Ken the cruiser]

Just when we thought we've made it past our various pre-cruise obstacles and just counting the few days left before boarding our flight on Saturday to head to Athens, I saw this weather forecast today regarding Tropical Storm Nicole. 😂 

 

 

Hopefully, since our connecting flight from Atlanta to Paris doesn't leave until Saturday at 3:45 pm, the below 5-day Nicole forecast is at least close to being somewhat accurate. 🤞

 

 

[silkismom]

Just when you think you have all your "ducks in a row."

[Ken the cruiser]

Just now, silkismom said:

Just when you think you have all your "ducks in a row."

Yup. I'm sure glad we're not flying in a day early as the storm will probably be causing a little havoc at the Atlanta airport about the same time we would have been getting ready to either arrive from Birmingham and/or leave from Atlanta to head to Paris. 🙂

[ringers0815]

I hope you have a wonderful trip. We did an "Indian Ocean and Africa" cruise with Princess in January 2020, just before the pandemic shut everything down. 46 days out of Perth (we returned to Perth on March 10 and decided to cancel our next cruise and flew back to Canada on March 11). It was one of my favorite cruises and I would do it again if it was offered.

 

We did pretty much the same ports in South Africa (loved the Addo Elephant park in Port Elizabeth) but passengers were not allowed off the ship in Madagascar because the ship had been in Thailand in the last 14 days (were Covid was spreading).

 

My husband and I took a ship tour in Reunion which left the ship early. We found the Island very beautiful, very green and lots of mountains with spectacular views. When our bus returned to the ship at the end of the day,  we were surprised to see police everywhere. We found out that the ship had been in lockdown all day because demonstrators showed up (after our bus left) and prevented passengers from disembarking because they were afraid of Covid. They even threw rocks at passengers and some were hit and hurt by the rocks.  Hopefully you will receive a warmer welcome than some of our fellow passengers received. But everyone we met on Reunion was very friendly.

 

I will follow along and cant wait to see your photos to relive the wonderful experience we had.

[Ken the cruiser]

5 minutes ago, ringers0815 said:

I hope you have a wonderful trip. We did an "Indian Ocean and Africa" cruise with Princess in January 2020, just before the pandemic shut everything down. 46 days out of Perth (we returned to Perth on March 10 and decided to cancel our next cruise and flew back to Canada on March 11). It was one of my favorite cruises and I would do it again if it was offered.

 

We did pretty much the same ports in South Africa (loved the Addo Elephant park in Port Elizabeth) but passengers were not allowed off the ship in Madagascar because the ship had been in Thailand in the last 14 days (were Covid was spreading).

 

My husband and I took a ship tour in Reunion which left the ship early. We found the Island very beautiful, very green and lots of mountains with spectacular views. When our bus returned to the ship at the end of the day,  we were surprised to see police everywhere. We found out that the ship had been in lockdown all day because demonstrators showed up (after our bus left) and prevented passengers from disembarking because they were afraid of Covid. They even threw rocks at passengers and some were hit and hurt by the rocks.  Hopefully you will receive a warmer welcome than some of our fellow passengers received. But everyone we met on Reunion was very friendly.

 

I will follow along and cant wait to see your photos to relive the wonderful experience we had.

Wow! Sounds like quite the experience in Reunion! Hopefully, as you mentioned we will have a much easier go of it. Roundtrip out of Perth. That must have been a long set of flights to get you there and back from Canada!  

 

We did a 40-day Australia cruise around Australia and New Caledonia on the HAL Maasdam back in Oct 2019 and loved every bit of that cruise as well! There is just something about the wildlife south of the equator that is just so alluring to us.

 

But I have to admit, this is an awesome itinerary, and we can't wait to get on the ship and get started! Only 4 days and a wake-up to go!! Yay!! 😊

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Yesterday, Delta's partner Air France sent an email asking for us to update our information to enable a speedy transition through the CDG airport in Paris. Delta also sent us an update regarding COVID requirements, which reenforces the hope that testing requirements will continue to drift towards the "rearview mirror". Yay!!  😃

 

 

Then there is more good news that Nicole will be moving relatively quickly along the eastern coastline and will be long gone before our flight from Atlanta to Paris takes off at 3:45 pm on Saturday! 

 

 

After today, only 2 days and a wake-up before the adventure begins! I can hear Freddie starting to warm up in the background!! 😊

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Just a little tidbit we leaned today that we hadn't experienced on any other cruise line we've sailed on. But then again, we very seldom ever order room service.

 

Our son, who just got back yesterday from a 10-day Caribbean cruise on the Getaway, just gave us a heads up when it comes to ordering room service, or at least this is what he experienced on his cruise. Basically, there was a $15 room service charge posted to his account when they delivered one chicken dinner and two Coke Zeros, even though he had purchased the soda package. The breakdown of the $15 charge was $8 for the room service itself and $3.50 each for the two Coke Zeros. Needless to say, that was the first and last time he ordered room service on the cruise.

Edited November 9, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Mah Jongg]

41 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Just a little tidbit we leaned today that we hadn't experienced on any other cruise line we've sailed on. But then again, we very seldom ever order room service.

 

Our son, who just got back yesterday from a 10-day Caribbean cruise on the Getaway, just gave us a heads up when it comes to ordering room service, or at least this is what he experienced on his cruise. Basically, there was a $15 room service charge posted to his account when they delivered one chicken dinner and two Coke Zeros, even though he had purchased the soda package. The breakdown of the $15 charge was $8 for the room service itself and $3.50 each for the two Coke Zeros. Needless to say, that was the first and last time he ordered room service on the cruise.

Most cruise lines allow a continental breakfast order from 7-10 am for no charge. The rest of the day/night is a $7.95 charge for delivery and a charge for any food or beverage items as noted on the menu. We often order coffee in the am and skip breakfast. Not familiar with NCL, but have done this procedure for years, and it has always been the same.

We leave tomorrow for Athens - see you there!😁