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

[frogandtoad]

16 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Sorry, we’re not on any private group excursions on this cruise. You may want to ask your question on the CC Jade Nov 13 - Dec 21 Roll Call thread. If you don’t know how to find it, let me know.

 

I wasn't asking about private group excursions.  Since you're on the ship and have first hand knowledge of the public areas on board, do you have suggestions of places for a group of people to meet up before going off the ship.

[AstoriaPreppy]

1 hour ago, Level six said:

We have had the opposite experience.  We have sailed about 170+ days on each Princess and NCL.  We have always had enrichment lectures and performers on NCL (before covid).  In fact on Nov 2019 33 day cruise from Honolulu to Sydney, we had local performers at every island we visited.  

On Princess recently in the Baltic and Iceland (30 days) there was not a bit of information or any local performers. Well, they did have a star gazer expert onboard who did host a few nights trying to see the Northern lights.  

In my personal experience, NCL has been much better.  I guess it just depends on each sailing. 

 

This is fascinating... the only NCL enrichment I've ever seen on any cruise was the "singing conductor" in Skagway on a Pearl sailing Alaska at the start of the season in 2015. Otherwise, nothing. 

[AstoriaPreppy]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

It’s funny, our attitude has changed somewhat since the beginning of the cruise. Once we finally settled into the NCL way of doing things, we’re OK that there aren’t any lecturers, as we learn a lot about each port we go to from the tour guides. But at the same time, most of our future cruises are still with Celebrity and Princess.
 

However, we now have a third “cheaper” cruise line to look at when it comes to unique itineraries that neither of those other two provide - like going to Alexandria, Egypt to see the Pyramids in late Oct 2024! Heck, on the Med B3B on the Getaway we just booked associated with going to Alexandria, a Club Balcony mini-suite with our 10% military discount and CruiseNext certificates, the cost was under $175 pp/day (before our TA adds in their booking perks)! So there is that side of the equation to look at. 😁

 

But as far as Alaska cruises go, Princess is still going to be our go-to cruise line for sure!

 

I think that's a fair assessment, and you absolutely pay for the "enrichment" a line like Princess offers. We often do NCL when we're looking at a great itinerary, at a great value. We've got a 13 day Adriatic, Greek Isles and Italy NCL cruise booked next summer specifically for those reasons.

[AbeShrek]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We’re off once again back the way we came, at least for the next 2 ports, Fujairah and Muscat! As usual, it was another beautiful sunset as we were getting ready to leave!

  

 

Tonight we had dinner in Le Bistro before heading to watch Chase and Kaileigh before their illusions and acrobatic moves in their always fun to watch show! 

  

 
Then we headed to the 8:15 pm game show, This or That, which was also a lot of fun! 😁

 

Ken...  really great pix, thanks!  Now, with your having all these fresh-but-brief impressions, should you have a future chance to revisit Dubai on-land, perhaps on a stopover, for how long would you plan a stay there?  What would be the must-sees?

[SpanishForker]

I am loving following along on your cruise(s) and enjoying all your pictures.

 

I don't want to derail your thread, but I had a question about your continuing to use Princess for Alaska cruises and wondering what makes them the winner in your mind?

[Ken the cruiser]

6 hours ago, frogandtoad said:

 

I wasn't asking about private group excursions.  Since you're on the ship and have first hand knowledge of the public areas on board, do you have suggestions of places for a group of people to meet up before going off the ship.

Sorry, The Bliss Lounge might be a good place on Deck 7, as there are plenty of places to sit waiting for your group to assemble.

[Ken the cruiser]

Good morning from Fujairah, UAE! This morning we’re heading out on a 5 hour 4 x 4 Sand Dune Adventure. Unfortunately, I don’t have a detailed description as they haven’t loaded up the information about our excursions and dining reservations for this leg of the cruise yet on the app.

  

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

6 hours ago, AbeShrek said:

Ken...  really great pix, thanks!  Now, with your having all these fresh-but-brief impressions, should you have a future chance to revisit Dubai on-land, perhaps on a stopover, for how long would you plan a stay there?  What would be the must-sees?

From what the tour guides say, you should plan for a least a week, especially if you want to shop in the huge Dubai Mall, which our guide said takes a week just to see all of it on its own. We’d also want to go check out the Museum of the Future. That sounded pretty cool! 

[Ken the cruiser]

5 hours ago, SpanishForker said:

I am loving following along on your cruise(s) and enjoying all your pictures.

 

I don't want to derail your thread, but I had a question about your continuing to use Princess for Alaska cruises and wondering what makes them the winner in your mind?

Simply put, their 14 day Voyage of the Glaciers followed by a 7 day cruise to the Dawes Glacier as well as back to Glacier Bay. Most of the other cruise lines just do 7 day RT cruises or each way, north to south or south to north. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Our 4x4 Sand Dune Adventure excursion was just like the name implied, and we had a lot of fun going up and down the sand dunes in a late model air conditioned SUV rather than an open air Jeep as we were picturing! 😂

  

The drive to the sand dunes was about 2 hours, which included a bathroom break and stopping to visit with some camels and take some pictures.

 

 

 

 

 
Then it was time to load back into the SUVs and go ride the dunes!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doesn’t this look like T-Rex going down for the last count in a tar pit? 😂

 

 

Then after we finished the major part of the adventure, I took some pictures of the beautiful countryside.

 

 

 

 

 
This was our driver putting air back into the tires with a portable compressor after lowering the pressure to 15 pounds to give them better traction up and down the sand dunes.

 

 

 

Then it was time to get back on the road back to the ship
 

  
Once we got back to the cabin and went out on the balcony, I was reminded of the importance of the port here in Fujairah. This is where most of the oil extracted from the UAE, mostly in the Abu Dhabi region, is store and subsequently upload onto oil tankers.

 

 
 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 21 - Dec 3 - Fujairah UAE

  

 

 

  

[walkingmom]

Been following your trip and fabulous pictures as we are doing the reverse trip next month. 

I would like to ask who you booked your private tours with the past two ports, and what made your decision since you have previously used ship excursions. 

 

Cheryl

[Ken the cruiser]

5 minutes ago, walkingmom said:

Been following your trip and fabulous pictures as we are doing the reverse trip next month. 

I would like to ask who you booked your private tours with the past two ports, and what made your decision since you have previously used ship excursions. 

 

Cheryl

We actually only booked one private excursion and that was the one on the Dubai transition day (Dec 2) and that was through Tours By Locals. All of our other excursions on the last leg as well as the Sand Dune Adventure today have been through NCL, which we booked from 5 months to 20 months early, depending on when they became available.
 

The main reason we booked the one on transition day was because NCL didn’t offer any, other than those that included a transfer to the airport with no guarantee return back to the ship. But, we’ve always had good lunch with Tours By Locals in the past, and we were definitely impressed by the one we got in Dubai! 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

We left Fujairah around 5:30 pm this evening heading for our second visit to Muscat, Oman tomorrow morning.

  

 
Tonight we had dinner in the Alizar MDR and then went to the 7 pm show in the theater featuring Lisa-Marie Holmes followed by the very funny Celebrity Heads Game Show at 8:45 pm in the Bliss Lounge.

 

[ringers0815]

22 hours ago, AbeShrek said:

Ken...  really great pix, thanks!  Now, with your having all these fresh-but-brief impressions, should you have a future chance to revisit Dubai on-land, perhaps on a stopover, for how long would you plan a stay there?  What would be the must-sees?

We spent 5 days in Dubai on our first visit and saw most of the "main" sites but not all. As Ken said, you could easily spend a week there. That would give you time to either do a day trip to Abu Dhabi (where you can visit a spectacular Mosque) or spend a day in the desert. Some of the must see sites include the Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab, Dubai fountain, Dubai Creek, Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai spice souk, Dubai museum, Dubai mall, and many beaches and walks along beaches.

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived in Muscat, Oman!

 

  

That’s the Seabourn Encore getting ready to dock here as well.

 

 
Today we have a relatively short NCL excursion which includes a boat ride! 😁

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 3 - Dec 4 - Muscat, Oman

  

  

 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Our excursion turned out to be a very relaxing and enjoyable 2 hour boat ride up and back down the shoreline in the local area. 😁

  

 

It was a short 20 minute bus ride over to where our awaiting Dhow boat was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, I had to take a picture of the local wildlife! 😂

 

 

 

 

 

 
Then it was a 20 minute ride back to the ship, with a short stop for those who wanted to get off and go to the local market area to do some last minute shopping.

 
We would definitely recommend this excursion if you’re looking for a relaxing boat ride tour in Muscat. 😁

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

For those interested, here’s what the Internet speeds were this afternoon

 

 
while I was sitting on the balcony posting the above pictures. BTW that’s a guard boat out there in the water keeping us safe. 😁

  

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[bostonphil]

I have just discovered your wonderful post and discussion. I hope that you continue to have a wonderful time.

 

I am sailing on the Jade next October. You may have already answered this but how are you finding The Jade?

[bostonphil]

I love The Freestyle Daily and I love that it looks the same all over the world.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

45 minutes ago, bostonphil said:

I have just discovered your wonderful post and discussion. I hope that you continue to have a wonderful time.

 

I am sailing on the Jade next October. You may have already answered this but how are you finding The Jade?

To make a long story short, yes, as you might be able to tell from the various pictures I’ve posted. We’re having a great time, especially once we got past the fact after the first few days this was a Norwegian cruise and not either a Princess or Celebrity cruise! 😂😂

[Ken the cruiser]

And we’re off! Next stop, the Seychelles in 4 days! 😁

 

I saw this Oman “cargo ship“ right as we were getting ready to set sail and couldn’t resist taking a picture! 😁

 

 

 

 

  
Sunset over Oman!

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[AstoriaPreppy]

On 12/2/2022 at 4:31 PM, SpanishForker said:

I am loving following along on your cruise(s) and enjoying all your pictures.

 

I don't want to derail your thread, but I had a question about your continuing to use Princess for Alaska cruises and wondering what makes them the winner in your mind?

 

Adding to Ken's comments about itineraries, the Princess onboard experience in Alaska very immersive. Sled dog puppies onboard one day, axe throwing with lumberjacks the next. A full-time naturalist onboard pointing out wildlife and narrating regularly. Local food specials offered on the ship (i.e. Tracy's crab cakes), Alaskan seafood offered for dinner every night, Alaska brewery beers onboard, etc. 

 

Princess also owns 5+ lodges (and runs their own bus fleet and train cars), so they really excel at land tours in the interior. The only other line that I think is comparable is Holland America, but I've never sailed them in Alaska. 

[Ken the cruiser]

 Tonight after another tasty dinner in Moderno, we went and saw two amazing ladies from Poland play a wonderful set of music on their cellos! 

  

 
Then afterwards we plan on going to the Bliss Lounge for the 8:45 pm Themed Trivia: Olympic Papers game show which should be a lot of fun! 😁