Saint Greg's Alaska Jewel - Live - August 28, 2023

[depplep]

Can you pre-book the MDR? I don't see it as an option on the website.

[bluesea777]

Another thing, don’t worry about the prices on the menus as you’re entitled to one appetizer, one entree ( with 2 sides) and one dessert. 
 

If you want an appetizer and a soup/salad it’s okay, they might give you a blind eye or not. 
 

 

4 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

for me it’s MDR. I wouldn’t book the night carnival has lobster for instance 

 

Sorry, NCL doesn’t do that anymore. 

[bluesea777]

2 minutes ago, depplep said:

Can you pre-book the MDR? I don't see it as an option on the website.

Nope, not really unless you’re a large party. The MDR is large enough for you to walk in. 
 

 

[HBCcruiser]

6 minutes ago, depplep said:

Can you pre-book the MDR? I don't see it as an option on the website.

Yes. It is just like booking a specialty restaurant. Go to the main restaurant you want online or on the App and select the date/party size/time. It is MUCH better to do that if your cruise is going to be full. 

Edited August 29, 2023 by HBCcruiser

[bluesea777]

59 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

The Encore is NICE!  So that means as of now you have 8 dining credits each (if 2 in the cabin). I would book dinners each night - Onda, Bistro and Ocean Blue are my favs! For lunch you can go to Food Republic or American Diner. You are able to book restaurants twice if you want. Up to you. There are some great places to eat and drink on the Encore. You can explore them and view sample menus under the Dining Tab.  Remember to book your reservations online at 12 AM Midnight Eastern time 120 days prior to embarkation for the best time slots.  Also, if you enjoy adult only areas. with a sun deck, comfy loungers, fun bar and hot tubs look into booking Vibe passes under the Entertainment tab. Enjoy your cruise! 

Hey! Greg is a NCL newbie, so no Platinum dining vouchers, and he is on the Jewel, not on Encore or any other mega ships that has more dining venues than the Jewel class ships. 
 

Anyway, I would NOT want to cruise Alaska on any mega ships. Greg chose wisely to cruise Alaska on the Jewel (next fave ship is the Spirit). 
 

 

[HBCcruiser]

1 minute ago, bluesea777 said:

Hey! Greg is a NCL newbie, so no Platinum dining vouchers, and he is on the Jewel, not on Encore or any other mega ships that has more dining venues than the Jewel class ships. 
 

Anyway, I would NOT want to cruise Alaska on any mega ships. Greg chose wisely to cruise Alaska on the Jewel (next fave ship is the Spirit). 
 

 

LOL - I was replying to @depplep 's question. 🤣

[depplep]

Thank you. I had read a few months back some were waiting 45min for MDR and were given pagers. I definitely am not down with that.

[Grimix]

1 hour ago, luvcruzing said:

Wasn’t sure so checked NCL website. Yes, it’s good for four years and right now book any cruise and stateroom and you can use two certificates instead of just one. Also, noticed I still have one that’s good until 2025.

If you keep an eye out they occasionally have triple up offers where you can use 3 cruise nexts (like I did for my next sailing) 

 

When buying it is a little weird. I'm not 100% sure I'm getting this right (and I bought them on my first and so far only cruise with them) but they will tell you you get OBC when purchasing. I believe they give you 50% OBC of the amount you're buying, but then they apply that OBC to the purchase of the cruise next. So if you buy 4 $250 cruise nexts you are charged $1000, but after they give you $500 OBC you'll only really be paying $500.

 

Did I get that right those in the know?

[Lupush]

4 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

I don’t think the additional tip cultural that carnival has exists here. They don’t have receipts for write-ins which is kind of nice not having to sign..but..I haven’t personally seen any cash come out. That said we did pay double the drink gratuities that we would have on carnival. But we didn’t have to buy a drink package. I did do that $300 upgrade that got me more expensive liquors I won’t order..mostly for the Wi-Fi and and specialty dinners. Which I think turns out to be 1 specialty dinner since I lost one on the free at sea by purchasing it. I think that got me my Starbucks coffees as well but maybe someone else may be able to confirm that.

 

 

@Saint Greg I highly recommend you take advantage of some of the top shelf spirits they have on board.  Some really nice Scotches and Bourbons are to be found in the right bars on NCL.  Also, if you like cognac Hennesy XO is included on the P+ bev package.  Lovely after dinner drink.

[luvcruzing]

8 minutes ago, Grimix said:

Did I get that right those in the know?

Yes.

[Lupush]

@Saint Greg A few tips/recommendations from an NCL vet.

 

- You have 3 meals in the specialty restaurants.  I personally would go with Le Bistro (never miss it when I'm on NCL), Moderno, and Cagneys or Teppanyaki (if you're into that).  I tend to over indulge on red meat when I'm on a cruise, Moderno and Cagneys scratch that itch.

 

- Cruise Next is a good deal if you think you're going to sail NCL again.  Often they have offers where you can use double or sometimes triple (for Haven) cruise next certs when booking.  We usually do  the $500 for $250.

 

 

[sid_9169]

49 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

for me it’s MDR. I wouldn’t book the night carnival has lobster for instance 

There's no lobster in the mdr at all on NCL... You've got three specialty dining credits that will go to waste if you don't use them... I suggest Cagney's just so you can compare it to the Carnival steakhouse. The teppanyaki restaurant is good, and comparable to the Bonsai teppanyaki on CCL. I would also throw out Le Bistro for a nice dinner too... 

 

Also, remember you can get all the free bottled water you want, and can load up for the cabin and excursions. Since you can get more than one drink at a time, order a drink and a bottle of water at the same time and take the water back to the cabin... Starbucks is also all you can drink as well, and don't forget there's no 15 drink limit, so go for 30 if you're so inclined...

[LatinaInTexas]

1 hour ago, depplep said:

Can you pre-book the MDR? I don't see it as an option on the website.

Yes I pre booked all my dinners ahead of time and picked which of the 3 dining rooms I wanted. I did it because I like to eat at a certain time and don't like to wait. People said don't bother reserving but there were numerous times I went to check in and was told it would be 45 minutes to over an hour wait before I could even say I had a reservation. With reservations the most I waited if I wasn't seated right away was a couple of minutes.

[depplep]

Yeah, I'm not waiting that long. And I wanted to eat in the Manhattan dining room as well, so I will do that. Thank you.

[Saint Greg]

Glad I did that because it’s 5:15, this ship is nowhere near the glacier and I’m not sure it’s going to get there.

 

[Saint Greg]

I am soaked. But happily soaked 

[taznremmy]

Just now, Saint Greg said:

I am soaked. But happily soaked 

Rain or liquor? 😂

[Saint Greg]

Wow. Those clothes are going to be hanging for the rest of the cruise.

 

[eileeshb]

5 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

I thought the thing I booked said two but maybe not.

 

The number of meals and WiFi minutes under the basic Free At Sea have changed over time and vary by cabin class. When I made my booking(in January 2022) for my cruise this coming October the FAS package for a studio was 250mins WiFi, 2 dining credits and $50 per port excursion credit, by the time I booked a friend on the same cruise also in a studio it had changed to 150mins WiFi, 1 dining credit and $50 per excursion credit. Somehow when they did the changes I retroactively got the change in the excursion credit yet retained the 2nd dining credit and the extra WiFi time. 

[Saint Greg]

2 hours ago, Lupush said:

@Saint Greg I highly recommend you take advantage of some of the top shelf spirits they have on board.  Some really nice Scotches and Bourbons are to be found in the right bars on NCL.  Also, if you like cognac Hennesy XO is included on the P+ bev package.  Lovely after dinner drink.

I don’t drink any of that.

 

[Saint Greg]

19 minutes ago, taznremmy said:

Rain or liquor? 😂

rain

[Saint Greg]

1 hour ago, sid_9169 said:

There's no lobster in the mdr at all on NCL... You've got three specialty dining credits that will go to waste if you don't use them... I suggest Cagney's just so you can compare it to the Carnival steakhouse. The teppanyaki restaurant is good, and comparable to the Bonsai teppanyaki on CCL. I would also throw out Le Bistro for a nice dinner too... 

 

Also, remember you can get all the free bottled water you want, and can load up for the cabin and excursions. Since you can get more than one drink at a time, order a drink and a bottle of water at the same time and take the water back to the cabin... Starbucks is also all you can drink as well, and don't forget there's no 15 drink limit, so go for 30 if you're so inclined...

It doesn’t have to be lobster. That’s just an example.

it could be filet mignon or prime rib. Any certain not to miss MDR meals or it’s all the same? For me first and last night on carnival I don’t care about for sure. If it’s all the same I’ll try to book specialty tonight and the last night for sure since they aren’t port nights. 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Saint Greg

[xkritter]

If you google Prof Cruise NCL menus they have the MDR menus and they look pretty recent. If they are prime rib is Day 7.

[brookie848]

Go to the restaurant reservations desk. They should have the MDR menus for the week available. That way you can take a look at what is to come and plan any specialty dining based on that. We've done that on past cruises.

 

Enjoy your cruise and being able to get more than one drink at a time without the 15-drink cut-off.

[Saint Greg]

I don’t remember where I left off. I l realized it was time for my excursion so I headed upstairs. Stewart had been here