Live from the Jewel April 29-May 13, 2024: will definitely contain sarcasm and grumpiness

[Suetravel]

Hi Yvonne

 

Our First time sailing in the jewel and I enjoyed the ship. I especially like the fact that there is no small comedy club that i would not be able to get into. Like the other larger ship.

 

We done the (Bering sea), (Mendenhall glacier, garden and hatchery), (golden nugget, sled dog, scenic train). (Summit scenic drive), (ocean raft), (Hoonah sightseeing, this was the worst excursion that I have ever been on), was suppose to be 1 hour and 30 minutes but ended up 1 hour and they did not drop us off where the meeting point was. I did go to shore exursion to make sure they knew what I thought. Alaska Wales and rainforest but the whale part did not happen. Rainforest was nice. 
 

 

[aislin_raina]

19 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

I love that! Jayleen and all her captains are amazing.

 

On which ship are you cruising?

We'll be on the Majestic Princess. I've cruised many times but this will be the first cruise for my travel companions: my two (young) adult sons and my oldest's girlfriend. I am so excited to share the joys of cruising and whale watching with them.

[AmyJA]

Just caught up on your report @YVRteacher as I have been gone for the last week. 

 

I wanted to give you a big thank you on your trip report. It was a fun read even with your trials and tribulations.

 

You are a Jewel (Yes, I did go there, haha) for taking such good care of your father. As one who has walked that path I can appreciate your time, commitment and love. 

 

 

[luvteaching]

Hi Yvonne, 

 

I've really enjoyed your reports and can identify with you as a retired teacher (6th grade) and my DH had memory loss but loved cruising. He passed June 27th. All our cruises were Alaska out of Seattle (20 of them) and most were Holland America but did do 5 on Princess. In 2 weeks I'm doing a solo on Majestic Princess and then going again in July (HAL with a friend), August (Discovery Princess with a friend) and September (Hal with 2 sets of friends). 

 

I really enjoyed your bubble pictures and your tales of the book stores. I know you are out later than our area (Grad is June 7th in our district). I taught at a small country school and I'm in the process of finding my grads so I can send cards to them. Next year my last class graduates. 

 

What are some of your favorite young adult fiction titles? 

Karen

[YVRteacher]

2 hours ago, Suetravel said:

Hi Yvonne

 

Our First time sailing in the jewel and I enjoyed the ship. I especially like the fact that there is no small comedy club that i would not be able to get into. Like the other larger ship.

 

We done the (Bering sea), (Mendenhall glacier, garden and hatchery), (golden nugget, sled dog, scenic train). (Summit scenic drive), (ocean raft), (Hoonah sightseeing, this was the worst excursion that I have ever been on), was suppose to be 1 hour and 30 minutes but ended up 1 hour and they did not drop us off where the meeting point was. I did go to shore exursion to make sure they knew what I thought. Alaska Wales and rainforest but the whale part did not happen. Rainforest was nice. 
 

 

Did Shore Ex give you a refund for the Hoonah Excursion?  Next time do the Mountaintop gondola!!

[jrt.mom]

Hi Yvonne, I really enjoyed your trip reports. But you could really tell as the cruise went on that it was losing its luster for you...

Getting sick during the cruise certainly didn't help your situation, but as the daughter-in-law of a man with severe dementia I can vouch how exhausting being a caregiver can be.

Give yourself time to rest and heal and you'll find your joy again. 

Regardless of whichever  cruise line you end up on, keep us posted! I love your adventures. 

Edited May 20 by jrt.mom

[Suetravel]

Hi Yvonne

 

I do not know how to attach, the way you and others have done but shore excursion just took note of what I told them but probably don’t mean much if I am the only one who complained about that.

 

I did not ask for a refund but next time I will if the exursion is as bad as this one. 
 

Next time I will try the mountaintop gondola. I have done the tram in Juneau once. 
 

Hope you are feeling better.

 

You always said the jewel was the ship you love. I wonder what happened? Change of staff? Since it was my first time on the jewel I can’t compare it, I was just happy I was able to say I was on the jewel. 
 

Will need to try the Pearl and the Jade in the future. 

 

 

[YVRteacher]

20 hours ago, AmyJA said:

Just caught up on your report @YVRteacher as I have been gone for the last week. 

 

I wanted to give you a big thank you on your trip report. It was a fun read even with your trials and tribulations.

 

You are a Jewel (Yes, I did go there, haha) for taking such good care of your father. As one who has walked that path I can appreciate your time, commitment and love. 

 

 

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your kindness.

[YVRteacher]

1 hour ago, Suetravel said:

Hi Yvonne

 

I do not know how to attach, the way you and others have done but shore excursion just took note of what I told them but probably don’t mean much if I am the only one who complained about that.

 

I did not ask for a refund but next time I will if the exursion is as bad as this one. 
 

Next time I will try the mountaintop gondola. I have done the tram in Juneau once. 
 

Hope you are feeling better.

 

You always said the jewel was the ship you love. I wonder what happened? Change of staff? Since it was my first time on the jewel I can’t compare it, I was just happy I was able to say I was on the jewel. 
 

Will need to try the Pearl and the Jade in the future. 

 

 

Are you going to back to Alaska or do you have other destinations you and Joe would like to explore?

 

We were happy to be on a cruise too, but it was the poor service (not slow, but inaccurate)  that got to us. Many of the crew have been on the Jewel for years and we love them so much. They aren’t the ones I’m talking about. It was the waiters in Moderno for breakfast, Cagney’s for lunch and Cagney’s for dinner (same staff at each meal) that didn’t listen and didn’t aim for accuracy. 
 

If you want to add a photo to your post, click “Add Files” in the bottom left corner of your post. Then select “photo library.”

[YVRteacher]

Spoiler alert: don’t read this if you don’t want to know the truth about the truffles from the Alaskan Fudge Company in Juneau!

 

Don’t worry, they are still delicious.

 

However, they are not made by the Alaskan Fudge Company! They are made by Michele’s which is a subsidiary of Spokandy Chocolatier in Washington state. 
 

@shadowmeboy did you know this and is this sort of near where you live?

 

I am of course still going buy the truffles (now in addition to the huckleberry I also recommend the birthday cake, the creme brûlée and the salted caramel.) Next time we are in Juneau I am going to try some fudge. 

 

 

[YVRteacher]

Today is a holiday in Canada. I did a grocery pick-up this afternoon after cooking all morning. Made a big batch of lentil, brown rice and veggie bake. My body is absolutely craving healthy food. I have been enjoying spinach, pineapple, mango and protein smoothies for breakfast.  No more oily eggs.

 

That said, I bought this.

 

Like NCL, I too was out of Ranch.

 

[shadowmeboy]

7 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

Spoiler alert: don’t read this if you don’t want to know the truth about the truffles from the Alaskan Fudge Company in Juneau!

 

Don’t worry, they are still delicious.

 

However, they are not made by the Alaskan Fudge Company! They are made by Michele’s which is a subsidiary of Spokandy Chocolatier in Washington state. 
 

@shadowmeboy did you know this and is this sort of near where you live?

 

I am of course still going buy the truffles (now in addition to the huckleberry I also recommend the birthday cake, the creme brûlée and the salted caramel.) Next time we are in Juneau I am going to try some fudge. 

 

 

I did not. I will have to look them up!

[YVRteacher]

@laudergayle and @GALSews how was your experience on the Jewel this last week?

[YVRteacher]

21 hours ago, luvteaching said:

Hi Yvonne, 

 

I've really enjoyed your reports and can identify with you as a retired teacher (6th grade) and my DH had memory loss but loved cruising. He passed June 27th. All our cruises were Alaska out of Seattle (20 of them) and most were Holland America but did do 5 on Princess. In 2 weeks I'm doing a solo on Majestic Princess and then going again in July (HAL with a friend), August (Discovery Princess with a friend) and September (Hal with 2 sets of friends). 

 

I really enjoyed your bubble pictures and your tales of the book stores. I know you are out later than our area (Grad is June 7th in our district). I taught at a small country school and I'm in the process of finding my grads so I can send cards to them. Next year my last class graduates. 

 

What are some of your favorite young adult fiction titles? 

Karen

Hi Karen

You have so many trips to look forward to! Happy travel adventures to you!

 

I love that you are sending your grads notes. My kindergarten teacher came to my grade 12 grad and I’ll never forget that kindness.

 

I run an elementary school library so our students are in grades Kindergarten through 7. I do have a mature section for the grades 6 and 7s but we don’t have a lot of young adult fiction. They they horror and fantasy which are not my personal favourite genres. I have to do a lot of reading and research when buying YA for my older students. If you have recommendations I’m happy to hear them!

For middle grade fiction, I love the following:

Nevermoor series

School For Good and Evil series

Because of Mr. Terupt

Counting By 7s

Wishtree

The One and Only Ivan and all the sequels

Fish In a Tree

Out of My Mind

Front Desk

everything by Raina Telgemeier

Saving Soraya

Saving Ms. Bixby

The War That Saved My Life

 

 

 

[Suetravel]

Hi Yvonne

 

I am not talking about add a pic

I was talking about when you reply to my post(mine would be on top) and your reply would be on the bottom of mine. 
 

Maybe cruise out of NYC, even though embark and disembark is a total mess. Long lines and hours wait. Vancouver lines was slightly long but at least it was moving. In NYC you can wait 2 hours just to get into the security line alone. 

[YVRteacher]

28 minutes ago, Suetravel said:

Hi Yvonne

 

I am not talking about add a pic

I was talking about when you reply to my post(mine would be on top) and your reply would be on the bottom of mine. 
 

Maybe cruise out of NYC, even though embark and disembark is a total mess. Long lines and hours wait. Vancouver lines was slightly long but at least it was moving. In NYC you can wait 2 hours just to get into the security line alone. 

I have cruised out of NY many times and never had a wait, and we weren’t high latitudes at the time so didn’t have priority. I think arriving at the pier early helps.

 

To quote someone else’s post, just hit the quote button that appears in the bottom left corner of their post.

[YVRteacher]

I learned a lesson on this trip and am never cruising without Buckley’s again. Not only did I buy groceries today I also bought this for my travel bag

 

In addition I pack antihistamines (I get seasonal allergies) and now anti seasick pills and some Advil. I’m pretty much a traveling pharmacy.

 

Does anyone have any “must haves” in the take care of yourself department that you pack?

[Suetravel]

30 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

I have cruised out of NY many times and never had a wait, and we weren’t high latitudes at the time so didn’t have priority. I think arriving at the pier early helps.

 

To quote someone else’s post, just hit the quote button that appears in the bottom left corner of their post.

Hi Yvonne

 

Thanks. I just try it. 

 

When was the last time you cruises out of NYC? 
 

It’s been happening quite a bit for a while now, with storms, late arrivals so lines are long. 

[Mrhubbabubba]

Found this late, but excited to catch up. It also gives me something to get through my last week with students on campus. 
 

I can’t wait to hear more dad stories, and I hope you have (had) a wonderful time! 

[libtrek]

45 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

I learned a lesson on this trip and am never cruising without Buckley’s again. Not only did I buy groceries today I also bought this for my travel bag

 

In addition I pack antihistamines (I get seasonal allergies) and now anti seasick pills and some Advil. I’m pretty much a traveling pharmacy.

 

Does anyone have any “must haves” in the take care of yourself department that you pack?

Too funny, I always take a pack of dayqil-night quil. Also small bottle cough syrup, anti-poop pills, bandaids, aspirin, allergy pills, seasick pills. I put each in snack size ziplock, label, and dosage ie: 2/12. The whole bunch will fit in a pencil bag. Finally well enough to see my new great grand. Mary Lou

[laudergayle]

3 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

@laudergayle and @GALSews how was your experience on the Jewel this last week?

Sitting in Anchorage right now.  I probably won’t be doing my own post review, but…since you asked…our experience and rating was similar to yours.  We also canceled an NCL cruise for February and have booked MSC in the Med in the fall, and Princess next April.  We’ll also be looking for other cruise lines to cruise late summer and in Jan/Feb next year. We still have a CF cert so we’re not abandoning NCL all together.

 

Ratings: 5 being best.

Embarkation/Disembarkation:  5

 

Cabin:  2 we were in a CBS under buffet galley (11616) with the sound of running water and rolling carts all day/all night. Location is awesome.

 

Guest service staff:  2. They didn’t care if guests were happy.  They use every excuse to minimize your issue and delay resolution.  It wasn’t until I said I would be there every four hours for the entirety of the cruise…7 days if that’s what it took.

 

Bar Staff:  5. Almost everyone were efficient, friendly, and seemed to like their job.

 

Dining staff:  3.  I think we may have had some newbies so a couple times we got food we didn’t order or they missed items. 

 

Food Specialty Dining:  4.  Portion sizes keep shrinking.  I don’t eat a lot but for those that do, you may need more.  LeBistro filet was very gamey tasting and I left it on the plate. They did remove the upcharge.  Cagney and LaCucina filet were great.  Teppanyaki sirloin was too tough but the shrimp were extra large this cruise.

 

Complimentary Dining:  3.5 We only ate in the MDR twice and one of those nights I ordered the two lobster tails for $25+20%.  They were EXCELLENT.  My favorite meal the whole cruise.  The rest of the menu items were nothing special.  Lots of seafood as others have posted. Again portion sizes are smaller, and sauces/dressings have been watered down.  Even the size of the wax paper liner in O’Sheehans has shrunk so much your food easily touches the table. If you have cruised NCL frequently, the cutbacks are noticeable.  

 

Buffet:  1.  The food choices made me feel like it was a school cafeteria.  But the 1 rating is due to the awful hours.  With the AK itinerary on Jewel, there were so many days where our excursion started early or ended around 2.  Early 6-7 am all that’s available is a continental breakfast, and the main buffet closes at 2:30…which is unacceptable IMO.  
 

Entertainment:  3.  Just nothing above average.  Rock performance good, but Broadway Hits flopped.  I guess NCL won’t pay the $$ for music rights to any top song.  There were very few musicals I could name the songs from. The same average comedian three nights and two movies.  Cirque Bijou was canceled due to weather the last night.  Why they schedule a cirque show for the night most likely to have rough water makes me scratch my head.

 

NCL Excursions:  

Bering Sea Crab Tour, Ketchikan:  5. Exceptional.  I found myself crying from the stories the crew shared.  And the sea life is so remarkable.

 

Discover Whale Watch, Juneau:  3.5. The excursion really is not as described but it was still fun and we did see a few humpbacks.  What I didn’t like is we originally booked a whale watch with seafood fest for $239 pp 5 hours long.  When we got on board we were told our tour was cancelled and the only available whale watch option was $269 pp, no seafood fest and only 3 hours long.

 

White Pass Rail and Gold Panning:  4.  The gold panning was a little hokey, but it was fun to try it.  The railroad ride was beautiful as there was new snowfall the previous night.  
 

Hubbard Glacier Small Boat:  5++. The up close look to the glacier is the only way to really see a glacier.  The cruise ship is about 5 miles away and the small boat gets you 1/2 mile away.  I’ll post a pic.
 

Here are a couple of my favorite pics.  The last one is one “really really want” to see.  Marie says to tell you hello and she misses you!

 

Thanks again for letting me tag onto your story!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 21 by laudergayle

[Tyskie]

10 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

 

Does anyone have any “must haves” in the take care of yourself department that you pack?

 

YES!!!  I have a whole pharmacy (or it seems that way) in one of the LLBean hanging toiletry bags.  This stays packed and ready to go.  Includes Advil cold & sinus, reg Advil, Tylenol arthritis, Imodium, Dramamine, Zicam gummies, Benadryl, Mucinex - plus all our normal medications.  Long trips I always travel with a Z-pak and antibiotics for a UTI (as per Dr. recommendation)

 

Overkill - yes!  Totally admit to that but we have had to use multiple items over the years.  This doesn't include bug spray/wipes, antibacterial hand wipes - you get the picture! 🤣

[cruiseny4life]

9 hours ago, laudergayle said:

Hubbard Glacier Small Boat:  5++. The up close look to the glacier is the only way to really see a glacier.  The cruise ship is about 5 miles away and the small boat gets you 1/2 mile away.  I’ll post a pic.

 

 

Thank you! What a glorious view and to think you were able to get so close. Based on this, and other's reviews (including @YVRteacher), this is a must-do for us whenever we get ourselves to Alaska. Did you observe/hear any calving while you were at the glacier?

[mking8288]

On 5/13/2024 at 4:12 PM, YVRteacher said:

The Latitudes party was a blah non-event. This is the worst cruise next manager I have ever encountered. 

Now that we are back from our TA and resting, catching up with your live report and going to read it from start to finish, taking breaks in between - love, love the pictures.  

 

Compared to the Prima's Latitudes sales party, yours at least seemed acceptable with a good turnout among the senior leadership.  Ours hosted by the CN manager and he was the only one to speak briefly (knew of him from the Joy & Gateway, never impressed).

 

Congrats for making Ambassador status, DW said we are not chasing as being Diamond is enough for us.  Hope your cough is getting better, we too caught a little bit - first DW and then I started, done with the OTC cough after testing negative twice post-cruise plus telemed consult, going w herb tea & honey, Vita-C and just going easy and not going near elders with high risk factors.  

 

P.S.  We always pack a mini med box including proven OTC and prescribed ones, and, a compact trauma/first aid kit to take ashore on excursion, i.e. at a minimum, a pair of gloves and at least six 3-ply or 4-ply 4"x4" gauze pads, and a few waterproof bandages.  

Edited May 21 by mking8288

[mking8288]

15 hours ago, Suetravel said:

Maybe cruise out of NYC, even though embark and disembark is a total mess. Long lines and hours wait. Vancouver lines was slightly long but at least it was moving. In NYC you can wait 2 hours just to get into the security line alone. 

Sue ... you're lucky to cruise w. Yvonne & others to see Alaska.  How was your flight to/from ... booked thru NCL or independent.  

 

NYC's pier check-in issues aren't bad all the times, sometimes, a matter of luck & timing ... we usually managed to get thru security within 30 minutes, arriving around 10 - 10:30 in the morning assuming a routine ship turnaround.  Prima's TA last month was an absolute disaster for most, security wasn't the bottleneck despite ship's delayed arrival & delayed sailing, rather it was pier check-in by the outsourced contracted NCL contractors ... they're still wheeling accessible pax off the ship at 1 PM, 3+ hours after she docked.