natefish95

You versus the guy she told you not to worry about...

You and W are such a cute couple! Your reviews always bring a smile to my face when I read them! I loved Venezia, so I hope you had an amazing time!

The bag "policy" is absolute merde. Are they putting the children in the overhead bins? I would have gone full Karen and said I have medication in that bag that won't fit in my backpack. I'm all for following the rules, but if the rules are made up and make no sense...F that. On the bright side, you're flying AF, so the wine onboard should be good. Bon voyage!

LFG! Hopefully your bestie Kylie from the flight to New York isn't on the flight to CDG. IMAGINE! Is @HelloItsMeB already planning what lounge y'all will go to before the flight? Do you even have PreCheck??

Amazing review as always. Looking forward to following along with the Pearl next!

I'm just a random person on the internet and far from a business analyst, but I think demand in North America is extremely strong. To keep people buying, they have to mix it up, both onboard and itineraries. I think bringing Venezia and Firenze over was a great idea because you get new, modern ships with unique offerings. I booked a Venezia cruise very soon after the release because it offered something new while still being "Carnival". If I was Carnival, I would bring one ship over to North America so people can try out a new ship class. They'll see the sister ship down under with a hopefully good itinerary and be enticed to book it. I booked a Luminosa cruise out of Brisbane for next year because I love the Spirit class and the itinerary is incredible. I'm not flying 17 hours to take a short cruise! A lot of opportunities with these new ships.

Very excited for this announcement and can't wait to get more details about where the ships will be going. They're being transferred to Carnival to turn a profit, so I doubt they'll keep all 4 ships doing Australia. I hope they bring at least one of them stateside and/or move Luminosa to the states full-time.

Been traveling so I'm finally caught back up... Not to make you feel all tingly, but there's a place in Des Moines called Fong's pizza that does Orange. Chicken. Pizza! I opted for the crab rangoon pizza, which was incredible. Would highly recommend. Speaking of smart elevators, fun fact, the North Dakota state capital has smart elevators. The only time I've seen them outside of a cruise was the AC hotel in downtown Dallas. They're. Not. That. Difficult. People. OMG.

Are you doing the Valor to or from Barcelona? I'm looking at the one from BCN-NOLA...but we'll see if I have enough time off...

Depending on how adventurous your want to be and how much luggage you have, there’s a free shuttle from LGA to the subway and you could take that in. When I’ve ubered/lyfted from LGA to Manhattan it’s usually been about $50-70

Hell yeah, PartyPants is back!! Your reviews are always a great escape and such a vibe as the kids say. Very sorry to hear about your dad. When I was on Venezia last year, I found out my grandma was dying and she passed the day we got back to NYC. It was so difficult, but grandma loved her drinks and the ocean, so I honored her that way. I completely empathize with conflicted emotions. Anyyyyyyyyyywayyyyyyyyyyyysssssssss...Amari bar is amazing, but if that's too crowded, head over to Frizzante. It was rarely crowded and the bartenders were also trained alchemists (I think). On sea days there was a secret Chinese buffet on deck 10 aft outside (I think at the seafood shack). There is a free sauna and plunge hot tub in the gym/spa area. It's hidden behind like 15 doors, but it's there and has great views out to the ocean.

Hey! Google tells me New Braunfels is near San Antonio. Were you the guy who didn't wantt to take a cruise to Vietnam? If so, I definitely remember you. Glad you were able to find this thread and had a good cruise. I really want to get back on the Venezia.

Lola was so sweet! I saw her deal with some difficult guests so well, especially for her first contract! I didn't chat with her that much-mostly the manager Epi. Hopefully she's not sick.

Not to burst your bubble, but that's actually Korean water. NCL must not have had the premium package for Fuji water I had a similar bad experience with O'Sheehans. It was semi-busy around lunchtime and took forever. Food came out cold. That fruit plate was hilariously sad though. If your dad likes chicken wings, they were amazing every time I had them.

Your dad spa story is hilarious!!! You should tell Epi the spa manager that story. She'll (hopefully) find it hilarious. If you chat with her, tell her Nate from the Transpacific said hello! She was the sweetest and very funny. The Jewel feels like my home away from home too. Glad you're having a great time!

When I was on the Jewel, the "relieving back pain" was written as "reliving back pain" I hope they changed that typo haha

Sorry this is so choppy! Busy first few days back at work. Since we missed Dutch Harbor, we arrived in Seward a day early and got a full day to enjoy the city, which I was very happy about! They offered a few excursions for the day (including a $400 dog mushing excursion...). I originally wasn't going to do an excursion, but decide to book one for $139 to the Seward Sealife center plus a behind the scenes puffin enocunter. Now, when I read it, I thought you would get to hold a puffin, feed it, etc. Yeah...it wasn't that at all. It was bascially a group of 50 people and we got an hour long presentation about puffins. They brought two out and put them on pedestals to show everyone. The "teacher" was super nice and very knowledgeable, but $139 for an hour long presentation and then time to explore the Sealife center is ridiculous. Admission to the Sealife center (which I would highly recommend and a great way to spend time indoors if it's raining) is $30 and you can walk there from the ship or take one of the free shuttles. I felt like the description definitely oversold what actually occured. But the Sealife Center is great and definitely worth a visit! After the Sealife Center, I walked to a restaurant called the Highlander and had a solid halibut sandwich. Y'all, please be nice to servers when they're understaffed and clearly trying their best. I've never worked in food service, but I haaaaate when people are rude to servers doing their best. Would recommend checking this place out! Since I'm an ice cream fiend, I had to stop in Sweet Darlings for some cookie ice cream and would definitely recommend! It was like 40 degrees and I watched the clouds and rain roll in over Resurrection Bay. Peaceful. Now getting back on the ship, lord Jesus may patience was TRIED. They had two lines for the metal detectors, which did not move fast. I swear, these people were fired from TSA for being too angry. They were screaming at people to remove all jackets and absolutely not drinks were allowed back onboard, even if you brought a ship water bottle off and didn't drink it. Made no sense, especially since they didn't seem to care at any of the prior ports. It was also the only time (other than Sendai) that made you show your ship card and a photo ID. Some people didn't have a second ID and were escorted back to their rooms to get ID. It was just a weirdly aggressive experience for no reason, especially since we had already cleared Customs in Kodiak. Someone mentioned to ship security they were taking water bottles and ship security had no idea why they were doing that BUT port security claimed it was a ship decision. To discuss the debark process. I believe they started calling for self-debark about 7am. I booked a transfer to Anchorage (for $75) with a late flight (those with flights 5pm or later) and was given the "orange" debark time of 9:00. I put my suitcase out the night before, which I have actually never done before. One paper said before 10pm and one paper said before midnight. I put it out a few minutes after midnight (was having too fun drinking with new friends) which wasn't a problem. We were called to debark almost exactly at 9am and immediately got out to waiting charter buses. They check your name off a list and then had about a 2.5 hour drive to the "Anchorage hospitality center", which is the Egan Convention Center. Now friends, if they say "this bus is going to the Anchorage Hospitality Center where you can pick up your luggage" do not complain you weren't dropped off at the airport. I hate when people get mad when they don't know how to read paperwork properly. Everything was very clear. The Hospitality Center in Anchorage is where you can store all your luggage and then explore Anchorage for lunch, city tours, etc. They had a bunch of tables, chairs, and that's pretty much it. It was very nice to have a place to semi-securely store luggage and explore Anchorage. I grabbed lunch at Glacier Brewhouse (since Snow City Cafe was closed) and wandered around. At the center, you pick up a time card for a free shuttle to the Anchorage airport. They leave every hour on the hour from 3pm-10pm. I grabbed a 5pm time slot and we ended up departing around 4:45 and arrived at the airport by 5pm. There isn't much to see at ANC, but it's not a bad airport. Could barely sleep on the red eye to Chicago (who tf watches a movie an entire red eye with the screen on full brightness and the overhead lights on. If you're not going to sleep, don't disturb others ugh). The final flight to DC was uneventful (thank god) and now I'm home back to reality and starting to plan my next ones 🙂 Hope y'all enjoyed this not-so-live review! The itinerary was amazing and I loved being back onboard the NCL Jewel. The Jewel class is my favorite and I wish NCL would make more ships this size. The Jewel is going into drydock next year, but still is in great shape! Happy sailing!

For people who ask for the dailies, I did not take pictures of them except for this one. I guess someone might find this interesting? I’ve never done one of the alcohol tastings on a ship, but decided to try the mojito tasting with some new friends. I think it was about $19? and was held in Magnums and posted by Aan. He was so knowledgeable about the drinks and was a great host! Would highly recommend doing one of these with Aan.

I can see Russia from my ship! actually I couldn’t because the first two days at sea were completely foggy

Some interesting 7-11 finds. I passed on the octopus and squid

One more picture of bustling downtown Kushiro

Photos from Kushiro Another foggy morning The riverfront area

Photos from Aomori bluefin tuna trio sailing into Aomori Sea urchin sushi Sailing away from Aomori

Dutch Harbor Lol, nope! Maybe next time Kodiak Y'all, this was were NCL absolutely failed in my opinion. To set the stage, we were tendered in Kodiak from 8am-6pm. The last tender would leave Kodiak at 5pm. Since this was also our first U.S. port, we had to go through in-person U.S. Customs with the officers on the ship. The freestyle daily said this would occur from 8am-noon in a conference room by the Stardust. All passengers were grouped in Group A, B, C, or D based on your deck. I was on Deck 5, so I was in Group D. Funny enough, when we got information about Customs in Dutch Harbor, Deck 5 was in Group B. Wonder why they changed it... They didn't call Group A until 9:00am. Group B wasn't called until 9:40. Group C was called maybe around 10:15? At that point, I decided to go grab some coffee from the Atrium Starbucks and get in line. Surely, they'll call Group D while I'm grabbing coffee and becoming alive for the day. I walked up to an absolute circus. The line started on Deck 6 outside Stardust, went up the stairs, and around the corner all the way to the photo gallery...essentially the entire length of Deck 7. I got in line around 10:30. Mind you, they still had not called Group D yet. I'll save you the many annoyed long exhales and eyerolls, but I finally finished around 12:15 ALMOST TWO HOUR LATER. They called Group D around 11:30. Someone I met got in line around then and didn't finish until 1:45. Oh but it gets more fun! Once we were done with that, we could walk to Azura and wait in line for a tender. You get tender tickets, but they were pointless if you get number 5 and don't finish customs until noon. Priority tender tickets because you're a Latitude? Not in this dining room! I waited about 20 minutes minutes for a teneder and finally got on land about 1:15 and you can bet your a$$ I was hangry as f### That's a bit ranty, so I'll balance it with how NCL could have handled it better. An announcement at the very start that the process would be delayed. I'm assuming since Group A wasn't called until 9am, and it was supposed to start at 8am, there was a delay getting CBP officers on the ship. Maybe have a line for US passport holders and/or those with an ESTA. Half the ship was form the US, so if you have nothing to declare, it shouldn't long for them to look at your passport and mark you off a list. Related, the officer marked your name off a list, so maybe they could have organized it alphabetically? The longest part was waiting for the officer to find me on the list They REALLY should have had a special line for those with limited mobility. There were several folks around me who were struggling to stand for that long and would take a seat whenever there was one. The line didn't move for a solid 20 minutes while I was on the stairs. Sitting on the stairs was an option for some, but that may be too low for some folks. Once we got into the room, they were pushing some people in wheelchairs in the exit. There should have been staff asking people if they were having trouble standing and pul them to the front. There were a few staff members offering hot chocolate. Okay, it was chilly outside, but most people were angry and a little warm from the body heat. Folks around asked for water and were told three times in the span of 45 minutes it was coming. Never showed up. For tenders, we were instructed to wait in Azura and would then be escorted down to deck 4 to board it. Some people just skipped the Azura waiting and slid into the line on Deck 4. This whole process was bizarre. I planned to go hiking around Kodiak (it was raining but not terribly), but there was no time for that. I grabbed lunch on land, and then grabbed a tender back (which was another 30 minute wait in the rain).

Hello people! I got off the ship today (sadly) and am waiting for my flight back to DC at the Anchorage airport, so I'll pick this back up where I left off. I'll go through the ports, the debark process, and then my overall thoughts on the cruise. I think I left off with Hakodate and the Hakodate ropeway. I can now say it was one of my favorite things of the trip. The views were incredible and so easy to do on your own. Absolutely no need to do an NCL excursion. The ship docked right in downtown, so it was very easy to walk around or hop on the trams (which accepted the IC card). One of Hakodate's notable foods is called kaisen-don. I searched it in Apple Maps and picked a random place that turned out to be a in fish market. You order via machine. It had an English option, but nothing was actually translated. After trying to make sense of the pictures, I asked the older Japanese ladies next to me, "kaisen-don?" and made a confused face and vaguely gestured at the machine. They spoke no English, but tapped on something for that was kaisen-don and through some gesturing and a lot of "arigato gozaimasu's" from me, I managed to get it! I'll post pictures below. Aomori The next port was Aomori and we again docked within walking distance of "downtown". I later learned during the Captain's Q&A that we had less than 200m of visibility when pulling in. Someone asked how they dock in bad weather, so it's definitely possible in low visibility. Aomori has some nice art museums (and a giant tourism center shaped like a pyramid), but nothing really piqued my interest, so I opted for another day of wandering on my own. I found a really good sushi place and was finally able to try sea urchin. It really doesn't taste like much? Maybe a liiiiiiiittle briny/fishy tasting? Kushiro Our last Japanese port was Kushiro in Hokkaido. This was a late addition to our itinerary where they swapped Homer for Kushiro. Like Sendai, NCL offered roundtrip shuttles to "downtown" for $20. In my opinion, the shuttles were 100% necessary here because the dock is in the middle of nowhere in an industrial area and I believe about 3km from the nearest train station. Like Aomori, there wasn't much that called out to me in Kushiro to do, so I wandered around some more. The waterfront area seemed like a popular area to walk around in and there was a large market where we were dropped off. I used up the last of the money on my IC card and bought snacks from 7-11 and Lawson (don't tell the NCL overlords I brought snacks back!) The market area also had some snacks and some food where literally everyone on the ship was using up the last of their yen. The weird thing about Kushiro (to me) is that while walking down the street it sounds like they're playing radio advertisements? You would hear some speaking and some music, but my limited DuoLingo Japanese couldn't help me understand. It felt strangely...Soviet? I'm like 99% sure it wasn't playing propaganda...but what if? Kushiro and Aomori were nice towns, and I'm glad to have visited, but I much preferred Sendai and Hakodate. It was just so nice to be out of the big cities and the see non-jampacked/power-walking side of Japan. The daily pace seemed much more relaxed that Tokyo and Osaka.