Norwegian Jewel December 16-23 2012 - Florida and the Bahamas

[xenagurl]

Part 1

 

More photos including menu photos are on my blog.

December 16th

 

Day 1 – New York, Embarkation

 

My husband and I decided to finish the year the way we started it, with a cruise. On January first we boarded the Gem and while this isn't the last week of the year, it's pretty close to it and we figured it was as good as a time as any to board a Norwegian ship. Not that we need an excuse. It was my 7th NCL cruise of the year and hubby's 3rd. So in truth we consider being alive as good of a reason as any to get on a ship.

 

The Latitudes line was pretty packed, but the “regular” line had about three time the amount of people for this full sailing.

 

Once we were on board we did what we usually do. We went to eat. The main dining room on the Jewel is called Tsar's and out of all of the ships the decoration in this one is my favorite. We had our Vietnamese Summer Rolls and I also had a Portobello Mushroom with cheese as a starter. I chose the Shrimp and Salmon salad for lunch while hubby had the Cobb Salad and an Omelette.

 

While we were eating it was announced that our rooms were ready. So once we were done we went upstairs to stateroom 10520 which is 10 Forward (get it 10 forward, ha ha – all of you Trekkies are chuckling) take off our outwear, relax a bit and get photos of the Intrepid. The Jewel was docked on the left side at Pier 88, so the starboard side had a good view of the Intrepid from their stateroom.

 

From there we walked around the ship taking pictures. For all of you who like your ship decorated for Christmas I think you'd enjoy the scene on deck 6 mid-ship complete with gingerbread houses and a train set. Next up was the spa for a short tour. The weekly pass was about $150, and was only available as a daily pass on port days. The cost for a day pass is $30.

 

We head over to Blue Lagoon for a snack. I'm a Pescatarian and the menu isn't very big for people with my tastes but I did settle on Cole Slaw and French Fries along with a Chai Latte from the Java Cafe to “hold” me until dinner.

 

We went back to the stateroom, rested a bit and then got dressed for dinner. It was Lobster night, but I wound up having the Chef's special which was lightly breaded and fried Tilapia along with a Lobster tail. In fact I had 2 of the Tilapia meals. Something I don't usually do, but while I wasn't in the mood for dessert apparently my body was craving seafood and so I appeased it.

 

After having dinner we went to the welcome aboard show which had us especially looking forward to more of Next Stage as well as seeing Jean-Pierre again who is a really good Magician and Comedian. Admittedly I think we had just as much fun watching the Nickelodeon characters on state. What can I say, we're SpongeBob SquarePants kind of people.

 

We decided to turn in early and head to our stateroom to wind down and go to bed to prep for Monday. Cruising makes Monday's great![/color]

 

 

 

 

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[xenagurl]

Thanks for checking it out KirkNC.

 

I'll post more soon. Still in the midst of unpacking.

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More photos

 

 

 

 

[SMSACE6]

Very nice start to your review. Looking forward to more. Thanks for your review.:)

[xenagurl]

Very nice start to your review. Looking forward to more. Thanks for your review.:)

 

Thank you. :)

[Cupcrazy]

Thanks for posting. Great pictures! Can't wait for more

[jlacy1987]

My husband is a gluten-free Pescatarian and we'll be on the Jewel next January. Besides Blue Lagoon, how were the options for Pescatarians with the other restaurants?

[xenagurl]

Thanks for posting. Great pictures! Can't wait for more

 

Thanks! I hope to have it up soon. I wrote most of it on the ship, but it's getting those photos together that takes time. We went photo mad and took about 2000. :D I won't post that many though don't worry LOL

 

My husband is a gluten-free Pescatarian and we'll be on the Jewel next January. Besides Blue Lagoon, how were the options for Pescatarians with the other restaurants?

 

Oh definitely! More so in the other dining rooms. The Blue Lagoon does have fish & chips as well. In the MDR's there's some type of fish to be had every night. Usually Salmon or Tilapia as well as a pure vegetarian option, but those will usually be pasta based.

 

The buffet always has fish, and I'd recommend the Asian restaurants there, especially sushi. (I'll post those photos soon).

 

As your husband is Gluten free as well as a Pescatarian I'd suggest getting in contact with Norwegian so that perhaps they can have special meals in place for him in the MDR.

 

One of my favorite Vegetarian meals is in LeBistro (French food) It's a vegetable Napoleon that it so very yummy. Portobello, peppers, cheese...just delicious.

[www3traveler]

Did you do any interviews on this cruise? How was the weather coming back into NYC? Yesterday, The Gem had very rough seas coming in.

 

Mandy

[xenagurl]

My husband is a gluten-free Pescatarian and we'll be on the Jewel next January. Besides Blue Lagoon, how were the options for Pescatarians with the other restaurants?

 

My favorite fish dish in Tsars the larger Main Dining Room.

 

 

 

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Did you do any interviews on this cruise? How was the weather coming back into NYC? Yesterday, The Gem had very rough seas coming in.

 

Mandy

 

Yes! :D With Captain Lars Bergstrom and Jean-Pierre Parent the Magician and Comedian. I'll post them both soon.

 

The 2nd sea day (Friday) was pretty rocky. There was a lt of room service as many people didn't seem to want to leave their stateroom lol. My stomach felt a tad off, but nothing bad. I was able to eat, walk around etc.

 

JP The Magician gave a tip. He said if you feel nausea, take a packet of plain sugar, open it and put some under your tongue and just suck on it. It works. I tried just a little bit and almost immediately I felt a lot better. I guess it helps raise blood sugar levels quickly.

[NayRN]

More, more, more please! I'll be doing this cruise in August but on the Gem with 10 and 8 year old girls!:cool: I really did enjoy the Jewel and I hope the Gem lives up to her!!!

[Oldgoat61]

Looking forward to another great review!!:D

[xenagurl]

More, more, more please! I'll be doing this cruise in August but on the Gem with 10 and 8 year old girls!:cool: I really did enjoy the Jewel and I hope the Gem lives up to her!!!

 

LOL ---I think I'm going to post the text and than the photos, so at least they'll be info there.

 

Your girls are going to looooove the Gem. I think it's a Nickelodeon ship like the Jewel. There were kids events this time that I wanted to go to. In fact I took a photo with Wanda and Cosmo from The Fairly Odd Parents! ha ha I missed the Sponge Bob photo op.

 

I'm not sure if the Cruise Director Sinan Ulucay is scheduled to be on the Gem in August, but if so you're in for a double treat. He is just amazing and so full of life!

 

Looking forward to another great review!!:D

 

Thank you Oldgoat61! Hopefully it won't disappoint.

[xenagurl]

Day 2

 

(I'll post the photos soon :) )

 

 

Day 2 – At Sea

 

The first on the agenda was going to the Cruise Critic meet & greet. It was very well put together by Lee and he even had some free pens for those that attended. About 40 of us were in the Star Bar and Hugo Venosomael sp? The Hotel Director, Dan Olsen the Cruise Director and the group services coordinator (sorry forgot her name!) were there. They told us that everyone else was on the floor working so they wouldn't be able to be there.

 

They informed us that there wouldn't be a “Dine with an Officer” drawing due to the time of year. The ship is full and they don't want to take tables for special dinner's that include the Officers while other passengers are waiting for seating.

 

Next was a stop at the gift shop for some beauty goodies and on to the Sushi bar for lunch.

 

At 1:30 there was the Latitudes party where we had a chance to meet Captain Lars Bergstrom and his officers and staff. Next Stage put on an enjoyable performance and we were surprised to find out that Dan the Man has quite the voice! He and Next Stage wooed us with a rendition of Hey Jude.

 

At 4:00 there was the Martini tasting which is such a great deal. $15 for 4 drinks, so even if Martini's aren't normally your drink of choice why not try something new. Our drinks demonstrator Alan gave us a fe fun facts and info about the drinks we were imbibing and passed on prizes for remember certain trivia questions about Martinis.

 

1. Classic Martini made with Vodka instead of Gin, using Ultimat Vodka from Poland. Also known as a Silver Bullet it's meant to cleanse the palate.

 

2. Sour Apple Martini aka Appletini with Ketel One Vodka which is also from Poland, mixed with Apple Popper flavoring.

 

3. Forbidden Fruitini – With Ketel one Vodka, Palma Liquer as well as Pineapple and Grapefruit Juice

 

 

4. Chocolate Raspberry Martini – Vodka and Raspberry flavored Godiva syrup.

 

All were good with my favorite being the Sour Apple. As there were no bar snacks on the tables by the time it was over I was most certainly in happy land. In fact everyone was. Alan said that people usually start out quiet, after the first they're still kind of quiet, by the second they getting loud, and by the fourth...I can tell you that by the fourth we were a giddy bunch.

 

This night was Norwegian's Night Out, so we went to the room and got dressed for photos with the Captain in bar city as well as dinner. We head down took our photo waved hello to Hugo and Dan and stopped by the bar for happy hour 2 for 1 drinks. I “cleansed” my palate for dinner with a double Scotch no chaser and we head over to Tsar's for dinner. We had a short wait so we grabbed a buzzer and went into the gift shop where I picked up a couple of things for friends back home.

 

Once we were seated we ordered our meals and I once again had two entrees. I wasn't being greedy though. I'd done something that I never do and had pasta (must have been the alcohol ordering). I'd ordered dessert too, but passed it off to hubby. Lately I've not had much of a sweet tooth, but I did have three mixed drink martinis and that was probably more than enough “dessert” for the day.

 

After dinner we passed by Fyzz where there was some Salsa music playing. The Mr. and I twirled around together and I also danced with some ladies from Canada before we head back to the stateroom. My intention was to make it up to Spinnaker for a few hours of moving and shaking but after settling back the sandman took over and I decided that a shower and sleep were about all that was going to happen for the rest of the night.

[QuattroRomeo]

Another great read from Xena- thank you!

Pam

[boopsahoy]

Looking forward to more!

[jdvmd]

Thanks for sharing!

[xenagurl]

Photos from day 2

 

...

115 more here, and I'll put posting some day 3 photos here and uploading them to my blog today.

 

 

 

[xenagurl]

QuattroRomeo --- Another great read from Xena- thank you!

Pam

 

Looking forward to more!

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

 

Thank you all for checking it out. :)

[xenagurl]

More photos from day 2

 

 

Captain Lars (I'll be posting an interview with him soon.)

 

 

[xenagurl]

Day 3

 

Will post some day 3 photos soon.

 

Day 3 – Port Canaveral, Florida

Arrival at Noon

 

For some strange reason I woke up after sleeping about four hours and couldn't get back to sleep until about 7:30 and then Mr. Up and at 'em woke me up at 9:30. Le sigh.

 

By 11:30 we were at Tsar's for lunch there we met to really cool servers Ayu and Napoleon that we'd meet up with later and who served us with a wonderful surprise. Since we hadn't planned any particular excursion, Ayu told us where to catch the shuttle in order to get to Cocoa Beach, the Mall and WalMart.

 

We head off the the ship past security and I suddenly saw a familiar face. Arjun from the Norwegian Jade. I'd first met Arjun in November 2011 when I was playing a very time sensitive scavenger hunt game on the Jade and I needed to get a photo of someone from Nepal. Where oh where would I find this I wondered. One of the crew told me that most of the people that worked in security were from Nepal. So I head down to deck 4 and asked the head of security if I could get a photo of one of his staff and of course told him why. He then jokingly said “should it be a good looking one?” I replied “all the better!” so he went and called Arjun over and said that I'd like to take a photo, which I did immediately said thank you and ran up the stairs in about 3 seconds flat. It wasn't until later when I met him another day that I realized he hadn't the foggiest idea why I wanted a picture of him. Embarrassing! I quickly explained the what and the why, and thankfully he found It funny. :)

 

I then met him again when I was on the Jade in February of this year. The Jade is in Europe year round so I was happily surprised to see him here. And more surprised that he remembered who I was, though I suppose that it can't be every day that some crazy woman takes a photo of you and the runs away.

 

We took the shuttle (the ones with the Radisson logo) got off at the Cocoa Beach stop and there we stayed. There are two surf shops in that immediate vicinity. Ron Jons and Cocoa Beach Surf shop. Buying the shuttle tickets gets you 15% off at the Cocoa Beach shop. We went inside and I shopped while Mr. Xena waited by the Aquatic tank for the shark feeding.

 

Along with some gifts for family, I picked up 2 pairs of The North Face shorts that were 25% off. Definitely a good place to stock up on casual beach wear and similar. We noticed the $1 Margarita sign and decided to head back to the Jewel drop off our items and then go back to catch happy hour.

 

On the shuttle heading back to town we were the only two people on the bus and had a chance to talk to our driver who told us about the Sand Bar that also offered Happy Hour and food. He gave us coupons/business cards that gave us 10% off. I noticed that they were “home of the fish taco” and seeing how I've been on a seafood kick I knew that we had to stop there as well, and so we decided to head there first.

 

What can I say, fun atmosphere, quick service, nice servers, good drinks, live music, indoor and outdoor dining and ESPN - definitely a great place to spend an evening after a day at the beach or just because. 2 fish tacos, 2 drinks (Hurricane 1 and Hurricane 3), 1 beer and a mahi mahi wrap later and it came to under $30 with the discount. It's 4301 Ocean Blvd. On the 520, 2 streets over from Atlantic avenue going towards the beach. The next time I'm in the area I'll definitely be heading back and I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good place to eat.

 

At dinner we saw Ayu and waved Hello to her. She came over to speak with us for a few minutes before she finished her shift at Tsar's and started at the Blue Lagoon until (from 9pm – 1am). We saw Napoleon and Ayu ask him to sing us a song because he has a great voice. She was so right. Napoleon sang “Fly Me to The Moon” Sinatra style and by the time he was finished all of the tables around were clapping. What a nice treat to have during dinner! Thank you Napoleon! Felix the restaurant manager stopped over to say hello, after which he and Ayu left, we had dessert and then left.

 

We got our two miles in by walking around the ship on deck 7 and while getting some exercise took in some interesting sights like a Naval ship, a large waxing moon, and a few hundred seagulls all sitting together in one spot whose cacophony needless to say was heard before we even spotted them. As I had a strange sensation of feeling like Tippy Hedren we kept walking and a little while later decided to call it an evening around 10:30.

 

Well I called it an evening. There was a late night Rum and Rum cake tasting that hubs decide to partake of.

[NayRN]

I'm happy to hear about the shuttle! I had no idea what to do with the girls there without spending a boat-load of money! I'm surprising them with a 2 BR suite and swimming with the dolphins...so no theme parks for us! They can pick up souvenirs for their younger brother and sister at Walmart!!;)

 

Keep it coming, Xenagurl! I'm living vicariously thru you..at least for the next 227 days!!:o

[xenagurl]

I'm happy to hear about the shuttle! I had no idea what to do with the girls there without spending a boat-load of money! I'm surprising them with a 2 BR suite and swimming with the dolphins...so no theme parks for us! They can pick up souvenirs for their younger brother and sister at Walmart!!;)

 

Keep it coming, Xenagurl! I'm living vicariously thru you..at least for the next 227 days!!:o

 

What a lovely treat for your girls. That's going to be a really nice vacation!

 

I'm glad it's been helpful! You'll see the sign up for the shuttle right as you get ready to come out of the terminal. They're $12.99 per person and you can use your ship card to buy it. There are three stops on the shuttle. The beach area/surf shop, Mall and WalMart.

 

What you don't find at WalMart you might be able to get at the Cocoa Beach Surf shop. The prices weren't half bad, and there was also the discount coupon. I picked up some t-shirts and tank tops that were about $7 or $8 each. The beach is just 2 blocks away from the shop. So it can be the best of both worlds.

 

Just a note, it seems that the shuttle drivers salary is basically tip based. We put a dollar or two in, each time we used it.

[NayRN]

What a lovely treat for your girls. That's going to be a really nice vacation!

 

I'm glad it's been helpful! You'll see the sign up for the shuttle right as you get ready to come out of the terminal. They're $12.99 per person and you can use your ship card to buy it. There are three stops on the shuttle. The beach area/surf shop, Mall and WalMart.

 

What you don't find at WalMart you might be able to get at the Cocoa Beach Surf shop. The prices weren't half bad, and there was also the discount coupon. I picked up some t-shirts and tank tops that were about $7 or $8 each. The beach is just 2 blocks away from the shop. So it can be the best of both worlds.

 

Just a note, it seems that the shuttle drivers salary is basically tip based. We put a dollar or two in, each time we used it.

 

Thanks! And I'm OK with tips! And the mall!! I forgot you said there was a mall! That will kill an hour or so as well....and I can probably get my Starbucks fix!!:o

[xenagurl]

Thanks! And I'm OK with tips! And the mall!! I forgot you said there was a mall! That will kill an hour or so as well....and I can probably get my Starbucks fix!!:o

 

Sure thing. There's a Starbucks inside the Surf shop too! There are also these little scooter cars people were driving around, like little miniature Batmobiles in bright colors lol (I'll attach a pic soon) we didn't try them out but looked like they'd be interesting to drive.