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Jade TA Barcelona to Tampa, mid-cruise report

hawkeyetlse

By hawkeyetlse,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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hawkeyetlse

hawkeyetlse

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We are about halfway through the cruise and 3 time changes in a row have me waking up at 5am, so I thought I'd post some random comments about the show so far.

 

Crowd: No school-aged kids on board, probably no one between the ages of 3 and 35, actually :) Over 500 Platinums. No honeymooners showed up for the Newlywed and Not-So Newlywed game. Lots of Canadians, it seems.

 

Weather: We had beautiful weather in the first 3 ports (Cartagena, Málaga, Funchal), sunny 70s. The last two days we have hit rough seas and there are rumors we may have to skip Bermuda on Tuesday because of high winds forecasted. The Captain is not very talkative and I keep missing his announcements.

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hawkeyetlse

hawkeyetlse

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Food: We are happy with the food. There is a note in the Daily saying explicitly that takeaway is not available at Blue Lagoon ("Food must be consumed within the dining area"). The Platinum voucher says that the gratuity is not included and will be automatically added to your onboard account, but so far this hasn't actually happened to us. No lobster except in the MDR :) We tried the replacement shrimp dish at Le Bistro: Don't bother.

 

Drink: A lot :D They charged 10% Spanish IVA on all drinks (including UBP orders) in the 3 Spanish ports. Irish coffee is made with espresso in the Atrium Bar, and included. Many MDR servers do not think it is included. The UBP policy on this ship seems to be to ask for everyone's cards and to swipe all of them, instead of putting multiple drinks on one card. The bar staff have gotten very fast at swiping and tapping.

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hawkeyetlse

hawkeyetlse

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Shows: We keep missing them because of long dinners, but there is a brand new production show called "Blazing Boots" that just debuted on the Jade last week. It has a country music theme. (We didn't see it, maybe it will be repeated in the second half of the cruise?)

 

Activities: CD is Dingo Dave. Hilarious morning show. Cruise staff are great, even when 400 nit-pickers show up for sea-day trivia :) There is a lecturer on board, doing talks about famous court cases (OJ etc.) Not my thing but the theater was pretty full when I peeked in.

 

Facilities: Internet is working fine even in the middle of the Atlantic. The spa and gym are not too crowded. The outdoor pools have been closed for a couple of days because of rough seas and rain (hot tubs open).

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Diane123boys

Diane123boys

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Food: We are happy with the food. There is a note in the Daily saying explicitly that takeaway is not available at Blue Lagoon ("Food must be consumed within the dining area"). The Platinum voucher says that the gratuity is not included and will be automatically added to your onboard account, but so far this hasn't actually happened to us. No lobster except in the MDR :) We tried the replacement shrimp dish at Le Bistro: Don't bother.

 

Drink: A lot :D They charged 10% Spanish IVA on all drinks (including UBP orders) in the 3 Spanish ports. Irish coffee is made with espresso in the Atrium Bar, and included. Many MDR servers do not think it is included. The UBP policy on this ship seems to be to ask for everyone's cards and to swipe all of them, instead of putting multiple drinks on one card. The bar staff have gotten very fast at swiping and tapping.

 

 

My brother is on the cruise with you!! His name is Bruce, and yep he is in his 50's :D If you see him, say hello from me :) He is tall, and most likely wearing a motorcycle bandana on his head . Its a bummer that you may skip Bermuda I kniow he loves it there.

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hawkeyetlse

hawkeyetlse

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Showdown yes (we missed it), Elements I think so (hasn't played yet), there's also been Haines magic (but they're leaving the ship after this cruise), Beatles Invasion, Soul Sensations, and Graffiti Classics.

 

The Captain came on today, the weather is great now but the forecast for Tuesday is worse than before. And I'm not talking about the polls :)

 

Oh also the Captain is leaving the ship in Miami. We've never switched captains in the middle of a cruise before…

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hawkeyetlse

hawkeyetlse

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The cancellation of Bermuda was confirmed this morning, and soon followed by a very well-attended Q&A session with the Captain and other officers in the theater. They showed the weather charts and everything, and explained with great detail and transparency why no alternative port could be arranged (Nassau fully booked, GSC and Freeport out of service after the hurricane, early arrival in Miami was not approved by US immigration). Of course the very first question was about port charge refunds, and the answer was apparently no.

 

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pdmartyn65

pdmartyn65

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Pools were opened yesterday, and also today (Monday). Even with all the bouncing.....[emoji846]

The captain is trying to skirt the storm affecting Bermuda, but we might hit the leading edge later this afternoon or early evening.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited by pdmartyn65
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hawkeyetlse

hawkeyetlse

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I've only had recent experience in Europe (and seen recent reports from other cruisers in Europe), and the policy there seems to be that port fees are not refunded.

 

As I understand it, the fees are maybe $10 or $20 for a one-day call, typically, and we will save at least that much by staying on board and not buying lunch and drinks on shore. And they will put on extra shows and activities and they will have to have more staff/crew on duty all day, because they will have to open more bars and dining venues than originally planned. If you are counting actual expenses that closely, then yes, NCL should give us back the port fees, but shouldn't we then pay extra for the additional onboard services that we will receive during the sea day tomorrow?

Edited by hawkeyetlse
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JimeBeMe

JimeBeMe

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The captain originally said no to port fee refunds, but I believe the hotel director corrected him and said yes, they will be refunded.

 

Who is the Hotel Director, if I may ask? I have always thought the HDs were good people to get to know!

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bluesea777

bluesea777

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I'm also on this TA cruise. We did a fair bit of shopping while in Europe (went to Venice and Barcelona pre-cruise) and bought booze in Funchal, and we had hoped to go home to drop off all the shopping and dirty laundry when docked in Bermuda, but alas, no.

 

We'll now need to go shopping in Miami for extra luggage and cough up $$ for extra bags when flying home from Tampa!!

 

Storm happens!!

 

Just after the announcement this morning about bypassing Bermuda, my husband went into Gents, and there were scots in there pi$$ed off about it - they were saying they'd never cruise with NCL again!! My husband told them, it's not NCL, it's the WEATHER. (for Christ's sake)

 

We went to the atrium, expecting to see crowds there kicking up storm, but nothing happened there.

 

We didn't go to the Officers' Q&A, but it was good of hawkeye to post the report and picture of the storm nearing Bermuda.

 

Bermuda is surrounded with reefs, and ships have to go thru a cut east of island and cruise thru the marked channels (between reefs) to the berth at Dockyard. When it's extremely windy and sea is rough it isn't safe for the ship to do that without venturing off course and hitting the reef.

 

Also, it is NO fun being a tourist touring and going to beach, etc, in that extreme weather.

 

JADE is handling and cutting thru rough sea very well, imho, as compared to Epic and Escape.

 

We are enjoying our R&R, taking things easy!

Edited by bluesea777
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bluesea777

bluesea777

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We are about halfway through the cruise and 3 time changes in a row have me waking up at 5am, so I thought I'd post some random comments about the show so far.

 

Crowd: No school-aged kids on board, probably no one between the ages of 3 and 35, actually :) Over 500 Platinums. No honeymooners showed up for the Newlywed and Not-So Newlywed game. Lots of Canadians, it seems.

 

Weather: We had beautiful weather in the first 3 ports (Cartagena, Málaga, Funchal), sunny 70s. The last two days we have hit rough seas and there are rumors we may have to skip Bermuda on Tuesday because of high winds forecasted. The Captain is not very talkative and I keep missing his announcements.

 

And lots of Scots!!

 

The shows have been good so far.

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Diane123boys

Diane123boys

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I'm also on this TA cruise. We did a fair bit of shopping while in Europe (went to Venice and Barcelona pre-cruise) and bought booze in Funchal, and we had hoped to go home to drop off all the shopping and dirty laundry when docked in Bermuda, but alas, no.

 

We'll now need to go shopping in Miami for extra luggage and cough up $$ for extra bags when flying home from Tampa!!

 

Storm happens!!

 

Just after the announcement this morning about bypassing Bermuda, my husband went into Gents, and there were scots in there pi$$ed off about it - they were saying they'd never cruise with NCL again!! My husband told them, it's not NCL, it's the WEATHER. (for Christ's sake)

 

 

 

 

I promise I am not stalking you BUT I believe you have met my brother Bruce ! He was probably wearing a bandana on his head? Those are usually motorcycle related bandanas :eek: He mentioned a really nice couple that he met a few nights ago (this was before the news about Bermuda) cause he mentioned meeting you ! It does stink about having to pay for the laundry!

 

It is kinda wierd to be seeing all of this news on here and getting the emails from him too! He has NO clue about Cruise Critic but I think I wil be getting him to join!

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bluesea777

bluesea777

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I promise I am not stalking you BUT I believe you have met my brother Bruce ! He was probably wearing a bandana on his head? Those are usually motorcycle related bandanas :eek: He mentioned a really nice couple that he met a few nights ago (this was before the news about Bermuda) cause he mentioned meeting you ! It does stink about having to pay for the laundry!

 

It is kinda wierd to be seeing all of this news on here and getting the emails from him too! He has NO clue about Cruise Critic but I think I wil be getting him to join!

 

Hey! We did meet your brother in Le Bistro - we chatted so much that we were some of the last ones to leave!

 

we have a friend in Bermuda who is crazy about bikes and he often tags with the motorbike groups off the ships. we were going to ask him when we got off ship, but alas it didn't happen.

 

About the laundry = we were going to get the dirty laundry off the ship to lessen the number of bags we are bringing home from Tampa. We were in Europe for a week before cruise.

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