Mexican Riviera on the Jewel

[carohs]

Good morning and Happy Easter!

 

We're excited and standing in line in gorgeous SD. The weather right now is completely overcast but it should burn off later this afternoon. DD and DS had no idea we had a spring break vacation planned. None of us have ever cruised NCL so even driving up they had no clue. It's a good thing that DCL isn't here today too else wise I might had some 'splaining to do. They finally clued in when DH pulled out the suitcases. They were 😲 shocked!! DD was dancing and jumping and DS was overwhelmed and started tearing up. He said "wrap my face in duct tape". That's a new one to me but he managed to pull it together. 

DH is not joining us, so this will help me make sure I'm documenting all. I don't promise a LIVE since I didn't upgrade our internet and I'm unsure how much downtime I'll get sailing with LOs.

So far the line is moving quickly, see you on board.

[carohs]

All checked in and waiting. That was quick, at less than 30 min. We got boarding group 9 and muster station D at O'Sheehans. I still have some unanswered questions like the $50spa credit for pass 1&2 is that pp? The code on my docs says 100spa so we'll see. 

There's water and a vending machine available so no one will die of thirst anytime soon, but we all know the real stuff is waiting on the ship. 

 

 

[carohs]

Still waiting to board. Embarkation started about 11:30. Our number was finally called after 12, and we've been standing on the gangway ever since. They shut off the escalators after a safety incident instead of controlling the flow of people. When we got to the top of the escalators, we had to quickly figure out how to step off to the side or risk getting slammed into and trampled by those still coming up. Those behind us had a little less luck with no room left on the gangway. Wow. 

At least the kids are entertained watching the forklifts working hard at loading luggage. 

[carohs]

We skipped the elevator bottleneck and took a quick detour. We went passed the casinos and found a quiet spot by Shakers. First bar we saw and got friendly and promt service. 

[carohs]

We survived the Garden Cafe chaos. I couldn't even tell you what I ate. I believe it was Indian. We were hungry than I realized because we finished eating before I remembered to take pictures. I also was led by my nose and ate the first hot thing I saw that smelled good. It was delicious but on the way out of the Cafe I saw Paella. Seafood Paella. Drat! Will they bring it back sometime this week? Who knows but I'm sure whatever they serve will be delicious. 

Now on to register the kids in club. There's definitely a good amount of kids here this week. The 6-9 group, which both my kids are in, ran out of programming flyers. I'm told it's the same as the Turtles so we grabbed that. For anyone interested what they have available for the littles, I'll include that here.

[deelightfull]

😁 Is fun to surprise the kiddos isn't! So far, so good. 🤞

[YVRteacher]

Have a wonderful cruise!

[carohs]

Little small glitch. Room is only set up for three but there's 4 of us. These rooms are tiny, that's for sure.

197 still missing muster, naughty naughty. Heading up for sail away now 🙂

[carohs]

Found a nice little nook with the USS Midway in our view. It's away from the main party but we can still hear all the music.

 

Here's some pictures of our earlier exploring

[DorothyB]

5 hours ago, carohs said:

 

There's water and a vending machine available so no one will die of thirst anytime soon, but we all know the real stuff is waiting on the ship. 

 

 

 

But NO Dr Pepper in the vending machines and none on board 😞

[carohs]

2 minutes ago, DorothyB said:

 

But NO Dr Pepper in the vending machines and none on board 😞

And Shakers didn't have root beer either. Have yet to figure if that's ship wide. 

[DorothyB]

2 minutes ago, carohs said:

And Shakers didn't have root beer either. Have yet to figure if that's ship wide. 

On the Pearl I was able to get root beer at a bar - can't remember the name - mid-ship elevator down to the floor that has a lot of bars and it was the 2nd one down - I think where they did tastings?

 

[carohs]

Here's the 4th bed solution. Needless to say this solution creates more problems than it solves. DD and I will get lots of snuggles on this vacay. 

 

The doors on NCL look like closet doors. I guess that should have been the first clue. 

[carohs]

We've gotten one out of two suitcases. We're sailing with Point Loma on starboard and Coronado island port. MIL says we're going South I thought West. Thankfully I've still got service; google says we're sailing South. 

[carohs]

We headed to the library next where we signed up to paint some palm trees. We also spent some time doing the daily crossword. Went over to the spa to inquire about the spa credits, and the spa passes. They really make the week pass seem like a bargain after they quote you the daily rate. I decided to pass since the credit can't be used on that anyway. 

Then we went to the shops specifically to get a free charm bracelet. Well as you probably know free isn't really free on NCL. Turns out we were early but we got our raffle tickets and looked at our clocks. Based on the schedule, this was our best chance to get LOs fed, but we had to do it in 30 minutes. MIL said lez go for Prime Rib so we ended up at the Cafe. Glad we did because it was completely decorated for the holiday. The kids loved pointing out each new carved watermelon they found. 

[carohs]

 

Edited April 10, 2023 by carohs

[carohs]

[carohs]

Splash Academy ran an Easter egg hunt which was more like a scavenger hunt around the ship. There were 5 stations with staff handing out chocolate egg candy. Staff here also have fun names like Cherry Pie and Bon Bon. At the end of the hunt they took a pic with EB. Fortunately we saw EB yesterday because this guy took the face off the costume while we were standing in line. My kids were satisfied to know that the real EB couldn't be on ship and stuck out in the middle of the ocean, so this guy just has a costume for fun. They also did a fun Easter button craft and got a mini bunny stuffy. 

 

Then it was time to rush to Stardust Theater where we saw D'Revelations perform. The Philippina artist sings really well and it was overall a great show. We saw the late one at 9:15, but the littles were out by 9:20. 

 

I did receive my 12 cartons of Flow water, a bottle of Italian Merlot, and chocolate covered strawberries (6). Vouchers were also received, but remember my prior unanswered question? Letter says we get two $50 vouchers, but as I'm going through the stack we only got one. 

 

I'm looking at the Daily for tomorrow and both times Bingo is running Splash is closed. OK well I guess we'll find out if they can spectate or try for another day. 

[dexddd]

That layout on Jewel class for an inside is the norm.  What some do, if room, move beds along walls towards door and put pop up bed horizontal across the back wall.

 

When they had Pepsi they carried Mug root beer but with switch to Coke not sure.

[vacation44]

Looking forward to reading about your cruise!   Have a wonderful time.

[carohs]

One of our neighbors decorated the cabin door. What a great way to hide the closet feel and also easily identify your room. 

[carohs]

I'm awake. Usually DH has told me the weather, taken pics of the sunrise, and brought be some joe by now. DH isn't here so now I gotta look less like a groundhog and more like a human. I gotta assess the weather and decide waking up the littles. We have plans and Splash opens at 9. That's two hours to get dressed and eat breakfast. Cutting it close, especially if you factor the time it takes to shower. The LOs forget this is a task not an opportunity to play.

[cruiseny4life]

Wow! This came out of nowhere. I have no idea why, but I'm absolutely delighted to follow along on your cruise! I will admit, I'm glad I'm not in that room, crushed in one of the four beds, including the floor bed. Yikes, but you're going to have such a stunning time with the kids and mother in law....Mom in law and no husband? I hope you two love each other, a lot! 🙂

[ImADaneFan]

I hope you have a wonderful cruise.  We will be on the Jewel in August for our southbound Alaska cruise.  It’s been a lot of years since I’ve been on the Jewel, can you tell me if they have added a Starbucks during her last drydock?

 

Linda

[quillwercruisers]

1 hour ago, ImADaneFan said:

I hope you have a wonderful cruise.  We will be on the Jewel in August for our southbound Alaska cruise.  It’s been a lot of years since I’ve been on the Jewel, can you tell me if they have added a Starbucks during her last drydock?

 

Linda

I was just on the Jewel in March, and they have the Atrium Cafe that serves Starbucks. It's not a full blown Starbucks as on some of the other ships.