Monthly Archives: February 2012

Feb29

Norwegian Jewel-NY to Bahamas-Overview

Posted on by
Standard

Norwegian Jewel

February Break 2012

We sailed the Norwegian Jewel out of NYC on February 18, 2012.  My husband, five year old daughter and myself. 

The Stats

Rooms-We booked a balcony level room and stayed in Cabin 9520.   The room was VERY small!!   Much smaller than those on other cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean.  If you are traveling with a family a tip: Request the handicap accessible rooms as they offer more walking space, or spend the extra money and upgrade to a suite.  I would suggest the Courtyard Suites with many added benefits and perks including a private pool and deck only for courtyard guests, concierge and butler services and a private dining areal.

Norwegian Dining is different from other cruise lines I have sailed due to their dining options and plan.  Most cruise lines all food is included, and you can eat free on this ship as well.  However, the best food is found in the specialty restaurants that charge a cover per person for eating there.  The most expensive are Cagney’s (Steak and Seafood) $20 pp

 and Teppanyaki  (Hibachi) $25 pp

 

  Others are 10-15 pp cover. More on the restaurants in the day to day of the cruise.   If you want a soda plan it will cost you about 40 per adult and 30 per child for the week and there is also a  water plan available. 

Internet service on the boat is available in the library and the best deal is a package that will cost $100.  It gives you 250 min at .40 per minute.  If you want to pay by the minute it is .75 per minute used.  There is no free Wi-Fi unless you are in port or off the boat. 

Kids Club- I had a lot of trouble finding information about the kids club prior to our trip.  Here is the lowdown.  It is called SplashDown Kids Club and breaks children up into groups by age.  There is a strict no age bumping policy. Groups are 2-5, 6-9, 10-12, and 13-17.  Depending on the ages they are in separate rooms with a variety of counselors that play games and keep them relatively entertained.  Chidlren 10 and up can sign themselves in and out of the club with the parents permission and you can always call from anywhere on the ship to check on your child.  My daughter liked it there, she really enjoyed the large jungle gym provided for the children. 

The kids club is opened from 9am-10pm and free of charge for all days at sea.  Babysitting IN THE CLUB is available from 10pm-1am at a charge of 6 per child per hour.  Days in port there is also a 6 dollar charge per hour to use the club.  You can drop off and pick up your child anytime and use it as little or as much as works for your family.  It is nice in the evening to grab an early dinner for your kids at the buffet, then drop them off around 7 and have a nice dinner alone in one of the specialty restaurants.

No children under 2 are allowed to be dropped off and the parents of all children non potty trained receive a beeper to tell them to come to the club for a diaper change. 

Nickoloden Kids Activities-The Jewel and the Gem and I believe one other ship have an affiliation with Nickelodeon.  This Nick kids, is NOT part of the kids club.  It is a separate staff and there are various Nick activities offered throughout the ship during the week.  Meet and great with SpongeBob and Patrick, Dora’s Dance Party, Arts and Crafts, and Slime Time Live to name a few.  There are also Character breakfasts available for a fee if you want to have more time to meet the characters. 

 

Each day I will put up a post that takes you through the days of our trip.  Our itinerary is as follows

Day 1-Leave NYC 4pm

Day 2-At Sea

Day 3- Port Canaveral, Florida Arrive (12noon) Leave (10pm)

Day 4-Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas Arrive(11am) Leave (6pm)

Day 5 Nassau, Bahamas Arrive(9am) Leave (6pm)

Day 6 At Sea

Day 7 At Sea

Day 8 NYC Arrive NYC (8am) Disembark

Feb28

Disney Trip Day 4 and 5

Posted on by
Standard

Day 4-Hollywood Studios (and a little more Epcot) ( a tiny bit of Magic Kingdom…)

Hollywood Studios was a lot of fun!  The better attractions are definitely for the taller kids…44” and up!  (Tip: Try to get a fast pass immediately for Toy Story.  This was the one ride we did not get to go on during our trip.  When we arrived at the park at 10:30 the fast pass time was for 7:30 that night and we had dinner reservations prior to that. People who went on the ride said it is not much different than Buzz Light Year so I wasn’t too upset to miss it) My five year old LOVED Tower of Terror, we did it at least 3 times and we saw the parade that is special to this park. 

 

 Another thing my daughter enjoyed was the American Idol event in which she got to sing a song for a “casting director”.  Very cute! 

I myself went on Rock n’ Rollercoaster and  it was a great ride with an Aerosmith theme.  Other highlights were the American Movie ride, fun and interactive.  I found all the rides and attractions in this park fun and well thought out.  Definitely appealing to the adult and older child.

Another fun thing we did in Hollywood Studios that happens at Christmastime is the Osborne Family Lights.  It is an amazing display of lights set to music down the NY street set in a section of the park.  Very crowded, but excellent!

That night at 6 we left Hollywood Studios via boat launch and headed back to Epcot for dinner in Japan.  My daughter loves Hibachi and this restaurant was very nice.  After dinner we had just enough time to get the stamps and signatures from the countries we had missed and complete her passport.  As we left we again got to see the amazing fireworks and show that is presented there.   We jumped on the monorail, switched at the Transportation station and went to Magic Kingdom for a quick last night.  My daughter loved Thunder Mountain so we did that one more time and lucky for us….we also got to see the Electric Parade!  I remember that from when I was a kid! 

Day 5

Today we leaveL  We hit Magic Kingdom one last time.  Used our last snacks up from the meal plan and headed to the airport at about 3pm.  It was a great few days in Disney and I definitely feel like we made the most of our time there. 

Any questions….PLEASE ASK…I may not know the answer…I am no Disney expert, but I can give you my opinion and perspective!

Feb27

Disney-Day 3

Posted on by
Standard

Day 3-Magic Kingdom

Bright and early out to Magic Kingdom via the monorail. So quick and convenient!  Spent the day riding all the rides and exploring the various parts of the park.

 

 I think we went on every ride in the park that day because that night we came back for the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.  It was worth every cent and the park was much emptier and ride lengths were only 5-10 min.  Before the party we took the boat launch to the Grand Floridian and ate dinner at 1900 Park Fare. 

 

 

 

 Great restaurant and great interaction with all the Cinderella characters.  We made the reservation early at 5:50 and that gave us plenty of time to get back to the park for the Very Merry party at 7.  We were in the park until 12 enjoying the rides and the SPECTACULAR special parade and fireworks show and Castle display.

 

  They use an LED light system and projectors to literally transform the castle before your eyes!  A must see!  Use the fast pass system.  It is the best way to maximize your time.  Choose the rides you want to do and access the fast pass for them.  Not every ride is fast pass accessible but most are and it was not a problem. 

I almost forgot….they also make it SNOW on Main St.!!

Feb26

Disney-Day 2-Epcot

Posted on by
Standard

Day 2-Epcot

Out and about early for the Princess Breakfast in Norway.  Great breakfast and one on one time with princesses. Children even get to take a picture with Belle and a 8×10 souvenir picture is given for FREE!  Plenty of time to pose with all the other princesses too…

We then raced to Soaring for a fast past….tip (get the Soaring fast pass as soon as you enter Epcot it is the most popular ride).  We then spent time on the journey through the gardening and planting facility (boat ride next to Soaring). 

 After that time for Soaring and enjoyable ride for the whole family.  After Soaring we got a fast pass for Mission to Mars and spent time in Figment of Imagination world while waiting.  They have a nice interactive photo station and for 14 dollar bought a very memorable family snapshot.  They use a green screen and you can choose your background.  We then headed to Mission to Mars which was my favorite ride in Epcot. 

 We rode it at least 3 times throughout the day.  After Mission we went to the Sea and spent time in the Aquariums and looking at the fish.

The Sea (A section of Epcot)

 Then we took a ride on Test Track!  It was tons of fun!  Once done there we headed to the countries.  (Tip: but the Passport for 9.99, it is worth it and a great keepsake!  Much nicer and easier to manage then the free bear cutout they supply!)  We went to Norway again and found the kidcot setup to get a signature and stamp.  Then rode the Viking boat.  Went on the Mexico Kidcot and also rode the boat ride there.  Next was lunch in Germany.

  This allowed kidcot access and some beer for mom and dad!!  Remember Disney is not to relaxing on a five day, all out trip!  LOL!  Next we went to some of the other countries and received our kidcot stamps and hit all of them except England and Japan (but we came back day 4 for those!)  Onto dinner in Morocco.  Was not all that happy with my meal.  I think this is a country that you could skip for eating but definitely worth it to explore!  That night we watch the spectacular fireworks show and display in Epcot!  Just beautiful!

Night not over yet!  Magic Kingdom had extra magic hours so we went over there at about 10 and rode Space Mountain and another ride in Tomorrow Land.  We were actually able to catch an extra fireworks show and castle display here as they did one at 11 because of the extra magic hours!  Just great!

Feb25

Disney in Five Quick Days-Day 1

Posted on by
Standard

This past December we went to Disney World for 5 days.  I was a little worried about being able to see and do all that there is too offer and you have to know you can’t do everything.  Although there are a few things we may have missed, I think we did a pretty good job of covering all the parks, rides and parades.  Here is an overview of our 5 whirlwind days doing EVERYTHING Disney!

We were traveling with our daughter who is 5, so our meals were all geared to the Princess aspects of the parks and restaurants.  She is 44 inches tall and LOVES rides!  She was able to go on EVERYTHING except the Rock n’ Rollercoaster in Hollywood Studios.  She was able to do Tower of Terror (Hollywood Studios), Space Mountain(Magic Kingdom) and Expedition Everest (Animal Kingdom)!  So much fun!

Definitely get the meal plan!  It will help in seeing and spending time with the important characters and setting up your reservations ahead of time is a MUST!

Day 1- Ck In Polynesian then to Animal Kingdom

Arrived at the Polynesian Hotel by 11am and immediately dropped our bags and headed to Animal Kingdom.  There is convenient bus service from this hotel to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. 

 Arrived in Animal Kingdom at 11:45 and had until 6 when the park closed.  Surprisingly this was enough time to hit all the main attractions including the specialty parade in this park.  The parade was at 3:30 and we coordinated the attractions and eating around that time.  First thing we did was grab a quick bite and get a fast pass for Expedition Everest.  While we waited we ate and went over to the Safari.  The Safari is well worth the wait and the bus ride was fun for the whole family.  We then went back to Expedition Everest and it was a great ride!!  We immediately got another fast pass for it and went exploring in the middle of the park by the Tree of Life.  We went in It’s a Bugs Life show and when we came out we were in the perfect spot to grab a place to sit to watch the parade. 

It was the Jingle Jangle Parade because it was Christmas, but this varies throughout the year. 

After the parade we went back to the rollercoaster and other smaller rides in the park.  The last place we stopped was to see the Finding Nemo full theme production in the theater  toward the park entrance.

Back to the hotel by 6:30 showered and changed for a 7:30 reservation at Whispering Canyon.

  Problem here….no easy transportation between hotels!!  Beware when you make your meal reservations to keep this in mind.  Disney accommodated and paid for a taxi ride to the restaurant so we were not late.  Good food, a kitchy themed restaurant, and very loud!  They do a fun thing with ketchup, everytime a table needs it the one that has it has to bring all 15 bottles to the next table.  Overall a fun experience. 

After dinner back to the Polynesian to the beach by 9 to see our first fireworks show of the vacation across the lagoon in Magic Kingdom. 

 Sleep.