How did my baby get so big!! I can’t believe she is starting 1st grade. I am excited for her, it will be a great year. It is just hard to let go of summer and embrace the fall! She is all ready to go, and looking cute too:)
After a great first day, what better way to celebrate then with some Hibatchi at Shiro!
Saturday Feb. 18-At Sea
We sailed away from Manhattan at 4pm on Feb. 18th. It was such a fun way to begin the trip. Living in NY, it was very convenient to drive to the port and hop on the boat without having to hassle with airports and flights.
The sailing away party was held in the Spinniker Lounge on deck 13 and it was a great party. Drinks for the adults and dancing and games for the kids. We watched as we sailed by the Statue of Liberty and enjoyed watching the city sail by.
That evening we all went for our first restaurant experience on the boat. We ate at Teppanyaki, which is the hibachi restaurant. $20pp for the adults (usually 25 but certain nights there are discounts at the restaurants, inquire with the reservations desk when you board) and $12.50 for children ordering from the specialty menu. This restaurant is great, but extremely small and fills up FAST!!
I suggest deciding when you will want to eat here and make your reservations upon arrival to the boat. I made my whole week’s reservations when we boarded to avoid being closed out of any restaurant. Dinner was delicious and the chef was entertaining and very friendly.
After dinner we went to the 9:30 show, which was a sampling of all the acts to come during the week. I have cruised a lot, and the caliber of performers on this ship were well above others I have sailed. Each night we were impressed with the show.
Sunday Feb 19-At Sea
Our day Sunday was a lazy one. Waking up late and eating in the buffet on deck 12. Upon entering the girls will spray you with sanitizer, which was one of the catch phrased on the boat, “Washy, Washy” The buffet is extensive and food is great. There is usually limited seating available during the busy breakfast time, and you can find additional seating in the restaurant called Mama’s across the ship. This was a little known fact, and there was always ample window seating in there.
We spent the afternoon at the pool. It was cold out, but the pools are kept at a warm 85 degrees and the hot tubs were available too.
We spent the day relaxing, you can use the spa, and there were a number of activities going on on board.
We used the kids club for the first time and Lauryn loved it! They keep them busy with a lot of activities and it is really good for the little ones. I think some of the 9-12 year olds, were not quite as happy because they are in the in between stage and some of the activities were a little babyish in their room.
That night we went to a great production show featuring songs from the 70′s. Good music and great costumes and dancing and singing.
At the end of the night..you will always find some sort of towel animal back in your room. Lauryn loved seeing what was there each night:)
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
We were looking for a good restaurant to celebrate my husband’s birthday and boy did we find it! He loves steak and we have been to many steakhouses in the past. We decided to give Morton’s Steakhouse a try, and we are glad we did!
Before we went to the restaurant I visited Morton’s website: Mortons.com. The deal they offer is unbelievable and available at most of their US locations. For $109 for 2 people you get an amazing amount of food. Each person gets to choose their own type of salad and they were delicious. I choose the Iceberg Wedge below:
It was great and a meal in itself. My husband had the chop. Then each person receives a filet mignon and a choice of a fish to go with it. The fish choices were, Crab cake, Shrimp Alexander, or Scallops. Now, my husband doesn’t eat fish, and Morton’s was so accommodating. They offered him a delicious chicken choice in addition to his steak. Along with our steak and fish/chicken each of us also were able to choose a side! We chose hash browns and creamed spinach! Yum!
**The picture is of the Filet and Shrimp Alexander choice
To top it all off we also got a choice for dessert, including their decadent chocolate lava cake! It was such a delicious dinner and a much better deal then any of the other steakhouses we have been too! We can’t wait to go back again!!
Give them a try…you will not be sorry~
