The Alaskan Jewel! Welcome Aboard….You don’t Exist!

[JKSWonder]

I would die of embarrassment if I was THAT GUY arriving late to ship holding everyone else. Not that my OCD head would ever allow it, but still.

 

[jenseib]

Sorry the food wasn't that great The views and your photos are fabulous! The cookie situation was bizarre as well...why wouldn't they think you would've wanted them later?

The view really made up for the meal. I just know now that this place doesn't work for our family but there are other choices that do.

I would die of embarrassment if I was THAT GUY arriving late to ship holding everyone else. Not that my OCD head would ever allow it, but still.

Me too!!!

 

[jenseib]

We had a little bit of time before the show started so we went outside to enjoy the weather and views.


skag151 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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And we posed for a few pictures.


skag20 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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Then we headed to the show.


skag154 by Jenseib, on Flickr


The show was listed tonight as Comedian Chris Pendleton.

We love comedians usually so we figured this would be a fun night. We arrived early enough and we got a seat basically right in the middle of the row. We each had a drink and patiently waited for the show to start.

Well Chris was a girl. We had kind of assumed Chris was a guy. I prefer guy comedians over women usually. I have nothing against women comedians; I just don’t think they are usually as funny. No big deal though, she may be funny. Well she wasn’t. Honestly it was hard to crack a smile for most of the jokes she told. Then she kind of went off into stories and her love of the fiddle and would play little snippets. I kept waiting for something funny to happen and it didn’t. She was just playing the fiddle. After a bit the whole show just turned into her playing songs on the fiddle. Not funny songs either. I don’t know why she was advertised as a comedian when more than half the hour long show was her playing the fiddle. Had I known that this was going to be that type of show we probably would have skipped it. It’s just not our thing. Yes she was very good, but that is not what we came to see. We saw a ton of people get up and leave and we all wanted to…..except we were in the middle of a row and we didn’t want to bother others or be in the way. So we sat through it. I would say by the end of the show at least ¼ to 1/3 of the people had left early. I blame NCL on advertising this wrong.


One thing in the show though was that her daughter was part of the show. She did a little skit where she talked about her younger days and her daughter played her as a child. We recognized the daughter…..she was at the Klondike Family Experience earlier in the day with her dad. We remembered her because she was extremely energetic and pushing her way to be one of the first to see the dogs. LOL.


After the show we went back outside to stretch our legs and enjoy the views again.


skag156 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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We then separated then and Skip went off on his own and Claire and I went off to check our onboard account.


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I guess we made a bathroom stop on the way. LOL. I often take pictures of Disney’s bathrooms because they are so cute. This was just a basic bathroom.


skag161 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Well surprise surprise….our account was NOT right.


skag162 by Jenseib, on Flickr


The gal I worked with also used to work on the Disney Wonder. I mentioned to her how the service here is nothing like DCL’s and she didn’t even blink or make any comments on that one. We had the printout of everything bought, charged, etc. in hand and every single drink was listed. Also not all of our excursions to date had the credit of $75 taken off. She went back into a room and had everything taken care of but told me I would need to talk to Florentina tomorrow and let her know so she could fix it. I am so glad we checked. I just don’t get how their account dept. can be so screwed up. Now I have heard of this issue for more than one person. It seems a lot of people get the free beverage package only to have it still being charged to their account, so just be warned to check your account throughout the cruise and keep on top of it…..And have the proof with you. Many times they will tell you they can’t do anything without proof.


We then headed back to the room and settled in for the night. Tomorrow is a sea day and we can sleep in!...Well you know I won’t but the other 2 can!


This guy was in our room tonight.


skag155 by Jenseib, on Flickr




Up next…a lazy day at sea!

 

[cruisehopeful]

It seems a lot of people get the free beverage package only to have it still being charged to their account, so just be warned to check your account throughout the cruise and keep on top of it…..And have the proof with you. Many times they will tell you they can’t do anything without proof.

When I read about your first day on board, I thought to myself, "I'd never get over that on the entire cruise. I can't imagine DCL expecting me to get my own confirmations, etc without their help." Then, your trip report sounded so much fun. I started to think maybe NCL would be worth the savings. Now, I see you have to provide your own proof for their mistakes on the bill, too. I think I'd be so annoyed. Mistakes happen and I fine with them because they get sorted out, but it sounds like you have to be totally prepared to hold your ground and battle these people. I just can't imagine having to do this on DCL. I could be wrong, but I think DCL would help you get the proof or do some research. The beverage thing sounds like a deliberate mistake if it happens so often.

 

[Pinkocto]

Wonderful updates! Sorry I was behind, I had a long weekend at WDW.

We had somebody do the long slow walk to the ship when we were at Cozumel. I can't imagine doing something like this and I'm honestly surprised they didn't leave as threatened. Very selfish and rude to be that last person.

Gorgeous scenery, just breathtaking.

Bummer about the meat restaurant not being great, and boo on them for not offering all 25 as advertised.

Expecting a comedy show and getting a fiddle show was understandably disappointing.

Not cool that all the drinks were charged to your account. I'm sure they hope some people won't notice...

 

[jenseib]

When I read about your first day on board, I thought to myself, "I'd never get over that on the entire cruise. I can't imagine DCL expecting me to get my own confirmations, etc without their help." Then, your trip report sounded so much fun. I started to think maybe NCL would be worth the savings. Now, I see you have to provide your own proof for their mistakes on the bill, too. I think I'd be so annoyed. Mistakes happen and I fine with them because they get sorted out, but it sounds like you have to be totally prepared to hold your ground and battle these people. I just can't imagine having to do this on DCL. I could be wrong, but I think DCL would help you get the proof or do some research. The beverage thing sounds like a deliberate mistake if it happens so often.

I do agree, but I do know that DCL might not take care of it immediately as well. But eventually they would credit your account back.
I do think they hope people don't realize it. The thing is, if this is a common mistake they should be bending over backwards to make it right.

Wonderful updates! Sorry I was behind, I had a long weekend at WDW.

Oh you poor thing! LOL

We had somebody do the long slow walk to the ship when we were at Cozumel. I can't imagine doing something like this and I'm honestly surprised they didn't leave as threatened. Very selfish and rude to be that last person.

It's so rude and selfish. I just can't imagine what they were thinking.

Gorgeous scenery, just breathtaking.

It really was.

Bummer about the meat restaurant not being great, and boo on them for not offering all 25 as advertised.

I was bummed. It was bad food but just not the greatest and not worth going back again for us.

Expecting a comedy show and getting a fiddle show was understandably disappointing.

I think my Aunt who plays the fiddle would have loved it. But for us, it just wasn't what we expected and it really seemed to drag on.

Not cool that all the drinks were charged to your account. I'm sure they hope some people won't notice...

I agree. I bet they hope they can get away with it.

 

[jenseib]

Day 7, Aug. 6, 2015, Thursday


Today was a sea day, which is a great day to be lazy and just do whatever your heart desires. I however just can’t sleep in.


I got up fairly early and headed out and about.


fog1 by Jenseib, on Flickr


It was very foggy and a bit windy. They had one side of the ship closed off even.


fog2 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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I went and got myself some breakfast…which basically was the same thing every day now….pancakes with the crack whipped cream and hash browns.


fog4 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I then went off to explore a bit. It had rained just a little bit but ended pretty much early on. (and I think a lot of the wet deck was also do to them cleaning in recently).


fog5 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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I went to head back to the room and saw the washy washy guy was out singing.


fog8 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I took a couple of videos of him singing too.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xy9uVVHAj4


This guy loves his job.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4aTFuL1i4k


I then stopped up to talk to Florentina about our bar bill. She said accounting must still not have us listed correctly and she would make sure they got it fixed. I planned to check again tomorrow afternoon to be sure.


I headed back to the room and we just lazed around and Claire got up and wanted to go to the kids club so we took her there. We had booked a lunch reservation at Teppanyaki today since Claire had liked it so much the first time we went. I did double check that it was actually made because I had done it through the app and I found the app to be kind of cruddy all week. We were listed! We gave Claire instructions on when we would pick her up, etc.


As I walked through the atrium a cooking demo was going on.


fog9 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I ran up to Moderno since I had seen that there was going to be an info session on disembarking for Suite guests. When I arrive not a single person was around. Hmmm that’s strange. Maybe I misread the time.


Skip had headed to the Casino so I joined him. I had a printed voucher from another time playing and I tried putting it in several machines to get it to work and use it up…or win more and it kept rejecting it.


I went up to the cashier’s desk and asked what was wrong and she had to do some long process of verifying it actually came from the machine etc. She said it would take a while. Good grief. Well for some reason I asked the time…..it was 11:55. WHAT???? The time had jumped forward an hour last night. We were supposed to have received a note in our room. We did NOT! I told the cashier I would be back later as we needed to be somewhere in 5 minutes. I ran and grabbed Skip and told him to go get Claire and meet at Teppanyaki and I would go check us in. Of course he could not remember where it was….by the bubble room! LOL. Now I know why no one was at Moderno earlier…I was an hour late.


So I ran and checked us in and was seated right away. I told them the other 2 were on their way and they said they would bring them right in. As I waited I saw Patrick the starfish walk by the window and he waved and they then opened a side door and he peeked in and waved to everyone.


fog10 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Soon after that Claire and Skip arrived. They had seen Patrick in the hallway and said hello.


We made our orders and our soup soon arrived.


fog11 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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And our salads.


fog13 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I only ate a little bit of the salad. It’s just not the same as the places at home and I didn’t want to fill up on it.


fog14 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Our Chef.


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Skip asked him if he knew how to cook like this before working on the ship and he said no they were taught this skill.


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The show and antics were almost identical to the ones they did the first time.


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Time to catch some food.


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Claire just loves the rice. She had a second helping and ate it all!!!


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I believe today I went with steak and shrimp.


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It was better today too…less saucy. We enjoyed the meal and Claire was on cloud 9 that we got to eat here a 2nd time.


Dessert was ordered and again we had the choice of fruit or the green tea cake and Claire and I went with fruit. She got adventurous today and tried the kiwi and found out she likes it.


fog28 by Jenseib, on Flickr


After the meal we signed the bill and headed out.


Now I did not take notes but I believe Claire went back to the kids club and Skip and I played at the casino a bit more. I finally got the voucher fixed and they handed me cash.


Snacks were left in our room.


fog29 by Jenseib, on Flickr


The sandwiches were good too.


fog30 by Jenseib, on Flickr



Up next…the rest of the lazy day!

 

[Pinkocto]

I'm glad you happened to ask the time! Lunch looked delicious. Here I'm eating fruit and I could definitely go for some fried rice.

I love sea days

 

[chartle]

Well for some reason I asked the time…..it was 11:55. WHAT???? The time had jumped forward an hour last night. We were supposed to have received a note in our room.

At first glance I'm thinking "Why change the time if you you jump time zones, just keep a single 'ships's time'?"

But thought yea that could work if you never left the ship but if your port was on a different time zone people would be late/early coming back to the ship.

 

[westcoastfldisneygirl]

More amazing photos! The scenery is incredible.

The fiddle show...yikes. Yeah I would've been disappointed as well. We really like comedy shows as well. The last cruise we just did (Carnival) they had a really funny guy we went to his show twice during the trip. I wonder why that was advertised incorrectly.

The Japanese lunch looks so delicious and I love the rice in the heart shape! How cute. I'm with Claire, I love the rice at those places.

I saw the dessert and literally thought to myself "AH THE GREEN TEA CAKE IS BACK!" lol! I don't know why, maybe because it stuck out in my mind from last time.

 

[jenseib]

I'm glad you happened to ask the time! Lunch looked delicious. Here I'm eating fruit and I could definitely go for some fried rice.

I love sea days

I could go for some fried rice right now too.
Sea days are just great to be lazy.

At first glance I'm thinking "Why change the time if you you jump time zones, just keep a single 'ships's time'?"

But thought yea that could work if you never left the ship but if your port was on a different time zone people would be late/early coming back to the ship.

Yep, since we have to get off the ship they move it so we are on the port time...though sometimes some ships don't and tell you to stay on ship time, not port time. Either way it can be confusing.

More amazing photos! The scenery is incredible.

The fiddle show...yikes. Yeah I would've been disappointed as well. We really like comedy shows as well. The last cruise we just did (Carnival) they had a really funny guy we went to his show twice during the trip. I wonder why that was advertised incorrectly.

The Japanese lunch looks so delicious and I love the rice in the heart shape! How cute. I'm with Claire, I love the rice at those places.

I saw the dessert and literally thought to myself "AH THE GREEN TEA CAKE IS BACK!" lol! I don't know why, maybe because it stuck out in my mind from last time.

We love comedy too. Our first date was to a comedy club. Skip thinks he himself is a comedian half the time too. LOL.

Claire is so dang picky and it's amazing how she loves those Japanese places.
I think Skip got the green tea cake again. It's so bright green that it looks nasty to me. LOL.

 

[jenseib]

We just basically had a lazy afternoon. Skip took off on his own and Claire and I bummed around and I think she did go back to the kids club for a bit too. BTW, she did get some neat little prizes there from playing games, etc. One being a nice t-shirt.


A towel making class was going on. I have done one of these on DCL and they are pretty cool to do.


fog31 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I got a drink while in the area and I just love the funky furniture in the atrium so I took some pictures.


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Looking up at the light fixture.


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I decided I wanted to get family pictures today. I had seen a lot of people doing it in the atrium and I thought, gosh we need to do this! I headed back to the room to get ready and Claire arrived shortly after and she showered and changed as well.


Our view.


fog35 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Playing with the HD setting.


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Once we were ready we set off looking for Skip. I had now wished I had brought some coordinating outfits, but we would be fine. We searched high and low for Skip in all the places he would normally be and I was starting to get a bit irritated. We could not find him. Now it was coming up on our dinner time and he was nowhere to be found still. Claire and I headed to Cagneys and sure enough, there he was, waiting for us. UGH!

I informed him that after dinner he was changing his shirt and we were getting pictures done. He felt the shirt he had on would be just fine. Um…No…It has a spot right front and center. LOL.


We were seated at the exact opposite side of the restaurant today but we had the same server we had a few days ago.


fog39 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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Claire and I took some selfies.


skag35 by Jenseib, on Flickr


My appetizer.


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Skip had soup, but I can’t remember what it was. I just know this one was not what he ordered.


fog42 by Jenseib, on Flickr


And Claire went with the chicken wings again.


fog43 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Sure enough, they came out with another bowl and told Skip they had given him the wrong one. The first one was more like tomato if I remember right, but spicy. He at part of both in the end.


fog44 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Another selfie while waiting for the main courses.


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Soon our entrées arrived.


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Claire and Skip got steaks.


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Claire does not cut her own steak yet for the most part. I am trying to teach her how to do it and make her do it on her own…Skip gives in to his baby girl and cuts it for her every time. We have a joke that when she goes on dates (Of course not till she is in her 30’s), she is going to ask her date to cut her steak for her. Also she is shy at times and doesn’t ever want to order for herself. We also joke that her date will have to order for her. And we won’t have to worry about her being out too late past curfew because she won’t go to sleep without her dads kiss. LOL!


Just a side note…her birthday was last week and we went out to eat at one of her favorite restaurants with my family. She sat down at the opposite end of the table with all the kids. Her steak came and I was telling my sister across from me how she hates to cut her own food. My sister started cracking up when Claire’s steak arrived and she kept peeking down at our end of the table to see who was coming to cut her steak. I finally hollered down that she could do it herself and I think she coaxed her cousin into helping her too. I guess I am going to have to give her steak cutting lessons at home.


We were stuffed once again but I was not leaving without dessert. Skip was going to pass but at the last minute order this. I think it was some sort of apple crumble and he said it was one of the best desserts he had all week.


fog49 by Jenseib, on Flickr


Claire and I went with the oreo cheesecake again.


fog50 by Jenseib, on Flickr


That stuff is soooooo good!


I don’t think either of us could finish it today but we made a good try.


After dinner we headed back to the room so Skip could change his shirt. He kept telling me he would feel more comfortable in the shirt he was wearing and I told him it wasn’t about comfort and he was going to wear what I wanted for pictures.


We then headed out for pictures.


We hit all the spots set up in the atrium and I bought a few of our poses.


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Skip thinks shaving on vacation is sacrilegious so he was a bit scruffy.


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[jenseib]

After the pictures we headed over to the Stardust Theatre for tonight’s show….Le Cirque Bijou….which as you can guess is like a Cirque de Soleil show.


fog51 by Jenseib, on Flickr


fog52 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We got our seats and settled in.


fog53 by Jenseib, on Flickr


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The show was fabulous and they did some amazing things. Skip said many of the people he had seen in the show the other night…the one Claire and I missed….were in this show and doing some similar things but not the same. I was surprised at how much he liked it. I have been to the Cirque show in Downtown Disney (now Disney Springs) and though they did some amazing things I am not a big fan of the show and figured Skip would be bored out of his mind with it. I guess we may have to go as a family now in the future since he liked this show so much.


At the end of the show they brought out many of the crew members and talked about what a great job they do. This was the last show of the week because tomorrow we would be in Victoria for the evening.


fog55 by Jenseib, on Flickr


And they brought out the washy washy guy and his guitar playing friend.


fog56 by Jenseib, on Flickr



Tonight was the White Hot party but it held no interest to us and we were all tired. I think we did hit the gift shop and took a look around again and then headed back to the room.


We had this guy in our room waiting for us.


fog57 by Jenseib, on Flickr


We got ready for bed and watched some TV. They often would show different game shows and activities that had been going on during our cruise and we recognized some people from around the ship participating.


Up next…..What a great day for a swim in Alaska!

 

[westcoastfldisneygirl]

Oh I love the family photos! They came out so great

The Ore Cheesecake looks amazing and I really want some now!

 

[Beth D]

Great updates as always! I love Claire's necklace with the gold flakes. Cute keepsake!

Your pictures with the new effects are great! Claire is looking more like Skip each day!

 

[jenseib]

Oh I love the family photos! They came out so great

The Ore Cheesecake looks amazing and I really want some now!

I could go for some right now. Why can cheesecake be a food that the more you eat the healthier you get.

Great updates as always! I love Claire's necklace with the gold flakes. Cute keepsake!

Your pictures with the new effects are great! Claire is looking more like Skip each day!

She is. It's scary. LOL

 

[jenseib]

Before I go on to the next day I realized I didn’t include the Freestyle daily for Aug. 6. Here they are.


daily6.1 by Jenseib, on Flickr


daily6.2 by Jenseib, on Flickr


daily6.3 by Jenseib, on Flickr


daily6.4 by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

[Pinkocto]

Great family portraits too funny Skip wanting to take nice family photos with a stained shirt...

That apple crumble looked magnificent

Beautiful water pictures from your verandah

 

[mickeystoontown]

The family pictures turned out sooooo good! I am a fan of Cirque shows so I am sure that I'd have loved the one on the ship.

 

[dolphingirl47]

That scenery is absolutely stunning. What a shame that dinner at Moderno was not as good as you had hoped. We have a Brazilian steakhouse near where we live and this is one of our favourite restaurants. The show does not sound like something I would have enjoyed either.

What a pain that your account was wrong and that they never let you know that the clocks had gone forward. Good job that you did ask for the time. Lunch looked lovely and it looks like you had a nice relaxing day.

Corinna