Bad internet and no time

Greetings,

I arrived home at 9 pm and left the next morning to NYC.  I’m getting on the Norwegian Dawn tomorrow and taking a week off.  I have all the menus so im going to do some work during the cruise to get everything ready.  The bad news is I didn’t have time to write stuff and edit photos in my few hours at home.  The good news is I have a week of nothing but plenty of time to get stuff done.  Im going to take the week off from posting and answering emails.  If its urgent please mark the subject line as urgent.  

 

Just over three weeks till I’m back on the ship.

 

James

Some F3 keel laying photos

Greetings,

I’m about to head to the airport but wanted to post a few quick photos.

 

First let me say the new cabins are great.  We couldn’t take any photos from the cabin factory but we got to walk through them.  They are a nice refreshing change from traditional cruise ship crew cabins.  They are hot!  More about those later.  Check out f3.ncl.com for more details.

 

The keel laying was amazing.  They had music playing and everyone was excited.  After the top 5 executives placed their coin onto the keel I was the second to place mine in so 7th place!  Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure till I get home so I can post more.

 

James

AnneMarie Mathews the Director of Public Relations

Jennifer one of the journalists.


Susan Robison the VP of F3 PR, shes the one that came out to talk to me and invite me to Miami!




 

 

Goodbye Jade :-(

Greetings everyone,

I have lots to post when I get home.  I couldn’t post several things such as menus, photos etc because of the slow internet connection so this will continue when I get home.  Tomorrow I will get off the Jade and fly to France to go to the F3 keel laying.  The F3 is the largest ship on order in the history of NCL and im honored to be the only ship crew member going to the ceremony.  

 

So I’m sorry for the delay in getting everything online but ship internet can be bad at times.  More updates from France though!

 

James

Some more Jade and 2.0 updates

Greetings everyone,

 

When I get home and have more time to write and upload photos and videos I will go into more detail on these topics but I wanted to tell you a little now about some Freestyle 2.0 upgrades and general Norwegian Jade info.

 

Improved bedding:

 

This is HUGE!  I must say the new bedding on the ships is wonderful.  My favorite hotel is the Hilton Hawaiian Village and the main reason is because of their great beds but NCL has tied them.  Every cabin, EVERY cabin from inside to mini suite has new bedding and pillows.  Suites and above have new beds and bedding.  They also have a pillow menu where you can select what pillows you want.  I know everyone will notice the improvements. The shore excursion desk will probably see a few last minute cancellations due to not wanting to get out of them in the morning. 

 

Latitudes lounge:

 

They are adding lounges for latitude members on the ships.  These are located near the card rooms, meeting rooms and the library.  It’s a space where people can sit down, read a book or play a game.  They are stocked with coffee and tea. 

 

Improved Library:

 

The libraries now have a honor system place.  Instead of having to show up when the librarian was working to check out books you can now sign them out anytime.  The libraries now also have coffee and tea products.

 

Action station restaurant:

 

These were formally known as the buffets.  I really am impressed with the restaurant.  For starters, during dinner you will notice every table has a table cloth and a candle.  This really adds to the atmosphere at night.  The restaurant also has a wider range of foods but also has more made to order items (stir fry station, pasta station, salad station, sandwiches made to order, wrap station, omelets station etc).  In the morning they also had a station for customized blended fruit and vegetable juices.  Overall great improvements. 

 

Pool deck area:

 

When live music isn’t being played they have a new soundtrack of a very relaxing sounding music.  It’s hard to describe the music but its not obnoxious but sounds fun but still feels relaxing.  You can take a nice nap to it!  Each deck chair now has a drink flag.  It’s a simple flag that you can raise when you want bar service.  Very convenient for those who want a drink and those who don’t and don’t want to be bothered by the bar staff. 

 

Brunches in the Bistro:

 

 NCL now offers brunches in the Bistro restaurant featuring different types of music for each one.  This cruise they had the gospel and jazz brunch.  The setting is in the Bistro restaurant so it has a upscale feeling which is nice.  They offer a buffet line with items from Caesar salads to pastries and eggs.  In addition to the buffet they have a full menu that you can order from.  I went to the jazz one and had a great time.  Can’t beat great food with great live music. 

 

 

IMPROVED! Entertainment:

 

I must say I have been very happy with the new improved entertainment on the ship.  NCL has great new shows and two new parties that are a blast!  The first one was the white hot nights party.  They promote this very well and all the crew wears their shirts during the day for the show.  The party has signature drinks, great dancers, new modern music and it even snows!  I took some video clips from the party that I will post when I get home but overall it was excellent!  Their second featured party is the “Monte Carlo Night” in the casino.  This party is very exciting with champagne fountains, dancers and music in the buffet.  Both shows grew a very large crowd so they were exciting.  I have also been very impressed with the shows in the theater this week.  My favorite so far has been Shout!  It’s about five girls during the 60s in England.  They do all the popular songs and have comedy involved also.  At the end of the show everyone was standing and really enjoying themselves.  The Norwegian Jade also has a 6-8 member second city group that performs for 4 hours 6 nights of the week in the Spinnaker lounge.  I have found myself laughing at every skit and considering they are doing 24 hours a week of improve its quite impressive. 

 

Teen club:

 

The clubs have new and improved hours.  The teen clubs are now open all day and teens can stop over anytime they want.  The teen areas now have some added games such as xbox, Nintendo Wii, Guitar hero, dance dance revolution etc.  The teen club now also has a bar serving non alcoholic drinks and sports drinks as well as soda.  The teen club has a supervisor at all times.  The teen/kids club area share a movie viewing room but the age groups will never mix. 

Here are a few examples of the activities on this week’s schedule.  Wii guitar hero challenge, dodge ball, celebrity, glow in the dark basketball, matinee movie, white hot teen dinner-show off your whites, lazy morning breakfast, teen murder mystery dinner, farewell dance party etc. 

 

Kids Club:

The kids club also has improved hours.  When the ships are at sea, the clubs are open from 9 am-10:30 pm.  Extended service is offered till 1:30 am for a charge of $5 for the first kid then $3 for extras.  When the ship is in port, kids club is open from 9 am-6pm but at the extended service rates.  After 6 pm the club is free.  Also for parents with kids under 2, some ships offer a “under 2 zoo.”  This is a play room full of toys for kids under 2 but parents must remain with their kids. 

 

Here are a few examples of some activities for the 6-9 year olds.  Spy night, undersea adventures, camp night, the great egg drop, acting up, speed ball, friendly amazing race, carnival at sea, pajama party etc.

 

Tweens 10-12 years old: fantasy island fiesta, kids crew dinner, computer, x-box and wii challenge, white hot un-birthday party, scene it challenge etc. 

 

Suites max capacity:

 

Each suite has a new pull out sofa bed so you can now hold two more people.  I believe once all the ships are complete you can book a reservation showing the higher number of guests per room.

 

Self service laundry:

The Jade doesn’t offer self service laundry but they do run specials sometimes with the laundry service.  Great deals.

 

All the cabins now have a mini bar.  If you want to use it for something else just ask your cabin steward to empty it for you.

 

I have been asked if the names of the restaurants have changed and the décor of the ship.  The only thing that has changed was the hull art and the added casino.  The décor and the names of the public rooms have stayed the same.  The only one that has changed was the name of the action station restaurant.  It went from the Aloha Café to the Garden cafe and the great outdoors.

 

The ship offers wireless internet in certain hot spots in various spots around the ship but each cabin has a connection dock.  

 

More updates after dinner!

More updates after dinner tonight!

James

Day in Egypt

Good morning everyone,

Yesterday was one exciting adventure!  The day started when I woke up around 5:30 am (forgetting my clock was set one hour fast) and watched us pull into Alexandria Egypt.  It was very interesting pulling into port so early because nothing was moving.  All the cargo ships were quiet and you couldn’

t hear anything.  After we finished docking I got dressed and headed up to the buffet for a quick breakfast.  I was actually surprised how chilly the air was but that was because we were still on the water front. 

 

After breakfast I headed back to the cabin to get ready to meet with Jennifer Glatt, one of the journalists, as well as Courtney Recht who’

s one of the public relations managers.  At 7:05 we headed towards our shore excursions meeting place in the Stardust Theater.  All three of us did the Camel and Jeep Safari. 

 

At 7:15 our tour was called so we headed outside towards the busses.  Everyone gets a sticker that has a number on it.  That number is your bus number for the entire day.  It didn’t take long for everyone to get on the bus.  Rehab, meaning a place in heaven, was our tour guide and the first thing she said was their meaning for her name and how it wasn’

t the same as ours. 

 

As we departed the pier one thing that was very obvious is we had lots of security around the ship so that made everyone feel better.  As the busses rolled towards Cairo we drove through Alexandria.  This city won’

t win the most beautiful award but it was neat to see all the donkeys pulling huge crates of fruit, plants and fish through the streets.  After about five minutes we left the city and were on the open road heading towards Cairo.  Rehab did an excellent job of telling us the history of modern Egypt and ancient Egypt.  Did you know that Northern Egypt is the south and Southern Egypt is the north?  Any guesses why they say that?

 

The bus ride to Cairo was three hours long but it was filled with great sights and a wealth of information from Rehab.  About two hours into the ride I took a twenty minute nap but when I woke up I saw the great Pyramids of Giza.  The Pyramids are very close to the city so you could see the buildings and the tops of the Pyramids behind them.  I was thinking that the Pyramids were probably smaller then I was picturing them but they were actually larger.  Our first stop was at Pyramid number 2 pictured below. 

 

 

This is the Pyramid that has part of the limestone covering still in tact towards the top.  One thing that surprised us was it wasn’t nearly as hot as I thought it would be.  In fact I didn’

t get any type of tan or burn from the entire sore excursion.  When I reached the Pyramid I realized how important it was to take one of the shore excursions from NCL.

 

Everywhere you looked people were trying to sell you something.  They come right up to you and try to force it on you.  Our tour guide informed us on the correct prices on some items and the best way to avoid these people.  I made a mistake and never approached these guys again.  I have been collecting Coke cans in Arabic from every Middle Eastern, Arabic speaking country I have been to.  I noticed a man was selling one so I thought this would be the perfect time to go pick one up. I figured it wouldn’t cost more then 2 Euros.  When I approached him I asked “how much?” and before he says anything he opens it and puts it in your hand and conveniently puts his hands in his pocket so you can’t hand it back.  I have already fallen into his trap.  He replies “10 euros” or $15 USD for a coke.  After a few harsh “NO”s from me I gave him the 2 Euros and left.  Didn’

t do me any good because the bottle was opened but I just wanted to move on.  Turns out the bus sold cans of coke and bottled water for $1 usd each, or 3 for $2 Euro. 

 

Another hilarious example is people have their Camels all over the Pyramids.  They come up to innocent looking tourists and say “get on the camel and get a picture for $5 Euro.”  The tourist agrees, gets on the Camel and has her picture taken.  After that the Camel owner says “$20 Euro to get OFF the Camel”!!!!  When you are sitting on the Camel you are a good 8 feet in the air so you can’t just step off.  These are examples of why it’s so important to use NCL’

s shore excursions.  They have done every excursion and make sure you deal with real honest tour operators. 

 

After walking around the Pyramids we got back onto the bus and headed towards the Sphinx.  I was picturing the Sphinx to be larger then it really was.  Even with its small size it was great to see.  By this time of the day the sun was getting more intense so after a few photos we headed back towards the bus to head to the next spot. 
After the Sphinx we headed to see some of the tombs.  Sadly pictures were not allowed but it was amazing to see all the wall carvings with their colors still in tact.  They showed several of the trap and hidden doors to fool the tomb robbers. 

 

Following that we headed towards a country club for the jeep safari and camel ride.  When we arrived at the country club we were given a bottle of water then got into our Jeep.  My jeep held 6 people so on the back row it was myself, Jennifer and Courtney with three other people in the front.  At first I thought this would just be a slow drive through the desert but boy was I wrong!  We went very fast up and down the hills and were flying all over the place.  It was better then a rollercoaster.  Courtney and Jennifer were screaming the entire time.  By the time the 10 minute ride was over the carpet on the floor was all the way at the front end of the jeep.  It was a BLAST and I would love to do it again.  I was laughing really hard picturing different people sitting in the back of the jeep.  I would recommend this to anyone who likes a little adventure.  We even got some air at one point.  Absolutely amazing! 

 

The jeep ride took us to a place in the desert where lines of camels were sitting eating grass and waiting for us.  When the jeeps parked the camel drivers got up and invited us to ride on their camel.  Jennifer, Courtney and I got three in a row.  When I sat down I was told to hold on and lean back and the Camel suddenly stood up.  I was really surprised at how high we were.  We started walking back towards the resort.  The Camel driver took our cameras and took several pictures.  Here is a photo of Courtney, Jennifer and myself on ours.

 The Camel ride lasted about twenty minutes and the Camel “drivers” who were really just walking next to us didn’t bother us much but towards the end mine kept saying “tipping is up to you” but I was more then happy to leave a tip after this great experience.  A few small kids were walking with them and I was happy to see their parents give them a cut of the tip at the end.  One thing that everyone said is the Camels are always spitting and smell really bad but I didn’

t notice any of that. 

 

After the ride we had lunch at the country club with some selections of their local food as well as spaghetti and sauce. 

 

After lunch we headed towards an art gallery type place where they showed us how they made paper and we could purchase souvenirs. 

 

By this time I was exhausted and headed for the bus for the long ride home.  About three hours later we arrived back to the ship.  It really is an amazing sight seeing this huge, beautiful ship just dominating everything else around the port. 

 

Due to the hot desert air and the dusty feeling I was ready for a much needed shower. 

 

For this tour I would suggest wearing jeans and bring a hat. 

 

Overall the day was amazing. At dinner we were laughing how we just saw the last remaining 7 original wonders of the world like it was no biggie. I found everything to be amazing but I thought the amount of street venders at the Pyramids took something away from it.  That’s one of the reasons why I think so many foreign visitors coming to the states loves it.  They don’

t get pounced on the second they step in front of the White House or the Golden Gate Bridge. 

 

Overall it was an amazing day and I will remember these sights, the thrilling jeep ride and the Camel ride forever.  This was the icing to the cake.

 

James

Norwegian Jade 2.0 cruise day 2 part 2 of 2

Good morning everyone,

It is 11 am on Thursday and we are at sea bound for Alexandria Egypt.  Before I get into the days events I will continue what I did yesterday.

 

At 5:45 pm the captain announced that we were ready to leave port so I watched us pull out.  One interesting thing that happened earlier in the day was the exchanging of gifts.  When a new cruise ship comes to a place for the first time some local officials generally present something to the ship to welcome her.  Most ships have an area that has all the certificates on display.  I just happened to be walking outside when I saw the officials at the pier so it was good timing.

 

At 6:45 pm we headed to Medusa’s lounge to go to NCL “U” Before They Were Stars presentation.  This was part of NCL’s new U program of lectures on a wide range of topics.  The Second City cast members ran this presentation.  They talked about the history of Second City and talked about several popular modern actors and their history.  They had several video clips showing different skits that kept everyone laughing.  I learned something very interesting from this presentation, Tina Fey use to be a large woman! 

 

After the Second City NCL U presentation we headed towards Bar City for some drinks before dinner.  Bar city is a great little place.  It’s located on deck 6 with a two floor open air area and a set of stairs leading to deck 6.  They call it Bar City because it has three or four bars, a piano entertainer, a large lounge area and the entrance to the Le Bistro restaurant.  After a few minutes we headed up towards Papas Italian Kitchen restaurant.  This restaurant has a warm comforting feeling. The tables are plain wood without any table clothes with candles and bread baskets.  The walls have shelves decorated with flowers, pots and fruit displays.  The lighting is dimmed with some nice background music playing. 

 

Tonight for dinner we had the press group and the Hotel Director, Armando Da Silva, joined us.  He is a great Hotel Director and a very funny guy also.  His laugh cracks me up!  Dinner started with a wide selection of breads with oil and balsamic vinegar. Shortly after sitting down the waitress came and offered everyone Evian or Pellegrino water.  Next the Wine Steward brought his selection of red and white wine that would go best with the meal.  After that the waiter brought around the antipasti trolley.  I opted for the carrots with peppers and the tomato slices with mozzarella cheese.   Everything was excellent.  I ordered the minestrone vegetable soup with pancetta.  It came out hot and full of vegetables and pancetta.  No complaints there.  Following I had the chicken parm that came with three vegetable manicottis.  The chicken came with melted cheese over the top and some tomato sauce.  Overall it was a delicious meal.  For dessert I had the “Trio di panna cotta.”  This was a trilogy of cream custard with amaretto liqueur, milk chocolate and one with citrus infusion.  It was very rich but very good.  Dinner lasted a while with people trading stories and the Hotel Director had endless hilarious stories.  His first cruise was when he was working on the QE2 from Southampton to New York. 

 

After dinner I walked around the ship and headed to bed. 

 

I will post today’s entry tomorrow after I’m done with my Camel ride and Egyptian Jeep Safari!

 

James

Norwegian Jade 2.0 Cruise Day 2, Part 1 of 2

Greetings everyone,

 

Just thought I would do a mid day update for everyone.  As some of you know, this ship was launched as the M/S Pride Of Hawai’i. When the ship became the Norwegian Jade the international crew from the Pride of America came over with her.  I have run into several familiar faces and it’s been great to see everyone.  I must admit something and I was going to talk about it last night but I decided not to.  As you know I’m a huge supporter of NCL America and their US flagged cruise ship operation.  When I was on this ship last it was during a very quick tour in Honolulu about a month before she was re flagged.  The ship was full of a proud American crew and the ship showed its Hawaiian spirit with vivid colors and beautiful glass artwork all over the ship.  Yesterday when I boarded the ship the colors and Hawaiian art was still here but I couldn’t find one ex Pride of Hawaii crewmember.  I’m sure some are here but I didn’t find any on that first day.  I found two this morning during their crew drill but that’s it so far.  It sounds bad but it was a little sad seeing how this ship as transformed so successfully into a “Flag of convenient” ship.  I really do mean SECCESSFULLY this ship is amazing.  The crew is wonderful and the ship is beautiful it’s just very different then when I toured it as the Hawaii.  Last night it felt a little weird when we went to the show in the Stardust Theater and the singer said “Welcome to the beautiful Norwegian Jade!!”  I would love to see this ship back as the Pride of Hawaii one day.

 

Anyway this morning I woke up around 8 am and watched us pull into port.  Nothing was planned for breakfast so I decided to head towards the buffet and sat outside. It was chilly and windy out so I made it a quick breakfast.  I was surprised at how fresh the Pineapple was considering I’m use to being where it’s grown. 

 

After breakfast I decided to just walk around the ship and take some photos.  When I was up at the basketball court someone left the door to the courtyard area for the villa guests so I took the opportunity to explore the area.  It’s amazing.  That sums it up perfectly.  The very top deck is has a private sitting sun deck area with huge comfy couches that made me want to take a nap the second I sat down on them.  A set of stairs leads you to the enclosed courtyard with the private pool.  The area was very lush with great big comfy looking chairs.  At the end they had a coffee and snack area set up. The dome covering the pool was closed so it was very quit and the perfect warm temperature.  I walked down the hallway where the cabin doors are and it was all very impressive.  I ran down to my room to get my camera to take some photos but by the time I got back someone discovered the open door and closed it. Oh well.  I’m going to ask for a tour of it again later. 

 

Right now I’m in Spinnaker lounge in one of their fluffy green and purple chairs relaxing before tonight.

 

The agenda for tonight is:

 

6:45 pm: NCL “U”-Before they were stars, Medusa’s lounge with the second city cast.

 

8:00 pm: Dinner, Papa’s Italian, deck 12 aft

 

Stardust Theater after dinner.

 

Here are a few questions and answers.

 

Q: Any 50% off nights and or times for the specialty restaurants?

A: direct from the Freestyle Daily, “2 for 1 between 5:30pm-7:00pm in Cagney’s, Le Bistro, Papa’s Kitchen & Jasmine Garden.  (Sushi, Teppanyaki & a la carte items not included).

 

Q: Can I wear jeans every night?

A: Jeans are allowed in all the restaurants except one of the two main dining rooms.

 

Q: Does the ship have an adult only pool?

A: From the Freestyle daily, “Forward Jacuzzis and pool, deck 12, are for adults only.”

 

Now its time for dinner!  Talk to you soon,

James

Live from the Norwegian Jade day 1

note: due to the ships internet photos will be loaded on the last day when I return home.

 

Greetings from Iraklion Greece

 

I made it to the ship and I have been having a great time so far!

 

The journey started two days ago when I arrived at New York’s JFK airport to take my flight to Athens.  The plane started to board on time and because of my exit row I had plenty of legroom. After a smooth 10-hour flight I landed in Athens right around 8 am in the morning.  Once the plane pulled up to the gate I was off and in line for passport control within 5 minutes.  Once I finished that I proceeded to baggage claim to collect my luggage.  Luckily my luggage arrived so I headed upstairs to check into my next flight with Aegean airlines.  Athens’s has a nice large but easy to navigate airport.  Once I checked in with Aegean I walked to my gate and not one other person was at security so I went right through.  While waiting for my flight I looked out the window and the government’s private jet was parked outside with a long red carpet.  About two dozens soldiers were standing and saluting someone getting on the airplane.  They must have known I was coming.

 

When they started boarding my flight to Santorini I thought I would be called first because I was sitting at the back of the plane but they literally said “we are ready to board, come” and everyone got up and rushed over.  The flight was very quick but offered great views flying over the small islands. 

 

When I landed in Santorini I got a call from my contact on the ship saying that due to high winds we might have to take a donkey or cable car to the ship.  Because of the high mountain, steep hill terrain you can’t get from the airport to the ships tender base.  I met my taxi driver and another reporter joining the ship and we headed to the tender dock once the winds slowed down.  Once we arrived at the water line one of the cities water taxis came and picked us up to take us to the Jade.  It was a beautiful, rocky ride next to these huge mountains and we cruised past the site where the Sea Diamond sunk a few months ago.  I will admit working on a cruise ship we never think our crew drills will ever be put to the test.  It was very weird cruising past the M/S Sea Diamond knowing this huge cruise ship was under the water line.  Very creepy feeling.

 

Once we arrived on the Jade people to take our luggage and show us to the reception desk immediately greeted us.  The Hotel Director greeted us and he gave us our welcome aboard champagne (every guest will get a class when they board the ship after Freestyle 2.0) and invited us for lunch in 20 minutes at Cagneys steak house.  We met with Nil’s public relations people and went up to the cabins to freshen up before lunch. 

 

The cabin is beautiful and has one of the best bathrooms I have seen on a cruise ship.  One thing that I love is if you are sailing in a balcony cabin or higher you get a unlimited fruit bowel.  The first day of the cruise you will find a paper in the cabin that has a check list of what fruit you would like in your customized fruit bowl and they will make sure its filled for the entire week. 

 

I had to quickly freshen up so I could make it to Cagneys for lunch.  I had lunch with the reporter I met today, the Director of Public Relations and a Manager of PR for NCL.  Cagneys is open for breakfast and lunch for all guests holding a platinum key card.  Those guests are all the penthouse and above cabin holders as well as VIPs.  The restaurant is at deck 13 and gave great views looking out over the pool.  For lunch I had the cold apple soup that was topped with walnuts and apple slices and it was delish!  NCL is well known for their cold fruit soups and they keep raising the bar with their amazing tastes.  Following the soup I had a delicious chicken Caesar salad.  I passed on dessert. 

 

After lunch I headed back towards my cabin.  Most of my clothes were wrinkled from flying here from Hawaii so I called reception and they delivered an iron and I ironed one shirt for dinner but then decided to send everything else to laundry to get pressed.  So just remember even though the cabins don’t come with one you can call reception and they can have one brought to your cabin.

 

I decided to shower and take a nap before the nights activities. Room service came and delivered some pastries that were very good.  I’m still trying to find out if this is a perk for all cabins or if it’s a VIP thing. 

 

After my nap I got dressed and left the cabin around 6:30 pm to watch us leave Santorini.  The waves were a little choppy but I loved it.  At 7 Pm I met our group at Jasmine Garden Asian Restaurant for dinner.  This restaurant is in a great location on deck 7 with a opening to deck 6 below where you can hear live music playing.  I really liked the nightlife feel of this.  Enjoying a wonderful dinner at a table with everyone having a good time while an excellent singer sang below with a piano.  Dinner started by a huge boat model topped with different sushi was placed on the table.  It was quite a display with about a dozen different items on it.  It was quite the display so look for the pictures at the end of the week.  After the sushi we had a sample platter of all the appetizers that the restaurant offered.  My favorite was the veggie rolls.  For the main course everyone ordered a dish but later we decided to have everything family style.  Our waitress did an excellent job of describing and presenting all the food.  When the main course was ready she went and placed rice on everyone’s plate.  I ordered the orange shredded beef and it was delicious.  For dessert I had coconut tapioca pudding that was wonderful.  I took pictures of everything and at the end of the week will post them on the photo page. 

 

Following the wonderful dinner at Jasmines we headed to the Stardust Theater and saw the Classical Evening: Sinatra suite.  This was two parts. The first part was a couple dancing to Sinatra songs and the second part was an opera singer doing classics to modern hits such as Josh Groban’s You Raise Me Up.  

 

After dinner and the show I decided to call it a night.  This is my first time in a balcony cabin so entering my cabin with the water rushing past at night was very relaxing.  I will never cruise in anything under a balcony again!

 

This ship is beautiful and the crew has been amazing so I’m very excited to discover more tomorrow!

 

James

 

 

Off to Greece

Greetings everyone,

I’m at my gate in Cleveland waiting for my flight to New York then off to Athens.  I will get on the Jade late tomorrow night and will start doing my reporting!

 

James