Norwegian Jewel – Day 7 Recap

It’s a sad day onboard Norwegian Jewel – we’re packing up to head home and this is our last update from this fantastic ship.

Late tonight, the ship will navigate between oil platforms as she makes her way to the Texas coast. Early in the morning, a harbor pilot will come onboard to help us traverse the waters of the Houston Ship Channel on our way to our berth at the Bayport Cruise Terminal. Once along side, the monumental task of unloading all the luggage begins. Thousands of pieces must be off-loaded from the ship and placed into the correct color-coded area of the terminal so their owners can find them later.

Disembarkation will begin around 8am and believe it or not, they expect to have everyone off the ship by 10 or 10:30am. Then, the whole process begins again with a new set of passengers. This is why we say that the crews of these megaships are the real backbone of the industry. Without their hard (and we mean hard) work and dedication, the cruise industry would not exist.

Speaking of great work, we’d like to take a moment to acknowledge a few “Vacation Heroes” as Norwegian Cruise Line likes to call them. These are staff members that went above and beyond the call of duty to make the cruise extra-special. Here are our nominees:

Carl (Stateroom steward) – We’ve had our share of great cabin attendants on our cruises before but Carl may be one of the best ever. He is efficient, very friendly, funny and always there when needed and never overbearing or intrusive. He’s given us daily classes on how to make towel animals, one of which we’ve edited into a fun video that will be uploaded to our PCT-TV YouTube channel upon our return on Saturday. Be sure to look for it.

Lincoln (Server – O’Sheehans) – Lincoln might be the nicest person we’ve met on the ship. A great personality and someone who stayed behind long after his shift was officially over to chat with us and make sure we were taken care of properly. While crewmembers are always smiling and wanting to please passengers, you could tell Lincoln genuinely loved his job and his customers.

Megan, Rosie, Sam & James (Show cast members) – These four talented singers made the Broadway Cabaret featured on many cruise sailings unforgettable. Their genuine banter and casual style made for an intimate evening of Great White Way standards and they were kind enough to stick around afterwards and interact with the audience. It’s always fun to see the performers outside of the structured onboard shows and we strongly recommend that Norwegian Cruise Line spotlight these great performers more often.

A big thank you to the entire crew of the Jewel for making our vacation extra special. We look forward to sailing with you again soon and are proud to have you sailing from our home port.

See all our updates (blog posts, photos, videos and more) all in one place: http://www.premiercustomtravel.com/jewel