Good Evening! I just got off of the 1pm train from Anchorage and boarded Norwegian Jewel at 6pm in Seward, Alaska on my first NCL cruise. We boarded conveniently by the elevators and I headed up to my room.

There is no lack of mirrors in this room. There is a big one behind the bed, a light up one by the desk, and this long skinny one to the left.

I really like that shower with the sliding glass door. The sideways sink is a bit unusual but I’ll get used to it.

This is the one I can’t figure out. There is absolutely no leg room. I wonder if this is common for NCL rooms.

At this point they announce only 170 people haven’t been to their muster station yet. I’m one of them so I need to get there. Conveniently my muster station is in the pub.

That’s an interesting sign to have in an “Irish pub” that doesn’t serve any Irish beer.

I’m pretty hungry so I’m going to eat right away. My room is on deck 10. The pub is deck 8 and the dining room deck 6. All pretty much right by that midship stairway. It’s pretty convenient to my room.

I was able to get seated right away. They gave me a table with a wall on one side so I’ll only have people on the other side of me.

Crab wontons

Shrimp cake

New York strip steak

Salted caramel chocolate tart

I thought dinner was good. I especially enjoyed the shrimp cake and the dessert.

Let’s check out the WiFi.

It looks like they have this meter if you don’t purchase unlimited. I have unlimited so I’m good.

After dinner I headed right back to the room hoping for luggage because I wanted to change shirts.

My steward gave me tomorrow’s Freestyle Daily. That’s the NCL version of the Fun Times.

I did not get one for today. I asked my steward. He told me I have to go down to guest services.

Shore Excursions and Cruise Next desks.

This is Guest Services but it doesn’t say Guest Services on it.

That says restaurant reservations.

I asked the jewelry dealer. He tells me that’s Guest Services. I ask if there’s a place to grab todays freestyle because that’s a long line just to get the schedule I should already have. He said I need to wait in line. 

I’m not waiting in that long ling just for the schedule. They should’ve had one in my room. They didn’t. They should have them sitting out where I can just grab one. They don’t. I’m not going to waste my time waiting in line for a schedule I should already have.

Finally I just walk up to the side of the desk and asked someone for one. She gave it to me but didn’t seem too happy about it.

Before I went to comedy I stopped at O’Sheehans. The bartender asks me how many…what? Make that two.

I’m standing in front of the O’Sheehan’s bar. I guess this is the atrium. It’s not as grand as what I’m used to on Carnival. That’s Starbucks down below in the middle.

Let’s check out the comedy.

This is the Cruise Director. She’s hosting comedy. 

I like that they’re doing comedy in the big lounge but these seat aren’t the best. The seats are so low I thought I was falling to the ground when I sat down. The legroom is pretty bad and there’s a bar digging into my backside.

This is the comedian, Al Park. He said we’re going to have two more shows later in the week. That makes me wonder if they only have one comedian. I heard other lines have less comedy than Carnival but going from three shows a night to three shows a week would be extreme.

He was somewhat funny. But it was the family show. The next two shows will be adult.

At least on the end here there’s room for your drinks.

And we are sailing away.

I’m at the aft bar on lido deck. It’s a nice bar. Close to the water. I could spend some time here if it’s not too cold. I’d be used to there being loungers, a pool, and two hot tubs in this area on Carnival. There would be a bar but farther away from the water.

There’s also a roof covering most of it in the event of rain.

I stopped in a bathroom on my way back from the lounge. It was pretty big. I don’t think I’ve seen one that size on Carnival. Service for twelve. Six urinals, three stalls, and three sinks. On Carnival it would be more like 2-3 urinals, two stalls, two sinks.

Seems to be getting more foggy as we go.

I walked through the buffet to get here. I’ve never seen a performer in the buffet before. There was a crewmember with a tambourine singing some washy washy song.

Also at one point I walked through a section that was all crew members eating. For a second there I thought I accidentally walked into the crew mess. While I see that on Carnival, I’m not used to seeing that many of them in one area eating.

Those are two good size pools. This isn’t a huge ship but two good size pools for a ship this size.

They have sports on up here. Not American sports. This is the Sport 21 channel I had on the Venezia transatlantic. Hopefully it’s just for Alaska cruises. That would be pretty bad if this is the only sports they have on all NCL cruises.

This side is smoking. The other side is non-smoking.

I returned to the room to unpack. There isn’t much going on right now and it’s cold and wet.

That’s sneaky. They slip the junk mail into the freestyle.

In room TV channels look like an upgrade over Carnival. This is an “Action Movies” channel with Top Gun: Maverick on. There are also family, drama, and comedy movie channels.

Superstore on the “Favorite TV Shows” channel. That is one of my favorite TV shows.

For news I have BBC, MSNBC, CNBC, and Fox News. For sports I have only Sport 21.

There’s a channel that scrolls through all of the movies on the various movie channels.

I’m all unpacked. It looks like I should be able to get breakfast and lunch in the MDR tomorrow. That’s big for me since I’m not a buffet person. 

Now that makes sense. I thought the CD said “we have the show Rocky tonight.” I was expecting a stage show based on Rocky…tonight. But it’s actually a show called “Rock You Tonight” and it’s tomorrow.

This is odd because Carnival skips deck 13.

Sweet Caroline. I’m out.

I’m finding new things. I have two USBs by the bed.

I’m going to sleep. Good night!