OA260 From Ireland, joined Nov 2006, 16920 posts, RR: 54 Posted (1 year 4 months 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 5101 times:
Hi all and thanks for clicking into my Trip Report.
Well my love for aviation and cruise ships are always meeting and this weekend was to be no exception. I booked flights with BA to LGW and then booked my train ticket to Dover to catch a 2 night Mini cruise to Holland. The Norwegian Jewel sails around Europe on longer routes but on the odd occasion does a mini cruise. I had a few days free and needed a break so I booked myself onto it. I was on the Norwegian Gem last year and loved it and the Jewel is a sister ship so I knew it would be amazing.
DATE: 08AUG2008
ROUTE: DUB-LGW
FLIGHT: BA 8081
A/C: BOEING 737-505
SEAT : 2A
REG: G-GFFG
CLASS : CLUB EUROPE
As I arrived into the airport we passed the new Terminal 2 being constructed.
I checked in two hours before.
I went through security which only took a matter of a few minutes. I didnt bother to use the priority channel as the normal que was so empty. I then went to the Anna Livia lounge which is where BA use.
After a while it was time to go to the B gates to board.
As I walked out to the tarmac a girl from Aviance led me to the aircraft as I was the first to board. She was very nice and wished me a good cruise. As I entered the door I was greeted by a smile and shown to my seat.
After a while we pushed back. There were two passengers missing going to MCO but they off loaded the bags as they did not make it to the gate on time.
Views of T2 construction
Irish Anetter???
After take off breakfast was served. I had to go with the Veggie option.
Then I decided to go for some Champagne
After a perfect and relaxing flight it was time to land .
Olympic Air "Η Ελλάδα ψηλά" - ''Flying Greece Sky High''
EISHN From Ireland, joined Feb 2007, 1296 posts, RR: 7 Reply 2, posted (1 year 4 months 4 days 15 hours ago) and read 4996 times:
Wow. Great TR. Great lookin' ship as well, must catch a cruise ship one of these days. I have to say, T2 is really comin' along there. Last time I saw any pictures of it, there was only one of those "sideways arch up", and now they have so much more done.
Looking forward to the next one,
EISHN- Michael
St. Flannan/ Fhlanain- She took off to find the footlights, And I took off for the sky
Cruiseshipcrew From United States, joined Aug 2008, 67 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (1 year 4 months 4 days 3 hours ago) and read 4319 times:
Great pics of the Norwegian Jewel! I got a tour of her in Miami a few months ago when I was visiting our corporate offices. They don't even consider her to be that new anymore.
EIRules From Ireland, joined Aug 2007, 385 posts, RR: 10 Reply 9, posted (1 year 4 months 4 days ago) and read 4109 times:
Excellent TR as always Phil.
Glad to see BA are still doing such a good job under such pressure on the DUB-LON route. I wouldnt worry too much about the ID thing, I get stopped every time i go to the states coz someone with the same name as me over stayed their student visa and I get put into a room with all the "questionable people".
Fbgdavidson From United Kingdom (England), joined Oct 2004, 3421 posts, RR: 35 Reply 11, posted (1 year 4 months 3 days 19 hours ago) and read 3895 times:
Great report, loads of pictures! It seems you spend quite a few weeks, even months per year afloat judging by your reports.
I've flown on those particular 737s quite a few times and have probably sat in those very seats. I usually go for 2A or 3A. The G-GFF*s always seem to appear on the LGW-JER route which I do a few times per year.
Is the laptop you got one of those Linux based jobbies that boots up in about 15 seconds? My father bought one and loves it!
I don't think the tower you saw was Schiphol, it is fairly distinctive and doesn't quite look like that. The thing with the four stacks beside the canal/river could be something to do with marine traffic judging by the control tower like front thingermejig.
Quoting Ronerone (Reply 10):
One question, does BA still operate MCO flights out of LGW?
Yes.
"My first job was selling doors, door to door, that's a tough job innit" - Bill Bailey
BA319-131 From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 6228 posts, RR: 52 Reply 12, posted (1 year 4 months 3 days 17 hours ago) and read 3785 times:
Hi Philip,
Great report and super set of pictures, as I always say, these cruise ships never cease to amaze me!
Quoting OA260 (Thread starter): View of the old HoverSpeed Hoverport from my balcony. Shame that had gone
- I went on these things as a child, what happened to them? Always seemed a great way to travel.
Quoting OA260 (Thread starter): As I approached the lady took my boarding card and scanned it . Much to my surprise my photo did not come up but someone elses!! This also confused the lady who asked me alot of questions. After a delay she shrugged her shoulders and put it down to a mistake. It is a bit worrying though as that photo came up with my identity.
- That's a bit of a worry, not seen that happen before.
Flyingfool From Netherlands, joined May 2005, 319 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (1 year 4 months 3 days 17 hours ago) and read 3751 times:
Another nice report OA, thanks for writing!
I saw a NCL cruise ship departing from Amsterdam on Sunday afternoon when I was out with the dogs (I live very close to the North Sea channel), probably it was the Norwegian Jewel?
Quoting OA260 (Thread starter): We approached a lock to take us to the sea level.
The Noordersluis is the largest lock in the Netherlands (400 mtr long, 47,5 mtr width), and for long it was the largest in Europe as well. There are investigations going on if it's possible to build a 4th lock at the complex to give the biggest ships entrance to the Amsterdam harbour, which is not possible with the current locks.
SandroZRH From Switzerland, joined Feb 2007, 3055 posts, RR: 50 Reply 16, posted (1 year 4 months 3 days 15 hours ago) and read 3615 times:
Hey Phil
It's been a while since I read one of your TRs, but the wait was well worth it! Great TR with AWESOME pics! That cruiseship looked so cool, makes me wanna go on a cruise. I especially like the cosy balcony. Very inviting to sit down, relax and have a smoke
That breakfast you were served on the DUB-LGW leg looked pretty lame, however the return leg meal looked a lot better.
Quoting Ronerone (Reply 10): Now you really got me thinking about the eepc. It's perfect for traveling!
Hi Roni, You must buy one. They are brilliant , I have to say its perfect for travelling and so small but packed full of features.
Quoting Fbgdavidson (Reply 11): Is the laptop you got one of those Linux based jobbies that boots up in about 15 seconds? My father bought one and loves it!
One question maybe you will know. I wanted to download a few youtube videos to watch and I downloaded a youtube converter program. Then I downloaded a song and go into 'file manager'' to open it to watch but then it comes up with ''open with'' and I chose media player but nothing happens. Just wondering if you or anyone knows the best program to run on this Linux system??
Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 12): I went on these things as a child, what happened to them? Always seemed a great way to travel.
Mark your so lucky !!Yes they shut it down but I dont know the reason. I never got on it. They used to call it a ''flight''. You got across in 35 mins !! Shame I never got the chance.
Quoting FLIEGER67 (Reply 13): Do you remember the Celebrity Olstice?.
Its out of the dock last week and ready for the sail to Emshaven later this month.
Hi Markus , cool.... I cant wait to get on that one. Looks amazing. Keep me updated if you hear anymore news.
Regards
Philip
Quoting ClassicLover (Reply 14): You put my trip reports to shame Philip, I have to say
Thanks Trent, Oh no not at all. I love your reports and they are on not so covered airlines. Keep up the good work and thanks for the comment, im humbled .
Quoting Flyingfool (Reply 15): That are the ventilation towers of the "Velsertunnel" a highway tunnel under the North Sea channel.
Thats great I knew a Dutch Anetter would know. I really love your country and will certainly be back soon .
Quoting SandroZRH (Reply 16): That breakfast you were served on the DUB-LGW leg looked pretty lame, however the return leg meal looked a lot better.
You haven't flown on LX for ages, what's wrong?
Well the breakfast was a full English with sasauges / bacon etc.. but because I dont eat that I had to ask it without.
Im waiting until December for the special J class fares and then I will book 4 roundtrips to ATH . Family and mileage runs work well..... I love my mini stopovers in ZRH and everytime I see photos of Zurich Im jealous . Im looking forward to my LX trips so much.
Olympic Air "Η Ελλάδα ψηλά" - ''Flying Greece Sky High''
B747forever From United States, joined May 2007, 14282 posts, RR: 12 Reply 18, posted (1 year 4 months 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 3430 times:
Quoting OA260 (Reply 17): Im waiting until December for the special J class fares and then I will book 4 roundtrips to ATH . Family and mileage runs work well..... I love my mini stopovers in ZRH and everytime I see photos of Zurich Im jealous . Im looking forward to my LX trips so much.
Ahh, thats great. Then we have a bunch of great TRs to look forward for.
SandroZRH From Switzerland, joined Feb 2007, 3055 posts, RR: 50 Reply 20, posted (1 year 4 months 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 3405 times:
Quoting OA260 (Reply 17): Im waiting until December for the special J class fares and then I will book 4 roundtrips to ATH . Family and mileage runs work well.
Sounds good. I wish i had the time to travel
Hmm, I will be starting on the A320 in about october/november 2009. So for your winter 2009/10 round of trips, we'll have to work something out
BananaBoY From United Kingdom, joined Oct 2004, 1209 posts, RR: 41 Reply 24, posted (1 year 4 months 16 hours ago) and read 2778 times:
Great report! Thanks for all of the pics.
Great to see the Norwegian Jewel.. I was onboard every week or so during launch. Great ship and crew. Nearly booked onto that trip as AMS is the best mini-cruise option available with NCL this year, particularly as you can walk into town.
Quoting Flyingfool (Reply 15): I saw a NCL cruise ship departing from Amsterdam on Sunday afternoon when I was out with the dogs (I live very close to the North Sea channel), probably it was the Norwegian Jewel?
Yes. Norwegian Jewel is the only NCL ship to call in Amsterdam this Summer. Actually, I believe that was the only call of an NCL ship in Amsterdam for the whole year.
Great report OA260. CE doesn't look too bad either! Thanks!
Mark
All my life, I've been kissing, your top lip 'cause your bottom one's missing
OA260 From Ireland, joined Nov 2006, 16920 posts, RR: 54 Reply 25, posted (1 year 4 months 2 hours ago) and read 2658 times:
Quoting BananaBoY (Reply 24): Great to see the Norwegian Jewel.. I was onboard every week or so during launch. Great ship and crew. Nearly booked onto that trip as AMS is the best mini-cruise option available with NCL this year
I thought youd like this TR
There are things I like NCL better than RCI and vv . NCL have a seperate toilet from the main bathroom which I think is much better. Also Elemis products for washing is a big plus over RCI. A glass of Champagne is also offered to all guests when you board and thats a nice touch also. The only thing I was not impressed with was one night I asked for Steak in the Tsars Palace and was told it was off the menu. I had to have Lamb two nights running. If you wanted steak you had to have made reservations at the steak house and pay . I think steak is something that should be always available in the main dining room on a cruise ship of that class.
Anyway that was my only issue. Everything else was 100%.... Looking forward to F3 , especially the Ice bar where apparantly they will give you coats to keep you warm.
Olympic Air "Η Ελλάδα ψηλά" - ''Flying Greece Sky High''
26 PlaneHunter: Very interesting report with many nice pics from the ship. The food looks good as usual - but what kind of picture is on that porcelain cup? PH
27 OA260: Do you mean the BA cup?? Looks like I used up my bandwidth. Lucky most of you got to see the pics. It will be up again in a few weeks .
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