Crossing the International Dateline

NCL Jewel 21-Day Transpacific Cruise Tokyo to Seattle

May 15, 2018 (Tuesday) -- At Sea

Crossing the International Dateline on a plane is nothing new to us but how does that work when you are on a ship and actually experiencing the 'change of time' in person? Well, the cruise ship had it all figured out for us. Since we left Japan, we were told to move our clocks forward one hour each night, and then we would have two whole days of May 16, #1 and #2 as the ship sail towards Alaska. 

As usual, there is not much that I can report on sea days. These are the days we treat them as "days of relaxation and recoveries". Doing absolutely nothing of importance. 

Good lunch at the buffet.

Le Bistro

Dinner at Le Bistro again. This time using our Platinum vouchers for this specialty dining. As Platinum, we were given a dinner voucher for two at either Cagney's or Le Bistro with a bottle of wine, and a voucher for two at either Moderno or La Cucina. Since all three of us are Platinum, we received two sets of vouchers so it was good for four people at each of these meals. ET agreed to accompany us to these dinners. 

With the Platinum vouchers, we were only able to order one appetizer or soup or salad, one main, and one dessert. As for the two bottles of wine, we ended up taking them with us since there was no way that the four of us could consume those in one sitting.

Our favorite, Escargot.

Filet Mignon for MOR.

Fruits de Mer for ChC.

Rack of Lamb for me. Excellent!

For dessert we had two orders of the chocolate fondue to share between the four of us.

A little healthier choice than the other fancy desserts.

With the longer day in the north, it was still light after dinner.

NCL Jewel 21-Day Transpacific Cruise Tokyo to Seattle

May 16, 2018 (#1) (Wednesday) -- At Sea

Woke up to excellent weather this morning.

A giant cargo ship sailed past us.

Had breakfast with our new friends Dennis and Alice at the buffet.

For lunch, we decided on O'Sheehan's. Their famous buffalo wings is a 'must-have'.

While we were having lunch, they announced on the PA that we have just crossed the International Dateline. That was it. No special ceremony like crossing the equator.

The country soup was good.

And the hamburger was very good, other than the burnt top.

What can I say. This pound cake was great! I know, I know...

ChC and I went to the lecture on "Crossing the Lines" in the afternoon, hoping to learn something about crossing the dateline. Unfortunately, the speaker spent most of her time talking about crossing the equator, and showed pictures of what happened on another ship (another cruise line). I thought that was kind of odd. 

Dinner at Tsar's

With the waves getting a little rough this afternoon, some in our group got seasick and had to skip dinner. For those of us who are not prone to seasickness, it was not bad actually. I was fine throughout this cruise even though I was worried about sailing through rough seas on this transpacific cruise. We made sure that we were prepared with medications and patches prescribed by the doctor.

This duck breast salad was really tasty.

Tendori Chicken, good!

Warm Apricot and Honey Custard Bake. This was very good!

Five Spice Tapioca Pudding

Orange Cheesecake.

No more time change tonight.

NCL Jewel 21-Day Transpacific Cruise Tokyo to Seattle

May 16, 2018 #2 (Wednesday) -- At Sea

Another beautiful day!

Paintings and photographs on the different decks, mid-ship.

We thought it would be a good idea to take a walk up on deck but it was quite cold and windy.

The place was empty.

Beautiful snow-covered mountains near Dutch Harbor.

Lunch at Tsar's
We met with our new friends for lunch at Tsar's today and had a good two-hour fellowship over good food.

Scallops Gratin

Dessert, Madagascar Vanilla Bean Creme Caramel

 I was too busy talking and forgot to take pictures of the food served.

Dinner at Tsar's

Forgot to take pictures of the menu, again!

I think this was the chicken cordon bleu.

Our wonderful server, Rechelle.

NCL Jewel 21-Day Transpacific Cruise Tokyo to Seattle

May 17, 2018 (Thursday) -- At Sea

It rained all day today so it was a good day to sleep in. Other than going to the Cruise Next presentation and did some shopping on board, we basically just relaxed in our stateroom like any other sea days.

Sailing past some islands as we were getting into the Gulf of Alaska.

Dinner at Cagney's

Our last Specialty Dinner for the whole group was scheduled for 5:30 today at Cagney's. We were all looking forward to this special meal before arriving Alaska. 

Giant Shrimp Cocktail, always good! They do not serve shrimp cocktails at the main dining rooms anymore.

Lump Crab Salad

These Wagyu Beef Sliders were surprising good. Somehow I wonder if we could go in and just get these delicious burgers without ordering any entrees. For $4 an order, this would make a meal for me.

Really juicy, tender and tasty!

16oz Rib-eye. Unfortunately, they do not serve the Tomahawk Rib-eye anymore. 

Bison Strip Steak, surprising good.

8 oz filet mignon

Grilled Sea Bass, not as good as the ones served on Getaway.

My sides, creamed corn and mushrooms. All very good!

Top off this wonderful meal with a huge Macademia Nuts Ice Cream Sandwich. 

After dinner, ChC was going to walk around on deck but all the exits were closed due to the wet floor from the rain. We did go to the acrobatic show tonight which was incredible!

"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed." says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

                                                                                                                                           Isaiah 54: 10