Tampa Departure
We arrived at the cruise terminal around noon and grabbed coffee before boarding. The process only took an hour or so. It was on the cool side of comfortable, around 65 degrees and sprinkling rain, but by the next morning, the sun was out and it was warm and humid.
The Ship
Our ship was the Norwegian Jewel. Originally built in 2005, it was refurbished in 2022. There were around 2100 other guests on board, plus 1000 employees. We were impressed with the ship, it was pretty nice!
Since we are cheap, we selected an interior room with no window. Turns out, we like that better. First, you are seldom in the room, so it’s not like you sit around looking out the window anyway. Second, if you like to sleep in total darkness, this is the place to be. It’s like being in a climate controlled womb. No light, gentle rocking and only distant, faint sounds most of the time. We were in room 8517 (Deck 8, forward) and loved it.
Other fun facts… it produces all fresh water on board using osmosis… up to 713,000 gallons a day! All waste water goes back into the ocean as drinkable water. Max fuel capacity is 720,000 gallons of diesel. It burns 48 gallons of fuel per minute under full load. It has five electric generators that power two rotatable propeller Azipod thrusters.
Two Days At Sea
Our first two days were to be at sea, headed to Puerto Plata, DR. The weather was kinda yucky the first day, but day two was sunny and warm.
There were lots of activities on board to keep us busy. Trivia, a nice gym, dance lessons, game shows, a stocked board game room, the pool and more.
One of the larger areas to gather was the “Spinnaker Lounge” on deck 13. The views were great and there was always some activity going on.
Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
The Taíno Bay Cruise Port is a sequestered area for tourists that has shopping, restaurants, bars, swimming pools, a lazy river and more. It is fenced off from the rest of the town, with tour buses leaving from one specific area.
It was super warm here, and the lazy river was fun and relaxing.
