Jewel tips and secrets

We will be on the Jewel for two weeks in February in a 2 bd suite. Does anyone have any tips, secrets or recommendations?

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Great Outdoors, Spinnaker Lounge, bridge viewing room deck 11 all the way forward port side.

What's the best place to eat right after we board: buffet or O'Sheehan's?

One of the MDRs will be open if you want a sit down lunch. Otherwise, we just use the buffet, which will be crowded during boarding day. Up on the pool deck will be a smaller buffet of grill and salad type items. And during sail away, weather permitting, there will be a BBQ on the pool deck. I believe the Great Outdoors might also have food out during boarding. If you're suite, you will have lunch access at the restaurant used for suite only guests for lunch.

Great Outdoors, Spinnaker Lounge, bridge viewing room deck 11 all the way forward port side.

And of course the suite guests' breakfast and lunch at Modernos.

what is good bar for Sail Away get-together of CC Roll Call ??? Sailing on the Jewel in Feb!

Thanks

What's the best place to eat right after we board: buffet or O'Sheehan's?

NOT the buffet; it is always crowded with people with carry on luggage and very difficult to find quiet seats. Personally we would use the MDR, even with carry on luggage it never seems crowded.

Funny that first timers always make for the buffet; I think the crew send them there on purpose!!

I would say Main dinning room or O'Sheehan's....nice quiet, quick service.

My sister just stayed in the 2 bedroom suite. My favorite thing about it (besides all the space) was the tub with the window looking out so you can see the ocean while taking a bath!

My sister just stayed in the 2 bedroom suite. My favorite thing about it (besides all the space) was the tub with the window looking out so you can see the ocean while taking a bath!

I am definitely looking forward to that.

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One of the MDRs will be open if you want a sit down lunch. Otherwise, we just use the buffet, which will be crowded during boarding day. Up on the pool deck will be a smaller buffet of grill and salad type items. And during sail away, weather permitting, there will be a BBQ on the pool deck. I believe the Great Outdoors might also have food out during boarding. If you're suite, you will have lunch access at the restaurant used for suite only guests for lunch.

We were just on the cruise Dec 23-30. Upon boarding, the buffet (of course) was open as was The Great Outdoors. We EASILY grabbed a table at the Great Outdoors and with decent weather, this is the place to be, in my opinion. They have their own, smaller but perfectly adequate buffet. Tsar's MDR was also open, and O'Sheehans. We've now done NCL and Royal, and certainly NCL has better choices for places upon boarding.

Thinking of upgrading to a 2 bedroom suite. Myself, Daughter and her hubby, grandson and his girlfriend.

Question...the sofa in the living room, how large is it? Will it fit two adults? For the grandson and girlfriend or am I the Grammy going to have to sleep on the sofa bed? :)

I will let you know after the cruise. I think it's a double

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Thinking of upgrading to a 2 bedroom suite. Myself, Daughter and her hubby, grandson and his girlfriend.

Question...the sofa in the living room, how large is it? Will it fit two adults? For the grandson and girlfriend or am I the Grammy going to have to sleep on the sofa bed? :)

You are going to end up on the single sofa bed or you could put grandson on the sofa bed and you and his GF can share the 2nd bedroom. Either way 5 adults will be tight.

You are going to end up on the single sofa bed or you could put grandson on the sofa bed and you and his GF can share the 2nd bedroom. Either way 5 adults will be tight.

Yeah, that's what I thought...not a deal breaker though. :)

Thanks!

We are also booked on the Jewel in March and am debating getting a thermal spa pass. Pros and cons for people who have booked ? Is it worth it ? I see us using suiting sea days relaxing away from crowds etc. thanks in advance.

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Okay, we have sailed NCL Jewel to Alaska in 2014, repeating in July this year because it was so fabulous! We were in a 2 bedroom Haven suite with 6 people (4 adults, 2 teenagers). The couch only slept 1, but one other slept on cushions on the floor. In the second bedroom, the couch becomes a 2 person bed and there is a pullman style bed above that one in that room. Mind you, the room is pretty cozy! But it does provide a 2nd bathroom, which is really nice!

As to the spa pass.....I don't recall it being available in 2014, but when we cruised on NCL Gem in 2015, we purchased it. I made the mistake of thinking that if I had spa appointments, I would be able to use, so didn't buy prior to embarkation. You can't use if you don't have the pass. The ceramic heated loungers are worth the money!!!!! Buy before you depart and save a few $$. I noticed that the price is increasing quite a bit, though. It was never crowded, but the waterfall feature on the pool was noisy when someone used it (remember this was on the Gem, so don't know if it applies for Jewel.)

We like quiet areas, so the Haven was Heaven to us. We're not big pool people (read: fish belly white), so having an indoor area was splendid.

As to where to eat when you board, if you are in the suites, you have access to private dining for both breakfast and lunch (usually in one of the nightly paid venues like Cagney's). You can also eat in the Haven courtyard area, but I doubt this is available on day 1. Remember to tip your butler and concierge...they are not in the tip pool, but based on our past experience (3 other Haven trips!) they will be well worth what you decide to tip them.

On our last trip, we had the same butler from a prior cruise (different ship!) He remembered us and we were ecstatic to see him again! Would LOVE to have him again on this trip! (My fingers are crossed for you, Roy!)

We have sailed on Princess, RCCL, and NCL, but NCL has hooked us with the Haven!

Can you give info on where the more lively crowds can be found on the ship? We like to dance, laugh and socialize.

The Getaway was a great fun ship.

Any tips?

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I suggest hitting the MDR when you first get on. Its quiet and the lunch in the MDR is usually pretty tasty. They have a shrimp burger on a pretzle roll that is to die for. Usually the fish and chips is pretty tasty as well. Buffet will be there all week. If the weather is nice, sitting in the Great Outdoors is a fantastic place for lunch.

If you are in a suite or the Haven Modernos will be used for lunch and when you are escorted to the ship its usually where they escort you to while the rooms are being prepared.

Spinnaker during ocean days is a beautiful place to sit and sip on a drink while reading a book or playing cards. They do have lots of activities there through the week. Comedian and dance parties at night.

They had a really good live band when we were on Jewel last year and one game they did was name that tune where they would play a bunch of songs (10 sec of a song) and you would have to guess the song. We enjoyed that.

The doors to the master bedroom in the Haven suite are weird. They are sliding doors and you can only lock them from inside the bedroom. If the ship is rolling at night and you don't lock it, it will slam shut and open and shut again. Gotta wedge something underneath it. And if you do lock it no one can come in from the outside. Not a show stopper but wish there was a handle of some sort.

The bath tub is nice but the shower is an awkward width. You'll see what I mean when you use it. Also - if some one tried to (they would have to stand under your suite and look straight up) they would be able to see into your shower from the deck below. There is a curtain but its kind of an afterthought.

The Concierge lounge in the Haven was closed (halfway reconstructed) when we were on last year.

When you go back on the ship in port, if you are a suite guest don't stand in the long line boarding the ship. You can walk around and they will have a separate entrance (or the concierge will be looking out for you) for suite guests.

The breakfast in Modernos is pretty good. I would get the filet with the seafood sauce from the Benedict. That was tasty. They will pretty much make up whatever you can imagine from the ingredients on the menu.

Jewel was a little lacking in the MDR when we went and we sadly did not think the Hibachi grill was all that impressive compared to what we experienced on the Star.

Our butler was AMAZING! Best part of the trip. The kids loved him and he spoiled them with candy and movies and popcorn. It was pretty Awesome. It would be hard to go back and not be in the Haven again.

-Sean

Please keep the tips coming.

What kind of coffee maker do they have in the suites on the Jewel? We like to bring our own favored coffee.

What kind of coffee maker do they have in the suites on the Jewel? We like to bring our own favored coffee.

When we went they had the Lavazza machines. They only had regular and decaf. We tried to make some fun stuff with it, lattes, hot chocolates... etc.

The best we could do was steamed milk with the hot chocolate packets. Never really found the right recipe to get a good latte. I think they are supposed to be switching all the suites out to Nespresso Machines (from what I have read around CC) not sure if that is happening on these older ships unless they go through drydock.

Might be fun to go to the bar and get a couple of "neat" shots of baileys to add to your coffee or hot chocolate.

I am sure you could bring your own but I think we really just didnt like the Lavazza brand coffee. Didnt care for the flavor of it. I have tried some of their other flavors in a machine land side and same thing... just dont care for the coffee flavor.

-Sean

Thinking of upgrading to a 2 bedroom suite. Myself, Daughter and her hubby, grandson and his girlfriend.

Question...the sofa in the living room, how large is it? Will it fit two adults? For the grandson and girlfriend or am I the Grammy going to have to sleep on the sofa bed? :)

If there are only 5 of you....

Put the Daughter and Her Hubby in the 2nd Bedroom, Separate the Grandson and Girlfriend and put the Girlfriend on the bunk in the 2nd Bedroom and the Grandson on the couch. And then you take the Master Bedroom all to yourself!!!

But seriously the couch while comfy only sleeps one. The 2nd Bedroom sleeps 3 people. Tight if they are all adults. Master bedroom is where it is at.

If you are an early riser the couch isnt a bad place to be. I like laying out there with the slider open and listening to the ocean. Then you can get up and go in the morning without worrying about waking anyone (unless you need to use the bathroom in the 2nd bedroom which isnt really a bother as its right there at the front of the room)

-Sean