ChampionCruiser

Thanks for the comparison and your experience was basically the same as mine.

We sailed the Jewel (NCL) and Jewel (RCCL) in the same year and thought the same regarding the ships/dining/service/entertainment.

Hi everyone,

Okay, last time we cruised out of New Orleans (first time) was January 2014. Our Western Caribbean weather basically sucked. Our only nice day was our last port in Costa Maya -- thank God for one good day. Yes, we still had fun and yes, it was still an adventure and yes, it was way better than being at work on any given day. So my question is, what has YOUR experience been on January Western Caribbean cruises? Would love to hear about it. Thanks! :D

HA :D - we were on the same cruise. And you're not exaggerating with the "it sucked" weather statement. Seriously, thank God for the one nice day in Costa Maya.

We're trying again with a Western Caribbean cruise this coming January as well (but from Miami) and hoping for MUCH better :o

Just hope they don't start adding cabins to the outside Promenade deck. That would really upset me. I really don't think they could do that.....could they? :eek:

 

 

Gwen :)

You at least don't have to worry about that. The Promenade on these ships are designated as assembly stations - no chance they would re-do all calculations to move so many people inside. Not to mention limiting access to the lifeboats ;)

1. Cagneys (BEST meal we've had on any ship/cruise so far)

2. Teppanyaki (we liked it as much as similar land hibachi restaurants)

3. La Cucina (doesn't get much love here - we loved it!)

The only disappointment we had was with Moderno - we saved it for last because of all of the great reviews but it was definitely just "meh" in comparison to the other three listed.

Good luck deciding :D I can't wait to try them out on the Getaway next year!

I'm headed on the Jewel in August (FINALLY a Radiance class ship!). I was hoping for a revitalized ship, but your pictures made me excited.

It should be fun to compare her to the "other" Jewel (NCL), which I cruised on a couple of months ago :)

I really couldn’t be upset about the cool weather because I knew it was a risk with a January sailing. Some of you will really luck out and others…not so much. For example, the New Orleans high that Saturday: 72. Two days later? 40. There’s really no way to predict it!

I mentioned it in the quick review, but we tried Blue Lagoon for lunch and, while the food was tasty, we weren’t impressed enough to return. That night was the Captain’s night (and optional formal evening). We didn’t pack any formal (or even semi-formal) clothes, but there were a good number of people who decided to dress up. That may explain the long wait for Tsars, as it’s the more formal dining room.

After taking pictures in the atrium, we headed to Tsars (without reservations) around 6:00 and were given a buzzer and four tickets for sparkling wine or soda. The host said the wait would be 20-30 minutes.

I don’t really like being handed a buzzer on a cruise, but the free drinks made up for it ;).

The wait was almost exactly 20 minutes and we were again seated at the same table as the night before (right in front of the windows). Overall, we enjoyed our meal, even though the service was just “okay” and a little slow. I ended up with the pork and vegetable spring roll (I loved it and ordered it again later in the week), kung pao chicken (very good), and bread pudding (good). From my family, I gathered that the NY strip was “meh”, the alfredo very good, and the pecan pie “yummy”.

We went to the 9:15 show, which was a comedian. It takes A LOT for a comedian to make me laugh and it didn’t happen this time. It was a clean show with a bunch of the typical cruise-related humor (small bathrooms, a lot of food, etc.) but (imho) nothing special. My mom did enjoy it a lot, though. Maybe I need to loosen up more!

We called it a night after the show and were excited to find a towel friend in our cabins! There wasn’t one on the first or last night (which seems to be the norm) but they did appear on the other five. It’s cheesy, I know, but we miss the towel animals when we cruised on Celebrity and Princess!

Next up: Day 3 - Cozumel

Moving on...

Day 2 – at sea

I really love sea days. I mean sure, I usually choose a cruise based on the ports first, but I like to have at least two sea days to relax. This sea day is ranked pretty low on the list of past ones because of, yep, the weather (but it was still a good day!).

The night before, the Freestyle Daily showed the next day’s weather as a high of 58 with “partly cloudy” skies. By the end of the cruise, we realized that NCL uses the most optimistic weather forecast EVER (as confirmed by the cruise staff ;)). If it says “partly cloudy”, you’ll never see the sun. If it says “chance of showers”, there might be a small chance that the rain will let up at some point during the day. Finally, if you get the dreaded “chance of rain”, it means you’ll be lucky to stay dry at all. Just be aware!

Anyways, it was a pretty yucky day and the sun never showed up. The ship did rock a bit but it didn’t bother any of us at all. I’ve definitely experienced a lot worse, for sure. I won’t go into details about the day since it was a typical day at sea (minus the outdoor activities). There was plenty to do inside and the crew tried really hard to keep everyone content. I always feel sorry for them when there’s bad weather…some people tend to blame them, it seems.

This was the best it looked all day (unfortunately, this was also the first picture I took that day...)

It always seems worse from the lower decks!

One positive? ZERO chair hogs :D

Back to the review!

Day 1 cont…

The rest of day 1 was the typical embarkation day filled with excitement! The safety drill is never the highlight of the day, but it was surprisingly quick and painless this time around :). I was pleased to see that NCL is now conducting the drills in lounges. Princess did this back in 2006 but most cruises since then have started with the “pack everyone like sardines on the promenade deck” approach. I much preferred a comfortable seat in the Stardust without a life jacket.

We made it out on deck for the sailaway party, which is always fun. Both the Jewel and Sunshine were scheduled to depart at 4:00 but that didn’t happen. I’m not sure exactly when we left, but it was definitely after 4:30 and we had already headed back down to our balcony by that point. The Sunshine left shortly after and followed us down the river.

I will say that I really enjoyed sailing out of New Orleans and down the Mississippi River! Even in January, when the sun sets pretty early, we enjoyed an hour or so of sightseeing. Along with the French Quarter, you can also see the Chalmette battlefield and house from the port side, as well as plenty of commercial ships.

I didn’t get a picture this time, but here’s a picture of the battlefield and house taken from a riverboat two years ago. It's only a few minutes down the river from the Quarter.

Sailing down the Mississippi was definitely a unique start to a Caribbean cruise!

You can see that, by the time we left, the sun had already set.

I made four dining reservations as a Christmas present to my parents and our first was for 6:00 in La Cucina (the sign onboard now says La Cucina but the menus still say Mama’s). I know that there’s no perk for booking in advance (besides maybe Teppanyaki – which seemed to always be full!), but it was nice for budgeting purposes. Even though it took some of the “freestyle” concept away, it was nice not worrying about the onboard account throughout the week. The same is true for gratuities, which we pre-paid as well.

We all really enjoyed our meal and it was a terrific start to the cruise. I think the vast majority of passengers eat in the MDRs on the first night (possibly for the lobster, possibly because it’s easiest) and we were one of only two groups during our entire meal. Our waiter was amazing! She was very helpful and friendly. As I said before, we ended up with too much food but enjoyed every bit.

We attended the main show’s second seating every night (except for the last – when there was only a single showing). Generally, getting a good seat wasn’t a problem, but we always showed up at least 15 minutes early to be sure. Apart from the AMAZING acrobatic duo, the welcome aboard show was a bit dull, though it did get us into the cruising mood.

Unfortunately, I didn’t remember to bring the dailies with me (I might try getting my sister to scan them so I can share), so I don’t remember the other activities for that night. There was always a smaller game show before and after the 9:15 main show, though, and we enjoyed them all. These were usually held in the Spinnaker.

That does it for now! I'll start uploading pictures for day 2 and beyond and hopefully get them posted soon. This new time zone is getting to me, though. It's going on 2 AM now so I should probably call it a night :).

Next up: Day 2, at sea

The Jewel will always have a special place in my heart as it was the first (and likely last) cruise that my parents joined my sister and I on. An annual vacation, which ended up morphing into an annual cruise, is a "sister" thing that we started a couple of years ago.

 

We too had a mini suite and LOVED IT. My parents were in one and my sister and I in another right beside them.

 

We're going on the Breakaway in August (on my Grandma's dime) so this time it'll be my mom, sister and me sharing a balcony cabin. I think we're going to be in for a rude awakening compared to our digs on the Jewel! :D

 

Reading this gives me fond memories...

 

Did you have Captain Lars??? He was one of the most memorable parts of the cruise for us!

I'm glad you're liking it! I'll be in the same boat this August as I'll be back to sharing a regular balcony cabin with the family on the "other" Jewel. Let's see how that goes!

And I honestly don't remember the captain's name...we only saw him during the intro and farewell shows, so he wasn't memorable for us.

Really appreciate your review. We are on the Jewel next Sunday. Would like to view your pics, but alas, don't have access.

 

 

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I'm sure you'll love it! I hope you'll have better luck with the weather, too :). And I'm sorry about the pics...I'm using Flickr to upload them and hopefully I'm doing it correctly!

I have a bizarre love affair with the wood railing. I don't know why... Perhaps the Sirens resonate with the thing. Whatever it is...it's sad to see the Jewel like that...no matter how superficial it may seem. I have spent a lot of time there...I guess its personal somehow.

I feel the same way about every past ship I've sailed on...they easily become "your" ship after just a week!

I have to take a break for now, but I hope to finish at least day 1 tonight!!

Across the hall, the inside stateroom was adequate for my sister and I. This was our first time without at least a window and we survived without a problem! We definitely slept great, if nothing else!

I'm not sure about all cabins, but ours did have a safe and flat screen, which worked well *most* of the time.

The bathroom was tight but fine. If you're taller, your knees WILL hit the wall when sitting, though, just so you know ;)...

Even in an inside, the shower was great with good pressure. I really liked having a sliding door...no vacuum curtain effect!

Day 1 cont…

On each of the 11 cruises before this, I’ve always headed straight for the buffet for the usual embarkation day lunch rush. This time, though, my mom had a heavy carry-on and we were in no rush. Instead, we explored the ship until noon, when Tsars opened (it was a perfect time to take pictures of empty spaces like the Stardust).

I think that will be our new embarkation tradition, as it was a great, CALM way to start the cruise! We lucked out with a table by the large windows, so it was great to watch ships pass as we ate. The timing was perfect as well since the announcement for rooms was made right before we finished.

Our rooms were (almost) right across from each other on deck 11. I didn’t choose the location for any reason other than it having the cheapest mini suites available ;). They were forward, but not at the very front, and underneath the gym. My parents heard noise some mornings in 11521 but we (11522) never heard anything.

We LOVED the mini suite. It’s true that it’s really just a glorified balcony cabin, but we enjoyed all of the “pluses” including the bathroom, which was much bigger than a standard one, and tub. The large sofa was also nice, even though it was really hard. It looks like we'll be back in a balcony next year (mini suite prices are quite a bit higher) which is fine. I wouldn't spend too much more for a mini suite, but if the price is reasonable I'd definitely snag one again!

Of course, the best part of the cabin was the balcony, which had plenty of room (especially when compared to the Breakaway/Getaway ;))

We might not be mini suite snobs, but it would be hard for us to cruise without a balcony!

We are very budget conscious on our trip, we would rather spend our money on excursions and other vises than food so we will be sticking to the complimentary dinning. I would like a better understanding these food options.

 

From what I have read these are the complimentary dinning restaurants:

Azura Main Dining Room

Blue Lagoon

Garden Café

The Great Outdoors

Sky High Bar & Grill

Tsar’s Palace Main Dining Room

 

Which ones are Buffet, are some better than others?

Do we need to book times?

Is earlier or later better so to beat the crowds?

Do any of you have some suggestion on the best times to eat?

 

Thank you for your Help

The Garden Cafe and Great Outdoors are typical cruise buffet venues. They are connected, with the Great Outdoors outside. They offer similar food, but the Garden Cafe has a bigger selection.

Sky High is one of a pair of outdoor bar/grills.

Blue Lagoon is the 24 hour "diner" that serves comfort food (wings, burgers, sandwiches, salads, soups, etc.).

We ate in the MDRs three times and thought both were good. Our first MDR was Tsars, on the second night of the cruise (the Captain's/ dress up if you want night). We got there at 6:15 and had to wait around 20 minutes to be seated. They do give you free champagne tickets for use at any bar if that's the case.

Because of that, we made reservations for our next meal in Azura and were seated right away at 6:30. We didn't make a reservation later in the week and were again seated right away at the same time.

So, from our experience, it was hit or miss as far as the need for reservations went. I've heard that Azura backs up more than Tsars since it is more informal (shorts allowed), but our only wait was in Tsars...

Aside from the taxi ride, the rest of the morning was a breeze. We arrived at the terminal at 10:30 on the dot, went through security, and got in the Lattitudes line to check in. I’m not sure if that helped at all, since both lines were about the same length. As expected, we had to wait to embark, but not for long. We were given the group 4 boarding number and boarding started around 11:15 if I remember correctly. I do know that we were on board well before noon since we had to wait a while for the MDR to open ;).

This is the point where you REALLY get excited, especially after planning for a year! Carnival Sunshine was docked in front.

I LOVED the welcome aboard banner, balloons, and dancing crew! Boarding directly to the promenade deck was different (I like the atrium to be the first sight...) but this made it awesome!

It also didn't hurt that the Saints had won the night before ;). Let's not talk about what happened at the next game...

DAY 1 – NEW ORLEANS

It’s the morning of the cruise! AKA, the best morning ever.

It’s tradition for us to get to the terminal as early as possible, even if it means sitting for a little while. So, we shot for 10:30 like always. The hotel offered a free continental breakfast, which was good (all the basics plus eggs, waffles, and sausage). It was still a bit too early after breakfast, so we walked to the official parking lot (whale lot) to get our first glimpse of the ship.

Yep, the vacation had officially started!

After walking back, grabbing our stuff, and checking out, we grabbed a taxi right in front of the hotel, which was our first mistake of the week.

As I said before, the hotel is basically right across from the ships. Unfortunately, the Convention Center is between them. That doesn’t sound so bad, but it is since it’s an abnormally huge and LONG building. So, a taxi ride that should take less than a minute takes around 5 after going around the thing. Even more unfortunate is when said taxi ride costs about $40 for four :rolleyes:. I learned my lesson the hard way.

The lesson? Next time I cruise out of New Orleans, I probably WON’T stay as close to the port as possible. If I do, I’ll park at the Fulton Garage and take their shuttle to the ship (which was free). We decided not to go for the garage shuttle since I was told over the phone that they would only shuttle 2 people per group. Does anybody know if that’s enforced? If not, I’d definitely park there again. If so, I’d take the deal across the river.

Of course, walking SHOULD have been the easiest option, but (from what I understand) it's really difficult on embarkation morning, even though it's so close. Again, I'd love to hear if anyone has done it since that would be even better than a shuttle! After disembarkation, we easily walked back to the garage so I'm not sure if it would be any different...

Thank you very much. Just called and got their cruise and stay package.

 

There is a Festival in New Orleans the weekend we leave (April 13th) so there are very few hotels with availability. I had reservations at the Holiday Inn in Gretna but there is no transportation.

 

The Quality Inn was a few $$ less and they provide shuttle to and from.

 

Thanks again! :)

You're welcome! In retrospect, I should have gone with that as well. More on that in a sec ;)

Do you know what hotel across the river provides a shuttle? I know there are a few that have park and cruise but was not aware of a shuttle?

 

Thanks...look forward to reading the rest of your review.

The one I'm aware of is the Quality Inn in Gretna. From their website:

Park and Cruise Package

Enjoy the convenience of parking your vehicle at the hotel during your cruise

Includes free parking for up to seven nights and transportation to and from cruise terminal for the registered guest per stay.

http://www.qualityinn.com/hotel-gretna-louisiana-LA036

(Rates--> packages)

PRE-CRUISE

New Orleans is a GREAT departure city! Having studied there for 4 years, it almost feels like a second hometown to me. It was also the first port I cruised from, aboard the TINY, 1958-built Enchanted Isle. It’s crazy how that ship got me (and everyone else) hooked on cruising!

Anyway, it took 16 years to cruise out of New Orleans again, but I was excited to do so!

I flew from GSP a few days early in order to meet up with friends who I haven’t seen in 2 years. The city definitely isn’t “new” to me anymore, so I didn’t go to any of the tourist spots, but I did have a great three days! My sister and parents drove from North Carolina and met me on Saturday in time for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants (Juan’s Flying Burrito!) before heading to our hotel.

Pre-cruise hotels are a hot topic on the New Orleans boards and I had a hard time deciding as well. There’s at least one hotel that includes parking for the week and a shuttle to the port, but it’s across the river and I wanted to be as close as possible to the port. So, I sucked it up and paid for a night at the Springhill Suites downtown, which is only a couple of blocks from the Riverwalk and cruise terminals. It was pricey, but the Sugar Bowl was held in the Superdome that Thursday, which probably didn’t help.

For parking, I pre-booked a space at the Fulton parking garage online. It was $10 per day for a covered space (there are two websites to book from – one charges $12 per day). We arrived an hour early and there was no attendant. We called the reservation number and were told to get a ticket anyway and to put it on the dash along with our printed receipt. That made us a little nervous, but it still beat the $16 per day (uncovered) parking at the port!

The garage is literally right around the corner from the hotel so walking between them was no problem at all. The hotel was nice and the room was of a very good size (but still overpriced imho). It’s proximity to the port was great and the walk to the Quarter is very doable (15-20 minutes). So, besides the price, we had no complaints!

We did walk along the river and sightsee before calling it a day and ordering dinner. Like EVERY day before a cruise, we all had problems sleeping, even though the beds were very comfortable!

Next up: Day 1!

The post before this, by me. Doesn't seem to have worked out too well. I was trying to put comments inbetween some of what was said and instead it looks like it all came from the same person. Sorry.

No problem! And I totally agree re: different lines. I'd try them all if I could...how else do you know which is the best ;)

Thank you so much for taking the time to review your Jewel vacation. We wont be on her for quite some time yet, but I am like you, in that I love to start researching as soon as I know

We usually book ours over a year in advance, too. Even though it feels like f-o-r-e-v-e-r, we like to have something to look forward to :).

Hopefully this isn't too boring! I'll be back with the actual recap next.

AZURA

I didn’t get a picture of the Tsars Palace dining room (which is beautiful), but I did snap shots of the smaller and informal dining room, Azura, which was our favorite of the two. It was much quieter and the service seemed better to us.

CABIN CORRIDOR

Here’s a random shot, but I really liked the passenger cabin corridors! The carpet and doors are both fun.

I know that doesn’t cover nearly all of the public rooms, but it should give an idea of what to expect. The Jewel is going into dry dock later this year (I believe?) but she’s still in great shape overall.

The exception was some outdoor spaces, especially at the aft. I’m not sure how this happened, but the Great Outdoors railing looked like this until the last day. There were also some missing stadium seats at the basketball course and rusty spots.

Still, the interior is maintained beautifully and it seemed like the crew were cleaning around the clock. She really is a beautiful ship.

POOLS

There are two pools (not including the Haven private one): one for adults and one for families. The adult pool is heated (kinda – it’s still pretty cold if the weather doesn’t cooperate!) and each has two hot tubs. I didn’t spend as much time here as I’d have liked, but from what I saw the kids pretty much stuck to their side. It’s nice to have a separate adults pool, but it’s nothing like the Solarium on Royal/Celebrity ships, as you can’t escape the noise.

I didn’t go down the waterslide, but I agree with past reviews that it’s basically a waste of space. I’m sure some kids enjoyed it, but it seemed like almost all of them got stuck and had to “scoot” down most of it.

Adult pool:

Family pool:

I liked the layout of the pool deck, but my mom thought it seemed too crowded and preferred the more traditional, open layout of Monarch of the Seas.