ChampionCruiser

AROUND THE SHIP

CRYSTAL ATRIUM

I think my flash destroyed this picture, because the atrium is much prettier in person. This is the first space you see when you board (besides the promenade deck) and is basically the center of the ship, with the reception and shore excursion desks, future cruise office, a bar, and perfume shop on the lower level and two restaurants (Moderno and Blue Lagoon) overlooking.

It’s a nice space, but I much prefer the larger atriums/centrums/piazzas of Carnival, Royal, Princess, etc.

STARDUST THEATER

The main theater, on the other hand, was possibly my favorite of any ship so far. The sight lines were perfect even from the “cheap seats”.

SPINNAKER LOUNGE

This is the observation lounge, which also hosts a lot of activities (White Hot Party, game shows, Mardi Gras parade, etc.). It’s not as “funky” as the newer Jewel-class ships but is a great place to look out, especially when the weather is less than perfect ;). It’s a shame they replaced it with cabins on the Star/Dawn and I really hope they won’t do the same to the Jewel class…

FYZZ LOUNGE

Fyzz is another bar/lounge that is used for a ton of activities. All trivia and karaoke events are held here, as are a few game shows. We spent more time here than in the Spinnaker since we went to most trivia challenges. It’s not my favorite space as far as design goes…but maybe it’s a love it or hate it type of room.

Alright, I finally made it back after 18 hours in planes and airports! I’m not quite ready to crash yet, so I’ll go ahead with the picture review. I hope that some future Jewel cruisers will find it helpful (and Dawn cruisers too since she’ll be in New Orleans next year). I will say that I don’t have a great camera and some pictures were taken with my iPhone, but hopefully the pictures will get the point across :).

Before starting the review, I’ll post a few pictures of the ship. Usually, I make it a point to take a picture of every single space on board (literally), but for some reason that didn’t happen this time around. I did snap a few pictures here and there, though.

Since it's been a while since I've posted pictures, I'll start with a test run...

It worked! And I'm off...

Thanks for the review

Cagney fries are hit or miss but when they are a hit it is a home run

Teppanyaki was the worst for me and my friends. Food was too salty, the "show" boring and others in the restaurant were loud and drunk in their party of 30

Moderno was one of my favorites the first time I went and still is but you are correct. They need to ramp up the desserts

back to cagneys, they totally have redeemed themselves from two previously bad meals there

Their desserts were huge and too big to even make a dent.

La cucina was great and a pleasant surprise to my friends who said EWWW when I agreed to treat the 5 of us. They changed their tune after and said it was a great meal

I only sailed on the jewel once-or twice I am not sure but totally enjoyed it each time

BTW the weather was horrible on our cruise to. We left nyc 1/1 and rocked and rolled until we got to san juan and then leaving samana I think we hit a bad storm because were were rockin, rolling, and shakin and grooving lol

Cheers!!

So it sounds like it wasn't just the Western Caribbean, then. Hopefully we'll have better luck next time!

And we were lucky to have good company in Teppanyaki - I can imagine the experience being much worse with a rowdy crowd.

Maybe I'll try the Cagney fries again next time, though I doubt we'll give Moderno another chance. Maybe Le Bistro next time?

Thanks! I'm heading back to Europe today, but hopefully I'll be able to start the picture review tomorrow!

Well, another cruise has (sadly) come and gone which means it’s time for another CruiseCritic review! I get ready for every cruise by perusing EVERY review for that ship and I like to return the favor…and relive the cruise!

After a few years as a member, I’ve learned that some people like the quick, to-the-point reviews while others (like myself) prefer the detailed ones with pictures. So, I’ve decided to do both! This post will be the “at a glance” review and I’ll follow that with a day-by-day review for those who are interested.

I’ll go ahead and spoil the main point: we all had a great time. Was it the best cruise yet? No, but that was mostly due to Mother Nature…more on that later. Still, we’ll definitely be back on NCL soon (we bought a future cruise credit so we have no choice :)).

Oh, and PLEASE let me know if you have any questions!!

BACKGROUND

The cruisers were: myself (23), sister (20), mom, and dad (from Western North Carolina). This was my 12th cruise and my parent’s 2nd. Of the main lines, I’ve sailed on Disney, Carnival, Princess, Royal, and Celebrity. My only previous NCL cruise was 10 years ago on the Majesty. I LOVED that ship (and sailing from Charleston!!!!) but it wasn’t truly a “Freestyle” ship, so I was excited to experience the new(er) NCL.

Bluntly, I’m a cruise nerd. I’ve been crazy about cruise ships since my first cruise in 1999 and I haven’t looked back. I’m studying in Finland right now and, after this semester, I’ll have one master’s degree in marine engineering and another in passenger ship design. So, a cruise was the only way to celebrate! I got my bachelor’s in New Orleans and wanted to return to visit my friends and that’s why I chose the Jewel. It definitely WASN’T for the 10+ hour drive ;). The ports didn't play a big role, as I'd been to all but Roatan.

THE SHIP

I think the Jewel is the perfect size. She’s big enough to be impressive but not overwhelming. Inside, there’s a balance between “pretty” and “fun”. The décor is definitely more vibrant than Royal/Celebrity/etc., with a lot of colors (especially carpets).

On the positive side, I thought it was extremely easy to find my way around, with most public spaces on deck 6,7, and 12. I really liked the design of most public rooms (theater, dining rooms, Spinnaker…) and I thought that the ship is in great shape overall. There were some signs of wear but nothing too noticeable (besides broken railings that were fixed by the end of the cruise). We spent a lot of time in both the Spinnaker and Great Outdoors and I would hesitate before booking the Star/Dawn due to their refurb changes.

On the other hand, I did miss the “wow” factor of a large atrium. I wish NCL had stuck with the Star/Dawn atrium design for the Jewel class. I (and mom/sister) didn’t like the shop design, either. We much prefer traditional, separate, smaller shops instead of one large one.

THE CABIN(S)

We booked one year out and got a great deal on a mini suite for the parents (11522) and an inside for the “kids” (11521). We LOVED the mini suite. It’s not much bigger than some regular balcony cabins on other ships, but the bathroom/tub was a huge plus. The balcony was also of a good size for a regular side cabin and there was a ton of storage (too much for 2 people!). This cabin was underneath the gym, but my parents were never bothered by noise (though they did hear some throughout the week).

The inside was (of course) not as impressive, but it suited our needs. There was plenty of space for two though the storage would be very tight for any more than that.

DINING

We really changed things up for this cruise. Before this, we had NEVER eaten in a specialty restaurant on any ship. Generally, we prefer traditional dining in order to get to know our waiters. Since that wasn’t an option, I decided it was best to break up MDR nights with specialty ones. Plus, since NCL uses so much space for its restaurants, it would feel like a waste to never go in any of them. So, as a Christmas present to the parents, we pre-booked Mama’s (now La Cucina), Cagney’s, Teppanyaki, and Moderno and we weren’t disappointed.

LA CUCINA: We weren’t exactly sure how to order and we ended up with too much food! We each got an appetizer, entrée, and desert plus a pizza to share (at the suggestion of our waiter). It was all very good but we would skip the pizza next time since there was plenty without it. I ordered the bruschetta (amazing), carbanara (good), and rhubarb panna cotta (fine). As reported by others, it was a common theme for the desert to be the lowlight of the dinner. The service was great and it was a good way to start the cruise (we aren’t lobster lovers and didn’t mind missing it in the MDR).

CAGNEY’S: By far the best meal of the cruise (and any cruise so far for that matter). I understand the gripes about the menu changes, but we all thought everything was amazing. The beef sliders and filet minon were terrific and the raspberry crème brulee was good. The only disappointment? The Cagney fries!! I honestly don’t understand the hype! Maybe they were under-seasoned that night, but they tasted no different than any other fry from any other restaurant :(. The service was good (not great).

TEPPANYAKI: This was a close second. I wasn’t a fan of the soup or seaweed salad (at all) but I LOVED the edamame, rice, and every meat that I tried (which was a lot). Like any hibachi restaurant, it’s more about the experience than the food (which was still great). Again, the desert (green tea cake) was a downer, though.

MODERNO: This was the only disappointment as far as specialties go. We saved this for last since we’ve never been to a Brazilian restaurant and, as a whole, were underwhelmed, especially in comparison to the other three. The salad bar and meats were good, just not great. Of all 10 options, I would only describe the filet minon as very good. The rest were just “good” to “bleh” (only the garlic beef fell into that category – none of us liked it at all). The desert menu was extremely limited and neither the flan or mango cream were impressive. Maybe it’s because it followed the other three GREAT restaurants, but this one didn’t come close. I’ve read rave reviews…am I crazy or was it just an “off” night???

Also, I'm glad to hear that they're moving these restaurants on the Jewel class. I think the current location works for a casual place like Blue Lagoon but not for one with a $20 upcharge per person.

MDRs: We enjoyed all of our dinners in the MDRs though they weren’t on the same level as the specialties. Surprisingly, most enjoyed Azura more and we ate there two nights. Tsars Palace is more impressive, but it’s also louder and feels busier. Service was pretty slow one night, average another, and VERY fast on the third. All of our waiters were polite but more distant than we’re used to on other lines with traditional dining. We thought the food was, on the whole, very good (which means nothing on this board, I know!). It would be nice to have more options, though, especially on the “tonight’s specials” side.

BLUE LAGOON: We ate here on the first sea day. The food was good but we stuck to the buffet for the rest of the cruise. The wings, as reported, were great! I also liked the tomato soup a lot and all of the deserts were very good. The service was VERY impersonal, though, and for some reason our waiter brought ALL of our appetizers and entrees at exactly the same time. Is that normal?? The tables aren’t very big, so that was a bit of a pain (and just weird).

GARDEN CAFÉ AND GREAT OUTDOORS: We ate here for every breakfast and most lunches. I liked the layout a lot and the lines never felt overly crowded (for a cruise ship buffet, anyway)…the chocoholic buffet was an exception. The food was as expected and always warm. Oh, and the syrup tasted fine to me. No complaints here!

ENTERTAINMENT

This one’s tough. There was plenty to do on the ship and we were never bored, but we weren’t “wowed” with the entertainment, especially the nightly shows. My sister and I thought the first production show (“Band on the Run”), comedian, ventriloquist, and magician were all just “okay” and not up to the standards of our previous two cruises on RCCL and Celebrity (which is strange, I know). The one exception was the second production show (“Cirque Bijou”), which was terrific.

WEATHER

This affected the enjoyment of the ports, so I’ll put it here. In one word, the weather was HORRIBLE! By far this was the worst I’ve ever seen. We’ve cruised in the winter before and have never experienced such crummy luck! I would love to know if it’s normal for a January cruise in the Western Caribbean since we’re planning one again next year!!!

After leaving New Orleans, we literally didn’t see the sun until day 5! Yep, not even a peek through the clouds. Even when it wasn’t raining, the wind kept us from really enjoying our time outdoors. Even on the fifth day, the sun only shone through the clouds for a few minutes before hiding again. So, when all was said and done, we ended up with 1.5 sunny days on our Caribbean vacation. Not. Cool.

PORTS

With that in mind, here’s my take on the ports:

COZUMEL: It was my 5th time here and by far the worst. The high was 71 degrees (!) with rain and wind (I’ll post pictures later but they don’t do any justice to the awfulness ;)). The plan WAS to shop and head to Paradise Beach, but we only managed to walk through the downtown shops and head to Margaritaville.

BELIZE CITY: This was my 3rd stop here and again (sadly) not the best. We had booked a cave tubing excursion which was cancelled the night before due to the weather (which was marginally better than the day before but still very rainy/overcast). Instead of tubing through caves and hiking through the forest, we hiked around the cruise port, plopped down at a bar with free wifi, and tried to stay dry.

ROATAN: I pre-booked the beach/snorkel package online through Bananarama, so we had no choice but to head to the beach, no matter the weather. Luckily, it was again slightly better than the day before but still overcast with showers. Even with the weather, we did enjoy our time on the beach and I would definitely recommend Bananarama. I'll post more details later.

COSTA MAYA: On our final port day, the weather was…GORGEOUS! Finally, it was sunny and in the 80’s! I had reserved 4 chairs at Tropicante after reading reviews on these boards. Again, I’ll get into details later, but I’ll just say that it was GREAT and I’ll be doing the same next time. This was definitely the best port day (kinda by default, I know).

SERVICE

Here’s where NCL really shined for us. This easily could have been a dismal vacation but, thanks to the crew, we can’t wait to head back! Besides some “meh” service in some of the dining rooms (as mentioned), we found everyone to be helpful AND cheerful. I LOVED the “welcome back” dancing, washy washy songs (of course) and pretty much everything else. It really separated the Jewel from some of my past cruises. I will say that the cruise director (Jamie) wasn’t our favorite…she was too dry for our tastes. She did her job well, though.

OVERALL

We all had a great week on the Jewel. The weather was horrible and none of our plans really worked out, but the crew saved the trip. The ship is great and I look forward to sailing on others of the same size. Next up is, ironically, Jewel of the Seas, but I’m sure I’ll be back to NCL in the near future!

Clearly, I'm not "loyal" to any one cruise line and I've enjoyed every single one. Sure, there are differences between them but the overall "feel" is basically the same to me (if that makes any sense). It's hard to compare, but I'd say that the general hierarchy is accurate as far as what you get: Carnival < Royal, NCL < Princess, Celebrity. Still, I look forward to cruising on all of these (and more!).

I hope I didn't forget anything important, but I'll cover a lot more (with pictures!!) later on.

Again, I'd love to answer any questions out there!

Thanks everyone for your imput, I'll take some time to decide whether or not I can take the smaller cabins and if I can't, I want be going to Hawaii via POA. No matter how port intensive the cruise, my space is important to me especially now that I can longer party till I drop, sleep a couple of hours, then head out again; but I get the point.

 

Just curious, does anyone know why NCL has a ship with such small cabin space that was built in 2005?

 

I think I'll call NCL to switch agents, I still can't belive I booked with him.:confused:

 

Thanks Again

Sheila

POA isn't a "true" NCL ship. She was originally designed for the United States Line, but the company went bankrupt before she was completed. NCL bought the design and hull and towed it to Germany to complete. They did make some design changes, but it was too late to change everything, including the tiny cabins :).

I think that the hull art is ok, but it definatly isn't my favorite. I like the Sun, Aloha, and Pearl the best.

Now that it looks like the Majesty will be the only older ship in the fleet after 2008, I think that they should go ahead and paint her hull as well, she should be included too!