T_Bone2012

This is very port intensive, with only 1 day out of 11 at sea.  I think we'll choose the extra cabin room over the balcony.

I am Booking an 11 day Mediterranean itinerary this week, and I am torn between the huge 97 sq foot balcony of #10079 vs a little more space and a few perks that come with Mini suite #11090.  Does anyone know if this is the most current list of extras that come with the mini-suite? With the Epic being so large, I am thinking that extra 5 day head start on booking "certain" entertainment and dining reservations may be worth it?  Does anyone have experience as to what "certain" excludes?

• The option to pre-book certain on-board entertainment and dining reservations up to 125 days before you set sail
• Complimentary treats delivered to your stateroom
• A complimentary bottle of sparkling wine on embarkation day
• The choice of either one complimentary laundry service or one complimentary pressing service
• The Bliss Collection by Norwegian mattress topper or memory-foam mattress, fine linens and choice of pillows

IS the spa package worth it? Are the facilities crowded?

On The Jewel, it was $298 per cabin for the week. We used it every evening to relax in the private hot tub, which was usually empty or only had 1 couple in it. We then relaxed on the heated lounges before heading to dinner. We often walked by the hot tubs outside, and noticed there were often 8-10 people jammed into them. For us, it was well worth it.

Hello T_Bone2012, please reach out to our lost and found coordinator directly at 305-436-4774. He would be happy to assist you with locating your lost items.

With all of the great recovery stories, I was hoping for a happy outcome. Unfortunately, they show nothing was turned in from our cabin after my 1/10 sailing, and nothing was turned in after 1/17 sailing was completed.

On the plus side, they did call back within a few hours of receiving my message.

When did your cruise end?

 

Our cruise ended 1/17, so I will check back early next week. I am glad so many have had good experiences with recovering forgotten items on Norwegian, because I sure enjoyed the cruise!

Are you saying that we make our way to Caye Caulker on our own and did hire them there? I have heard people talking about taking the water taxi. Is that it? Thanks.

You can find both companies on the pier where the tenders drop you off in Belize City. They take you out to Caye Caulker to pick up the gear, then you snorkel, then return to Caye Caulker to eat. You can book ahead - but I always wait until we get to Belize to check the weather, then pay cash right at the boat. Belize Express was $49 the day we went, but there were only 2 ships in port that day. Price may be based on demand. $60-65 sounds about normal.

I am still searching. Would like to do shark/stingray alley. But can't nail down the length and distance of the tour. Also keep getting the caye caulker and goff's caye mixed up in my mind. Now add hol chan and I'm super confused.

 

 

Kelley

We used Belize Express last week. They are located right across from the Wet Lizard. Ask for "King James"!!

The tour runs from 10AM - 2:30PM

Swim with the Rays and sharks @ Shark Ray Alley

Snorkel along the Barrier Reef

lunch @ Caye Caulker

free rum punch

They charged $49. The ship wanted $110 for the same tour.

Has anyone had a good experience with this group? I am interested because they have an observer price? We will have one snorkeling and one not. Thanks.

We used Belize Express last week. The ship wanted $110 for this excursion.

For $49 "King James" took us to Shark Ray Alley where we were able to hold some Rays and snorkel with the nurse sharks. Next they took us for a snorkeling along the barrier reef, and even took us into the bay @ Caye Caulker to feed the Tarpin (ask them about the lady who had her hand nibbled on!!!).

Then we were able to wander around Caye Caulker, snacked on some lobster kabobs and relax for an hour before returning.

Oh - they also offer free rum punch!!

They are right across from the wet lizard. This tour was the best value of any tour I have taken!

enjoy!

Wow - We just had a great cruise on the Jewel - great crew - great food - great weather. As we were unpacking, we found that we were missing some items that we had packed. In fact, it was an entire drawer worth of items.

We thought we checked all the drawers, but we forgot to check one - the desk drawer in front of the mirror. I called NCL guest relations, but he said he didn't see my items on the big list of stuff that was in the lost and found bin. I explained that it was a whole drawer full of material left in a cabin, gave him my cabin#, and he once again stated that he only had a list, and din't see any of my items on it. He suggested to call back in a week or two to see if it gets turned in after the next sailing.

Has anyone had luck getting items back that were left in the cabin ( curling iron, backup laptop battery, camera, phone chargers, makeup, etc)?

Does anyone know the email contact info for any of the Jewel leadership?

Hotel Director.....................Steven Jacobsen

Exec Housekeeper...............Ronny Dsouza

Guest Services Mgr..............Gary Aldredge

I was hoping if I could get them an email, I may have a better chance of recovering our items. Any other advice would be helpful!!

Sailed the Jewel a couple of weeks ago. Here's what I know/experienced:

 

 

when we disembarked and passed through customs last month, an elderly lady was barely visible and "loosely" directing people towards the Texas duty table around the corner . . so enforcement seemed to be very lax - didn't see anyone declaring anything ;-)

Yes - TX has some strange laws. If you keep the bottles in the cardboard carry boxes, you will be directed to the duty table and will need to go pay tax. If you pack your bottles in your luggage and do not declare, no problem.

All,

 

There was another thread with scans of the dailies from the first sailing that included the Banana Coast / Trujillo (Oct 11-18). If anyone wants to link to that thread from this thread, that would be fine.

 

Here, though, are the dailies from the Nov 15-22 sailing for comparison.

 

In addition, here are scans of all of the schedules from Splash Academy for that sailing.

 

here is a scan of the flyer for the Banana Coast / Trujillo, including a couple of maps.

 

Note that on the dailies, the schedule shows mojito flights available on the first evening. This has been appearing every week in the dailies (from what I can tell), even though the Jewel cannot serve the flights until after they leave Texas waters (late at night).

 

Thanks for posting!

We board the Jewel in about 5 hours! I have sailed on small ships and medium sized (RCCL Navigator of the Seas). I will let you know how it compares in a week or so!

[*] Oceanview Staterooms 5048- 5070 are generally under bar areas. Again, we suggest looking for a stateroom elsewhere, bringing along ear plugs, or investing in a wave machine for light sleepers.

I will report back and let you know if we have any issues (#5070)!!!

Does anyone know if any of the ships excursions honor the UBP?

I am on The Jewel 1/10 and that would make it even a better deal!

Okay... can someone help us out with the math here?

 

We (three, but lets just say two because one of us is a three and a half year old) are booked for a 10 day cruise in an inside cabin because that's all we need, but with this inside cabin you can't get the promo that is going on right now.

 

If we switch to a oceanview, the minimum to be able to get the promotion, the cost of the trip goes up $340.

 

How many drinks are $340? Over the course of 9 days (the last doesn't count) for two people how much would we need to drink a day to make it worth upgrading our room to save money on drinks in the long run with the promo?

I just booked my cruise, and it was a no brainer to upgrade. My total cost moving from an inside cabin to outside guarantee was only $80 pp ( UBP was free). They offered a $200 cabin credit, UDP ($238) or UBP ($770). I ended up in cabin 5070. I feel it is worth the additional cost just for the view.

You book on the ship - and you don't have to be first one the ship. I booked our spa pass on the BA several hours after boarding.

Awesome. Thanks for the information.

Does anyone know if these packages can be booked ahead of time, or do I have to wait to get on the ship? This is my first time on NCL, and I have a feeling they may be sold out before my "non-elite - first time on NCL" status gets to board the ship!

Jewel

Bora Bora Health Spa (Jewel)

- $119/pp for 7-day cruises

Do you need reservations for any of the shows, or do you just show up. We have a few 730 specialty reservations and unsure if we would get seats for the 915 shows walking in right at 9 or so.

I have heard that the service is pretty slow in all of the restaurants, and that you should plan on 2 hrs+ to complete dinner service. for a 9:15 show, you should make reservations for 6:30-6:45 to get a good seat at a 9:15 show.

Thanks for taking the time to post this review. I am booked on The Jewel leaving 1/10, and have never sailed NCL. It's fun to read about the ship ahead of time.

Terry

I recently booked the jewel 1/10/15 outside guarantee. I usually book RCCL way ahead and pick a cabin of my choosing, so this is a first for me. I couldn't pass up the $359pp price, especially when they also threw in the Ultimate Drink Package. Leaving out of Houston is great, as it's only a 4 hour drive for me, and gas is only 1.81/gallon down here in TX.

I was just assigned room 5070, which looks like it is a non-obstructed window cabin below 3 bars (I thought we would have a completely obstructed view or a small porthole ). Can anyone that has stayed on deck 5 on the starboard (right) side of a Jewel class ship under the 3 bars comment on the noise or lack of noise at night? Is cabin 5070 a good deal for an OX price?

Also - if I book OX (outside guarantee), can I call and request a room change?

Any input or advice is welcome.

Thanks,

Terry

The time in Belize, Mexico and Honduras are all CST...the same as Houston where you are leaving from.

If you are arranging a private tour at a tender port, make sure you get back to the port a little early. I booked a private snorkeling tour in Belize, and we ran into a sudden heavy afternoon thunderstorm on the way back to the ship. The trip from to Hol Chan Reserve to the port usually takes a little over an hour, but it took over 2-1/2 hrs to get back because of the wind, high seas, and rain. luckily, the rain sowed the tenders down too - so there were still people waiting on the last tender. We were able to make it back before the ship left. Since it was not a ship excursion, they would not have waited for us. Some of the ships tours are crowded, and it definitely made me more aware of time when going out on my own!

Yes, we came in early to avoid any delay due to fog. Last January we had a 5 hour delay on Princess because of fog.

 

 

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Our RCCL ship was delayed about 5 hours coming back into port a few years ago. It was strange waking up that last morning and hearing fog horns! We drove down to houston, so I didn't mind the extra 1/2 day on the ship. I'm sure it was a nightmare for any of those who had early afternoon flights. RCCL did a great job handling the delay, and they had a whole morning's worth of activities planned to keep everyone busy. Those who were catching flights on the Jewel probably appreciated the early arrival!

I will let you know once I get back! I am just looking forward to not even thinking about a large bar tab at the end of the cruise. When I booked last week, I was given the offer of either the dining package ( about $240), $200 OBC, or the ultimate beverage package. I figure anything we spend over $240 on drinks / soda is a savings for us!

guess I"ll just have to book a cruise with the free ubp promo and see what I get...

I was just quoted $359 PP for 7 day Jewel - ocean view 1/3/14 includes the drink package. Wow.

We Sailed on The Mariner OTS out of Galveston last year, and really enjoyed it. The port was easy to get to, and was a breeze to embark. We stayed the night in galveston - and had some fantastic seafood at Gaido's. Roatan / Belize /Cozumel was a great itinerary. Sometimes fog is an issue in Jan / Feb. We are booked on The Navigator next April after dry dock. Here is my review from last year - lots of pics.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1566271