Fresh off the Jewel last Sunday ~ Questions?

[Dancinfeet]

Thanks starfish for the reply. We have an excursion booked for the Tabyana Beach Party in Roatan. Since it is at a resort they probably treat the area. I had read on ports of call Roatan about the sand fleas and read many different opinions. I guess it depends on when you go there. We will be going at the end of March. A lot of them said to bring bug repellent and that was a turnoff for me! Did you go to Tabyana beach and if so did you like it? NCL was still putting chocolates on the pillow on the Jewel 3 years ago so they stopped doing it since then.

[tls630]

No chocolates on the pillow now. And the ventriliquist Is a man name Byrd. Very ,very good! All of the entertainment was absolutely great. The very best I have seen on any ship any where.

[becky48417]

I can say yes, there were 3 omellette (sp?) stations at the Garden Cafe breakfast buffet.

 

Beer was buy 5 get 1 free. It was just about $30 for a bucket of 6 bottles of beer. The souveneir drinks were about $10 for dacquari's, etc... You could purchase them in a small cup for $7.50.

 

Tim Kaminski was hilarious but he left the ship last Sunday. The ship itself was great but we weren't crazy about the entertainment. It felt like you always had to wait for something to start...lots of gaps in the music. The poolside band would play for a couple of hours, take a 2 hour break, then play for a couple more hours. I'm

 

The ports were the best we've ever been to and I HIGHLY recommend Maya Chan Beach in Costa Maya. It was excellent!!

 

Thanks for your mini updata (review). You say that the Maya Chan beach was great. Given that we will not be in the Caribbean probably ever again, would you suggest us going to the ruins instead? We are from Australia and it is easy for us to get to beaches, but hard to find old ruins!!).

Thanks

 

 

Like you said, beaches are everywhere. I would probably go to the ruins.

[becky48417]

Hi Becky

 

We are in Belleville. We go to Frankenmuth just about every year for a chicken dinner at Zenders and we have also shopped at the outlet mall in Birch Run. Looking forward to getting on the Jewel again at the end of March. It's a beautiful ship. We will be doing the Tabyana Beach Party excursion in Roatan and the Jungle Beach Break in Costa Maya and the Train Tour in Belize. We will probably stay on the ship when they go to the private island since we were there 3 years ago. No need to see it twice. We will just kick back and enjoy the ship. I read somewhere that you no longer get chocolates on your pillow at night. Is that true? One more question, were you bothered by sand fleas in Roatan?

 

Sharon

 

There were no chocolates on the pillows but you still got the towel animals. We didn't have any issue with sand fleas at Bananarama Beach Resort, but I can't speak for other areas. Enjoy, we had a wonderful time!

[CruisinMaterial]

I was wrong - thinking of the Crew Talent Show......The White Party was indeed on Wed night.

 

The Crew Talent Show is spectacular. There are some very talented crew members onboard the Norwegian Jewel. Plus, FOUNTAINS is always a great show no matter who does it! :D

[sherylnGa]

Becky,

we're booking the LA to Vancouver sailing in April on the Norwegian Pearl. I noticed that some cabins appear to have some type of cover or overhang over the balcony section of the room. It looks like an enclosure/porch rather than the open balcony with rail that we're used to. I've researched every thing I can on here to try to determine which cabins have this but can't seem to get a clear answer. Can you help?

We prefer not to have this enclosed type balcony but an open one.

thanks

sheryl

[adelchamps]

Hi,

 

How was the Bananarama Resort? I am booking there for a cruise at end of March on Jewel. Was it crowded (only one other ship a princessin port with us and we dock one hour earlier)? Where there any other activities specifically beach volleyball? How far was the bathrooms from the beach? Do you have to go to bar or do they have cocktail servers on beach? I do not see a pool, do they have one?

 

Thanks in advance....

 

April:)

[STARFISH*4]

Thanks starfish for the reply. We have an excursion booked for the Tabyana Beach Party in Roatan. Since it is at a resort they probably treat the area. I had read on ports of call Roatan about the sand fleas and read many different opinions. I guess it depends on when you go there. We will be going at the end of March. A lot of them said to bring bug repellent and that was a turnoff for me! Did you go to Tabyana beach and if so did you like it? NCL was still putting chocolates on the pillow on the Jewel 3 years ago so they stopped doing it since then.

 

no, we didnt do TABYANA Beach...it was Turqouise Bay Beach-nice little beach- wasnt like the one in Costa Maya-but still was a nice little place to end up for 1 1/2 hr or so...hubby got a massage too...but if you want one SAVE for Costa Maya...much cheaper 50-hr for $20 bucks

we did put BUG SPRAY on when we started the tour as when we got in our van there was a 'squito' on someone, but hrs later never bothered by anything or Sand Fleas and i never heard anyone talk of them either.

[becky48417]

Sheryl ~ Can't help with the balconies, we were in an interior as it was a last minute booking.

 

April ~ Bananarama was beautiful. We had one other ship in port as well, but it wasn't so crowded we couldn't get a table at the bar in the shade. The beach was at the bottom of the stairway off the deck we were sitting on. The water was about 25 ft away. They had good snack food, burgers and fries. The drink specials we had were rum punch 2/$5 and bananarama's 2/$5. They had beach chairs and umbrellas directly on the beach, jet ski's for rent and live music. I didn't see any beach volleyball. The bathrooms were not too far from the beach, depending on where you sit. They were the cleanest we've seen in port for a while too! I didn't see a pool, but we hung out at the beach most of the time. There were no cocktail servers on the beach that I saw, either.

When you say you booked it, I'm not sure what you mean. The place we went to was a resort, but the beach access was public. You paid for the chairs/umbrellas on the beach and any food/drinks but we didn't book anything to get there, we just took a taxi.

[vak58]

Actually, there was a cappuchino (sp?) machine in the buffet on deck 12. Not exactly sure where, but my hubby brought me one almost every morning with breakfast.

 

 

The machine was to the far left of all of the coffee/juice machines, right before the ice cream machine next to the mai entrance to teh Garden Cafe. ......for some reason it is not marked differently than the other machines...

[debnjoe1438]

Sheryl ~ Can't help with the balconies, we were in an interior as it was a last minute booking.

 

April ~ Bananarama was beautiful. We had one other ship in port as well, but it wasn't so crowded we couldn't get a table at the bar in the shade. The beach was at the bottom of the stairway off the deck we were sitting on. The water was about 25 ft away. They had good snack food, burgers and fries. The drink specials we had were rum punch 2/$5 and bananarama's 2/$5. They had beach chairs and umbrellas directly on the beach, jet ski's for rent and live music. I didn't see any beach volleyball. The bathrooms were not too far from the beach, depending on where you sit. They were the cleanest we've seen in port for a while too! I didn't see a pool, but we hung out at the beach most of the time. There were no cocktail servers on the beach that I saw, either.

When you say you booked it, I'm not sure what you mean. The place we went to was a resort, but the beach access was public. You paid for the chairs/umbrellas on the beach and any food/drinks but we didn't book anything to get there, we just took a taxi.

 

My husband has a friend on Roatan and he took us to Banamarama. Very nice beach & resort. We didn't pay to get there, or for anything other than the drinks we ordered.

[adelchamps]

I was planning to book but now i am confused. The fee is $30pp and they pick you up at ship and drop you back off and you get a beach chair and a welcome drink.......should i just grab a cab @ port and ask to be taken to bananarama resort and then pay for a chair. I have read so much about very high cab fares and the problems with cab drivers being fair. Is this a rip off or just a slight mark-up for convenience?

 

What is best? Are the cab drivers and fare (I was told $20 pp roundtrip to west beaches) not as bad as i have read?

 

Thank you.

 

April

[adelchamps]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me price for taxi from port to Banarama (roundtrip for two people). I am trying to figure out if i should book pacckage or just do it on my own......

 

Thanks

 

April

[guitarguy119]

What was the reason for skipping Great Stirrup Key? I went last year, and enjoyed hiking snorkling, and fishing there. I'm going next weekend out of Miami, and will be dissapointed if they don't stop there.

[swanny727]

What was the reason for skipping Great Stirrup Key? I went last year, and enjoyed hiking snorkling, and fishing there. I'm going next weekend out of Miami, and will be dissapointed if they don't stop there.

 

On the Jan 31 Jewel, Bad weather, rain and high seas made anchoring-tendering unsafe at GSC. Nassau was also having bad weather and the dock at Key West was "full". Instead we had another Day at Sea at a verrrry sloow pace.

[afloat4ever]

do they add any other activities when they have 2 extra days at sea?

[Pookiepotpie2]

Hello....is there an option to pay to spend time in the spa/pool area when we were on Gem you could pay $75 pp for the week it was very nice:)

[swanny727]

do they add any other activities when they have 2 extra days at sea?

 

 

I'm not sure - We spent the day by the pool. There were pool games and the reggae band. Maybe Bingo.... ((It was 1 extra day which made it 2 days in a row on board.))

[UandMe4Ever]

Hi, I already asked about free cap. etc. but I'm still trying to find out if a BA Balcony has a real coffee pot or just a pot to boil water for instant coffee :-( Can I ask the room steward for one??? (We'd tip him extra!!!). Also trying to find pictures of cabin and bathroom....Seems there is NO night table near the bed or either side. What about closet and drawer space? We'll be on 10-10-10 Jewel to Pt. Can./Bahamas. Any feedback is truly appreciated, especially bathroom, etc. pictures.

 

Thanks very much in advance.

 

Safe travels always!!