Just back form the Jewel

[Joecadd8269]

:DThis was my first NCL Cruise and I must say I really enjoyed it.

 

We had a 6 cabin group of family and friends with us including my 10 month old.

 

We have sailed RCCL, Celebrity and Princess extensively and finally wanted to give NCL a try.

 

So here is a brief review of our trip.

 

Embarkation

 

Went fairly smooth, I got slowed down at the 1st security checkpoint due to NCL not printing my sans name on the Docs they Mailed to us. We were told that only the 1st and 2nd passengers names are printed on the mailed docs (i should have printed the e-docs as well but that is on me not NCL) After visiting a manager who verified the info from the ships manifest we were allowed thru security.

 

Check in was fine and the staff were very nice. The total time even with the 3rd passenger doc delay we were on board within 30 minutes.

 

THE SHIP

 

We found our staterooms very well appointed Cabin 8542. We loved the location of our cabin in relation to elevators, spinnaker, casino, Stardust and others. The ship was extremely clean and in my opinion did not show much wear and tear. Our Balcony had paint ships all over the place from most likely a Power washer, took a minute to clean up and we were back in business. I liked most of the layout of this ship for the most part except the Tsars palace entrance. As said above were were travelling with my 10 month old and we had a great plan of walking him around the ships outside deck on 7 for a bit in the stroller, he would fall asleep and we could enjoy dinner. This plan worked great except for the fact that there is only 1 elevator that can take you to the lower entrance to TSARS which seemed to take forever. one particular night we waited almost 10 minutes for the elevator a few of them came but were full. Finally we decided to carry the stroller down the steps and that proved to be much quicker most of the week. We thought about going to Azura but we had a group reservation for all 6 cabins for 8:30 every night and Azura could not handle the group.

 

 

CREW

We found the crew to be wonderful. Since we were travelling with my 10 month old it seemed the crew went out of there way to say hello and play with him. It blew me away and the number of staff that would come over to him and play with him or say hello. The dinning room staff by the 3rd day had his name down (not our waiter others in the dining room) and were bringing him little toys to play with and one young waitress even came over sat on the floor so that she could be eye level with my son (high chair) and played peek-a-boo for 5-6 minutes. It was so nice of them to treat him so well and to go out of their way to make him smile. It almost made me feel as if my son in one way or another reminded them of children in their families.

 

We found our cruise director to be OK, but thought the assistant cruise director was much better (sinnan I think his name was)

 

Bar staff was OK

 

We played Trivia sometimes 2-3 times a day (really like it) and we always found the cruise staff that performed the trivia was very good. The day we left Nassau we played Trivia in the FIZZ lounge and the staff had a problem of the remote control not working from the distance she was positioned so I offered to work the remote for her and as a thank you she sent me very nice bag of gifts to the room. It included 2 NCL T-Shirts, 2 NCL plastic luggage Tags, A Metal collectors pin and few coupons to various things. I thought that was very nice of here to do especially since it was really nothing for me to help other than push a button.

 

 

Weather:

This trip had some of the best weather I have ever had on a cruise. Days 1-6 were all very similar, Sunny, slight breeze, 80-90 degrees. Sea state went from 0.5-1.5 feet the first few days to at its worst 4-7 feet which was still very smooth.

the last day of the trip it only reached 75 and we had a brief shower but the week as a whole was a great weather week. I could not have asked for better.

 

 

Ports of Call:

 

Port Canaveral: Went to Kennedy Space Center which was great, I have been there several times.

 

We also left Cocoa Beach and went to the town of Cocoa to Cocoa Village where we found some great shops and restaurants. My only advice here is these shops close at 5-6 PM so get there earlier to see them all.

 

Nassau: We have been to Nassau so many times now we almost find it boring. But we did take a walk thru the shopping area and the straw market. All I can say is Thank God they are building a new straw market there. The make shift one they have now seems to get worse and worse every time I am there. Afterwards we walked over to the public beach on the other side of the British Colonial Hilton which was OK, the water was nice but the sand had a lot of gravel mixed in. I really think at this point my only joy out of going to Nassau is being able to see so many other cruise ships in port. The following ships were in port

NCL Jewel

NCL SKY

RCCL Monarch

RCCL Majesty

Carnival Triumph

Seven Sea's Navigator

 

Great Stirrup Cay

 

Was a nice island, beaches were nice, We Para sailed which was very nice and the buffet was OK. The shops on the island were OK 5 or 6 little shops that all seemed to have the same 20 things for sale. It was very hot the day were were there so we only spent 3 hours or so on the island.

 

 

 

THE FOOD

 

Garden Buffet: We found the food to be very good in the buffet all week. We had low expectations of the buffet due to Cruise Critic posts and reviews leading up to our trip. I must say the only issue I had with the Buffet was it always seemed like the hot dog and hamburger rolls were stale. But other than that we enjoyed every trip to the Garden Buffet. Oh and CC posters were right, The famous PRETZELS ROLLS are great. Although I found a new favorite way to eat them, since the hot dog rolls were a bit stale, some days they would have Large Longer Pretzels rolls that you could use as a Hot Dog Roll. With a hot dog and some Mustard these were awesome.

 

Blue Lagoon: In fact has some of the BEST WINGS I have ever had. Breakfast was very limited there but still good (my wife and I can not eat eggs). For lunch we loved the mostly everything we tried and again especially the wings (we went several days for them). Desserts were good tried the Cheesecake and the Brownie Sunday, both were very good.

 

Tsars Palace and Azura: Found the food and staff there to be excellent. Although dinner took awhile we loved the food there. The only downside was lobster night. Asked for more and were told sorry they were out. We did have a large group and were seated at 9:00 so that was probably why they were out of them. Deserts were good, mostly just got the Ice Cream with Butterscotch on top which I really could not get enough of.

 

Sushi Bar: Went here only Once but I wish we had time to go back. I found the sushi fresh and very very good. Staff was OK here but they were very busy so I to me that was understandable. I loved the Dynamite Roll here.

 

Cagney's: Really enjoyed this restaurant but others in my group did not care for it as much as I did (a few of them got steaks that were not cooked as requested and then they came back over cooked) But I enjoyed it. I got Shrimp Cocktail (huge Shrimp) Wedge Salad (very tasty) 10 oz Fillet (cooked great and very tender) backed potato (hard to screw up) and for dessert the dessert sampler (very interesting and very good)

 

Room service: Very good and reliable, Tried Pizza, Border Salad and Grilled Cheese all were good but the Grilled cheese was a little Blah

 

All in all I thought the food on this ship was fantastic and I am very confused but some of the previous posts and reviews by a "FEW PEOPLE" who had said otherwise.

 

Overall

we had a wonderful trip and we look forward to trying NCL again in the future

[Awwsnuffie]

Thanks for the post! My trip on the Jewel leaves in 18 days (first cruise ever) and I can't be more excited!

[bahama2]

for the fair review. I will be on the Jewel May 22nd and I just love reading about her. Did you attend the Meet and Greet? Did you meet the Hotel Director John O'Hara? Unfortunately he'll be leaving for vacation when I get on the ship. I'm glad you had such a nice vacation and I hope the rest of your summer is just as good.:)

[Fivehole]

Great review - thanks! Can you tell me anything more about the cabin? We are staying in the same category, two connecting BD. (From the look of the deck plan, I don't think yours connected). Is the "hull" balcony very shaded or do you get some sun?

[newmexicoNita]

:DThis was my first NCL Cruise and I must say I really enjoyed it.

 

We had a 6 cabin group of family and friends with us including my 10 month old.

 

We have sailed RCCL, Celebrity and Princess extensively and finally wanted to give NCL a try.

 

So here is a brief review of our trip.

 

Embarkation

 

Went fairly smooth, I got slowed down at the 1st security checkpoint due to NCL not printing my sans name on the Docs they Mailed to us. We were told that only the 1st and 2nd passengers names are printed on the mailed docs (i should have printed the e-docs as well but that is on me not NCL) After visiting a manager who verified the info from the ships manifest we were allowed thru security.

 

Check in was fine and the staff were very nice. The total time even with the 3rd passenger doc delay we were on board within 30 minutes.

 

THE SHIP

 

We found our staterooms very well appointed Cabin 8542. We loved the location of our cabin in relation to elevators, spinnaker, casino, Stardust and others. The ship was extremely clean and in my opinion did not show much wear and tear. Our Balcony had paint ships all over the place from most likely a Power washer, took a minute to clean up and we were back in business. I liked most of the layout of this ship for the most part except the Tsars palace entrance. As said above were were travelling with my 10 month old and we had a great plan of walking him around the ships outside deck on 7 for a bit in the stroller, he would fall asleep and we could enjoy dinner. This plan worked great except for the fact that there is only 1 elevator that can take you to the lower entrance to TSARS which seemed to take forever. one particular night we waited almost 10 minutes for the elevator a few of them came but were full. Finally we decided to carry the stroller down the steps and that proved to be much quicker most of the week. We thought about going to Azura but we had a group reservation for all 6 cabins for 8:30 every night and Azura could not handle the group.

 

 

CREW

We found the crew to be wonderful. Since we were travelling with my 10 month old it seemed the crew went out of there way to say hello and play with him. It blew me away and the number of staff that would come over to him and play with him or say hello. The dinning room staff by the 3rd day had his name down (not our waiter others in the dining room) and were bringing him little toys to play with and one young waitress even came over sat on the floor so that she could be eye level with my son (high chair) and played peek-a-boo for 5-6 minutes. It was so nice of them to treat him so well and to go out of their way to make him smile. It almost made me feel as if my son in one way or another reminded them of children in their families.

 

We found our cruise director to be OK, but thought the assistant cruise director was much better (sinnan I think his name was)

 

Bar staff was OK

 

We played Trivia sometimes 2-3 times a day (really like it) and we always found the cruise staff that performed the trivia was very good. The day we left Nassau we played Trivia in the FIZZ lounge and the staff had a problem of the remote control not working from the distance she was positioned so I offered to work the remote for her and as a thank you she sent me very nice bag of gifts to the room. It included 2 NCL T-Shirts, 2 NCL plastic luggage Tags, A Metal collectors pin and few coupons to various things. I thought that was very nice of here to do especially since it was really nothing for me to help other than push a button.

 

 

Weather:

This trip had some of the best weather I have ever had on a cruise. Days 1-6 were all very similar, Sunny, slight breeze, 80-90 degrees. Sea state went from 0.5-1.5 feet the first few days to at its worst 4-7 feet which was still very smooth.

the last day of the trip it only reached 75 and we had a brief shower but the week as a whole was a great weather week. I could not have asked for better.

 

 

Ports of Call:

 

Port Canaveral: Went to Kennedy Space Center which was great, I have been there several times.

 

We also left Cocoa Beach and went to the town of Cocoa to Cocoa Village where we found some great shops and restaurants. My only advice here is these shops close at 5-6 PM so get there earlier to see them all.

 

Nassau: We have been to Nassau so many times now we almost find it boring. But we did take a walk thru the shopping area and the straw market. All I can say is Thank God they are building a new straw market there. The make shift one they have now seems to get worse and worse every time I am there. Afterwards we walked over to the public beach on the other side of the British Colonial Hilton which was OK, the water was nice but the sand had a lot of gravel mixed in. I really think at this point my only joy out of going to Nassau is being able to see so many other cruise ships in port. The following ships were in port

NCL Jewel

NCL SKY

RCCL Monarch

RCCL Majesty

Carnival Triumph

Seven Sea's Navigator

 

Great Stirrup Cay

 

Was a nice island, beaches were nice, We Para sailed which was very nice and the buffet was OK. The shops on the island were OK 5 or 6 little shops that all seemed to have the same 20 things for sale. It was very hot the day were were there so we only spent 3 hours or so on the island.

 

 

 

THE FOOD

 

Garden Buffet: We found the food to be very good in the buffet all week. We had low expectations of the buffet due to Cruise Critic posts and reviews leading up to our trip. I must say the only issue I had with the Buffet was it always seemed like the hot dog and hamburger rolls were stale. But other than that we enjoyed every trip to the Garden Buffet. Oh and CC posters were right, The famous PRETZELS ROLLS are great. Although I found a new favorite way to eat them, since the hot dog rolls were a bit stale, some days they would have Large Longer Pretzels rolls that you could use as a Hot Dog Roll. With a hot dog and some Mustard these were awesome.

 

Blue Lagoon: In fact has some of the BEST WINGS I have ever had. Breakfast was very limited there but still good (my wife and I can not eat eggs). For lunch we loved the mostly everything we tried and again especially the wings (we went several days for them). Desserts were good tried the Cheesecake and the Brownie Sunday, both were very good.

 

Tsars Palace and Azura: Found the food and staff there to be excellent. Although dinner took awhile we loved the food there. The only downside was lobster night. Asked for more and were told sorry they were out. We did have a large group and were seated at 9:00 so that was probably why they were out of them. Deserts were good, mostly just got the Ice Cream with Butterscotch on top which I really could not get enough of.

 

Sushi Bar: Went here only Once but I wish we had time to go back. I found the sushi fresh and very very good. Staff was OK here but they were very busy so I to me that was understandable. I loved the Dynamite Roll here.

 

Cagney's: Really enjoyed this restaurant but others in my group did not care for it as much as I did (a few of them got steaks that were not cooked as requested and then they came back over cooked) But I enjoyed it. I got Shrimp Cocktail (huge Shrimp) Wedge Salad (very tasty) 10 oz Fillet (cooked great and very tender) backed potato (hard to screw up) and for dessert the dessert sampler (very interesting and very good)

 

Room service: Very good and reliable, Tried Pizza, Border Salad and Grilled Cheese all were good but the Grilled cheese was a little Blah

 

All in all I thought the food on this ship was fantastic and I am very confused but some of the previous posts and reviews by a "FEW PEOPLE" who had said otherwise.

 

Overall

we had a wonderful trip and we look forward to trying NCL again in the future

 

Thanks for a really good review, interesting about Cagney's. I am not a Cagney's fan, but love Le Bistro, hubby and some other family members prefer Cagney's. This shows how subjective food really is.

 

Nita

[billys mom]

Thanks for the review...how was the cabin, we are staying in the same catagory and was wondering about size, I know you only sleep there, but was just curious.

[whenisthemidnightbuffet?]

Thanks for taking the time to write. Enjoyed reading about the ship and your impressions, will be sailing on June 26th and can't wait. I agree with you about Nassau, been there, done that, a million times. This year booked a "swim with sea lions" at Blue Lagoon because of all of the great reviews I read about the BL and now am looking forward to Nassau.

[lauritagoddess]

Thanks for the review. Can you tell me more about the Kennedy Space Center excursion? Thanks. :)

[stevesmom]

dh and I were on the same cruise... our first !!!! The meet and greet was the best idea.....we were really glad we attended. WE met the Captain and quite a few of the dept heads. They all were extremely pleasant and approachable. By going to the meet&greet not only were we able to ask questions of fellow cruisers,but we recieved an invitation to tour the bridge !!!! Quite a few people that we talked to said that they have never had a captain that was such a down to earth man.He answered questions and gave us explainations with such wonderful patience.

The tour of Cape Kennedy was really interesting.But, be advised that there is alot of walking even witht the buses in between the areas. and not too much shade. The 3d movie about the Hubble is great and highly recommended.

By the way, anything that you find a problem can be easily handled by the staff. I was very impressed with the natural friendliness that just seemed to radiate from them. The dept head of the restaurants was wonderful !!!! She (so sorry I did not write down her name..I think it is Mihelina...hope someone has the correct spelling)made us smile with her pleasant nature. :)

I now can appreciate why people think so highly of cruises. It was an overall wonderful experience .There was a great mix of ages and activities (or not) for all. I do have to add that I was really glad I was not aboard the Carnival ship that was next to us at port. Although I love music, and have cds playing all the time.... the earbending volume would have given me headaches......:eek:

[sottovoce]

 

All in all I thought the food on this ship was fantastic and I am very confused but some of the previous posts and reviews by a "FEW PEOPLE" who had said otherwise.

Many of us are equally "confused." NCL's food is perfectly fine. There is amazing choice, even in the buffet on Jewel-class ships. The quality is at least comparable to other mass-market lines, and there are more venues and cuisines to choose from.

[newmexicoNita]

Many of us are equally "confused." NCL's food is perfectly fine. There is amazing choice, even in the buffet on Jewel-class ships. The quality is at least comparable to other mass-market lines, and there are more venues and cuisines to choose from.

 

We found the food on the Pearl good to very good 99% of the time. My pork roast one night was dry, thank goodness they have put gravy on it. I don't think one other person in our group of 6 had a bad thing to say. Oh, I take that back one person didn't think much of the fish and chips in Blue Lagoon. WE did find the service, one night in the MDR awful, and in Blue Lagoon a little slow twice, but other than that we had no complaints. We ate in specialty dining rooms, Blue Lagoon, the buffet and the main dining rooms. Remember some people will take one or two negatives and see the entire thing more on a negative side, others will do the opposite.

 

Nita

[DMH15]

We found the food on the Pearl good to very good 99% of the time. My pork roast one night was dry, thank goodness they have put gravy on it. I don't think one other person in our group of 6 had a bad thing to say. Oh, I take that back one person didn't think much of the fish and chips in Blue Lagoon. WE did find the service, one night in the MDR awful, and in Blue Lagoon a little slow twice, but other than that we had no complaints. We ate in specialty dining rooms, Blue Lagoon, the buffet and the main dining rooms. Remember some people will take one or two negatives and see the entire thing more on a negative side, others will do the opposite.

 

Nita

 

I agree with you and Sotto. I am a chef and a real foodie and my NCL food experience has been fine. I do not cruise to eat, but rather eat while cruising. I love the variety NCL offers and I am never opposed to paying a charge for more variety in food, atmosphere, service, etc. I have had wonderful meals and some so-so, but nothing awful (although I did on Carnival - the worst Eggs Benedict I have ever tasted in my life). Only X would receive higher marks for food, but NCL has to be 2nd of the 4 lines I have cruised.

[Joecadd8269]

for the fair review. I will be on the Jewel May 22nd and I just love reading about her. Did you attend the Meet and Greet? Did you meet the Hotel Director John O'Hara? Unfortunately he'll be leaving for vacation when I get on the ship. I'm glad you had such a nice vacation and I hope the rest of your summer is just as good.:)

 

I did not attend the meet and greet but I did speak on the phone with John O'Hara and found him to be extreamly helpfull. Also on of the couples in our group had to reach out to him over a customer serivce issue (they found the front desk folks very rude after an escalated shore excursion issue.... Not sure I was not there but it sounded a bit fabricated..) they also found him very fair. He ended up giving them a Bottle of wine, $30 credits each and free dining at Chin Chin.

[Joecadd8269]

Thanks for the review. Can you tell me more about the Kennedy Space Center excursion? Thanks. :)

 

 

We did not book the excursion, We actually rented a Van from BUDGET. we have 9 people going there so we thought it would less to rent the van for $94 for the day and then Tropicana rewards has a $5 coupon available for Kennedy Space Center we used as well. So it ended up being $28 (i think to get in)

 

thats only $39 or so pp to go to kennedy for the day. we also took the Van to Cocoa Villiage as well.

 

Budget actually stayed open as late as 8PM to return the car and shuttle you back to the port. I would definetly recommend them to you if needed.

 

321-252-0033

 

Thanks

[Joecadd8269]

Thanks for the review...how was the cabin, we are staying in the same catagory and was wondering about size, I know you only sleep there, but was just curious.

 

 

We found the Cabin ok as far as size, If it was not for a Crib in the room with us we would have had plenty of room.

 

The balcony was very average in size. 2 chairs and a small table

[Joecadd8269]

Great review - thanks! Can you tell me anything more about the cabin? We are staying in the same category, two connecting BD. (From the look of the deck plan, I don't think yours connected). Is the "hull" balcony very shaded or do you get some sun?

 

 

The Balcony was very average and we found that it was in the shade most of the time. At the most we only saw the sun (full Blown) a few hours a day.

[Fivehole]

The Balcony was very average and we found that it was in the shade most of the time. At the most we only saw the sun (full Blown) a few hours a day.

 

Very helpful - thanks for the info!

[patseacruiser]

I was on the Jewel the other day for lunch and took a picture of all the beers available and can't find the picture. Anyone going soon can you please take a pic of the beer setup by the pool so my DH can stop complaining. Thank you in advance.

[searlie]

Thanks for the detailed review of your cruise! So glad you had a great time! We go on the Jewel on 5/29 and we're very excited...! Hope we get the beautiful weather & seas that you had!! :)

[crusinmama06]

I was on the Jewel the other day for lunch and took a picture of all the beers available and can't find the picture. Anyone going soon can you please take a pic of the beer setup by the pool so my DH can stop complaining. Thank you in advance.

 

Tell him to hush :p You told ME to take the pic. That's why you can't find it...LOL!

 

[billys mom]

Great pic of all the beer, my family are big beer drinkers and will be please to see they offer such a variety!

[judyfromct]

Are the self serve latte/cappuccino machines still in the buffet area?

[s57126]

Thanks for the detailed review of your cruise! So glad you had a great time! We go on the Jewel on 5/29 and we're very excited...! Hope we get the beautiful weather & seas that you had!! :)

We spent 14 awsome days on her 4/11-4/24 from Miami thru the Carribean and back to New York.

If you enjoy relaxing (people watching) in a nice atmosphere find Kadek (pronounced like the camera) in the Sky Bar. He will know your drink the first day and from then on he will make eye contact if you nod he will bring it. He knew I did not drink alcohol until later in the day and would ask if I wanted GA or club soda. Several times I asked him if he would recommend a drink and he would say "That is not for you" and bring me something I really enjoyed. He was so personable I wanted to bring him home. He was the same age as my kids.

 

I enjoyed this cruise so much I have book another repo this fall and hope it can meet the Jewels expectations.

 

Make a point to go to the Meet and Greet, you will meat the officers, they will make a point to make sure you are happy. John O'Gara is outstanding and will give you his number if you have a problem. It will be resolved!!!!

 

Enjoy !!!:)

[NJfoodie]

Thank so much for the review - I've been curious to hear how other families with little ones fare on the jewel as we'll be sailing on her in a week. I have a couple questions -

1. how was the crib? Is it a standard packnplay?

2. Are there any changing tables in the public restrooms? Someone on the family board had mentioned seeing them on the Dawn so I was wondering if the Jewel has them too.

 

Thanks bunches!

[spacewoman]

great pic of the beer varieties and loved the review. Our first aboard the Jewel later this year, looking forward to it as we've been on the Dawn and Spirit. Is that Bud Light Lime I see in the pic? Wow, if so, be a lot of people over on the Carnival board will be ticked off:p They keep posting they want to see it on the ships and no one at Carnival seems to be listening. The last two Miracle sailing we did they ran out of Coors Light:mad: Good thing DH tipped the bartenders well, he always had one:D

 

Anyone been on deck 11 towards AFT? Seems like quiet area, yes?