NCL Jewel Review June 5-12, 2010 (11 pages)

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NCL Jewel 6/5/10-6/12/10

A little background about the reviewer: This was my 12th cruise, one previous NCL cruise on the Norway about 17 years ago, 9 Carnival, 1 Princess, and now the NCL Jewel. I've really thought of this as my first NCL cruise because cruising was so different 17 years ago and this is my first experience with freestyle cruising. I'm 43, husband 49 and 2 kids (13 & 14). We also traveled with my brother-in-law, his wife and 2 kids (14 & 18).

We booked through a travel agent because there was a $100 OBC and bottle of wine promotion. I've used this TA before and the service was good this time as well. I don't always book with a TA, if the price is the same booking direct with the cruise line, I prefer to book direct. Being an experience travel planner (not professionally), booking either way is not an issue for me. We booked a balcony, picking our exact cabin 9144. I don't do the guarantees anymore, one time our cabin was right under the pool deck (Caribbean Princess) and the noise from the deck chairs being move in the morning and at night always woke us up.

We left on Wednesday night to drive to Indianapolis to fly the next morning. The Cincinnati airport is the most expensive airport in the US so it's typical we will fly out of another city. Indy is only 2 hours away so a quick drive and night at a hotel with a park n ride rate is always worth it.

We made it into New York around noon on Thursday and prepared for our 1.5 days of touring in NYC. Since this isn't a review of NYC, I won't put much in about New York only to say that we did make it to Hoboken, NJ to visit Carlo's Bakery (where TLC's Cake Boss is taped) by taking the Path train about 8 blocks south of Times Square. The Path train stop in Hoboken is only about 2 blocks from the bakery. There were no lines and the cake we purchased was really delicious. In NYC, we did the double-decker hop on hop off bus tour, visiting the top of the Empire State Building, WTC memorial remembrance sight, visiting the Statue of Liberty and many other stops to shop along the way. Needless to say, we were very tired once we got on this ship as I felt as if I had run a marathon over the course of the past two days.

We had SuperShuttle pick us up from our LaGuardia hotel (private van service). At $125 for total of 8 people it worked out great. The reviews for SuperShuttle in NYC weren't so great on CruiseCritic but I figured with the private transfer it should work out well and it really did, they were not late, driver was efficient, etc.

Upon arrival at the pier, it was exciting to see the ship. You don’t get the full view like you do in some of the other ports because it’s so crowded but nonetheless, we were all so excited we couldn't wait to get on the ship. We arrived just about 11:45. The lines to get in were not long at all and from start to finish was about 30 minutes. Pretty easy. I can say that there was a huge line that started behind us and I was very glad we didn't show up about 12:30 because the line got long. There didn't seem to be enough gate agents working but it didn't effect us, I'm sure people about 30 minutes later have a different story about embarkation though. They were very efficient with the processing of the incoming passengers, typically on other cruises (mostly Carnival); there is one line that filters into all the gate agents. With NCL there was a line for balcony cabins, suites, etc., etc. so it made the lines appear shorter.

We were traveling with a handicapped child and NCL's treatment for this was great in getting a wheel chair for embarkation, we were two families in two different cabins so we didn't stand in the handicapped line with them and they made it on about 10 minutes before us. All worked out really well.

I did encounter a lot of grouchy people (passengers) when getting on the ship; I was amazed at how rude a lot of people were being to the agents (for no apparent reason) but all the agents didn't react. Great job on NCL's part of training these folks to let it roll off their back. I think getting on the ship is stressful for some folks and they just make it harder on themselves trying to find the shortest line, pushing through to get to the front of a line they think they are entitled to, etc.

Once on board we made our way to Tsar's restaurant. I had read on the boards that you could go there but along the way we encountered three different NCL staff that told us to go to the Garden Buffet, each time we'd ask of Tsar's was open and they would say yes but we got the impression that they really didn't want us to go there -- three times! Upon entering the stairs to access Tsar's we were greeted by another staff member, she told us to go to the Garden Buffet, we asked if Tsars was open and she said yes but told us there was a long line. We could see in the restaurant and there wasn't any line, in fact there was only about 1/8 of the restaurant filled. We politely said that we would wait and went on by her too only to be immediately seated in a practically empty restaurant. If we didn't have a handicapped child we would have went to the buffet after all the times we were pointed in this direction. So . . . . Yes you can eat in Tsars, the waiter was happy and served us with a smile but the workers along the way will definitely point you in the direction of the garden buffet.

While we were eating an announcement was made that our cabins were ready. We all went to the cabins together because I had a surprise for the kids, I had ordered the celebration package (includes a cake, streamers, balloons) for each cabin because we had 3 graduating 8th grade and 1 graduating high school with us. The package was nice for $35 dollars, the cake was pretty and tasty and the decorations not overpowering. The kids loved the surprise. We didn't really eat much of the cake because there is so much food on the cruise that whenever we got back to our room, we didn't have room in our stomach for more cake!

The first day we didn't get to navigate the ship much as we wanted to be on deck for passing by the Statue of Liberty and going under the bridge, so we celebrated a bit on deck with a few beers and drinks to enjoy the view as we sailed away from NYC. It was a very impressive sight seeing the Statue from the water and had we not already just toured the Statue the day before; this would have even been more exciting. So, don’t miss sail away. After passing the status you go under the bridge. At first I wondered if we would make it under. Definitely worth staying on deck to see.

Right after we went under the bridge we stopped by the spa to see if we won the free spa raffle (after 12 cruises you would think I'd learn my lesson that I don't win the spa raffle) but this time was a different story. The first name drawn was for a free fitness class (nope, don't want that) and I didn't win it. The next name was for one of the massages . . . .I started the chant in my head . . . .”be me be me be me be me” . . . . .and it worked! They called my name. When I went up, he held up three cards for me to pick from (1.5 hour seaweed wrap and massage, an isothermy treatment or a 30 minute consultation) . . . . .WOW, I picked the massage! And as unbelievable as it was, the third name drawn was a member of my party who wasn't there . . . had to be present to win. Then WOW again, my sister-in-law’s name was drawn......talk about luck. I'm hoping that this cruise will be this lucky for me in the casino! I'll keep you all posted as I write this review each day while on the cruise (if I don't, I won't remember what happened the day before).

From the spa raffle we went in search of our husbands to tell them the good news . . . .they were in the casino (go figure). We all went over to my favorite machine "Wheel of Fortune" and I put in $20 . . . . Red double bar, red double bar, red double bar . . . . WOW $80 bucks! I hope this luck continues! The guys went to the craps table for awhile and then we met up with the kids to have dinner.

Somewhere during the afternoon was the muster drill, it’s such a non issue now. You don’t need your jackets, they say go to your station (which is printed on your sail and sign card) and you stay there for 10 minutes then are dismissed.

This was our first experience with freestyle cruising and we just weren't sure how it was going to go . . . . .throughout the ship there are TV screens that show you how full the restaurants are, we noticed that Tsars was in the red (passengers waiting) so we headed to Azura. We were seated right away (7:00 p.m. party of 8); the restaurant was very trendy, looked like a nice downtown hot spot. The service was slow, first night, big crowd . . .don't know. We still enjoyed ourselves but were concerned about the service. We also noticed a long line when we were done and decided we better go earlier to dinner each night. We made it a point that we would eat at 6:00 the next evening in Tsars to see how it compared to Azura. After dinner, a little more casino, then off to bed.

As a side note, I think the TVs are just their attempt at crowd control because several times we’d leave Tsar’s and the TV would be in the red (that people were waiting) and there was no line and empty tables. So, if you have your heart set on a particular restaurant do a walk by in case.

First Sea Day:

I'm an early riser, this is why we decided to get a balcony so that I could just sit on the balcony while others slept. Well, with 4 in the cabin and the shades pulled, this was impossible. I could climb over the person on the sofa couch but there was luggage everywhere and it was dark. (Important note, if you are traveling with 4 in a cabin, bring a flashlight, it would be invaluable for those middle of the night bathroom visits or early morning risers.) So my routine was to get up each morning, take my laptop to the Garden Buffet, get coffee and sit out back in the open air watching the ocean pass typing my review of the previous day. Mental note to self, tell the girls they have to get their suitcases unpacked and put under the beds. With the beds pulled out and suitcases on the floor, you couldn’t walk to the balcony if you wanted too.

This first morning I was on deck about 7:30 a.m. – it was pretty deserted. I absolutely love this part of the ship, its beautiful having a view to both sides and in front of me of the water. The trail that the ship makes is visible for what looks to be miles . . . . It’s just beautiful. While typing my review I met Alex an assistant maitre’d.....he stopped by to ask me why I'm working I'm on vacation -- how sweet. I told him I was writing my CruiseCritic review. He manages the specialty restaurants. We were planning on going to the Teppinyaki restaurant and he took the reservation on the spot . . . what a nice guy. He was asking me how everything was going and if I needed anything . . .very helpful and friendly.

After typing for a while, I decided to walk around a bit and feel out the ship. I found myself at the internet cafe. I logged onto to read my emails and just check in. I bought a 100 minute package for $55 on special that any minutes I used from 8-9 a.m. would get doubled. It actually was fun checking in with work while on a cruise ship (no big issues). I started all my emails with . . . I'm typing to you from a cruise :-) I loved it but my co-workers were probably like . . . ."What a jerk".

This morning we had our CC meet and greet at 11:00 in the Azura dining room. The cruise directors, several of the staff on board, and two members of the Second City team attended. They had a set of cookies and tea, water and coffee set up for us. NCL really treats CruiseCritic members well, this was the nicest M&G I've seen. We probably had about 75 of us there -- it was so nice to finally put a face with a name. After the meet & greet, we went to the casino for our slot pull (thanks Sharon (Goldmom) for organizing). The casino host met us and gave us some free pulls. After everything was said and done, a few really good spins, we all turned our $15 entrance fee into $26 . . . what a deal. Then the casino host (Gareth Jones) said, "Drinks on me"! So we all ended with a nice toast.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the ship and hanging by the pool. It was quite crowded by the pool and there were lots of empty deck chairs with towels/items on them . . . but, they could have been in the pool. The pool had lots of people in it . . . it was nice, hot and sunny today. We also stopped by the casino for the slot tournament -- I actually won the high score and advanced to the finals on Friday at 3:00 -- $500 prize.

We then left for dinner about 6:00 at Tsars. Again there were lines when we left Tsars so we decided to try to set up a standing reservation. We really didn’t love the freestyle because when we did get out of dinner, there was quite a long line waiting to be seated -- thus the reservation comment. The next day I did visit the dining room and spoke to the maitre'd -- they allowed us to set up a standing reservation for 8 people at 6:00 in Tsars . . . everything worked out great. We found a server we loved too, Marisol, and she took such good care of us. Overall freestyle isn't that big of a draw for us . . . but even in the freestyle setting you can set a reservation and not have to stand in line so don’t let freestyle worry you too much if you are not into it.

Monday - Port Canaveral

My sister-in-law and I had booked our spa appointments this morning. Me the Oceanspa wrap and massage that I won, her the Isothermy treatment she won. The massage part of my service was wonderful, but at a cost of $200, I would not have been happy. I was covered in seaweed, wrapped and put onto a table to float me like I was in water. It got really hot and I sweated a lot. The therapist said the sweating was good. She massaged my head and feet while I tried to relax. It’s hard to relax when you are sweating. I got too uncomfortable so she had me rinse off and then head to the table for the massage part of the service. This was very nice, probably a 30 minute massage. After the service she did a very hard sale of the items she used. If not for the 30 minute massage part (well, and the fact that it was free) I would have been extremely disappointed. My sister-in-law did her Isothermy treatment which she was told was a $169 service. She was in the room maybe 30 minutes and a hard sale took place the entire time, with the therapist telling her she needed to buy this product because she needed to loose weight. She maybe weights 120lbs soaking wet – what a joke. Even being free, she said she wouldn’t have wasted the time. Bummer but at least I did get some massage time.

We didn't have anything planned in Port Canaveral, only to take the Cocoa Beach shuttle to the Ron Jon Surf shop, Wal-Mart (more soda) and the mall. The Cocoa Beach shuttle was super easy to catch, just walk off the ship and its right there ($10 per person). First stop – Ron Jon. Ron Jon was fun to see, what a huge store! We bought a lot of souvenirs. We also bought snorkel equipment for our day at GSC. Mask and snorkel $14.99 -- vest rental on GSC was 4.99 -- so total of $20 to snorkel. It was $30 to rent all the equipment from the ship. Second stop: Wal-Mart Third Stop: The mall was a disappointment. There were not many stores, small food court, etc. so we jumped back on the shuttle to get back to the ship. If you don't go to Disney/Universal, etc. then you might want to plan something for this day, just taking the shuttle around was a waste of time (or just take the shuttle to Ron Jon and Wal-mart to stock up on soda).

We were back on this ship in time for dinner . . . good as usual with Marisol. We did karaoke tonight and had a lot of fun, we also visited the casino (again).

Great Stirrup Cay

We woke up and meet on deck for lunch around 11:30. I went down to get a tender ticket while everyone ate. They were calling tenders number 3-4 at this point and we got number 13. Within 45 minutes number 13 was called. There was a lot of anxiety regarding the tenders from many people throughout the morning (not from our group). People scrambling to get the first tender tickets, worried about the process, worried about people getting ahead of them etc. NCL had this down very nicely, tickets were available in the photo gallery at 10:00 (it was clearly printed in the Dailies the night before). You could line up for tickets to be first in line to get off the ship. I don’t know what all the stress was about. Seriously folks, it’s not that big of a deal. If you booked some sort of excursion on GSC, you did get priority tender boarding (I think the suites did as well). So, we were not in any rush, had breakfast and then boarded the tender for our day at GSC. Make sure you bring your cameras, the view from the tender boat of the ship is amazing.

Upon arriving at GSC, we looked for a place to put our stuff, all the beach chairs were gone – it was probably about 1:00 (we figured as much anyway since we waited a bit to get off the ship). There were chairs under some trees by the hippo slide so we piled our stuff there and headed into the water. If you want a guaranteed spot, just rent a clam shell, it would have been worth it for us. Then you are not rushing to get off the ship so you make sure you get a chair.

I went to the cabana to rent the vests (we already had our snorkel equipment) and I also rented a large blue disc for floating in the water. This was nice to float out to where we were snorkeling to give the kids something to hold on to or climb on top of for a break. The snorkeling wasn’t too bad. We saw a few barracuda and lots of colorful fish. This is a great area for a beginner snorkeler because you enter from the beach and can go at your own pace (not too rough either). My husband picked up a bun from the food station and brought it out to bring more fish in and it worked, fish everywhere!

After snorkeling, we had a bite to eat, browsed the mini straw market (not much) and then took a ride or two on the hippo slide. We were not going to do the hippo slide because it just looked like a big slide, didn’t seem like that much fun. We decided just to buy one ride because the kids were thinking they wanted to give it a try. It was later in the afternoon and the attendant just told us to do it without paying (thanks!). Wow, the slide was a lot more fun than it looked. You really zip down the slide and the allow you to go backwards, on your stomach, etc. You could even spin your body and bounce off the walls. It was quite fun.

We then made our way to the line for the tender. The line wasn’t too bad for the tender but the line a bit earlier (right after lunch) was very long, someone actually passed out from heat stroke. They did a very good job of making the tenders go as fast as possible but right after everyone ate, they decided to go back – thus the long line. Just wait a bit and you won’t have a line so long.

The day at GSC was a lot of fun, in hindsight, I would have gotten off the ship sooner and enjoyed the island a bit longer (and rented a clam shell – just one for the 8 of us so that we had somewhere a little closer to the water to put our stuff). So maybe I would have been one of those crazy people standing in the tender line really early – just kidding.

Dinner again with Marisol was fantastic. We are really impressed with the food. Haven’t had anything yet that I would have sent back at a paying restaurant. We have now located Blue Lagoon. Blue Lagoon is the free 24 hour restaurant. The restaurant is right above the reception area, by a paying restaurant, so I think a lot of people think you can not go here unless you pay. The wings, tomato soup, sandwiches, and desserts here are fantastic!

Nassau

Since we had until 5:00 ish in Nassau we didn’t rush to be the first off the ship again. We took our time, had breakfast upstairs at the Garden Buffet . . . quick note on the Garden Buffet, during the day Mama’s isn’t a pay restaurant, it’s just extra seating for the Garden Buffet. There is usually no one in there and a great place to sit to eat. After eating we made our way down to walk off the ship. Easy walk off, we were at the end of the pier and four other ships were at Nassau that day, so we got to walk past them all. The Jewel looked to be the largest. Once off the pier you walk through a little set of shops and then into the taxi line. Right past the taxi line was all the shops just waiting for me to buy J.

Up first, we took a cab to Atlantis just to walk around. I was going to have our group take the water taxi but the water taxi drops you quite a bit away from the resort. We didn’t want to add on extra walking so we took a taxi. $20.00 for 8 of us in a taxi to the front door, very convenient and it was so hot today that the door to door service was welcomed. Upon entering we took a look at a map and figured out how to walk to some of the sights (primarily the free part of the aquarium). The walk took us by some of their beautiful statues/art work, the big chair and the casino. The free part of the aquarium was quite nice as well. I’m glad we spent the few bucks on a cab to go to Atlantis but really an hour there is enough time to see what you can. You can not get close to the pool (at least we couldn’t find a way) just to see it.

After Atlantis we took a taxi back into town for some shopping. We first walked the street visiting some jewelry stores and the Havaianas flip flop store. This store had so many types of the sandals it was fun to look around. They had styles I haven’t seen in the US (yet). They also had a clearance section with tons of sandals for only $10.00. The girls had fun with that. . . . . also, they had the Bahamian flag as an add-on that you could put on a pair of flip flops for free. What a nice souvenir for someone, a designer pair of flip flops with a Bahamas flag for $10.00. Best souvenir for the price.

We then visited the Coach store and I found a very nice watch on sale. Typically nothing is on sale at Coach (unless it’s a Coach Factory Store – this is not) so I was fortunate to find the watch. It (the watch) asked me to take it home and I couldn’t let it down. We then walked to the straw market. They are building a new straw market (actually has walls and hopefully air-conditioning). The current straw market is a huge tent and was packed with wall-to-wall vendors and wall-to-wall shoppers. It was very hot, sticky and clausatrophic. We quickly made a few purchases and started to walk back to the ship. Then a huge storm rolled in . . . .it was absolutely pouring, tons of lightening. We stayed in the Starbucks for about an hour until I found some rain ponchos next door so that we could make the walk back to the ship. The sewer/drainage system in the Bahamas is non-existent. In some places the street had at least 8-10 inches of standing water. It was quite fun running back to the ship through the puddles, felt like a kid again. It also made for some really fun pictures of us all in our yellow ponchos.

Once back to the ship we dried off and visited Blue Lagoon again for an afternoon snack. I can not tell you how much we enjoyed Blue Lagoon – morning, noon or night . . . just loved the food. Marisol happened to be working in Blue Lagoon today, so we got our favorite server too! What more could I ask for today, a new Coach watch, some discount Havaianas, Blue Lagoon with Marisol as my server – life doesn’t get much better. Yummy, the strawberry shortcake with extra strawberries . . . . . I’m loving this vacation!

We took some time to lounge around in the room, read on the balcony and then headed to dinner in Tsar’s again. The food again was perfect, Marisol very attentive . . . . .now that we had a set dinner time and a set server we’re very happy. Freestyle might be liked but a lot but I really like having the same server each night.

This evening we did go to the show, the Second City show. I’m not a typical fan of improvisation and really wasn’t looking too forward to the show but went along with the group. Turns out the show was fantastic. A not to be missed. Overall the entertainment on this ship was great. After the show a quick stop back in the casino and then off to bed. We happened to be lucky at the penny slots today, who is ever lucky at penny slots!?! Thank you casino Gods!

Thursday, at Sea

I really wanted to get some sun today but there is so much going on during the day on this ship it’s hard to fit it all in. Between bingo, lunch, the casino, activities, the day just gets away from you. This was the first day I really played Bingo. I bought the, “Show me the Money” pack which was $80.00. They play 4 games and with each level of pack you buy, you get more cards per game (plus extra perks like pull tabs, free cruise entry tickets). $35 is the lowest package giving you 6 cards per game. One of the nice things about Bingo is that every kid gets a free kids pack. Granted it’s only one card per game (4 games) but hey, they feel like they are playing at least. The pack I bought gave me the 6 paper cards per game, a hand held device with something like 96 more games (all electronic, you just watch and it tells you if you should yell Bingo), 5 instant win pull type cards, and some entries to the free cruise drawing. I’m a sucker for the pull tab games so I went for it . . . winning $14.00 off the pull tab games…..yeah, I’m a winner . . .wait, no I’m not I just paid $80.00 for this . . . .hahahaha. Our bingo caller was quick and didn’t waste a ton of our time. I probably would have visited Bingo more if it wasn’t so expensive but overall a pretty good time. I had read complaints that the bingo callers were slow and tried to sell you on stuff throughout the presentation but this wasn’t the case on this ship.

That afternoon we visited the slot tournament again just to make sure I was still on top. A bit about the slot tournament:

On Carnival they would do 2 to 3 slot tournaments a cruise. You enter for $20.00; play your round and the top scores go on a leader board. At the end of that day’s tournament, the 8 high scorers play the final game and the winner gets $500.00. On NCL, it’s the same premise however, the top scores from each round go to the final game which is on Friday . . . so there are not a few winners throughout the cruise, just one at the end of the cruise. You need to stay on top of weather or not you are in the final on Friday. I ended up being in the final on Friday however came in 3rd place, which got me a t-shirt and $10 free slot play. Oh well, still fun!

We had our CruiseCritic Poker Cabin Crawl this afternoon and it was a huge hit.

How it works: Six people volunteered to be a host cabin (a big thank you to all who agreed to host). All participants meet up in the lobby to collect a score sheet and pay their $5.00 entry fee. Then as a group we moved on to the next cabin to draw a card and so on. We spent only about 5-10 minutes drawing cards in each room, viewing the cabin, marking our sheet then on to the next cabin. All in all it only took about an hour and we have 52 participants. Some of our host cabins were very generous and brought little trinkets from their hometown for everyone. A special thank you to all who participated as seeing your rooms was really nice.

We got to see and Inside room, Balcony, Penthouse suite, Mini Suite, Courtyard room and the Garden Villa. Yes, I said Garden Villa. We were very fortunate that one of our host cabins was the biggest room on the ship, the Garden Villa, wow, what a room. We did the tally and the winner (with four As) got $200 and the worst hand got $65.00 (not bad because it was my husband who won – really, we didn’t cheat). It was great fun! Now my kids want to cruise in the Garden Villa.

This night was our dinner at Teppinyaki. 6:00 p.m. we all showed up and had one table to ourselves. The cover for this restaurant was $25.00 each, a little steep in my mind but it was about the experience for the kids so we did it. The dinner started with some soup (basically like Wonton soup but made with fish broth so it smelled and tasted really fishy). Only one person of the 8 of us liked the soup (he ate 3 of them, my hubby). Then a salad, it was very small and had very different lettuce . . . no one liked the salad either. Then the chef came out to prepare our meal. He put on quite a show and the kids loved it. They had several choices of beef, beef & fish, fish, chicken, etc., etc. He cooked the rice first and gave everyone their rice to eat (the rice was fantastic), then he cooked the main course and refilled our rice. The main course was fantastic and there was tons of food. My hubby was worried because he typically orders two entrees at dinner (he is a big eater). What’s the deal, the skinniest one of us eats the most food - - not fair! But, there was enough food even for him. The dessert was a fruit plate or Green Tea Ice Cream and Cake, we all got the ice cream and cake but no one liked it either (it didn’t look so appetizing either). If you have eaten in a Benihanni and absolutely loved it, this place is for you. If you are not so much into this type of food, don’t go to this restaurant. $100 for dinner for the four of us when there was good free food in Tsar’s was a bit much to swallow, but as I said it was more about the experience for the kids. We did not pay to go to any other restaurants.

This was the evening of the Cirque show. We wanted to make sure we were able to get a great seat for the show so we got in line 40 minutes before the show, they open the doors 30 minutes prior to the show. We got in the 2nd row of the middle section. Others had said not to get too close and I’m glad. There were acrobats going on all over the theater, you don’t want to be too close or you will miss some of the act. We were really early, if you showed up about 25 minutes prior to the show you will find a seat. The show was not a disappointment, it was every bit as good (although shorter) than O at the Bellagio in Vegas.

After the show we all went back to the room to dress for the White Hot Party. This party was held in Spinnaker and was packed, but it was a fan favorite. The first 100 people on the dance floor were given glow necklaces. I had also brought glow in the dark mardi-gras beads. The dance floor was packed and we all had a blast. The kids (again, 13, 14, 14) could stay until midnight. It got so hot in there that by midnight we were all ready to go. The music and atmosphere was fantastic.

After the White Hot Party, you guessed it, we hit Blue Lagoon again . . . more people were here so others were figuring out it was free. Plus it was a late night for most due to the White Hot Party and a snack was due!

Friday, Last Sea Day

I woke up early and headed to my favorite spot again at the back of deck 12. Hummm, sigh . . .heavy-heart . . . .our last day. I started to think about all the folks that were packing to get on the ship tomorrow and how excited I had been just one week ago. The week went by so fast and everything was so fantastic that I really had a sense of heaviness on my heart because I really didn’t want it to end. I decided to put it behind me and have a wonderful last day at sea with NCL (one of my new favorite cruise lines). I was determined to get into the sun today and by 10:00 a.m. was on a beautiful spot above the pool enjoying the sun slightly falling asleep! All the sudden I started to feel wet and cold, as if it was slightly raining but it wasn’t. I was jolted to a seated position by the sound of the ships horn . . .the loudest HOOOOONNNNNNKKKKKKKKK you’ve ever heard (scared the bejesus out of me). Well, the horn was blown due to a fog that rolled in and honestly I’ve not seen fog like this before at all. Seriously, it was just beautiful and sunny blue skies when I shut my eyes and when I opened them 10 minutes later it was as if someone covered everything in a white haze. It looked like something out of a horror movie….very strange. Others around me started to chat about the fog, you couldn’t even see to the other side of the ship – we were definitely socked in. You could see concern on passenger’s faces because it was so eerie. I sat there for about 15 minutes hoping we’d get through the fog secretly wishing my kids where there with me to see it. Partly because it was really cool to see and also because before they trip they were asking if we were sailing through the Bermuda Triangle. I would have loved to tell them that we were entering the Bermuda Triangle . . .they would have freaked out. . . .hahahaha (I know, that wouldn’t have been nice of me as a mom, but funny nonetheless). When it didn’t seem like it was going to clear up, I gathered my items and headed to the room to wake the kids to show them the fog. By the time I got to my room it was completely sunny again so I headed back up to my chair. This time I got a chair right by the pool because lots of people had left. Lucky me!

I spent about 2 hours by the pool, thoroughly getting a pinkish, red sunburn to take home as a souvenir and then headed to Blue Lagoon for lunch with everyone. After lunch we laid by the pool a bit more as a group and headed back to the room for a rest and then getting ready for dinner.

Dinner was bitter sweet tonight as we had to say goodbye to Marisol. I promised her I would write NCL to tell them how great she was . . . and I will! I gave her an extra tip $20.00 and we headed out to enjoy our last evening.

We ended up visiting a bar or two, the casino and made it to Quest the game show. This was something I had heard a lot about but had no idea what to expect. For those of you that don’t want the show to be ruined, just skip over the next paragraph – the show won’t be ruined but in case, just skip over the section.

Quest:

The lounge was packed with tons of people, we had our teenagers with us again, mostly though there were no small children and just a few teenagers (again, teenagers are allowed in Spinnaker until midnight). They ask you to make a team of 5-6 people and come up on stage to get a number (they take 40 teams), then they start asking you to find things and bring them to the stage (just one member of your team is the “runner”) with you number and they give you points if you find them. The first item was a sale and sign card, the second a piece of fruit, then they get harder . . . . a picture of the White House (which, by the way, is on a $20 bill), a man in just his shorts, a man wearing a women’s bra, a women with two mens shoes, a women with two mens belts, a man wearing lipstick, it goes on an on . . .the men really get abused. The final request is a man in just his undies, wearing women’s shoes, lipstick, a bra and carrying a women’s purse. It’s amazing to me what men were willing to do to win this competition. There were probably 15 men on stage dressed like this. It was very, very funny. They make them do a fashion show. If your man is a ham, this is for you! The prize was a bag of NCL goodies, nothing worth seeing my husband in my bra. But really fun to watch others.

After Quest we headed to Blue Lagoon for one last late night bite then off to dinner for our morning of despair . . .getting off this ship . . . sniff, sniff ---- I tried not to think about it all day but packing was a grind.

We woke up at 8:30 to get ready to get off the ship. We decided to carry off our own bags. We didn’t need to get off early (our flight wasn’t until 4:30), we waited until about 9:30 to walk off. We didn’t want to have to pack everything and get our bags out the night before so we opted for self walk-off. It worked out great for us because no one was in a hurry and no one was stressed. Earlier in the morning though, the main deck (where you exit) was a mess with folks lining up to get off the ship. Seriously, do all these people have somewhere to be that early that they are willing to stress about getting in a line that completely wraps around the ship. Some must just choose to get in this mess . . . yikes.

Getting off was very easy, customs didn’t ask us any questions, we rolled off our bags and SuperShuttle was waiting for us. Easy as pie . . . but still sad to leave.

I would have to say this cruise was one of the top 3 vacations I’ve had. I’ll try to summarize below:

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Room:

We had a balcony room, #9144, on the 9th deck. The location was idea, up a few floors to the buffet, down a floor to Tsar’s, down 2 floors to the main deck, etc. Very quite and adequate. We had four in the room and as long as you remove the table and chair from the room (our steward told us to put on balcony, later he put on the balcony for us) and that gave us a lot more room for moving around (when the 3rd and 4th bed were pulled out). Even with the table and chair on the balcony, the balcony still had enough room for 3 to sit or 4 to stand. We loved having the extra room of the balcony to put our wet clothes (on the chair not over the balcony rail) and to get some fresh air . . . also helped when we needed an extra dressing area, told someone to go out there and not look in until we were done dressing.

The bathroom was unique with the shower and toilet being separated by a sliding door. This was the biggest bathroom I’ve had on any of the cruises I’ve taken (12 total). I loved the addition of the doors (however, it would have been nice that they were totally frosted so that someone could be in the shower with privacy while someone was at the sink). The glass had frosted strips, you could still see through perfectly if someone were taking a shower. Not a biggie for my husband and I but with the daughter and her friend in the room, would have been nice to be all frosted.

Our room steward was quiet but quite good. Always designing towel animals and keeping ice in our bucket. We tipped him and extra $20 and gave his assistant $10.

Ship:

I’m used to the Carnival ships being really colorful and over the top with neon, etc. I love Carnival ships. . .this ship was more subdued, it was quite elegant and very pretty – I loved it too. I’ve heard some posts about people thinking the reception area wasn’t so nice but I though it was beautiful. If you have ever stayed in a W hotel, it’s a similar look and feel. Lots of glass, silver, and white lights. I thought it was beautiful.

The TV in the reception area did show some of the big sports games (those the ship could get) and crowds would sit in Blue Lagoon, Tango and in the reception area and watch the TV. It was quite fun!

Dining:

Tsar’s was English classical looking with a lot of statues, art work, etc. Very tasteful.

Azura was more modern, lower ceilings, more like a upscale downtown hot spot.

Garden Café was set up very convenient, I don’t know what the complainers are talking about, there were never long lines and it’s pretty easy to get good food. It can be crowded but never long longs at the food. The food is set up in stations so it’s more of a walk up and grab versus standing in a long line with a tray. The pretzel rolls are not to be missed. Oh, and for those of you upset that there are no trays, there is a metal tray in the room that could be used.

Blue Lagoon was very classy as well but had more of a casual feel to it.

Teppinyaki was just like a Benihanni’s with 4 tables.

Bars:

Spinnakers was a beautiful lounge used for Bingo in the morning/afternoon, shows in the evening, and the White Hot Party. It was their main dance location.

Martini Bar on the 7th floor was a happening spot as well. A piano player played there each night and it was fun to sit and people watch. There is also a video playing of dancing women that is backlit . . .like something you’d see in Vegas. I thought it was neat, my husband loved it.

Star Bar was nice as well.

Bar service around the pools and in the bars was fast and easy. Never too pushy.

Pool Area:

It was crowded but you were always able to get in the pool. I would have liked to see a another pool somewhere else on deck. During the dry dock it would be nice if they could fit a small adult only pool somewhere else on deck and make these two pools family pools. The pool had a nice seating bench all around it where there was about 2-3 inches of water, this was nice to sit in and cool off without getting fully in the pool.

Pool Chairs:

I was always able to locate a chair, but not right next to the pool. There are not a lot of chairs by the pools, mostly on the decks above the pools. As long as you were not wanting a chair right by the pool, you’ll be fine no matter what time you wake up. There were lots of chairs with items on them, even up on deck. There were chairs the entire time I was sitting in my chair that had items on them but no one ever came (3-4 hours). It didn’t bother me too much, I was always able to find a chair but for people who have a pet peeve about chair hogs, you’re going to find them on this ship as well.

Casino:

Gareth (Casino Manager) was fantastic, always made us feel welcome. We loved the casino on this ship, always found a spot to play. We might have really liked this casino because we won more than we gambled (a first for us); that really makes us “like” a casino. But overall I thought we were treated really well by the service, staff and casino manager. They had a promotion (free slot play) if you signed up for their loyalty program (Casino at Sea), it was free so really a no brainer. Lots of slots, tables, craps, electronic roulette, regular roulette, and one of those quarter machines. The Asian population on this ship loved that quarter machine. Each night they were piled 2 and 3 deep to play this game.

Typical Passenger:

We found that this ship had a ton of late 20 to 50 year olds on board. Not a ton of kids (not as many as our Carnival ships) but still some. There were some older but not a high concentration. When watching the game show “Newly and no so Newlywed game” there was only one honeymoon couple. There also were not a ton of teenagers. There was a lot of the Asian population on this ship, probably 35%. We just sailed the Carnival Splendor in January of this year and the population on this ship was very similar. Once we went on a cruise over spring break, there was no where near the amount of kids on this sailing as on that sailing.

Overall this cruise gets a A+ star rating. (A+ would be the highest in my book). I was worried about freestyle and I ended up not liking it too much but as I stated, they allow you to book a set time in the dining room. The food was fantastic, the ship beautiful and the workers all wonderful.

Great job NCL!

[CTCruisers]

Thanks for taking the time to write such a thorough revew.

 

Lots of useful info for our upcoming Jewel cruise.

[*Luv2Cruz*]

Thanks for the very detailed review! Can't wait for our turn!;)

[spacewoman]

What an awesome review! 78 days and counting ---want to go home and pack right now:eek:

[NJ Johnny]

Thank you for your wonderful review. One more week for us to sail. Can't wait!!!!