Review of Jewel: 11/14-11/21

[Shelli]

Here’s some background on us. We are a married couple in our early 60s and we’ve been on 10 previous cruises together (I was on 4 prior to meeting my husband, so I’ve now been on 15). We’ve been on just about all of the mass-market cruise lines, and we like them all. This was our first NCL cruise, although I was on the Norway many years ago.

 

I admit it: I wasn’t expecting to be impressed by NCL. I picked this cruise because 1) our scheduled Carnival Pride cruise was canceled (the ship was drydocked) and my husband could only take that week off; 2) we wouldn’t have to fly to the port; and 3) the price was right. My expectations were that we wouldn’t care for the included food very much or Freestyle in general and we’d be nickel-and-dimed to death. I’m so happy to say I was wrong—we loved everything about this cruise!

 

Things didn’t start out great—the Greyhound bus my husband and I were taking to the port from our home in South Jersey was an hour late. Not an auspicious beginning! But things looked up quickly: we easily and quickly caught a cab outside of the bus terminal and were at the port soon after, where embarkation went smoothly, in spite of fairly long lines.

 

Once on the ship, we found our way to the Tsar’s Palace restaurant, per tips I read here on Cruise Critic. After a relaxing lunch overlooking the water, it was time to go to our cabin. By the way, in my 15 cruises, that was my first lunch in a dining room, as opposed to the buffet.

 

Our first impression of the inside cabin was “Yikes! It’s so small!” But we soon realized that it was arranged so logically and sensibly that the small size didn’t negatively impact our cruise enjoyment. The bed (two pushed together) took up nearly all of the rear wall, with barely enough room to get in on each side. But it worked. And there was plenty of storage for our clothes and other things.

 

Our luggage arrived in a timely fashion (and yes, Rum Runners work, thank you!), and our room steward arrived to introduce himself while we were unpacking. We told him then that we’d like two Freestyle Daily newsletters every night, please. He said that was no problem… but perhaps it was, because he never left us two. I made it a habit to pick up our second one at the Information Desk every morning. The steward also frequently failed to replace dirty towels, and twice I had to call for fresh ones. It was the most negative event of our cruise, and minor, really.

 

We ate all but one dinner at Tsar’s Palace. What a beautiful dining room! Absolutely stunning, but the price paid for the mirrored ceilings was terrible acoustics. It was annoyingly loud every night, but it wasn’t bad enough to drive us away, certainly. And all of the food was delicious, well prepared, and beautifully presented. I think the food, rather than being sub-par as some suggested, was better than that of some other cruise lines!

 

On the first night, the seas were a tad rough, and I found myself feeling a bit queasy. Our server, Josephine, was so sweet and helpful, making sure I got some green apples and crackers to help settle my tummy. I ended up not being able to eat the apples, either, but I appreciated her kindness. We asked for a table in her section every night thereafter, and her service and friendliness were terrific. I felt as though she were a dear friend of the family!

 

A word here about the dress code, which was printed in the Daily everyday and also posted at locations throughout the ship. It stated that dress in Tsar’s Palace and specialty restaurants was “Resort Casual” (collared shirts, no shorts, no baseball caps), and elsewhere it was “Cruise Casual” (pretty much anything). I’m happy to report that it was, for the most part, enforced. I saw men in tee shirts being turned away from Tsar’s Palace twice, being politely told they needed a collared shirt. Both men complied, I assume, since both accepted pagers.

 

Ah, yes—the pagers. We had to wait for a table several evenings, but never more than 20 minutes. We chose to eat around 7 p.m. and were always seated before 7:30.

 

The only specialty restaurant at which we ate was Tango’s, the Tex-Mex place. We enjoyed it very much. Per the server’s suggestion, we ordered one item from each category… and it was waaaay too much food! I paced myself, never finishing a course, but my husband couldn’t bear to waste anything and forced himself to finish—and then felt uncomfortable for the rest of the evening.

 

We ate all breakfasts and most lunches at the buffet. It was one of the best I’ve seen! All the food I ate on this ship was well prepared and tasty. We really enjoyed eating at the Great Outdoors, the aft dining area. We were lucky enough to be able to have our Welcome Aboard drinks there on the first day, because it was in the 60s when we boarded, and it was warm enough out there to have lunch on our last sea day as well.

 

The entertainment was exceptional. I really think it was the best of any ship I’d been on previously. Main shows were offered at 7:30 and 9:30 in the theater, and there was also always something at 8:30 in Spinnaker Lounge. We tended to go to that and then to the late big show. The theater was a true theater, with true stadium seating for great views. And Spinnaker had an up-close-and-personal feel to it that we loved, especially when the entertainment utilized some of the entertainers from the main shows.

 

We didn’t choose this cruise for the ports—for good reason: they weren’t very impressive ones! At Port Canaveral we took a $10 pp shuttle to Cocoa Beach, but were disappointed in the beach area. Few stores or shops were around, and the beach itself wasn’t as nice as the ones at the Jersey shore an hour from us (although granted, the weather was warmer than it was here at home). We ended up having a drink at a cute beach bar (even though you couldn’t see the beach from there) next door, and sat a table away from some young folks we realized were the entertainers on the ship. We were happy to have the chance to tell them how much we’d enjoyed their performance.

 

Tender tickets for Great Stirrup Cay were available from 9 a.m. on, and when we got to the front of the line about 20 minutes later, we got tickets for Tender Number 7. By the time we got to the island, there didn’t appear to be any chaises left, and I regretted my decision not to get a clamshell (I figured if I spent the money for it, it was bound to be very cloudy or rainy!). We parked ourselves at a picnic table in the shade and stayed there awhile, taking turns going to the buffet. Then we walked to the water’s edge, but it felt cold to me, so I didn’t want to go in. My husband went in for a few minutes, though, just to say he did. After that, we went back to the ship.

I had no desire to go ashore at Nassau—we’d been there several times, and it was never one of my favorites. But we still needed to get souvenirs for the grandkids, so we ventured out just long enough to do that. Then we returned to the ship, which was not very empty. Apparently many others preferred to stay aboard as well.

 

All in all, we loved the Jewel! It’s a great ship with a fantastic and friendly crew, and I highly recommend this cruise, in spite of less-than-great ports.

[kcl]

Shelli, thanks so much for your review. DH and I will be on the Jewel on 12/5. I'm curious: What do you mean "the Rum Runners work"? We've never been on NCL and I don't know what a Rum Runner is. Sorry if it's a stupid question, NCL veterans :)

[coffeecat]

Hi Shelli,

Thanks for your review! We are on the Jewel in a couple of weeks so your insight was great. I am really glad that you enjoyed NCL too, especially after having gone on so many other cruises with other lines. Will you be writing about it in your column? Enjoyed reading some of those on your link too.

 

Coffeecat

[jaja]

Great review--thanks !

 

Will be on her 12/5 !!

[Shelli]

Shelli, thanks so much for your review. DH and I will be on the Jewel on 12/5. I'm curious: What do you mean "the Rum Runners work"? We've never been on NCL and I don't know what a Rum Runner is. Sorry if it's a stupid question, NCL veterans :)

 

A Rum Runner is a plastic flask you can get at rumrunnerdotcom. They're supposed to be undetectable when the cruise lines x-ray your checked baggage... and it worked for me. :)

 

Hi Shelli,

Thanks for your review! We are on the Jewel in a couple of weeks so your insight was great. I am really glad that you enjoyed NCL too, especially after having gone on so many other cruises with other lines. Will you be writing about it in your column? Enjoyed reading some of those on your link too.

 

Coffeecat

 

Thanks for the kind words! I don't write for examiner.com anymore... it was too much work for no pay. Seriously, I got $1 an article-- sheesh! So I stopped. I'm a freelance writer, and I'd love to be able to devote my efforts to cruise writing, but it's just too hard of a narrow field to break into. <sigh>

[jaja]

Great review--thanks !

 

Will be on her 12/5 !!

 

Fogot to ask...

Did you buy or bring wine...? Last time we brought..and no one "escorted" us to table for fee payment ;) We are deciding whether to bring..buy by the bottle (which last time we found a bit high)..or pursue a wine package upon embarking.. any insight greatly appreciated.. (ps..glad about the RRs...I have one ready to go...:D)

[Shelli]

Fogot to ask...

Did you buy or bring wine...? Last time we brought..and no one "escorted" us to table for fee payment ;) We are deciding whether to bring..buy by the bottle (which last time we found a bit high)..or pursue a wine package upon embarking.. any insight greatly appreciated.. (ps..glad about the RRs...I have one ready to go...:D)

 

We brought 3 large (1.5 liter) bottles. At the xray table, they directed us to the "alcohol" table, but there was no one there. We began to just walk away when the attendant showed up. He told us the fee for big bottles is really $30 each, but he would only charge us $15 each. I don't know if he was trying to get a tip or not, but we didn't give him one.

 

We barely finished the 3 bottles-- we took 2 to the dining room and my husband took the week to polish off the other in our cabin. Our waitress told us she gets an extra $5 per bottle sticker, so I brought her the sticker from the one in our cabin, and she was pleased by that. I usually really enjoy my wine, but my tummy seemed a little "off" all week, so I didn't have much.

 

There were a couple of other things I meant to mention in my review.

• We ate one time at Blue Lagoon... it was just ok.
  
• I never felt pressured to buy drinks-- actually, I think the bar staff was less aggressive on this cruise than on other lines!
  
• Many folks dressed up somewhat (or even a lot) on the first "dress up or not" night. Everyone looked great! And I never saw anyone in inappropriate dress in Tsar's Palace (although some were dressed sloppier than I would dress for dinner... but that's just me).
  

[Ms belp]

Shelli, thanks so much for your review. DH and I will be on the Jewel on 12/5. I'm curious: What do you mean "the Rum Runners work"? We've never been on NCL and I don't know what a Rum Runner is. Sorry if it's a stupid question, NCL veterans :)

 

Rum Runners break the law. It's smuggling wine on board. I love it when they catch them vs the rest of us declaring or purchasing once on the ship.

[jaja]

We brought 3 large (1.5 liter) bottles. At the xray table, they directed us to the "alcohol" table, but there was no one there. We began to just walk away when the attendant showed up. He told us the fee for big bottles is really $30 each, but he would only charge us $15 each. I don't know if he was trying to get a tip or not, but we didn't give him one.

 

We barely finished the 3 bottles-- we took 2 to the dining room and my husband took the week to polish off the other in our cabin. Our waitress told us she gets an extra $5 per bottle sticker, so I brought her the sticker from the one in our cabin, and she was pleased by that. I usually really enjoy my wine, but my tummy seemed a little "off" all week, so I didn't have much.

 

 

Thanks for the great info..!

[Dajbman22]

Rum Runners break the law. It's smuggling wine on board. I love it when they catch them vs the rest of us declaring or purchasing once on the ship.

 

It is more along the lines of breaking the corporate policy. Yeah, it is not the most moral thing to do, but the worst that they do is hold the contraband until you disembark. I know liquor always carries a slight social stigma wherever it is involved, but really it's not much worse than bringing a bottle of water and some candy in your purse into the movie theater with you so you don't have to pay $10 for the same thing inside. Trust me, there are more than enough people buying bar drinks to make up for the handfull who use Rum Runners (and I'm not even one of them, my last cruise I declared my one bottle of wine).

[Shelli]

Rum Runners break the law. It's smuggling wine on board. I love it when they catch them vs the rest of us declaring or purchasing once on the ship.

 

Rum Runners have nothing to do with wine. They're designed to bring liquor aboard. It may be against the rules... but it absolutely breaks no law! :)

 

If you'd read the rest of the thread, you'd see that I declared my wine and paid my fee.

[jaja]

Rum Runners have nothing to do with wine. They're designed to bring liquor aboard. It may be against the rules... but it absolutely breaks no law! :)

 

If you'd read the rest of the thread, you'd see that I declared my wine and paid my fee.

 

As I would have..IF someone was at the table ;)

[Nebr.cruiser]

We did a TA on the Jewel and were very pleasantly surprised. We'd expected bargain-basement cruising, from what we'd heard. But even though we got a great bargain, the ship was of similar quality to most main-stream lines, IMO.

 

The buffet was very good and much easier to negotiate (more spacious) than most ships, the main dining room food was just fine and the entertainment was the best we've seen.

 

We also saw a man turned away wearing jeans at the Tsar dining room--first time I've seen this happen on any ship. All in all the level of dress was not that much different than most lines nowadays--ranged from casual (but not tacky) to ballroom formal.

 

Our mini was smaller than on most ships, but fine. The pools on this April TA were kept at 90 degrees or above so that they could be used even on the coolest days.