Jewel review 11/25/12

[pcreek]

PART 1 Pre-cruise - NYC (the rest will follow soon!?) Have patience! :rolleyes:

 

NJ – NYC – NCL JEWEL 11/23 – 12/2/2012

We stayed at the Country Inn & Suites in Elizabeth, NJ. Hotel was fine - easy to get to (however, I do not recommend getting there on Black Friday again! The Garden Mall is across the street and traffic was brutal!)

They are building another hotel across the street, as well. Room was okay, clean and tidy. We stayed 2 nights. We parked our car in the fenced, gated lot for the week. We were charged $70.00 for the week's parking. Cheaper than the pier parking! There was breakfast bar included. That place was a zoo! Not enough seating. Grabbed plates and took back to room to enjoy. Free internet, as well - it's not WiFi, there is a plug on the desk. There is also fridge & microwave in room.

 

We used Dial 7 for our car service. Great choice! They always sent a dark Lincoln Towncar (I think?). Drivers were personable. Car was clean. They were always early! One driver told us they try to plan on arriving 20-30 minutes early, to take into account any traffic - except for Manhattan, which they only plan on arriving 5 min early, due to Police making them move! Great service - no complaints! You can pay with credit card –including tip!

 

[pcreek]

We took Dial 7 into Manhattan for the Rockettes show. We arrived very early. Grabbed a hotdog/pretzel from street vendor and sat on a wall waiting. Nice shot of ornaments. Great spot for people watching.

 

My husband was welcomed to NYC by a passing bird that left a calling card (bird poop) on his collar! LOL It was funny - not to him, of course. That bird had great aim! LOL

 

We were kitty-corner from Radio City Music Hall, corner of Avenue of the Americas & 50th. Some guy was posing as Statue of Liberty for tips.

 

Rockettes!

We got in early and sat and people watched some more. We looked around the place. Glad we had snack outside – snacks were very expensive inside! No flash photography inside, but we got some photos of the show without flash.

 

The show was fantastic! The seats were comfortable, we had plenty of leg room. This was our first time here and we really enjoyed the show. One thing we really liked, was the fact that it was truly a “Christmas Show” – complete with traditional Christmas carols and nativity scene. This was not a “politically correct holiday or seasonal” show. We LOVED it!

 

After the show as we were wandering out, we came across the NCL Breakaway replica. PCC Adam was attending the ‘booth’ and we had a nice chat with him.

 

We then went outside and down the street a little bit away from the crowd, to ‘hail a cab’. We were going to Carnegie Deli – but we didn’t’ have address. Cabbie didn’t know where it was, either. So, we called my son and had him look up the address for us. Cell phones are great! We got to the Deli and there was a HUGE line waiting to get in. (854 7th Avenue New York, NY) So, there was another Deli right next door and the place was pretty quiet. We decided to go there, instead. Premier Deli – I had traditional Hot Pastrami on Rye – it was great! We had a nice little table to sit at. We wondered why there weren’t more people there?! What did we not know? It worked fine for us and we did not get sick! LOL

[pcreek]

We then took another cab to the Empire State Building. As we got out of the cab, a couple of guys assisted us with getting tickets. Their credit card reader wasn’t working, so one guy escorted us inside – through the employee entrance to avoid all the lines to get in. That was nice – but a LOT of walking!! We got the package deal that included the ‘sky ride’ – which was a ‘motion movie type’ thing. Kevin Bacon narrated a helicopter ride around NYC. It was ok. We then used our ‘express pass’ and had a ‘shorter line’ and went to the top.

WOW! Soo crowded you could hardly find a place to stand! We didn’t stay up long. Mark took a few photos and we headed back down. Had a walk to back to the gift shop where we saw tee shirts on sale. Unfortunately, the child sizes were not on sale! Oh well. We had a soda from a machine and sat on the bench for awhile to rest. We had some time to kill.

 

We were getting picked up by Dial 7 @ 7pm across the street at McDonalds. So we wandered over there and went in to have a drink while waiting. When it was about time, we went outside to wait. Ride back uneventful. We had a lot of people watching time, that Mark enjoyed.

 

Photos from NJ & NY -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/pcreek/sets/

[boopsahoy]

Im really enjoying your review!

[kcwiak]

Looking forward to the rest. Leaving Sunday and I just cannot get enough info! LOL

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[pcreek]

On Sunday 11/25/12, we re-organized our luggage and our car was here early to pick us up to go to Pier 88. We left the hotel about 10:15 am. It’s about a 30 minute drive. We were dropped off in front of the terminal, very short walk to porter to take our luggage.

 

We were directed to the “GV & suites” line for check in. The rep looked at our paperwork, and pointed to the line to get in. We were in the back of the terminal, as the GEM was also boarding at the front of the terminal. We get to the counter, the girl did all the paperwork, took our credit card, took our photos, then went to get our cards. After about 10 min, she comes back and tells us she can’t get our cards, as they are already printed and waiting across the room in the priority lounge! So…we trudge over there, all our paperwork in hand (our short medical form, and signed Credit Card receipt)

 

Our old butler from the EPIC, Lani is waiting outside the room. She has us sit down and gets our cards for us. No one asks for the paperwork in my hand. Ruth then came over and introduced herself to us. We were not sitting for 5 minutes, when it’s time to go to Cagney’s for our first lunch!

 

I was really ready to sit a spell and have a great lunch! It was not very crowded and we had terrific service. I am already loving this perk!

 

We had originally booked with a CAS “free inside cabin” offer and had upgraded to Mini-suite. As time went on, we thought about booking the 2 bedroom suite next door on deck 11. Upon further investigation, I discovered that the weekly spa pass was $149 each, and there was no lap pool. The same suite located on deck 14, in the Haven offered 24hr access to the Haven that did have hot tub, sauna AND Lap pool. After crunching the numbers, it would be less than $200 more if we gave up spa pass. So…book it!

 

It was totally worth it! The Haven courtyard area was 2 steps across the hallway from our cabin 14006. Nice, very, very nice! I would do it again in a heartbeat. Balcony was nice. There were 3 chairs (2 w/ cushions) and 2 small wicker tables. Plenty of room for us out there. Right below is the jogging track. We had no problem with our location. We had no noise. The blue lights on deck below did not bother us at night.

[pcreek]

Our butler was Totaram – awesome! (he said we could call him Tota) Tota has a great sense of humor, too! I am so glad that we got to try a different butler. This experience was absolutely incredible! Tota would leave us snacks every afternoon. One evening we were going out and ran into him in the hallway. He asked if we were going to dinner. We said, “No, you keep bringing us dinner. We have no reason to go out! We know what you’re doing, you bring us food, so we don’t call you and ask you to bring us dinner! You beat us to it!” Tota looked at his watch and said “I brought you that hours ago!” We all laughed. It really was enough and we didn’t feel the need to go out to eat! There would be a plate of fruit, a plate of club sandwiches and some kind of appetizer (‘fancy ones w/ cavier or garlic toast & cheeses). We did warn him that the next night we were ordering a pizza and a couple of movies from him.

 

SO, one afternoon we were resting in the cabin and had the Do Not Disturb sign dialed in. We had dinner reservations at 7pm in LeBistro. We were somewhat surprised that we didn’t get afternoon snack. Felt no loss, as we had dinner plans anyway. When we returned from dinner, there was a stack of plates for us. Chocolate covered strawberries (2nd time), assorted chocolate candies, veggie & dip and fruit platter. Complete with a note from Tota, letting us know that we were not forgotten, but had the DND on! LOL too funny!

 

We asked Tota when he brought the movies, if they only played on the bedroom tv. He said yes, but he’d fix that for us. Within about 30 minutes, a guy showed up to install a DVD player in the living room area for us. Awesome service!

[pcreek]

Our Room steward was Miguel – very nice and always smiling! Always seemed to sneak in whenever we were out and tidy up the room! Miguel always spoke with us whenever we saw him in the hallway.

 

Ruth was the concierge and was the most friendly, outgoing person I’ve met in a long time. We heard from her every day, if not at Cagney’s for breakfast, she either stopped by our cabin or called us. She made us feel like she really cared what our plans were and how we were doing. Could not be nicer.

 

We had been contacted by the concierge desk for pre-selections. I asked for an assortment of pillows to try – they were all there on the bed waiting. I also asked for a pitcher of each cranberry juice & orange juice – they were both there in the mini fridge.

 

We had a assortment of wine! I knew we got one bottle for orginal booking of inside room (promo at that time), 1 bottle for being Platinum, and1 for the Haven Suite. Where the bottle of red came from – I have no idea! I like to mix the juices & white wine and call it my Caribbean Mamosia. The only time we drink is on a cruise. Since we were supposed to get a bottle with our Cagney’s embarkation dinner, and another with our LeBistro (platinum perk) dinner, we were thinking we had 5 bottles to get through!

 

Well, we made it through one bottle of white in the cabin, and a bottle of White Zinfandel that we shared with our LeBistro dinner. We brought one bottle of white home, left the other 2 bottles for Tota & Miguel. (yes, yes, we tipped them with cash, as well! Actually, we charged their tips and Ruth’s to our onboard account)

 

We booked through CAS, and our welcome letter and CAS cards (including the attached free drink card) were waiting in the cabin. We also had ship pins. We also each had packets of ‘coupons’ – mine for Platinum and Mark’s for Silver. He got an additional ship pin, which was colored – different than the other plain blue ones.

 

Some photos of the room, balcony, wine, coffee maker, NY Harbor, Intrepid, Lady Liberty & Tota’s note!

[pcreek]

Im really enjoying your review!

 

 

Thanks! Keep reading, there's more to come!

[pcreek]

Looking forward to the rest. Leaving Sunday and I just cannot get enough info! LOL

 

:D I know how that is! I will be finishing up tomorrow!

[pcreek]

Thanks for the review!

 

:) More to come tomorrow!

[Hopes4]

:) More to come tomorrow!

 

Yeah! Can't wait! I'm enjoying your review so,far, thanks for taking the time to write it.

[NYGirl1002]

Thanks Pam...I'm reliving my cruise through yours. I like your pictures too.

[aprylstar]

Thanks for the review :) Any chance you'll post the dailies along with it? glad you had a great time!

[SMSACE6]

Very nice review! Im looking forward to more. I laughed about the your husband getting the bird poop on him. I have a friend, and whenever he travels, he always manages to get bird pooped on! I mean there can be a group of us, and it is always him who gets the bird poop!:D Thanks for posting, looking forward to the rest of your review.:)

[rtn]

Enjoying your review...we'll be on the 16th in a suite, but not the haven. Can't wait!!!

[OnTheGoMom921]

Thank you, can't wait to hear more!

[pcreek]

Adventures of ‘Y’:

 

 

Y is our little plastic mascot (not as flexible as Ben the Bendy man!) and we have fun taking photos of him touring different places.

 

We got him a few years ago in Las Vegas at the M&M store. Yes, we know there is a large M on his midsection, however he is Yellow – hence the name of Y. His normal stance is standing on his hands.

 

Y had a great time on the cruise! I think he’s spoiled by the Haven suite. <sigh>

 

The following photos will show Y enjoying the ship & crew!

[pcreek]

Thanks for the review :) Any chance you'll post the dailies along with it? glad you had a great time!

 

Thanks!

Sorry, I don't keep the dailies. :-( but there is PLENTY to do everyday!

[pcreek]

Very nice review! Im looking forward to more. I laughed about the your husband getting the bird poop on him. I have a friend, and whenever he travels, he always manages to get bird pooped on! I mean there can be a group of us, and it is always him who gets the bird poop!:D Thanks for posting, looking forward to the rest of your review.:)

 

LOL too funny! My DH would claim that everything "always happens to him", too! His comment is "seriously??"

[pcreek]

Final thoughts

We had an amazing time. Our intention was to have a very relaxing cruise – and that we did!

 

We had no excursions scheduled and the only time we got off the ship, was to visit Atlantis for part of the day. We had a good time at the casino, then went for lunch at Murray’s Deli there. That was fun! Great food – casino /resort prices, of course.

 

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We got some great shots of GSC from the ship.

 

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We really enjoyed the Haven all to ourselves the day we were in Florida. Mark enjoyed the sundeck for reading. I enjoyed the hot tub! We were going to have lunch delivered from Cagney’s, but by the time we thought of it, we were too late. Mark went down to Blue Lagoon and brought food back up for us.

[pcreek]

Cruise Critic Meeting – We met in the Star Bar Monday at 11am. We had a nice turnout and it was great meeting everyone! We did a gift exchange for those who wanted to participate. This was attended by Hugo (HD) the Food & Beverage man (sorry, forgot his name!) and Dan the Man (CD). They wanted to get started chatting with us a little early, so some CC members were still coming in while they were talking. There was a sign up sheet for anyone wanting to ‘dine with an officer’. I have never known anyone who signed up at the CC mtg to NOT get “picked” for this. We passed this time.

We also had a few interested in getting together for a slot pull. We finally decided on 3:30 meeting time in the casino. Apparently there were 2 ‘all’ Latitudes meetings that day, one at 1:30, the other at 2:30. Guess there were a lot of us onboard.

We had fun at the slot pull and just kept playing on our small winnings.

 

Where we ate:

We had room service breakfast on the first day (had enough for 3 meals! The menu said “poached egg” So I put a 2 there, because I wanted 2 poached eggs……..got 2 plates, each with 2 poached eggs on toast! Same with writing in pancakes for Mark – got 2 plates! ) The rest of our breakfasts were in Cagney’s – LOVE this!

Cagney’s for lunch twice and dinner once. Always awesome!

 

Azura for dinner once. Service was not that great. Made reservation with Ruth for 6pm. Figured that was a good time, right after opening. That day, however, they opened at 6pm! We waited 20 min for dessert, then they brought the wrong thing. We left, as we wanted to make the 7:30 show. We knew there would be snacks in the room later, if we were hungry.

 

Blue Lagoon for lunch once (and once to go for lunch). Best Blue Lagoon ever is on the Pearl! This is where we had the most unfriendly waitress. Did not crack one smile. Must have been having a bad day?

 

Great Outdoors once for late lunch. We tried to get burgers at the sky high bar, but were told they don’t serve food there?!

 

Buffet for lunch take out to room once and once for dinner. Love the pasta station. And had to have the dessert crepes! They were the best!!

Once morning I had chocolate covered strawberries on the balcony. That was great!! Watched the sun come up - then the dark clouds rolled in and it rained.

 

We saw these shows : first night entertainment sample – gave brief performances by several acts. The comedian’s show was very funny!! His name is David Naster. We also saw part of the arialists – audience loved them! And we attended the Cirque show, with crew farewell. Missed the old song.

 

We sat in on a couple of trivia contests – found out how little we know! LOL was fun! Saw the Newlywed / not so newlywed game show. Did the Deal or no Deal once, Played Bingo twice and spent some time playing the slots in the casino. My big hit was $416.00, on the RIO machine with a $.50 bet!

 

All in all, it was a great cruise! We did a lot of relaxing, reading and “Whatever” !!

Thanks for reading!! I’ll try to answer any questions.:D

[jaja]

Thanks for the review :) Any chance you'll post the dailies along with it? glad you had a great time!

 

 

Was on the cruise with Pam (hi Pam)...ALSO had a great relaxing time..:)

I have the dailies..unable to scan..but if there is something specific you wanted to know..just ask...

[dongordon]

Hi Pam...was the new alcoholic drink package available on the Jewel.

Many of the NCL ships now have it.

 

Thanks for the review.....looking forward to my upcoming cruise on the Jewel.

Don