New to NCL and a little worried

[True Texan]

My DH & I are in our 60's and a Panama Canal cruise has always been on our "bucket list". Since I am retiring in a little over a year from now, I have been doing my research. I found a PC cruise in Sept of '14. It departs LA and arrives in Houston 16 days later. We live in the Houston area so this is perfect. But, it is NCL and we have never been on NCL. It is on the Jewel and so many reviews are bad. My questions and concerns are:

 

The mini suites look very small and I can't find any good pics of them

 

Is the food good in the MDR so many reviews say they are pushing the extra charge venues so service and food is subpar.

 

do the aft facing mini suites have full height dividers or are they short sides like Carnival

 

Sorry this is long but I know I will get honest answers on CC

[Junebug27]

I love the Jewel! We are going for our second round on her in March. There are always things negative people will find to write their bad reviews but that is the problem of those people not the Jewel. It is a clean beautiful, bright ship with a friendly helpful staff and crew. The food in the main dining rooms is not always amazing but it is generally very good. I have not been in a mini suite, just a full suite on the Jewel but I know the mini suites are in high demand. It is daunting to see a bunch of bad reviews but the Jewel really is quite fabulous in my opinion!!

[Rounder]

The mini-suite is a little bigger than a balcony, the mini, has a tub , the balcony only has a shower. There are no perk's ( butler, concierge. ), in the mini.

I found the Food in the MDR very good , not 5 * but good .

All the best in whatever you decide, enjoy your cruise

[Ilovesailing]

The Jewel has a rating of 79% and 4 out of 5 stars really don't know what your reading.

[njhorseman]

I am always amazed when posters say something like "so many reviews are bad", but when you actually go to the Cruise Critic review summary for the ship you see that "79% of cruisers loved it" (not just "liked it"...loved it !) and the ship being rated by Cruise Critic members at 4 stars out of 5.

 

It just doesn't add up. It can only be explained by all the attention being focused on the negative comments while ignoring the positive.

 

Now that I've gotten that off my chest...

 

The Jewel is perhaps our favorite NCL ship.

 

They are not driving people to the specialty restaurants. It's not gourmet food, but neither is the main dining room food on any other mass market cruise line. We've never been unable to get an acceptable meal in the MDRs. We only go to specialty restaurants when we are entitled to a complimentary dinner...I've never paid to eat in one.

 

BTW, mini suites are larger, and have larger bathrooms and balconies, than standard balcony cabins. They are by no means small. Just don't expect to receive suite benefits when booking a mini suite, because you don't get any. Mini suites are better described as deluxe balcony cabins.

[True Texan]

I am reading the reviews on this cruise critic

[luddite]

You've been cruising on Carnival. NCL isn't a step down. Book it and enjoy.

[FLAHAM]

I liked sailing on the Jewel but was disappointed with MDR dinners. Meals ranged from acceptable/good to unacceptable. MDR service was highly inconsistent (sometimes unbearably slow and/or inattentive). Otherwise, found the ship and crew excellent.

[neverthought]

Hubby and I were booked for the PC cruise in April of last year and had to cancel 1 week before ,due to medical isssues. Hopefully we will get to do it next year. I agree with all the above posters on everything. We absolutely Love the Jewel and the whole crew. We just got off her in Dec. We had a fantastic time. The food and service are great, but we are a very laid back couple, NCL works great for us! We especially love the freestyle dining! Have a wonderful cruise.

Neverthought

[sdmike]

The Jewel is great. It was so much better than my CCL cruise it's not even funny. Here are some pictures of the ship from my Alaska cruise. You can read my review below as well

 

http://public.fotki.com/ritchiefamily/san_diego_family/2012-pictures/alaska-cruise-2012/misc-ship-shots/

 

Here are some pictures of a Jewel mini

 

 

 

[lambchoplady]

Funny, my DH & I are both in our 60's and a Panama Canal cruise is also on our bucket list. I've only ever sailed on NCL - my 3rd cuise is coming up in 6 weeks. I've not sailed on the Jewel, but I did have an aft balcony on the Pearl, another of the Jewel class ships. The balcony dividers were full dividers.

 

As far as the food in the MDR, I never had a problem, and I'm a picky eater. Yes, the service seems to run at "island speed" and I have to keep reminding myself that I am on vacation, but all in all, I have loved each cruise that I was on.

[WaldosPepper]

Here are a couple of videos of mini-suites on the Jewel. These should help give you a reference of size, and layout, etc. Both are hard to watch at times because of the operator moving too quickly, but each has some value for you. The first one is of a side-facing mini-suite, but will be similar enough for comparison purposes.

 

 

The second is of an accessible mini-suite, but in the first few moments of the video you will see the dividers you asked about, so it will be helpful in that regard:

 

 

Regarding the Jewel as a whole, we loved it enough last year to book it again this year, so they must be doing something right. ;) We found the food in the MDR to be just fine. It's not gourmet, and nobody expects it to be. Only one evening did we find the service to be lacking, and later learned that several of the staff had the flu, so everyone else was covering more tables. Other than that one evening we found the service to be excellent.

 

We're very much looking forward to boarding her again next month! :D

[True Texan]

Thank you everybody for all the comments and assistance. I have decided if We are going to be on the ship for 16 days we better have a suite. The Jewel is beautiful, thank you SDMike for the pics.

[roger001]

The Jewel is a wonderful ship and has a wonderful staff and crew. I can't imagine what anyone who does not like her must be comparing her too. Everything totally perfect..of course not. But if they don't like the Jewel, then I don't know how they can ever be happy. But then....they probably never are.

[Junebug27]

If you can do the suite then I highly recommend it. The suite life on the Jewel is pretty fantastic.

 

Roger I completely agree, sometimes I wonder why people who write these extremely negative reviews even bother to take a vacation! It would seem that nothing pleases some people and it would be easier for them to complain from home!

[lisakoivu]

Been on 5 cruises - two on the Jewel, one on Dawn and two on CCL, so unmemorable I can't even remember the ship.

 

The Jewel is my fave (albeit, I get my experience is limited). To me, it is "just the right" size to do everything. I'm one of those obsessive people who has to see all the exhibits in the museum, you know the type. So when I leave the Jewel, I leave with the feeling that I did all that I wanted to do while onboard.

 

Next year, due to teenagers, I have to go on the Breakaway, because that's what you do to entertain teenaged boys, but if I had my choice, I'd only sail on the Jewel or similar or smaller sized ships (Sun and Star do sound interesting though.... :cool:)

[marco]

We go off of 12 days on the "Jewel" yesterday. We were a group of 24 who travel regularly together. We were very disappointed that they could not accommodate our request for dining together (same tables, same time every evening), but we all thought the food in the MDR was very good. The only item everyone who had it was disappointed with was the cream of broccoli soup. Other than that, everyone was quite please with their selections.

[Tiggertastic]

I recommend the aft penthouse but try to avoid the corner as you can hear the winch from there.

 

You get a living area and sleeping area - double wardrobes, dressing area and vanity. The most comfortable bed I have ever slept in was in one of these.

 

Alternatively the Haven is fabulous, a ship within a ship - now that will be a treat

[johnsak123]

You shouldn't believe everything you read. You should wait and figure it out for yourself. I for one have always enjoyed the food in the MDR. If you get something you dont like just order something else. Food is hard to judge by what others think since we all have different tastes. I dont think NCL is pushing the extra charge venues. They are good too.

Enjoy!!

[maggie cruises]

My DH & I are in our 60's and a Panama Canal cruise has always been on our "bucket list". Since I am retiring in a little over a year from now, I have been doing my research. I found a PC cruise in Sept of '14. It departs LA and arrives in Houston 16 days later. We live in the Houston area so this is perfect. But, it is NCL and we have never been on NCL. It is on the Jewel and so many reviews are bad. My questions and concerns are:

 

The mini suites look very small and I can't find any good pics of them

 

Is the food good in the MDR so many reviews say they are pushing the extra charge venues so service and food is subpar.

 

do the aft facing mini suites have full height dividers or are they short sides like Carnival

 

Sorry this is long but I know I will get honest answers on CC

 

I have been on the Jewel so here goes...

 

Get whatever cabin you want

 

Budget for the specialty MDR's and you will love them

 

Don't overpack as NCL is on the casual side and no one will stop you from wearing regular clothes versus formal clothes...no shorts at night in MDR though I believe

 

Enjoy the PC and if NCL is your only choice just go with it

 

I didn't care for NCL after our 1st cruise with them, but tomorrow I am booking my 2nd cruise with them..why? Because it fits the bill pricewise, datewise, and conveniencewise!

 

I already have our specialty dining venues all picked out and will go 4X this cruise, MDR2X and buffet/blue lagoon 1X

 

If it works for you...book the cruise on NCL and enjoy.

[True Texan]

Thanks a lot!!! We have to go for it.

[luvtheships]

I liked sailing on the Jewel but was disappointed with MDR dinners. Meals ranged from acceptable/good to unacceptable. MDR service was highly inconsistent (sometimes unbearably slow and/or inattentive). Otherwise, found the ship and crew excellent.

agreed! of course the specialty mdrs are spectacular and not that expensive

[terrydtx]

I am always amazed at how many people judge a cruise line or a ship by the quality of the food. My DW and I are veteran HAL customers, with our last on the Nieuw Amsterdam in Dec 2011. 5 years ago HAL IMO hands down had the best MDR food and service of any mass marketed cruise lines. This all changed on our last cruise where I thought the MDR was just good but not what it had been in the past. Most cruise lines today have per day food budgets of less then $16 per person so to expect gourmet 5 star food on any is not going to happen. We now look at cruise lines for itinerary and value for price paid. We know any cruise line will have good food in the MDR that will be more than adequate or they would be out of business. For around $100 per day a cruise on NCL is still a great vacation and a good value when compared to others. For comparisons try the food at any all inclusive land resort in the Caribbean if you want to be super disappointed in the slop some of them serve with no upgrades to speciality restaurants available. We also like the selection of speciality dinning venues on NCL and for the nominal up charge they are still less cost than CCL or RCL. The NCL Jewel cruise we are booked on in December was almost $200 less per person for a balcony cabin on a similar itenerray on CCL from New Orleans. So for the money saved we could eat in one of the specialty restaurants every night and still save money over CCL.

[Don Haynes]

Food is subjective, but I haven't noticed a drop in quality with NCL from Carnival. If anything, the food and service are better with NCL. While the average cabin size may be larger with Carnival, it is only about a foot shorter in width, there isn't much difference in length.

[halos]

You've been cruising on Carnival. NCL isn't a step down. Book it and enjoy.

What he said. :)