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Jewel Review


tdc2673
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So sorry the have let you all down. My device I had planned on using for my real-time review failed me. I will continue with my review now. Looks like I left off with sail away.

 

Stateroom...I found the room to be very clean with lots of storage. There is a double door closet that opens from front side or back side (4 doors total). There is a built in cabinet that houses the safe and has two sets of double cabinet doors with shelves and also 4 shallow drawers and 2 deeper drawers. There is a makeup table with a makeup mirror. I found it to not be as well lit as I am used to. I took my lighted makeup mirror and was glad I did. That table has 2 shallow drawers and 1 deep drawer. Blow dryer is not the kind you have to keep the button pressed down on. I really liked the hair dryer. In the bathroom there is a tub with shower and a separate area for the toilet. Water pressure was really good. The bed in the stateroom was a king and very comfy. It is surrounded by drapes to close it off. There is a desk, bar area with coffee maker (LOVED) and mini fridge underneath. Also both desk and mini bar have additional storage. There was salt and pepper, mustard, and ketchup in the desk cabinet. There is a table with 4 chairs and a large sofa that makes out into a bed. My kids slept on the sofa and had plenty of room. My 13 year old is 5'8", 140, so pretty good size. There is another round glass table and two additional chairs. The balcony had 2 loungers, 1 chair, and two small round tables. Balcony was large but sadly we only had a couple of days with weather nice enough to enjoy it. Once we get photos downloaded I will add photos.

 

Crew---Hands down the best crew I have ever had on any ship. Our room steward was WONDERFUL! Hermogenes Tipo. He entertained my children, kept our cabin immaculate, and we very much enjoyed visiting with him. I have already mention our butler, Mama T. She was amazing. Since we are not fans of the canapés, I gave her a list with some of the things we liked. They were just to give her an idea of what we liked. She made sure we got everything on that list. :) I have seen people ask what type of snacks are available, so I will include some of the things on my list. Soft pretzels, cookies, chips, sandwiches (bacon, ham, turkey, and cucumber), chocolate covered berries, and fruit. We typically got 3 separate plates each day. I remember in Roatan I was starving. Walked in and there was a plate of sandwiches, chips, cookies, and fruit. SOOO GOOD!!!!! Mama T. also kept a pitcher of OJ in our fridge for us. Elvina I have already mentioned was also great. I never saw her not smiling. On the first night we went to dinner at Tsars at 6:15, there was a 30 minute wait, we called Elvina and BOOM, we were in. I had made reservations through pre-cruise concierge for Tepanyaki but the reservations were never made. Even though they showed full Elvina was able to get us in on Monday. She also checked on us most every night at dinner.

 

Dining Venues / Food---Let me start by saying the syrup is fine! I took syrup and we never opened it. If it was every "nasty" they have fixed it!

Tsars we ate here 3 times. Once for lunch and twice for dinner. I hate to say but it was pretty disappointing. The food was just ok. Service was bad the first night but was good the other 2 times we were there. Cagneys, we went twice. Once on Wednesday, service was great and food was some of the best I have ever had, and I am fairly well traveled and have dined in many 4 and 5 star places. We ate there again on Sat. It was very busy and food was good but not nearly as good as the first time. You get lots of food. You can pick up to 5 starters, 1 entrée and as many sides as you like. Teppanyaki (sp?) my family went on Monday and said it was very good (I was sick so did not go). We ate there again on Thursday and it was very good and chef was very entertaining. Buffet, variety was good, I ate mainly salads here and thought they were great. They have a special salad each day, one day it was cobb, one day spinach, etc. Everyday they have pizza, chicken, hot dogs, and burgers with all the fixings. There is also a hot food section, a fruit section, and a desert section. Most of our lunches we ate at buffet or Cagneys. They have kiwi water, mango water, lemonade, water, tea, and coffee. I loved the lemonade but on several occasions I found it would go missing from the buffet. When I asked about it they got me some but I never figured out why it would just go missing. They had ice cream pretty much every time I was there. Funny thing is they ran out of cones with 3 days left in our cruise. :mad: Not really a big deal but kind of bad planning. Breakfast we ate everyday in our suite. I wrote in waffles, French toast, and pancakes and we always got it. We really enjoyed our in-suite breakfasts. This is was one of the main reasons we got a suite. Deserts were pretty much a miss though not nearly as bad as I had previously read. Cheesecake was very good, sundaes from Blue Lagoon was also good, and crepes were very good. I never felt I was missing out on deserts. Also cream puffs on the chocoholic buffet were great. Get there early though, they disappear quickly!

 

Entertainment---All of the shows I watched I found to be very entertaining. The dancers and singers are very talented. Unfortunately I did not get to see the Band on the Run show. This was the night I did not feel well. I have never been motion sick on a cruise until this one. We had really rough water on Sunday evening and Monday. I fought it all day, felt really tired and had a headache. By that evening I really just wanted to lay in the bed. I found out quite a few crew members and many passengers were also ill from the motion. When you see the bags by the elevator, you know it is bad. Sorry I digress, back to the shows. Naster the comedian was hilarious. The magician was very entertaining. My kids did not want to go that night and I hated they missed it. Thursday night they brought on Jeri Sager, who is a Broadway actress. She was very talented, great voice, though I thought this was a little more geared to an older crowd. The Cirque show was AMAZING! We all really loved it. All in all I thought the entertainment was some of the best I have seen on a cruise ship.

 

Kids / Teen Club---Many kiddos on board! I was worried about both of my children beforehand for different reasons. My 9 yo was at the top of her age range so would be in same group as 7 yo. I was afraid the activities would be too young for her. My worries were unfounded. She had a great time and wanted to go all the time. On port days the club is open pretty much all day, though we only used it in the evenings. On sea days, it is open mornings, then closes in the afternoon and opens back up at 7. I was worried about my 13 yo because this would be the first cruise since he aged out of the kids club. I forced him to go the first night in order to make friends. He made a couple but did not go back on Monday night because he was also not feeling well. He went back on Tuesday and pretty much hung out with the teens each night after. During the sea days there was always some type of sporting event going on which he took part in. He really enjoyed the teen club. Jo was really great with the teens and my son really liked her.

 

Have to go do more laundry. Back with more soon!

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Hi Tricia...Lori and Dave from the cruise!

 

Love reading your review.

 

We had a great time on the ship and getting to know your family!

 

I was also sick on the first night and noticed the puke bags by the elevators. While Dave, never having been on a cruise, slept right through it all and was fine!

 

I'm hitting the laundry tonight....I'm dreading it!

 

Lori

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Please post pics of the room. We have suite 10000 and 10500 leaving NOLA on Dec 15th. Tell the butler to take her Geritol because she might need it with our kids! We will try to be low maintenance.

 

I would also like to know the temps in the ports to see if it is ok to pack just Summer things. Also include the water temp and if it is nice and warm to swim.

 

We booked an AI in Jamaica and it sounds like that was the right choice

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Once I get my photos downloaded I will post. I tried to give you a detailed description of the suite. You will love it! The only thing that was slightly bothersome was that the main cabinet where the clothing and safe were located was in a narrow area that led to the makeup table area and bathroom, so if someone was getting something out of cabinet, it was a squeeze to get past them into the bathroom. Was not really a problem but did notice in the evening when we were all getting ready for dinner.

 

We were in different ports than you will be. We were in Cozumel, Belize, Honduras, and Costa Maya. It was cold when we left NO. We needed jeans, boots, and sweatshirts. My dd and I both took our North Face fuzzy jackets and we wore them...a lot! It was rainy most days and quite cool on deck. We spent a lot of time on the sports deck and needed the jackets. Take at least one pair of pants and lightweight jacket. Cozumel was sunny and around 80, as was Costa Maya. Belize and Honduras were rainy and around 70. Water was warm in both Costa Maya and Cozumel. We swam in ocean and pool on those days. Hope that helps.

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Hi. Thanks for these tips. I will be on the Jewel on 12/22 with my family.

 

Here are a few questions:

 

1) Did you try the pizza? Was it worth waiting for (and the $5 delivery charge), or should we skip it?

 

2) How did your kids (especially the 9 year old) enjoy the programs on board for them? We will have a 10-year-old and a 3-year-old, and I am concerned the 10-year-old might be bored if the activities aren't good. Any suggestions?

 

3) Any "must see" shore excursions? I still haven't settled on what we should do yet.

 

We did not do the delivery pizza but my dd did order pizza from kids menu in dinning room several times. Also want to mention, if you do book one of the specialty dining venues, your children can still order off the children's menu and you will not be charged the specialty fee. We both also got the buffet pizza several times and it was fine. Not the best I have had but was good and she loved it!

 

My dd loved the kids program! Please see kids program section in the second part of my review. She is 9 going on 16, so I was afraid she would think it lame. Not at all. She wanted to go all the time!

 

Shore excursions. You must do zip lining in Honduras. We booked directly through Victor Boden. It rained most of the time and we still had a blast. He has many animals at his Monkey Business. You get to go in and take photos with the monkeys who climb on you like you are a tree. We loved it! He also has parrots. The last part of the excursion is to a beach. We had to go to an alternate beach area because of rough water. It was beautiful! We also loved Costa Maya. Went to Maya Chan, booked directly through them. They only take 40 people. Your drinks and food are included. Every family gets their own Palapa. There are kayaks, beach toys for the kids, bikes, and floats. It was a really great day. Relaxing for my dh and I but still enjoyable for the kiddos.

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Hi Tricia...Lori and Dave from the cruise!

 

Love reading your review.

 

We had a great time on the ship and getting to know your family!

 

I was also sick on the first night and noticed the puke bags by the elevators. While Dave, never having been on a cruise, slept right through it all and was fine!

 

I'm hitting the laundry tonight....I'm dreading it!

 

Lori

 

Hi Lori and Dave!!! We so enjoyed the time we spent with you guys. Especially when the monkey took Dave's hat...LOL!

 

You know it is so funny, what I thought I would miss about RCL, CCL, and Celebrity was being at a large dinning table where we could meet new people. I truly believe on NCL, I met and got to know even more people that I had on previous cruises!

 

Sorry to hear you were sick too! LiLi had a headache that morning and was tired but hers got better. Mine got worse in the afternoon and by bedtime Doug and Nick were both feeling bad too.

 

I took off today just to get the laundry done. So NOT fun!

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Ports...We booked all of our port excursions independently. I will break them down port by port.

 

Cozumel...We went to Playa Mia. It was PACKED but we had a very good time. We did the basic package which included chair rental, the water toys in the ocean and water park admission. For lunch we ordered nachos and quesadillas and drinks. Food was very good and food prep area was very clean. Gloves and hair covers were worn by everyone in food prep area. I am very picky. I will not eat if I have any perception that everything is not super clean. Weird I know but for those of you like me, you are safe here...lol! They had organized games, like a piñata punch and water balloon toss. Water park area had a great pool with two large water slides. Water temp was perfect. Only odd thing was no loungers in the pool area. I missed that but I just laid on the loungers that were built into the pool. We took a taxi to and from.

 

Belize...We woke up to a wet, cloudy day. We had booked cave tubing here. Like I said previously, we had been ill the night before and it was a long tender ride through rough water, so we chose to cancel. Later in the day we did make the tender ride in to port and did some shopping. I talked to someone later who did the cave tubing and they said it was a wonderful experience. So regret I did not get to do it. Guess I will just have to go back soon!!!

 

Roatan...We got off at the port and went to the kiosk. We were put in vans and taken to the zip line. It was another cloudy, rainy day but we zipped anyway. Be advised some of the climbs are pretty steep. I think I am in pretty good shape but I was even a little winded after one of the climbs. Well worth it though. They guides were great and made it even more fun. Afterward we were allowed to go in with the monkeys and parrots. Truly awesome! After that we were taken to a nice resort. Water was cold. My kids went in and came right back out as it was too cold. Great day!

 

Costa Maya...Went to Maya Chan. It included palapa with cushioned lounger, chairs, table, lunch (delish), all we could drink (oreo drink alcoholic and non alcoholic...YUM!), floats, kayaks, chips and salsa, beach toys for kids, and bikes. We loved it there. DH and I agreed we would love to move to Costa Maya! You meet them outside of port and they put you in taxis (they pay) that take you to the resort, then when you are ready to leave they send you back by taxi.

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We also were on the thanksgiving cruise. Party of 3 families all had the aft suites. Weather was rough and the cabin has lots of rocking and rolling. First time in totally aft so this may be part of it. Not prone to sea sickness anymore, but this would of been big problem if we did have that issue.

We also breezed on the ship. We were in front of cagney's at 11:25 waiting for it to open.

Ate all meals in main dining room (evening) except last nite we did chin chin.

Actually had 10 in our party so getting everyone onboard with plans got crazy.

Most everyone did the dolphin encounter in Cozumel and enjoyed it. Nothing for Belize, too rough. Everything to do with water got cancelled in roatan. Most of the group did beach getaway thru NCL. Everyone loved this excursion. The weather was super good this day so that helped.

My husband and I did the sight seeing and shopping in Cozumel. We have done this same tour thru carnival, and royal carribean, but this one was the best.

We were on the star last thanksgiving. Thought the turkey dinner was better on the star. Maybe it was the platter of sandwich 's that spoiled our appetite for dinner.

Now I am trying to catch up on laundry so I can pack for a little 5 day cruise in 5 weeks.

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Hehe, you thought this was bad, read this one. I almost felt of my chair. The way of writing, screaming and that for a person that apparently thinks she is upperclass or educated. :) ;)

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=227479

 

Well Buc, I am not sure what you thought was bad about my review nor do I care. I was simply trying to help others going on the same ship. I rushed to put it out and there were some grammatical errors. If you do not like it simply move on. Your comment was uncalled for. By the way when you are going to criticize someone else's writing you might want to proofread your own before posting..."I almost felt of my chair".

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Hi Tricia, I think ther is some kind of misunderstanding. I am not writing about your review not at all. I liked your review. I was referring to the one in the link I provided. Oh and don't worry of grammar; my native language is not even English so I wouldn't dare to comment on that.

Edited by buc78
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OMG I now see where it all came from. I posted on the wrong thread :(.

 

I wanted to post this on the 'ubelievable review of Dawn' but somehow posted it here. Sorry sorry Tricia, I really am. :(

 

LOL, it is all good. I knew my review was not the best that was ever written but I was shocked when I saw your comment about it being bad. No worries.

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Ports...We booked all of our port excursions independently. I will break them down port by port.

 

Cozumel...We went to Playa Mia. It was PACKED but we had a very good time. We did the basic package which included chair rental, the water toys in the ocean and water park admission. For lunch we ordered nachos and quesadillas and drinks. Food was very good and food prep area was very clean. Gloves and hair covers were worn by everyone in food prep area. I am very picky. I will not eat if I have any perception that everything is not super clean. Weird I know but for those of you like me, you are safe here...lol! They had organized games, like a piñata punch and water balloon toss. Water park area had a great pool with two large water slides. Water temp was perfect. Only odd thing was no loungers in the pool area. I missed that but I just laid on the loungers that were built into the pool. We took a taxi to and from.

 

Belize...We woke up to a wet, cloudy day. We had booked cave tubing here. Like I said previously, we had been ill the night before and it was a long tender ride through rough water, so we chose to cancel. Later in the day we did make the tender ride in to port and did some shopping. I talked to someone later who did the cave tubing and they said it was a wonderful experience. So regret I did not get to do it. Guess I will just have to go back soon!!!

 

Roatan...We got off at the port and went to the kiosk. We were put in vans and taken to the zip line. It was another cloudy, rainy day but we zipped anyway. Be advised some of the climbs are pretty steep. I think I am in pretty good shape but I was even a little winded after one of the climbs. Well worth it though. They guides were great and made it even more fun. Afterward we were allowed to go in with the monkeys and parrots. Truly awesome! After that we were taken to a nice resort. Water was cold. My kids went in and came right back out as it was too cold. Great day!

 

Costa Maya...Went to Maya Chan. It included palapa with cushioned lounger, chairs, table, lunch (delish), all we could drink (oreo drink alcoholic and non alcoholic...YUM!), floats, kayaks, chips and salsa, beach toys for kids, and bikes. We loved it there. DH and I agreed we would love to move to Costa Maya! You meet them outside of port and they put you in taxis (they pay) that take you to the resort, then when you are ready to leave they send you back by taxi.

 

We are booked at Playa Mia in Cozumel and Maya Chan might be our favorite cruise place EVER! I would go there again and again!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

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Please post pics of the room. We have suite 10000 and 10500 leaving NOLA on Dec 15th. Tell the butler to take her Geritol because she might need it with our kids! We will try to be low maintenance.

 

I would also like to know the temps in the ports to see if it is ok to pack just Summer things. Also include the water temp and if it is nice and warm to swim.

 

We booked an AI in Jamaica and it sounds like that was the right choice

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

We were in 10500 earlier this year and absolutely loved it. I am just sure you will too!

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Do you book Playa Mia thru the cruise or do it at the port when we arrive?

Sounds like a great place to visit. How much is cab, entrance fees, etc. if we don't book thru ship? We are on the Jewel, Dec. 15th.

 

I booked through shore excursioneer website. They emailed me the e-tickets. The price options are on their website. You can do the inclusive with lunch and drinks or the basic package. Sorry, I don't recall the taxi price.

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