The short (and long) of it: Jewel 1/5/14

[ChampionCruiser]

Day 1 cont…

 

On each of the 11 cruises before this, I’ve always headed straight for the buffet for the usual embarkation day lunch rush. This time, though, my mom had a heavy carry-on and we were in no rush. Instead, we explored the ship until noon, when Tsars opened (it was a perfect time to take pictures of empty spaces like the Stardust).

 

I think that will be our new embarkation tradition, as it was a great, CALM way to start the cruise! We lucked out with a table by the large windows, so it was great to watch ships pass as we ate. The timing was perfect as well since the announcement for rooms was made right before we finished.

 

Our rooms were (almost) right across from each other on deck 11. I didn’t choose the location for any reason other than it having the cheapest mini suites available ;). They were forward, but not at the very front, and underneath the gym. My parents heard noise some mornings in 11521 but we (11522) never heard anything.

 

We LOVED the mini suite. It’s true that it’s really just a glorified balcony cabin, but we enjoyed all of the “pluses” including the bathroom, which was much bigger than a standard one, and tub. The large sofa was also nice, even though it was really hard. It looks like we'll be back in a balcony next year (mini suite prices are quite a bit higher) which is fine. I wouldn't spend too much more for a mini suite, but if the price is reasonable I'd definitely snag one again!

 

 

 

Of course, the best part of the cabin was the balcony, which had plenty of room (especially when compared to the Breakaway/Getaway ;))

 

 

We might not be mini suite snobs, but it would be hard for us to cruise without a balcony!

 

Edited January 18, 2014 by ChampionCruiser

[ChampionCruiser]

Across the hall, the inside stateroom was adequate for my sister and I. This was our first time without at least a window and we survived without a problem! We definitely slept great, if nothing else!

 

 

I'm not sure about all cabins, but ours did have a safe and flat screen, which worked well *most* of the time.

 

 

The bathroom was tight but fine. If you're taller, your knees WILL hit the wall when sitting, though, just so you know ;)...

 

 

Even in an inside, the shower was great with good pressure. I really liked having a sliding door...no vacuum curtain effect!

 

[ChampionCruiser]

I have to take a break for now, but I hope to finish at least day 1 tonight!!

[triptolemus]

 

.

 

I have a bizarre love affair with the wood railing. I don't know why... Perhaps the Sirens resonate with the thing. Whatever it is...it's sad to see the Jewel like that...no matter how superficial it may seem. I have spent a lot of time there...I guess its personal somehow.

[Usgrant39]

Really appreciate your review. We are on the Jewel next Sunday. Would like to view your pics, but alas, don't have access.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[ClaireAndMike]

The Jewel will always have a special place in my heart as it was the first (and likely last) cruise that my parents joined my sister and I on. An annual vacation, which ended up morphing into an annual cruise, is a "sister" thing that we started a couple of years ago.

 

We too had a mini suite and LOVED IT. My parents were in one and my sister and I in another right beside them.

 

We're going on the Breakaway in August (on my Grandma's dime) so this time it'll be my mom, sister and me sharing a balcony cabin. I think we're going to be in for a rude awakening compared to our digs on the Jewel! :D

 

Reading this gives me fond memories...

 

Did you have Captain Lars??? He was one of the most memorable parts of the cruise for us!

[ChampionCruiser]

I have a bizarre love affair with the wood railing. I don't know why... Perhaps the Sirens resonate with the thing. Whatever it is...it's sad to see the Jewel like that...no matter how superficial it may seem. I have spent a lot of time there...I guess its personal somehow.

 

I feel the same way about every past ship I've sailed on...they easily become "your" ship after just a week!

Edited January 18, 2014 by ChampionCruiser

[ChampionCruiser]

Really appreciate your review. We are on the Jewel next Sunday. Would like to view your pics, but alas, don't have access.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I'm sure you'll love it! I hope you'll have better luck with the weather, too :). And I'm sorry about the pics...I'm using Flickr to upload them and hopefully I'm doing it correctly!

[ChampionCruiser]

The Jewel will always have a special place in my heart as it was the first (and likely last) cruise that my parents joined my sister and I on. An annual vacation, which ended up morphing into an annual cruise, is a "sister" thing that we started a couple of years ago.

 

We too had a mini suite and LOVED IT. My parents were in one and my sister and I in another right beside them.

 

We're going on the Breakaway in August (on my Grandma's dime) so this time it'll be my mom, sister and me sharing a balcony cabin. I think we're going to be in for a rude awakening compared to our digs on the Jewel! :D

 

Reading this gives me fond memories...

 

Did you have Captain Lars??? He was one of the most memorable parts of the cruise for us!

 

I'm glad you're liking it! I'll be in the same boat this August as I'll be back to sharing a regular balcony cabin with the family on the "other" Jewel. Let's see how that goes!

 

And I honestly don't remember the captain's name...we only saw him during the intro and farewell shows, so he wasn't memorable for us.

Edited January 18, 2014 by ChampionCruiser

[ChampionCruiser]

Back to the review!

 

Day 1 cont…

 

The rest of day 1 was the typical embarkation day filled with excitement! The safety drill is never the highlight of the day, but it was surprisingly quick and painless this time around :). I was pleased to see that NCL is now conducting the drills in lounges. Princess did this back in 2006 but most cruises since then have started with the “pack everyone like sardines on the promenade deck” approach. I much preferred a comfortable seat in the Stardust without a life jacket.

 

We made it out on deck for the sailaway party, which is always fun. Both the Jewel and Sunshine were scheduled to depart at 4:00 but that didn’t happen. I’m not sure exactly when we left, but it was definitely after 4:30 and we had already headed back down to our balcony by that point. The Sunshine left shortly after and followed us down the river.

 

 

I will say that I really enjoyed sailing out of New Orleans and down the Mississippi River! Even in January, when the sun sets pretty early, we enjoyed an hour or so of sightseeing. Along with the French Quarter, you can also see the Chalmette battlefield and house from the port side, as well as plenty of commercial ships.

 

I didn’t get a picture this time, but here’s a picture of the battlefield and house taken from a riverboat two years ago. It's only a few minutes down the river from the Quarter.

 

 

Sailing down the Mississippi was definitely a unique start to a Caribbean cruise!

 

 

You can see that, by the time we left, the sun had already set.

 

 

I made four dining reservations as a Christmas present to my parents and our first was for 6:00 in La Cucina (the sign onboard now says La Cucina but the menus still say Mama’s). I know that there’s no perk for booking in advance (besides maybe Teppanyaki – which seemed to always be full!), but it was nice for budgeting purposes. Even though it took some of the “freestyle” concept away, it was nice not worrying about the onboard account throughout the week. The same is true for gratuities, which we pre-paid as well.

 

We all really enjoyed our meal and it was a terrific start to the cruise. I think the vast majority of passengers eat in the MDRs on the first night (possibly for the lobster, possibly because it’s easiest) and we were one of only two groups during our entire meal. Our waiter was amazing! She was very helpful and friendly. As I said before, we ended up with too much food but enjoyed every bit.

 

We attended the main show’s second seating every night (except for the last – when there was only a single showing). Generally, getting a good seat wasn’t a problem, but we always showed up at least 15 minutes early to be sure. Apart from the AMAZING acrobatic duo, the welcome aboard show was a bit dull, though it did get us into the cruising mood.

 

Unfortunately, I didn’t remember to bring the dailies with me (I might try getting my sister to scan them so I can share), so I don’t remember the other activities for that night. There was always a smaller game show before and after the 9:15 main show, though, and we enjoyed them all. These were usually held in the Spinnaker.

 

That does it for now! I'll start uploading pictures for day 2 and beyond and hopefully get them posted soon. This new time zone is getting to me, though. It's going on 2 AM now so I should probably call it a night :).

 

Next up: Day 2, at sea

[ChampionCruiser]

Moving on...

 

Day 2 – at sea

 

I really love sea days. I mean sure, I usually choose a cruise based on the ports first, but I like to have at least two sea days to relax. This sea day is ranked pretty low on the list of past ones because of, yep, the weather (but it was still a good day!).

 

The night before, the Freestyle Daily showed the next day’s weather as a high of 58 with “partly cloudy” skies. By the end of the cruise, we realized that NCL uses the most optimistic weather forecast EVER (as confirmed by the cruise staff ;)). If it says “partly cloudy”, you’ll never see the sun. If it says “chance of showers”, there might be a small chance that the rain will let up at some point during the day. Finally, if you get the dreaded “chance of rain”, it means you’ll be lucky to stay dry at all. Just be aware!

 

Anyways, it was a pretty yucky day and the sun never showed up. The ship did rock a bit but it didn’t bother any of us at all. I’ve definitely experienced a lot worse, for sure. I won’t go into details about the day since it was a typical day at sea (minus the outdoor activities). There was plenty to do inside and the crew tried really hard to keep everyone content. I always feel sorry for them when there’s bad weather…some people tend to blame them, it seems.

 

This was the best it looked all day (unfortunately, this was also the first picture I took that day...)

 

 

It always seems worse from the lower decks!

 

 

One positive? ZERO chair hogs :D

 

 

[ChampionCruiser]

I really couldn’t be upset about the cool weather because I knew it was a risk with a January sailing. Some of you will really luck out and others…not so much. For example, the New Orleans high that Saturday: 72. Two days later? 40. There’s really no way to predict it!

 

I mentioned it in the quick review, but we tried Blue Lagoon for lunch and, while the food was tasty, we weren’t impressed enough to return. That night was the Captain’s night (and optional formal evening). We didn’t pack any formal (or even semi-formal) clothes, but there were a good number of people who decided to dress up. That may explain the long wait for Tsars, as it’s the more formal dining room.

 

After taking pictures in the atrium, we headed to Tsars (without reservations) around 6:00 and were given a buzzer and four tickets for sparkling wine or soda. The host said the wait would be 20-30 minutes.

 

I don’t really like being handed a buzzer on a cruise, but the free drinks made up for it ;).

 

 

The wait was almost exactly 20 minutes and we were again seated at the same table as the night before (right in front of the windows). Overall, we enjoyed our meal, even though the service was just “okay” and a little slow. I ended up with the pork and vegetable spring roll (I loved it and ordered it again later in the week), kung pao chicken (very good), and bread pudding (good). From my family, I gathered that the NY strip was “meh”, the alfredo very good, and the pecan pie “yummy”.

 

We went to the 9:15 show, which was a comedian. It takes A LOT for a comedian to make me laugh and it didn’t happen this time. It was a clean show with a bunch of the typical cruise-related humor (small bathrooms, a lot of food, etc.) but (imho) nothing special. My mom did enjoy it a lot, though. Maybe I need to loosen up more!

 

We called it a night after the show and were excited to find a towel friend in our cabins! There wasn’t one on the first or last night (which seems to be the norm) but they did appear on the other five. It’s cheesy, I know, but we miss the towel animals when we cruised on Celebrity and Princess!

 

 

Next up: Day 3 - Cozumel