Jewel 3/13/16 Mexican Riviera Review (this time with mom)

[CoffeeGoddess]

It's been almost a week since we got back from our 3/13 to 3/20 Mexican Riviera cruise on the Jewel and I'm in the process of uploading my pictures so I'm ready to start the review. This was my fifth cruise, fourth on NCL and the second one where I wasn't solo. I had actually booked it solo at first and then decided to add my mom since I had to pay the double price anyways.

 

Spoiler: She loved it.

 

She also has walking difficulties so I had to do a few things new to me this time to make sure she was covered. I set up a wheelchair for the embarkation and debarkation and also rented a walker for her through Special Needs at Sea. Both of those were super easy with the first only needing a call to NCL and the second getting a quote from an email request and then paying and signing a contract for the rental. NCl gives you some good information here for both of these: https://www.ncl.com/about/accessible-cruising

 

This was my first time on a smaller NCL ship and I enjoyed it just as much as on the bigger ships. For this review I will be doing it in a day to day format and posting pictures as I go. I don't have a fancy camera and all my pictures were taken on my phone. In case any one was wondering about MDR menus, sorry, we didn't eat in either of them at all.

 

So, let's start the review!

[CoffeeGoddess]

DAY ONE

 

Mom and I both flew into LAX the day of the cruise. Not a big deal for me coming from LAS on a one hour flight but she didn't have a direct flight from Detroit so her trip was a little more taxing. Thankfully everything went well with both of our flights. I got there about 8am and then had to wait until almost noon for her since her last flight was a little delayed. Tip, once you go past security to get your bags there is only coffee shops available for you to wait for anytime at in LAX.

 

I was planning on getting an Uber to the port but once mom actually got there and I tried to set it up the app told me my phone number wouldn't work. Now, I have a VOIP cell phone and Lyft wouldn't even let me register with it but Uber allowed it so I thought I was good to go. No dice and it pissed me off. While mom had a wheelchair to get to her bags, the lady said her time was up and left mom sitting while I tried to get an Uber. Since mom couldn't walk very far even with her cane I quickly ruled out Supershuttle since either stop was a ways down the road. That left a taxi, which we got with a short wait. It was quick and not a bad drive and the taxi driver left us off right by a porter who got our bags. It wound up being a little over $60 for the ride plus tip.

 

I tipped the porter and made and we headed over to the check in with me carrying mom's purse and my carry on so she could focus on walking. Now, while I did request a wheelchair, they made it clear that we had to get past security before we could get one. So it was a bit of a walk but she did fine and we got through security with no lines. She headed right to the chairs and the port people said that once a wheelchair was free they would bring one over.

 

While we were waiting I grabbed a couple of the health questionnaires and had mom start filling hers out. I kept looking around and saw there were a few people hanging by the elevator with wheelchairs so I asked a lady that was walking by when they would bring one to mom. She said, "I'm going to get one right now!" and did just that. We got mom on the chair and she wheeled her right up to the ADA counter where no one was at. The lady (I wish I could remember her name) kept asking the other people at the desk if anyone was manning that station. When they told her no, she said, "I'm going to check you in then" and went behind the counter and started getting us checked in. While she was doing that another person came in and finished it for her when she had a little trouble with mom's passport card. I put my card on file, we got our pictures taken and then the wheelchair lady came back looking all excited and showed the person checking us in a little slip of paper. She then grabbed mom's chair and started wheeling her along. I was wondering about our cards and asked what was up, she said "you're VIPs!" and wheeled mom over to the Haven waiting area where they had our cards.

 

Here's mom in the waiting area all happy to have a snack since she didn't have much on the plane.

 

 

Well, hell, I wasn't expecting that. The lady got mom situated and I got here some snacks and a drink and she let us know that we had to wait for the concierge and then someone else would wheel mom up. We both thanked her and mom gave her a tip (she always gets $2 bills for tips :rolleyes:) and the lady was so happy since it was her first tip of the day. She was awesome and the port should be happy to have her.

 

We met Joaquin and he said we could go up whenever we wanted so another wheelchair employee came and got mom and off we went to the elevator. Now, the NCL employee on the phone had said that they would only take us to the ship and would not take the wheelchair to the room. While we were on the elevator I let the guy know I had a rental walker for her that should be in the room and that we were pretty close to the midship elevators so it shouldn't be too bad of a walk for mom. Well he decided to take mom all the way to the room and we wound up not getting on the close elevators since they were packed, but going to the forward ones and then going through the hall to get to the room. I have to say all the port employees we met were just great.

[CoffeeGoddess]

DAY ONE CONTINUED

 

The room steward, Mark, was still making up the room but we told him not to worry since we just wanted to grab the walker. We dropped off our carry-ons and I asked if mom wanted to go up to Moderno for lunch (I had access due to the VIP thing) or go to the buffet. She picked the buffet so we headed up there, right up to the 12th floor from the midship elevators close to our room, 8090. It wasn't too bad up there and mom made use of her walker seat to get her plate of food. As we headed towards the back to get a table we passed the drink station and I got a sangria while mom got a glass of wine. I let her know about the drink package we got as a perk of the booking and how to use it. We then found a seat and enjoyed our first lunch on board.

 

 

After lunch I told mom I had pre-purchased spa passes and we went to the spa right on the same deck to get our stickers and check it out. I've had a spa pass everytime I've been on an NCL ship and have found it to be money well spent. This time was no different. I actually really liked having a separate hot tub, steam room, and sauna right in the men's and women's locker rooms and mostly spent my time there. The only complaint I have about this spa was that there were no padded loungers that you could lay down on. It was chairs or the heated tile loungers and that was it.

 

Mom was very happy with the spa and also made good use of it. She loved the accessible shower with the seat and actually took her showers there instead of in the room.

 

 

 

 

We attended the muster drill and then went back to the room to get ready for dinner at Teppanyaki.

[Nurse kris]

I can't wait to here more. I'm getting on the jewel in two weeks. [emoji16]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Clarea]

Nice review so far.:)

[CoffeeGoddess]

I can't wait to here more. I'm getting on the jewel in two weeks. [emoji16]

 

I hope you love her, I really enjoyed the Jewel and her crew!

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Nice review so far.:)

 

Thanks!

[CoffeeGoddess]

I had purchased the 3 day SDP and made reservations online before we left. I picked Teppanyakki for the first night, Le Bistro for the second night which was also my birthday (more on that later), and then we did Cagney's on the 1st sea day coming back which was the sixth night.

 

We got to Teppanyaki early and were the first ones seated while we waited for the rest of the diners to arrive. It was pretty small with only the two stations.

 

This is it:

 

While we waited they asked if we wanted anything from the bar so we both got one of each of the two specialty cocktails. While the Japanese Martini was good, we both liked the Wasabi better. It really should be called a Lychee though since it has no spice kick whatsoever.

 

 

 

The rest of the people came and filled three of the four tables and the servers took our orders. Mom got the seafood and I did the scallops and shrimp. The chef was fun and only one person refused to do the catch-the-egg-with-your-mouth at our table. Someone had ordered the beef so they gave a little to everyone along with the extra shrimp. It was so much food; mom took a plate back to the room (and never actually ate the rest).

 

 

By the time dinner was over mom was pooped and headed to bed. I took a little tour of the ship but I was also pretty tired since I had gotten up so early for my flight so I hit the sack early as well. But I did snap a photo of the cool art outside Shakers.

 

 

Next up, our Meet and Greet and mom can't stop telling people it's my birthday.

Edited March 26, 2016 by CoffeeGoddess

[Keith1010]

I am enjoying your trip report and will continue to read the remainder of it as you post it.

 

Thank you.

 

Keith

[fabnfortysomething]

nice to hear from you again

will be reading the rest of your review when can get wifi in ports as sailing around the Canary islands on Ncl Epic from Barcelona on Monday!

 

Lyn

Edited March 26, 2016 by fabnfortysomething

[Freespir8]

Thanks for your report! We are on this exact cruise in 30 days. Reading about your trip is a great way to get excited until we get to go!

[Moobaby214]

Great report!

[CoffeeGoddess]

I am enjoying your trip report and will continue to read the remainder of it as you post it.

Thanks, I'll be finishing it up this weekend.

 

Thanks for your report! We are on this exact cruise in 30 days. Reading about your trip is a great way to get excited until we get to go!

 

I hope you have as much fun as we did!

 

Great report!

 

Thanks!

[CoffeeGoddess]

nice to hear from you again

will be reading the rest of your review when can get wifi in ports as sailing around the Canary islands on Ncl Epic from Barcelona on Monday!

 

Lyn

 

Lucky! I love the Epic; I'm sure you'll have a great time!

[zencruisers]

Thank you for the review and pictures. We are on this cruise in two weeks

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[CoffeeGoddess]

I forgot to mention that I did stop by the spa the first night and every night thereafter. It's just very relaxing to have a good soak before bed.

 

DAY TWO - SEA DAY

 

This was the first sea day and we had the CC Meet and Greet scheduled for 11am. Now, we had a very small roll call and wound up with 25 people RSVPing for the M&G. So I decided it would be nice to do invitations since I had really enjoyed getting those on the Escape maiden voyage from Kyle & Cherie. So I whipped a double sided postcard up on Vistaprint and had people give me their cabin numbers for delivery. The group services that set up the M&G let me know they could deliver the invites for a nominal charge per invite and I set it up with them. I also printed out name tags and put them in the invitations so people could show up with them. I made sure to get those invites to the Guest Services as one of the first things I did on board and the lady assured me that she would give them to Jenmark ASAP and they would be delivered that evening. The first inkling I had that all was not great was when Jenmark called the cabin as we were getting ready for dinner and asked about the invites. I let him know who I gave them to and he said he would take care of it.

 

Mom wanted coffee when she was getting ready but I had not put out the Room Service slip and when we tried calling no one picked up. So I went up to the buffet and grabbed two cups for us. Now was the first time that I realized why I like traveling solo. It took mom about an hour to get ready for breakfast where I'm usually out the door in half or less that time. Ah well, I just figured I'd have to deal for the cruise and just got up a little later so she could start getting ready first. She finished in time for breakfast at Moderno's so up we went for the only time we were to eat there this trip.

 

Breakfast menu:

 

I had my favorite steak and eggs while mom got a salmon frittata.

 

 

Mom perused the daily while I laid out where we needed to be for the CC events planned today.

 

The last time I had set up a slot pull on the Getaway, the casino had wanted to be notified about it so I stopped by to let them know the night before. I didn't get a chance to talk to the slot manager but they said I would probably need to do it at 3pm. I had tentatively scheduled it at 1:00 in our roll call so after breakfast I went and asked again and they said 1 would be fine. It turns out that the Latitudes party was also at 1:00 so I thought I'd ask at the event since everyone who had signed up would be at the M&G.

 

Oh, and as we came into contact with just about everyone my mother had to tell them that today was my birthday. Me, I didn't really care since I had planned a nice dinner at Le Bistro but mom just needed to tell every. single. person.

 

The M&G was in Le Bistro so we went down there and Jenmark showed up and they started getting everything ready by 10:30ish. I asked about the invitations and he assured me they had all been delivered. He had name tags with him but I also had some extra name tags and those of the people who didn't request an invitation with me. I wound up needing them because not all the invitations were delivered as it turned out. That was the only real disappointment I had for that cruise. However, things happen and everyone who RSVPed actually did show up for the M&G even though two of them did it just before everyone left. But they were in the spa so I couldn't fault them.

 

Even though it was small, the officers showed up and talked with everyone and did their introductions and provided the card with all the names to contact if you had any trouble. We also had the standard juice, coffee and pastries they do for all the M&Gs. It just goes to show how much they really do appreciate the people here who take the time to set these up and review them. The hotel director, Jacob Stevens, reiterated that they do indeed read the reviews on the site and brought up some of the policy changes that they made based on comments and reviews here (taking food from the buffet and dining room was one of them).

 

 

I had brought a box of See's candies for the Group Coordinator since it's nice to acknowledge them and, of course, my mother had to bring up that it was my birthday. So everyone sang Happy Birthday to me and I probably turned several shades of red but it was very nice of them. After the officers left I brought up the slot pull and a vote was put and we all decided to do it at 3pm so that no one had to miss the Latitudes party.

 

Ray and Teresia and had tried to get a cabin crawl set up but unfortunately only me and one other person had been interested. So they graciously invited us up to see their Owner's Suite and both mom and I and Jim went up to see their beautiful room. It was gorgeous with two decks and a good amount of space. We talked for a while and then we all went our separate ways to get lunch before the party.

[CoffeeGoddess]

DAY TWO - CONTINUED

We stopped by the room and Mark was just coming out all grins and wished me a happy birthday. This is what I found in the room:

 

 

Between the time of the M&G and coming back here the Hotel Director had them put up the birthday package in my room. It was so very nice of them to do that. When we next came back, there was both the cupcake they give out to all the people who have a birthday on board and a large cake.

 

Cupcake:

 

The cake:

 

Mom and I went to O' Sheehans since it was right there and had lunch. We had one of the best waiters there and the food came out fast and good. The waiter even took our picture for us. They did have the old menu, as did all the venues on the ship and whenever I asked when they were going to change the menus no one seemed to know what I was talking about.

 

Menu:

 

Fish & Chips:

 

The both of us:

 

We went up to the Latitudes party where they had a bunch of pre-made drinks set up and had no problem getting mom a wine and me a punch. The servers came around frequently and offered both drinks and hors d'oeuvres. As we were coming in I thanked the hotel director for the room decoration and let him know that I appreciated it. The captain introduced himself and then all the officers. They then left and they had their drawings and for gifts for the ticket you got when you came in and then for anyone who bought Cruise Next certificates. I bought two of them this time since I know I will be using them.

 

We then kicked around a little and met up at the casino for the slot pull. There were only two Wheel of Fortune machines and they were both back in a corner so it was a tight fit for everyone. It was also one of the stingiest slots ever with none of us getting even one Wheel of Fortune spin at all. Ugh. Everyone wound up with $8 and the highest single spin got back $14. Ah, that's why they call it gambling I guess.

[NancyL2]

Loving your review!

[rfkeith10]

Thank you for all of your hard work setting up the M&G and slot pull. Teresia and I enjoyed the limited amount of time we spent with you and your mom. The picture of the M&G was less than flattering. :eek: No matter what folks might think, I was not asleep; just intently listening to what was being said without eye contact.

 

We are enjoying the review. It gives us a chance to relive our cruise..

 

Ray & Teresia

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your report.

[fmigali]

Great review! Looking forward to the rest of your trip. :-) We are planning a trip on this Jewel in November, same itinerary but bringing our two little ones with us, 5 year old and almost 3 year old.

[luvcruzing]

Thank you for all of your hard work setting up the M&G and slot pull. Teresia and I enjoyed the limited amount of time we spent with you and your mom. The picture of the M&G was less than flattering. :eek: No matter what folks might think, I was not asleep; just intently listening to what was being said without eye contact.

 

We are enjoying the review. It gives us a chance to relive our cruise..

 

Ray & Teresia

 

Ha-ha. I didn't think you were sleeping, but I thought you were bored to tears.:p

[CoffeeGoddess]

Loving your review!

 

Thanks for your report.

 

Thank you!

[CoffeeGoddess]

Thank you for all of your hard work setting up the M&G and slot pull. Teresia and I enjoyed the limited amount of time we spent with you and your mom. The picture of the M&G was less than flattering. :eek: No matter what folks might think, I was not asleep; just intently listening to what was being said without eye contact.

 

We are enjoying the review. It gives us a chance to relive our cruise..

 

Ray & Teresia

 

Sorry for capturing you in a bad pose :eek: It was really nice to chat and for you two to show your cabin. Hopefully we wind up on another cruise together some day!

[CoffeeGoddess]

Great review! Looking forward to the rest of your trip. :-) We are planning a trip on this Jewel in November, same itinerary but bringing our two little ones with us, 5 year old and almost 3 year old.

 

I hope you enjoy it!

[CoffeeGoddess]

DAY TWO - CONTINUED

Here's a picture of the Latitudes party with all the drinks already lined up on the bar.

 

 

SO mom and I went off to the spa to chill before dinner. I left her sleeping in a chair and went to take pictures and a video tour of our room. I'll post those along with some ship pictures including more spa ones after the days are done.

 

I went back up to get mom and we came down to get ready for dinner at Le Bistro. Since they were doing the pictures I had us take some and I wound up buying a couple for mom since liked them so much. Then we headed off to dinner taking a picture outside the venue.

 

 

Unfortunately the menu picture didn't turn out along with most everything else since it was so dark in there and I didn't want to use a flash. But we both had the specialty drink which I now can't find the name of. I know it had ginger beer in it and it was good.

 

 

Dinner was excellent with mom getting the lobster and I got the pork loin. Mom also had the mushroom soup as an appetizer and liked it so much, when she was at the cooking demonstration with the chef she asked him for the recipe. He was glad to send a copy of it up to room.

 

After dinner mom was tired and went to the room to go to bed and I wandered a little bit more. The Great Outdoors was all lit up with it's blue lights and fake candles on the tables so I took a picture. Then I went back to the spa which was totally empty so I took a selfie in the co-ed Jacuzzi.

 

 

 

Then I went back and tried to fall asleep while mom "watched" TV. Another thing I don't have to deal with when cruising solo. She needed to have the TV on to fall asleep and it just keeps me awake even though I have ear plugs in due to the light. Finally she turned it off and we both fell asleep.