Jewel Dining

[candigirl41]

I have been reading the recent reviews about the Jewel. The food reviews range from fantastic to absolutely inedible. I haven't been on Norwegian, but I have been on Carnival, Royal, and Princess. I have always been able to find something I liked to eat. I realize food is really subjective. If I see something that sounds good I will give it a try. If I don't like it I will not eat it and will ask for something else. Anyone recently on Jewel with any good dishes in either the MDR, O'Sheehan's, Cagney's or Tepanyaki. I have reservations for Cagney's and Tepanyaki and I don't go in for much seafood except fish and chips and shrimp. Any replies greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Candi

[BirdTravels]

We were on the Jewel inSeptember and the food was good. Been on the Jewel twice in two years. NCL has been raising the level of their menus over the past few years. At the end of the day,on the Jewel they still have to do over 10000 meals a day. Think about your local restaurant trying to do that.

[candigirl41]

We were on the Jewel inSeptember and the food was good. Been on the Jewel twice in two years. NCL has been raising the level of their menus over the past few years. At the end of the day,on the Jewel they still have to do over 10000 meals a day. Think about your local restaurant trying to do that.

 

Thank you for that. I know I will not have a problem finding something to eat. Was just curious as to the range of reviews.

 

Candi

[JimS4210]

We just got off the Jewel last Sunday. We thought the food was pretty good.The best meal we had was at Cagney's. The filet (medium) was excellent. Moderno's was really good too, although I always eat too much at the salad bar before they start bringing around all the different meats.

 

The only disappointing place for us was O'Sheehan's. I've eaten there on the Sun and Star and liked it, but was underwhelmed this time. We ate there twice since it's relatively quiet and a place to get a quick bite without the massive crowds at the buffet. I had the fish and chips one time and the corned beef another time and both were pretty blah. The Guinness did improve the flavor of the food, however! :)

 

The buffet ... Well, it was the buffet.

 

Didn't eat at either of the MDR's so can't comment on them...

 

Jim

Edited October 8, 2016 by JimS4210

[Crusin'Cousins]

We enjoyed Jewel's main dining room menus earlier this year. Very tasty!

 

Is anyone aware when the new menus will be available? We will on the Jewel again next January, and thinking it would be nice to be able to compare the differences ourselves, especially since it seems that people are saying the new ones are even better.

 

Thanks!

[wilmingtech]

We were on Jewel back in February of this year. And as the reviews show... we had the same experience of hit and miss. More misses and less than middle of the road dishes than hits though.

 

MDR - We ate at the MDR for 4 of our 7 nights. We were not really impressed with much here. My daughter had an eggplant dish that was really good and there was also a shrimp pasta dish that had a great sauce with it. Most dishes were just okay and there were a couple that just were not worth finishing. My son ordered a Prime Rib having no idea what it was but was just excited to be able to order anything he wanted off the adult menu. We also came in here for lunch and if you can get the shrimp burger on the pretzel roll its to die for. Of the 3 cruises we have been on (STAR, RCI FOTS, Jewel) This was our least favorite MDR.

 

OSheehans - I really want OSheehans to be awesome. Its a great place to come in the middle or end of the day and grab a bite. We didn't try breakfast here but we did come in for lunch and a late night bite a few times. My wife doesn't care for it. I'll come in to grab a sandwhich. We had Osheehans on the Star and the Fish and Chips were AWESOME. On the Jewel, not so much. I always want to like the wings but they are mediocre. They are like tiny frozen grocery store wings cooked in an oven and then kept in a warmer until served. There were one or two specials we came in to try and we enjoyed. They change daily so you got to check the daily board to see whats coming up. Sometimes its hard to pick with all the choices on NCL.

 

Chin Chin - Again this was another hit or miss restaurant. We loved the calamari on the STAR but on the Jewel it was mediocre. There were one or two dishes we liked. I enjoyed the Kung Pao chicken but it if it was on land I wouldnt go back to this restaurant to order it again. We found that most dishes are a single item on a plate. For example - we got Sweet and Sour (pork I think?) and it was about 4 pieces of fried pork on a plate. No rice, no no veggies, not even a sprig of parsley. So that was kind of a let down. And I haven't mentioned this yet but most of the meats on the Jewel were not great quality. I often came across fatty with a little gristle. Again... not all but most.

 

Buffet - Out of the free venues I think this ended up being our favorite go to in the afternoons and for dinners. They have the crepes at night which are tasty. We liked the indian dishes they had on the buffet. We really enjoyed sitting outside in the Garden Cafe and just enjoying the fresh air and sunshine at lunchtime.

 

Specialty -We had a specialty dinner at Modernos and Teppanyaki. We had both of these on the STAR as well and we were really dissapointed in Modernos. Its funny because I saw a lot of bad reviews for Modernos and thought they were crazy because Modernos on the STAR was great. When we got to Modernos on Jewel I understood all the bad ratings. In the Teppanyaki restaurant it was okay. Service was not as good or as entertaining as on the STAR but the food was okay. Had we to do it all over again I would have spent our specialty restaurant adventure in Cagneys.

 

Haven Restaurant (Modernos for Breakfast and Dinner) - We hit this every morning for breakfast and it was AWESOME. We found some great dishes there including filet benedict and a seafood sauce that was delish. They also had some decent lox available and a great selection of fruit and breads. The service was top notch. Its going to be tough for us to do another NCL cruise and not be in the Haven again.

 

But my favorite of all was the "HOT DESSERT"

 

So there are good dishes to be had and sometimes you have to get creative. I think its just learning whats good and bad and what you like. Some people love some of the things we disliked and others won't touch anything we find a delight. We like to walk around the dining rooms after we are seated to try and catch a glimpse of what others are eating and it helps us to try things we may not otherwise try by just the menu description.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

-Sean

[candigirl41]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I will be fine. Sounds like I will enjoy my Cagney's experience. Tepanyaki will be fun for me as I haven't done that type of restaurant in over 30 years.

 

Candi

[jimbob22]

I have been reading the recent reviews about the Jewel. The food reviews range from fantastic to absolutely inedible. I haven't been on Norwegian, but I have been on Carnival, Royal, and Princess. I have always been able to find something I liked to eat. I realize food is really subjective. If I see something that sounds good I will give it a try. If I don't like it I will not eat it and will ask for something else. Anyone recently on Jewel with any good dishes in either the MDR, O'Sheehan's, Cagney's or Tepanyaki. I have reservations for Cagney's and Tepanyaki and I don't go in for much seafood except fish and chips and shrimp. Any replies greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Candi

 

We were on this ship in April and the food was fine. O'Sheehan's: the corned beef was a thin, phony 'Arbys' type of corned beef. Didn't have much flavor. Liked their chicken wings, and the soup was nice for a light meal. MDR: sort of so-so like all of the cruise line MDRs.

 

Buffet: food was fine, plenty of selection and variety.

 

Our deal included the specialty dining restaurants, which were overall really good: particularly liked Moderno and Teppanyaki. The lobster tail and squid (calamari?) at Teppanyaki were really meaty and delicious, none of that stringy tough tentacle stuff. The other places were solid too.

 

The free coffee on this ship was the best of the free coffee I've had on Disney, RCI, NCL, particularly the machine that grinds and brews the coffee. It's only 5 or 6 ozs of coffee, but it's really good. This ship also puts out half and half, a couple of types of milk, whereas I was just on RCI and the coffee was mostly weak and they only put out weak milk.

 

So I'd say have no fear, you'll enjoy it.

[candigirl41]

We were on this ship in April and the food was fine. O'Sheehan's: the corned beef was a thin, phony 'Arbys' type of corned beef. Didn't have much flavor. Liked their chicken wings, and the soup was nice for a light meal. MDR: sort of so-so like all of the cruise line MDRs.

 

Buffet: food was fine, plenty of selection and variety.

 

Our deal included the specialty dining restaurants, which were overall really good: particularly liked Moderno and Teppanyaki. The lobster tail and squid (calamari?) at Teppanyaki were really meaty and delicious, none of that stringy tough tentacle stuff. The other places were solid too.

 

The free coffee on this ship was the best of the free coffee I've had on Disney, RCI, NCL, particularly the machine that grinds and brews the coffee. It's only 5 or 6 ozs of coffee, but it's really good. This ship also puts out half and half, a couple of types of milk, whereas I was just on RCI and the coffee was mostly weak and they only put out weak milk.

 

So I'd say have no fear, you'll enjoy it.

 

Thanks for your input. I am not a coffee drinker so no worries. I can drink diet pepsi or diet coke so that's okay. Sounds like I will be fine.

 

Candi

[EthelMertz]

I am going on the Jewel in September for the Alaska cruise. Just out of curiosity as I have only been on a few cruises, do the menu options stay the same regardless of where you are cruising? Caribbean, Alaska, Mexico, etc. I have my heart set on lots of good salmon!!

[MBMGWM]

>>We liked the indian dishes they had on the buffet.<<

 

Glad to see these are still available. We're going on the Jewel next month, and were last on that ship many years ago. Whenever we were in the mood for "something different" at the buffet, the Indian dishes always filled the bill.

[KarimaJ]

>>We liked the indian dishes they had on the buffet.<<

 

Glad to see these are still available. We're going on the Jewel next month, and were last on that ship many years ago. Whenever we were in the mood for "something different" at the buffet, the Indian dishes always filled the bill.

 

Jewel has Indian dishes? We were able to find a couple selection every day on the Getaway and this made DH happy. Was it any good on the Jewel?

[themnms]

>>We liked the indian dishes they had on the buffet.<<

 

Glad to see these are still available. We're going on the Jewel next month, and were last on that ship many years ago. Whenever we were in the mood for "something different" at the buffet, the Indian dishes always filled the bill.

 

I have always enjoyed the Indian offerings.

 

Does anyone know if Cagneys still have the mini sliders as an appetizer? They were my absolute favorite on the Pearl and the Sky, but no so much on the Breakaway

[rmurray847]

I am going on the Jewel in September for the Alaska cruise. Just out of curiosity as I have only been on a few cruises, do the menu options stay the same regardless of where you are cruising? Caribbean, Alaska, Mexico, etc. I have my heart set on lots of good salmon!!

 

I won't SWEAR to this, but in my experience, the menus are the same, regardless. I've not been aware of "local" foods becoming part of the menu. I believe this happens on other, smaller lines or river cruises...but these big ships have menus that are set for months in advance (the logistics are so complicated, it's hard to imagine changing things up just because local salmon is in season...or whatever.)

 

Again, this has been my observation with limited cruising experience (5 cruises), so I'm ready to be corrected.

[www3traveler]

I have been reading the recent reviews about the Jewel. The food reviews range from fantastic to absolutely inedible. I haven't been on Norwegian, but I have been on Carnival, Royal, and Princess. I have always been able to find something I liked to eat. I realize food is really subjective. If I see something that sounds good I will give it a try. If I don't like it I will not eat it and will ask for something else. Anyone recently on Jewel with any good dishes in either the MDR, O'Sheehan's, Cagney's or Tepanyaki. I have reservations for Cagney's and Tepanyaki and I don't go in for much seafood except fish and chips and shrimp. Any replies greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Candi

The only thing I would say about Teppanyaki, is that if you need to watch your sodium intake or have a salt in tolerance, is might not be the place for you.

 

Yes, the show is wonderful but the food for me is very over salted and I can not eat it. I have some friends on a cruise who did not realize how much sodium was used in the cooking process and they got very sick very fast.