Just returned from Jewel 2/19-2/26

[2boyzmom]

About us- Professional couple, early 40's with 2 boys age 4 and 6. Traveled with my sis and brother in law whi are a few years older than us.

 

Embarkation- we rented a car in FLL the day before and stayed at Marriott Courtyard in Miami. It was nice and the price was right considering it was President's week ($138.00). The fellas dropped us off at the port at 11:30 and returned the car to Avis a few blocks from the hotel and took a cab back. The Port staff saw we had 2 kids and we were able to walk right in on the Latitude and VIP entrance (the other line was short too). Inside, we filled out the Bahamas registry cards and when we were done the fellas were back. We breezed right thorugh the normal line and were on the ship in 30 minutes total! It was such a pleasure compared to NYC port.

 

Stateroom- we were in room 11526 mini suite. Absolutely gorgeous and roomy. The bathroom was fantastic with a big tub and sparkling clean. Our Anniversary package was there with champagne and chocolate covered strawberrys. Let the party begin:)

 

Service- our room steward was fantastic. We tipped him extra.

Copncierge Ruth never introduced herself and there was no letter stating we even had concierge service. Thanks to cruise critic knew better!

 

Dining- we planned all our meals at 7:30 reservations each night. We made all our reservations by phone within one hour of arrival. Much easier by phone and didn't bother with concierge. She did help us change a reservation one night when we switched resaturants.

 

Tsars Palace- ate there first two nights.Very ornate but nut gaudy.

First night Prime Rib- excellent.

Seconde night formal night- surf and turf. Again excellent. The maitre de made us crepe suzettes for dessert which were fabulous. After alll the talk of bad food I was thrilled!

LeBistro- very nice and special. It was nice having the anniversay package prepaying for the wine and meal. The fondue was my favorite and all the food was great. Be prepared for at least a 2 1/2 hour meal. We ate here twice :)

Tepanyaki- the highlioght of dining for my husband. Another great meal!

Skipped Azura- looked too plain for me.

Cagneys- wonderful. Great onion rings and T-bones.

Blue Lagoon- nice out of the way place for lunch. Never crowded and walked right in. Fish and chips very good.

Chin Chin- also very nice and very good.

Never ate at the buffets although the lattes were great.

Kids corner at the buffet is where we hung out at the buffet. Nuggets and chocolate chip cookies were all the kids wanted.

Room service only used for juice and coffee in the AM. We are not breakfast people.

I consider myself a very fussy eater and I honestly never had one complaint about the food. All of us felt the same. The service was top notch too.

 

Entertainment- I spent most of my evenings in the casinos but my sis saw the shows and liked them all. I saw Cirque Bijoux and it was ok. I'm not into shows... Broke even in the casino playing mainly blackjack and caribbean stud poker.

Pool Chairs were taken and actually tied together by 8AM! Ridiculous. Never had this problem before but strted going later in the day 2PM and people strted to leave and grabbed chairs then.

 

Drinks- mixed drinks $5.50. Fancy drinks in large glassses 9.00 and refills all week $8.00. Not as bad as I expected. Wines ranged from $26.00 and up at dinner. We saved our champagne from the anniversay package and took that to dinner one night.

 

Islands- weather- perfect Low 80's all week. Booked all our excursions privately thanks to cruise critic.

 

Roatan- were met by Victor Bodden tours. Paid $100.00 for the entire day seeing the island in an air conditioned van. Husband and b-i-law did zip line and loved it. NCL does not go there (they go to a smaller one)and was excellent and private.

Went to a nice beach and a lobster lunch which was great overlloking the ocean.

 

Grand Cayman- booked privately with Capt.Bryan tours. Went to snorkel and stingray city for 2 1/2 hour tour for $35.00. Went out on a huge catamaran with guess what- only 10 of us on a boat that holds 50! It was fabulous especially after seeing the NCL excursion with 100 people crammed on a boat. We fed the stingrays and it was the highlight of the trip for me since I love to snorkel and swim. The kids were scrared but enjoyed the sail back.

 

Ochos Rios- had a van waiting for us from Marva Shaw tours. Headed right to the falls-first group there. Poor excusion people were late and got there when it was packed. Went to a beach, lunch and shopped. Very nice.

Tedered here and it was rough. I almost fell..

 

Private Island- tendered again in rough water. Got the first tender out.

Yes- you can get VIP tender tickets in a mini suite. No problem. Just had to ask Ruth in person. Good snorkeling. It was overcast in the morning but brightened up later.

 

Kids Club- boys said it was better than Carnival. Reme,ber we traveled President's week. 600 kids on board but honestly not a problem. Kids styed in their pools and hot tubs. Teens were well behaved (tons of them).

 

Debarkation- smooth and styed in our room till 10AM.

 

OK- I still am foggy but ask any questions you may have. I rate this as one of my best cruises yet and will definitely travel NCL again. Unfortunately they do not go to the islands I want for next Presidents week (7 day S.Caribbean) so I may try the new Crown Princess ( not built yet) out of SanJuan.

 

I loved the freestyle cruising!!!

[HEIDI05]

Glad you had a wonderful time on the Jewel! We leave Sunday and are very excited! We also have a mini suite. How was the pull out couch in the suite? Did your two boys find it comfortable? There are 3 of us in our mini and I just wanted to know your take of it. Thanks for the info about the VIP tender tickets for GSC, I will definetely take advantage of that! :)

[travelling mom]

Glad to hear that you had a great time. Thanks for posting your informative review. We will be travelling on the Jewel in March and have a couple of questions.

1. For the specialty restaurants, are there half price specials on the 1st night or for early bird diners before 6:00 pm?

2. Regarding Chin Chin the specialty restaurant. Do you make specific reservations for tepanyaki or sushi? When you pay the per person fee, do you pay extra for the tepanyaki and sushi?

 

Thanks in advance

[2boyzmom]

1. Specialty restaurants are 1/2 price if you dine between 5:30 and 6:30 everynighy.

 

 

2. Teppanyaki and chin chin are separate. Teppanyaki only accomodates 25 people or so and only have 3 seatings , so book early. We don't eat sushi so I did not notice if it was included.

[2boyzmom]

Heidi- we landed up tendering at 3 ports (Jamaica, G.Cayman and GSC), so the VIP tender tickets were kept and used all 3 times. Ypu want to get off EARLY if you are heading out to the falls. The couch was not that comfortable but the kids did not mind....

[cjcjohio]

Hello!

I'm glad you had such a nice trip.

Here's the questions...

1. on embark day were the Blue Lagoon, Tangos, or Momma Mias open for lunch, or were the buffets the only places to eat?

2. Is the blue lagoon open 24 hours or is there someplace else that's open 24 hours?

3. Are there omelet stations at breakfast? And do they offer egg beaters and/or just egg whites?

4. What bars are open for breakfast...my DH likes his diet coke instead of coffee. I plan to buy the soda card.

Thanks.

Colleen

[2boyzmom]

The Blue Lagoon is open 24 hours except 4:30-10:00 PM ( dinner hours). Sorry- I don't eat eggs so I wouldn't know about omlets. As for lunch the first day- we ate at the grill outside and not sure what else was open other than buffet.

[cruisin0504]

Tsars is open for lunch on embarkation day. We enjoyed it, a wonderful way to start the cruise for us.