Brief Jewel 4/2 Western Carribean Review

[filadin]

We (myself, wife, and four children - 5, 7, 9, and 11) just returned from the 4/2-4/9 sailing of the Jewel on her Western Caribbean itinerary. We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and the ship and would certainly sail on NCL again.

 

Food: I have been cruising since college in the early 1980’s and have been disappointed by the steadily decreasing quality of food and service aboard ship during the last 20+ years. However, the Jewel sailing marked a turn-around in food quality. The main dining rooms on the Jewel had good food, although nothing special. The specialty restaurants, with a single exception, ranged from very good to excellent. We ate at each of them and found the service to be attentive without being intrusive. Based on excellent advice from this board we booked each night of the cruise on Sunday when we boarded the ship. The only night that we did not book was Saturday night, and we could only get my family of six booked into Tango’s (the Mexican restaurant) that night. Avoid Tango’s like the plague. It is terrible, almost inedible, food. Tango’s was mostly empty that night and every night - and for good reason. Why NCL allows this blemish to exist among a sea of stellar specialty offerings is beyond me, particularly when it is clearly avoided by her guests. To avoid ending on a bad note, I will reiterate that Cagney’s; Le Bistro, Mama’s, and Chin Chin were all great. My son could not get enough of the $5 all you can eat sushi.

 

Rooms: We booked adjoining mini-suites. The rooms were spacious enough, but clearly smaller than similar accommodations that I have had on other lines, e.g., Princess. They were thoughtfully laid out, and our cabin stewards were attentive at keeping the room clean and tidy. The ship opened up the balcony between the cabins, so that we had a nice large double balcony. A note for parents with small children - the balcony has a child lock on it to prevent younger children from opening the balcony door.

 

Ship: As many have previously written, the ship is not as gaudy as it seems in the pictures, although the carpets are a bit much. It is well laid out, and we never felt that we had to walk far to anything. The pool area is a little small during sea days, and people did engage in chair saving. However, even during the sea days there were always seats and tables available in the pool area to place your things and rest or read. The kids loved the slide at the pool. I was a little surprised to find that the pool was salt water and not fresh. It was like the old ships that I sailed in the early ‘80’s in that respect. While there were 2700 people on board, the pool itself was never too crowded.

 

Ports: We enjoyed all of the ports. We went to the Iguana farm and on a canopy tour in Roatan. We rented a car and went to Rum Point in Grand Cayman. And we went on the White River tubing (but without our 5 year old) in Jamaica.

 

Shows: Normally we skip the shows. But we went to see Second City comedy troupe, Cirque Bijou, and the comedian. All were very good - frankly, the best entertainment that we have ever seen at see.

 

Smoking: Very little smoke on the ship except for the casino. Occasionally we would smell cigar smoke on our balcony from a neighboring balcony, but no big deal.

 

 

Kid's Club: All of our children loved the kid's club and wanted to go at every opportunity. If you send your children there, please remember that the counselors are not included in any share of the automatic gratuity.

 

All-in-all: an excellent cruise.

 

 

 

If anyone has questions, please just ask.

[Rumncoke]

Did you try the Chicken quesadillas at Tango's? I loved 'em! Their quacamole was really good, too. What did you try and didn't you like?

 

I've heard complaints about their tapas dish, didn't try that.

 

I'm glad you had a good time, we LOVED the Jewel!

[filadin]

We tried the chicken quesadillas and the fajitas. We did not like either of them. To each his own. We thought that the guacamole was o.k. You know - that is the problem with food reviews. Everyone has their own taste. We did love the other Jewel restaurants, so I do not think that we are food snobs. It could be that we just ate there on a bad day for the cooks. It also did not help that the staff in Tapas were the most surly and unpleasant group of people. It was stunning given the rest of our experience on the Jewel. Maybe people complaining about the food sours their disposition.

 

We simply ate what we could, smiled, and left the restaurant. I hate to focus on the negative when the rest of our cruise experience (98%) was so positive.

[mafig]

I'll chime in here too about Tapas. We had the ribs. Very unpleasant having a mouthful of gristle! Ceasars salad was room temperature. The worst was the desert. Forgot what it was called, but it was shaped like a pyramid. I love all deserts but I couldn't eat more than a forkful and couldn't even palm it off on DH!

 

However, like the OP stated, the other restaurants were very good!

[mcello77]

I was on this cruise too... and it is very true that food is subjective. I did not dine at Tango's but did order from there on a few occasions from our butler. (thanks again to the upsell fairy) I thought the guacamole was a little bland for my taste, though not bad. I loved the onion blossoms, mozzarella sticks and the chicken quesadillas. Thought they were great and actually left me wishing I had dined there. Just goes to show food is to each his own I guess!

[Live to Dive]

We are cruising on the Jewel next week. We will have also have a 7 year old with us. Is there any height restriction on the slide? She is on the small side and very much looking forward to the slide.

 

Also, you mentioned that you did the river tubing in Jamaica, how did your 7 year old do with that? Is there any chance that the tube will tip in the "rapids"?

[filadin]

Regarding the slide, my 5, 7, and 9 year old children are all on the small size, and they loved the slide. There is no height restriction.

 

Regarding the tubing, our small 7 and 9 year olds did the tubing without a hitch. The tubes have wooden bottoms and are very stable. Tipping one takes some effort. The three "rapids" are very small and the guides are particularly carefull with the younger children. You should not have a problem. Our kids loved the rapids, despite riding one hour to get there on the cruise sponsered tour bus having 24 people crammed on with no air conditioning at 12:30 p.m. in Jamaica. Make sure that the bus that you are on is air conditioned.

[Live to Dive]

Thanks for the info. What did you do with your belongings that you wanted to keep dry (passport, etc) during the river tube excursion??

[filadin]

I bought one of those gasket-sealed plastic containers that hang around your neck. They sell them on the ship and in various stores on the islands. You can also leave stuff in the bus (towels, dry clothes, etc.).

[DrivesLikeMario]

Thanks for your take on the 2 mini-suites for families. That's what we have for our Pride of Hawaii (sister to the Jewel) cruise this summer for ourselves and our 2 sons.

 

Were your cabins adjoining or just next to each other? I'm glad to hear the balcony partition door can be opened as well as the adjoining door in the cabin.

 

Looking forward to giving NCL a try! Thanks for the mini-review!

[filadin]

We had adjoining "mini-suite" cabins. As you noted, both the adjoining doors and the balcony door can be opened to give you flow between the rooms. Unfortunately, you cannot lock the adjoining door once the crew has opened it up for you.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Great info, filadin, I appreciate it! Thank you!