Jubilee Review July 24

[teedee]

Just got back from a great cruise and thought I'd write a report. There were 8 of us in two cabins. 2 nieces, nehew and myself in one and brother, SIL and her 2 kids in another.

 

 

We drove down Friday afternoon. It's a 5 hour drive to Jacksonville from where we live. We had reserved 2 rooms at the Holiday Inn I-95. We had the cruise special which allowed us to leave our cars there and take the shuttle to the pier. The hotel was about what you'd expect from a Holiday Inn, it was clean and that was what mattered to us. We had dinner at Denney's. The food was better than expected, but some of the worse service EVER!! It wasn't very crowded in there, I don't know what the problem was.Back to the hotel and tried to go to sleep early, but the kids were too excited and stayed up giggling until the early hours. I was afraid I would have a hard time getting them up with so little sleep, but no worries they were up and ready to go early.

 

 

We signed up for the noon shuttle to the pier, but got on early. I didn't know how embarkation would go since Jacksonville is a realitively new cruise port, but all went smoothly and quickly. The Jubilee was the only ship in port that may have helped. We were through the lines and on the ship in just a few minutes. I had a notorized letter from the kids parents authorizing me to take them on the cruise, but nobody asked to see it. I don't know if it's because we have the same last name. My brother and SIL DID have to show the letter from my SIL's ex giving his permission to take the kids. We thought this was maybe because the kids last name is different from my SIL's since we were not asked. It was not a big deal, just wanted to let people know you can be asked for this, I've seen it discussed on these boards lately.

 

Anyway we got onboard. We were in cabins M57 and M59 on the main deck. Both were quad cabins with two fold down beds. I was glad we had pull downs and didn't have to worry about a roll away bed.

 

I think maybe I had low expectations for this ship. I knew she is an older and smaller ship and wasn't expecting a lot, but the Jubilee was great! I think she's in fantastic shape for an almost 20 year old ship. Very clean, and well maintained. I'm not too sure about some of the colors used in the decor though,a little too much pink for me. As long as you know what you're getting I think you will have a good time on this ship.

 

The food on the ship also exceeded my expectations. I can say that with the exception of 1 appetizer everything I ate was delicious! The buffet up on Lido deck was small, but good food. The carved meats were especially good. They also had a pizzaria and a salad bar. In the mornings you could get made to order omelets.

 

Food in the dining room was even better than the buffet. Everything I ordered during the cruise was prepared as ordered and was routinely delicious. I should mention we are not gourmets, but we thought the food was wonderful. One big exception was a duck appetizer. I like duck, but this was very fatty and tasted bad. Other than that everything was great. After the first night our waiter remembered how we liked our meat cooked and it was just right every time.

 

We had late seating. One of the highlights of our cruise was our waiter and assistant waiter, JT and Ketut. This was my 7th cruise and they were by far the best waiters I've ever had! JT was always joking, dancing and carrying on during dinner, but also making sure we got what we wanted when we wanted it. Fantastic service and a lot of fun. I haven't laughed so much in a long time. No matter what we wanted he made sure we had it, by the end of the cruise he was bringing us extra appetizers, entrees and deserts no matter if we ordered them or not. If he thought we would like it he brought it to us, he was always right about us liking it too! My youngest niece only wanted chicken fingers and fries.

 

We only went to one Midnight Buffet, we had late seating at dinner so we weren't hungry at midnight! We went on Mexican Night, the food was good, but we were still pretty full from dinner. We had fun though, there was lots of dancing and contests. It was a good time.

 

Our ports were Key West and Nassau. In Key West we took the Trolley Tour around the island, getting on and off when we wanted. This is a good way to check out the island. We also went to the Shipwreck Museum, some of us had been there before, but it was new for the kids and they really enjoyed it. They had a good movie about the shipwrecks that happened on the reefs there and then you can go through the museum looking at artifacts recovered from the wrecks. After touring the museum there is an observation tower to walk up for a good view of the island. I had done this before, and it was very hot, so my SIL and myself opted out of this part and went for a cold drink while my brother and the kids climbed up. We went to Margarittaville for lunch. I had some very good conch fritters. They are quite yummy there. Most of the others had the cheeseburgers, which are very large.One thing I didn't like here is they charge for coke refills. We had 5 kids with us, and it added up! Still, it was a good time eating and listening to Jimmy Buffet music. After lunch we shopped around for awhile, buying a few souvineers until it was time to go back to the ship.

 

Nassau was our second stop. We were worried about our excursion when we got up, it was rainy and overcast, but started clearing up before noon. We went on the Pearl Island Stingray Encounter. It was fun, but not as impressive as the stingrays in Grand Cayman. This was another first for the kids, and they loved it, not having anything to compare it to. The water where the stingrays are kept is very shallow, you can sit down and it only comes up to your waist. There are only a few stingrays here. You can feed them, but not pick them up. There's a small, somewhat rocky beach and a place to snorkel. I liked the BLue Lagoon tour I took a few years ago better, but this was fun and the kids loved it. The kids and I took a jet boat ride here. It's a very fast boat that looks like a jet ski with 8 seats.It was a very fast and very wild ride. A little too wild for me, at one point I got slung off the seat and across the boat. (Didn't do any damage though.) The kids absolutely loved it, I endured it for them, but will NEVER do this again. It was hard to hang on, the driver was doing tight circles and jumping waves. I'm just too old for this kind of thing I guess! It was a highlight for the kids though, so I'm glad we did it. My brother and SIL wisely sat this one out! After the boat ride we hung out at the beach until it was time for our ferry boat back to Nassau.

 

After the excursion we shopped around Nassau for awhile, picked up some booze and souvineers. They did take the alcohol from us, but we got it back the last night of the cruise with no problems.

 

Shipboard activities were the usual. We spent a lot of time hanging out on Lido deck listening to music and the silly pool games during the day. None of us participated in the pool games, but they are fun to watch. Some new ones since my last cruise was Fear Factor and Survivor type games.

 

In the lounges we always enjoy the Newleywed and not so newlywed game and this time was no different. The newlywed couple won the game, but all the participants got a bottle of champagne. They have Bingo every day - I won $250 the first time I played! My niece won $110 later in the week, our family had good Bingo luck!

 

We went to most of the evening shows. There was a Salute to Broadway show and a Salute to Hollywood show featuring the Jubilee singers and dancers. They were good, but after a few cruises you start to feel like you've seen them all. They had two comedians - who were pretty funny, we enjoyed the shows. Also had a magician and juggler. The magician was ok, but the juggler was fantastic! Very good and very funny as well. I went in thinking I would love the magician and like the juggler but came out the other way around! The juggler is in the Guiness Book of Records for the fastest juggling ever and after seeing him I believe it!

 

We went to the Captain's Cocktail Party. Another highlight of my cruise was during the party. We got there late so we had to sit up on the top level near the band. This turned out to be very lucky for me because they announced that the first person to come tell them who wrote the music they were performing would win a ship on a stick. The music was from The Pink Panther by Henry Mancini, I knew it and won the ship on a stick! I have always wanted one of these.

 

We had a wonderful cruise, even better than I thought it would be. The Jubilee was a pleasant surprise. Even though she is an older ship she is in great shape and as mentioned earlier very well maintained. Maybe I wouldn't have been as impressed if I had sailed on some of the newer, ships, but she was perfect for us!

 

Terri

[kanda]

Thanks for the review. We leave next Sat. on the Jubilee. I was just wondering if you were in port at the scheduled times? Someone told me you get to Nassau a lot earlier than the scheduled 1 pm. Was that true for you? We are looking forward to the Jubilee (we were just on the Holiday in April), and I think they are similiar ships. Thanks again for the review.

[teedee]

We weren't awake yet when we arrived in Key West, it was early. We arrived in Nassau about an hour early.

 

My Brother and SIL that traveled with me were just on the Holiday in May and they liked the Jubilee better. They said the ships were very similar, but the food was better on Jubilee.

I hope you have a great cruise, we really enjoyed ours!

Terri

[gatour]

Glad you liked the Jubilee, we took her back in June and thought it was a great ship. I too was worried about her upkeep, but was pleasantly suprised. She is a sister ship of the Holiday and Celebration so the layout is the same. The thought has crossed my mine to book the Celebration when she relocates here to Jacksonville, I just love the ability to just drive accross town to take a cruise instead of having to drive down to Port Canaveral, Ft Lauderdale or Miami. :)

[MrPete]

Having been on the Jubilee three times over 10 yeats, I enjoyed reading about your trip. Returning to her after starting to go on the larger ships, when they came out, was like returning to an old favorite hotel. The only thing you miss initially is the Atrium, but that fades fast. I like the intimacy on the smaller ships, as I found I met more people on them where there wasn't a constant flood of faces.

 

And wasn't it a surprise three weeks ago sailing toward Nassau and seeing a ship in the distance, and when it finally got closer, turning out to be the Jubilee. I got a nice shot of it crossing over the sun as well (see my Miracle pix below, if interested).

 

I hope to go on her one more time, when she goes to Australia in her new life.

[FondofKoi]

great review........11 days and counting and we will have our own review of ther Jubilee!!!! hope we enjoy it as much as you did......B

[LindaO]

Our neighbors went on this ship earlier in July and came back with horrible stories... They rarely cruise so I'm not sure what they expected... and they did miss Key West, which was a big dissappointment to them... I was hoping that missing Key West "clouded" the rest of the cruise for them.

[cruisekimmy]

Hi..we went on the Jubilee in December of 2002 out of Galveston!!Had a blast!!we where in Cabin V-7 with a balcony!!and we ate in the Burgundy dining room with waiters Norris and Nicholi!So helpful!!But yet we are really disappointed now because Carnival sold the Jubilee to P&O cruises in Australia!! its new name will be the Pacific Sun!!!

[Cruz'n Queen]

I am sailing the Jubilee on Aug 21, glad to see that you enjoyed the cruise. When is the formal night? Were most men in suits? How dressy were the women? Trying to decide what to take with us. Thanks

[teedee]

Formal night was Sunday - the first sea day. The women on the cruise were very dressed up over all. You always see some that aren't, but I was surprised at the number that were. A lot of prom dress type attire on younger women. Most men had a dress shirt and tie, but not all were in suits. I don't remember seeing anyone in a tux, but there probably were some.

 

Terri