Mystery on the Jewel

[Ottawa Lynne]

Hi everyone

 

We're just back from the Jewel (we got in yesterday afternoon we stayed an extra day in Miami).

 

I just wrote an extensive review and am waiting for it to be posted.

 

The mystery -- Jimmy was our cruise director. He seemed like a lot of fun. He made an announcement one night and said that he would see us the next day. The next morning John was our cruise director and nothing was said about Jimmy. We asked around but no one seemed to know what happened to Jimmy. We guessed that he was fired, but it seemed sad for him to vanish like that.

 

Jimmy and quite a few other officers were at our meet and greet on the Jewel - it was wonderful to meet them all and they were very open and honest when answering questions.

 

If you have any questions, let me know. We don't have kids so I can't tell you anything about the kid's club.

 

cheers

 

Lynne

[silkhair1]

Did you find anything out yet?????

[Supercilious]

They must change CDs on the Jewel every month or so.

[snorklinbarb]

What we heard is Jimmy had a sudden rather serious medical issue.

 

Would have been nice if John had said something so that people didn't jump to the conclusion that Jimmy was fired.

 

We've also had the case where the CD had to mid-cruise attend a CD meeting in Miami. The next night the Asst. CD suddenly appeared. Again, nothing was said.:rolleyes:

 

Last cruise (Gem) we had 2 different HD's over the course of our 10 night trip. Both had gotten promotions that week so there was a shuffle.

[marhun2430]

Why do people just assume when someone is not there that they got fired???? There could be a million reasons why he had to leave this ship..give the guy a break.

[calenita]

I just read your ship review. Glad it was so positive. I've been reading all the reviews of the Jewel and some are pretty critical. We are going in a couple of weeks and really looking forward to it.

Did the ship seem really crowded when you were on it? You mentioned it was hard to get a reservation for Mamas and also a lounge chair in the shade.

[jt1120]

We did the Jewel shortly after she debuted. Very nice ship, no complaints.

[Ottawa Lynne]

You're right, I was wrong to jump to the conclusion that he was fired. I guess I just thought that if it was something like illness they would have said that or John would have been the acting cruise director rather than the cruise director.

 

I do hope he recovers quickly and will be ok - from the little bit of interaction we had with him he seemed like a super nice guy.

[Ottawa Lynne]

The Jewel was sold out the week we were on it. There were a couple of times that the Garden Cafe was really busy - especially on embarkation day and the night of the chocolate buffet. Other times it was busy but not overly so (we always found a place to sit).

 

To be honest I didn't spend a lot of time looking for lounge chairs - I loved our balcony and loved the spa. The few times that I looked there didn't seem to be any available in the shade on the 13th or by the pool. I think it's the Aft area of the 13th where there are a bunch in the sun and they were mostly vacant.

 

I was really worried about the trip - there seemed to be so many negative reviews abour NCL and a few about the Jewel. I'm the one who wanted to cruise so I really wanted DH to be comfortable. Quite frankly, we were blown away by the Jewel.

 

When we tendered in Samana they brought all the excursion people to the stardust theatre and dispatched them in an orderly manner - there was hardly any waiting in the hallway. We had to wait a while in the theatre because of the rough seas, but we were sitting comfortably and really couldn't complain. I thought it was really well handled.

 

The only negatives were the food in the diningroom (just too fancy for us) (awesome food elsewhere), the inability for the eating places to make changes to food (e.g., hold the sauce, etc) and on one occasion, we didn't find the shore excursion desk people to be overly knowledgeable or friendly.

 

Make sure you go to the Not-so-newlywed game - it was a hoot.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

Lynne

[dznymom]

We had a wonderful cruise on the Jewel a couple weeks ago! We really enjoyed Jimmy, but thought John, the self proclaimed Aussie Hunk, was much too impressed with himself and just interested in flirting with hot girls. I hope Jimmy is fine and will be back soon!

[bcs819]

Why do people just assume when someone is not there that they got fired???? There could be a million reasons why he had to leave this ship..give the guy a break.

 

Usually when there is silence, it is bad. We've had cruises where things happened and announcements were made - on our Voyager cruise, the CD let us know that she would be gone for a few days due to a family event. On our last cruise, our cabin steward even told us she would be unavailable all day while in port because she had a doctor's appointment in port. It's the sudden departure and the silence that follows that makes people suspect the worst :(

[Cruisin' Ron VA]

It really isnt anyones business what the medical condition is or the reason for departure. Ship board employees are still entitled to their privacy. This also goes for fellow passengers who suffer medical conditions, die during the cruise or leave the ship before the end of the cruise.

 

Yes this leaves room for rumor and it best not to get involved in gossip in the first place. I would think if they/he wanted you to know why he left they/he would have said so.