REVIEW: Jewel Cruise 4/12-4/17

[asylum575]

We had a very good time, maybe close to great. We are a family of 4 with a 5 yr old and a 15 month old. We've cruised before and consider ourselves experienced cruisers. Our family makeup limited us from certain activities. I try to cruise with a positive approach. The cruise line can't make you have a good time. You have to want to have a good time. Don't be a stickler and enjoy the ride.

 

Embarkation: We were on the first line to have our EDOCS and passports reviewed and credit card info was taken. This went quickly, matter of minutes and we were sent upstairs to another line. Here, they distributed pass cards in groups of about 100. Then we were sent to a line of chairs and allowed to sit for a few minutes. We were then called on board. I've never seen it done like this. It worked, I guess. Just different. Painless enough. Only incident was a fellow standing behind us decided to jump in front of us then called back to his wife to move up with him. I couldn't resist telling him that the reason his wife was back there was because he jumped the line. I also mentioned that in the event of an emergency on board, he should keep his poor social skills at home and allow women and children first. I hate line jumpers, sorry, had to vent.

 

First impressions on board: We were greeted with champagne and OJ, nice. Someone was dressed as the Easter bunny for photos, nice. Ship was very clean. Lunch in Tsars dining room, good food, excellent service.

 

Overall service impression: I always wondered how the freestyle cruising effects service. After two NCL cruises I have to say, it doesn't.

Room attendant was excellent and invisible. This was hard to do with frequent visits to the cabin for naps and diaper changes.

Dining room staff was good to excellent. We had a couple of excellent servers and a couple of good servers. Let me just clear up the good. It was like going to a busy restaurant that you had never been to. Service was prompt, the staff was courteous, but it was missing that certain personal touch you get from having the same server every day. Not bad, just a little different. If you don't need to have someone slobbering over you for a little extra in the tip envelope, this works. We dined at Le Bistro and Mama's, service was better at Le Bistro. The staff at the buffet did an excellent job turning over tables. I liked the layout. Most cruiseships I've been on have had two buffets lines running forward to aft on each side of the ship. The Jewel had one area to the very aft of deck 12 and one just aft of the pool on deck 12. Both of these areas are outdoors with outdoor seating available closeby. Between these two areas there is an indoor buffet area. There were two hot stations, one hamburger/hot dog station, salad station, pizza/pasta station and dessert station. This layout really made things flow well.

The head waiters, maitre D and supervisors at the buffet were very attentive to their areas of responsibility. In the MDR, I was on line with the baby and my wife went up to drop off the 5 Yr old in the camp. The line went quick and I told the hostess I was waiting for my wife. She was very accomodating and held the table for 15 minutes. This was very nice and a positive service experience. Kudos

 

Food: Overall the food was good to very good. The restaurant food had more flavor than the buffet.

 

We ate breakfast in the buffet every day. It's just easier with kids. Omellete stations were good, never more than 2-3 people waiting. French toast was good, the pancakes had nuts, not good. The fruits were fresh and there was an assortment of hot/cold cereals and yogurts. The selection is great, so you can definitely find something to eat. Coffee was very good and there is a self serve cappucino/cafe latte machine.

 

Lunch was also at the buffet except for the first day aboard. One high note was the burgers. Excellent patty, bun was suspect. I think they freeze the buns then defrost it as needed. This makes the bun crumbly, for lack of a better word. I just took a burger and ate it with sauteed onions and mushrooms, problem solved. My son ate a burger every day and he is not a burger kid. This made life easy. There is a sandwich station, pizza, pasta and an assortment of hot foods. Easy to find something to eat.

Le Bistro was very good, maybe even excellent. I had the escargot and the filet. My wife had a chicken dish. Let me add that we got the Anniversary package and this meal was included with a bottle of merlot.

Mama's was good-very good. We both had the rib eye steak. It was cooked as ordered. I had a side of pasta with meat sauce. It was good, not al dente.

I found the MDR portions small. This worked out for me because there were always two or three appertizers I couldn't decide on. I just ordered two, problem solved. We caught lobster night in the MDR. I had two appertizers, salad and soup before the entree, so one lobster tail was enough. The head waiter came by and offered a 2nd lobster tail. I declined, but it was nice. The prime rib was very good on the 4th night. My wife ordered it medium well and I ordered medium rare. Both came out as ordered.

 

Overall ship appearance: The ship was in excellent condition. The only issue I found was a few loose floor tiles near a sliding door by the buffet. I figured it got water logged in a storm. Public bathrooms were clean. The ship seemed spacious. We never noticed the other 2000 passengers. I was surprised to see so many people at the shows. I don't know where they hid for the rest of the cruise.

 

Ports: Grand Cayman was very hot. We just walked around town and took a sightseeing van tour. If it wasn't for the A/C on the van, it wouldn't be worth it.

Cozumel- We've been there 5 times before. It was Paradise beach this time. Great time. We docked at Punto Langosta. Wow, they have really built it up. I remember going there right after Katrina and the pier was GONE. We tendered in. I don't like the was they make you walk though the whole shopping area to get off the pier. We didn't do any shopping. This was a relaxation vacation.

 

Entertainment: We caught three shows. The first night was a comedian. We chose not to go because of the kids. The 70's music review was very good. Even the baby was dancing.

The juggler was funny. My son enjoyed it.

Cirque Bijou was amazing. Some great acrobatics.

 

Also wanted to mention: Get the anniversary/honeymoon package. It was so worth it.

 

Overall: We had a great time. We didn't go looking for anything to complain about and didn't find them. The Jewel is a beautiful ship with an excellent staff. Enough said.

[Zeno]

Thx for a pleasant detailed review!

[ginaboy]

I like the way you think. I have a similar attitude while on vacation...grateful I am able to be on vacation and decide to have a great time from the start. My family will be on the Jewel in December. Looking forward to it!

[watchdiva]

What a great review - thanks for coming back to share your cruise experience with us:)....

[drm93]

We must have been on different ships because my experience was way different than yours. I was on the 9 day prior to your boarding on the 5 day,then continued on to Cayman and Cozumel. I don't have time to submit my "detailed" review,still doing laundry and catching up from vacation,but I will submit my review later in the week. My only comment is this was my first and "last" cruise with NCL. :mad:

[asylum575]

Just goes to show haw two people can see things differently. Doesn't mean either one is wrong. Sorry you didn't enjoy yourself.

[floridacruiser63]

We must have been on different ships because my experience was way different than yours. I was on the 9 day prior to your boarding on the 5 day,then continued on to Cayman and Cozumel. I don't have time to submit my "detailed" review,still doing laundry and catching up from vacation,but I will submit my review later in the week. My only comment is this was my first and "last" cruise with NCL. :mad:

 

Hi drm93,

I was on the same 9 day cruise. It was an ok cruise, not even close to the previous NCL cruises we had taken (only 2 in the past, but both in the "excellent" category). This one was just "ok". The cabin, a BA balcony was filthy (we have the pictures to show it, which we have since e-mailed to NCL), we are not asking for anything, however we do not want anyone else to go through what we went through. The bathroom had not been cleaned at all when we first went into the cabin, the toilet was dirty, more like filthy, so was the shower and sink. No towels (bath or beach towels) in the room, no bathrobes, no liquid soap or shampoo (we brought our own, however it still did not make sense). No fruit basket inside the cabin on arrival or at any other time for that matter. (When I asked, we were told that NCL had stopped the fruit basket the week before). Someone had spilled coke or coffe on the balcony walls and it had not been cleaned for a while, as they were drippy and sticky. It took the hotel assistant manager (they guy from the office, after he actually visited our room on the fifth day of the cruise, I reported the problem 5 different times, in five days), to change room steward and to actually get the room cleaned properly, all of five days before any of this happened! Totally unnaceptable. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. All in all, the itinerary was good, the nightly entertainment was excellent, the food was good, however the daily activities on board were poor, pretty much everything there was to do during the day required an additional payment (bingo (very, very expensive - from $29.00 for the paper cards to over $100.00 for the machines per session), wine tasting, spa, etc).

Overall, the crew did not look too happy to be there. Very few smiles, very few would even say "good morning" or "good evening", etc.

I like "freestyle", however were not likely to sail with NCL again, not in the near future anyways. We have already booked our next cruise for this year, and are looking into Alaska for mid 2010, neither one with NCL. ;)

To all the NCL fans, I used to be one too. This is just my personal opinion. I have sailed with NCL before and loved it, (love freestyle), I am platinum with Carnival and also with Royal Caribbean. (26 cruises all together), never had a poor experience such as this one with anyone in the past!:(

[drm93]

Hi drm93,

I was on the same 9 day cruise. It was an ok cruise, not even close to the previous NCL cruises we had taken (only 2 in the past, but both in the "excellent" category). This one was just "ok". The cabin, a BA balcony was filthy (we have the pictures to show it, which we have since e-mailed to NCL), we are not asking for anything, however we do not want anyone else to go through what we went through. The bathroom had not been cleaned at all when we first went into the cabin, the toilet was dirty, more like filthy, so was the shower and sink. No towels (bath or beach towels) in the room, no bathrobes, no liquid soap or shampoo (we brought our own, however it still did not make sense). No fruit basket inside the cabin on arrival or at any other time for that matter. (When I asked, we were told that NCL had stopped the fruit basket the week before). Someone had spilled coke or coffe on the balcony walls and it had not been cleaned for a while, as they were drippy and sticky. It took the hotel assistant manager (they guy from the office, after he actually visited our room on the fifth day of the cruise, I reported the problem 5 different times, in five days), to change room steward and to actually get the room cleaned properly, all of five days before any of this happened! Totally unnaceptable. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. All in all, the itinerary was good, the nightly entertainment was excellent, the food was good, however the daily activities on board were poor, pretty much everything there was to do during the day required an additional payment (bingo (very, very expensive - from $29.00 for the paper cards to over $100.00 for the machines per session), wine tasting, spa, etc).

Overall, the crew did not look too happy to be there. Very few smiles, very few would even say "good morning" or "good evening", etc.

I like "freestyle", however were not likely to sail with NCL again, not in the near future anyways. We have already booked our next cruise for this year, and are looking into Alaska for mid 2010, neither one with NCL. ;)

To all the NCL fans, I used to be one too. This is just my personal opinion. I have sailed with NCL before and loved it, (love freestyle), I am platinum with Carnival and also with Royal Caribbean. (26 cruises all together), never had a poor experience such as this one with anyone in the past!:(

Sounds like you had much of the same experiences as me. And speaking to several people on the ship,they felt the same way. Every passenger we spoke to felt the same way. My balcony cabin also was filthy. This was the first time I have entered a cabin on a cruise and was not "excited" about it! It was dirty! There was "urine" on the toilet seat,not enough towels,the shower head broke a few days into the cruise.....I could write a book. And you are absolutely right about the crew.... NEVER have I been on a cruise with such a "dead" crew,I think about day 7 of our cruise someone actually said "good morning" and I almost passed out! There were fights over the chairs,I mean "fights",people cuzzing at each other...it was ridiculous! I also have never been on a cruise with so many "rude" passengers. Our friends were with us and they have over 35 cruises under their belt....and they too were extremely dissapointed. Just let me tell you this.....they were on the Jewel "last" April and actually called us from the ship telling us how great this ship was......and that's why we booked it. They said NOTHING was the same as last year......they couldn't even believe they were on the same ship! I will post my full review later in the week. It's ashame to plan, and look so forward to a vacation,and have your expectations so ruined....there was really nothing relaxing about this one at all. And......NEVER again will I cruise on spring break........need I say more.

[brokenarrowhd]

It's all about attitude. If you have great one then you are more than likely to have a great cruise. That being said, thanks for the positive review. There tends to be a lot of cranky people in this world. I don't want or need any of that when I'm having a good time. I'm thankful just to be on a cruise in the first place!

[drm93]

I probably have the best attitude of anyone around! I was so grateful to even be able to go on a cruise,especially since I just got laid off from my job right before we went. But when you've been on so many cruises that were "top notch"...it was all those "little" things that kept me coming back to cruising...........and there was just none of them on this cruise. It's hard to have a positive attitude when your in the theater for the show and your husband goes to the bathroom and you are "questioned" as to why your holding his seat! It's none of anyone's business! Especially when I got to the theater 45 minutes before the show! Like I said before......never have I encountered so many "rude" people in my life. Oh and then there was the time when I was in the bathroom stall and someone tried to get in "twice" after I said "someone's in here" and they called "me" a "**tch"...............because my voice got a little elevated! This was definetely the "kmart" of cruises............

[Almagetty]

drm93:

 

I am so sorry that your experience was so bad! I hope your next cruise meets your expectations. The attitude of the other passengers is not something that the cruise line can really help, but there is absolutely no excuse for a dirty cabin. I hope that what you experienced was a result of a very full Spring Break cruise and that the Jewel's staff corrects their service problems quickly. The Jewel really is a great ship, but the crew and staff play a huge role in the passengers' enjoyment of their cruise.

[asylum575]

I cruise with a positive attitude so that my family enjoys themselves.

However, when it comes to cranky, I could've been the 8th drawf. There is no way I would put up with urine on the seat. You have every right to complain and expect prompt service. I'm sorry you had the bad experience and just hope my streak continues.

[floridacruiser63]

I cruise with a positive attitude so that my family enjoys themselves.

However, when it comes to cranky, I could've been the 8th drawf. There is no way I would put up with urine on the seat. You have every right to complain and expect prompt service. I'm sorry you had the bad experience and just hope my streak continues.

 

I agree with you 100%. I cruise with a positive attitude and do not let little things bother me however, when you are talking about the cleanliness of your cabin, that is an entirely different matter. Believe me when I tell you, our cabin was filthy. There is no excuse for that, and there is no excuse for them taking five whole days before they sent their head person to the cabin to confirm and have the problem corrected. Yes, they had the cabin steward clean the bathroom and bring us towels the first day, but the balcony, the furniture, etc, was not cleaned until after this gentleman came to our room on the fifth day and inspected it. All of this was properly documented and they have the pictures of our cabin, taken while their employees where in the cabin with us, checking it out. No excuse for that! Our toilet was filthy, our shower had not been cleaned, and the bathroom floor was full of hairs and other things. We will let NCL judge for themselves, as I previously stated, we did not ask for any compensation, but they need to know what is going on with their ships.

[Zeno]

We must have been on different ships because my experience was way different than yours.

 

This is just a suggestion but rather than disputing the OP's experience (which was clearly quite different from yours) - why not start your own thread. Judging from your other posts in this thread, it sounds like you had a number of very legitimate complaints. Not that I am saying that you should not give your opinion in this thread if you want to. However if want to make your issues known, I think they would be better high-lighted by starting a separate thread. Note: this is JUST my opinion - so feel free to completely ignore it.

[wibeachbum]

First, I would like to thank th OP for a detailed review.

 

Also, I am shocked by the reports of dirty balcony cabins. We were on the Jewel 9 day cruise that departed on 3/20. We were in balcony cabin 10168. We did have a couple of spots on the carpet. My husband pointed them out to the cabin steward and she apologized and said it was spring break and it was one cruise after the other. She promised to spot clean the carpet and it was done the next time we left the cabin.

 

One evening I returned to the cabin in the middle of the evening to pick up something I had forgotten. When I got there the cabin steward's cart was outside the door and she was just coming out. She said she was finished and I could go in in just a moment. To my surprise, four men in blue uniforms (suits) came filing out of my cabin, clipboards in hand. They said they were just doing inspections. I ran into them a little while later in the hall and smiled and told one of them how surprised I was to see them coming out of my cabin. He said they were doing routine random inspections. So, I do believe cleanliness in the cabins is important to NCL.

 

I would be furious if my bathroom was in the condition described in previous posts on this thread when I boarded. There is no excuse for this. I do think passengers can be very hard on the cabins and don't treat things as they would at home causing a lot of the wear an tear you may see in some cabins. However, there is no excuse for a cabin that has not been cleaned. I believe this is an unusual occurance for NCL.

[drm93]

This is just a suggestion but rather than disputing the OP's experience (which was clearly quite different from yours) - why not start your own thread. Judging from your other posts in this thread, it sounds like you had a number of very legitimate complaints. Not that I am saying that you should not give your opinion in this thread if you want to. However if want to make your issues known, I think they would be better high-lighted by starting a separate thread. Note: this is JUST my opinion - so feel free to completely ignore it.

Zeno.....yes,I agree about starting a new thread.I have every intention to do that later on in the week. I just figured I would "chime in" on this one. Trust me,I have only "touched" on some of the issues I encountered on this cruise. Like I said,I could write a book! One more thing.....I'm gonna get real "graphic" now....just to let you know that my complaints are legitimate.......I pulled out a hand towel from my bathroom,I don't remember which day it was but.....when I opened it......it had a big ball of "hair" inside of it,I won't tell you what kind of hair,I'll let you figure it out on your own......DISGUSTING !

[floridacruiser63]

First, I would like to thank th OP for a detailed review.

 

Also, I am shocked by the reports of dirty balcony cabins. We were on the Jewel 9 day cruise that departed on 3/20. We were in balcony cabin 10168. We did have a couple of spots on the carpet. My husband pointed them out to the cabin steward and she apologized and said it was spring break and it was one cruise after the other. She promised to spot clean the carpet and it was done the next time we left the cabin.

 

One evening I returned to the cabin in the middle of the evening to pick up something I had forgotten. When I got there the cabin steward's cart was outside the door and she was just coming out. She said she was finished and I could go in in just a moment. To my surprise, four men in blue uniforms (suits) came filing out of my cabin, clipboards in hand. They said they were just doing inspections. I ran into them a little while later in the hall and smiled and told one of them how surprised I was to see them coming out of my cabin. He said they were doing routine random inspections. So, I do believe cleanliness in the cabins is important to NCL.

 

I would be furious if my bathroom was in the condition described in previous posts on this thread when I boarded. There is no excuse for this. I do think passengers can be very hard on the cabins and don't treat things as they would at home causing a lot of the wear an tear you may see in some cabins. However, there is no excuse for a cabin that has not been cleaned. I believe this is an unusual occurance for NCL.

 

I agree, this must be an unusual episode. I do not believe NCL would remain in business if this is the way they were to treat their customers. Besides we had two previously great experiences with them, unfortunately one bad one does take to take away from the good ones. For now, we do not intend to sail with them, as we have already booked with Royal Caribbean for later on this year and are looking into Carnival or Princess for Alaska next year. No hard feelings here, just lots of dissapointment!;)

[Carnac767]

Nice review. Thanks for taking the time to post it. We're really looking forward to sailing on the Jewel in the fall.

[dtracker]

I thoroughly enjoyed OP's review. The other reviews (negative ones) I believe cannot be held suspect just because you love NCL and don't want to see them criticized. I believe the posters and this could happen with any cruise and any cruiseline. :o

 

I think a big part of the problem could be the time of year they booked their cruise. It sounds like maybe Spring Break might be the culprit. If the crew experienced two b2b weeks of revilers and potential binge drinking, they probably were tired and disgusted, which could explain their attitudes. Personally, I would in no way book a cruise anytime during or immediately after Spring Break. I think it's a recipe for trouble, at best, and disaster, at worst. :( JMO.

 

My sincere sympathies to the posters.

 

DT

[teltrainer]

Hi,

 

We had a wonderful cruise in AE 9670 with an excellent butler, Nelson, and a fabulous room steward, Leslie. We've been on the Jewel before but this cruise seemed to be better than the last. LeBistro and Chin Chin had excellent food and service. Mama's was good but not great. Our cabin was well-maintained and clean. Both Nelson and Leslie never failed to have a smile for us and greeting. Service and lunch in Tsar's at embarkation was very nice. We are relax and enjoy cruisers so we didn't go to any shows. Breakfast in the cabin watching the wake of the ship was excellent!!!

 

Our only complaint was the number of young children eating late (8:30-9pm) in LeBistro and other specialty restaurants who were obviously tired, loud at times, cranky and couldn't sit still for an adult type meal (which is perfectly understandable!). The parents had the children on "their" schedule and should've planned something earlier. One poor little girl laid her head on the table and fell asleep at LeBistro.

 

Here are a few photos plus a stowaway we named "Speckled Jack". This plucky pigeon spent the week on a Romance Suite balcony on the stern (empty cabin apparently) and would perch on the railing and then make exercise laps around the wake while we were at sea. He must've been potty trained since he left no evidence on the balconies below :) He must've spent the entire week on the ship since we continued to see him until disembarking in Miami. Perhaps he had relatives in Mexico he visited with.

[teltrainer]

Here are some additional Jewel cabin photos

[PIPER50]

We were on this b2b cruise from 3rd April and so sorry to hear you did not enjoy it Ilka or Shelley.

 

It was our first cruise and we had a wonderful time. Our cabin 10048 was well looked after by Bob and Mohan and we found all the staff were pleasant and helpful. I have posted a review in the review section of CC.

 

I too would have been upset to have a dirty cabin and its inexcusable that it took 5 days to clean it.

[asylum575]

I noticed that pigeon to the aft. on deck 12 while I had coffee.

 

You're right about the kids. I was guilty. We had dinner at Le Bistro at 6:30pm, not late by any means. Our daughter was fussy, so we took turns strolling her out of the restaurant so that the other diners could enjoy the ambience of Le Bistro. If I interupted anyone's dinner, I apologize.

[mickeysgal]

I cruise with a positive attitude so that my family enjoys themselves.

However, when it comes to cranky, I could've been the 8th drawf. There is no way I would put up with urine on the seat. You have every right to complain and expect prompt service. I'm sorry you had the bad experience and just hope my streak continues.

 

Ok...that made me smile. :D

 

I have to agree there is no excuse for a dirty bathroomm or cabin. I would be very upset and would expect it to be corrected immediately.

[floridacruiser63]

We were on this b2b cruise from 3rd April and so sorry to hear you did not enjoy it Ilka or Shelley.

 

It was our first cruise and we had a wonderful time. Our cabin 10048 was well looked after by Bob and Mohan and we found all the staff were pleasant and helpful. I have posted a review in the review section of CC.

 

I too would have been upset to have a dirty cabin and its inexcusable that it took 5 days to clean it.

 

 

Hi Shirley,

 

It was great meeting you and your family on board. We were in cabin BA#10096.

 

We still enjoyed the cruise, just not as much as we should have. As I explained before, I do not let too many things bother me when I am on vacation, the cleanliness of the cabin is one thing that actually got to me, but more than that, it was the fact that it took them 5 whole days to get it corrected. I believe that the problems should have been corrected immediately after they were reported, or even after the second time we reported them, however what it done is done and as I said we managed to enjoy the cruise and of course meeting all of you on board.

I am now looking forward to our next cruise in August. (Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas), just my husband and myself - no kids this time.

Take care of yourself and please say hello to your family from all of us!