Jewel in October-Anyone been there?

[Sirdar]

DW and are are considering a return to NCl aboard the Jewel to New England and Canada in October. We would appreciate feedback on:

 

1. The ship- I'm a bit put off by the number of negative reviews on CC regarding dining room waits, noisy music etc. Any comments are welcome

 

2. The Northeast in fall. I took a look at the temperature charts and it surely gets cold. What is the attraction of going north this time of year? How late does the fall foliage survive? Do passangers go out on deck or is it too cold?

 

Thanks

[Ericktina]

DW and are are considering a return to NCl aboard the Jewel to New England and Canada in October. We would appreciate feedback on:

 

1. The ship- I'm a bit put off by the number of negative reviews on CC regarding dining room waits, noisy music etc. Any comments are welcome

 

2. The Northeast in fall. I took a look at the temperature charts and it surely gets cold. What is the attraction of going north this time of year? How late does the fall foliage survive? Do passangers go out on deck or is it too cold?

 

Thanks

This is absolutely one of our favorite cruises--weather has always been warm or crisp and beautiful--many days on deck. But--you can never tell!! Foliage not at peak, but the trade off is that Quebec City is magical.

 

Must confess we were disappointed last fall to find they were not going through the Saguenay River to Quebec--as we had before--one of the most wonderful cruising routes ever.

 

Have no experience in the main dining rooms for dinner---but the Jewel is a beautiful well-maintained ship--nice atrium area with the coffee bar--and not the hurly burly of the atrium on the Gem, if you have seen that. Found no difference in food from other NCL ships. Do not remember any "noisy music" !! This is truly a wonderful cruise, and I do not think you would be disappointed. Happy sailing !!

[uppitycats]

This was the most recent cruise I took, last October, and on the Jewel.

 

We never waited more than about 5 minutes to eat in the main dining room, except for one night when we were told the wait would be 20 minutes. We came back in 10 and were seated immediately. And we absolutely loved the sushi in one of the specialty restaurants -- ate way more than the $15 surcharge should have allowed.. :D

 

We found the Jewel to be lovely, understated and attractive, and indeed very clean. We spent a lot of time in the martini bar, listening to the music that was in the area right adjacent to it, and never noticed that it ws "too loud", or otherwise a problem. (And the martinis were great! :) )

 

We'd cruise on the Jewel again in a heartbeat.

 

As for New England in the fall -- if you're looking for warm beaches, a suntan, days basking in the sun -- this is not the cruise for you. Indeed it is cool, and it did rain one day when we were in Boston -- but otherwise the days were clear and crisp, and while the leaves weren't at their peak, it was great weather for exploring the cities, and as someone already said, Quebec is worth a visit any time of the year.

[DrCindy]

We were on the Jewel last November. There was never a wait to be seated in the main dining room, but sometimes the service itself was slow. There was generally no long wait to receive our meal, but sometimes there was a wait for the dessert order to be taken or for the final coffee to be served. That being said, it was not a consistent problem and would not deter me at all from going on the Jewel again. The wait staff were always courteous and polite.

[garycarla]

Every once in awhile somebody comes along and says they had a wait, and then LOTS of folks repeat over and over again they did not. After 6 cruises on NCL, we rarely saw a line of more than a handful of folks, meaning under 5 minutes. Only time we saw a line was right after the early show when all those people came out and headed right to dinner.

 

Fall in New England. Yes, it is cool. If you think of cruises as sitting by the pool, etc, then this is not for you. We have done this once and are planning to do it again this fall. Might be cool, but the ports are unique and just wonderful.

 

Cann't wait.

[DaDead]

DW and are are considering a return to NCl aboard the Jewel to New England and Canada in October. We would appreciate feedback on:

 

1. The ship- I'm a bit put off by the number of negative reviews on CC regarding dining room waits, noisy music etc. Any comments are welcome

 

2. The Northeast in fall. I took a look at the temperature charts and it surely gets cold. What is the attraction of going north this time of year? How late does the fall foliage survive? Do passangers go out on deck or is it too cold?

 

Thanks

 

We did this exact cruise about 4 years ago. For us it was really cold! But we always try to go somewhere where is isn't always sunny and 80*! It even snowed in Maine and Quebec, boy were we excited!

We used the hot tubs on deck by the pools, and we hung out at the pool deck quite often, with our bucket of beer! There was always someone in the pool - not to crowded. It was nice and quiet!

We never had to wait for a table in any of the restaurants we went to - just remember - some people just have to eat at 5:30 - 6 pm so you might have to wait a few minutes if you need to eat at that time.

We enjoyed that cruise so much, we're thinking of doing it again sometime.:)

[Cruise_More_Often]

We were on the Jewel in Feburary 2008, and we are doing the Canada/New England cruise in October. She is a beautiful ship! We found the service to be excellent. The NCL crews are absolutely the friendliest we've encountered.

 

Nosy music? Where? Yes, there is a group playing in the atrium every night, but I'd never categorize any group I've seen playing in NCL atriums as "noisy." I'd take groups like those over a string quartet any day!

 

We're planning on cold and rain, bring 'em on!

[njmelis24]

1. The ship- I'm a bit put off by the number of negative reviews on CC regarding dining room waits, noisy music etc. Any comments are welcome

 

2. The Northeast in fall. I took a look at the temperature charts and it surely gets cold. What is the attraction of going north this time of year? How late does the fall foliage survive? Do passangers go out on deck or is it too cold?

 

We sailed on the Jewel last October and it was hands down, the best cruise yet. We ate in the main dining room 1 night and we waited about 10 minutes, which was no big deal to us. We did notice that most people ate relatively early during the cruise so we made it a point to eat after 8pm. We ate in every specialty restaurant (some twice!) and never had a problem getting the reservation time that we wanted.

 

The musical acts on the ship last year were great. All different kinds from piano, bands, guitar players, etc. It made for a nice selection; depending on your mood you could sit near the martini bar, go up to the spinnaker, or even sit in the atrium.

 

We were on the 2nd of the three sailings last year and the weather and foilage were great. It was cool in the mornings but by the afternoon it was comfortable, all you needed was a long sleeve shirt.

 

I love photography and I took over 400 photos during the trip. Every port was gorgeous. We did each port on our own, visiting parks, doing some shopping, and we also went on lots of hikes (we rented cars).

 

It was definitely cool on deck and I remember being on deck for the ice carving and wanting some hot cocoa. We had a balcony room but we used it alot, more than I thought we would.

 

As everyone else has said, Quebec was amazing. We wished we had more time to explore the city and it made the entire trip worth it. We also LOVED PEI. We went all over the island and took great pictures, met some nice people, and had some of the best food of the whole trip.

[derf5585]

DW and are are considering a return to NCl aboard the Jewel to New England and Canada in October.

 

What cruise were you planning to take

 

If Oct 10, 2009 there is a quite active roll call

at

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=835374

[cmh]

I have sailed on the Jewel twice and love the ship. I was thinking of booking this cruise next year on the Jewel. Is the fall foliage better in September or October?

Carolyn

[librarycin]

Do passangers go out on deck or is it too cold?

 

I've only ever done cruises in "colder" weather (Alaska and N. Europe), and my next one is Canada/New England in October this year.

 

I just wanted to suggest, if you decide to go anyway, bring layers. I have a jacket that is 2 layers in itself and it's perfect - I can wear either layer (a fleece layer or an outer water-resistant layer with a hood) on its own or I can zip them together to wear both layers if it's especially cold.

 

Granted, I didn't notice where you are from and "cold" is relative. I am Canadian, so... :)

[grammax3]

,

We were on this cruise itinerary last year, with RCI, and found the weather in October to be very nice. The only time it was cold enough for a jacket with the day we were sailing the Saquenay River. Other than that, the weather was very pleasant. We loved it so much, we are doing it again this year, but on the Jewel on October 20th. I don't think you will be unhappy with this cruise.

[derf5585]

Must confess we were disappointed last fall to find they were not going through the Saguenay River to Quebec--as we had before--one of the most wonderful cruising routes ever.

 

What routes can the ship take?

I hope one of the routes is not over the Niagara Falls:D