aprylstar Posted March 20, 2013 #1 Share Posted March 20, 2013 (edited) Hello everyone! This week I sailed on the Jewel to Florida & the Bahamas. This was my second family cruise & the first on NCL. This is also my first review so patience my friends! Thanks to everyone on cruise critic who have helped me make my first two cruise vacations a great success! We live in southern Ontario & have never been to New York City. I was a little nervous about driving in the city, but we definitely wanted to check out Times Square. We decided to take advantage of the 20% discount that Amtrak provides to NCL cruisers and purchased 2 Adult & 1 child return fairs from Buffalo New York to Penn Station for $240. This is cheaper than the rate to park at pier for the week and saved us about $220 on gas plus wear and tear on the car. We stayed at the Comfort Suites downtown Buffalo Friday night & left our car in the parking garage all week. The hotel shuttled us to the station (less than 1 mile away) Saturday morning & we were in NYC by 3:30 Saturday afternoon. For those of you considering a train, this was our first train ride (I know - everything was a first this trip! lol) and we loved it! Big comfy seats, free wifi & outlets to keep your electronics charged. They even let the DH get off in Syracuse & Albany for smoke breaks. I would do this over flying any day! Once in New York, we took a short cab ride to our hotel & dumped the bags. We spent the next 4 hours walking around the city & doing everything touristy that our 10 year old would enjoy. We hit Toys R us (missed FAO Schwarz), Rockefeller, Nintendo World, Yankees Shop, NBC, M & M World, Macy's, Empire state & everything in between! On our way back to the hotel for the night we picked up a spray painting that an artist did on the street for my son. We were exhausted after all of this & ready for our cruise! Edited March 20, 2013 by aprylstar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aprylstar Posted March 20, 2013 Author #2 Share Posted March 20, 2013 (edited) Sunday morning we got up bright and early. We had breakfast at the hotel & continued touring around the city. We returned at 10:30 am, checked out & had a cab take us to the pier for around 11:15. They said no boarding until 12, but we were on the ship before then! They had plenty of people outside loading luggage. We only had 3 or families ahead of us in the line to check in. After checking in, they give you a number & you go to the waiting area. When they call your number, you get on the ship. To our surprise, they called our group (group 7) almost immediately. The plan was to head to the dining room for lunch, but since it was only 11:45 we headed straight to the back of the boat to the great outdoors. It was a gorgeous day & we enjoyed a drink while our son climbed up one deck to check out the sports court. My first cruise was on the Carnival Freedom & my initial impression of the Jewel in comparison was just mediocre. The Atrium & tiered pool area on the Freedom were much more impressive, however, looks can be deceiving. You will find that by the end of my review I have seen the light & am an NCLer for life! lol We headed to Tzars shortly after noon. My hubby enjoyed the Portabello Mushroom appetizer & myself the Vietnemese rolls (both AWESOME & pictured below). We also had Chicken Milanese & Philly Cheese Steak. WE love the dining room so much better than the buffet. Less options, but everything is always delicious and they switch up the dinner menu each night. After lunch, my son wanted to check out the kids club (I will post the Splash Academy Dolphins Schedule 10-12 for the week along with the Day 1 Freestyle Daily). He immediately hit it off with one of the counsellors & couldn't wait to go back. 11 year old boys are tough to please, so I was happy about this! Afterwards they announced that our rooms were ready. We headed to 11106 & were very pleased with our mini suite. There was concern about noice from above (we were under the Garden Cafe), but it was never an issue the entire cruise. In fact we LOVED the location of our room b.c it was so central to everything. The Great Outdoors was down the hall & 1 deck up which made it very convenient to grab a quick snack to bring back to the room. Of course my son had to order room service while I was unpacking! lol He enjoyed that too. Edited March 20, 2013 by aprylstar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambee Posted March 20, 2013 #3 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Great start thanks for doing this, I know how much these reviews take. Looking forward for the rest :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aprylstar Posted March 20, 2013 Author #4 Share Posted March 20, 2013 :) Thanks. I had fully intended to do one last year and time got away with me. I figured it makes sense to get er done while it's still fresh in my mind! Great start thanks for doing this, I know how much these reviews take. Looking forward for the rest :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aprylstar Posted March 20, 2013 Author #5 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I finished unpacking just as they called us down to the dining room for the muster drill. I'm not even sure they can call it a drill! lol They showed us how to put on a life jacket & sent us on our merry way. We headed to Deck 12 for the sail away party! Drinks were flowing, Sponge Bob was dancing the sun was shining. It doesn't get much better than that! The views of New York as we sailed away were awesome! Again - another first! The statue of liberty. What a treat! My son can hardly wait to make a slide show of all the great pics we took this vacation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aprylstar Posted March 20, 2013 Author #6 Share Posted March 20, 2013 (edited) Blue Lagoon chicken wings were on our hit list, so we headed there for dinner. I had the wonton soup and the fish and chips. We were disappointed to find the wings were breaded, however, the next time we visited they made them for us without the breading & tossed in hot sauce. We skipped the Welcome Aboard Show. My son headed to the kids club & my hubby and I wandered the ship listening to all the great bands and music along the way. We ended up in the Casino & signed up for our players card & redeemed our $50 slot pay coupons we had purchased ahead of time for $25! My son had a blast at the kids club. There were 700 kids on the ship as it was Canadian March Break, so there were about 20 - 30 kids using the club that night in his age group. He ended up going back for an hour of after hours, so we headed back to the Casino! We didn't have much luck, but we did have a lot of fun playing the slots. I forgot to mention in the earlier post that we purchased a wine package when we boarded. They had people set up around the pool area selling available water, pop & wine packages. We got 4 bottles for $88. There were more expensive packages & there were several types to choose from in each category. The weren't advertising the ultimate beverage package, so I am not sure if it was available. There were tons of spring breakers on board, so drink specials seemed to be limited. Edited March 20, 2013 by aprylstar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rahway742 Posted March 20, 2013 #7 Share Posted March 20, 2013 cant wait to finish reading the rest of the review hopefully before i go on the cruise on sunday :):D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
springsher Posted March 20, 2013 #8 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Blue Lagoon chicken wings were on our hit list, so we headed there for dinner. I had the wonton soup and the fish and chips. We were disappointed to find the wings were breaded, however, the next time we visited they made them for us without the breading & tossed in hot sauce. We skipped the Welcome Aboard Show. My son headed to the kids club & my hubby and I wandered the ship listening to all the great bands and music along the way. We ended up in the Casino & signed up for our players card & redeemed our $50 slot pay coupons we had purchased ahead of time for $25! My son had a blast at the kids club. There were 700 kids on the ship as it was Canadian March Break, so there were about 20 - 30 kids using the club that night in his age group. He ended up going back for an hour of after hours, so we headed back to the Casino! We didn't have much luck, but we did have a lot of fun playing the slots. I forgot to mention in the earlier post that we purchased a wine package when we boarded. They had people set up around the pool area selling available water, pop & wine packages. We got 4 bottles for $88. There were more expensive packages & there were several types to choose from in each category. The weren't advertising the ultimate beverage package, so I am not sure if it was available. There were tons of spring breakers on board, so drink specials seemed to be limited. These are really awesome- my girls are 6-9 assuming it's not much different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aprylstar Posted March 20, 2013 Author #9 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Day 1 we stayed up a little too late, so Day 2 we slept in & missed breakfast in the dining room! lol Oh well, it's vacation & we deserved it! While the boys were showering out, I busted out my handy dandy highlighter & started checking off everything we'd like to do. This is the only day I did this, because as you will see from the dailies there is just too much to choose from! I started carry the daily around with us for the rest of the week & we just went with the flow. Pick and choose as our moods changed. For those that are interested - YES we were in shorts by the morning! Shorts, Sandals, T's and a light sweater were perfect. I was fearing the buffet as it was crazy busy on our Freedom cruise, however, it was great! Was it busy - YES! - however everything is laid out really well, so there were no lines really. As well, there are so many NCL staff every where you go, that if you ever need something, it's like they can read your minds! My son thoroughly enjoyed the washy washy guy & by the end of the week he was singing the song at the door & spraying down the fellow passengers! I wish I had a video for you. After breakfast we had the Cruise Critic meet and greet. The cruise driector, food & beverage director & hotel director attended. We met a lot of great people & it was awesome to put faces to the names of friends I had been chatting with leading up to the cruise. As if we weren't stuffed enough from breakfast, we headed back to the buffet & grabbed a quick bite after the meet and greet. My son hopped in the pool for a bit & we enjoyed the music the band was playing. Spring Break was in full effect & they had the back two hot tubs & back pool taken over. NCL had signs out that the front hot tubs were for families. This worked out great. My son then headed to the kids club while we met back up with our Cruise Critic friends for the slot pull. We didn't win, but we didn't lose either! We each through in $15 and walked away with $16 & had some fun in between! Of course my hubby and I played a few more slots, but our prepurchased credits were slowly dwindling away. I have to say the slots on the boat were awesome, my buck went a lot further than it ever has in the Niagara Casino's near my home. After the slot pull, we picked up our son & headed to family feud - his favourite games how. It was in the Fyzz Lounge & was pretty fun. My son desparately wanted to get picked, but we could only stay for the first two rounds b.c Deal or no Deal was starting at 4pm. This was the only day we played Deal or no Deal. Was if fun? Yes, was it worth the money - I don't think so.... You buy 1 card for $19.95. 2 games a played, so 2 audience members are chosen and go up on stage & play just like they do on TV. Each of these guests won around $250, but when you are in a theatre with several hundred people, the odds are not in your favour to get picked. The rest of the audience plays along & if your cases match the chosen cases, you can win prizes. In our game the most anyone won was $50. You could win up to $5000 though, but probably the same odds as winning the lottery! After Deal or Deal, we went back to the room and got ready for dinner in the dining room. Again, it was fast, hot & delicious. On Carnival I found it would take 1.5 hours to get through dinner in the dining room, so we only went twice. On this cruise we went 3 or 4 times b.c the food was great, we never waited in line & we were in and out in under an hour! I had the salmon & it was super YUMMY. This became our routine for the rest of the cruise. Go with the flow during the day, aim to be at the dining room by 6 to avoid the lines, watch the early theatre show (730) with our son & then he would head to the kids club or our room for a few hours & we would go out to enjoy a drink & entertainment. Here's a photo of the boys standing in the dining room window. The show that night was Band on the Run. It was pretty good! The Beatles Show was great on the Freedom and we enjoyed this one just as much! The dancers were great & the music was fun & my hubby who thinks everything is cheesy actually enjoyed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aprylstar Posted March 20, 2013 Author #10 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Thanks! All the themes for each age group coincided. I went to grab a copy for each age group at the end, but they were out. The 6 - 9 had a very detailed schedule. It listed everything hour by hour which I know my son would have appreciated at that age. It looked awesome! All I can tell you is that the kids club was always packed & the kids were always having fun! Not only that - you will see from my daillies that there are family activities going on all over the ship every day. Nickelodeon by the pool, circus by the pool, circus workshops, magic workshops, pizza decorating! These are really awesome- my girls are 6-9 assuming it's not much different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaja Posted March 20, 2013 #11 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Great review..enjoying it....(you really seem to know what people want to know!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aprylstar Posted March 20, 2013 Author #12 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Thanks! I am really trying to think about all the things I wanted to know before I left and then include them in the review. If anyone has any questions afterwards, let me know! I'll try to get the review done by Friday :) Great review..enjoying it....(you really seem to know what people want to know!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLgirlCruises Posted March 20, 2013 #13 Share Posted March 20, 2013 (edited) Great review! Looking forward reading more. :) I find it interesting that the Daily no longer has the price for the "extra" stuff. Like the Martini tasting or the kids Ice Cream Party, but just say *fee applies. Hmmmmm. Edited March 20, 2013 by FLgirlCruises Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdvmd Posted March 20, 2013 #14 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Great review and pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg1747 Posted March 20, 2013 #15 Share Posted March 20, 2013 hi, which hotel did you stay at in NYC? I'm cruising from there this September and I haven't found one yet. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aprylstar Posted March 20, 2013 Author #16 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Hi there, Wingate by Wyndham. It was close enough to walk to from Penn Station (we took a cab b.c we were newbies & had a child & luggage in tow), a few blocks from the action in Times Square & about a $10 cab ride from the pier. don't pay for high rise city view, b.c you get a view of buildings! lol Thankfully we used points b.c the view rooms were ~200 more per night I think. Initially we had Comfort Suites Theatre District/Times Square west booked, but decided to switch to Wyndham when we realized we had enough points. We also passed the Comfort Inn Midtown (off broadway 129 46th) and it looked pretty decent. I've googled it afterwards & it has good reviews. It is literally a block from Times Square, Broadway & only a few blocks from Rockefeller. Not sure what your budget is, but when we are only going somewhere for a night, we find Comforts are always clean comfy & have free breakfast :) hi, which hotel did you stay at in NYC? I'm cruising from there this September and I haven't found one yet. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soozenw Posted March 20, 2013 #17 Share Posted March 20, 2013 This is great. We're on Jewel in November, so I'm loving the recent review! Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaldosPepper Posted March 20, 2013 #18 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Great review so far, April!!!!! I'm enjoying re-living the trip, and very much enjoying the photos of all your smiling faces. :D So glad you had such a wonderful vacation, and not surprised at all that you've become NCL Loyalists. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaldosPepper Posted March 20, 2013 #19 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Great review! Looking forward reading more. :) I find it interesting that the Daily no longer has the price for the "extra" stuff. Like the Martini tasting or the kids Ice Cream Party, but just say *fee applies. Hmmmmm. I haven't seen the prices listed on the Dailies in a long time. The good news, however, is that the price for the Martini tasting is still just $15 and a great bargain. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritChickBN1 Posted March 20, 2013 #20 Share Posted March 20, 2013 We were on this itinerary on the Jewel last fall, looking forward to your take on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLgirlCruises Posted March 20, 2013 #21 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I haven't seen the prices listed on the Dailies in a long time. The good news, however, is that the price for the Martini tasting is still just $15 and a great bargain. ;) Thanks Barbara! I agree, it's a bargain and something I do on every cruise. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaldosPepper Posted March 20, 2013 #22 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Thanks Barbara! I agree, it's a bargain and something I do on every cruise. :D My pleasure! I thoroughly enjoyed them last week, and wish I were back onboard for another round of tastings! I could really go for an Espresso Martini right about now! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zounds Posted March 20, 2013 #23 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Thanks very much for the dailys and fab photos ! We'll be on her in Dec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncleboo Posted March 20, 2013 #24 Share Posted March 20, 2013 thanks for all your posts of the dailies do you have any menu from mdr or 24 hr free resturant to ost? thanks kindly dana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aprylstar Posted March 20, 2013 Author #25 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I found these online prior to my trip & downloaded them. They were accurate for the cruise I was just on. I have blue lagoon somewhere & will post that too. 1st Night.pdf 2nd Night.pdf 3rd Night.pdf 4th Night.pdf 5th Night.pdf 6th Night.pdf 7th Night.pdf Azura Static Menu Page.pdf Tsars Static Menu Page.pdf Cabanas.pdf Bora Bora Spa Menu.pdf NCL Excursions List.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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