Christmas on the Jewel - Amazing

[pullbangdead]

How about a positive thread about a recent cruise?

 

Just got off the Jewel Sunday from the Christmas cruise to western Caribbean, and what an amazing experience. I'm working on a longer review, but I'll hit the highlights here in the meantime.

 

Food: Excellent. Main dining rooms and buffet mediocre to good, but every experience in the specialty restaurants was OUTSTANDING. Cagney's was the best meal I've had in years (get double mushrooms!), my wife called her entree in Chin Chin the best single entree she's ever tasted. My wife also had 5 different creme brulees in 3 different restaurants, loved them all.

 

HUGE suite perk in getting breakfast and lunch in Cagney's. Those meals were great, and it was very uncrowded and always pleasant atmosphere. I would likely upgrade to a suite for that reason alone in the future, not to mention our great butler and concierge.

 

Service: Excellent. Stewards went above and beyond, butler Patrick was excellent, concierge Carlos was outstanding.

 

I had one complaint that I'm 99% sure wasn't NCL but they fixed anyway with their outstanding service: when our bags were delivered to our room after embarkation, my large, standard American Tourister rolling suitcase had been damaged. I mean REALLY damaged, one foot and one wheel completely ripped off of the suitcase. It had to have been a forklift accident on the dock, but I took the empty suitcase down to the desk for them to look at it. Their solution? They traded me a brand new bad of equal size and quality since their on-board carpenter couldn't repair mine. I was VERY satisfied, I have a bag as nice or nicer than the one the dockworkers tore up, so I'm a happy camper. If it had been an expensive bag, I likely would've been more upset. But for my cheap(er) bag, I was ecstatic that they swapped me a new one no questions asked.

 

Excursions: Excellent. Roatan: Did NCL's dolphin encounter and Tabyana beach, and it was a ton of fun. Weather wasn't perfect, but a great day. Belize: Cave tubing tour with the CC roll call through Dennis Perez. Excellent experience, the tourguides were great and a lot of fun (Leonel singing "I got you babe" in the caves to reassure a nervous tuber was hilarious, still makes me laugh), the lunch was delicious. Costa Maya: Again with the CC roll call group, we had a private beach day at a small resort called Maya Chan. This place was GREAT. Beautiful white sand, each small group (family or couple within the larger group) got its own private cabana with chairs, hammock, and bed with pillows. Full open bar (top shelf even, not just wells, the rum punch and a top shelf "vodka special" called something like "caipiroska" were both good). The best Mexican food I can imagine for lunch: sea bass fresh off a boat that melted in your mouth, home made salsa, guacamole, and tortillas, beef and chicken, all amazing food. Floating lounge chairs, kayaks, and snorkeling gear for the taking, the best Christmas Eve Beach day I could've imagined. All inclusive for one super-low price.

 

Entertainment: Great. Decent comedians, Cirque Bijou was cool, good movies rotating on the TV schedule. Overall plenty to keep us busy.

 

Room: Excellent. We got an upgrade the week of the cruise from BA aft to an AE penthouse aft. LOVED the aft balcony being out of the wind. The sound of the wake was very relaxing, like a super deluxe white noise generator. No vibrations or rocking any more than anywhere else on the ship (I seem to feel more vibrations sitting in Tango's restaurant than in our cabin, maybe it was just me). The AE had plenty of room for 2, loved the bigger TV and DVD player when we felt like a relaxing evening to ourselves and a movie (room service needs popcorn, by the way!! We had to order dessert instead, so it's all NCL's fault for the weight I gained!!).

 

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Sure, there were a few small things here and there, but I knew exactly what to expect from reading on here, so nothing phased us from enjoying our cruise. Finding my suitecase so damaged really was the only thing that bothered me the whole week, but NCL did a great job fixing that one for me, so I have no complaints.

 

Needless to say, we put down the $250 deposit (and got the $100 back) before exiting the ship, and can't wait to go on our next cruise. I want Alaska, but it'll likely be Mexican Riviera instead since winter is easier for us than summer with our work schedules.

[Azure Moon]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Happy to read you had a wonderful cruise!

 

Thanks for the review and details about your excursions. We loved Tabyana Beach, too :). Maya Chan sounds like paradise :cool:.

 

LOL about the creme brulee count. Chin Chin must serve three in one order just as the Dawn does. My mother order it in October and loved them, and I was impressed by the multiple flavors. Now I'm curious about the flavors in the other restaurants :D.

 

That was incredibly nice of NCL to replace your suitcase. :cool:

 

[DMH15]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Kudos to NCL for taking care of your suitcase ordeal.

[NJLVW]

What a nice review. We will be on the Jewel in 24 days. Reading positive reviews makes the time past faster. Glad you enjoyed yourselves. We love NCL. Always have a wonderful experience. Of course it is all in what you make of it. Thank you for sharing.

[sunshine nana]

Nice review. What can you tell me about the AE balcony? Size? Loungers? Thanks

[BikerAl]

So glad you enjoyed your cruise, on the Jewel, as much as we did. I can't believe, we sailed a month ago yesterday. Sure wish we could jump back on Sunday.My only grip, is the Jewel, and for that matter, the Pearl, don't alternate weeks, for the eastern and westen Caribbean. I would have seriously considred a back to back cruise if they did.

 

Al

[yoyocruiser]

We are leaving this Sunday on the Jewel. It has taken a lot of planning as there are seven of us--an AB suite and an inside room right across the hall. I am very happy to hear about Maya Chan Beach as we have reservations to go there, and honestly it almost sounded too good to be true. Just wondering--is there any difficulty finding them once you leave the ship? And do they wait on everyone before they depart or how does that work? Thanks also for the warning about Belize--the issue of how slow things can move. With four college kids (all quite independent) this is excellent information (that I had heard elsewhere, but this adds more fervor to my warning.) I wonder if Patrick and Carlos will still be on next week? It sounds like they were very good. I am also happy to hear the food was so good. We will probably stay out of the specialty restuarants given that htere are seven of us, but I am sure we will find plenty of good food especially with access (at least thsoe in the suite) to cagney's for lunch and breakfast.

 

So glad you had a wonderful cruise. We are incredibly excited, and you have put my mind much to ease regarding Maya Chan.

 

yoyocruiser

[Meiying]

Wow - you got your review up FAST! I'm working on mine too. We really enjoyed this cruise - one of our favorites so far. It was nice having lunch with you and your wife in Belize...that sure was a delicious lunch!

[mississauga]

Costa Maya: Again with the CC roll call group, we had a private beach day at a small resort called Maya Chan. This place was GREAT. Beautiful white sand, each small group (family or couple within the larger group) got its own private cabana with chairs, hammock, and bed with pillows. Full open bar (top shelf even, not just wells, the rum punch and a top shelf "vodka special" called something like "caipiroska" were both good). The best Mexican food I can imagine for lunch: sea bass fresh off a boat that melted in your mouth, home made salsa, guacamole, and tortillas, beef and chicken, all amazing food. Floating lounge chairs, kayaks, and snorkeling gear for the taking, the best Christmas Eve Beach day I could've imagined. All inclusive for one super-low price

.

 

 

Thanks for the review. Glad you enjoyed the Jewel. She's our favorite NCL ship.

 

Do you mind me asking what the super-low price was and how this was booked? Sounds like a great beach day.

[Kylie]

Fun meeting the other CC members on this Christmas cruise. We had a great time too - hopefully everyone else enjoyed it as much as we did!

[Keri23]

damn did we have a good time! The Jewel was great! as first time cruisers we are realy impressed & cant wait for our next cruise (in 342 days!!) Very sad to be back in Indiana where the temp is 14 degrees & theres 5 inches of snow.

We loved the ship & the people working on it. I think my only complaint is they didnt have any chocolate desserts except during the chocolate buffet. none of us were impressed by that buffett. NCL's chefs are trying to hard. I dont want art, I want a damn brownie! A plain old brownie, or chocolate cake!

But other than that it was a great ship!!

[mmarsh]

Hi There - sailing on the Jewel in April. Can you tell me who the current Concierge is? Thanks

[Kylie]

Carlos was the concierge during the week of Dec. 20.