Back from the 5/1 Jewel Sailing

[minniemom2009]

I promised a few people who have future Jewel sailings that I would let them know how the Nickelodeon activities went, so I thought I'd post a few quick comments/reviews.

 

This was our first NCL cruise. Just for a bit of history, we have been on Disney, RCCL, and Carnival previously. I read so many positive things about the Jewel itself and the staff on board that I probably had pretty high expectations going into the cruise. I was nervous about the Nick activities because that was one of the main reasons we booked with NCL and since this was only the 2nd cruise on the Jewel with the Nick partnership, I was worried there would be quite a few bugs to work out.

 

My worries about the Nick activities were completely unfounded. I really thought they did an excellent job with all the events. My only problem with it at all was that I expected the characters to be out more. There was one meet 'n greet with Spongebob and Patrick, one meet 'n greet with Dora and Diego and the character breakfast ($15/adult and $10/child) with Spongebob, Patrick, Dora, Diego, and Ang - the Avatar. Having been on 2 Disney cruises, I'm used to numerous character events on a daily basis. Only 3 opportunities to see the characters on a week-long cruise just didn't seem like enough.

 

As I said though, the events were extremely organized and well done. There were a couple slime time shows and arts and crafts sessions, which were wonderful. The kids got to color Nick tote bags, bandanas, and t-shirts. I will admit here that I am a true Disney fan. I believe that they do everything top notch and really set the bar high when it comes to customer service, but even I have to admit that Disney would have definitely charged for such arts/crafts. I thought it was very nice that this was all included for the kids to do.

 

All in all, I was very pleased with the Nick stuff. I just would have liked to see more of it : )

 

Onto the ship . . . maybe my expectations were too high, but I wasn't that impressed. The ship is very clean and nice, but it felt almost claustrophobic to me. Every ship I have ever been on has had a nice, open feel to it. I didn't like that there was no open atrium on the Jewel. To get anywhere you had to walk down narrow corridors on either side of the ship and that just gave it a very "closed off" feeling. I like having a promenade to walk through and there was nothing like that on the Jewel.

 

I have mixed feelings about the staff. We encountered some crew members who were truly fabulous and others who made us feel like we were bothering them. I have special dietary needs - I'm vegetarian, gluten sensitive, and allergic to soy. I chose to eat in the Garden Cafe every day because it was just easier with the kids. They didn't want to have to sit through long dinners every night, which I was ok with. So I had to go to one of the main dining rooms the day before and pre-order my food and then have it sent up to the Garden Cafe when we went in to eat. I was fine with that, but it seemed as though the crew members I had to order through in the main dining rooms were very short with me and were annoyed with my needing to pre-order.

 

I expected the staff to be more knowledgeable about the menu items too. One night in particular I said what I would like to order and the gentleman taking my order said he had to check with the chef. He came back and said it could not be done gluten free, so I asked about another option - he came back again and said "no." I understand some things may be too difficult to do gluten free, but I wish he could have given me some options to choose from so we didn't have to keep playing this game. I ended up waiting 30 minutes just to get my order placed. I did make a suggestion that they make a note on the menu of which items can be made gluten free.

 

There were a few other things that happened with the staff in regards to my dietary needs that were upsetting too, but I don't want to dwell on them as there were some positives also. The Garden Cafe Supervisor (Hari) was wonderful in having my meals sent up for me in the evenings so I could eat with my family. He truly never made me feel as though it was an annoyance for him and there were times he was obviously very busy.

 

One last comment I did want to make is regarding the entertainment and activities on board. We were definitely very pleased with all of the options available. The evening shows that we saw were fantastic and there was plenty to do during the day to keep us as busy as we wanted to be. DH and I took a cruise last Fall on RCCL and we actually found ourselves to be bored throughout the day as there just weren't many organized activities to participate in and we aren't the type to lounge by the pool all day. So, we really felt that NCL exceeded our expectations in that area.

 

I know some people will not like me saying anything negative about NCL, but I'm just being honest. Overall, we absolutely had a great vacation. I was with my wonderful family with no work, school, etc . . . what could be better?!?! I'm not going to let some minor issues ruin our vacation, but when comparing this cruise to the others we have been on it probably is my least favorite.

 

Sorry this got so long! If anyone has any specific questions about our experience, I'd be more than happy to try to answer them!

[NJ Johnny]

Did you take any of the ship's excursions and if so, which ones? Were they enjoyable and did you feel they were worth the cost? Did you feel that they ship was at full capaciity?

[jefarl]

do you have a copy of the daily activites ?

[tinker]

We were on the sailing before you. I did not have experience with having to make special dietary requests but do agree that the ship has a crowded feel. Part of it is the design but I think they are just packing too many people onto these sailings and it has been our experience with our last two NCL cruises.

 

I am not giving up on them just yet, almost did but since the Gem is doing Bermuda next year we will give it one more try.

[cruise cutie7519]

A nick cruise? Never heard of that. The jewl (hope i spelled that right)sounds like fun! Sounds like with your need for diet need they mostly ask you that when you book the cruise. But i've seen it with CCL when they ask you any special dietary needs you have they are glad to help you with. I had that same problem i went on CCL and i asked for soy milk i had to ask like 2 to 3 different people just to get my soy milk. I finally got it after like 10 to 20 minutes of waiting for it. Never did ask for soy milk again after that:mad:

[minniemom2009]

Did you take any of the ship's excursions and if so, which ones? Were they enjoyable and did you feel they were worth the cost? Did you feel that they ship was at full capaciity?

 

I didn't book any excursions through the ship. At Port Canaveral, we just took a shuttle bus to Cocoa Beach, but we really weren't impressed with it at all. Wasn't worth the time in my opinion. I wish we would have just stayed on the ship and enjoyed the pool with less crowds.

 

At Nassau, we went to Blue Lagoon. I booked it directly through the company and paid a good bit less than the ship excursion cost. We LOVED Blue Lagoon. The actual beach is a bit small, but the kids loved swimming in the lagoon and seeing the dolphins and sea lions.

 

We did find the pool area to be very crowded on sea days and the main dining rooms were rather full around peak dining times too, but other than that it wasn't so bad.

[minniemom2009]

We were on the sailing before you. I did not have experience with having to make special dietary requests but do agree that the ship has a crowded feel. Part of it is the design but I think they are just packing too many people onto these sailings and it has been our experience with our last two NCL cruises.

 

I am not giving up on them just yet, almost did but since the Gem is doing Bermuda next year we will give it one more try.

 

I think you're right. DH made the comment that the design of the ship felt like it was more about "volume of passengers" than anything else. I know they are out to fill ships as much as possible with passengers to bring in revenue, but it just seemed like there weren't many places to just go and relax. I'm used to finding little hidden, quiet spots on ships to relax in.

[KevinsCruising]

We were on the May 1st sailing also. Had a great time. Absolutely loved the AB suites. Butler Arnie and Concierge Adrian could not do enough for us. I have sailed the Gem and Dawn before and thought the food on this cruise tasted better then any other cruise. We went to LeBistro one night and the food there was to die for. Just the appetizers alone are wonderful. ( I had 3 :p ) My wife had the mushroom soup and I must agree that it was the best mushroom soup we ever tasted.

 

In Florida, we stayed on the ship. A very relaxing pool day. Great Stirrup Cay was a great beach day. Drank and ate and swam. :D. Nassau we just walked around. The straw market was a little crazy so it felt good just to get back on the ship. There was a little shack last year right across from Senor Frogs that I got conch salad from that is now closed :( so I will have to find a new place to get it.

 

There is gentlemen that works by the pool, (Julious Juicy) who is the best. I do not know how, but he kept order to the pool with all the children there. I was always greeted with a friendly hello and conversation with him every time we met. He was a pleasure to be around and I always knew my 6 yr old had another set of eyes watching her in the pool area.

 

Bar Service... Antonio was my numer #1. Always kept our buckets of beer full of ice so they never had a chance to warm up. Always there when I needed him and never pushy. He could almost read my mind when I or my wife needed somthing. Soda...no issue. I have read some servers do not like to get the soda but not Antonio....anything we needed was there in a flash.

 

Double applause for the kids crew staff! I was a bit worried if my 6 yr olds first cruise would want to be there but thats all she wanted to do when she was not in the pool. They even took all the kids to see the main show at night, had PJ party, movie night, etc. She met so many kids that she became friends with she cannot wait for her next cruise.

 

We had an awesome cruise and look forward to sailing NCL again in the near future. One word of advice. If you have any problems, contact your hotel director. For our cruise, John O Harrah and Melissa were both wonderful and did their best to make sure our cruise was a very memorable one. ( Thanks guys)

 

The Staff and Entertainers, I thought were the best. My 17 yr old son Jesse, got to know the entertainers very well and he loved talking to them and hanging out with them.

 

It was a week of great weather and good times. Loved meeting everyone at the CC meet and greet. (it was the first I ever attended) Looking at booking the Gem next year to Bermuda. It will be hard to not do the AB but it will all depend on the money situation. :rolleyes:

 

NCL is still the best in my opinion. ;)

[Evangelinescruise]

Thanks Minnimom and Kevin for the reviews! Looking forward to our first sailing ever on the NCL Jewel in two weeks. Hoping to have good weather and good health...... everything else is icing on the cake.

 

:D

[A1SusieQ]

We were on the May 1st sailing also. Had a great time. Absolutely loved the AB suites. Butler Arnie and Concierge Adrian could not do enough for us. ;)

 

 

Hey Kevin,

 

Glad you had such a great time! Did Arnie give you something from me? It was everything I had left from the casino.

 

Susan

[KevinsCruising]

Hey Kevin,

 

Glad you had such a great time! Did Arnie give you something from me? It was everything I had left from the casino.

 

Susan

 

:) Yes, Arnie did give me them to me.... Thank you so much !! I laughed when he gave them to me. :D Whats really funny is that you had more then I did after the Casino :cool: