Anyone back today from weekend cruise from NYC?

[mets07]

Wondering how it was? What did you like and dislike? Did many venture outside in the cold?

[ncklhaus]

It was a lot of fun. But it was way too cold for us to go outside for long. We saw people jogging around the promenade deck and a few brave(crazy) people in the hot tubs. The great part about the weekend cruise is that you get the same production numbers in two nights as you get in a seven night cruise. It was definately a party atmosphere, plenty of adults celebrating birthdays, batchelor/batchelorette parties, and people like us that were just looking to reconnect with our spouses. I was surprised to see as many kids on the cruise as we did, but definately less than on a longer one. We really had a fantastic time. The food was fantastic, we went to 2 specialty restaurants for dinner(Chin Chin and Le Bistro) and ate lunch in the Main Dining Room (Tsar's Palace) both days. We went to the buffet (Garden Cafe) this morning for breakfast and took it back to our room. Also, we got hot wings from the Blue Lagoon last night. We have been on the Jewel before so we have tried most of the other restaurants and knew where we wanted to eat. The only major issue we had was the amount of smoke in the casino. It was just overwhelming. If you are not a smoker, and you want to gamble, it may be too much.

[tymike]

Also just back and also had a great time! We got a call from the upsell fairy and went from an aft penthouse to the owner's suite on deck ten. Wow! Really lovely! Embarkation was a breeze what with the priority boarding etc. but disembarkation was also truly without incident. We simply walked off the ship around 9:00 after breakfast and we were on our way! No customs or anything!

 

I was nervous that the ship would be a nonstop party with no room at restaurants or the casino, but it didn't seem overly crazy at all. We ate at Cagney's and Bistro for dinners and had a wonderful waiter at Bistro. He told us that weekend cruises have "more energetic" passengers and that restaurants stay open later than usual. I learned there is no room service (except maybe suite guests??) which I didn't know before we left. No biggie for us.

 

We did not go to any shows, but visited the casino both nights. No problem getting machines, but yes, the smoke can be truly unbelievable. We needed to shower upon returning to our room and my eyes hurt.

 

We visited the Haven space as we had access, but it was really cold up there so we never sat there or used it at all. Two people were there reading wearing either coats or sweaters while they sat reading. The Haven lounge seemed small and not overly attractive, but the pool area was nice albeit small.

 

All in all, we had a terrific time. The weekend seemed to last a long time and it was a great way to do something different and fun in February from NY. The sailaway past the Statue of Liberty and the Veranzanno (sp?) bridge was amazing what with the sunset and all! I recommend it highly and bought two future cruise certificates as proof! I feel a tradition coming into being!:)

[Godiva830]

I was also on the weekend cruise. I loved it. I went with my mother and 6 yr old niece. My mom had friends also going on the cruise so we had a nice little group. My niece spent the entire trip in the kids club. She LOVED IT!! She never wanted to leave. There were a lot of kids. More than I thought there would be. Saw both shows and they were great. Ate at Le Bistro and Cagney. Great food. Saw a lot of people going in the pool and hot tubs. That's the only down fall of the trip that it was too cold for outdoor facilities but I would defiantly do it again. I'll be back on the Jewel in 2 weeks for a 7 day. I can't wait!

[corey07850]

Does anyone have a pic of the navigation page on the tv? Curious as to what the actual routing would be

[Godiva830]

I don't have a pic but we sailed south along the NJ coastline. I had cell service for awhile. I made some phone calls around 9:30 last night and texted. We anchored down by Cape May but we were far enough out where we couldn't see land.

[pixiedustdawn]

It was a wonderful weekend with so many wonderful people! Seems to be many repeat 2 night cruisers each time.

 

Outside was chilly. Inside the ship had so much happening it didn't make a difference what the weather was like outdoors.

 

I loved that even though there were so many people onboard and indoors, the ship never seemed crowded. Cirque Bijou was fantastic!

 

Wish there were more of these weekend getaway cruises out of New York!

 

[mizLORInj]

It was great.

 

We didn't have priority boarding and the security line at 1:45 took about 35 minutes but the Latitudes line moved very quickly.

 

The nav channel was not working properly on our tv; it showed us heading southeast and it stuck there; the clock on that channelwas not accurate as well

It was cold out but we had a great time. Shows were good and food was too.

 

Champagne bar--was disappointed that it has only one type (Prosecco) by the glass. maybe it should not be called champagne bar anymore. Also it's too bad the blinky cups are no longer featured at the White Hot Party.

 

Enjoyed meeting up at our meet n greet and the slot pull was fun.

 

Would go again in a minute