Just back from the Jewel- It was awesome!

[jlat]

Sailed on the Jewel on Aug 10th. The cruise was great, the weather was phenomenal and a great time was had by all!! The Jewel is a great ship, the crew is awesome. Capt Kenneth was always around and we have great picture with my daughter and him. Messiah the F&B director became our very own F&B guy and made sure we got extras during dinner and a front row seat at the Chocolate Buffet (he brought us a huge plate of his favorites).

 

Met some folks at the Cruise Critic meet-up, it was good to put faces with names you see on here. Jamie the CD, Ignaitio (sp) the hotel director and Messiah the F&B director attended and answered a ton of questions.

 

We were in the Ruby suite (non-Haven). Awesome space, girls had their own room and bathroom. Our room had a king bed and the bathroom had a tub, double sinks and separate shower that overlooked the water. Our room steward was Virgilio, not the best we've had but very friendly and did a solid job. My DD could out do his towel animals though. Our butler was Tontago (sp). He too wasn't great and always seemed to be in a hurry, but we didn't him to do much for a lot either. Daily snack were meh and we could have asked for different stuff, but honestly we weren't in the suite all that much so I never thought about calling him to do something else. DD did order up a movie from him though. He did seem to hang around more on tip day though. Jon De Souza was our concierge, again we only saw him 2 times once at check in and another time at a show, when he confused me for some other guest.

 

Buffet was great for breakfast so we didn't eat at Cagney's for lunch or breakfast, too busy and my girls like the buffet better. I really like eating at the Great Out Doors taking in the fresh air and great views. The Deck side cookout was always really good.

 

Jamie and Sin are the CD's and they were great. Always around always funny. The shows were really good. JP the magician was really funny.

The Hypnotist chick was okay, if you've seen one, you've seen them all. They had a singer in the Crystal Atrium doing Amy Winehouse one night. It was well done as she sounded and LOOKED the part. Really good.

 

The casino was tolerable and the smoke (I don't smoke) wasn't bad but the slots were tight. I won some $ on the roulette table, but lost it on black jack. Didn't go to bingo, not my bag. The White Hot party started slow, but got busy late and was fun. My kids had a better time though at the early party. Dancing with the Jewel stars was funny as h.e.l.l. and a 76 y/o man won; dancing with one of the very cute dancers from the production cast. (Kate). Watched a couple of other game shows put on by the staff. Always a good time.

 

Got a shave in the spa for my b-day. Elise from Australia was superb. Great arm and neck massage and she shaved my head for free as a b-day present (and I got a big hug).

 

We signed up the kids at the teen club, but the age group was 13-17 and most of the kids were older. DD1 met a girl that was younger and they pal'd around quite a bit. Wish NCL did a tween club though. I will say though the club was well organized and there were lots of activities and the kids seemed pretty well behaved.

 

Ate at Chin - Chin (just okay), Cagneys (don't get the bison), Le Bistro x2 AWESOME, Tappenyaki (Very good, but our chef was not a showman), and Moderno (a total disaster that we ended up getting comp'd and a free meal the next night with 2 bottles of wine). Our travel partners were new to NCL and wanted to try all the restaurants, normally we just do 2-3 on a cruise. We never made it to Azura or Tsars.

 

Tracy Arm was too icy, instead we went to Endicott. Not as massive, but we did the excursion that got really close like within a half mile or so. You could hear the cracking. We saw some calving but not really big pieces. Seals and harbor dolphins played around our boat. Large floes in the water on the way up though and back.

 

Did the Deadliest Catch tour in Ketchican. Great time, very well done and the eagles made it worth the trip. Went on a private whale watch in Juneau with Harv and Marv (Capt Liz was incredible). Chilkoot bus tour up to the Yukon, skipped the train, kids didn't want to sit in train the whole time. Bus driver was incredible made lots of stops. Went up to the doggie camp had lunch, played with the puppies and rode the dog cart. Met Michelle Phillips who finished 13th in the Iditarod Had the bus to ourselves on the way back since everyone else took the train, so our driver took us places that weren't on the tour then dropped off in town. Hooked up with a guy at the Skagway Brewing Co that we met last year on a snorkel boat in St. Thomas VI. Got a tour and a couple of free pints. Bar hopped in Victoria while the ladies in our party went to tea at the Fairmont.

 

Other than a very very bad meal at Moderno, I really don't have a compliant about this cruise except that it ended too early. Hated to leave, it was a great time.

 

You have to do this cruise!

[triptolemus]

You have to do this cruise!

 

You're right... doing it in 13 days.

 

Regarding Tracy Arm - was the thought that Tracy Arm was pretty much done for the season, or...?

[NYGirl1002]

I agree..the Jewel is awesome..especially the staff. Thanks for your review

[big green]

Your review and title do not really match--what was awesome and what was wrong with the dinner at Moderno???

 

 

BG

[jlat]

Your review and title do not really match--what was awesome and what was wrong with the dinner at Moderno???

 

 

BG

 

Pretty sure the review points out the awesomeness of the trip. But YMMV

 

Moderno was a total fail. Our server was terrible. For some reason he basically ignored our table and focused on the table next to us. We had to ask for the sides and bread as well as the sauces. We actually had another server bring us those items after we started getting meat. The meats were either over cooked and dry or cold or raw. I ended up with a big plate of inedible food. The first lamb chops we got first were really good, so we asked for them again. Second batch were terrible. The pincaha was so raw, it was blue. No Portuguese sausage were offered. The ribs were dry and tough. The beef ribs were just thin slices of overcooked meat. The chicken was wrapped in bacon, but it had a funky taste to it, like it was old or thawed from frozen. We all had our cards turned over, and they kept trying to give us meats. The Matre'd did a great job in recovering. He saw that there were a lot of problems and totally agreed. We weren't loud or rude about it, but just showed him what we had on our plates, and commented on the lack of service. He comp'd the meal and offered us dinner the next night with two bottles of wine also comp'd. (we didn't take him up on it though).

[jlat]

You're right... doing it in 13 days.

 

Regarding Tracy Arm - was the thought that Tracy Arm was pretty much done for the season, or...?

 

I think that there was just a lot of ice in the water. We saw a fair amount on the way up to Endicott, but only a couple of pieces that would have been a problem to navigate around.

[punkincc]

Thanks for the review! We did the Chilkoot bus tour to the Yukon as well, and loved it. IMO, you missed nothing by not taking the train back. We did, and were not that impressed. The scenery was much more spectacular and interesting from the road. Next time we'll do it roundtrip too.

 

Too bad about Moderno. We've eaten there twice and liked it, but never on the Jewel. To me, the salad bar, fried bananas and roasted pineapple make it worth the fee.