Jewel review (cruised 12/22 from New Orleans)

[hawkeyetlse]

Even the writing on the bag itself was obnoxious. It was labeled, "I refuse to do laundry on my vacation bag". They were trying to be cute, but it just added insult to injury. I wasn't refusing to do laundry. They were refusing to let me.

:D Well said!

I am heartbroken that NCL discontinued their ship's info channel

I don't think this is a fleet-wide change. On the Jade last month there was one channel with the maps and the reports from the bridge, and another one showing the webcam off the prow. Unfortunately both were accompanied by non-stop Christmas muzak :p

[Cubechick]

:D Well said!

I don't think this is a fleet-wide change. On the Jade last month there was one channel with the maps and the reports from the bridge, and another one showing the webcam off the prow. Unfortunately both were accompanied by non-stop Christmas muzak :p

 

It was available on the Star in September as well. I expect it to be on the Gem next week.

[auntierobin]

It was available on the Star in September as well. I expect it to be on the Gem next week.

 

I wonder why they took it off just the Jewel then? We have a 28 day cruise coming up on her this year, and that might make me switch.

Edited January 7, 2014 by auntierobin

[loopy]

Thank you for your review.

 

We were on the Jewel over Thanksgiving.

 

The info channel would come and go. It was on about half the time. I really like that channel as well and was disappointed it wasn't on. I assumed they were having technical issues.

 

We eat regularly at a known Brazilian steakhouse in Dallas. We were looking forward to Moderno. I mean, when can you get Brazilian steakhouse for $20/pp??? It was awful. The meat didn't have much flavor. The salad bar was okay. We only got to use the tongs once because they brought everything out on platters and not the swords. It was a joke. We both were sick that night as well.

 

Richard, the Hotel Director, stopped and talked to us in the hallway the next night and we made a mention of it to him. We wanted to let him know that it was not authentic in any way and didn't even taste good. He surprised us with a letter for dinner at any other specialty restaurant on the ship. We chose Cagney's since bf was really wanting steak.

 

I feel they will usually go out of their way to make you happy. We loved our cruise with few complaints. I'm ready for another one!

[pokerpro5]

Here is my first port review (Belize, December 25):

 

Un-Belize-able! Vitalino Reyes bait-and-switches us and breaks his own deal

 

WOW someone from Cruisecritic DELETED this review.

 

What is going on here? Cover-up? Friend of Vitalino's?

 

Really shady. Can someone please explain to me why this review was deleted? I was giving very useful info about Vitalino pulling a bait-and-switch on me refusing to honor our e-mail agreement.

[punkinlr]

" THE ROOMS: This was my first NCL cruise, but I have taken many cruises in the past, mostly on Princess, but also one on Holland America. The rooms were exactly what I expected. They were nothing special, but I didn't find them to be much different than comparable rooms on other lines. We basically used the second room (inside) for the kids to sleep, and mostly hung out in the balcony room. It was nice having two rooms, in case someone wanted privacy or desired to take a nap. We put a baby monitor in the 2nd room, which had just enough range so we could see what was going on in there! The balcony room was a bit tight for 4 people to hang out, but between the couch, balcony, and bed, everyone was able to find a place. Next time I will probably upgrade to a little bigger if it's a reasonable price. ""

 

 

Thank you for sharing a very detailed review of your sailing on the Jewel.

 

About your use of the second room:

 

Most - if not all - cruise lines have a standing requirement that at least one person in each cabin be must be 18 years old. Not that all 18 year olds show the best wisdom or common sense to be in a room alone or with other kids 18 or younger, but at minimum could be considered "an adult". I appreciate that you had a monitor in their room, and that it gave you peace of mind to sleep in your own room. However, that "18 or older" requirement is there for a reason. Safety. It just takes a second. A sleepy child to open the door. A monitor malfunction. I'm not sure my children's well being is not more important than squeezing 4 adults and two small children in to a balcony room. My first cruises there were 4 adults per cabin. Enough room for us - so I can't imagine how much room your two little ones could have taken up.

 

Flame me if you will, tell me it's none of my business - but as a pediatric RN - I felt the need to advocate for children's safety. Or ask little Madelyn's parents.....

Edited January 15, 2014 by punkinlr

[pokerpro5]

" THE ROOMS: This was my first NCL cruise, but I have taken many cruises in the past, mostly on Princess, but also one on Holland America. The rooms were exactly what I expected. They were nothing special, but I didn't find them to be much different than comparable rooms on other lines. We basically used the second room (inside) for the kids to sleep, and mostly hung out in the balcony room. It was nice having two rooms, in case someone wanted privacy or desired to take a nap. We put a baby monitor in the 2nd room, which had just enough range so we could see what was going on in there! The balcony room was a bit tight for 4 people to hang out, but between the couch, balcony, and bed, everyone was able to find a place. Next time I will probably upgrade to a little bigger if it's a reasonable price. ""

 

 

Thank you for sharing a very detailed review of your sailing on the Jewel.

 

About your use of the second room:

 

Most - if not all - cruise lines have a standing requirement that at least one person in each cabin be must be 18 years old. Not that all 18 year olds show the best wisdom or common sense to be in a room alone or with other kids 18 or younger, but at minimum could be considered "an adult". I appreciate that you had a monitor in their room, and that it gave you peace of mind to sleep in your own room. However, that "18 or older" requirement is there for a reason. Safety. It just takes a second. A sleepy child to open the door. A monitor malfunction. I'm not sure my children's well being is not more important than squeezing 4 adults and two small children in to a balcony room. My first cruises there were 4 adults per cabin. Enough room for us - so I can't imagine how much room your two little ones could have taken up.

 

Flame me if you will, tell me it's none of my business - but as a pediatric RN - I felt the need to advocate for children's safety. Or ask little Madelyn's parents.....

 

I'm not going to flame you. It is fine that you are expressing your concern and giving advice.

 

However, after strongly considering this matter when we took our first cruise with the kids in 2011, I determined that this was a safe setup.

 

First off, neither of our kids are "wanderers", even when sleepy. I don't even think our 3-year-old is strong enough to open the heavy cruise ship doors by himself.

 

It is unlikely that any adults would get into their room to harm them (and successfully do so without us hearing), or even try. There is a very low incidence of violent crime on cruise ships, and the rare occurrences tend to involve spouse-against-spouse or lover-against-lover. This is because people have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. A cruise ship is one of the worst environments to commit crimes against children, as you literally cannot escape after-the-fact.

 

Furthermore, any loud noises on the monitor (even a door opening) would likely wake either me or my wife.

 

And how would any perpetrators even know that our room has two kids? They wouldn't, as we don't advertise it or tell anyone.

 

I strongly believe that our children have a much higher chance being harmed on the drive to the airport or the flight to the port than they do when sleeping in their own room on the cruise ship.

 

The second room was actually very useful. In addition to giving everyone a bit more room and the adults some much-needed privacy, it also allowed a tired/sick person a quiet and dark place to sleep if needed. When I caught my cold and my symptoms were peaking on Day 3 of the cruise, I was thrilled to have the "other" room to go take a 2-hour nap before dinner.

 

When I take my next cruise, I will definitely do this exact same setup again, except I might upgrade to a mini-suite for the main room, just to give ourselves some more space for when we're all together during the day.

[punkinlr]

I'm not going to flame you. It is fine that you are expressing your concern and giving advice.

 

However, after strongly considering this matter when we took our first cruise with the kids in 2011, I determined that this was a safe setup.

 

First off, neither of our kids are "wanderers", even when sleepy. I don't even think our 3-year-old is strong enough to open the heavy cruise ship doors by himself.

 

It is unlikely that any adults would get into their room to harm them (and successfully do so without us hearing), or even try. There is a very low incidence of violent crime on cruise ships, and the rare occurrences tend to involve spouse-against-spouse or lover-against-lover. This is because people have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. A cruise ship is one of the worst environments to commit crimes against children, as you literally cannot escape after-the-fact.

 

Furthermore, any loud noises on the monitor (even a door opening) would likely wake either me or my wife.

 

And how would any perpetrators even know that our room has two kids? They wouldn't, as we don't advertise it or tell anyone.

 

I strongly believe that our children have a much higher chance being harmed on the drive to the airport or the flight to the port than they do when sleeping in their own room on the cruise ship.

 

The second room was actually very useful. In addition to giving everyone a bit more room and the adults some much-needed privacy, it also allowed a tired/sick person a quiet and dark place to sleep if needed. When I caught my cold and my symptoms were peaking on Day 3 of the cruise, I was thrilled to have the "other" room to go take a 2-hour nap before dinner.

 

When I take my next cruise, I will definitely do this exact same setup again, except I might upgrade to a mini-suite for the main room, just to give ourselves some more space for when we're all together during the day.

 

 

All valid rationalizations. I wish you many years of safe and happy travels!