Quick Recap: NCL Jewel to the Mexican Riviera

[natefish95]

Hello Cruise Critics and Cruise Complainers! 

I just got back from a 7 day cruise on the NCL Jewel to the Mexican Riviera ports of Ensenada, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo. I've seen a couple reviews here and there, but I feel like the older NCL ships don't get enough love, so I'm going to do a quick recap of my cruise. I'm not going to take it day by day, because no wants to read all that detail and I did a whole lot of relaxin' which doesn't make for a very interesting review. I'll try my best to group things logically, but I can be a bit all over the place. I'm driving this ship though, so deal with it. I will do my best to answer any questions y'all may have. The Jewel only has a couple more cruises of San Diego before it heads up to Alaska and then over to Asia. 

 

Background

As you can see from my signature, I love to cruise. NCL has always been my go-to because they treat solo travelers well (16 of my 20 cruises have been solo), the Jewel class is my favorite, and always have a CruiseNext certificate on hand is always a nice discount when booking a cruise. I'm in my mid-20's and live in Arlington, Virginia. I love to travel and cruising helps me sample a bit of everything and find where I might like to spend more time. Plus, going to an all-inclusive resort by yourself doesn't appeal to me. My favorite place is St. Maarten (the french side), but I've now added more places to my short list (more on that later). 

 

Before I get to the actual cruise, I'm going to detail my travel day from hell. Y'all probably don't care, but I want to share and I think it's a pretty good story. Also, if anyone has any tips for dealing with the Chase Sapphire Reserve travel insurance claims people, please let me know. I have some phone calls to make later this week...

[natefish95]

Cruise Day from Hell

I like to think I did everything right and just got f***ed over by the travel celestial beings that may or may not exist. I know most of y'all won't care about this, but I need to vent, and I want to keep the details in one place for when I have to make travel insurance claims later this week. 

 

Like all responsible cruise, I make sure to fly in the day before a cruise (okay, maybe I break that rule for cruises out of NYC, but there's like 30 flights a day between NYC and DC, plus trains and buses). Living in the DC area, I have three airports I can fly out of: Baltimore (BWI), Dulles (IAD), and Reagan National (DCA). I live 10 minutes from DCA, but I used Chase travel points and booked flights. I was originally supposed to fly the below route

 

Saturday, April 2nd: Baltimore-Atlanta-San Diego

 

This would get me into San Diego in time to have dinner the night before. Excellent! I checked into my flight on Friday and got a free upgrade to First class for the BWI-ATL leg. I'm only a Silver Medallion on Delta, so free upgrades like that don't come very often. A little while later I was double-checking something in the app and noticed my BWI-ATL flight was showing cancelled. At this point I hadn't received a text, email, carrier pigeon or anything saying my travel plans were now f'ed. I immediately called Delta and while I was on hold, got an email and a new itinerary connecting me through Minneapolis (which at this time was getting a snowstorm...) and putting me into San Diego just before noon on Sunday. No no no that will not do. I must get there the night before! Long story short, after 45 minutes on the phone with Delta, the rep found me the below itinerary, which would get me into San Diego the night before sailing just before midnight. A little later than Id like, but I'll take it!

 

New Itinerary Saturday, April 2nd: IAD-Detroit-San Diego

 

I originally had booked a hotel by BWI for Friday night because it was pretty reasonable and I wouldn't have to wake up super early for my flight from BWI on Saturday. Since it was than 24 hours notice of cancellation, I had to eat that cost (travel insurance claim 1)

 

I finished packing on Saturday and took the metro aaaaaaaaaaall the way to IAD. Checked my bag and the check-in agent said I needed to pay for my bag. No sir, I'm a big bad Silver Medallion and my first checked bag is free. He said there were two bags showing even though I literally just checked myself in and printed my bag tag at a kiosk. Ok dude.... He ripped off the tag I just put on and put a new tag on. Now ladies and gentlemen, whenever they give you the bag tag receipt with the number of your bag on it, ALWAYS KEEP IT. Let me say it louder, ALWAYS KEEP YOUR BAG TAG RECEIPT. This will be important.

 

Made it through security and went to the Turkish airlines lounge using my Priority Pass that comes with my Chase Sapphire Reserve Card. Had a drink and some snacks and did some plane spotting. 

 

The time to board my flight to Detroit came and went. I was getting antsy because I only had a 90 minute connection in Detroit and that airport is MASSIVE. The inbound plane was late and we finally board about 45 minutes late. I was ANXIOUS. We kept sitting and the pilot came over and said they were waiting on final weight and balance numbers. OMG hurry up please. I have places to go y'all. We finally take off and I had a lovely Hazy IPA on the plane from Sweetwater Brewing. By the time we landed in Detroit, my connection would be about 45 minutes. I'd have to briskly walk and mow down the slow walkers, but it's doable.

 

After I turned my phone off airplane mode, I got a notification from Delta saying "Check out the lounge options in JFK" Weird, I'm not going to JFK... I refreshed my Delta app and to my HORROR found that my flight from Detroit to San Diego was CANCELLED and my new itinerary had me connecting in JFK and arriving into San Diego Sunday night, well after the cruise leaves. Y'all I was in full blown panic mode and almost in tears. I grabbed my backpack and pushed past people and ran off the plane. The first gate agent I saw directed me to the customer service line that was like 10 people deep and not moving. At this point I was on hold with Delta, in the customer service line, and frantically looking up other options. I also had my friend who works for Delta and my parents checking flights for me.

 

Everything on Delta was booked solid. They were having an operational meltdown and now so was I. 

 

I checked American. Sold out. I checked United. Sold Out. Someone in line behind me said there is a flight to San Diego on Spirit that arrives at 2:17pm on Sunday. Oof, that will be tight but seems like my best option. I dropped like $350 for that flight, which is probably the most expensive flight Spirit has ever sold. I go from first class on Delta to middle seats on Spirit. I cry.

 

Itinerary 3: Detroit-Las Vegas-San Diego 

 

I eventually made it to the front of the line and she was zero help. She reaffirmed there are no flights to San Diego until Monday. Nope, not gonna work. I told her I booked a flight on Spirit and need to get my checked bag, which she said Delta can pull for me at baggage claim. I was really stressed about that because I didn't want to be without my bag on a cruise. 

 

Made my way to baggage claim where there were a lot of angry people and a lot of tears. Delta had like 2 people working dealing with people whose luggage wasn't on the plane and people like me who wanted to reclaim their luggage after their flight was cancelled. While I'm waiting in this long a$$ line, I check the American app again and find a new itinerary with 1 seat left that gets me into San Diego at 10am Sunday morning. This gives me way more buffer time than Spirit. I drop another $650 and prayed my card doesn't get flagged for suspicious transactions. Someone is reimbursing me for that flight, I'm telling y'all now. 

 

Itinerary 4: Detroit-Dallas-San Diego

 

Now back to the baggage office, I get to the front and I give the nice lady my bag tag. I was being very nice to her because I had mostly calmed down and was feeling confident about the new American flights. She frowned for a minute and asked if I had 1 or 2 bags. LAWD JESUS *****. I told her I had 1 bag. She could see two tracking numbers in the system and we weren't sure which was correct. I could see both tracking numbers in my Delta app and the bags showed they were loaded in Dulles, but were never scanned when they got unloaded in Detroit. She said she requested to have both tracking numbers pulled. One of them was bound to be on my suitcase. She said it would take about 2 hours. At this point it was almost 8pm and the only thing I had eaten all day was some hummus and rice in the turkish airlines lounge. I was hangry but figured I could doordash mcdonalds or something to the hotel when I got there. 

 

I forgot to mention that new American itinerary had me departing DTW at 5:15am on Sunday, meaning the plane boards at 4:45. I had no idea such early flights existed (but now I'm glad they do). As I'm waiting for my bag, I'm with some other folks who needed their bags (and some homeless people who needed a shower). Around 10pm, we're at the 2 hours mark the rep originally quoted. I walk back in and politely say I still need my bag. The guy clearly didn't care and just said he requested it to be pulled and walked away. Okay sir, don't get an attitude with me because your employer put me in this positions. 30 minutes later (10:30pm), still no bag. I walk back and talk to a much nicer lady. She called down and said they had pulled all the San Diego bags that were needed. She said they were looking and to give it another 30 minutes. I walk back in about 11:15pm, still no bag. She checked again and actually saw it got retagged for the JFK flight tomorrow morning. They had found it and I finally got my bag around 11:30pm. Always keep your bag tags and make sure to have the airline's app downloaded. American and Delta actually have pretty solid apps.

 

Given it was nearly midnight and I'd need to be back at the airport about 3am, I decided to shuttle over to non-Delta terminal and just wait it out in the airport. I got a hotel voucher from Delta, but figured it was just easier to stay awake. Long story short, I made it over there and there no plugs and too many homeless people, so I decided to Uber over to the hotel. The first driver cancelled and I almost pitched a fit. I was standing in the cold and so angry. I finally got another driver who was very nice and made it to the hotel at 1am, exhausted and in desperate need of a charger (my phone was at 3%) and a shower. 

 

This wild ride is still not done. I'll tell y'all about the hotel and the Sunday travel day in the next post. 

 

 

[rather be in Hawaii]

I hope you drink because you deserve one!

[natefish95]

First and foremost, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES STAY AT THE WYNDHAM GARDEN ROMULUS DETROIT METRO AIRPORT. This was the hotel I picked from a list that Delta offered (the actual nice hotels attached to the DTW airport were of course completely sold out). When the Uber pulls up, we notice a security car out front. Okay, not a great sign. Most hotels don't really have security...unless they need it. I walk in and was passed by a workin' gurl. You're not wearing a mini skirt and heels in 30 degree weather while walking out of a seedy hotel at 1am unless you just got done workin'. 

 

The checkin counter was completely surrounded by glass and had a two way intercom like we were in a prison, and I don't if the checkin lady or me is the prisoner. The hallways were filthy and it smelled like April 20th. Made it to the room and latched that door closed so fast. A lampshade was missing, everything in that room had seen some s***. If those walls could talk. I don't want to hear it. I plugged my phone in (thank god that worked) and desperately needed a shower. 

 

I walk in and the shower was DISASSEMBLED. What kind of Ikea mess is this?! All the pieces to the shower were put in different corners of the shower and there were two nails in the soap dish. The plumbing was exposed and there was no way that shower was working. I put some soap on a washcloth and had a sad little sink shower. Probably not the worst thing that washcloth has seen.

 

I stayed awake by just messing around on my computer and trying not to touch too many things in that room. Around 2:50am, I went downstairs and took the shuttle back to the airport. If you want aggressive screamo at 3am, maybe the Wyndham Garden Romulus is for you! 

 

The American check-in counter opened at 3:30am and was largely uneventful. The check-in agent was wonderful and made sure I had my bag tag! There's like one store open this early in the airport and I ate some skinny pop and a bottled Dunkin iced coffee. Breakfast of champions. Boarded on time at 4:45am and pushed back and went to the de-icing stand because that is still needed in April in Detroit apparently. Slight delay that cut my connection to about an hour in Dallas, but still not bad.

 

I paid an extra $100 to upgrade to Main Cabin Extra to get more leg room, be closer to the front, and get the real drinks included. With zero shame, I ordered a double vodka OJ at 6:13am. The woman next to me judged me and the flight attendant wasn't sure I was over 21. I was just glad to be in the air. 

 

Landed in DFW and rode the SkyLink over to terminal D for my flight to San Diego. I finally had time to grab a real meal and got breakfast from Whataburger. When it came time to board the flight to San Diego, the gate agents came over and said the flight was delayed BECAUSE THE INBOUND PLANE HIT A BIRD and maintenance needed to check the plane. Are you serious? Of all things. I am clearly the problem and anything travel related cannot go right. The flight was originally supposed to land at 10am, but I was worried they'd cancel the flight or delay it super late depending on the damage. 

 

I talked to the gate agent and she spilled the tea and that the flight crew was ready to go and saw no evidence of bird parts in the engine and maintenance wasn't communicating. She said she had no new info, so I walked away feeling sad for myself. 30 seconds later the captain walks up and says they're ready to go and maintenance is done. HALLELUJAH! This gate agent was amazing because she actually sent people back who tried to board with the wrong group and made people check the size of their carry ons, which are both major travel pet peeves of mine. We eventually took off, had an uneventful flight, and landed in San Diego around 11:30am. I finally made it when all the odds were stacked against me ❤️ 

[natefish95]

15 minutes ago, rather be in Hawaii said:

I hope you drink because you deserve one!

Oh I 100% do. That 6am double screwdriver on the plane was great and let me nap a bit on the plane. 

[natefish95]

Unsolicited travel advice 

If y'all didn't read the above posts, I have some travel advice.

 

• BE NICE TO PEOPLE. At many times I was very upset and was cursing like a salty sailor while venting to my parents. When I talked to a representative in person or on the phone, I kept my cool and was nice to them. They did not personally wrong me and it's not appropriate to take out your anger to a random employee, who is actually trying to help. If I wasn't getting the help I needed, I reiterated what I needed and why. In the baggage office, I spoke to a different employee after the first one blew me off. I saw so many people screaming at the baggage office reps like they personally damaged their bag or didn't load it on the right flight. Be insistent on what you need, but don't be rude
• Personally, I do not book flights through the cruise line. I like being in control of my own flights and I feel like you lose that by going through the cruise line (this isn't NCL specific either). 
• In a crunch time, do not wait for the customer service reps to help you book new flights. If you're sticking with the same airline, check flights in the app. If that's sold out, check other airlines. Had I not been proactive, I never would have made it to San Diego on American. I think I got one of the last seats and it was a race against time given how an entire plane of people are also looking at other ways to get to San Diego. 
• Pack snacks in your carry on, especially if you're going to be at airports super late or super early where options are limited. 
• Pack a portable power bank. I had one with me, but of course it wasn't charged. 
• Have trip insurance. With my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, it has trip insurance built in. I'll report back with how things work out regarding getting reimbursed for my two missed hotel reservations and getting reimbursed for the American Airlines flight and maybe the Spirit flight (weirdly enough, I was able to get credit on Spirit for the cancelled flight. I don't know if I'll ever fly Spirit so we'll see if I decide to claim this)

 

Now we can move on to the actual cruise part 🙂 Thank you for reading. I feel better writing that all out. Glad you could all be part of my free therapy. 

[YVRteacher]

Now this is my kind of review!  Loving every second of it!!

[natefish95]

Embarkation 

What. A. Nightmare. 

 

I swear I had a great time, but this cruise started off so poorly. Easily worst embarkation I've ever had. 

 

For anyone not familiar with the port of San Diego, it has 1 terminal with jetway type bridges that connect to ship for embarkation and debarkation. Unfortunately for us, the Disney Wonder was also in port with us and had that slot. We had the berth on the other side with no nice boarding bridges, but both cruises had to check in at the same terminal building. Apparently, having two ships in port caused the terminal to "reach capacity" pretty quickly. I arrived shortly before noon and the port was a mess. There were so many lines and no one knew were to go or where to drop their luggage. It was the most disorganized cluster I've ever seen. I got in the most organized looking line, which was snaked all through the parking lot. As we were waiting in line, a port worker came up and said we don't need to be in this line and we should go to the fence and find a porter to drop bags. I walked to the fence and saw no porters. I saw a guy with an empty cart, confirmed he was getting bags for the Jewel, and gave him my bag and got back in a random line to nowhere. 

 

Now this line also crossed an active gate/entrance to the port that had busses and trucks driving past. When there appeared to be space on the other side, groups of 3-5 people would run across and join the mob on the other side. The security guard was yelling at people to not get run over. It was chaos. Once I played frogger, I made it to the other side and joined an absolute mess of people. There was no line. Just a mob. No organization. No reps from NCL trying to organize things or at least give guidance. It was all left up to the ports workers to direct people, and frankly they were no help. Disney guests were able to just walk right in with no problem, but they were only letting small groups of 3-5 people for the Jewel in at a time. Me and some other couples finally made it to the front and said we were one group so we'd all be let in together. 

 

Once we finally made it past the gate, we had to wait another 10 minutes just to enter the terminal, then another 20 minutes for security, and then another 10 minutes to check-in (I finally hit Platinum and I'm so glad I get priority check-in). Everyone was cranky and hangry. I didn't actually get on board until 2:30. They ship was supposed to sail at 4pm, but people were still boarding then and it didn't leave until 6pm. 

 

I don't mind crowds. I don't mind lines (too much). I HATE disorganized chaos. I don't know how NCL managed to F this up so badly. Once it started getting busy, they should have actually tried to organize some lines outside and better communicate with the port workers and security. It was a total nightmare and I got sunburnt on the back of my neck after standing outside for 2 hours. I felt really bad for the elderly who were also forced to stand in this mess of people. 

[natefish95]

Hopefully this works, but this was my disassembled shower at the Detroit hotel. Wish I took a video of all the pieces scattered about and the nails in the soap dish. 

[natefish95]

This was the mob of people waiting to be let into the terminal building. We literally did nothing but inch forward for two hours in this area. 

 

I really don't think I'll ever sail out of San Diego again because this was such a bad experience. I know having two ships really screwed things up, but still, it was bad. 

[natefish95]

14 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

Now this is my kind of review!  Loving every second of it!!

I loved your earlier reviews! Your dad would have HATED the embarkation nightmare. 

[www3traveler]

Please reaize that NCL can DO NOTHING until you are on the ship.  The Embarkation process from the time you arrive at the Port (any port) until you board the ship is the RESPONSIBILITY of the Port Authority.  Sounds like there were not enough trained people to handle to ships at the same.  It is possible that some of the people hired by the Port for that day might have come from a Temp (Day Labor) Agency.  Have several that happen in a couple of Ports.  They are hired just for the "Day" and have little or training.  Boarding a ship requires packing your patience.

[majmaj4]

46 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

Please reaize that NCL can DO NOTHING until you are on the ship.  The Embarkation process from the time you arrive at the Port (any port) until you board the ship is the RESPONSIBILITY of the Port Authority.  Sounds like there were not enough trained people to handle to ships at the same.  It is possible that some of the people hired by the Port for that day might have come from a Temp (Day Labor) Agency.  Have several that happen in a couple of Ports.  They are hired just for the "Day" and have little or training.  Boarding a ship requires packing your patience.

thanks for the recap natefish95!  I will be on the Jewel in May.  Sorry you had such a stressful trip getting there!  Glad you were so persistent.  
 

I find it hard to believe the cruise line base nothing to do with the on boarding.  I recently did 2 cruises out of Singapore - same cruise terminal but different cruise lines.  They were handled very differently.    I find it hard to imagine that was all driven by the port agents.   
 

 

[vacation44]

Wow--what a challenging start to your cruise.    Your above advice is spot on.    I am looking forward to hearing how the Chase card travel insurance works out as my young adult daughter also uses that card for her travel.   

 

Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip and thank you for sharing your experience, both good and bad, with us.     

 

Note to self:  avoid San Diego departures 

[LatinaInTexas]

What a harrowing start to your vacation. I'm glad I decided to read your review because it gave me some good advice about things I never considered.

My cruise is next month and of course I always arrive one day earlier. But this time I will be taking the very last flight out the night before so I'm a bit concerned. I have checked that there will be flights the next day that will still get me there in time to board. Also I can fly out of another airport an hour and a half away if necessary and there is an even later night flight there.

I have never had any flight issues in the past so never really thought about what I would do other than get on another flight with the same airline.

Thanks to your post I know know I need to have a few alternative possible plans in place including  other airlines which I never thought about. Also to not depend on the gate agents to solve the problem and to be proactive and try to take care of it myself and worry about insurance claims later, just get it done lol.

Looking forward to hearing the rest of the story🙂

[laudergayle]

OMG…I can only imagine how you felt with all your flight delays, cancellations and seedy motel experience….and the mob.  I’m glad you began your review with a promise of a great cruise. Looking forward to hearing about the ports.  We’re doing similar cruise on the Bliss later this year.

[www3traveler]

2 hours ago, majmaj4 said:

thanks for the recap natefish95!  I will be on the Jewel in May.  Sorry you had such a stressful trip getting there!  Glad you were so persistent.  
 

I find it hard to believe the cruise line base nothing to do with the on boarding.  I recently did 2 cruises out of Singapore - same cruise terminal but different cruise lines.  They were handled very differently.    I find it hard to imagine that was all driven by the port agents.   
 

 

Almost every US Port city has the same issue: Miami, New York City, Los Angeles (San Pedro), Seattle (Smith Cove and sometimes the Bell Street Terminal).  If you read this forum very often, you will read horror story after horror story.

[cruiseny4life]

Sweet lord have mercy @natefish95! I've had disastrous flights/hotels, but never associated with a cruise. You seem to have handled this trial by fire with grace and humility. Well done! And, way to be persistent, making sure you got there in time. 

 

I'm glad to hear the cruise did go well and can't wait to hear about it. Your introduction...well, it had me reading voraciously, because I just had to know what tragedy of errors would befall you next. 

 

Thank you for sharing! I'm looking forward to the good. 🙂

 

As an aside, every major cruise line should be held responsible for port agents doing a pi$$ poor job. The cruise lines pay port fees, and I'm sure other fees for embarkation/disembarkation. NCL needs to hold these port authorities feet to the fire. All those horror stories referenced shouldn't happen. And they wouldn't, if NCL gave a d@mn about their customers.

[happy cruzer]

Here's a bit of experience with Chase Sapphire (not Reserve or Preferred) claim.  They use a company called Card Benefits to do their claims.  They want you to submit everything online.  Read the terms and conditions regarding using your personal info, did not like them so used the email option to file.

 

First, they will want to know why the trip was interrupted from the airline in writing (sometimes you can find that online).  They do not cover items that are the airline's fault or that are compensated by the airline.  Mostly they cover weather delays.  Of course then they want every receipt (very hard in this day of ticketless travel; all we could get were boarding passes).  You should keep the original and copy of each item (some of the receipts had faded and were illegible after a couple of months), each time you submit just in case.

 

The entire process is a pain.  Lots of time resubmitting the exact same information.  Calls to confirm the information was received.  It took more than two months to get it verified that they had a complete file.  Then two more months waiting on the approval process.  Finally, wrote a short cover letter, attached all my correspondence copies, notes from the phone conversations and copies of emails they sent me.  Used Fedex to send to their Miami office.  In the cover letter, mentioned they had 10 days to respond in writing otherwise the entire package would be forwarded to several regulating agencies.  At five days received a check for all amounts except hotel that was paid out of pocket.  Phoned back and they sent a second check for that.

 

So as you did traveling, be nice to the people you talk to and don't expect quick results in my experience.  We had hotel, transportation and meals to be refunded so hopefully your claim will be easier.

 

Looking forward to the good parts...

[schmoopie17]

There used to be a phrase called "going postal". Kudos to you for not "going airline" 😁

[Jldevlin]

We are on the Jewel in a few weeks and I thought I would catch up on how my favorite ship is doing... after the first post I was so invested in you just getting there I forgot this was a cruise review !!!

[natefish95]

Okay I swear there is good to come! I just got back to the hotel after exploring San Diego.

 

Highly, highly recommend checking out Bali Hai for lunch or dinner. Amazing food and views! Also went to the USS Midway, which is a must do. My second time and I still spent nearly three hours there.

 

Okay onto the cruise!

 

Cabin

I stayed in interior cabin 10021 and loved it! It was the perfect location because it was only a couple decks up to the lido deck and spa and a couple decks down to where most stuff is located on Deck 6 or 7. I'm not sure when the Jewel was last renovated, but it must have been very recently. The cabin had a nice clean and modern look to it and reminded me a lot of the cabins on Celebrity Summit.

 

All the drawers and closet doors were soft close (I have those in my apartment too and I tend to slam things that aren't soft close...oops...). There are two USB ports in the lights by the bed, which are honestly such a nice feature to have. I wish more cruise lines had these installed. There was also this nifty mirror that had a touch sensor. Touch it once to turn it off and on and you could also dim it. Provided a lot of light to the cabin. The bed was firm and the pillows were quite flat, but I stacked two on top of each other, which made it more comfortable. I slept AMAZING every single night. Some of the best sleep I've ever gotten on a cruise. The bathroom was also bright and clean with a large shower. NCL has mounted bottles of shampoo and body wash (maybe conditioner too? I don't remember). I'm not a tall guy, but thought it was plenty spacious for me. 

 

Overall I'd give the cabins a 5/5 stars

 

(for those keep score, embarkation was 1/5 stars)

[laudergayle]

More please😊

[natefish95]

Spa/Gym

Before the cruise, I purchased a thermal suite pass online or $199. This is an absolute must for me. I'm a big spa guy, and love the quietness of the thermal suite, plus the incredible views out the front of the ship. I've done the thermal suite on 4 Jewel class ships and they're all basically the same with minor differences, but I like the Jewel the best to me. Only the Jade and Jewel have a jacuzzi in the men's section. The Pearl and Gem have a jacuzzi in the middle co-ed section, which I'm sure is nice for couples. Since I travel solo, I like it in the men's section because it's less busy. 

 

On the men's side (and I'm willing to bet the women's side is the exact same) there is a steam room that can fit about 4-5 people, a large sauna with a wall of windows to the ocean that can easily fit 8-10 people, a single person cold plunge tub, 2 rainfall showers, 3 normal showers, lockers, and of course toilets and sinks. There are also about 7 comfortable chairs with ottomans that are great to lounge in and do some reading. I "rested my eyes" many times in these chairs. There are plenty of towels and robes provided as well. There was also a counter with lemon water, hot water, tea bags, and some fresh fruit. 

 

In the co-ed section, there are about 6 or 7 heated tiled lounges, a sitting area, and a small thalassotherapy pool. 

 

Overall, I spent hours in the thermal spa reading my books and enjoying the sauna/steam room. It was so nice to get away from the crowds (and the kids) in a quiet space to truly relax and enjoy vacation. 

 

Thermal suite gets a 5/5 stars 

 

Since I had such a difficult travel day, I decided to get a bamboo massage the second day while we were in Ensenada, which would also give me a 20% latitudes discount. For a 75 minute bamboo massage, not including the discount or the mandatory gratuity, it was $229. Expensive, but I wanted to treat myself since I overcame all odds. The massage fine. Just fine. Back in DC, I get a 90 minute deep tissue for $150 and the guy I see is much more skilled. I'm firmly against massages onboard cruises. At the end she tried to upsell me on some products "for my acne and dark circles". Don't remember me telling you I had issues with that, so thanks for pointing that out to me. A politely said no and she left it at that. Didn't appreciate her comment, but I moved past it. 

 

Massage was 3/5 stars

 

Finally moving onto the gym, I'm a huge Peloton rider and rode them almost every day on Celebrity. I definitely missed that on this cruise, but the Jewel has a nice gym with plenty of equipment, and even a couple rowers. They provided sweat towels and also some cold towels, which feel amazing after a workout. I definitely wish I went to the gym more, but don't we all? Off the gym, there is a tiny locker room and a free steam room that can fit about 3-4 people. Funny note, the treadmills were in kilometers per hour and I could not figure out how to change it. Had to do some fun mental math to figure out the normal speeds I walk and run at. 5kmh=3.1mph

 

Gym gets 4/5 stars

[YVRteacher]

This is what I do to avoid the awkward sales pitch during NCL spa and salon treatments: