Just Back from the Jewel

[FierceAXBoi]

Very nice looking ship everything very clean and neat................The service was EXCELLENT with the exeption of a few people(the host and hostess at Tangos and one man from the pursers desk) I think the entertaiment was VERY good and Paul Baya is a excellent cruise Director. I did notice that there were less activities on this cruise. FOr example there was NO Liars CLub and NO Newleywed Game. I might of missed it but I am 100% sure there wasnt any. On to the food ok since I guess since I lack sophistication and taste I found 0 problems with the buffet. I think the food there was excellent and i wouldnt compare it to cafeteria food. Now the food on the main resturants thats a diffrent story..........I am not going to comlpain about portion sizes becuase I feel they were just find. Is just the quality of the foods and the lack of choices . There were no cold soups which I love........The Presidents Dinner Menu is no more :(.........I think NCL is doing this on porpuse in order to get people to go PAY at the specialty resturants. Also Mamas Italian Kitchen and Tangos claims you dont need reservations but they wont sit you without them. I was so displeased with the service from the host at Tangos. One night I walked in and the Resturant was Empty and they refused to sit me becuase I had no reservations. I told him why not if the resturant was he said the seats were for people with reservations. I said I be back and 30 mins to see if the was true. I did and the seats were still empty...I came back 30 mins after that and seats still empty..One last remark as far as the screen that displays the resturants and how there filling up. I think they are inaccurate I noticed on several occasions seat avail at Tsars for Partys of two and yet people still waited.....One night Mama had 8 seats avail and I headed over there but they told me they were full..........Of well If you guys have any questions shoot them at me

[Tagoladad]

What type of cabin were you in? How were the accommodations? Did you take any of the NCL excursions? What did you do in port? What should we absolutely do and absolutely avoid? What time were you able to disembark in Barcelona on Sunday morning?

[FierceAXBoi]

I was on Deck 9 in a Balcony Cabin. I found no Problems with the room or the people who cleaned the cabin. They were both very friendly and nice. Yes I did all excursions with NCL. I think with this with Europe theres no way around that. Is best to go with NCL and not get lost in a strange city where you might not speak the language. I did the Tormina(sp) and Mt Etna tour in Messina, in Naples I did PomPei excavations. I did went into the city and but REAL pizza, In Rome I did Rome Baroque, I did Florence and Pisa and then took the last day off and did no tours.......FYI in Chivetivakia(sp) and Livorno theres is NOTHING at the port if you want to see rome or florence you need to go with NCL both cities are over 1 hour from where the ship docks. I had a early flight on Sunday and was off the ship by 6:15 am. I was at the airport with my luggage by 7:30 am.

If you dont have air with NCL consider flying in 2 days before so you can have time in Barcelona to enjoy it and recover from your Jet Lag.......On 3rd day(tuesday) of the cruise when I was in Mt Etna I had only had 11 hours of sleep since I left Saturday Morning.

[newmexicoNita]

Very nice looking ship everything very clean and neat................The service was EXCELLENT with the exeption of a few people(the host and hostess at Tangos and one man from the pursers desk) I think the entertaiment was VERY good and Paul Baya is a excellent cruise Director. I did notice that there were less activities on this cruise. FOr example there was NO Liars CLub and NO Newleywed Game. I might of missed it but I am 100% sure there wasnt any. On to the food ok since I guess since I lack sophistication and taste I found 0 problems with the buffet. I think the food there was excellent and i wouldnt compare it to cafeteria food. Now the food on the main resturants thats a diffrent story..........I am not going to comlpain about portion sizes becuase I feel they were just find. Is just the quality of the foods and the lack of choices . There were no cold soups which I love........The Presidents Dinner Menu is no more :(.........I think NCL is doing this on porpuse in order to get people to go PAY at the specialty resturants. Also Mamas Italian Kitchen and Tangos claims you dont need reservations but they wont sit you without them. I was so displeased with the service from the host at Tangos. One night I walked in and the Resturant was Empty and they refused to sit me becuase I had no reservations. I told him why not if the resturant was he said the seats were for people with reservations. I said I be back and 30 mins to see if the was true. I did and the seats were still empty...I came back 30 mins after that and seats still empty..One last remark as far as the screen that displays the resturants and how there filling up. I think they are inaccurate I noticed on several occasions seat avail at Tsars for Partys of two and yet people still waited.....One night Mama had 8 seats avail and I headed over there but they told me they were full..........Of well If you guys have any questions shoot them at me

Thanks for you review; sounds like, overall you enjoyed your cruise. As for the actities, they offered both on the Sun in april, but they were not well attended and poorly planned. Maybe it is something many veteran cruisers have tired of, I don't know. As for Mama's Kitchen and Tangos, when we cruised the Jewel we did make reservations for Mama's but did not have to for Tangos. I think we did though. Cut backs on food are becoming the norm on all lines: read the reviews for Celebrity, RCI and Princess; all are complaining about the food. I do think you have hit on something when referring to the reason but I understand as well. All the mass marketed lines now have specialty choices, Princess offering about the same number as NCL. Cruising is something that has now become affordable for many families. By pricing a cruise so more can cruise and offering additional pay for options we can pick and choose. Do we want to spend extra money on food, gambling, Bingo (gambling) the spa or do we just want to go with the bare cruise. NMnita

[GeorgiaPeach]

Very nice looking ship everything very clean and neat................The service was EXCELLENT with the exeption of a few people(the host and hostess at Tangos and one man from the pursers desk) I think the entertaiment was VERY good and Paul Baya is a excellent cruise Director. I did notice that there were less activities on this cruise. FOr example there was NO Liars CLub and NO Newleywed Game. I might of missed it but I am 100% sure there wasnt any. On to the food ok since I guess since I lack sophistication and taste I found 0 problems with the buffet. I think the food there was excellent and i wouldnt compare it to cafeteria food. Now the food on the main resturants thats a diffrent story..........I am not going to comlpain about portion sizes becuase I feel they were just find. Is just the quality of the foods and the lack of choices . There were no cold soups which I love........The Presidents Dinner Menu is no more :(.........I think NCL is doing this on porpuse in order to get people to go PAY at the specialty resturants. Also Mamas Italian Kitchen and Tangos claims you dont need reservations but they wont sit you without them. I was so displeased with the service from the host at Tangos. One night I walked in and the Resturant was Empty and they refused to sit me becuase I had no reservations. I told him why not if the resturant was he said the seats were for people with reservations. I said I be back and 30 mins to see if the was true. I did and the seats were still empty...I came back 30 mins after that and seats still empty..One last remark as far as the screen that displays the resturants and how there filling up. I think they are inaccurate I noticed on several occasions seat avail at Tsars for Partys of two and yet people still waited.....One night Mama had 8 seats avail and I headed over there but they told me they were full..........Of well If you guys have any questions shoot them at me

 

Just wanted to say that we just returned from this same cruise and the above comments about Tangos is right on! The service was awful and the food wasn't good either. We waited thirty minutes from our reservation time to be taken to our table. The waitress had an additude too! Service and food was better at Cagney's. Also, there was a Newlywed game on Monday night. Our friends traveling with us won it! We've known them since before they got married so hearing their answers was especially funny to us.

 

I plan to write a detailed review when I get over my jet lag--hopefully soon!

[CruizenSuzen]

I was on that sailing as well, and I'd also like to echo what the OP said. We had the exact same situation happen to us at Tango's. There were only four tables seated and we were told we couldn't be seated since we had no reservation. I would understand if they were full the rest of the night, but every time we walked by the place it was empty. The guy was rude, too, which didn't help. I'll have a full review coming soon. I've just posted reviews of the tours in the ports of call section.

[electricron]

I was on that sailing as well, and I'd also like to echo what the OP said. We had the exact same situation happen to us at Tango's. There were only four tables seated and we were told we couldn't be seated since we had no reservation. I would understand if they were full the rest of the night, but every time we walked by the place it was empty. The guy was rude, too, which didn't help. I'll have a full review coming soon. I've just posted reviews of the tours in the ports of call section.

I read you saw empty tables, but did you see waiters standing around doing nothing? That's an important point. One assumes NCL mans the alternative restaurants fully, but I bet they don't. They're probably staffed each night according to the number who have reserved tables.

Having empty tables and having waiters available to serve you are entirely two different concepts.

[CruizenSuzen]

Actually, yes I did. Sadly, there was a group of four waiters standing outside the kitchen, looking in the direction of the tables, and making smalltalk. They looked bored. And really, if NCL chose not to properly staff the restaurant, I think I would have been even more annoyed. The whole draw of freestyle dining is that you have choices. However, if your only choice is to make all reservations when you board the ship or eat in the main dining room, it's not as big as a draw as you're led to believe. My dining experiences on the ship ranged from very good to poor. I plan to post a full dining review soon. I just wanted to post to support the OP because I know people tend to get "flamed" for having a negative experience and posting it as such.

[pj-atsea]

. I just returned from that cruise also. Agree totally with your assemnet of Tango's.. We ate there the first night and it was right when it opened.. One other table was seated, all others were empty.. When we asked for a table for two, the Host looked at his watch, then the appointment book,then around the restaurant.. Finally he said he could seat us but we should have reservations, and he'd let it go this time.. It was as if he was squeezing us in when in fact the place was empty, and remained so pretty much of the next hour... And as for Mama's kitchen, it didn't matter when we tried I couldn't get a reservation there.. Many other people told me the same thing- in fact I din't talk to anyone who had actually eaten there.. I wasn't too impressed with the evening buffet but the breafast was fine. I can't say about lunch because I was always off the ship.. The Bistro was excellent and so was the Teppanyaki.. Chin Chin was OK, I liked some things but not others.. But I'm sure that it was just my taste.Service was excellent in all restaurants..Heard that someone fell off the dock or gangway on my sailing but that's all I heard..pj

[thesyguy]

When you stopped in Messina, Sicily, was it actually in the port of Messina? I am on the July 16th Jewel cruise and have family in Sicily. I want to rent a car near the port so that I can go visit them, but am not sure where the ship tenders. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[GeorgiaPeach]

When you stopped in Messina, Sicily, was it actually in the port of Messina? I am on the July 16th Jewel cruise and have family in Sicily. I want to rent a car near the port so that I can go visit them, but am not sure where the ship tenders. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

 

Yes, you will dock in Messina. This is not a tender port. There were several car rental companies located very near the port. I believe one was Hertz but it would be best to check with the Europe port of call board because many people post on that board to share info on Messina.

[cruisinthemed]

hi, we have a roll call going for 7/16 on the jewel if that is the cruise you will be on. go to boards, then norwegian roll call, click on jewel 7/16. feel free to join us. there is some good info. bob7 has a lot of info on ports.

When you stopped in Messina, Sicily, was it actually in the port of Messina? I am on the July 16th Jewel cruise and have family in Sicily. I want to rent a car near the port so that I can go visit them, but am not sure where the ship tenders. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[redlef]

A few questions if you have a moment:

 

Did you have a chance to hit the on-board shops? It's going to be our anniversary and i was thinking of picking up a nice necklace for the wife - do the shops have "duty free" prices or am I better off buying in the states and bringing with me? (It'll be hard to pack a surprise gift because the wife is so on-top of everything).

 

At any of the ports, are there swimming beaches near the ship? I wanted to be able to go swimming (maybe even snorkeling or diving) in the Mediterranean.

 

Thanks. Only 4 weeks till we go!

 

Dave

[CruizenSuzen]

I can't really say much about the shops. We didn't do a lot of onboard shopping.

 

With regard to beaches, we actually stayed in Villefranche and had a lovely lunch and stroll on the beach. When we were there last week, the water was quite cold, but there were plenty of people swimming. The beach was very "European" and was a little more pebbly than we're used to in the States. It was actually very uncomfortable to walk on without shoes. It was a lovely little beach though, and the one of the cafes just next to the pier had some great food.

 

Hope this helps.

[grandmadarlene]

When you stopped in Messina, Sicily, was it actually in the port of Messina? I am on the July 16th Jewel cruise and have family in Sicily. I want to rent a car near the port so that I can go visit them, but am not sure where the ship tenders. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Hope this helps. We have booked with www.Argusrentals.com I'm told their office is walking distance from the port. It was very reasonable $100 for a van for 7 people. I contacted Budget which has an office in a spa there but they wanted $755 for a single day!! I'm going to post a question on the ports of call section asking for people's experience with Argus. You may want to check there too.

[ce2000]

I was on the Jewel back in December when it was in the Caribbean. I was very disappointed with the food situation, back then there were posts saying that they were trying a new menu and were committed to it for 3 months (a calender quarter). It sounds like things have not improved much in the last 6 months. I had a great time on this ship, every thing except the food quality and food service on this ship was good or very good. I just booked a cruise on the Caribbean Princess departing August 5, 2006.