Jewel 7/16-7/23/06 Review PART 1

[Tagoladad]

NCL Jewel Review 7/16 sailing

Before I begin my review of our trip to Europe aboard the NCL Jewel, I want to thank everyone on this board for all of their help. We were able to get so much more enjoyment from our trip due to the advice, recommendations, counsel and suggestions of all of the members. To let you know a little bit about us, my DW and I are 44 years old (we have 2 kids in sleep away camp), celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary, taking our 4th cruise (twice on Royal Caribbean and once on Disney) and our first trip to Europe. We booked this trip about 10 months ago through our TA. We did our own air and transfers, our own pre-cruise hotel.

Ok…here we go…We left JFK airport on Thursday afternoon July 13. We had a 5:40 PM flight that arrived in Barcelona at 7:45 AM on Friday. Although JFK was a little disorganized, Delta was just great. The flight was smooth as can be. When we arrived at BCN (Barcelona airport) we waited on a very short line (maybe five minutes) to pass through customs and immigration. Our bags were waiting on the carousel and we grabbed a luggage cart (there are no sky caps at the Barcelona airport and the luggage carts are free to use, just walk to the side of the carousel and grab one) and proceeded to the taxi stand. There was a long line of taxis waiting. We knew from these boards that the fare for the cab to the Majestic Hotel should have been around 25 Euros and it was exactly that price. We arrived at the Majestic about 9:00 AM. Great Hotel. As this was our first time in Europe we had nothing to compare it to, but we have stayed in the Plaza Hotel (not so great) the Waldorf Astoria (very nice) The United Nation Plaza (very nice) in New York, The Fairmont in San Francisco (best bed we ever slept in) as well The Princess in Acapulco (beautiful grounds) so even though we’ve never been to Europe we’ve been to a couple of nice hotels and the Majestic was certainly nice. We had room #701, a junior suite overlooking the Passeig De Gracia; the hotel is situated between two Gaudi buildings, the Batllo and La Pedrera. The hotel is just a few blocks from the top of Las Ramblas (there are definitely hotels a lot closer to Las Ramblas) and is on both the RED and BLUE line of Bus Turistic. The staff and concierge at the hotel were excellent. Everyone speaks English, the hotel was immaculate, the staff very friendly, and the room huge.

We freshened up and hit the streets. When my DW and I talked about jet lag with our friends, everyone advised us “not to go to sleep” so we didn’t. Even though we hadn’t slept the entire evening (save for a few winks on the plane) we forged ahead and went for a walk and breakfast on the Passeig De Gracia. After a nice omlette at an outdoor café we bought tickets for the Bus Turistic and made the Sagrada familia our first stop. The church is quite impressive from the outside so we decided to go inside as well. The line in front of the bus stop was huge so my DW and I figured that we would just walk around the church, see the whole thing take a few pictures and get back on the bus. As we circled the block we found another ticket window around the corner that had absolutely no line, so we bought tickets and went inside. There is an elevator that goes to the top, but the line was very long and we didn’t want to wait. We asked if there were stairs but we were told that there weren’t, so we just walked around for a little bit and left. My DW then walked through the small, limited gift shop but didn’t get anything. Across the street from the church was a great gift shop that had some really beautiful things. We went to a local supermarket in the neighborhood, walked around a little bit and then got back on the bus and made the Parc Guell our next stop. The bus stop is at the bottom of the hill several blocks from the parc. It is a long uphill climb on a very narrow street to get up to Parc Guell. It was very hot (the middle of the afternoon in the middle of July) but the views from the Parc were well worth it. The parc has a beautiful entrance (mosaic dragons and lizards line the steps) and the columns, corridors, open spaces and buildings are really incredible. The panorama overlooks all of Barcelona. Just an incredible view. There is a small snack stand with shaded umbrellas at the top where we enjoyed some ices. We then took the outside path of the parc down to the main street, which led us back down the hill to the bus stop. By now it was about 4:30 or 5:00 PM. We took the bus back to the Hotel Majestic (seeing quite a bit of the city along the way) and took a short nap and got ready for dinner at 9:00. The concierge recommended a restaurant called Botafumiero. It is a seafood restaurant that had great fish and Paella. With wine and tip, dinner for 2 was 100 Euros. Certainly not cheap, but we loved it. When we arrived at the restaurant at 9:00 PM we were one of the only diners in the restaurant. When we left at about 11:30 the place was packed. We took a cab back to the hotel to get ready for tomorrow. We woke up Saturday morning and my wife asked me to look at her watch to see what time it was. I asked her if she had changed her watch to Barcelona time. She said she had, and I said “well, then it’s 12:15 PM. She made some comment about my age and my ability to see small numbers so I checked her cell phone and sure enough, it was 12:15. We felt great but we had slept for about 11 hours. We thought it was a small concession to the travel and the time change, went down to the internet café at the hotel (20 Euros for the duration of your stay), did our business and then I went out to get us some coffee and rolls. We are both big coffee drinkers so we didn’t mind the espresso that they serve in Spain. Got dressed and then took a cab down to the Plaza Catalunya, so that we could walk down Las Ramblas. After a few blocks of the human statues, the bird salesman and postcard kiosks, we took a left hand turn and entered the Barri Gotic (the Gothic Quarter). We found ourselves in front of a beautiful church and sat down at a café (Estruch) for pizza and salad. The plaza was a beautiful place to have lunch and watch the action. After lunch we began our search for the Picasso Museum. We only had the map from the Bus turistic (and because the museum is not one of their stops, it’s not on the map) so we really weren’t sure where it was. We saw some signs pointing in the general direction of the museum and we gladly followed. The time that we spent lost (there is no other word for it. We didn’t know where we were or where we were going) in the Barri Gotic was magical. We loved it. We found wine shops (you can bring wine on the ship, but I’ll talk about that later), alleyways, incredible architecture, friendly people and eventually the Picasso Museum. The line was about 25 minutes and the entrance fee about 8 or 10 Euros. My wife loved the museum and all of Picasso’s works. I’m not as sophisticated as she is, so she tolerated my opinions for the 45 minutes we toured the museum. After we left we walked toward Port Vell. It was a pretty good walk to the port, but we were there to see Barcelona so we didn’t mind. The port is fantastic. I’m not sure which part was old and which parts were built for the 1992 Olympics, but the cool breeze, open space and views of the Marina were beautiful. We walked all the way down (and it was a pretty long walk) to the bus stop for the Bus Turistic. By now it was 8:00 PM (although it seemed like the middle of the day) so we took the bus back to the Batllo (the stop closest to our hotel) and got ready for dinner. We wanted to visit an acquaintance in Barcelona so we asked the concierge to change our dinner reservation at Aqua to 10:30 PM. By the time we finished our visit and got down to Agua (a great restaurant on the beach) it was after 11:00 PM. The hostess wasn’t too happy that we were so late for our reservation so she made us wait till 11:30 for our table. We sat at the table closest to the Mediterranean and settled in. By the time our food came it was midnight and the restaurant was still packed. I guess it’s true…they have dinner at midnight in Barcelona. Food was very good (service just OK). Wife had fish, I had chicken. With wine and tip, about 65 Euros. Grabbed a cab back to the hotel about 1:30 AM to get ready to board the Jewel in the morning. I guess that since we were doing a pre-cruise, we should have packed our luggage with that in mind. I would definitely recommend packing a bag for your pre-cruise and then packing bags for your cruise. We spent a lot of time on Sunday morning having to repack our entire luggage. On Sunday morning, again, I went down to the Fresh and Ready (that was the name) to get coffee and croissants. After breakfast and packing we left our bags with the hotel to do a little last minute sightseeing. We stopped in the Casa Batllo (a famous Gaudi building on the Passeig De Gracia) for only a moment. From the brief glimpse we had it was great. We bought a few souvenirs, took a stroll around the neighborhood (everything was closed on Sunday morning. The streets were deserted) and then went back to the hotel. Grabbed a cab to the port (I don’t remember exactly, but I’m going to say it was about 15 Euros)

We left the hotel at 1:00 and arrived at the ship at 1:15. A porter took our bags from the cab, took them to the conveyor belt and directed us to the passenger side of the terminal. We had cabin 11026 an AF Minisuite. A day or two before we left for Barcelona we called the telephone number on the cruise documents and the woman on the phone told us to go to the Lattitudes line to check in. We went to the Lattitudes section and there was only one party on line in front of us. There was plenty of staff to move the lines along and direct you where to go. We spent less than three minutes showing our documents, getting our picture taken and receiving instructions. We then proceeded to the ship. There are a ton of duty free shops in the terminal. Selling liquor water, soda, etc. We brought wine in our carry-on bag and NCL never said a word. We did pay the corkage fee (15 dollars) to have them open the wine on the ship. If you’re a big soda drinker, I would definitely wait to get to the ship and then buy what you like. My DW and I bought a 6 pack of 1.5 liter water for 8 Euros. There were plenty of people on the ship that brought their empty water bottles to the Garden Café to refill their bottles, but we didn’t. After passing through the mini mall in the terminal we took an escalator up to the gangway. There was absolutely no line to board the ship. We did see a hand sanitizer at the gangway and were worried that the ship had recently encountered a problem, but apparently that is now NCL’s policy. At almost every doorway and entranceway on the ship there was an automatic hand-sanitizing machine. When we got onboard and went to the buffet and saw that there were tongs in all of the serving dishes, we felt better. I had heard that if there are crew members behind the buffet doing the serving that there is reason for concern on the part of the passengers. I am not a nervous Nellie, a neat freak or anything like that but this was an important trip for my wife and I and we were relieved not to have any “viral” concerns. We boarded the ship and grabbed an elevator to the 11th floor. Immediately we could see that the ship was brand new and in immaculate condition. We have sailed on the Disney Wonder (great ship) and Royal Caribbean’s Majesty of the Seas (fun, but just fair) but the NCL Jewel far outshines these ships. After seeing our cabin, my DW and I went upstairs to the Garden Café for lunch. Instead of having one long line for everyone the Jewel’s buffet consists of several different clearly marked stations. If you want fresh fruit, you go to the station marked FRESH FRUIT. If you want carved meat you go to the station marked CARVED MEAT. There was never a line at any of the stations; the trays were always full, hot and clean. If you want, you can take your food and proceed to the back of the ship (aft) and sit outside in “the Great Outdoors”. There is a shaded area and a sunny area. After lunch we went to Tangos on the 7th floor and made our reservations for dinner for the entire week. We ate in Cagney’s twice, Mama’s twice and Tsars, Azura, Le Bistro each once. After making reservations we went to the Internet café and signed up for the 100 minute plan ($55.00 and they give you 15 free minutes). There are 8 PC’s in the “café”. The Internet speed was OK. It is not as fast as our cable connection at home, but when you think that you are in the middle of the sea, you realize that it’s pretty good. We went to the café everyday (at different times of the day) and did sometimes had to wait a few minutes before a PC was free. There were times when several passengers were waiting for a terminal, but if there was a wait, we either left and came back, or waited. We then went to the spa to get an appointment for my wife’s massage, and I signed up for the “cruise duration spa package”. For $70.00 I was allowed entrance to the men’s changing room. There was a steam room, a sauna, an ice plunge pool, plenty of showers a relaxation area and a whirlpool. There were several whirlpools (hot tubs) around the pool area, but they were always crowded, full of chlorine and not really hot. In the men’s locker room the whirlpool was set against the forward window and I felt as if I were floating in a hot tub high above the Mediterranean. There are two flat screen TVs in the relaxation room and several recliners. We unpacked, we walked around the ship, went to the Muster Drill (our muster station was in the Stardust theater), attended the sail away party (the cruise director and some of the crew jump into the pool with all of their clothes on. It was fun) showered and got dressed for dinner at Cagneys. Not a particularly decorated restaurant. Dark with very little ornamentation. The food, on the other hand, was very well presented and very good to excellent. That night I had a T-Bone steak, crab cakes, potato wedges and garlic-mashed potatoes. My wife had soup, a filet Mignon. Desert was very good too. With wine the bill was $55.00.

No show on the first night. We went to the casino and played some roulette. Casino is nice and big with plenty of tables and slots. We’re not big gamblers so I can’t tell you too much about the casino, but we went almost every night and played for 15-30 at the roulette table.

The next morning (Monday) was our sea day. I got up, went to the gym. I’m not a gym rat so I’m not too familiar, but this ship appeared to have everything. There were plenty of treadmills, ellipticals and bikes. The gym has a picture window that goes the length of the room and TVs on several of the machines. There was always someone on staff at the gym. After my short workout, I went to the internet café and spent about thirty minutes online. As I returned to my room I realized that I didn’t have my room card (this is the part of the review that I’m embarrassed about). I traced my steps back to the gym and internet café, but I didn’t find my card. My DW and I went to the reception desk and they issued both my DW and me a new card immediately. We went back up to the spa and I was given a new tag for my spa pass as well. The whole thing took less than 5 minutes and the crew was wonderful. When everything was squared away, we went up for brunch. As I mentioned before (my wife is very modest, c so please don’t think that I’m bragging) we have visited some nice hotels and some very nice restaurants in New York. So we have something to compare it to, and we thought the food in the Garden Cafe was very good.

After brunch we walked around the ship, took some pictures and looked for some lounge chairs. There were none available on deck 12 by the pool, so we went to deck 13, but we still couldn’t find 2 chairs. We went higher to deck 14, where we found several chairs available. Even though we were two decks removed from the pool, it was a pleasant place to sit. If you’re not interested in all the noise (the band, the kids on the water slide, the buffet) you might find deck 14 as the nicest place to sit. It did get very windy late in the afternoon, and I moved down to deck 12 (the pool deck). My wife took a massage (she said it was very nice); I hit some golf balls in the “driving range” and went for a steam.

On Monday night we had reservations at Le Bistro. We arrived on time for our reservation and were told that our table would be ready in 10-15 minutes. This was the only time on the ship that we felt we got even the slightest bit of “attitude” from any of the crew (maybe Le Bistro was trying for the authentic French atmosphere). It was well worth the wait. The staff was excellent and they give you a huge and very good meal. I had the escargot, a Caesar salad, the French onion soup, A filet mignon with Béarnaise sauce and a cheesecake for desert. It was a great meal. That night we went into the theater to see “the band on the run”. My wife loved it, but I thought it was just OK. The Jean Ann Ryan company sings the greatest hits of the 70s, 80s and 90s. After dinner we went to the casino and then back to our room to prepare for our first tour with NCL in Sicily.

My wife ordered a wake up call every day (you set the time on the phone) and room service for 6:40 (just rolls and coffee. They call you on the phone about 2 minutes before they come, so you’ll be ready and they won’t have to wait). I went up to the gym, exercised for a few minutes then showered, grabbed our day bag (we always carried a water bottle, eye glasses, band aids, extra pair of shoes, extra camera, etc. nothing that we would care about if it was stolen, but just some things we thought we might need) and headed fro the Stardust theater (this is where all of the tours “meet”). It was more organized than I ever imagined. I thought we would be sitting there till everyone arrived then have to sit through an orientation, and then show our tickets, etc. We arrived at the Stardust theater at 7:55 and were on our bus to Taormina by 8:10. When everyone was seated on the bus (we did the Taormina/Mt Etna excursion) the guide introduced himself, explained a little bit about what we were going to do and we were off. The tour starts out in the town of Messina (the town we were docked in) and proceeds to taormina (probably a 45 minute ride). Nice comfortable air-conditioned bus (no bathroom on the bus). When we arrived in Taormoina, we parked the bus and took and elevator seven stories up to the town. Beautiful view. We proceeded to walk through the town on the Corso Umberto till we reached the Greco Roman theater. The guide gave a 15-minute talk about the theater and then we were on our town for the next 45 minutes. My wife did some shopping (ceramics, wine, etc) and we all met our guide in the square at the appointed time, took the elevator back down and went to a nice restaurant for lunch (bruchetta, great pasta, salad, veal, desert, wine, water and bread). Make sure that you use the rest room at the restaurant, because at the next stop (Mt. Etna) there was a very long line for the restroom. The trip to Mt. Etna winds up the mountain. As we drove the guide gave a little speech and then let everyone rest, for the rest of the trip to the Crater Silvestre. When you arrive on Mt. Etna it is probably about 30 or 40 degrees colder than it was in Taormina (altitude change) so bring a sweater, if you feel you’ll be cold. We were only given a short time to walk amongst the craters (you can even walk into them if you want), pick up some hardened lava to take home, and enjoy the landscape. Some people on our tour even climbed the mountain higher to see a different crater, but my DW and I (this being our first volcano and all) were content with the craters nearby. We were all back on the bus and at the ship in plenty of time. That night my DW and I decided to see the 8:00 show and have dinner after. That night was a manipulator/magician named “Edge”. He was pretty good (played a lot with the audience) and after the show we went to Tsars palace fro dinner. I didn’t love the menu that night, so I just had some pasta from the “cooking light” section and a steak (not even in the same class as Cagneys). My wife had salad and fish. The service was OK and the restaurant decor was nice. Of all the restaurants we visited this was our least favorite. It was OK, but nothing special.

Went back to the room to prepare ourselves for Pompeii and Naples. Next morning’s tour procedure was just as good as the first days. We were on our bus very quickly and although we were taken to a “cameo factory” first, we were soon at Pompeii to see the ruins. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we would never have enjoyed the site or realized what we were seeing were it not for our guide, Antonio. Although it was very hot and there were many tours going on that morning, he made the place come alive. You could fell what life was like during that period. We were given 20 minutes to but some souvenirs outside the site and then met to get the bus back to the ship. My wife and I went back on the ship, had lunch in the great outdoors, with the view of Mt. Vesuvius as our lunch partner, and then headed back off the ship to spend a few hours in Naples. My wife had purchased the Fodor’s Italy book before we left and we decided that we would take a cab to Scapanapoli (a neighborhood in Naples) to walk the streets and see the city. We’re from New York (lived in Manhattan for 10 years) and we were amazed at the pace of lifestyle in Naples. We thought New York was fast-paced, crowded, rude and full of lunatic drivers, but we soon found that New York has a sister city in Naples. We bought some wine, vinegars, and pasta. Tried some pizza (I like our local pizzeria better) had some gelato (my DW said that Carvel is better) and headed back to the ship. We went swimming, took a steam, relaxed by the pool, and got ready for dinner at mama’s. I had heard that this was the most difficult reservation on the ship and that it was packed every night. When we arrived (8:00 PM) we were amongst only a handful of diners. We got a table by the window and enjoyed a great meal. My DW had the antipasto trolley brought to the table so she could select her appetizers and I had the Caesar salad (excellent). For our main course I had the chicken over pasta and my wife had the fish. I must say that the service and the food were both excellent. That night there was a magician/dancer Charles Bach (also very entertaining). After dinner and before the show on Tuesday night, make sure that you go out on Deck 7 (starboard side) to see Stromboli. It is an active volcano, situated between Naples and Rome, which gave quite a show. It was only “smoking” the night that we passed, but I’ve read from other cruisers that some night there is a lava flow.

To Be Continued…

END OF PART 1

 

I’ll have Part 2 up as soon as I can. In the meantime if you have any questions you can email me at Tagoladad@aol.com, just put Jewel Question in the subject line

[newlywedcruisers]

Thanks for the detailed review, cant wait to read part two.

[sweetpea-2]

;) what a great detailed review........and it's only part one,lol....can't wait to read the next chapter........

[Cruiser#5]

wow...now that's what I call a detailed reveiw. Looking forward to your part 2.

[tomsafrica]

We were on the same cruise just a few doors up from you!- great review so far! We also enjoyed Barcelona a lot and walked miles and miles exploring different parts of this fascinating city. We never did get to the Picasso Museum because we saw the line up and didn't feel like waiting - so we went to the chocolate museum instead which is just up the road. Not as cultural I know -but wayyyy tastier!:D Looking forward to part 2!

[mygirlscats]

You mentioned taking an elevator up seven stories from where the bus stopped to the town. Is that something you could take from the train station to get up the hill to town without having to wait up to half an hour for the local bus to come? Did you notice whether the train station was nearby at the base of the elevator? Was it like a gondola, or an elevator, or???

 

This is the first I've heard of that (and I thought I had done my research so carefully!!)

 

Cheers!

[Tagoladad]

You mentioned taking an elevator up seven stories from where the bus stopped to the town. Is that something you could take from the train station to get up the hill to town without having to wait up to half an hour for the local bus to come? Did you notice whether the train station was nearby at the base of the elevator? Was it like a gondola, or an elevator, or???

 

This is the first I've heard of that (and I thought I had done my research so carefully!!)

 

Cheers!

This elevator was from the Taomina bus station. I'm not sure if that was the "public" bus station or just a bus station for the "private" tour buses. I did not see a train station nor train tracks anywhere so I'm not really sure where the station is. It is preety far from the port of Messina to Taormina and even further from Mt. Etna (where the tour ends) back to Messina. It was our first time in Italy so we were so busy just soaking everything in that sometimes the little details escape you.