Just got back from NCL Jewel

[flvol77]

I'm wondering if flvol77 got unlucky. Our one specialy restaurant adventure was in Le Bistro. Filets all the way around -- and all 4 were excellent. I finally got brave enough to try the escargot, and it was wonderful too. I had the chocolate fondue for dessert and it alone would have been worth the extra cost.

 

My guess is that by the time you're on in a month, many of the issues from last week will be solved. The new menus should be out by then, and the new staff will have had a month to improve.

 

I was thinking the same thing ....

 

I love escargot, I had it in the main dining room and it was good/not great and it tasted the same in Le Bristro.

 

Chocolate Fondue was good ....the presentation was very nice.

 

My fillet was tiny and undercooked with zero flavor. The half of a lobster tail was very good...but, it was a half a lobster tail....again maybe that is my bad for not asking first and then complaining afterwards.

 

I will say that Le Bristro was very very disappointing...I heard many great things about it and it was a let down.

 

We wanted to try Cagneys but when I heard more than one couple say that the service was slow...and the food was inconsistent we decided to not go out of our way to try cagneys.

 

I think the word inconsistent would be the word I would use to describe this cruise.

[ute_fan]

I agree -- inconsistent is a good description. In our case, it was more the service than the food quality. Everything we ate tasted fine -- it was more a matter of the selection than the taste. I was really hoping the menus would have been changed with this sailing, but such is life. By the way, Nita, the beef stroganoff was good. I tried it based on your recommendation!

 

By the way, we talked with 2 different couples who had cruised on Princess, and both of them thought the food was better on the Jewel. Another couple, who were former Carnival cruisers, thought Carnival was an improvement on the Jewel. I would have expected exactly the opposite:D . Again, food is so subjective -- it's hard to know what to expect.

[cruzinwieds]

I am leaving next Sunday and the food reviews have me worried. Sounds like the Jewel did not switch to the new Le Bistro menu. I thought all NCL ships switched, anyone have any idea if it was fleet wide. Also sounds like the folks that were on the 11/5 Dawn had disappointing food. I was on the Dawn in 2003 and thought it was fine.

[ute_fan]

NCL's original statement was that the new menus would be implemented fleet wide by the end of November. I guess they're being rolled out ship by ship -- and so far, the Jewel hadn't been changed.

 

Will it be by the time you sail? No idea. We didn't think to ask if any of our wait staff knew anything about the new menus. I definitely wouldn't classify the food as poor -- we enjoyed what we ate. I was just hoping for the different selections that are supposed to be available on the new menus.

[curiouscat]

I am leaving next Sunday and the food reviews have me worried. Sounds like the Jewel did not switch to the new Le Bistro menu. I thought all NCL ships switched, anyone have any idea if it was fleet wide. Also sounds like the folks that were on the 11/5 Dawn had disappointing food. I was on the Dawn in 2003 and thought it was fine.

 

I see you're from LI. Oh, how I miss the food there. I grew up there and now live in Atlanta. I would recommend booking as many speciality rest as possible.

 

Please post a review when you get back as I would be curious to hear your viewpoint.

 

But remember it won't be your last meal and enjoy the warm weather and the Pool slide... it was a blast.

 

CuriousCat

[cruzinwieds]

I am going to try to have a positive outlook for the trip and not let the food reviews get me down before I go. The important thing is that I will be together with my family for Thanksgiving and hopefully nice Caribbean weather. I have eaten in some of the best restaurants in NYC and I know not to expect that kind of food on a cruise, just want decent food and choices.

[Marti2]

Hi, I was on this cruise also. We were booked in the Courtyard Villa and our experience was wonderful....in fact, I booked another cruise on the Jewel in March. Our accommodations were great and we were certainly spoiled by our butler, Maxi. We ate in the speciality restaurants and found Cagneys to be very nice...the food/presentation was just what I would expect in a five-star restaurant. We did enjoy the buffet; however, food is not the draw for me...it's both the ship and the itinerary. Questions...feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer.

[cruzinwieds]

Hi, I was on this cruise also. We were booked in the Courtyard Villa and our experience was wonderful....in fact, I booked another cruise on the Jewel in March. Our accommodations were great and we were certainly spoiled by our butler, Maxi. We ate in the speciality restaurants and found Cagneys to be very nice...the food/presentation was just what I would expect in a five-star restaurant. We did enjoy the buffet; however, food is not the draw for me...it's both the ship and the itinerary. Questions...feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer.

 

Did you eat in Le Bistro? Did you eat in the Tsar main dinning room? Any other food comments?

[flvol77]

I am getting kinda bummed. We are on the Jewel on 12/3.

 

What was really good or things not to miss? I live in a big city and I guess there is always a wait for everything here it seems, so I can deal with that and will probably make reservations where possible. Can you make dinner reservations before boarding?

 

We have the anniversary package and will be dining at Le Bistro one night. Anyone have anything that was good?

 

I guess in comparison to chain resteraunts what do you think the food is like, qualtity wise. I just want to set my expectations.

 

 

Don't be bummed out. We had a good time. WE LOVED THE PORTS...the ship is very nice (a little small for us) it well laid out, the decor is great, I loved eating breakfast in Mama's or the great outdoors. If you love asian make sure to book Chin Chin and IMO Teppanyaki at least twice.

 

I consistently compare things - its just the way I am, and I like Princess....but, by no means would we say we had a bad cruise or didn't enjoy ourselves. We had fun, I liked being on a different ship, and maybe I am just too picky?/?

 

I did learn a lesson from this cruise that I will never book the first cruise on a new itinerary...I don't care what line it is -

[patches123]

OK, thanks everyone for making me feel a bit better. I will be happy if its similar to Outback , Macaroni Grill etc. Now if you said McDonalds I wouldn't be :) DH and I are not too picky, so as long as its decent quality and hot food is hot and cold food is cold, I'm sure we will be fine. It helps that I can NOT cook well!

 

I am going to make reservations for the Asian places as we both love Asian food. We will be at Le Bistro one night too.

 

Hopefully be Dec, they will have some of the issues worked out!

[uneamie]

Thank you for the review. I'm disappointed to hear about your dining comparison with Princess. We're heading off for our first NCL cruise on the Jewel over Xmas. DH and I are looking forward to doing our own meal comparison -- ours will be with RCCL, Carnival and Disney. (Surprisingly, as I disliked the Carnival cruise and told DH I am never sailing on that line again, both DH and I found Carnival's food offerings and quality overall to have a slight edge over what we experienced on RCCL and Disney.)

 

 

We've sailed on NCL, Carnival, Disney and my sister in-law did all these plus RCCL. Our consensis is that "Carnival" has the best food out of all these cruiselines. I loved our Carnival cruise on the Legend. Good quality food from the room service menu, dinning rooms to the buffets. If they would only go "freestyle" I'd be back on their ships in a heartbeat. Their entertainment and daily activities were better than NCL but I have to say that Disney beats all for over all entertainment.

 

I stay with NCL for the "freestyle" and my hubby has to have have his "texas hold em poker" in the casino, :rolleyes:... we don't know of any other ships yet that have both of these features.

[uneamie]

Sorry....double posted. :o

[newmexicoNita]

I am going to try to have a positive outlook for the trip and not let the food reviews get me down before I go. The important thing is that I will be together with my family for Thanksgiving and hopefully nice Caribbean weather. I have eaten in some of the best restaurants in NYC and I know not to expect that kind of food on a cruise, just want decent food and choices.

Read what ute fan said about talking with others about the quality. This should re-assure you that not everyone thinks the food is awful or even bad and most lines are suffering some. As for expecting NYC food, I am glad you realize you won't get truely gourmet food in any ship. well on any mass marketed ship I should say. Think of how many they are preparing for in any given time. To me, cruise line food falls into the catagory of top rated banquet quality. I said top of the line, not all banquet food. As I have mentioned before, rarely have we left a meal without finding one thing that stood out as being really great; rarely have we found the entire meal really great, certainly we haven't in the past 5 years or so. NMnita

[mbisson]

We've sailed on NCL, Carnival, Disney and my sister in-law did all these plus RCCL. Our consensis is that "Carnival" has the best food out of all these cruiselines.

 

It appears you're basing that on some cruises from 3 yrs back (and farther). From what I'm seeing on the other newsgroups though, I doubt that the food quality is still the same on those other lines either. Unfortunately, reduction in food quality seems to be going on all over the industry (although we're still OK with it, especially considering the price)

 

-Monte

[DragonflyCruiser]

We were on the Jewel for the second time in Sept. We found the food and service to be wonderful. Our only complaint might have been in Azura they seemed somewhat disjointed. We heard from quite a few of the crew that they would be moving to the the Pearl. That may be why service is lacking. Probably just a lot of new people. But, they are constantly training so I'm sure it will get better. We have loved the food...never had a bad meal. We have spent 22 days total on her so that's pretty darn good. If you do order a meal you don't care for you can always request something else. As for the Cafe...they do have specific hours of operation. If you are trying to eat while they close you will not be able to stop them from closing down. So, pay attention to the hours of all the restaurants. Make reservations for specialty places early when you can after boarding but be sure to cancel them if you need to so you won't be charged for a no-show. Hope you enjoy your cruise and your food! We always have!

[patches123]

When do you have to cancel to avoid the no show? I am planning to make reservations for every night, but certainly don't want a charge to cancel.

[DragonflyCruiser]

I think it's 24 hrs prior.

[uneamie]

It appears you're basing that on some cruises from 3 yrs back (and farther). From what I'm seeing on the other newsgroups though, I doubt that the food quality is still the same on those other lines either. Unfortunately, reduction in food quality seems to be going on all over the industry (although we're still OK with it, especially considering the price)

 

-Monte

 

Well actually I never gave that a thought. You may be right there Monte. Although my sister in law did go on a Carnival cruise last year and she never complained about the food... I guess the quality can keep changing all the time.

[johnql]

When do you have to cancel to avoid the no show? I am planning to make reservations for every night, but certainly don't want a charge to cancel.

Here is, verbatim from my Dawn cruise in July, the policy:

 

"Reservations for all the Specialty Restaurants that are not cancelled 24 hours prior will be assessed a fee of $5.00 per person. The above charge will be applied to the account and the stateroom of the guest that is holding the reservation."

 

I think it's a fair policy since there has to be some sort of disincentive for people who make reservations and just never show up without cancelling. To me, that's inconsiderate to one's fellow passengers.

[Smeegle]

How's the food on the Jewel? I'll be traveling in Feb '07.

[Usc90grad]

We just returned from a week on the Jewel and had some of the same experiences. I won't be back on NCL anytime soon.

[beachlovingirl]

Hi, I was on this cruise also. We were booked in the Courtyard Villa and our experience was wonderful....in fact, I booked another cruise on the Jewel in March. Our accommodations were great and we were certainly spoiled by our butler, Maxi. We ate in the speciality restaurants and found Cagneys to be very nice...the food/presentation was just what I would expect in a five-star restaurant. We did enjoy the buffet; however, food is not the draw for me...it's both the ship and the itinerary. Questions...feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer.

 

We are booked on the 11/26 sailing in 2 Courtyard Villas (A3 & A4) for 5 of us & the other reviews have me worried...I'm hoping that the perks of being in the Villas will overshadow any less than perfect meals...my questions are -

 

- Did you have dinner served in your cabin? How about breakfast?

- I'm an "ice queen" - are there any issues with getting lots of ice delivered/keeping it in the cabin?

- How busy/crowded was the Courtyard Area?

- What kind of snacks/drinks did they put out for you?

- Did you get passes to the spa for the week & and 1 free night at an upcharge restaurant for the cabin?

- Were there any issues with the seating for the shows?

- Did you have any problems with making same day dinner reservations?

- What was the latest you could get off the ship when you returned to Miami?

 

Any other tips you can provide would be much appreciated!:)

[patches123]

Here is, verbatim from my Dawn cruise in July, the policy:

 

"Reservations for all the Specialty Restaurants that are not cancelled 24 hours prior will be assessed a fee of $5.00 per person. The above charge will be applied to the account and the stateroom of the guest that is holding the reservation."

 

I think it's a fair policy since there has to be some sort of disincentive for people who make reservations and just never show up without cancelling. To me, that's inconsiderate to one's fellow passengers.

 

That sounds fair to me!!

[patches123]

Well actually I never gave that a thought. You may be right there Monte. Although my sister in law did go on a Carnival cruise last year and she never complained about the food... I guess the quality can keep changing all the time.

 

My sister and BIL have been on RC five years ago and Carnival last year and both said neither had excellent to die for food. They said both was average...edible and decent, but not special.

[jon46]

Anyone know who the Captain is now on the NCL jewel. And what nationality he is.