Jewel 2/25- 3/4- A brief diary

[Zimomiller]

We flew in Saturday and stayed at the Intercontinental with a 19th floor room that overlooked the Port. Spent the afternoon at Bayside, had dinner and crashed as we were beat.

 

This will be our second cruise on the Jewel, we sailed last year on 2/26.

 

We arrived at the Port of Miami Sunday at 10:30 am.

 

A small line was just forming outside an initial tent before the long tent to get to the embark tent.

 

No one seemed to be in charge at the start of the first tent. Although there was security to keep you from going through.

 

People departing clogged the entrance as well as the people showing up to board. A little effort by the NCL rep that was there could have alleviated the mess. All he had to do was get people boarding to form a line, and keep moving the departures out of the area with their bags.

 

Eventually people stopped debarking and we embarkers formed our line.

 

11 am we were allowed to start down the long tent that leads to the check in tent.

 

11:30 we were allowed into the main tent for embarkation sign up.

 

First up, we got the embarkation photo just as you come through the tent door, 2 different lines.

 

Then on to pick a line for sign in.

 

This was actually fairly well organized and there were signs directing you where to go . ( ie suites and vips, vs latitudes and general boarding.)

 

Signed in, credit card taken, pics taken, boarding cards given to us. Met our concierge Gary Alldredge. He helped expedite our sign in by delivering our cards for our 2 cabins.

 

Then it was off to the 3 security lines, pick one, and the on to the ship.

 

12:05 we stepped on board. You board on deck 4 amidships. Hand sanitizer applied, handed over the card, and then into an elevator to deck 10 amd then aft to our suite and cabin.

 

The rooms were ready, we scoped em out and then decide it was lunch time.

 

I stopped by Tango's and made reservations for Mama's tonite and then headed for lunch.

 

Went to see the menu at Cagney's for lunch (suite perk) but decided to go to the buffet as the kids were much happier with the selection. Nice peaceful lunch as we were very early on board.

 

Stopped by the shore excursion desk at 1 pm as it opened and got the one tour ticket we wanted. (horseback riding in San Juan) The wife and kids loved it last year.

 

Wandered deck 13 to see if we wanted to hit the pool, but the clouds made it just a little chilly as a rain front had just flown by. Now it is sunny and gorgeous!

 

Just met Flordeliza our butler who was very nice. She had many questions for us and then took down a couple requests and then off she went.

 

The cabin attendant just came in and opened the balcony doors between our cabins. We now have in effect a 2 bedroom suite with 2 bathrooms for the 5 of us.

 

The ship is very clean with a very friendly staff that said hello to us as we wandered the halls.

 

Oh boy, is this gonna be a great week~!

 

Enough for now. I will update now and then.

[tishue]

Hi Zimomiller...

I'll be sailing on the Jewel on 3/25 and I really look forward to what you have to say about your cruise this week. It will be our first cruise on NCL, after cruising quite a bit on RCCL. I'm curious about formal nights... how many are there and do many people really participate? Or do you just feel like out of place being dressed up? Have an awesome week and enjoy your vacation!

Tiffany

[Sunwhorshipper]

We leave a week from today for our first NCl on the Jewel.

I'll be checkin the boards for updates through the week. Hope to hear from you again!! thanks for posting !!

How old are your kids?

have a great week!!

[Zimomiller]

We sailed the Jewel last year as well.

 

In freestyle, there are no formal nights. That did not stop people from dressing up, but we have stopped bringing formal clothes on freestyle cruises as it makes it much easier to pack.

[Zimomiller]

Sunworshiper, our kids are all souvenirs from previous cruises. The oldest, 16, from the Norwegian Sea and the twins , 14, from the Majesty of the Seas.

 

When they were younger, they loved the kids programs on NCL. Now they just hang with us most of the time.

[Zimomiller]

Wow, what a surprise.

 

We had to delay departure and therefore to save time, the Captain decided to back out of port instead of the usual departure involving a slow ride , a 180 degree turn and then departing.

 

What a great cruise to have an aft cabin!

 

Very unique departure perspective.

 

Now we are at the point where the two channels meet east of Dodge island and we are turning around in that junction.

 

And now, off to sea.

[Cruise_More_Often]

Zimomiller, thanks so much for posting during your cruise. We're doing the same cruise, but not until next year. :D However, we're looking for any info we can get. Funny thing, we just had the "backwards sailing" happen to us on the Star last week, when we left Los Angeles. Definitely a different perspective; we were at the front of the ship and got the aft view!

 

Hi Zimomiller...

I'll be sailing on the Jewel on 3/25 and I really look forward to what you have to say about your cruise this week. It will be our first cruise on NCL, after cruising quite a bit on RCCL. I'm curious about formal nights... how many are there and do many people really participate? Or do you just feel like out of place being dressed up? Have an awesome week and enjoy your vacation!

Tiffany

Tiffany, I'm not sure how it's done on the Jewel. However, we definitely had formal night on the Star (the second night) last week. On the NCL cruises we've been on we've noticed that many people still dress up, and many people still like to have their formal photographs taken on cruise. I don't think you'll feel out of place at all. We have always taken dressy clothes, although we're going to pack light next year and forego formal night.

 

Zimomiller, I'm anxiously awaiting your next post. Thanks again!

[Dancinfeet]

Who is the present cruise director on the Jewel and do thet have theme nights such as caribbean, country western, etc.?

 

Thanks and enjoy the rest of your cruise. We will be there in 6 days!

[KatnZCruise07]

Zimomiller,

 

This is great, we will be sailing the Jewel next week.

 

Can you tell me if you are having a meet n greet? and the details?

 

Thanks for the diary!!

[Zimomiller]

Sunday after we made our way to sea, we enjoyed the sail away from our balconies and watched the sun sink into the horizon. Kinda fun to watch the night set and the lights from the other cruise ships that had disappeared from sight in the dim dusk re-appear.

 

We had dinner at Mama’s, one of the free specialty restaurants. We have eaten here previously, and like before, it is surprising to see that it is not incredibly busy. We were seated promptly at 7. The service was attentive and the food was great. The appetizer cart has 6 choices but my favorite was the marinated mushrooms.

 

We wandered the ship a bit after dinner and then my family decided to retire while I visited the casino.

 

Played some blackjack lost some $$, and then won it all back and then some playing craps. It was very quiet in the casino but it picked up after the late show was done. There was a Texas hold-em table that was going strong. There was also a Texas hold-em table of some sort where the Caribbean Stud table used to be. My guess is that they cooked up a game with even better odds for the house than Caribbean stud. Now that is hard to imagine.

 

One comment about the staff in the hotel, they are friendly. You cannot walk down one of the long hallways to your room without running into room stewards and the ALL greet you with a hello, good evening etc and a smile. This has been consistently our experience on our previous 11 NCL cruises as well.

 

The sea was very calm Sunday evening. One of the smoothest transits we have had from Miami to San Juan.

 

 

Monday

 

Slept in Monday morning and barely made breakfast at the Great outdoors aft on deck 12. Nice made to order omelet, mounds of bacon, a bagel and I was good to go.

 

Very calm seas and sunny all day Monday as well, light clouds in the PM. Still saw a lot of cruisers turning into lobsters on day 1. (Did I mention today is lobster day?)

 

Contacted Gary our concierge who made our dinner reservations for the week. We will be dining in Tsars tonight (lobster night).

 

The family spent the day lazing around on deck 13 overlooking the pool Yes there were chair hogs, no there was no one from the staff removing items.

 

The wife had a long conversation with a couple from Chicago. They told of their troubles getting to Miami, trying to leave Saturday, all set to take off , de iced twice and then called back to the gate. Stayed overnight and barely got out Sunday.

 

They were the lucky ones.

 

The Jewel delayed her departure from Miami for those in the Midwest and Northeast hampered by the weather. At the Captains VIP party later I heard that 70 people, and numerous bags) missed the ship and that 64 passengers will be waiting to join us in San Juan.

 

Attended the Latitudes party at 1:15, there were 650 members on this cruise. Lotsa free booze to take advantage of <vbg>, several prizes raffled off (tshirts, spa discounts, champagne). Captain spoke , introduced his staff. My advice, come for the free booze and watch the ocean.

 

Damn I hate bingo, but my twins love it. Therefore, Dad gets to sit and listen to really bad attempts at humor by a young cruise staff while calling numbers for 1.4 hours…..and no, they did not win. Thank god for the two person daybed/couches on the port side of the spinnaker lounge. Note, there is now an automated roulette game for 6 people in that location as well. Next bingo I shall bring some cash, and earplugs.

 

We all retired to our aft balconies around 4 and spent the rest of the afternoon reading and sleeping in the sun and then watching another glorious sunset at sea.

 

The doorbell rang promptly at 6 pm and our butler, Flor, delivered a hefty load of lobsters that were quickly devoured as appetizers. (Decorum prevents me from typing how many were delivered)

 

7 pm was the Captains VIP party. Met the Captain and staff again. Another free booze opportunity and I of course did my part to help minimize the number of bottle of booze that inventory manager had to count. The hard part was the controlled stagger back to the restaurant aft, especially knowing the seas were calm and I could not blame my bouncing off of the walls and room steward carts on the weather…….

 

7:30 we went to dine at Tsars. I timed that reservation for 7:30 knowing that there was a 7:30 show. We showed up to about 30 people with pagers that had just gotten word that they could be seated. Took a while to get them processed and then we were able to check in and were sent down to floor 6 to be seated. Tsars was about 1/3 full but almost every vacant table needed to be cleared or was in the process of being cleared.

 

We were seated at a tale for 6 with nothing but a table cloth. Within 10 minutes we were set up, ordering and on our way to a quick, proficient tasty meal. The service was excellent and no, we did not have any more lobsters….I suspect they were running low.

 

The room stewards and service in our suite have been excellent thanks to Teti and Doctolero. They are very quick , tidy and attentive.

 

There are different staff attending our BA cabin next door and they have left something to be desired. In 19 previous cruises we have never had to request that our room be turned down until Sunday night. We had left both rooms with turn down signs indicated, and when we came back at 10 pm the stewards were no where to be seen, and the BA room a mess, let alone the third bed which was a couch during the day had not been set up. We called and they came back to fix it.

 

I spoke with our Butler Flor on Monday and she said she would take care of it, and of course, Monday night met our expectations.

 

We all retired early even though I personally could hear the call of the Casino 900 feet in the distance……..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

Tuesday

 

We woke up to a bright and cheery sunny calm day. We had breakfast in Tsars, and currently we are lazing on our balconies, reading and watching the sea roll by.

 

Magically our suite was transformed into a clean organized environment while we were at breakfast.

 

The family is getting excited to debark in San Juan for their horseback riding excursion.

 

I am excited to get on the phone and the internet while they are gone to check in with the office to see what calamities have transpired in my absence. I am a CPA specializing in taxation, so things are a bit busy in my office, but I have a terrific supporting cast that makes my job easy.

 

Tonight for dinner is Cagney’s at 7:30. I wonder if they have any lobster left >??

 

Just looked up at the TV which is showing the bow cam view and San Juan is coming in to view. It is now time to head up top to snap off some great pictures port side as we pass the Fort on the way into Port.

[Zimomiller]

Dancinfeet- The current cruise director is Ricky Matthews. Last night was a suggested formal night, but I saw no one dressed formally.

 

I have not seen any plans for any other themed nights. Last year on the Jewel I do not recall any theme nights either.

 

KatnZcruise07 there was an informal meet n greet for our sailing, but I did not sign up or attend.

[KatnZCruise07]

Thanks for all the info...can't wait to hear more.

[Dancinfeet]

Thank You for the reply. It sounds like you are having a great cruise! 5 more days till we get to experience the Jewel. This will be our 5th cruise with NCL and we are lovin the freestlye.

[maui34]

Hi, could you please tell a little about the shore excursion, I will be on the Jewel in a couple weeks and will also be doing the horseback riding. Thanks, enjoy!

[auroracruiser]

Can't wait to get away from this snow. I'm looking at an NCL brochure and the Jewel has an aft cabin (category BA) on deck 8. How big is the balcony? Any problems with soot? We're trying to book a cruise for the 3rd week of March. I was hoping for HAL or Princess but no balconies.

thanks for your help,

[Zimomiller]

The family enjoyed their horseback riding excursion in San Juan. 50 minute bus ride each way. Got wet again this year, it is a rain forest. Very mild and fun trip.

 

Tuesday's dinner in Cagneys was ok. The food was fine but the service was slow and uninspired, and they were not that busy. Much too much time between courses.

 

Played a lot of craps and BJ in the casino. The casino has been moderately busy. The dealers are blase, almost unfriendly.

 

Wednesday we went to the Grand Pineapple Beach Resort. We had day passes and spent an absolutely terrific afternnon there. Played in the ocean and pools, dranks lots, ate from the buffet , drank some more.

 

Dinner at Mama's again, very good food, service slow but ok. Thursday night we go to Teppenyaki. Friday Lebistro and Saturday we may go back to Cagneys.

 

The weather has been extraordinary all week. the seas have been very calm, almost placid. We have been very lucky. Hopefully it is a great day at Great Stirrup Cay.

[Zimomiller]

Aurora cruiser, we also have a BA aft on deck 10 next to our AD suite. No soot, good sized balcony. I say go for it, we love ours

[Sunwhorshipper]

We board the Jewel on March 4 as you are disembarking...it's snowing and freezing rain here so I hope we get out of Toronto Ok on Sun am...

We too are going to the Pineapple.

How did you get there and how far is it from the pier?? How was the food? did you just each at the grill or have a nice sit down meal? what were the drinks like? Did they have fancy blender drinks ie. pina coladas and margaritas??

What have the temps been like?

[broadwaybaby]

Thanks for the great diary of your trip! Is the staff saying anything about the "Rosie O'donnell" cruise last week? I know that there was a different cruise director onboard for that, but curious about any gossip!

[Balto21212]

Zimomiller,

 

I've really enjoyed reading your reports this week! I'll be on the Jewel's March 25th sailing - also in an AD suite on 10.

 

In the amenities information sent to me from NCL, it lists "Internet Access (1)" for the AD suites. I asked if I bring my laptop will I have wireless access included in my rate and was told "yes." Has that been your experience? If not, can you provide pricing information? Have you been happy with the service?

 

Also, I've not been on a cruise in about 10 years and it's my partner's first cruise. If you've have menus or dailies to share, we'd love to look at them.

 

Enjoy the remainder of your trip!

[SGNY]

Have you run into a bar waitress named Elena Apintei from Romania?

[CamilleandNick]

If you have your Freestyle Dailies, would it be possible to scan and email them to me?

camillegray@hotmail.com

 

Thanks for the great report.

We leave next Sunday.

[packercruising]

Good reviews Zimo. Too bad we didn't get a chance to meet on the cruise. We ate at Cagney's 3 times and thought the food and service as terrific each time! Also the food and srvice at Mama's was very good. I had a steaming ot pizza for an appetizer that was bigger than any I would eat as a meal in itself