Not the Jewel in my Crown

[subadmiral]

This brief report is with respect to the Norwegian Cruise Line Jewel transatlantic crossing from September 17-28

 

This cruise was overall poorer than we anticipated, and has changed our mind about Norwegian Cruise lines. Our state room was terrible --noisy especially. I assumed that we got this poor state room, based on our late booking. It was the last state room on the port side of level 5, right in front of the crew's pool room and bar. The biggest problem was machinery noise. Starting around five in the morning, there was a very loud pump, which consistently woke me up. We tried to upgrade (even offering to pay), but received no help. The service, especially in the dining rooms, was substandard. I think that part of the problem is that freestyle cruising, with no tipping of individual servers, tends to reward poor performance.

 

Unlike previous cruises on Norwegian Cruise lines (we have sailed with them four times before), the food was mediocre. On the Jewel, there are a lot of specialty dining rooms, all requiring service charges. Even in these dining rooms, after paying service charges (called cover charges) there are additional charges for many other food items. The specialty dining rooms had the food quality that was once associated with general dining on board Norwegian Cruise lines.

 

The prices for alcoholic beverages have also increased, and border on the unreasonable at times. Also, unlike previous times, the transportation package only included transfers in England, not in New York City. Just for comparison purposes, NCL wanted $35 per person ($70 for two) for a bus transfer to LaGuardia airport-- a cab for two people was $25.

 

On the positive side, the ports visited were very good. We liked the stop in the Shetland Islands, and enjoyed St. John's, Newfoundland, as well. Also, the onboard entertainment was very good, for the most part.

[Guest Anorak33]

Did you attend the CC Meet'n'Greet on board?

 

We were informed that if we had any problem to contact the Hotel Director who would do whatever was possible to put things right.

 

You seem to have views on what the food quality in the "old days" used to be in the main dining rooms.When were your previous cruises on NCL?

 

You must have tried the specialty dining rooms on Jewel as you comment on the quality of the food there. Was the service OK in the specialty dining rooms or was that also in your opinion substandard.

 

Your late ( and hopefully cheaper) booking may well have contributed to a less than desirable stateroom, others who looked up the deck plans before booking will have left this one alone, maybe you or your travel agent should have also looked up the deck plans?

If you booked a "guarantee" then you take the risk of getting whatever is left over.

 

I certainly agree that the booze on board is expensive, thats why we never spend a cent on it. It is optional.

 

The transfers are also expensive,they are also optional and it sounds like you didn't take the NCL transfer, we took public transport to JFK from Pier 90. Total cost $4 for the two of us.

 

You didn't mention the excursions/tours, IMHO these are also overpriced, we did Blue Lagoon for half the ship's cost.

 

You say:

"The service, especially in the dining rooms, was substandard"

 

How was it substandard? I'd be interested to know.

 

How was your cabin steward? Was that Ok?

 

Did you remove the service charge if it was substandard service?

[halos]

I won't speak for the OP, but in my opinion the service in the dining room on my NCL cruise was indeed substandard.

Before I get jumped on, I want to say that my NCL cruise was my overall favorite cruise of all time...BUT the service in the dining room is shoddy compared to other lines.

IF you need an example, here is one.

 

4 of us sat down for breakfast. We ordered...and waited...and waited...and waited.

Finally, the waiter brought over our fruit.

Then seconds later he brought over the entire order for one of the 4 of us...who politely let it sit in front of him, assuming ours would be brought out soon.

After 5 minutes, we insisted he begine eating or his food would be cold. So, he ate.

He ate his entire breakfast and we still were waiting for ours. And we waited quite a while. To be honest, I don't know why we sat there so long. I guess we weren't in a hurry that morning.

 

The crew was friendly, there is no doubt, but service is just not the same as on other lines.

 

Will that stop me from sailing NCL??? No way. The rest of that cruise was a LOT of fun. We really had a blast. As far as dinign room service, I am easy to please. The shoddy service was noticeable but not enough to keep me away. I'll be on the Star in March. ;)

For those that do need perfection, NCL will not make them happy.

 

I did think the food tasted good on that cruise, however; better than RCI although not quite as good as CCL.

 

Oh...that cruise was a 15 day repo on The Spirit. There were many meals eaten in the main dining room (breakfasts and dinners) and of all of them only during ONE meal were we given impecable service.

Those crew members got a glowing comment on my comment card and were mentioned in a letter to NCL.

[Guest Anorak33]

Sometimes what you describe can happen IF there are a lot of new waiters straight from the Phillipines - as almost all of them are at the moment.And then there can be a communications problem as well if they are new and their English isn't so good.

 

They get dumped in the deep end and do not know what to do to cope.

 

However we were on the Jewel until Sunday - on the same cruise as the OP - and the crew in the Tsars main dining room were generally well experienced and the service was of a reasonable standard. Some of the best service came from exMarco Polo crew who are now on Jewel.

 

Our only complaint was that the dinnerplates were cold and the hot food only warm when it came from the galley. Oh - and the "sirloin" steak, dry and tough, only ordered it once.Otherwise excellent food and service.

 

The restaurant manager was looking into it but seemed unsure what she could do to improve the situation for the whole dining room but was trying to liase with the galley- however after I mentioned it for the third time OUR meals were always piping hot.

 

I know they can do better in that dining room, this was the third time we had been on Jewel this year and it was never a problem before, otherwise I'd just accept it.

 

The crew on Jewel are a great bunch and eager and willing to give great service, tips or not don't come into it.

 

I don't want to come over as a cheerleader or even as an apologist for Jewel but I really think its a great ship with normally great service, sometimes when there are problems the last people to speak to are at Reception, the best people are the actual department heads, I've had great success solving problems that way.

 

I've never had to resort to speaking to Capt Kostas, although he is highly accessible, specially to CC members, problems always got attention way before that was ever necessary.

[subadmiral]

I agree with the responses above that the service issues were spotty. To answer a question, our cabin attendant was excellent. We had issues with service and the Tsar's Palace, and most especially at breakfast. We were seated, for one breakfast in the forward starboard corner of that dining room, and we thought that we were in purgatory. The whole breakfast event took more than an hour and a half.I did talk to the maître d' about that and received appropriate apologies. Other service at other meals in that dining room ranged from attentive to neglected. We did eat in several of the specialty dining rooms, and found service excellent (of course we did pay the premium for the cover charge). By the way, discussions with other passengers, both seasons and newbies, confirmed my impressions.:confused:a

 

With regard to the question about the last time I took cruises on NCL, it was a Mediterranean cruise in the fall of 2001 (before freestyle cruising). Before that, our cruising on NCL had been in the Caribbean, and I was a strong advocate of NCL. Last year we made a Baltic Cruise on celebrity Cruise lines, and had an excellent Cruise. We are sailing once again on Celebrity Cruise lines next spring on a trip from Chile to Fort Lauderdale via the canal.

Also, I knew in advance that our stateroom assignment was going to be problematic -- NCL wouldn't work with me because I had booked through a travel agent (CruCon) and the travel agent did not get much satisfaction from NCL, but told me to try to work it out once I got on board. Once I got onboard, the NCL staff was unsympathetic to my plight.

And finally, the comment above regarding off ship excursions is right on. We booked one excursion through the ship (in Iceland), and although the price is more expensive, we could not do the same thing off ship since it was a Sunday, and the options are limited. Also, I had used the NCL option for transportation to the ship. My only point was that in the past using this option covered transfers on both ends -- it was a surprise this time to find that you have to pay again for the termination transfer. This may be standard in the industry now -- in the past I have generally made my own transportation arrangements.

And the comment regarding alcohol, above, is correct -- you don't have to drink it and pay the prices, but a nice glass of wine was desirable with some meals.

[Guest Anorak33]

"Once I got onboard, the NCL staff was unsympathetic to my plight."

 

That would have been the staff at the Reception Desk? I try to avoid them, they are the same as on most any other ship, i.e "call center quality". You don't usually get anywhere, they seem unable to understand your problems as they have in fact no experience of ever being a cruise passenger.

 

And you didn't mention it so I guess maybe you didn't sign up on the Roll Call or come to the Meet'nGreet on board?

 

Its always worth doing, you can get to establish a personal relationship with the senior officers and all sorts of things suddenly become possible...................some of the CC members who did come and engage with the senior officers got some great special treats.

[franu]

Some of the best service came from exMarco Polo crew who are now on Jewel.

 

I hope some of the exMarco Polo crew will be on the Jewel when I sail in January. I and others who got to know them as we were repeaters. I am really hoping that many of them (my other family) will return to the new Orient Lines as it will be sailing again starting mid-April 2009. As an ardent Orient Lines fan I am looking forward to being on board the Marco Polo II.

Fran

[Guest Anorak33]

I hope some of the exMarco Polo crew will be on the Jewel when I sail in January. I and others who got to know them as we were repeaters. I am really hoping that many of them (my other family) will return to the new Orient Lines as it will be sailing again starting mid-April 2009. As an ardent Orient Lines fan I am looking forward to being on board the Marco Polo II.

Fran

 

I have heard from recent cruisers on there that that it would be wise not to expect Marco Polo to be the same as before.

[franu]

have heard from recent cruisers on there that that it would be wise not to expect Marco Polo to be the same as before.

 

I have heard negatives about M/V Marco Polo which now has an eastern European crew and obviously the people on the bridge have difficulties keeping an even keel. The ship lists both ways. I really can't imagine this as I was on it's final cruise with Orient Lines. It is now sailing for Transocean. I will not sail on that ship now as my memories were too wonderful for me to tarnish them.

 

When the ship was sold Star Cruises kept the Orient Lines name. It has now sold the brand to Origin Cruise Group owned by Wayne Heller. As it wasn't successful purchasing the MP, it looked for another older ship of approximately the same size. After its Black Sea and Med cruises, the T/S Maxim Gorkiy will be renamed the T/S Marco Polo II. I am looking forward to a much better future with this ship than has been the fate of my former love.

Fran

[subadmiral]

I agree with the responses above that the service issues were spotty. To answer a question, our cabin attendant was excellent. We had issues with service and the Tsar's Palace, and most especially at breakfast. We were seated, for one breakfast in the forward starboard corner of that dining room, and we thought that we were in purgatory. The whole breakfast event took more than an hour and a half.I did talk to the maître d' about that and received appropriate apologies. Other service at other meals in that dining room ranged from attentive to neglected. We did eat in several of the specialty dining rooms, and found service excellent (of course we did pay the premium for the cover charge). By the way, discussions with other passengers, both seasons and newbies, confirmed my impressions.:confused:a

 

With regard to the question about the last time I took cruises on NCL, it was a Mediterranean cruise in the fall of 2001 (before freestyle cruising). Before that, our cruising on NCL had been in the Caribbean, and I was a strong advocate of NCL. Last year we made a Baltic Cruise on celebrity Cruise lines, and had an excellent Cruise. We are sailing once again on Celebrity Cruise lines next spring on a trip from Chile to Fort Lauderdale via the canal.

Also, I knew in advance that our stateroom assignment was going to be problematic -- NCL wouldn't work with me because I had booked through a travel agent (CruCon) and the travel agent did not get much satisfaction from NCL, but told me to try to work it out once I got on board. Once I got onboard, the NCL staff was unsympathetic to my plight.

And finally, the comment above regarding off ship excursions is right on. We booked one excursion through the ship (in Iceland), and although the price is more expensive, we could not do the same thing off ship since it was a Sunday, and the options are limited. Also, I had used the NCL option for transportation to the ship. My only point was that in the past using this option covered transfers on both ends -- it was a surprise this time to find that you have to pay again for the termination transfer. This may be standard in the industry now -- in the past I have generally made my own transportation arrangements.

And the comment regarding alcohol, above, is correct -- you don't have to drink it and pay the prices, but a nice glass of wine was desirable with some meals.

[Guest Anorak33]

Strange, post #10 seems to be much the same as post#5?

 

 

And did you attend the Meet'n'Greet? I would recommend it in future, it costs nothing and can only have a positive effect on your cruise experience.

[subadmiral]

You are correct, anorak33, on all counts. The unsympathetic staff was the staff at the Reception Desk. They were unusually cold and non-customer focused. However, I'm not sure who else I should have gone to.

 

Also, I did not sign up to the roll call in advance (due to my lack of knowledge) and did not know about the Meet'nGreet on board reception. I did go to the Latitudes reception, which was several days after under way, but did not feel that was the right venue to address my stateroom concern with the Captain or the hotel manager. I am going on The Celebrity Infinity next March, and want to learn more about the roll call, and reception. However, I read on another board that the roll call is being established -- is that true? How will I find out in advance about the CC reception?

 

Sub Admiral

 

"Once I got onboard, the NCL staff was unsympathetic to my plight."

 

That would have been the staff at the Reception Desk? I try to avoid them, they are the same as on most any other ship, i.e "call center quality". You don't usually get anywhere, they seem unable to understand your problems as they have in fact no experience of ever being a cruise passenger.

 

And you didn't mention it so I guess maybe you didn't sign up on the Roll Call or come to the Meet'nGreet on board?

 

Its always worth doing, you can get to establish a personal relationship with the senior officers and all sorts of things suddenly become possible...................some of the CC members who did come and engage with the senior officers got some great special treats.

[Guest Anorak33]

If you want to go to a Meet'n'Greet - or Meet'n'Mingle or whatever your fellowcruisers chosen name is for the event - then go to the roll call section of CruiseCritic, go to Norwegian, or Celebrity, or whatever the cruise line happens to be for your next cruise and look for the correct ship and date of sailing.

There are various ways to sign up, some maintain a list on the roll call, thats Ok but I like to also ask members to email me with their cabin number and name so I can contact them if there is a change to the time or place of the events on board.

 

You may, just MAY,find that the organiser of the Meet'nGreet has some longstanding personal previous connection with the Hotel Director or other senior officer on board and may be able to intervene on your behalf if there is a real problem. Its not guaranteed to work but it often can do. I've done it for people with good results and everybody was happy afterwards, especially the NCL officer who didn't get a complaint put into Miami.

[subadmiral]

Thanks for all your info. And yes, there were duplicate posts, due to a connection problem on my end.

[eastcoastcruisers]

could you please tell me the room number I have a large group going on the jewel in Jan- I want to make sure that we do not have that room booked.Thanks.

[eastcoastcruisers]

Could you please tell me the room number on deck 5 that you were in? I am part of a large group for a Jan 09 cruise and we have most of the rooms on deck 5 reserved. Thanks.

[subadmiral]

Room 5610

[C&Dmich]

Sorry but the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the recent NCL Jewel repo trip is getting to be a bit much.!

We were on that trip, see the review on the NCL board, and after three previous NCL trips it ranked as average NCL, at least for us. This ship and company are not REPEAT not in the Peter Delman?? or Crystal catagory. It is a mass transit line for cruisers that do not want to break the bank for a cruise, if you can not live with that stay off the line. Sorry if you are a first time cruiser and didn't know any better. We were inside, deck 10 and the cabin staff was wonderful. The food was NCL average. again see my review.

 

Having had my say about the reviews, here comes the kicker. Absolutly no problem with food, crew, cleaness etc but there is something about the Jewel that we dislike, possiblly/probably the size, we don't know. Probably miss the Dream which was more to our liking than the mega ships.

 

Happy Cruising:)

 

SUN

SUN

SPLENDOR of the SEAS

DREAM

JEWEL

[Guest Anorak33]

C&DMich - sure NCL is a massmarket line, yes this last T/A cruise on Jewel was average, it was our 3rd cruise on Jewel this year ( so we MUST like it) and it was better service than the previous time, and better food than the first time this year before freestyle 2.0 came in.

 

As far as size is concerned Jewel and her sister ships Gem Pearl Jade etc are considered pretty average, not mega by todays standards. We have been on most of them and like the ships and NCL.

 

If you want mega ( and I know YOU don't, nor do I ) then currently go to Royal Caribbean, or wait for the NCL F3 ship - if that ever happens.

5000 passengers sounds horribly too many to me, and unfortunately the smaller ships are not the profitmakers that the mass market cruise lines desire.

 

Too much fuel oil, too many crew per passenger on a small ship. Not enough money in it for them at the prices we are prepared to pay.

[newmexicoNita]

This brief report is with respect to the Norwegian Cruise Line Jewel transatlantic crossing from September 17-28

 

This cruise was overall poorer than we anticipated, and has changed our mind about Norwegian Cruise lines. Our state room was terrible --noisy especially. I assumed that we got this poor state room, based on our late booking. It was the last state room on the port side of level 5, right in front of the crew's pool room and bar. The biggest problem was machinery noise. Starting around five in the morning, there was a very loud pump, which consistently woke me up. We tried to upgrade (even offering to pay), but received no help. The service, especially in the dining rooms, was substandard. I think that part of the problem is that freestyle cruising, with no tipping of individual servers, tends to reward poor performance.

 

Unlike previous cruises on Norwegian Cruise lines (we have sailed with them four times before), the food was mediocre. On the Jewel, there are a lot of specialty dining rooms, all requiring service charges. Even in these dining rooms, after paying service charges (called cover charges) there are additional charges for many other food items. The specialty dining rooms had the food quality that was once associated with general dining on board Norwegian Cruise lines.

 

The prices for alcoholic beverages have also increased, and border on the unreasonable at times. Also, unlike previous times, the transportation package only included transfers in England, not in New York City. Just for comparison purposes, NCL wanted $35 per person ($70 for two) for a bus transfer to LaGuardia airport-- a cab for two people was $25.

 

On the positive side, the ports visited were very good. We liked the stop in the Shetland Islands, and enjoyed St. John's, Newfoundland, as well. Also, the onboard entertainment was very good, for the most part.

It is too bad the cruise was a disappointment to you. What were the costs of alcohol? I have always thought they were on the high side, but think about what we are now paying in a restaurant in major cities, or even smaller locations? It is not unusual to see martinis at $6.00 to $9.00 or mixed standard drinks at $5.50 to $8.00. You mention the specialty dining rooms having additional items at higher prices than the standard $15 or $20 per person. This is certainly not new, when we were on the Sun, 7 years ago the steak house and Le Bistro had specials at a higher price. You say many items, isn't it just a couple of special entrees with higher prices?

 

The transfer situation was the same when we cruised the Jewell three years ago, it included transfers from London to Dover, but not from NYC to the airport or I don't think it did, I won't swear to that.

 

Your state room, noisey, It sounds like a cabin similar to ours when we sailed the Jewell, like you we booked late. Someone has to have that cabin, I know we all wish is was someone else.

 

I hope your next cruise is a better experience.

 

Just read one of OPs responses, he hadn't cruised NCL since the starting of freestyle, this may explain some of his remarks. He may not have cruised many lines since then. Perhaps had he cruised more recently he would have been more prepared for the specialty dining room charges, the cost of drinks and a few other concerns he raised. Cruising has changed a lot in the past 5 or 10 years, we all know that.

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

I won't speak for the OP, but in my opinion the service in the dining room on my NCL cruise was indeed substandard.

Before I get jumped on, I want to say that my NCL cruise was my overall favorite cruise of all time...BUT the service in the dining room is shoddy compared to other lines.

IF you need an example, here is one.

 

4 of us sat down for breakfast. We ordered...and waited...and waited...and waited.

Finally, the waiter brought over our fruit.

Then seconds later he brought over the entire order for one of the 4 of us...who politely let it sit in front of him, assuming ours would be brought out soon.

After 5 minutes, we insisted he begine eating or his food would be cold. So, he ate.

He ate his entire breakfast and we still were waiting for ours. And we waited quite a while. To be honest, I don't know why we sat there so long. I guess we weren't in a hurry that morning.

 

The crew was friendly, there is no doubt, but service is just not the same as on other lines.

 

Will that stop me from sailing NCL??? No way. The rest of that cruise was a LOT of fun. We really had a blast. As far as dinign room service, I am easy to please. The shoddy service was noticeable but not enough to keep me away. I'll be on the Star in March. ;)

For those that do need perfection, NCL will not make them happy.

 

I did think the food tasted good on that cruise, however; better than RCI although not quite as good as CCL.

 

Oh...that cruise was a 15 day repo on The Spirit. There were many meals eaten in the main dining room (breakfasts and dinners) and of all of them only during ONE meal were we given impecable service.

Those crew members got a glowing comment on my comment card and were mentioned in a letter to NCL.

Halo, we had a similar dining room experience on Princess earlier this year. One morning there were 7 of us at the table, everyone got their breakfast at a different time, mine being last and my eggs were still clear in the inside, the spinach was still cold, almost frozen. I could have sent it back but everyone else was about finished so I just skipped breakfast. BTW our waiters on Princess throughout the entire cruise with rare exception were just plain not friendly; I wouldn't say bad, but just not persaonable in any way. Maybe this is a sign of the times. We felt somewhat the same on the Star last fall. Some outstanding service, some lacking. I have learned if we ask questions about their families, etc they usually give better service. I think they get homesick and like to have people care about them.

 

Nita

[Shannon12]

Sometimes what you describe can happen IF there are a lot of new waiters straight from the Phillipines - as almost all of them are at the moment.And then there can be a communications problem as well if they are new and their English isn't so good.

 

They get dumped in the deep end and do not know what to do to cope.

 

.

 

I don't see that as any excuse for bad service. If the waiters aren't prepared, they shouldn't be there. That really makes it NCL's fault for not properly training their servers, no?

[subadmiral]

Uncle! I accept the judgment of my more experienced fellow travelers. Although I haven't traveled on NCL since 2002, I was comparing it to Celebrity Cruise lines and Costa, which I have traveled since then, as recently as a year ago. As compared to my most recent cruise on Celebrity a year ago, the food wasn't as good (but it was decent), the service in the dining rooms was generally good, with a few notable exceptions (two breakfasts in the Tsars Palace and one dinner in the other dining room(Azuma)) and fees were overall higher -- that is probably due to the state of the economy as much anything else. Drink prices were a little higher, but not too much so, and it was pointed out that drinks are optional

So yes, I will cruise on NCL again, and I will enjoy the cruise. Next time, I will know better about the meet'N'greet reception, and will read Cruise critic more thoroughly before departure.

[travelloverontario]

Subadmiral....I have to commend you for the tone of all your responses. It is nice to read posts that stay positive !!!

[meaclasact2]

Subadmiral...may I ask you one question please? How was the sea when you hit the North Atlantic? Was it choppy? Did you hit the tailend of any of those hurricaines? We're on the same cruise next year - and now I'm wondering if the seas might end up being more than I bargained for. I like a good bounce - let's me know that Mother Nature is reminding me who is really in charge. But I still want to be able to get out on the deck and do a good walkabout.

 

Thank you and my apologies for going a bit OT.