Just Off the Jewel

[NOVACruisers]

We just returned from a wonderful repostioning cruise on the Jewel. I would be happy to answer any questions I can concerning the ship, embarkation (NYC)/debarkation(MIA), restaurants, entertainment, and in particular, Courtyard Villas (A3).

[ecclectic-eccentric]

Thanks for offering your help with our questions! I hope you had a great trip. By chance, did you purchase the spa day pass? If so, how much was it and did you feel it was a good value?

 

I'm sure I'll have more questions...

 

Thanks again!

ee

[NOVACruisers]

We didn't on this particular cruise, but did on the Dawn. The day passes on the Jewel were $20/pp/day or $150/pp for the full 12 days. We really enjoyed the passes on the Dawn - the pool and relaxation room with heated beds overlooking the water were fantastic and my DH used the sauna every day. I think the full cruise passes are a very good deal if you are going to use the facilities often. You also get full use of the facilities when you purchase any spa treatment.

[jp2001]

Which restaurants did you go to? What was the price and which one you favorite ones?

 

Will you post a review?

 

Thanks!

[NOVACruisers]

Which restaurants did you go to? What was the price and which one you favorite ones?

 

Will you post a review?

 

Thanks!

 

We went to all the restaurants except for the Asian restaurants. The prices were:

 

Tsar's Palace - Free

Azura - Free

Le Bistro - $15

Cagney's - $20

Sushi Bar - $15

Chin-Chin - $15

Mongolian Hot Pot - $15

Tango's - $10

Mama's - $10

Teppanyaki - $25

 

We liked Le Bistro and Mama's the best. They actually prepared a better steak than at Cagney's! The pasta at Mama's is fair, but the Veal Marsala was very good. The main dining room fare was not bad, but service is slow. The Garden Cafe food was exceptionally good for a cruise line buffet with lots of choices.

[Almagetty]

I'm glad to see your comments about the Jewel. We will be onboard next summer in the Baltic and are happy to see any and all comments about this ship.

[NOVACruisers]

I'll try to write a review of our cruise if I can find time after doing 12 days x2 of laundry and getting back to work!

[jp2001]

I'll try to write a review of our cruise if I can find time after doing 12 days x2 of laundry and getting back to work!

 

 

 

I completely understand, I posted my review of the QM2 last weekend (and the crossing was in August)...

 

Thank you very much for the restaurants update!

[ecclectic-eccentric]

Thanks for the info!

ee

[nannylynn]

We just returned from a wonderful repostioning cruise on the Jewel. I would be happy to answer any questions I can concerning the ship, embarkation (NYC)/debarkation(MIA), restaurants, entertainment, and in particular, Courtyard Villas (A3).

I must disagree with you. I thought the food and service were awful, but I see you ate in the specialty restaurants a lot, so you did not have to deal with the wait staff. We ate in Mama's which was great. Thought the chinese was awful......

[tini]

We just returned from a wonderful repostioning cruise on the Jewel. I would be happy to answer any questions I can concerning the ship, embarkation (NYC)/debarkation(MIA), restaurants, entertainment, and in particular, Courtyard Villas (A3).

 

Did you happen to notice if the cigar lounge is still open on the Jewel? Some threads a while back made suggestion that it may not be used for this purpose anymore.

[4evrwild]

;)We were on the Jewel cruise before the repositioning one and service was a problem because of the Norovirus and wait staffing having to serve in the buffet as well as restauratns.

 

Was there still a problem with the virus? We were on the Jewel to the Baltics in June also when the virus was quite rampant. I'm wondering if the warmer Caribbean weather will kill the nasty thing?

 

Thanks,

Ruth

[Luckyroot]

we booked the jewel for NEXT year (2009) repo, so I'm very much looking forward to your review.

 

Do you have the dailies to post? Pics / ports / anything would be greatly appreciated!

[rickechambers1@aol.com]

TWELVE DAYS in a villa suite! Wow...now that's RELAXATION at it's best. Congrats...I'm so jealous! One day...one day. Welcome back to reality! :)

[redlef]

;)We were on the Jewel cruise before the repositioning one and service was a problem because of the Norovirus and wait staffing having to serve in the buffet as well as restauratns.

 

Was there still a problem with the virus? We were on the Jewel to the Baltics in June also when the virus was quite rampant. I'm wondering if the warmer Caribbean weather will kill the nasty thing?

 

Thanks,

Ruth

 

I was on the repo too. I wasn't aware of any norovirus problems. The hotel director said they would lift the buffet self-service restrictions after 72 hours of "no outbreak," which I believe he defined as less than 1-1/2% of passengers being infected. By the third day, everyone's dirty, greasy fingers were into the buffet as normal. they were still very proactive about asking passengers to disinfect their hands, and early in the morning and late at night you would see crew hands with disinfectant working on the bannisters in the stairways as well as anything else you might touch.

 

The cigar lounge is physically there, with the cigars in the display cases, but there are "no smoking" signs. The room was pretty vacant most of the 12 days that I remember.

 

I ate in Tsars twice and Asura 5 or 6 times. I can't remember any problem with the service any time. Even on the lobster nights, food was quickly and promptly served. One night in Asuras, it took the waiter 10 minutes to get our orders, but on a 12 day cruise, I don't feel that those 10 unproductive minutes impacted my impression of the service.

 

I think the Jewel is a very well managed and maintained ship, and I am definitely looking at booking it for one of the repo's next spring or fall.

 

If someone could just get that cruise director to stop screaming over the intercom every ten minutes . . . :D

[meaclasact2]

Thanks for the comments - we'll be on the Jewel next September and I appreciate everything you've posted.

 

Sounds like you had a really nice trip. Good for you! Isn't cruising just the best? :D;):):rolleyes:

[Bocadude85]

Glad to hear the Jewel is doing well, can't wait to go on her next month.

[davidnkim]

We just returned from a wonderful repostioning cruise on the Jewel. I would be happy to answer any questions I can concerning the ship, embarkation (NYC)/debarkation(MIA), restaurants, entertainment, and in particular, Courtyard Villas (A3).

 

Just curious, previously when we've been on her in the Villa area they had Sodas, water & creamer in the fridge in the Villa. Do they still have this?

 

Also, do they still serve finger foods during the day in the Courtyard and Breakfast buffet in the lounge?

 

Anything else about the villas to be elaborated on is great too. We've been in the area quite a bit, but things always change. We Love sailing on the Jewel, the staff & service is always Awesome!

Thanks!

[bpmac112166]

How long did it take you to disembark??

[redlef]

How long did it take you to disembark??

 

Disembarkation was pretty slow. There were 7 ships in port that morning and I think customs / immigration was overwhelmed. They started calling by colored tags around 9:45. Express Disembarkation began a little earlier, but still later than expected.

 

I was in the 10:20 disembarking group, and didn't get off the ship until they called us around 11AM. Then it took almost an hour to get through customs, an entire ship of passengers funneled down to just 5 customs agents.

 

Then, 7 ships full of people went outside to the taxi stand/ passenger pickup areas. And just to make it extra exciting, there was a bicycle rally in Miami around the port and many roads were closed or one-way. It took us twenty minutes to get from the Port to Hertz, which was actually only 8 blocks from the Port entrance.

 

We rented a car to tool around Miami for the day, and quite a few other people had the same idea. We waited at Hertz close to an hour for a car. I was in the car driving around Miami by 1:30 PM.

[bpmac112166]

Wow.....I think I may be in trouble then. We will be going on the Jewel the week of Thanksgiving, returning to Miami on Friday @8am. Our return flight is due to leave at 12pm. Hhhmm..if it takes that long to disembark, I'm not sure we will make it.

[redlef]

Wow.....I think I may be in trouble then. We will be going on the Jewel the week of Thanksgiving, returning to Miami on Friday @8am. Our return flight is due to leave at 12pm. Hhhmm..if it takes that long to disembark, I'm not sure we will make it.

 

One of the choices for "excursions" on debarkation day will be transport to the airport. It was $15PP if I remember correctly. There were several choices of times, based on flight time. IOW, you may be OK.

 

Also, as I said, we had 7 ships in port. Even the Hertz shuttle driver commented that it was unusual.

[mablinki]

Would have to say that this is the worst NCL cruise I have ever been on except for my cabin stewards who were fantastic.

 

Dining service was sooo slow at the Azura. They don't give you the attention that waitstaff used to give. It's a pity. And there is usually a wait in the non-pay dining areas for a table.

 

Always trying to sell something. Just my 2 cents worth.

[Cammie]

I was also on this cruise, and of 14 cruises, this was the worst I've ever been on. Service was horribly slow, embarkation and debarkation were a nightmare. Staff was outright rude at times. Drinks were horribly overpriced, as were most onboard activities. While the cruise line can't be held accountable for the lousy weather, there was very little to do onboard (that didn't cost extra). Food in the main dining rooms was very, very poor quality, seemingly to encourage passengers to use the specialty restaurants. I'll be giving up cruising in the near future because of this cruise. The price and value of land-based all-inclusive vacations has gotten my attention and truly can't be beat.

[redlef]

I was also on this cruise, and of 14 cruises, this was the worst I've ever been on. Service was horribly slow, embarkation and debarkation were a nightmare. Staff was outright rude at times. Drinks were horribly overpriced, as were most onboard activities. While the cruise line can't be held accountable for the lousy weather, there was very little to do onboard (that didn't cost extra). Food in the main dining rooms was very, very poor quality, seemingly to encourage passengers to use the specialty restaurants. I'll be giving up cruising in the near future because of this cruise. The price and value of land-based all-inclusive vacations has gotten my attention and truly can't be beat.

 

Funny how 2 people can have such different opinions of the same trip. Sorry you didn't have a good time, Cammie.