Jewel 2/6 - 2/15

[Pauser]

We too were on this cruise. We'd been on this ship two years ago and thought it still looked beautiful. The staff is constantly cleaning and working to keep it in shape. One morning they replaced the carpet in the hallway outside our cabin door before we even left.

 

EMBARKATION: Thought it took longer than usual, but it could be because the weather was COLD for Florida -- chilly and windy. But all in all, it took about an hour. They handed out the Freestyle daily while we were in line, which listed venues available for lunch. One was Tsar's Palace, so we headed there once on board and had a great lunch.

 

FOOD: I know this is important to a lot of people. This is the first time ever that we only ate in the dining room one night of the entire cruise. There were several reasons. First, it seemed that most people skipped the specialty restaurants and went to the dining rooms, which made for longer wait times and larger crowds. Second, this was a very active cruise. Five days in a row, we were up and off the ship by or before 10 a.m. We'd get back on the ship around 3:30 or 4:00 and were starving. We'd eat then and weren't really hungry again until much later. This highlighted one area that didn't work so well. At 4:00, dining options are limited. The pool grill is open (we ate there once), Blue Lagoon, and half of the Great Outdoors. Thus, there were long wait times then as well. The dining rooms don't open until 5:30, and the buffet at 5:00. If they had opened both sides of the Great Outdoors it would have helped with crowding. Anyway, we ate at the buffet twice for dinner -- it's a great option; we really liked the variety and quality of food available. It also wasn't very crowded. We ate at Le Bistro three times for dinner and Cagney's once. One night we ordered room service, and another we ate at Blue Lagoon. I would also recommend Blue Lagoon as a breakfast option. I think they serve until 11. Although the menu is limited, they were pretty flexible as far as asking for something else, and it was never crowded. We also ate at Le Bistro for the jazz brunch on Friday. Really enjoyed it. Menus in the dining room weren't too exciting in general, although we certainly could have found something to eat. I've been on four NCL cruises, and it just seems that they recycle the same menus. A few changes would be nice. But if you're on a budget and plan to eat in the dining room, you'll be fine. We ate there the last night and really enjoyed it.

 

PORTS

 

Samana - We did the ATV excursion and loved it! This is the perfect place to do it as there are many unpaved roads. Because it was Sunday, people were home. They sat on their porches and waved as we drove by. The kids came out in the street and held their hands out to slap ours as we drove by. The people here are so warm and friendly. We ended up on a deserted beach at a beach bar. Breathtaking! We were about 25 minutes from port, and just as we were heading back, the skies opened up and it poured all the way back. Oh well! If you're into this type of adventure, I would highly recommend this exursion.

 

Tortola - Did the Sea and See excursion. We boarded a boat in Road Town and sailed among many islands for about 90 minutes. We ended up at Soper's Hole on the other end of Tortola. We had about a half hour here to wander in and out of shops and then boarded open-air vans for a two-hour sightseeing island tour back to port. We really enjoyed it and got to see a lot.

 

Antigua - Hired a cab and did an island tour. If we go back to Antigua, we'll take a cab to Nelson's dockyard. There is a museum, a couple of bars, and several restaurants here. Nice place to have lunch. It's a marina, so no beach.

 

Barbados - Shopped in port and then hired a cab/van for a tour. Visited an old church and cemetary, a botanical garden, an old plantation, and had lunch at the Edgewater Inn on the Atlantic coast, an open-air restaurant overlooking the crashing waves. This island was more developed than we expected and very beautiful. Took a leisurely drive back to port.

 

St. Lucia - Because we left port early, all excursions offered by NCL started way too early for us. We ended up hiring a cab around 11:30 and asked for a three-hour tour. They wanted $140! We ended up bargaining with them and settled on $75, which was still high. We visited a banana plantation, two small fishing villages, drove thru the rainforest, visted the volcano, and saw the pitons before heading back to port. This was a beautiful island, but it left me somewhat depressed. Unemployment runs at about 40%. Parents must pay for their children to attend school, as well as for school supplies and uniforms. If you can't pay (i.e., you're unemployed), your child cannot go to school. We saw lots of kids loitering who should have been in school. Our cab driver said many people only work when ships are in port. Because of this, everywhere you go, people can be very aggressive and try to sell you souveniers, jewelry, etc. One other thing of note. As we were driving thru the rainforest, kids would come out of the foliage with pythons draped around their necks and try to flag us down. The snakes are non-poisonus, and will "pose" around your neck for a photo. It costs $5. This is definitely not my cup of tea, but if you've always wanted to pose with a large snake around your neck, this is the place to do it!

 

ENTERTAINMENT: Because we ate dinner around 8:30 or later, we never made it to any shows. We enjoyed musicians in some of the lounges and spent more time in the casino than we usually do. I won two slot jackpots for a total of more than $1,800! It was a very nice surprise.

 

DEBARKATION: We did self-disembark, which worked fine. We didn't get in line to leave until about 9:30 as we had a later flight. Got a cab right away and were at Miami Airport in about 20 minutes.

 

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: Loved the cruise. Nine days was the perfect amount of time. I always feel that seven is not quite long enough. I can't say enough about the ship staff -- they work so hard. We did not encounter one emplyee who was not smiling, helpful, and gracious. Loved the intinerary too. I enjoy freestyle cruising and can't imagine doing it any other way. Would be happy to answer any questions.

[mafig]

Thank you for your review.

 

We are also doing Sea and See in Tortola. Did they offer any refreshments on this tour?

 

In St. Lucia did you dock or tender?

 

Were both restaurants crowded?

 

 

We're going March 6 and are looking forward to it.:)

[Pauser]

Thank you for your review.

 

We are also doing Sea and See in Tortola. Did they offer any refreshments on this tour?

 

There were drinks available on the boat portion - fruit punch or rum punch. At Soper's Hole you could purchase food or drinks.

 

In St. Lucia did you dock or tender?

 

We docked. There was one other ship in port. If there are more than two at a time, I think you'll have to tender as it's a small port.

 

Were both restaurants crowded?

 

Both dining rooms were pretty crowded each night from what we saw. But they will give you a beeper and beep you when a table is ready, so it shouldn't be too big an issue.

 

 

We're going March 6 and are looking forward to it.:)

Have a great time!

[terrymtex01]

Thanks for your great review. I appreciate you taking the time to post it.

 

I did have a question about St. Lucia. We are going there in Nov on the Dawn and are debating about taking a tour via land or sea. The only reason the land tour is winning over the sea tour is the land tour goes through the volcano. To be honest I want to take the sea tour, but we really want to see the volcano. Was it worth seeing in your opinion? OH.. and the snake thing.. OMG... You have NO IDEA how my biggest fear in life is snakes. If the tour operator were to stop to let folks have a pic taking with a huge snake I will be in such a panic I don't know what I would do.

[Pauser]

The volocano is dormant. You'll be able to walk around on a viewing platform and take pictures of steam and sulfur coming out of the ground, which looks like a big giant rock. We wanted to see it because we'd never seen a volcano other than Mt. St. Helens. Honestly, it takes so long to get here from the cruise ships that I would take the sea tour, especially if that's what you really want to do. It's a good hour from port on really steep windy roads thru the rainforest. About the snakes -- if you don't want to pose with them, tell your driver not to stop. I jokingly told ours I'd pay her the $5 not to stop! But I'd do the sea tour -- the volcano wasn't worth missing out on something you really want to do.

[swishers5]

We are also going on the March 6th cruise...I checked and the only port we tender is Samana. We get to dock in St. Lucia. Yeah!

[stlrboo]

Great review!! I am constantly looking for reviews about the Freestyle concept, as we are sailing on the Jewel for 18 days in 2010!!:)

 

Appreciate the fact that you took the time to post..!!:p

[caspmorn]

Thanks for the nice review. Very helpful information

[terrymtex01]

The volocano is dormant. You'll be able to walk around on a viewing platform and take pictures of steam and sulfur coming out of the ground, which looks like a big giant rock. We wanted to see it because we'd never seen a volcano other than Mt. St. Helens. Honestly, it takes so long to get here from the cruise ships that I would take the sea tour, especially if that's what you really want to do. It's a good hour from port on really steep windy roads thru the rainforest. About the snakes -- if you don't want to pose with them, tell your driver not to stop. I jokingly told ours I'd pay her the $5 not to stop! But I'd do the sea tour -- the volcano wasn't worth missing out on something you really want to do.

 

Thanks for the info. I really appreciate it.