My review of the Jewel 11/15/14

Let me start by saying this is my first time to write a review so bare with me :). This was our 3rd cruise, but 1st with NCL. It was myself, husband, & 2kids in room 11506 (Ruby Penthouse 2 bedroom family suite) and my parents in their own room 11012 (Jade Penthouse 2 bedroom family suite).

Embarkation - We arrived at port 10:50 am, parked, and went straight to suite check in area (11:20). We were told to go inside and collect our room keys and have snacks, but the moment we got our keys they were ready to escort us on. We were met by the outgoing concierge in his street clothes, no name tag. We later found out his contract was up and the new concierge had not arrived yet. It ended up being the concierge supervisor who did his roll and hers for the week. Anyway we were taken straight to our rooms which weren't ready yet so we left our carry ons there and headed to Moderno for lunch (took 1 1/2 hours).

Room 11506 - Great room. A few small issues: batteries dead in remote, broken outlet, broken safe, holes in robe, broken curtain tie backs, missing DVD cable, fridge not emptied like requested, toilets didn't flush. Everything was fixed next day, except toilets which were fixed by sail away. Quiet room, would book again.

Food - Great! No complaints! LOVED Cagney's! We ate once at Tsar's, Azure, O'Sheehan's, La Cucina, and Cagney's. Food great, service took 1 1/2 hours each time, with the exception of Cagney's which took 2 hours (at 7:30 pm). We had a pizza delivered one night and were never charged the $5. We enjoyed the Garden Café and my kids loved Rowen "Washy Washy guy". We ate breakfast (1 hour) and lunch (1 1/2 hours) in Moderno almost daily. Great food, slow service at all the restaurants.

Ship - Never felt like any area was crowded. Walked through the casino once, never used it. Kids loved the slide. Pool was empty most days by 5:30 and they had it to themselves. We saw one show, Le Cirque Bijou, LOVED it!

Staff - Always friendly. Our room steward was Augusto, he was great. My parents had Rudolpho and loved him. Our butler was Teresa who was wonderful. In addition to the daily treats she also brought special ones for the kids like a daily plate of cookies and a full bowl of M&M's. On port days she would also have a plate of sandwiches/chips and a fruit plate waiting for us when we returned from our excursions. Our concierge was Florentina. We had to seek her out if we ever needed anything, but she was great as well. Made all the dining reservations we requested. We saw one show and she invited us to sit in the reserved seats because there was room available. She even surprised us with a bridge tour. That was fantastic. The kids loved the captain and he let them try on his hat and sit in his chair.

Debarkation - Arrived at Chin Chin 6:50am, we were escorted to the exit, went through customs, and were in our car driving away at 7:37 am. Very fast and easy.

I will post the excursions separately.

Thank you so much for taking the time to post a review! We sail the Jewel in February, so I get super excited to see new postings about her! I love that you had quite a list of problems in your room, but called them "a few small issues". I love your attitude!

Can't wait to hear about your excursions! :D

We have been before and wanted to return to Punta Sur. I had reserved a car online via Alamo. Florentina escorted us off the ship the moment we were cleared. We took a taxi ($10 for the six of us) to Alamo. We got a minivan (for more than we were told online due to required insurance, we ended up paying $110 vs the $75 I booked online.) We drove 45 min to Punta Sur and were there by 9:30 am. We stayed until 1:30 and returned to port. We picked up the Alamo employee and he rode with us back to port and took the car from us there. We shopped and returned to the boat at 3 pm. Great day, fantastic weather!

That photo is absolutely gorgeous! Wow!!!

You are much braver than we are. We have not traveled much, so tend to stick to cruise-sponsored excursions, or at least excursions that leave right from the port. Seeing what you can discover when you venture out on your own has inspired me. :)

We took the NCL excursion to Altun Ha Ruins & Bacab Eco Park. We met in the Stardust Theater and were escorted to the tender boat and met our guide at the pier. We were loaded onto a bus and drove 1 hour to the ruins. We were led by our guide through the ruins. (I had hoped to visit them on our own and had no idea it would be a guided tour.) We returned to the bus and drove 1 hour to Bacab. We had 1 1/2 hours here to swim/eat. We wanted all the pool time we could get, so 5 of us skipped the meal. The one who ate enjoyed the food. We loved the pool. Beware of the slide. It was rock and VERY SLIPPERY. It was super fast and the hanging foliage smacked you on the way down. We returned to the bus and had a 45 minute ride to port. We did some shopping and were back on the ship by 4 pm. My only real complaint here was all the bus time, but that was unavoidable due to the distance between the sites and the port. The guides were great and gave lots of information and answered questions the whole time.

We booked a cabana at Tranquility Bay Resort after finding out about it here. We had to leave the secure port area and walk a block or so to a bar to meet our host at 9 am. It had started raining at this point. We were met by our boat driver Carlos. We climbed into his little boat from the beach and were on our way. There were 8 of us, plus Carlos and his brother. It was about a 10 minute boat ride.

We arrived on the beach and went to the bar and were given our cabana number/door code. The cabana was great. We hung out there for a few minutes to put on swimsuits and wait for the rain to let up. It did and we had a nice 2 hours on the beach playing and swimming and exploring the beach. We headed back to our cabana just as a downpour hit. SO MUCH RAIN! We were glad to have a cabana. We hung out there until it was time to go back at 1:30. (Still raining by the way.)

We climbed into the boat, 13 people this time and Carlos and his brother. The boat had a floor full of rain water that a passenger started bailing as we were driving away. There was water in the gas, so the boat sputtered the whole way, we thought for sure it was going to stop running any moment. We also thought we were going to capsize a few times. We made it back to the bar and had to walk all the way back to port in a foot of street water.

We made it to the tender line up. Not at all organized. People everywhere. We found out later some people had waited 2 hours for a tender. Apparently all the muck in the water was causing problems and when the tender boats would arrive they had to have divers go down and remove the seaweed from the engines before they could return to the Jewel. It took us an hour to get on a tender. We were back on the Jewel by 3:05. The last tender was suppose to be 3:30, but I was told by people watching that the last one returned at 5:30.

At the time we thought what a bad experience, but once back safely on the Jewel we were able to laugh and say what an adventure we had. You can't control the weather. We made the most of it and really enjoyed Tranquility Bay & our cabana!

We had a fantastic first cruise with NCL and have booked a cruise on the Pearl to Alaska in May. We can't wait! I'm unable to edit my first post, but want to say that our minor issues were fixed right away to our satisfaction and that we couldn't have been happier with Teresa & Florentina. They were fabulous! Teresa said she will be with us on the Pearl next May and we look forward to seeing her again! This was a wonderful cruise experience despite a little rain here and there! We have only positive things to say and I'll answer any questions and post more pictures if there is anything in particular someone wants to see.

We had a fantastic first cruise with NCL and have booked a cruise on the Pearl to Alaska in May. We can't wait! I'm unable to edit my first post, but want to say that our minor issues were fixed right away to our satisfaction and that we couldn't have been happier with Teresa & Florentina. They were fabulous! Teresa said she will be with us on the Pearl next May and we look forward to seeing her again! This was a wonderful cruise experience despite a little rain here and there! We have only positive things to say and I'll answer any questions and post more pictures if there is anything in particular someone wants to see.

Hi home-mom,

Thanks so much, for taking time out to post your review...

Glad to know you had a wonderful vacation, including the rain :)

We're cruising on the Jewel this Saturday (11/29) and are even more excited after reading your review :D

Thanks again for a great review...

Have a great day!

Thanks for your review, especially that of Tranquility Bay. We are going in December and can't wait.

Loving these photos and hope to see more. Glad you posted a review because it was fun to read!!

This was also our third cruise and first with NCL. We hope to cruise again with NCL in the near future. Alaska sounds about perfect. :D

We stayed in Kemah the night before. Arrived at the terminal about 10:15AM and were on the boat by noon. Embarkation and debarkation were far easier than our first two cruises (out of NOLA and Mobile with Carnival). Piece of cake. We were totally in love with NCL by noon.

Lunch at Tzar with a table by the windows. aaaahhhhh

We had booked an outside obstructed view ($339pp) and ended up with Room 8574. The location was super. Entering our cabin, we found a notice that we had been given $100obc. When I asked an employee about it, the answer was, "There is no rhyme or reason to why you may get obc right off the bat." A couple hours later we figured out that there was no view at all out our little cabin windows. We asked about it at the customer service desk. The next day, my DH answers the cabin phone and was told we had been awarded another $100obc and dinner for two at a speciality restaurant. Apparently, the windows had been frosted over after we had made our reservations.

We booked no excursions. We did that to save $$ and it was fine. Although, one of these days, I sure want to see ruins. Trujillo was amazing. We got a couple hours in before the rain started. Just beautiful country and the people were so friendly. We were looking for something to purchase one of our kids in the central market area. There were some beautiful carved boxes. When I asked the vendor where they were made, he proudly answered "Taiwan!"

There were a few very skinny dogs wandering around. Later, I wished we had thought to purchase some dog food in a market. Maybe not even a good idea, but it would have been nice to do something for them.

In the central market area, there was free wi-fi, but I had to stand in one little spot to make it work. Just stayed there long enough to email mom and kids to let them know all was fine. We met a tour operator from Chicago who has lived in Trujillo area since 1989. He thinks more folks should retire in There and said we could live well for $1000/mo (after home is paid for). Beautiful area, but we are not tempted.

In Belize and Cozumel, we stayed in port area. This was our third trip to Cozumel and first time to stay in port shopping part. I do not care to do that again. We used wi-fi at Wet Lizard in Belize City and it was so slow. Later we went to the upstairs part where the wi-fi was much better. It uses a different password, but they gave it to me because we had purchased a t-shirt downstairs.

We visited O'Sheehan's on sea days for $13.75 pitchers (Newcastle Brown, Heineken, Amstel Light). Never thought we'd think $13.75 pitchers were a great deal, but we did on the cruise. :)

We saw several shows: opening one, Luminescence, Cirque Bijou and enjoyed them. We sat in on karaoke in the Fizz Lounge several nights. One evening, attendance was quite sparse. We decided to check out the Liars Club in the Spinnaker. THAT was where everybody was. We only caught the last twenty minutes and it was hilarious. We wished we had headed there first.

We dined in Tzar, Azura, O'Sheehan's and Cagney's..plus the buffet. (If you eat breakfast in buffet on morning you dock at Trujillo, eat in Great Outdoors area. The view will blow you away). All of it was good. The food in O'Sheehan's was the "least special" but we enjoyed it. I only gained two lbs this cruise. DH and I took the stairs every time, with perhaps 3 exceptions, and I made it to the gym 5 days. I think it paid off. We ate four meals daily, including three desserts. I am not bragging, just stating facts, lol.

The line to tender to Belize was long. Employees were making sure folks did not cut and it was a good thing because some people seemed bound and determined that they would not wait in that long line. That thirty minutes of waiting and watching some rather rude behavior was as bad as it ever got on the cruise. And, that was certainly not NCL's fault.

We watched a little football in Maltings a couple nights. Sometimes we would sit at the little bar in O'Sheehans where you can look down into the atrium. It was fun to people watch and listen to the music.

We carried our own luggage and left the cabin about 7:15AM. We pulled out of the parking lot at 7:55AM. The line moved so quickly.

Such a great time.

We are going to Altun-Ha, so I love your pictures! I'm so glad to hear that your guides were so great!

Our cruise stops at Roatan, not Trujillo, or I would be all over that cabana rental! So cool! :)

Thank you for your review. I am also sailing on Jewel Nov. 29.

Unfortunately your photos wouldn't open on my PC. I'm going to try my Ipad later.

Thanks for this. Looking to book this next year around this time. Could not go this year was we are selling our house to go into a condo...

Retired from solving other People's Problems

CWO-4 US Army Retired/Medical

NSDQ!!!

SO MUCH RAIN! We were glad to have a cabana. We hung out there until it was time to go back at 1:30. (Still raining by the way.)

 

We climbed into the boat, 13 people this time and Carlos and his brother. The boat had a floor full of rain water that a passenger started bailing as we were driving away. There was water in the gas, so the boat sputtered the whole way, we thought for sure it was going to stop running any moment. We also thought we were going to capsize a few times. We made it back to the bar and had to walk all the way back to port in a foot of street water.

Ohhh, so YOU'RE the ones who barged in front of us to get on the boat first.

Based on your retelling, however, I owe you a big hug and an enthusiastic "Thank you!" for doing so. :) For one thing, Carlos and his brother emptied most of the water from the boat and fixed the problem with the water in the gas line before taking the next group. For another, the ride wasn't nearly as choppy for the second group back (though according to Linday and others, I get the idea it got worse again after that). Third, for our trip (and I presume thereafter) they went past the original pickup point and dropped us off near the tender area, so no long walk/wade for us!

So it all worked out for us in the end. :)

And what about that ride back in the life boats, eh? :eek: WHEEEEEE!!!

P.S.: I am assuming/hoping that Larry and Linda's next big investment will be a larger, more stable motorboat for transporting guests to and from Tranquility Bay. The resort itself is great (as are Larry and Linda themselves!), but IMO they ought to have something better than what amounts to a bathtub with benches, a motor on the back and a canopy over the top.

Ohhh, so YOU'RE the ones who barged in front of us to get on the boat first.

 

And what about that ride back in the life boats, eh? :eek: WHEEEEEE!!!

I hope you are only kidding about the barging in...we asked about going back at noon and they told us 1:30 and that Carlos would come get us to be on the first boat and then it was sort of a free for all when he showed up. He did say they are going to build a pier at the bar for the boat, hopefully they do that at the resort, too. That would help a little.

The tender ride back was awful, too. Security merged people together at the last minute and waved us through but stopped my 14 year old and sent her to a different line so we had to explain she was with us so we could all be on the same tender. Then the only seats left were at the front against the wall, which had a small hole that sprayed water in with every wave, so pretty much the whole time. But we were soaked anyway 😄.

Glad everything worked out for you!

I hope you are only kidding about the barging in...we asked about going back at noon and they told us 1:30 and that Carlos would come get us to be on the first boat and then it was sort of a free for all when he showed up. He did say they are going to build a pier at the bar for the boat, hopefully they do that at the resort, too. That would help a little.

Mostly, and I don't blame you. We were given the impression that we would be first. You're right, it was a free for all. They may want to plan a process in the future to figure out ahead of time who is going back when, especially on days with two ships at a time. Of course, with the downpour, it meant more people wanted to be first. In better weather I imagine people would be clamoring to be on the LAST trip back. :)

Mostly, and I don't blame you. We were given the impression that we would be first. You're right, it was a free for all. They may want to plan a process in the future to figure out ahead of time who is going back when, especially on days with two ships at a time. Of course, with the downpour, it meant more people wanted to be first. In better weather I imagine people would be clamoring to be on the LAST trip back. :)

In couldn't agree more!

Do you have any other pictures of TB, we are booked there with a cabana in late January. Also can you discuss the walk to the son's restaurant/bar. Safe? People trying to get you to buy stuff, etc? Can you also talk about the cost of food/drink, etc?

Do you have any other pictures of TB, we are booked there with a cabana in late January. Also can you discuss the walk to the son's restaurant/bar. Safe? People trying to get you to buy stuff, etc? Can you also talk about the cost of food/drink, etc?

When you walk out of port towards the bus area turn right and walk out through the security gate. Stay on the left and walk about a block to the bar. There were a lot of people asking if they could give you a ride somewhere etc., but it didn't feel unsafe. Knowing we would have a cabana we took snacks/drinks with us so I'm not sure about food costs other than $4 for a bottle of beer.

Oops I had a typo. Should've said stay on the right side of the road. It's only a few buildings down and Larry was there waiting to greet people.

Did you book the cabana directly through the resort? Sounds nice and might be something we want to do on our February Jewel cruise.

Did you book the cabana directly through the resort? Sounds nice and might be something we want to do on our February Jewel cruise.

Yes, I went through their website.

http://tranquilitybayhonduras.com

Hi!

Thank you for the review! I am booked in 11518 in April and was wondering if you have any pics of your room? I have seen some video tours online but wondered if the decor has been updated since those videos were taken? Thanks in advance.

Hi!

 

Thank you for the review! I am booked in 11518 in April and was wondering if you have any pics of your room? I have seen some video tours online but wondered if the decor has been updated since those videos were taken? Thanks in advance.

Sure thing.

Entry way

Living room

Bar area

2nd Bedroom made into a bed

Here are a few more.

Master Bedroom

Door between master and living

Master bed to bath

Master bath from master bed

Master Bath

Master toilet