THE MA'AMs SWEET JEWEL SUITE review and pictoral

[Planmaam]

Yes, Mike and I were tired and I just could not stay up for Quest. So we retired to our room and began the sad task of packing. Always a downer on the last evening. We went to bed right after, and it wasn't long before I was asleep.

 

But I was awoken by a very loud bang at about 5:00 in the morning; DH and I both bolted right up out of bed. It sounded like the ship had hit something! Then BANG! there it was again. DH went to the balcony and opened the curtains and the door and we quickly found out what all the commotion was: thunder. There were hugh bolts of lightning and the thunder was simultaneous, which meant it was right on top of us! DH went out onto the balcony and I tried to tell him to come back in, the lightning was too close, but he couldn't hear me. It was pouring out; the rain was coming down in sheets, and you couldn't see very far in front of you until the lightning struck again. And it did. It struck and the thunder boomed, the lightning struck and the thunder boomed. All the time the teeming rain was an accompaniment to the whole.

 

DH said he had been up at 4:00 when he heard what he thought was water pouring down above us. He got up and found it was the drain lines taking the rain from above down, and the pipes were at our balcony ceiling; it was just raining then.

 

We did go back to bed for a while after that, but we just laid there listening to the storm for a while.

 

We got up and got ready one last time, gathered all of our belongings together for when we were came back to the room.

 

I said a fond farewell to my favorite piece of equipment in our suite:

 

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and we headed out our final time to Cagney's.

 

We had a leisurely breakfast in Cagneys - there was no reason to hurry. We then returned to our rooms to get all our belongings then headed to the priority debarkation meeting point once again for a quick exit from the ship. It was still raining, but not like it had been earlier in the morning. After getting our luggage and clearing customs, it WAS a long hallway we had to maneuver with all our luggage, and I felt like a fish swimming upstream because there were new passengers there for their embarkment.

 

My DH had to use the restroom, so we waited with his luggage and our luggage by the exit, and the same port attendant who had made us move from our waiting position a week earlier told us we could not wait there, that we had to take our luggage and go outside. Well, we could not take our luggage AND DH's luggage, so I said I was just going to wait there until he returned; luckily that was not very long. Before long we were traversing the flood wall area and the railroad tracks to once again go to the Whale Lot.

 

We all got wet while engineering all the luggage back into the car, but before long we were on our way once again.

 

 

Once again we find ourselves at the end of a review, too. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we have sharing it.

 

HAPPY TRAILS

 

 

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Edited January 12, 2014 by planma'am

[mitsugirly]

I think if I did the behind the scenes tour I would DEFINITELY had to have seen the pretzel roll maker! :D Imagine those coming out all nice and hot. I would love to do this tour some time. :)

 

Awesome review. :)

[Planmaam]

Well, once you're Platinum, the behind the scenes tour is included in the perks. I would think you'd be Platinum pretty soon, with all the NCL cruises you've taken.

[perfect match]

I loved your review! Thanks for taking the time to share your cruise experience with us!

[mitsugirly]

Well' date=' once you're Platinum, the behind the scenes tour is included in the perks. I would think you'd be Platinum pretty soon, with all the NCL cruises you've taken.[/quote']

 

Nope, I have awhile to go still. I'm only gold at the moment. Since I changed rooms on this cruise and upgraded to the balcony, I lost my 14 points for booking before 9 months. :(

[Planmaam]

AWwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, shoot. Do you have your next cruise booked yet? If you still cruise twice a year, 9-months out is coming up soon. Assuming you will be on NCL for the next one.

[mitsugirly]

AWwwwwwwwwwwwwwww' date=' shoot. Do you have your next cruise booked yet? If you still cruise twice a year, 9-months out is coming up soon. Assuming you will be on NCL for the next one.[/quote']

 

No. I'm unable to book anything for awhile now with school and also having to move by May. Everything's up in the air. So it's a waiting game. But I'll definitely be looking for something after May! :D

[herdingdogmom]

Great review ma'ams. I'll be on the Jade in March and am considering the spa pass. Love that spa set up at the front of the ship, just don't know if we have enough sea days to make good use of it. We don't have a suite this time, but are thinking about the chef's table because of your pictures.

 

Happy sailing!

[Planmaam]

Great review ma'ams. I'll be on the Jade in March and am considering the spa pass. Love that spa set up at the front of the ship, just don't know if we have enough sea days to make good use of it. We don't have a suite this time, but are thinking about the chef's table because of your pictures.

 

Happy sailing!

 

Thank you so much, herdingdogmom, I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

 

I know what you mean about the spa. But with three full sea days, maybe you'll need the spa to relax on such a port-intensive itinerary!

 

I hope you do the Chef's Table; it is an experience you won't ever forget!

 

I see you're under two months now, happy sailing!

[logan25]

Well' date=' once you're Platinum, the behind the scenes tour is included in the perks. I would think you'd be Platinum pretty soon, with all the NCL cruises you've taken.[/quote']

 

Actually, I took the Platinum version of Behind the Scenes Tour on the same voyage. The Cruise Consultant Natalie (sp?) was our guide.

 

And by comparison, the galley tour hosted by the Executive Chef looks far superior.

[medicalma'am]

We usually find time to squeeze the spa in even on port days. An hour in there will really rejuvenate you.

 

On the Epic next month I am having a hard time deciding whether or not to do the spa. We have a balcony room. It is an 8 day cruise with four ports. Anyone with experience of the spa on the Epic have any thoughts/advice for me?

[Planmaam]

Actually, I took the Platinum version of Behind the Scenes Tour on the same voyage. The Cruise Consultant Natalie (sp?) was our guide.

 

And by comparison, the galley tour hosted by the Executive Chef looks far superior.

 

We passed a group while in the galley who was on a full behind-the-scenes tour; could that have been yours? Was it on Saturday late morning?

Edited January 12, 2014 by planma'am

[medicalma'am]

Actually, I took the Platinum version of Behind the Scenes Tour on the same voyage. The Cruise Consultant Natalie (sp?) was our guide.

 

And by comparison, the galley tour hosted by the Executive Chef looks far superior.

 

We saw another group while in the galley and I wondered if that was the behind the scenes. What other parts of the ship did you see? I was thinking of that on the Epic.

[auntierobin]

Great review! Makes me miss the Jewel.

[gardiner41]

We usually find time to squeeze the spa in even on port days. An hour in there will really rejuvenate you.

 

On the Epic next month I am having a hard time deciding whether or not to do the spa. We have a balcony room. It is an 8 day cruise with four ports. Anyone with experience of the spa on the Epic have any thoughts/advice for me?

 

We sailed on the Epic last Feb. Both with spa passes.

I am a spa girl and did not really like the Epic Spa. too noisy too crowded and a lot of people with no spa etticate.

The best thing about it was the aft balcony lounge. But people would take up residence out there and never leave. So it was rare there was an opportunity to enjoy it.

Others love it but for me it was not a relaxing spa experience, it was more a pool experience. Which was not what I was looking for.

 

That however influenced us to book an Aft Balcony on the Jewel which we sail on a week today :-)

We won't get a spa pass this time but instead will spend quiet time enjoying the aft view on our private, quiet balcony

[logan25]

We saw another group while in the galley and I wondered if that was the behind the scenes. What other parts of the ship did you see? I was thinking of that on the Epic.

 

I've been on two so far and the experience varies from ship to ship and who acts as guide. I have not taken the Platinum tour on Epic just yet, so no help there. Some of the usual points of interest are galley, laundry, bridge, backstage, a walk through "below decks"...

 

The areas you were shown in the galley were much more extensive and explained than our version. And hubby was minorly disappointed we did not receive any fresh baked cookies since he had received such on another Platinum tour on another NCL sailing.

 

I also could not tell you if the "pay" Behind the Scenes is same/equivalent to Platinum perk Behind the Scenes because I have never paid for the tour.

Edited January 12, 2014 by logan25

[relic2]

This review has me itching to take advantage of that platinum perk on my April PC transit. I am also considering the Captains Meal. Your review had my mouth watering!! Great job ma'ams!

[Planmaam]

Thank you, relic2 and auntierobin; so glad you enjoyed the review. You should definitely take advantage of the Platinum Perk tour, relic2; it's free, after all!

[Grams2011]

Dear "The Ma'ams"

I have thoroughly enjoyed your in depth review. So many great photos. I felt like I was there having a fun time! Perhaps you could answer a question for me. As I said in an earlier post, we will be in suite 8630 in Feb. My husband is a Starbucks fanatic (among other things, i.e. football). Did the coffee machine take whole beans, or the coffee pods. I'd be sure to pack his favorite Starbucks beans if the machine accommodates whole beans. Again, thank you so much for your time and talents in sharing your cruise with us.

[Planmaam]

Thank you so much, Grams2011; I hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did. The Lavazza machine takes pods. You can see them in the picture of the coffee machine in my last post, they're in the glass cabinet above. So no need to take your beans, the coffee was wonderful.

[Grams2011]

Thanks for replying regarding the coffee machine. Now I just have to make sure DH has his Coke to make his Jack and Coke. Have a nice evening.

[medicalma'am]

I am a spa girl and did not really like the Epic Spa. too noisy too crowded and a lot of people with no spa etticate.

The best thing about it was the aft balcony lounge. But people would take up residence out there and never leave. So it was rare there was an opportunity to enjoy it.

Others love it but for me it was not a relaxing spa experience, it was more a pool experience. Which was not what I was looking for.

 

Thanks Gardiner41 for that info. I think I may just be spending my 'spa time' on my balcony with a drink and book this cruise. That will save us a bit of $ to do the many things we want to do on board the Epic!

Edited January 13, 2014 by medicalma'am

[gardiner41]

I am a spa girl and did not really like the Epic Spa. too noisy too crowded and a lot of people with no spa etticate.

The best thing about it was the aft balcony lounge. But people would take up residence out there and never leave. So it was rare there was an opportunity to enjoy it.

Others love it but for me it was not a relaxing spa experience' date=' it was more a pool experience. Which was not what I was looking for.

 

Thanks Gardiner41 for that info. I think I may just be spending my 'spa time' on my balcony with a drink and book this cruise. That will save us a bit of $ to do the many things we want to do on board the Epic!

 

Your welcome :-) That is exactly what I plan to do on the Jewel next week :-)

Angela

[Planmaam]

UH OH, I was just reading a thread about bringing wine and liquor on board and realized I had left something out of my review that I said I would talk more about later: the corkage fee.

 

I had brought 3 three bottles of wine on board and paid the corkage fees. I ended up only opening up one bottle, and headed down to the front desk the last afternoon to get my corkage fee returned for the two unopened bottles. I waited in line for about 10 minutes, but when I got to the desk I was told that I had to do it the last morning. Now I had read on here that people had made this transaction the last afternoon, so was disappointed that I could not go ahead and take care of it. She apologized and said I had to do it the last morning.

 

So I took the wine back to the room, and waited until the last morning. I ended up killing two birds with one stone, as they had double billed me for the martini tasting, which I also took care of the next morning. They have to call the Restaurant director to the desk to take care of this, and he did. They then printed out my revised account record, showing both refunds and the new total.

[riddle]

We really loved the Epic spa. The only times it was noisy was at the real peak late afternoon, early evening time. That was generally a couple of people talking loudly over the sounds of the water in the pool/hot tubs.

 

The outside area is definitely a nice plus. We never had trouble getting a chair. It is probably our favorite spa of all NCL ships. We have done the spa package on the Epic 3 times now.