THE MA'AMs SWEET JEWEL SUITE review and pictoral

[Planmaam]

Time for work; more at lunchtime.

[medicalma'am]

I only recognized Sakari on the video. She was a little doll!

 

I actually have no pictures until lunch the next day. Before Muster drill Wendy and I had been wandering the ship and were on our way to get our sticker on our key cards for the spa. We were wandering through the pool deck when I remembered Mitsugirly mentioning that she loved to find anywhere there was dancing. They were line dancing on the pool deck and I told Wendy "let's stop and look for Mitsugirly". We spotted her and Sakari immediately! We watched for a while and waved when she looked at us. She recognized us and waved back.

 

That is one of the great things about CC! You have friends instantly on the ship. I feel like we have some friends for life that we met on this ship. I would encourage you CCer's to use a photo of yourself with your screen name just for that reason: to be recognizable to other CCer's on board for the first time.

 

Off to the Spa where we not only got stickers for our cards, but they gave us wristbands to wear whenever we were in there. When you visit the spa after buying the spa package, you check in at the desk. They take your key card and give you a locker key. The locker is a decent size to store shoes, clothes, book to read, etc while using the wet areas. It also has a couple of hooks to hang a blouse. Planma'am and I were able to share one each time. That way only one of us had to keep the key around our wrist, which we took turns doing each time.....jingle, jingle, jingle every time you move. I finally attached it to my bathing suit strap when I got tired of listening to that.

Edited January 8, 2014 by medicalma'am

[Planmaam]

We left our new-found friends in Spinnaker when it was time for our dinner in Le Bistro, and once again, Le Bistro was wonderful. Once again I had both the escargot and French Onion Soup as starters, then the tenderloin; you just can't match the tenderloin served there!

 

Medicalma'am and her DH brought a bottle of their wine to dinner and shared with us. I typically like a sweet, white wine like Moscato or Reisling, but they brought red wine and I discovered a whole new group of wines that were good, and I liked. Thanks to them for sharing their wonderful wines.

 

You can't go wrong with any of the desserts, and though I've shared the chocolate fondue for two before with Medicalma'am, it was too much for us tonight. I think I had dessert that night, the creme broule if I recall correctly.

 

Some people in their reviews talk about meals taking too long, but we relish a nice, relaxing meal where we can talk about the day past, as well as the day ahead and take all the time we want for a meal. If our evening meal takes 2 hours, that's fine with us. So was the case for our first dinner in Le Bistro.

 

Medicalma'am and I had determined the specialty restaurants we wanted to enjoy for the week in our many planning/dreaming discussions prior to the cruise. We had already decided that we wanted to go to Le Bistro at least twice, as it was our favorite specialty restaurant. We had never been to Tepanyaki and decided to eat there once this cruise. We had been to Moderno once before, and decided we would have one meal there, too. We had decided to go to the Jazz Brunch, too, but after getting on the ship and seeing the menu decided we could get almost the same thing at Cagney's at breakfast, so cancelled that reservation and went back to Le Bistro instead.

 

I had $450 OBC, and had gotten another $100 NCL gift card that I applied to our on-board account. With our spa passes, which were $149.00 for the week, which was more than we had anticipated, Chef's Table, 4 specialty restaurant visits, bringing wine on board, one martini tasting, and our nightly visits to the Star Bar, it didn't take long to go through that and more.

 

After dinner we headed back to our rooms; we had not tried to go to the show since we had late dinner reservations, but came back to our suite.

 

I took this picture of the carpet with the fish swimming towards the front of the ship. I think this a great idea, and wish NCL would implement it fleet-wide; I know it helped me determine which way to go more than a handfull of times!

 

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We didn't have a towel animal that first night, either. Our suite was was turned down with chocolates for us, and the curtains wrapped around the bed. Since it was just the two of us in the suite, I preferred the curtains held back instead, so I changed them then went out onto the balcony to see enjoy the evening for a while before retiring.

 

We have always enjoyed the aft balconies late in the evening, as the smell of baked goods from the galley wafts up to those rooms. Stars, clouds, moon if there is one, the wake trailing behind us and fresh baked goods! What more could you want! A good end to a good day.

 

Here's another picture of the aft of the ship and the name while underway:

 

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[Planmaam]

The next morning was an early one for Medicalma'am and I. We started with a visit to the fitness center, I was sure to burn 100 calories on the bike then another 100 calories on the treadmill before heading to breakfast in Cagney's, followed by a trip to the spa. I had told my DH (remember, he is the one who takes long, long showers) that I would be back to the room to take a shower at 10:00. Sort of like making a reservation for the shower so I could get to the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet at 11:00 in time!

 

I was surprised by the chairs set up in Le Bistro for the Meet & Greet, too. I had never been to one set up like that, but we were expecting a large number of people to attend, and there was. This was the first Meet & Greet I had attended where the Captain did not show, but here are two pictures of the officers who did attend, two because I could not get them all in one picture.

 

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As soon as the M & G was over, a lot of people made a bee-line out of there, even though the officers told us the Buffet would not be open for about 15 minutes! But here is my picture taken of those of us who stayed around and talked afterwards, and lined up for a picture.

 

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[Planmaam]

We went to lunch in the Garden Cafe since we had the Latitudes gathering at 1:00 in Spinnaker. We got our food and went to the Great Outdoors and found a table out there. The weather was warm by now, and though cloudy it was not raining, and we appreciated being able to eat in the open air.

 

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Our DHs at lunch at the Great Outdoors, and pictures of the Great Outdoors below:

 

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We got to Spinnaker before they opened the doors, and headed left and found a raised table by the window for the 4 of us. I had some of the champagne they were offering, and Medicalma'am had some of the red wine. Neither of us really liked our drinks, and after reading Mitsugirly's review realized we should have chosen the rum punch! But I struggled through two glasses of champagne, and Medicalma'am didn't finish her wine but changed to something else, she'll have to tell you what it was.

 

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Spinnaker during the Latitudes Party.

 

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Oh something I forgot; it must have been on Sunday when we were wandering around some, Medicalma'am and I came across tables in the atrium where you could sign up for tastings and specialty dining. From reading some previous Dailies on here, I knew they had martini tastings both sea days, Monday and Tuesday. Since we had the M & G as well as Latitudes Party on Monday, we knew it would be too busy to try to get a tasting in on the same day.So I stood in line and when it was my turn, I asked to sign up for the martini tasting on Tuesday. The girl tried to argue with me that it was only Monday, that they had a beer tasting on Tuesday, but I told her that I knew there was going to be one on Tuesday, too, and she finally relented. So I signed up both Medicalma'am and myself. This is the first time I have ever seen them taking reservations for tastings; previously they were just listed in the Dailies and you had to know and just show up.

 

A word of warning, though; when I got my final bill, they had charged me for a martini tasting on both Monday and Tuesday, and I had to go have the Monday one removed. That and the corkage fee for two bottles of wine, but more on that later.

 

Wandering through the Garden Cafe, I snapped a picture of this cake:

 

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[Planmaam]

And I liked this painting of the ship I had seen somewhere in the ship, too:

 

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And another view of the sea from our balcony:

 

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[NSinMG]

I'm really enjoying reading your review and seeing all the pictures and videos.

 

We will also be in an aft penthouse on our next cruise on the Jewel so those photos are especially helpful.

 

Looking forward to the rest of the review.

[NW Pacific]

Is this very new to have to sign up for them? We were on the Jewell Sept-Oct. and you could just show up. Also noticed Cruise Director Jamie in the Photo, she had announced on our cruise she was taking a "leave" good to see her back, thought she was good at her job.

enjoying your review!

[medicalma'am]

While we at lunch on Monday I took this picture of my glass of iced tea.

 

 

The glasses they provided in the buffet were really small. I was imagining if we had bought the soda package, I would be going back many times to fill those small glasses back full! I just went a week without my favorite Diet Dr. Pepper. Actually we have a Soda Stream at home and I make their "Dr. Pete" whenever I want, so I am spoiled.

Edited January 9, 2014 by medicalma'am

[carollois]

Well' date=' I just got home from work. It is a chilly 28 degrees and windy here in Texas......BRRRRRRRRRR. Missing me some warm beaches!

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Looking forward to more warm beaches and meeting you on the Epic in just a little over two weeks! Until then, this review will have to keep me warm...☺️

[medicalma'am]

Tonight we had the Captain's cocktail party in the Haven. I was very excited about being able to see the Haven. This was a party for those in suites. They had cocktails: Manhatans were a drink that I decided I did not like. I don't remember what I ended up drinking. I was more interested in seeing the Haven and taking pictures.

 

Here we are seated on the ledge of the pool. Notice they do not have the famous fish carpet.

 

It appears to be about 4 foot deep

 

 

 

The retractable roof fascinated me

 

 

Notice the tracks are massive!

 

 

There is a hot tub in the Haven

 

 

Looking down the hallway to the rooms.

 

 

Our time in the Haven was all too soon over as we had dinner reservations in Tempanyaki.

Edited January 9, 2014 by medicalma'am

[medicalma'am]

I would appear that my second drink in the Haven was red wine. I do not like the red 'house' wine on NCL.

 

 

Tempenyaki was fun. There were four tables that each seated about 8 people and all four of the tables started at roughly the same time. It was entertaining, but much what I have seen on land, nothing special.

 

 

Our cook was female

 

 

I ordered a dirty Tanqueray Gin Martini with extra olives. I think that it had very little alcohol in it. After that, I learned to order my drinks at a bar and watch it being made. I had also had 2 for 1 martinis in Star bar one night. The first one I ordered at the bar and it was made perfectly and was so good. The second I ordered while seated at a table. I could tell that it was not made with Tanqueray gin. I also watched one being made once and had to correct the bar person when he picked up another type of gin. Kumar in the Star bar made a perfect one while I watched.

 

We were served the rice while the meat was being prepared. I have seen it done this way on land also and I always wait to eat the rice with the main dish.

 

The rice heart.

 

 

My steak was fabulous and perfectly cooked.

 

 

Edited January 9, 2014 by medicalma'am

[medicalma'am]

The ship was decorated for Christmas. This was taken walking out of the sushi bar.

 

 

This is the tree in front of Le Bistro

 

 

 

We went to the show tonight. I believe it was a magician who was very funny. He used a woman from the audience that we kept seeing the rest of the cruise. We called her 'Barbie Grandma'. They also used her grand daughter in the show. She said that she was "a stay at home grandma". We thought it strange that when the magician asked her what her husband did, the said "I don't know" :eek:

 

 

After the show we sat in the atrium and listened to music by Fabrizio. He was playing Elton John songs and was VERY good. We would seek him out to enjoy at other times during the week.

 

 

We got our first towel animal this evening.

 

 

It had been a long enjoyable day and I reflected on it on our balcony in my robe (provided to all suite passengers) for a bit before turning in.

[Planmaam]

Is this very new to have to sign up for them? We were on the Jewell Sept-Oct. and you could just show up. Also noticed Cruise Director Jamie in the Photo, she had announced on our cruise she was taking a "leave" good to see her back, thought she was good at her job.

enjoying your review!

 

NWPacific, you didn't have to sign up, there were a lot of people who just showed up. But they had the availability to sign up beforehand. The dailies had not yet come out announcing when the tastings were, so it allowed you to pre-plan if you wished.

 

When I was trying to sign up for the one on Tuesday instead of Monday, another officer was telling me that yes, the would have one on Tuesday if the one on Monday filled up. But she tried to make me feel that it was not a sure thing yet.

[medicalma'am]

Tuesday morning, Day 3, I awoke early when DH headed out the door to go for his morning run at about 5:45. I got up and put on my robe, made a coffee and sat on the balcony for a bit. It was getting warmer and that robe soon became too warm! I went in and dressed in my exercise clothes and made another coffee to enjoy in the air conditioning.

 

Planma'am and I went to the gym and walked on the treadmill. Now, I had an injury at work and my knee had not been up to par. I did not get much exercise during the week. We usually take the stairs and not the elevators, but I was having pain going up and down the stairs all week. We ended up using the elevators almost exclusively. Walking did not seem to bother me much.

 

We then met the guys in Cagney's for breakfast. I had one of my favorite things: Crab Cakes Benedict with bacon. It was wonderful. After this I ordered it without the potatoes.

 

 

If there is something on an entree that you know you don't like and won't eat, then by all means tell them not to include it. We learned later in the week about waste. Do your part for the environment and ask your waiter to leave off anything that you will not eat.

 

In Cagney's that morning. You can tell we have just exercised!

 

 

 

Off to the spa for the ladies!

 

 

These are the thinner waffle robes provided in the spa.

 

 

The view from these heavenly heated tile loungers is mesmerizing. We spent many hours just staring out those bow windows at the sea.

 

[medicalma'am]

I believe that we skipped lunch that day or we just got something light from the buffet after the spa. We left the spa around 1:00 p.m. so we could have time to get ready for the martini tasting (which they did have listed in the Daily BTW). I might have even taken a short nap in the afternoon.

 

The martini tasting was held in Magnum's Champagne bar around 3:30 or 4:00. We got there early and had 'front row seats'. They had some shaking contestants who were a hoot to watch!

 

 

 

 

 

All three ladies won a prize for their efforts. They also taught us how the drinks were made, and did some trivia questions for prizes. Since I had told the bartender that I liked original gin martinis dirty, he told me that I would get one after the tasting. He kept his promise and it was full sized! Way to go NCL!

 

In the past I had not liked many of the martinis in the tastings. I do not like sweet drinks as a rule. There were some in this tasting that I did enjoy. There were some that I did not, I just can't remember which ones. Planma'ams DH came by and finished the ones that I did not like, so they didn't go to waste!

 

He had arrived late at breakfast (notice on the last post that he had a menu in front of him while we had our meals?). This is one reason we like to cruise together. The ladies can do what they want and the DHs can be on their own timeline. My DH spent most of this time, in the afternoons, in the suite reading.

 

Edited January 9, 2014 by medicalma'am

[Planmaam]

Two corrections to make before continuing: The first show we saw was not the majician, but the singers, and we didn't go to the spa Monday morning; we waited until the afternoon after the Latitudes Gathering.

 

And another one of the reasons we didn't want a martini tasting on Monday also was we knew we had the Captain's Cocktail Party in the Haven later the same night.

[Planmaam]

To add to what Medicalma'am said about the cocktail party in the Haven, those were Cosmos we are drinking in the pictures. They tasted a little different than any I had tasted in the past, I thought a little heavy on the lime. I'm used to them tasting more like cranberry.

 

When we got to Tepanyaki, my DH ordered the Japanese martini they had on the menu, and after tasting his, I ordered one, too. It was very good; different, but very good. I can't tell you what was in it, though.

 

I think we all had the steak for dinner, some added shrimp, and after hearing about it here on CC, I ordered the green tea cake for dessert. That was very good, too. Again different, but very good.

 

I took a picture of our towel animal again that night, too:

 

The paper in Medicalma'am's photo with the towel animal that has the piece of luggage on it was a notice they sent out about a piece of luggage that was missing for one of the passengers. It looked just like mine, but I had already unpacked mine so knew I had the right one. I don't think I ever heard whether the piece was found.

 

I dozed off during the show that evening. Not that it wasn't entertaining, I'm just more of a morning person. I wake up every morning at 5:30 for work, and go to bed no later than 10:00 at night, and have a hard time sleeping in on weekends. So the same went with the cruise. I love getting up early to get the day started, though, and that is what we did the next morning.

 

On previous cruises our spa visit would always follow the same routine: steam room, sauna, hot tub, thelosotherapy pool, heated loungers, and maybe standard loungers later. We started off this cruise following the same routine, but I thought they kept the spa warmer than on other ships, and found I didn't want that much added warmth. So a couple of times we made fast visits to the steam room and sauna and went directly to the thelosotherapy pool, and once even just went straight to the heated loungers. Those loungers even got too warm for me and I retired to the chairs to cool off. My IPOD doesn't keep a charge very long anymore, and the book I was listening to didn't last that long, so one day I made a visit to the library to find a book to read while relaxing in the spa.

 

What can I say about the martini tasting but awesome! I have always enjoyed them, but have to say that this one differed greatly from ones I've attended previously. Medicalma'am showed you pictures of the "shaking" competitors; well, that was a first. Previously all the competitions were "tests" sort of, asking you to remember some of the facts they gave you during the demonstrations. This is the first time there was any physical competitions. I've won two of the competitions at my past martini tastings, but there was no way I was going to get up and dance, or "shake" as these girls did, no matter how many martinis I had!!!!

 

I talked briefly to the head bartender about my love of chocolate martinis, and he said he would make one at the next martini tasting he was planning later in the week (yes, three martini tastings!) It was planned to begin prior to sail away from either Grand Cayman or Cozumel, but we got back too late to be able to attend.

 

It was during the martini tasting that our ship made the stop in Grand Cayman to offload the passenger with medical problems. We heard the Captain announce that we would be making a brief stop, but it would not change our arrival time in Jamaica the next day. I was surprised how little time it took. We had heard the announcement for the stretcher crews to go to the medical facility earlier in the day, so knew there was someone with a problem. I think Mitsugirly had more about this in her review.

 

I took a picture of our towel animal that night, too. Notice the time change card for Jamaica.

 

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[Mel&Ken]

Ladies,

 

Thank you for a wonderful review. I can't wait for more. Next month will be our first suite experience and I am excited. We have the corner aft 10664 and I am a little disappointed to read/see that our balcony will be so narrow. I don't know why but i thought it would be deeper.

 

Also - medicalma'am, Ken and I sat next to you at the Chef's Table on the Star last January (you may recall they took your picture with him and you had to politely ask them to take one of just you! LOL). We loved the entire experience and planned to do it again on the Jewel. Two questions.....did I read correctly that you booked it right in the boarding area and your sister did it by phone prior to even getting there? Also, I worry about trying to duplicate such a perfect evening and it not living up to the memories - thoughts? I assume it's the same menu and quality of food but is the experience just as much a WOW factor the second time around?

 

Melissa

[DDMau]

I just love the tee shirt about laughting so hard in post 65, was it off the shelf or custom made.

 

I just have to save that picture, it made my day.

 

Thanks

Edited January 10, 2014 by DDMau

[donnabonna]

Ladies,

 

I am really enjoying your review. Thanks so much for sharing.

 

Melissa,

Your balcony will be MUCH larger as it is on the 10th floor. I was in 10166 on the Gem and we had 2 loungers a table and 2 chairs and still lots of room. Judging from the pictures, I would guess it was 3 times as deep. Enjoy!

[Mel&Ken]

Ladies,

 

I am really enjoying your review. Thanks so much for sharing.

 

Melissa,

Your balcony will be MUCH larger as it is on the 10th floor. I was in 10166 on the Gem and we had 2 loungers a table and 2 chairs and still lots of room. Judging from the pictures, I would guess it was 3 times as deep. Enjoy!

 

Whew! Thanks for posting. I was so sure I'd seen pictures of how big it was. Ok...nice to know I'm not going crazy just yet! ;)

 

Was there much difference between your balcony and the corner one next to you?

[donnabonna]

I did lean over the rail and peek at the corner one. It was a tiny bit smaller because of the curved end but perhaps a total of 2 or 3 square feet. I like the idea of having only one neighbor so I .booked the corner suite for my next cruise. It is right next to the stewards closet but figure the door is so far away from the living area that it won' t bother me.

[Planmaam]

Thanks, Mel&Ken, so glad you are enjoying the review.

 

Melissa, our suite was on the 8th deck; the only one left with two next to each other when we booked. So enjoy the larger balcony!

 

 

I just love the tee shirt about laughting so hard in post 65, was it off the shelf or custom made.

 

I just have to save that picture, it made my day.

 

Thanks

 

I got that T-shirt for my DH from a catalog: Catalog Favorites. I think you can go to their website, which is www. their name .com. They have a lot of T-shirts with cute sayings. He loves it, too!

[Planmaam]

Well if it's Wednesday, this must be Jamaica! I awoke early and took this picture off the balcony. I almost didn't want to post it because the horizon is not flat, which is one of my pet peeves. On this trip I noticed how hard it is to get the horizon flat in my pictures; can't see the screen well enough.

 

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