Norwegian Jewel November 22nd Review

[dchi72]

My family and I just got off the Jewel in Houston. This is my first time on Norwegian. All our previous cruises have been on Carnival. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

We drove down from Frisco, Texas on Friday night. We stayed at the Springhill Suites in Seabrook. Nice hotel. Really close to the terminal.

 

We arrived at the terminal around 9:45am. The parking lot opened at 10am. Check in was smooth and quick. We did not start boarding for about another 2 hours, but was not an issue.

 

The crew welcomed us on board, including the cruise director, as we boarded. Kinda nice.

 

It was cold and wet on embarkation, so the sail away party was somewhat subdued.

 

We had lunch in the Tzar dining room. Food was good, but slow. Unfortunately this was going to become a redundant theme.

 

I definitely like the Life Boat Drill on Norwegian versus Carnival. Waiting in the Fyzz Lounge was much better than on the deck sweating through the briefing.

 

We downloaded and purchased access on the Iconcierge app. Well worth the purchase price to be able to text the kids. I highly recommend this app to everyone. It also gives you the daily schedule.

 

The evening entertainment was the Welcome Aboard show. This included a preview of JP's magic show. I am not a big fan of shows, but this was entertaining.

 

Dinner was in O'Sheehan's for the prime rib special. Unfortunately for us this was a slow, drawn out process that took over 2 hours and the food was terrible. The prime rib was way overcooked.

 

The upper level staff was visible and engaged us in conversation. They took time to listen to the passengers and answer questions. If you had an issue they got on the phone and attempted to solve it immediately. Some times the did not quite succeed with solving the issue immediately, but I was very impressed that they were trying.

 

We ended the night watching the Sing it to Win it game in the Spinnaker lounge.

[Spanky My]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. What room were you in? What was your overall thoughts of the condition of the ship? Other than your sail-away how was your weather after that? Where did you like eating the best ? Thanks in advance for your response.

[tpear3]

Very much looking forward to the rest of your review. Did you have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner option?

[dchi72]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. What room were you in? What was your overall thoughts of the condition of the ship? Other than your sail-away how was your weather after that? Where did you like eating the best ? Thanks in advance for your response.

 

We were in 9053, interior cabin.

 

The weather in Cozumel and Belize was great. It did rain in Roatan, but only lightly. The first sea day after Roatan was cold, windy and wet. The final sea day was perfect weather.

 

The best food was either in Cagneys or Azurra.

[dchi72]

Very much looking forward to the rest of your review. Did you have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner option?

 

They did have a traditional Thanksgiving option. It was actually pretty good. Several people in our group ordered off the alternative menu as opposed to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

[albertamom]

So glad to see another Jewel review! :)

 

Slow service in the MDRs seems to be a common, frustrating occurrence. So disappointing to experience the same thing in O'Sheehan's.

[wvfrogg]

Slow service in the MDRs seems to be a common, frustrating occurrence. So disappointing to experience the same thing in O'Sheehan's.

 

I ate in the MDR many times on my Cruise 11/15-11/22 and did not find the service to be that slow. It usually took me about 45 minutes, which for a 3 or 4 course meal is not bad, IMHO. I only had a "snack" at O'Sheehans, so do not know about the timing there. My one time at Azure I felt was the worst service I had the whole week. Guess what I am saying is, especially when it comes to food or service, everyone has a different experience. But it sounds as if you had a nice cruise -- I know mine was absolutely fantastic.

[mom_n_mi]

We downloaded and purchased access on the Iconcierge app. Well worth the purchase price to be able to text the kids. I highly recommend this app to everyone. It also gives you the daily schedule.

 

I was curious about this app? I didn't realize the Jewel had it too. So you only pay a texting fee to your cell phone carrier?

[dchi72]

You put your phone on airplane mode and turn on the wi-fi.

 

You connect to the ships wi-fi and pay the fee. You text and call others who paid the fee to your hearts content.

 

$23 +/- to keep up with the wife and child without walking all over the ship. I loved it.

[dchi72]

It usually took me about 45 minutes, which for a 3 or 4 course meal is not bad, IMHO.

 

Most of the time our meals took 2 hours.

 

I will not blame this totally on Norwegian. We did have 8 people in our group. And they did like to order multiple appetizers, but it did drag out several times over 2 hours.

 

It did not ruin our cruise. It will just make me rethink some of our choices and timing.

[dchi72]

Day 2 - Sea day

 

Breakfast was at the buffet. My wife liked the omelets. I was impressed with the selections and the lack of a bacon ****. Seating was at a premium. We ended up sitting in the Italian restaurant.

 

We continued touring the ship and getting familiar with our new surroundings.

 

Lunch was back at O'Sheehan's. Much quicker service this time. Several of us tried the Chicken Pot Pie. They seemed to enjoy it.

 

We made our first trek to the ice cream machine shortly after lunch. We did find someone we affectionately called the "ice cream ****". No self serve available. I found it slightly annoying to be served an ice cream cone with about an inch of ice cream. If they insist on not allowing self serve, then at least get them training from Dairy Queen. I totally understand keeping the kids from making a mess of the ice cream, but I am 45 years old. I think I can operate a self serve machine without making a mess. :rolleyes:

 

One of our party pre-ordered an Oreo cake from Carlos Bakery. It was REALLY GOOD!

 

We participated in the Deal or No Deal game. No winnings to report. I went to the observation room that afternoon. I found it really cool to be able to see the bridge in action.

 

The show "Band on the Run" was descent. Not a big fan of shows.

 

Dinner was in Azura. Much more relaxed than Tsar's. Unfortunately still a long process.

 

We did stop by the Java Cafe after dinner for coffee. Really impressed with their Chai Latte.

[dchi72]

Day 3 - Cozumel

 

Breakfast was in the Tsar's dining room. Quick, easy and good. We were in no hurry to get off the ship. Getting off the ship was very quick and easy.

 

All 13 of us spent the day at Paradise Beach. Two cabs (both vans).

 

Paradise beach charges $3 per person to enter (payable to your server). This includes a lounger and umbrella. They offer a bunch of non-motorized water toys. A pass for the water toys is $15. They ask that you spend at least $10 per person on food and drink. This was a really great day on the beach. Great weather and fun for all.

 

Lunch was at Paradise Beach.

 

Dinner was at Cagneys. Food was good. My wife ordered the filet. The broccoli crowns were larger than her steak, and the steak was way overcooked. Mine was good. They did take my wife's steak off the bill. They did a good job on my steak. The desserts were very good.

[The Mister]

Breakfast was at the buffet. My wife liked the omelets. I was impressed with the selections and the lack of a bacon ****. Seating was at a premium. We ended up sitting in the Italian restaurant.

This was our problem the previous week and our sailing wasn't nearly as full as yours.

We made our first trek to the ice cream machine shortly after lunch. We did find someone we affectionately called the "ice cream ****". No self serve available. I found it slightly annoying to be served an ice cream cone with about an inch of ice cream. If they insist on not allowing self serve, then at least get them training from Dairy Queen. I totally understand keeping the kids from making a mess of the ice cream, but I am 45 years old. I think I can operate a self serve machine without making a mess. :rolleyes:

I don't know what word you're trying to use after "bacon" and "ice cream", but I can confirm that the ice cream was completely self-serve on our sailing right before yours. I am guessing that they had someone manning the station specifically for Thanksgiving week because of all of the additional children onboard. (They didn't want to run out on Wednesday?) I don't know how they might have easily managed a process of having someone to serve the kids while also letting the adults get their own.

Day 3 - Cozumel

 

All 13 of us spent the day at Paradise Beach. Two cabs (both vans).

That's what we did as well. It's a great place for families. :)

Edited December 2, 2014 by The Mister

[dchi72]

Day 4 - Belize

 

This was the best day of the trip!

 

Breakfast in the Tsar. I am becoming a fan of their waffles by this time. And the fresh fruit bowl. Luckily one of our group likes cottage cheese. I personally cannot stand the stuff.

 

We booked an excursion through island marketing for a trip to Goff's Caye. We were met by Ecological Tours. After about an hour of shopping we loaded the boat for our trip. Water is provided in plastic bags.

 

The trip is fairly long. You have to pass your ships on the way out. We spotted a pod of dolphins on the way out, so the boat circled around to give everyone a look and photo opportunity.

 

After arriving on the island they took all of us who wanted to snorkel back out on the boat. All the beginners were grouped together and provided their strongest guides. The rest were split into groups of 8-10 people and provided two guides per group. Unfortunately we had one lady from another group that decided she knew better than the guides. She would surface and holler "Why no fish?" Not sure what she was complaining about. I saw a lot of fish, coral, starfish, jellyfish, and her feet as she criss-crossed our path hollering "Why no fish?"

 

Lunch is not provided on this excursion. I bought lunch from the entrepreneur on the island. $12 a plate for grilled lobster and $10 a plate for grilled chicken. The lobster was great!

 

A couple of rum punches later and some beach time and we were headed back to the dock.

 

Dinner was back in Azure after the Luminescence show. Like I said, I am not a fan of shows. The ladies in our group are huge fans of shows. This show impressed me. Dinner was painfully slow yet again.

 

Overall a great day! I would do this again.

[dchi72]

This was our problem the previous week and our sailing wasn't nearly as full as yours.

 

I don't know what word you're trying to use after "bacon" and "ice cream", but I can confirm that the ice cream was completely self-serve on our sailing right before yours. I am guessing that they had someone manning the station specifically for Thanksgiving week because of all of the additional children onboard. (They didn't want to run out on Wednesday?) I don't know how they might have easily managed a process of having someone to serve the kids while also letting the adults get their own.

 

That's what we did as well. It's a great place for families. :)

 

The word after bacon and ice cream refers to the fascist political party of Germany during the 30s and 40s, or the favorite description of politicians when discussing the opposing political party.

[realcindylouwho]

Most of the time our meals took 2 hours.

 

I will not blame this totally on Norwegian. We did have 8 people in our group. And they did like to order multiple appetizers, but it did drag out several times over 2 hours.

 

It did not ruin our cruise. It will just make me rethink some of our choices and timing.

 

We sailed with you and experienced dinner service times an hour and a half to two hours. We were dining with 4-6 people with no additional appetizers, etc. per person. I do not think this was entirely due to being the week of Thanksgiving. I feel NCL may have stretched their crew to the maximum of work with the minimum of employees, sadly. However, as we left the ship we were told there are approximately 600 plus fewer passengers this week than our week. Of course this contributes to a back-up in the kitchens but this isn't the first circus NCL has performed in (:rolleyes:)

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review.

[dchi72]

We sailed with you and experienced dinner service times an hour and a half to two hours. We were dining with 4-6 people with no additional appetizers, etc. per person. I do not think this was entirely due to being the week of Thanksgiving. I feel NCL may have stretched their crew to the maximum of work with the minimum of employees, sadly. However, as we left the ship we were told there are approximately 600 plus fewer passengers this week than our week. Of course this contributes to a back-up in the kitchens but this isn't the first circus NCL has performed in (:rolleyes:)

 

 

Good to know it was not just us.

[dchi72]

Day 5 - Roatan

 

We had nothing planned for this port. Just walked off the ship, did some shopping.

 

Breakfast was in Tsar's again. I was tired of seeing no seating in the buffet.

 

We did venture out towards the straw market. About 30 seconds outside the gate we decided to turn around and head back.

 

We took some seats at the bar in the secure area, ordered a local beer and some snacks. We bought a couple of local hand rolled cigars. This was a good day! The rain did not dampen our spirits, or the beers enhanced them. I am not sure which.

 

The show was JP the Magician. Some of the same jokes as earlier in the week, but pretty funny.

 

Another slow dinner but this time in Tsar's as Azura was full. We did have to go change clothes for dinner to meet the dress code.

[dchi72]

Day 6 - Sea Day - Thanksgiving

 

Somewhat rough seas as compared to the rest of the week, but not bad. The captain put some serious speed on to get through the incoming front.

 

Breakfast was late. I think we got up at 9:30. We were able to get into the buffet. We ended up going to the aft seating area to find a table.

 

Played a little in the casino. Tried to check my work email. The ship was bouncing around enough to make it impossible to get a signal. I asked the internet manager to refund my unused minutes, but he refunded all of them. No questions, no fuss.

 

Thanksgiving lunch was in Tsars. This time is was efficient. We asked the waiter if he worked in Tsars for dinner, since he definitely had his act together. Unfortunately he works Chin Chin for the dinner shift. :cool:

 

Football in the Crystal Atrium. Lots of Cowboy fans and a smattering of Eagles fans. After a couple of hours there were lots of irritated Cowboys fans.

 

While we were watching the game we became aware of an issue with of of our group. Their cabin was on deck 9 midship. The giant TV in the crystal atrium is left on all night. They were constantly having to deal with the bass in their room. It would wake them up. They repeatedly (as in every night) ask guest services to turn it down. Especially since NO ONE was in the atrium at 3am but the staff.

 

We found out about the issue when Mike informed us that we would all be receiving chocolate covered strawberries. The manager had offered Mike a free meal in one of the specialty restaurants as compensation for the noise. He did not feel like taking a free meal without the rest of us. When he mentioned this to the guest services staff, they told him they understood and would check with the manager to see if he would be willing to include our entire party.

 

Our general consensus was to tell Mike to take the free meal and we would join them and pay for ours. Problem solved. The guest services staff was supposed to contact him by 5pm that afternoon with an answer. The missed the deadline.

 

We attended the Le Cirque Bijou show that night. It was good. I was especially impressed with the ability to perform these moves on a ship that was not exactly providing a stable platform.

 

Dinner was in Azura. This time it was really bad. The entire process was 3 hours. The waiter kept trying to give us food we did not order. The food was cold, when we got what we actually ordered and pretty much tasteless.

[dchi72]

Day 7 - At Sea

 

Today the ocean was like glass. The captain pushed hard through the rougher seas the day before and boy did it pay off. I slept great with the rougher seas.

 

Several times during the day I had to look over the side of the ship to see if we were actually moving. The engines felt like the were almost in idle. Great weather and smooth seas made for a great day.

 

Breakfast again in Tsars. I guess we are creatures of habit.

 

Some time in the Casino. Came out ahead for the trip by about $80.

 

Lunch in O'Sheehans.

 

Relaxing on deck.

 

We went to the free cruise drawing. We did not win, but the guy sitting directly behind us did.

 

Dinner was in Tsars after changing clothes again. Azura was packed and we still had not heard anything from guest services about one or any of our group getting a complimentary dinner in a specialty restaurant. This time dinner was well paced. We finally has deserts that were memorable. Some nights the desserts were forgettable, some nights they were gelatinous, and some times they were just bad. The chocolate night was none of these. They were GOOD!

 

We attended David Naster comedy show. It was funny! That was my favorite show. Not that this is a ringing endorsement given my preference for avoiding shows.

 

Not only did we not hear back from guest services, but still nothing on the strawberry front. We were not looking for "free" anything. Mike did not complain in hopes of getting anything, but if your going to offer something make sure you follow through.

[dchi72]

Disembarkation

 

Buffet for breakfast. We chose the last group off.

 

This was a easy disembarkation. Some of the usual people who think rules and procedures do not apply to them, but nothing earth-shattering.

[dchi72]

Overall impressions

 

We had a good time. Nothing "ruined" our cruise. Seems that so many people let little things ruin their cruises. My philosophy is: I am not working, I am not cooking, I am not cleaning therefore I am happy.

 

Things I liked:

The Norwegian App

Paradise Beach

Goff's Caye <- favorite part of the trip

Accessibility of senior staff

Main shows seemed more family friendly than the shows on Carnival

 

Things I disliked:

Food quality. Not terrible or inedible, but just not all the good.

No follow through on promises. Don't offer something and not provide

 

If our group chooses to sail Norwegian again I will join them. Just with lower expectations. As a friend of mine likes to say. "low expectations, low disappointment"

 

I hope this helps some future cruisers.