Jewel - 4/30/17 Pacific Coastal Reviews

[fshagan]

We just finished a Pacific Coastal cruise on Friday, May 5, 2017 in Vancouver. We sailed on Sunday from San Pedro, had a sea day Monday, visited San Francisco on Tuesday, had another sea day on Wednesday and visited Victoria, BC on Thursday. Disembarkation was very smooth in Vancouver. We sailed with our friends on this cruise and had adjoining (but not connected) balcony cabins aft on deck 10. We really enjoyed it overall, but there were things that brought the actual ship experience down to below average (the ports and our friends more than made up for the issues we saw.)

 

The four of us are ready for our cruise!

 

The Short Version:

Just OK.

 

Not our favorite cruise, but we weren't at work. And we did enjoy the staff, our friends, and the ports. And it was inexpensive.

 

For CoffeeGoddess' review, see http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2493348 She has photos of menus, the Freestyle Daily for each day, drink reviews and more detail on our Meet & Greet. My wife did a formal review and I'll link it here when it is reviewed and published. She may have a more positive outlook than I do about NCL.

 

Food: Pretty good, with only a few exceptions. We ate in both MDRs, O'Sheehan's, Cagneys, Teppanyaki, and Le Bistro with good meals, and only one misstep with an omelet on the pool deck (not good, and not eaten after we saw the "chef" drop the spatula on the floor a third time). Teppanyaki was exceptional as the chef was very entertaining and the food very good. Cagney's surprised me with good food this time around, as I have always had higher expectations there ... my filet was wonderful and the sides were actually hot (they serve them in ramkins so they chill easily). Le Bistro disappointed us; while it is a more elegant setting, the swordfish was tough, and the cream brulee just OK according to our friends. My wife did enjoy her steak, but felt it was probably a tie with Cagney's. That's our second strike out with Le Bistro, and I know its a favorite of most. But I have yet to have an exceptional meal there.

 

 

 

 

The Incredible Inedible Omelet!

 

 

Entertainment:

High points were the comedians, Sam Fedele and magician/comedian Bob Brizendine. These guys got enthusiastic thumb's up from all of us.

 

Low points were the live music performances. NCL has fallen from grace in this department.

 

The first stage show was "Band on the Run", a typical dance / music production with top 40 hits from Styx, Donna Summer, etc. The performers are not really to blame for my dislike of this show, as I'm sure they are great singers and dancers and their mothers most assuredly love them. The show itself is the problem. The dialog that attempts to weave the story together is impossibly hokey and sounds more like an episode of Jersey Shore if the guys all went to a disco club with people who weren't alive when they were going. Or something. Bleech. The choreography is bad. We have always enjoyed the song and dance shows on NCL, but this one took a great amount of intestinal fortitude to stay through the first few numbers before rushing to the exits and aural sanity.

 

The acrobatic couple performing in the show "Luminescence" was worth seeing, as they were impressive. It seemed a bit long for what it was, but it was enjoyable.

 

We peeked in on the middle of the show "La Cirque Bijou", which combined the poor underserved performers from "Band on the Run" with the entertaining couple of "Luminescence" and decided the artistic alloy was not going to be to our liking. Not good.

 

We have always had wonderful live music on NCL in the lounges. But on this cruise the live music we experienced was a mixed bag as well. "Piano and Vocals by Lisa York" was simply bad, and she didn't improve over the week. The "Fire and Ice" duo's lead singer sounded like she had either a cold or had blown out her voice when we saw them the first night, and she sounded just "off". We heard just snippets throughout the week, and she didn't improve. We had good vocals and guitar playing from the Alambre Trio, and enjoyed them. The party band "Souled Out" did a good job of providing acceptable covers of songs for dancing and listening, and were probably the best of the music we heard. We skipped "Randon Lauron" and his tribute to Neil Diamond, so I don't know how well he did.

 

We used to think NCL had pretty good live music, and their stage shows were at least as good as you see in any Six Flags theme park. But on this cruise it was as bad as we have ever experienced on a cruise. I'm placing NCL under Princess for quality of entertainment now.

 

Cabins:

The Jewel is long in the tooth now, and if I hadn't been on the cabin crawl and seen nicer cabins, I would advise not sailing her until after she is remodeled. The suites are nice, and the porthole and obstructed view cabins we saw were OK. But our balconies had stained duvets, faded carpet, and a deck that was disintegrating so badly that the adhesive was showing. When the sun was on the balcony deck it melted and you stuck to it like you do in an old theater that has years of spilled Coke on the floor. My wife made the mistake of standing out there barefoot and it took ten minutes to get the sticky sludge off her feet. Gross.

 

The TV had a horrible image with a very grainy appearance on all channels. Our friends had the same issues, plus a few others. Their safe was inoperable, the balcony slider did not close and latch, and their TV remote had all the text worn off. The staff quickly reacted and resolved the safe and slider issues. Our friends figured out how to work the TV so that they too could see it was hard to watch with all the snow. They are not veteran NCL cruisers, but have been on many other lines. Their overall verdict is that NCL is a small step above Carnival. But a very small step. They were not impressed.

 

The sticky deck

 

The illiterate remote

 

 

Technology:

The Jewel has not yet installed the ability to view your bill on the TV so you can track your on-board charges. They have improved their Internet service so that it is usable, and I found it quite acceptable for checking email and sending text messages to people. I would compare it to a 56k dial up connection now, whereas before it was painfully slow.

 

The Crew:

I was surprised that another reviewer said the Jewel had the most unhappy crew he had ever experienced just two weeks before our cruise. There were a couple of exceptions but most of the time the crew was NCL-friendly and provided us with excellent service.

 

A notable exception was Luis, the person NCL has in charge of coordinating with the Cruise Critic Meet and Greets, who should be fired. Or put in a position where he will not insult the customers in front of other customers. People who plan the Meet and Greets go to a lot of work, and for all the words from the executives that they appreciate Cruise Critic members, Luis' treatment of the organizers is not consistent with that message. See CoffeeGoddess' excellent live blogging thread for some details on his treatment of her and other organizers on previous cruises.

 

But all of our personal interactions with the rest of the crew were excellent. Our cabin steward Maria was fantastic and we appreciated her attention throughout the cruise. Walking down the hallways we were always greeted by any other stewards. NCL smiles were abundant, and given all the problems we have had with NCL with numerous changes, it is the people working on the ships that still make the difference for us. We filled out a couple of hero cards for people who went out of their way to help us enjoy our vacation.

 

Overall Thoughts:

We're taking a break from NCL for the next 18 months, with cruises planned on Celebrity and Disney. For us to consider NCL again we would need a combination of a great itinerary and great pricing, something we aren't seeing as we look at preferred itineraries. This cruise just reinforced that decision for us. We enjoyed it, but are thinking we may enjoy other lines more. We will see.

[Clarea]

Enjoyed the amusing and informative report.:)

[BirdTravels]

We're taking a break from NCL for the next 18 months, with cruises planned on Celebrity and Disney. For us to consider NCL again we would need a combination of a great itinerary and great pricing, something we aren't seeing as we look at preferred itineraries. This cruise just reinforced that decision for us. We enjoyed it, but are thinking we may enjoy other lines more. We will see.

 

 

Not sure that Disney and Celebrity fall in the "great price" category.

[punkincc]

Not sure that Disney and Celebrity fall in the "great price" category.

 

 

How true! Will not experience this ship until October of this year, and it's disappointing to hear about the entertainment, but as we all know, entertainment and food are very subjective, and many things can change between now and October. NCL has the most options in places to dine, and IMO, in general, has by far the best entertainment, especially on the big ships. I would not let one cruise experience on a ship which will soon be getting a refurb put me off the line totally, but nothing wrong with testing the water elsewhere.

[BirdTravels]

How true! Will not experience this ship until October of this year, and it's disappointing to hear about the entertainment, but as we all know, entertainment and food are very subjective, and many things can change between now and October. NCL has the most options in places to dine, and IMO, in general, has by far the best entertainment, especially on the big ships. I would not let one cruise experience on a ship which will soon be getting a refurb put me off the line totally, but nothing wrong with testing the water elsewhere.

 

Things are subjective. We were on the Jewel a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed the food and entertainment very much. We especially enjoyed the fact that the Jewel is still on the "old" NCL menus. And We're not looking for big Broadway shows. Have a great cruise. We have sailed on the Jewel twice to Alaska and once to Mexico over the past 3 years and hope you enjoy her as much as we do.

[deliver42]

We re on the Jewel next week in a balcony. Sorry to hear about the sad state they are in.I hope ors is at least a little better, without the glue.

[jcscv]

Thank you for your review. I will be going out on the Jewel in less than two weeks (yay!). I've been trying to read everything on the Jewel and NCL (my first time on them in many years) to see what to expect. I have friends that were on the same cruise, so am curious to hear what they thought of everything too. I'm of the thought, forewarned is forearmed.

 

I'm not a big fan of the big musical shows on any ship, so no worries there. Mostly concerned about staff attitude, food, drinks, and the ship overall. Thanks to you and CoffeeGoddess, I know a lot of what to expect. Glad you had an overall good trip. Once again, thank you for your thoughts.

[CoffeeGoddess]

Man that balcony deck was awful, and the entire deck 14 was just about the same. I don't know what was going on with that but that needs to get fixed soon.

 

I had the same issues with the grainy TV when I was watching the navigation channel and it took several tries for my safe to work. Quite frankly I was a little surprised at all this since it was dry docked in 2014 and there were none of these issues in March last year when my mom and I were on. That's too bad about the specialty meals, it's not good to get a meh meal in a free venue but when you pay extra for it that's a let down.

[gwsster]

I asked the Hotel Director on this cruise and was told that the refurb wasn't until October of 2018. Our cabin was well appointed but the carpet and decking was in a very worn condition. I hope they start replacing the cabin carpets long before October of 2018.

 

 

How true! Will not experience this ship until October of this year, and it's disappointing to hear about the entertainment, but as we all know, entertainment and food are very subjective, and many things can change between now and October. NCL has the most options in places to dine, and IMO, in general, has by far the best entertainment, especially on the big ships. I would not let one cruise experience on a ship which will soon be getting a refurb put me off the line totally, but nothing wrong with testing the water elsewhere.

[gwsster]

I found our cabin and that of our neighbors cabin were in need of new carpet and decking. Sticking to the balcony was odd. I love sitting out on the balcony but the cork decking had eroded and was stuck to the chair legs on the balcony.

I liked the entertainment more than DH, but the Band on the Run show was very Hokey and cartoonish, which was a shame as the cast were very talented. The food was good, dining service was very good in the main dining rooms. The crew were very nice and competent. Our room Steward Mary Ann was very nice and always left our room in great shape. I had a great time but hopefully NCL will do some cabin refurbs on the Jewel a little sooner than 18 months as anticipated. The CC members were very nice and you Coffee Goddess did a great job organizing the Meet and Greet and other CC activities.

 

Man that balcony deck was awful, and the entire deck 14 was just about the same. I don't know what was going on with that but that needs to get fixed soon.

 

I had the same issues with the grainy TV when I was watching the navigation channel and it took several tries for my safe to work. Quite frankly I was a little surprised at all this since it was dry docked in 2014 and there were none of these issues in March last year when my mom and I were on. That's too bad about the specialty meals, it's not good to get a meh meal in a free venue but when you pay extra for it that's a let down.

[fshagan]

Not sure that Disney and Celebrity fall in the "great price" category.

 

Didn't say they were. I said, and I quote:

For us to consider NCL again we would need a combination of a great itinerary and great pricing, something we aren't seeing as we look at preferred itineraries.

I think that's pretty clear, isn't it? For us to consider NCL again we would need both a great itinerary and great pricing.

Our decisions for other lines is different. Price still comes into it, but I consider DCL worth an extra 25 - 50%. Not sure yet about Celebrity as our first cruise with them is coming up. They may fall into the same category as NCL, or be one we will pay more for.

[fshagan]

How true! Will not experience this ship until October of this year, and it's disappointing to hear about the entertainment, but as we all know, entertainment and food are very subjective, and many things can change between now and October. NCL has the most options in places to dine, and IMO, in general, has by far the best entertainment, especially on the big ships. I would not let one cruise experience on a ship which will soon be getting a refurb put me off the line totally, but nothing wrong with testing the water elsewhere.

 

We asked at the M&G and all four of us remember hearing the next dry dock is in Oct 2018. I'm thinking that must be 2017 instead based on the condition of the cabins we were in. Do you know? If they are waiting until 2018 I think those cabins will generate more complaints. As I mentioned, the suites looked fine, and the porthole and obstructed ocean view cabins looked much better than ours.

 

They don't have to go into dry dock to refresh cabins, of course, so maybe they are doing that. We were just surprised at how tired the Jewel cabins looked after sailing on the Gem on a cruise or two before it's recent update.

[fshagan]

Man that balcony deck was awful, and the entire deck 14 was just about the same. I don't know what was going on with that but that needs to get fixed soon.

 

I had the same issues with the grainy TV when I was watching the navigation channel and it took several tries for my safe to work. Quite frankly I was a little surprised at all this since it was dry docked in 2014 and there were none of these issues in March last year when my mom and I were on. That's too bad about the specialty meals, it's not good to get a meh meal in a free venue but when you pay extra for it that's a let down.

 

Two of us were underwhelmed by Le Bistro, but we both ordered the swordfish. The rest of the meal was very good, but this is the second or third time that Le Bistro hasn't lived up to the reputation for me. Maybe a preference thing, as food is subjective, but my view is that cooked swordfish should be flaky rather than dense and slightly "mealy". We had the dining plan so it wasn't a big loss or anything. If we sail NCL again we'll probably double up on Cagney's or Teppanyaki. I have issues with Cagney's since they started slopping the sides into ramkins, but if it's included I will accept cold green beans (this time they were warm, so that's a bonus).

[easyboy]

Thank you for your feedback.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[punkincc]

We asked at the M&G and all four of us remember hearing the next dry dock is in Oct 2018. I'm thinking that must be 2017 instead based on the condition of the cabins we were in. Do you know? If they are waiting until 2018 I think those cabins will generate more complaints. As I mentioned, the suites looked fine, and the porthole and obstructed ocean view cabins looked much better than ours.

 

They don't have to go into dry dock to refresh cabins, of course, so maybe they are doing that. We were just surprised at how tired the Jewel cabins looked after sailing on the Gem on a cruise or two before it's recent update.

 

I can pretty much guarantee the Jewel's dry dock is not Oct 2017 as the Jewel will be doing Alaska this summer and after the last Alaskan cruise, head straight for Hawaii and the South Pacific in October as she repositions to Australia for some cruises there. We will be cruising from Honolulu all the way to Sydney as of 10-13-17, 29 days in a non refurbed ship, unfortunately.

 

I don't hold out any hope that they will start any refresh prior to the next dry dock. It would probably be too disruptive to passengers, and blocks of cabins and decks would be unavailable to passengers. Much easier to bring on work crews at dry dock, rip out and replace. Too bad the refurb could not arrive before our 29 days, but I don't get the impression that the ship is in shambles;). I'm sure we are going to enjoy this cruise.

[fshagan]

I can pretty much guarantee the Jewel's dry dock is not Oct 2017 as the Jewel will be doing Alaska this summer and after the last Alaskan cruise, head straight for Hawaii and the South Pacific in October as she repositions to Australia for some cruises there. We will be cruising from Honolulu all the way to Sydney as of 10-13-17, 29 days in a non refurbed ship, unfortunately.

 

If you are in a suite I think you'll be pleased with the accommodations, at least from what we saw on the cabin crawl. They were up to NCL standards. I didn't see more than three balcony cabins on deck 10, so I don't know if they all have the adhesive exposed on the balcony deck or not. CoffeeGoddess said the balconies on deck 14 are in the same shape.

[wurm914]

Interesting point of view and a little surprising - I was on this cruise too and I thought the ship looked pretty good. Last sailed NCL Jewel in 2010 and didn't see much difference condition-wise. In fact, when compared to the two most recent cruises aboard RCC Empress OTS and RCC Radiance OTS - both older ships, I thought the crew has done a great job of maintaining the Jewel overall. Sorry about your balcony - that really would be disappointing.

Agree on the entertainment largely - Lisa York, I just didn't get it - seemed very out of place. Randan Lauron we really enjoyed throughout the cruise.

Food was okay. Cagneys and Moderno were the best, LeBistro the salmon was dry. O'Sheehan's and Asian Fusion were disappointing - everything tasted like it was grocery store frozen reheated, not good.

Very much enjoyed the itinerary - ports were fun and a nice change from Caribbean ports. All and all a relaxing cruise.

Now for a question: Why is it that the NCL Jewel doesn't have anything booked after it does the Asian itineraries ending in March 2018? Would a scheduled dry dock explain no dates after end of March 2018? hmmmm - enquiring minds want to know....

 

deb:D