Thoughts on Jewel 1/22... Kinda long

[Two Flowers]

After getting back from the 1/22 sailing on the Jewel I wanted to post some thoughts on my vacation.

Our profile: I'm 28 and my husband who has never cruised is 31. We stayed in cabin 9670- Cat AE penthouse suite aft. We travelled with my family who stayed in 4 inside cabins on deck 5 mid. My family ranges from 26-60 and they had 2 babies aged 5 mos and 10 mos.

First of all I should say that the crew was amazing with the babies. When my husband and I went to meet our group in the dining room I attempted to give the family name to the hostess. She exclaimed, "Oh you mean Ethan and Benjamin!" stating the babies' names. Every crew member we encountered doted on the babies and loved them. It really made us feel special.

Our cabin: Ohmigod!! From the moment we got to the pier we were told we were VIP and treated like gold. The cabin is beautiful. Our butler, Maxi, was the consummate professional. Among the amenities we received for being in a suite were snacks or treats he would bring around 5pm every evening- including chocolate dipped strawberries one evening. We loved the l'Occitane bath products. We also got towel creatures 6 nights for those of you interested. I started to look forward to them! Our concierge, Marieke, was also wonderful. I'm a terrible procrastinator and like to make restaurant choices spontaneously. She never made us feel bad about this, and in fact made reservations for our party of 10 a couple times. We did tip both concierge and butler accordingly for their attentive services. Our cabin location aft was great. The view was beautiful. We did feel some pitching a couple nights and our steward said it was more noticeable aft compared to mid-ship.

The crew: Almost every crew member we encountered walking the hallways or elsewhere on the ship had a smile for us. They were cheerful and proud of their beautiful ship.

If anyone has any questions I will be happy to try to answer them. Thanks to this board I was much better prepared for this cruise and my family loved all the tips I had! :D

[Cruisin' Patty]

Did you have a chocolate buffet and when (if any) were formal night? Thanks.

[honeypie72]

any pictures.........esp of your cabin????

 

 

Sounds like a great time!

[Two Flowers]

Did you have a chocolate buffet and when (if any) were formal night? Thanks.

 

There was a chocoholic buffet on Monday, first full sea day, from 1:30 pm- 2:30 pm. I didn't go, but my sister went and said it was beautiful but not very tasty. Formal night was also this same day and titled "Optional Formal". We saw people in general resort casual wear and some people in beautiful formal dresses and tuxedos. You would be comfortable either way.

[garycarla]

Tell us more about Penthouse perks. We are booked in an AC for the transatlantic trip in April/May.

 

Were you offered any upsells?

[Two Flowers]

Tell us more about Penthouse perks. We are booked in an AC for the transatlantic trip in April/May.

 

Were you offered any upsells?

 

I'm working on uploading the couple of photos I took. It says my file is too big.

I actually originally booked an AG mini-suite and called the upsell desk for the AE penthouse suite. It cost an additional $250 pp before sailing.

Perks were great. In addition to VIP boarding, bypassing the lines, we were given a bottle of champagne, we had a certificate for free dinner in either Le Bistro or Cagneys to be used Sunday or Monday, nightly treats (petit fours, choc dipped strawberries, jumbo shrimp cocktail, small sandwiches, pastries) which Maxi delivered about 5pm each evening. We also received priority reservations for restaurants last minute. They automatically delivered VIP tender tickets to our cabin. We had towel creatures every night (not sure if this was a perk, but my family in the inside KK only got them once or twice), also invite to the captain's VIP cocktail party. En-suite we had the fabulous l'Occitane bath products which they regularly restocked, great vanity with strong hair dryer and lit make-up mirror, crystal and silver bath accessories with bath salts. We never had trouble getting in contact with concierge or butler for assistance.

There was a note from our room stewards that said they are trained to be in when we are out and out when we are in. They were always friendly and extremely professional. These are the main perks I can think of. I can honestly say that we didn't spend a lot of time around the ship because we enjoyed our cabin and having our family come there to visit us so much.

[garycarla]

Usually your software will give you an option to reduce the size of the pictures. If not, email them to my site at www.jewelapril30.com and I will resize them for you. If really big, send only a few at a time.

[Dorothy]

Thank you for all the information. You gave a totally different perspective and it was refreshing.

 

I, too, am booked in a mini-suite, but will call for an upsell prior to sailing. When did you call in? I was thinking 2-3 weeks prior to our sail date. I'm hoping that the timing will be right.

[Two Flowers]

Thank you for all the information. You gave a totally different perspective and it was refreshing.

 

I, too, am booked in a mini-suite, but will call for an upsell prior to sailing. When did you call in? I was thinking 2-3 weeks prior to our sail date. I'm hoping that the timing will be right.

 

I actually called a little over a month before sailing. They had a list of almost all suite level cabins to upgrade to.

[UKDeb]

Thanks for the review, Jasmine. We are in Romance Suite 10666 (aft) in April. :)

 

Can you tell me how the VIP check-in works and where we should go when we arrive at the port. Was your whole party able to use the VIP check-in or did you have to check in separately? What time do you advise arriving?

 

I'd love to see some photos, too!

[Two Flowers]

Thanks for the review, Jasmine. We are in Romance Suite 10666 (aft) in April. :)

 

Can you tell me how the VIP check-in works and where we should go when we arrive at the port. Was your whole party able to use the VIP check-in or did you have to check in separately? What time do you advise arriving?

 

I'd love to see some photos, too!

 

Debbie- Congratulations on the Romance Suite! I'm sure you will love it.

 

Check in- When we got to the pier I showed my e-docs to the person "directing traffic" and they pointed us to the suite line. My mom was ahead of me and they directed her to the other side of the terminal for general cabins. The lines were about the same so I didn't ask if she could check in with us. At the counter they took our picture, credit card info, and wrote VIP on my documents. They said to go directly to the area to pick up our key card without waiting in lines for it. We got our picture taken by the photographer and went to the VIP waiting area. Mareike, our concierge was there to hand us our key cards. She offered us sandwiches, coffee, and ice water. This was a screened off area with tables and chairs, but there were no other passengers in the area. She directed us to security past the general folks waiting in line. We were not escorted onto the ship, but that could be because we got there around 1pm. I had planned to arrive a little later than most folks said to avoid congestion in line. We were onboard in about 20 mins.

Debarkation: VIP debarking was great, also. The first call is for passengers doing express (where they carry their own luggage off) and second call is for VIP. We had red tags with big VIP on them. We met concierge at the restaurant on deck 6 and she escorted us off the ship. All of the VIP luggage was in one place. It made it very simple to find.

Pictures: I'm going to work on uploading them when I get home from work. I must confess that most are of family and only 2 or 3 of the cabin. Sorry everybody! I totally blanked!

[UKDeb]

Thanks for your prompt response! We'd like to take advantage of all the VIP benefits, but it's just my husband and me travelling with another couple (in a mini-suite), so I doubt we'll do anything which they can't also take advantage of.

[Two Flowers]

Thanks for your prompt response! We'd like to take advantage of all the VIP benefits, but it's just my husband and me travelling with another couple (in a mini-suite), so I doubt we'll do anything which they can't also take advantage of.

 

If you have company in your cabin the butler will bring room service for everybody- just tip accordingly. Also, the concierge will make reservations for your whole party. I actually made dinner reservations for my family of 10 a couple times through the concierge. She was very gracious about it. Your friends in the mini-suite will be SO JEALOUS!! :D

[Cruisin' Patty]

Any pix of the Jewel yet?

[Two Flowers]

Any pix of the Jewel yet?

 

Sorry Cruisin' Patty- Got tied up at work the last few nights and haven't loaded the pics onto a site. I will try again this evening. :(

[Two Flowers]

Any pix of the Jewel yet?

 

I finally loaded up some pictures. I'm really sorry I didn't get anymore of the cabin. Hope it kind of gives you an idea. As you can see we tend to spread our stuff around and there was quite a bit of room. :D

 

http://community.webshots.com/album/547352441JYTlpQ