Jewel review Oct 21 - Nov 5

[Cruiser#5]

We booked Air, Hotel and Cruise thru NCL from our TA and splurged on an owners Suite.

Our flight was from Toronto to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Barcelona.

We flew out from Toronto at 6:00 p.m to Amsterdam with no issues, when we arrived in Amsterdam that's where our problem started. Once boarding time started, we went up with our boarding pass was told we cannot get on the plane without a ticket, I explained that the boarding pass was all we were given. After what seemed forever, the lady behind him called us over and said everything is now fine. She phoned someone in Toronto and they confirmed they didn't give us that tickets. she indicated that this happens all the time.

 

We arrived in Barcelona and met up with a NCL rep where we had to wait for an hour or so for the remaining other flights. Once everyone was there we were told to board the buses based on the hotel you are at.

We arrived at the hotel (Melia Barcelona) around 3:00 a.m (toronto time),

The Hotel was beautiful. I was too tired to explore so we just ordered food in and went to bed.

 

A letter was given to all of us to meet up at 11:30 in the lobby. We squared off our hotel bill and went directly on the Bus which took us 1/2 hour to get to the ship.

As we got into the warehouse, we saw the long long long line to get onto the ship :eek: . Thank goodness I saw the sign for Suite passengers. No lineup!

 

They took our passports and held onto it for the the entire trip(not sure if this was for non US Citizens only). Make sure you make a copy of it!. We met Alex (Conceirge), and the butler(Karan).

 

Karan escorted us up to the suite and showed us around (Pictures to follow). What a cabin, coffee maker, 1 1/2 baths (TV in one). Phones everywhere including the bathroom, 2 balconies (front and side). One huge coffee maker that even grinds beans. This was amazing.

Our luggage even arrived within the hour.

 

At 6:30 we were to meet up with the Cruise critic Meet and Greet in the Garden Villa. I would like to personally thank Karen (Swimgrl) for hosting the M&G, Gary(GaryCarla) for his unbelievable Website and Sdiver(Sandy) for assisting with the M&G. It was a pleasure to have met you and everyone else. I'm not sure how many were there but it looked to be over 100 Cruise critic members.

 

The ship was was beautiful, we ate mostly in the speciality restaurant and that was a choice we chose prior to boarding the ship. The food is excellent. We had lunch at the Buffet a few times, it got quite crowded and to find available seats was not easy.

We took advantage of breakfast in Cagneys a few times and most times ordered Room service. No cooking, cleaning or working for 15 days was a real treat so I lived it up! :D

 

We booked all our excursions with NCL and have learned from this trip we should have gone private on a few excursions as some raved at their trip. We chose Rome and the Vatican excursion and found that to be very stressful. We had to stand in line for 3 hours to get in to the Museum where you walked in the museum for another 3 hours. The Vatican museum, Sistine Chapel was breathtaking. It was ashame this excurison didn't allow time to shop The excursion was a 9 1/2 hours long but from ship to ship, it took over 11 hours.

 

We also booked A visit to Pisa and Livorno by Boat. We enjoyed the Visit ot Pisa, it was well worth it.

We also booked Eze and Monaco. We did a fair amount of walking but this place was breathtaking. I sure would love to live there.

Two of our other excursions were messed up so We ended up shopping at Gibralter, Ajaccio, Palmade mallorca and portugal and just loved it there.

 

The weather overall was just wonderful, warm and not too hot, it did get a little rough by the end of the week. The entertainment was amazing and a must to check out.

 

The Casino was okay. I found they were not as generous as they were on the Sun. Last year I got comped for a meal and drinks. But not this time.

Overall we had a good time. Now back to reality...work :(

[cruiseclues]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. :) :cool: :D

[SRQfireman]

"The Casino was okay. I found they were not as generous as they were on the Sun. Last year I got comped for a meal and drinks. But not this time.

Overall we had a good time. Now back to reality...work :(

"

 

 

Holy cow....did they throw in free dessert also ?? :) That's mighty nice of them to offer that ;)