Hi Bonnie
Nice to hear from you. We are staying at the Vilodomat in Barcelona after being recommended by a friend .
What are you paying for your private trip? I thought about this too as i've had a few reports on Naples being particularly bad on crime. It may be worth a look into.
Does anyone know if there will be a fridge in all the cabins onboard, tea and coffee making facilities too.i had a fridge on my last cruise but not tea and coffee making tools.
annj
Went on the Jewel, left mid cruise it was awful, small rooms, bar staff and restuarant staff okay, other staff, not bothered, NCL just in it for the money, hidden charges everywhere (60 dollars a week to use the spa !) - really disapointed ... no more NCL for me, I have done 22 cruises with various lines, 3 with NCL and this was a real disapointment.
Dorsey: Just a note to try and relieve any concerns you may still have about the Jewel and NCL in general. We took our first cruise ever in 2002 on the NCL Star, and have been on 5 more since. Our most recent cruise was on the Jewel in October, from NYC to Canada.
We were never attracted to cruising, no reason, just didn't have any interest. We went on the Star as it was one way to see Hawaii, but we did not get in on the planning, we went with a relative that did.
We are so pleased with NCL that we just don't look for any alternatives. We love FreeStyle dining, auto tipping, and the option to not partake in the formal evening activities.
As for the recent comments by "Jo Walker", I personally disregard all of them based on my experience on six cruises. Looking on the bright side, I guess I do not have to worry about crossing paths with such a (positive) on any future NCL cruise. I've found from reading such message boards that your personal outlook and expectations have a lot to do with how you enjoy your cruise. We started out with "no" expectations to speak of, and have kept raising the bar. so far NCL continues to surpass all of our expectations, and we can not say enough good things about them.
In addition to our attraction to FreeStyle and all it has to offer, we have the highest praise for the Quality of food, service, cleanliness, entertainment, staff, ship management, and activities. we have enjoyed our itineraries, but we are mostly all about the ship. We love beach oriented excursions, but enjoy sea days as well. The shows in the 1,000 seat auditoriums are outstanding, and most reviews I read about the entertainment indicate NCL has the best shows.
Before closing, I must comment on the small room sizes noted above. We have stayed in Balconies, O'views, and Inside, and have absolutely no complaints about cabin size. Again, what I have read indicates that NCL cabins are average to above average size. If size is a passenger's major concern, each ship that I have been on does have large suite class cabins that would seem to satisfy anyone needing "room". Since we haven't stayed in suites, and have not cruised other lines, we can not speak from experience, but we have been very satisfied with our cabins.
I hope you enjoy your NCL experience, and if you have any problems while onboard, please be aware that your Hotel Director would be interested in hearing about them if the normal chain of command is unable to rectify your concern. They certainly do not want customers hitting them blindsided on a message board, without having the opportunity to respond to a customer's issue.
Unless you happen to be very high maintenance, with unusually high expectations, you should have a great time on the Jewel. If you have additional concerns and/or questions, I hope you continue to air them on a message board, as this is a great place to get information.
Hi Ann,
In Naples, we hired Seesorrento.co (Marcello). There have been some terrific reviews of his excursions in CC (also a few not so good reviews). He seems to give tours of "his Amalfi" and takes you off the beaten path (less tourisy places)which appealed to us. He will however take you wherever you want to go. He had the best prices of the 5 other tour companies I emailed. He charges $350Euros for the 3 of us and $550Euros for up to 6 people. Still a big savings from the cruise tours. The other companies I contacted started at $400Euros.
Bonnie
Thanks Jo and Tomct for your comments.
Well they were a mixed bag and its good to have both views about things.
Some of my reasons for cruising are that i get a taste of the areas around where we call. That way i can glean a fair idea of whether to have a land based holiday there.eg.Kusadasi- wouldn't go again.Venice- yes for a long weekend.Athens- I could live there.I hope you get my drift.
I also like not having to go very far in the evenings so a pleasant evening wandering the ship and a few drinks, soaking up any atmosphere is great.
Food and soaking up the sun ,well i'm happy.
Hopefully the younger child will be happy in the kids pool and although she is not the best behaved child(only for me of course)if i do leave her for the odd couple of hours alone in the "club" she will be ok!This is the first time she has cruised.
I am going on the Jewel with my eyes open and will give it a fair crack of the whip.In hindsight though i probably would have been better booking a larger cabin as i cant really say i am looking forward to a 4 bed! Adjoining ones would have been better but ????? Somehow breakfast in bed for 4 ? it will give you all a laugh trying to picture it ha ha
I look forward to having more peoples comments regarding the Jewel posted.Dorsey will be back by now so i look forward to your comments.
ann
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