brunjo06

Although  I have taken over 15 cruises in the past 12 years and visited  ports in this part of the world and Europe,  I can honestly say that this cruise exceeded all expectations. For starters I was impressed by the cleanliness and orderly embarkation process once myself and my companion came on board. The cabin was a pleasant surprise and our first meal, lunch  at the Garden Cafe about an hour after embarkation,  was our first encounter with what continued to be excellent food for the next 7 days.

All of the restaurants serve very good fare, but the specialty ones out-do all others. We ate at La Cucina were the Italian food could not be faulted, nor could it be faulted at Moderno, a Brazilian/Argentinian food venue. The Japanese restaurant was a bit of a disappointment, but still a  cut above what I had been served on other cruise lines. As to entertainment, it was professional and adequate, although neither my companion nor I are into "the night life," so I am no authority on that subject. But from the look on the faces of other passengers, the fun was sure there. The excursions we took were well run and enjoyable.

In view of all of the above I can say that although this was my first NCL cruise, it hopefully will not be the last. 

Over the past 14 years I have taken 25 cruises with other lines, and although many were very good, none comes even close to this one.

This trip was A ONE from the very start. I was amazed at the ease, and speed, of the embarkation process. To illustrate this statement, immediately upon pulling up at the pier my companion and I were greeted by a Celebrity attendant. Told  that we needed assistance,  a wheelchair was available instantly. This may not seem a very important issue, but on other embarkations we had to sit and wait, at times over an hour, for such help. From then on things just kept getting better. Our cabin was large and well appointed. The cabin stuart, minutes after entering, introduced himself and went over all the amenities including assurance of help whenever needed. I found such courtesy and friendliness all over the ship. But the main dining room teem was even more outstanding. Besides excellent service, the head waiter offered valued information at each meal which made the dining experience  a plus. The food was good, so much so that I did not feel the need to make other dining choices. Both my companion and I felt that it "Could not get any better".

The only drawback was the excursion desk. I am sorry to give them a 3 out of a 10 scale, but those people were only interested in  selling an excursion, without caring if it was doable .  As my companion has an equilibrium issue, which makes walking on uneven ground as well as distance quite impossible, we went to the excursion desk to "discuss" possibilities for a tour in Rhodes and Santorini, and the agent tried to "push" tours in those places. Since I have been to Rhodes before, I knew that it involved a great deal of walking so I did not "fall" for any tours there. But I did for Santorini! However, upon checking with other passengers and finding out that this was even more arduous than Rhodes, I cancelled and was given a refund. The point I am trying to make is that those people will not offer any suggestions or help besides the product they wished to sell. I am not advocating using local tours, such as taxies, but at times those are a good solution. Also most places, Rhodes for instance, offer hop on/off tours which are very helpful if a person is interested in a "quick" and easy tour. It would have been helpful to know this!  As I indicated, this does not take away the fact that in my book  Celebrity is a great cruise line and I am totally "sold" on it. Hope who ever takes this rating as a guide for a contemplated vacation, will not be disappointed.

The Jewel of the Seas is not a new ship, and its not as big as most of the newer ones,but  this is good as being a small ship it is much easier to go from place to place. At this point a review of the amenities, etc would be unfair as she's going into dry-dock and, supposedly, reemerging as a shining new star. 

I have to say that the service in main dining room and cafeteria  was superb, as was Customer Relations and the Excursion personnel. The cabin steward was not all that good as he was seldom visible and the cleanliness of the cabin left much to be desired, since all that was done was a clean supply of towels and the bed made...As to entertainment, I can only address the evening fare. Both my companion and I are well past the teenage stage, so we found it to be   poor and at times infantile.  An other "issue" was the fact that St. Kits was replaced by St. Martin and no explanation given...no biggie, but it would have been nice to know. 

As an overall, this was a good trip.