Dover ~ Amsterdam ~ Dover |
| Reviewed By: Green, Dagenham on 11th Aug 2008 |
| Cruise Line: NCL Cruises |
Times cruised before: 1-2 |
| Cruise Ship: Norwegian Jewel |
Sailed:
August,
2008 |
| Destination: Mini Cruises |
Age: 36-45 |
 |
Firstly I'd like to begin by saying my husband and I had an absolutely amazing time, we are exhausted yet energised.
My review below may come accross as silly... picky (and piggy because we ate tons - back to weight watchers tomorrow!) I'm just sharing my observations in case they can help anyone else to make informed decisions and by no means is any of it a complaint. ~ whenever you feel I'm being to harsh please refer to point 1 above.
Oct 07. NCL had an amazing deal, free upgrade; free birthday/anniversary package & free parking in Dover.
When booking via an agent (not this one) I was told that I couldn't have any of it as it was a 2 day trip! I paid £59 for the anniversary package, however, 16 other couples had the Romance package... free! One couple who booked 4 months ago got the birthday package and the anniversary package and the free upgrade via NCL direct, same price!!! (I didn't ask about the parking!).
We arrived at Dover 11am for a 2pm boarding, passed through check in very smoothly and was on board drinking free bubbly in the Crystal Atrium followed by a wonderful lunch at 12:30. We ate at the Tsar restaurant sitting by the window gazing out to the castle and docks. I had goat cheese and pancetta quiche to start, followed by ribs and wedges, I ordered the cobbler but could only have a taste as I was full, we heard the announcement that we could go to our room around 1:30 so we got up to go... the waiter scolded me for not relaxing and enjoying the rest of the cobbler, although I couldn't eat another bite I think that it was great to be reminded to relax!
We arrived at our room to two singles and no bubbly or chocolate dipped strawberries just a letter saying if it is not in the room to call for it which was disappointing as it was supposed to be a suprise for my husband, I was looking forward to him walking in to it, our bathroom as it had a toothpick with lipstick on, and clear wrapping in the ashtray and dusty glass shelves, I contacted reception before joining a tour of the ship at 2:15 they had it all sorted by the time we returned to the room.
Took a tour of the whole ship and walked through the garden cafe, I was totally shocked and bewildered, it was chaos, people standing up eating, lots of queues and no apparant system or guidance so couldn't wait to get out to a bit of quiet, however, I did try a slice of lamb from the carvery to taste.
We took a tour of the spa and I booked up for Sunday to get the 100 min massage and facial for a special reduced price of £55
The itinery... you can take or leave it, we enjoyed following it on Saturday, really fun packed, lots of tours and shows to choose from.
The Ship was so clean and bright, we were very impressed.
Watching the first of three shows at the theatre, 8pm we began with a magician ~ good family entertainment!
Dinner at the Azure, very busy, waited ages for our food, waiter did apologise for delay, it had a more controlled... 'canteen' feel about it even tho it was waiter service, I ordered Lamb as a main dish and up popped exactly the very same lamb I had tried at the Garden Cafe, not sure whether they just pick up the food from the same kitchen, one self service, one waiter service!!!!
Returning to the theatre for the 11:30 adult comedy, it was funnier than I expected ~ there was a big thing about him writing for Benny Hill. This doesn't infuse me with the giggles, however, he worked the crowd and taylored his british humour catering for Americans... to the needs of a mainly british audience and everything warmed up nicely in the last half hour.
Along to the midnight buffet at the casino... no ice sculpture present the dishes included tomatoes, cucumber and carrot batons, steak slices on sticks and cakes and bread, great for soaking up alcohol but not the 'vision' I was looking forward to witnessing. When I asked for the Casino card I was told that it wasn't being given out because its a two day cruise, I pointed out on the itinery that they were given out at 2pm and that its not about trading it in at the end of the two day cruise but keeping it and taking it on to other cruises, finally I was given one. - I can't get my head around who defines and measures the length of the cruise against to the level of 'deserve' of the participants, hmmmm.
Up early for breakfast, my massage was at 9:45 so we visited the garden cafe again, I had an omlette made up for my, however, my vegetarian husband couldn't have the same as he didn't change the pan and as I had had bacon in mine it meant that hubby wouldn't have anything cooked in the same pan so I left him for my treatment, he ended up with french toast, crossant and pancakes.
The Spa visit, the room was chilly, she kept leaving the room saying that she had to wash her hands or had to get something. although it was a full body massage I commented that I would like advice on digestion (ticked the box on the questionnaire) can you blame me after everything I had eaten since boarding! However, my stomach wasn't mentioned or touched.
I did feel it was quite a hard sell, I wasn't asked if I wanted to be advised on products, I was 'told' what I should buy. When I said I would ask my husband, I was told that he wouldn't mind if I spent the $178 on 10 sachets of foot soak to combat water retention! After the massage the bill was presented $155 + 18% tax, hubby was signing the docket but pointed out that it wasn't £55, they said it was a 'typo' on the offer leaflet and should have read £75, however the manager and my husband settled somewhere in the middle $119 + tax
Lunch at the Tsar we sat at the back looking out to Amsterdam (I used to live there so didn't go for the sites just the cruise) Cheddar cheese and broccoli soup then lamb Kofte followed by an amazing blueberry and apple crisp with ice cream which was heaven.
Back to floor 12 as the only bit of sun of the weekend came out we sipped cocktails in the jacuzzi and enjoyed the moment.
Returning to our room to canapes I enjoyed salmon mousse and caviar, veggie hubby watched on.
Dressed for cocktail hour we joined others celebrating anniversaries and honeymoons with yet more free bubbly and cake, a 5x7 photograph was taken and we picked it up later, free - (we did like another picture taken the night before, however as it was a big one, we had to buy that first before we could have it in 5x7, the package states the free photo is one that is already printed and although I asked they photographer the night before if he could print it in a 5 x 7 he said that he couldn't - it was heartbreaking on the last morning 'this morning' watching them dumping all the unpurchased photographs into a box, I asked what they would do with them, the guy said 'recycle'! Tho I didn't like to argue that that particular paper can't be recycled and that I know he actually meant dumped)
We popped along for the final last 5 mins of Martin Roberts (Homes under the Hammer) talk in Spinakers, he was such a lovely personable engaging guy, its the only daytime TV that I sky plus so it was great to get his autograph.
Walking past the art gallery there was a silent auction at 8pm, if you bid the highest bid of the weekend then the picture is yours, delivered to your room and put on your account. I wondered if it was true, put in a $20 bid for a random picture. (It wasn't delivered to our room Sunday night and was still in the Art Gallery Monday morning so couldn't work that one out, perhaps there was a reserve price or the auctioneer laughed the bid into the bin.)
Dinner at Le Bistro as part of the anniversary package the $15 surcharge pp was waived, and a complimentary bottle of wine enjoyed. I ate snails, well, three of them, I just couldn't get out of my mind what I was eating and couldn't go on... but I've tried it now :) Main course I paid an extra $10 for Lobster tail mmmmm totally worth it! Something else lovely happened but I won't share that here in case you have this package booked, just, enjoy, we did.
After Dinner a little more casino fun followed by a really brilliant action show Le Cirque Bijou that had our pulses racing.
Breakfast at Tsar wasn't as enjoyable, everyone seemed in a rush, it was very busy, however, Jamie from the Phillapines was our waitress, we were not given a menu we had to guess what we wanted, this order was taken down incorrectly and my veggie hubby was given bacon. then he asked for pancakes and was told another of her team would take this order but didn't. Our Toast was given to 6 other tables that came in a couple of mins after us from a pile of toast brought out, we were missed out. I asked for Orange juice and was told that they don't do it, I pointed to the next table and said I'll have the juice that looks like the Orange juice, then I was told there was some but now only cranberry and grapefruit which I declined as my meds won't let me drink either, whilst eating several orange juices came out after our discussion, at this point, we decided to leave before we got our toast.
I don't want to finish my report on such a note so I will go back to my point, ultimately, 'my husband and I had an absolutely amazing time, we are exhausted yet energised.'
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Tsar was our favourite restaurant | | Entertainment | |
| Le Cirque Bijou | | Shore Excursions | n/a |
| | Staff | n/a |
| | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| Didn't bring the children along as this was an anniversary/birthday treat. | | Onboard Activities | |
| | Cabins |  |
| | Overall Rating | |
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