Marvelous Med Cruise

Item: Norwegian Jewel
Rating: 4
Author: MickJ35984949

Norwegian Jewel Cruise Review to Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

MickJ35984949

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 11

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Verified Review

12 Night Egypt & Greek Isles (Athens To Istanbul)

Sail date: May 07, 2007

Ship: Norwegian Jewel

Cabin type: Suite

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 17 years ago

Review summary

Ship was beautiful. Modern. Nice variety of entertainment and eating options.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

We've been on several NCL ships as well as other lines and I am not sure we are sold on the freestyle dining. We like being able to sit by ourselves rather than an assigned table of 4-8 strangers. However, we still spent too much time waiting in lines for a table at the regular resturants during peak dining times. Reservations are highly recomended for specialty resturants, we had no problem setting up our reservations through the concierge. Specialty resturant food was ok but not really worth the extra money. Except for Cagney's. The food and service were top notch.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Cirque show was excellent. Other shows were typical of cruise ships. Our only real disappointment in the entertainment was the non-stop caribbean music on our mediterranean cruise. Some Greek music would have been nice.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Ship was great. Our room stewards were eager to please. Loved the convenience of the concierge service. Our balcony suite was fantastic (beautiful, spacious, clean). The only problem we had while on board was on the last day when our final bill was presented to us there were $25 of charges that were not ours. We tried to talk to the front desk about this but the line was so long we never made it to the desk before we had to leave to join our last tour. In talking with other passangers in line we were not the only ones with this problem. It may not seem like much after putting out what we did on this trip but it is the prinicple and may make us look at other lines when considering our next cruise.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ports of call

Izmir, Turkey

3 out of 5

Ephesius was fantastic so many historical events have taken place here. However, our tour group felt taken advantage of when our guide decided to take us on an unplanned side trip to a carpet shop. Thirty of us were asked to leave our bus, crowded into a small room where we were shown carpet after carpet for over an hour and a half. Although we could have walked out (no place to go)it was all rather intimidating.

Thumbs Up 0

Istanbul, Turkey

5 out of 5

Learned a lot about the muslim religion. We picked up a guide (carpet salesman) who was very politically correct while explaining religious differences and Turkish culture. Many would have felt obligated to go to his shop afterwards but he was very understanding when we declined. We arranged through a local travel agency (one on every corner) for a mini bus to the airport. It was much cheaper than a taxi.

Thumbs Up 0

Don't Miss: Blue mosque / Aya Sophia

Santorini, Greece

5 out of 5

A friendly reminder. Local american beers are imports here. Drink greek beer or pay eleven US dollars a bottle.

Thumbs Up 0

Don't Miss: Oia, red beach, black beach, ride the donkey

Corfu, Greece

5 out of 5

Italian influenced city. Try the Gelato.

Thumbs Up 0

Katakolon (Olympia), Greece

3 out of 5

Be sure to check the details of your tours. We thought ours included a trip to the olympic ruins but we ended up just going to the olympic museum. We did go to a lovely winery and had a terrific time.

Thumbs Up 0

Iraklion (Heraklion), Crete

3 out of 5

Don't Miss: the palace

Alexandria (Cairo), Egypt

5 out of 5

Spend the money and do the two day tour. It was so worth it. Our guide could have been more interested in being a guide rather than a sales person (you can buy jewlery and papyrus cheaper in town). The hotel in Cairo was fantastic, security was very comforting, and destinations were unbelievable.

Thumbs Up 0

Don't Miss: Pyramids, Spyinx, Tombs

Mykonos, Greece

5 out of 5

Walked out towards the windmills and found a private beach just below a small church. This was the most beautiful water we found for swimming.

Thumbs Up 0

Pros: Our balcony suite

Cons: Add on costs

Recommends Norwegian Jewel? Yes!

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