Enjoyed Our First NCL

Norwegian Jewel Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

westonturpin

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 47

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Western Caribbean (Houston Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 17, 2015

Ship: Norwegian Jewel

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 10070

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

This was our first time cruising with NCL. We've cruised on Carnival once and Royal twice before this. We enjoyed the Jewel and had a great time. The food quality was very good but we didn't see any extra value in the pay for restaurants. We went to two; Le Bistro didn't meet my expectations and Moderno was very good but I don't think it was worth the extra money. The freestyle dining was convenient and I enjoyed eating at a table with just my friends, but I think because you have a different wait staff every night that the food service does suffer a little bit verses having a traditional dining time and the same wait staff. I would cruise with NCL again and on the Jewel again, but I would pick Royal first if the pricing was similar.

We had a balcony room and felt that the room was just a little bit smaller than the one other balcony room we've booked in the past. There were less drawers in this state room then in other rooms we've had but the bed was very comfortable and didn't cause any back pain over the week.

I also enjoyed how the boat was decorated. It had a lot of dark woods and gave it a yacht feel to the decor.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

The food quaility at the pay for resturants were not worth the extra money and not significantly better than was was availible in the free dining room.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

It's a smaller boat (by todays standards) and that left some time here and there where I was a little bored with the onboard activites.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Standard cruise fare, the singers and dancers did a very good job.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

The wait staff was hit or miss on the quailty of service. I attribute this to the Freestyle Dining and the fact that you have a different server every night.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

The ship was attractive and well maintained.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

The cabin was quiet, clean and comfortable. We thought it was a little bit smaller than other balcony's we've had and lacked a couple of extra drawers we would have liked. Also it wasn't till that last day that we discovered that we could have stored our luggage under the bed instead of the closet if we had looked under the side of the bed instead of under the foot of the bed. Also one last little gripe, the love seat is really a hide a way and is very stiff and uncomfortable to sit on, we spent a lot of time sitting on the bed instead of the love seat.

Ship tip

There isn't a lot of storage in the rooms and it wasn't till the last day that we discovered that we could have stored our luggage under the bed if we had looked under the side of the bed instead of at the foot of the bed. We had the luggage in the closet and we could never get the doors to shut.

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