Great for families with lots of children

We had read that the Norwegian Jewel is an aging ship and it does appear that way as soon as you step on board. We noticed areas where paint was needed and a few places where maintenance was needed, also. One wonderful thing that we enjoyed was the great crew...they truly go the extra mile to make your stay comfortable. We heard that there were over six hundred children on board. The kids clubs kept most busy but there always seemed to be a lot of children around the pools and spas. They had the Nickelodian theme around the public areas (Sponge Bob, Dora the Explorer, etc.) The kids had a parade dressed as pirates through the buffet area which was cute. We were surprised to see kids at some late night shows. At times we wish we could have had a peaceful place to relax but kids were everywhere even the library and game rooms. The grand staircases that we are used to seeing on other cruise ships in the lobby are non-existant. The lobby was on the small side and not as elegant as most ships. The buffet was kind of hit and miss and often ran out of coffee (beware the coffee is STRONG!) but the Tsar's Palace was great. We had delicious and tender top sirloin steaks. Their prime rib was also excellent. We are at Chin Chin just once finding the meat in a couple of dishes were tough to chew. O'Sheehan's Bar and Grill had pretty good fish and chips. Some of the restaurants charged a service fee between $15.00 - $30.00. The entertainment was not bad but we have seen so much better. This was the first time we chose an inside room and could hardly believe how small it was. We had a table removed because we couldn't get to one side of the bed. The bathroom was very nice with a glassed-door roomy shower. Our toilet stopped working a couple of times and the room steward told us the toilets were too old! The carpet had a few stains and didn't seem too clean. The bed (two twins pushed together) was very comfortable. There actually was a couple of times where we were glad we had our "cave" to retreat to when the hustle-bustle of the people and kids got to be too much for us. Our room was very quiet. Going ashore was crazy at times. In one port they closed the gangway and moved it to another floor for some reason. The crew were scattering all over the place. This cruise is perfect for families but we think there are better choices for adults and mature couples. We have taken five cruises and would place this cruisec ship at number five.