Disappointed

Item: Norwegian Jewel
Rating: 3.7
Author: lcola10

Norwegian Jewel Cruise Review to Other (Asia/Africa/Middle East)

lcola10

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 3

Helpful Votes: 56

Overall rating:

3.7 out of 5

Verified Review

11 Night Asia: Thailand Vietnam & Malaysia (Singapore To Bangkok)

Sail date: January 05, 2024

Ship: Norwegian Jewel

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9562

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 10 months ago

Review summary

While I chose this cruise for its itinerary, I would not recommend NCL to a friend. Service charges are up, and I believe services are down. There is no evening cabin turn down service , and I feel that the entertainment and food were not up to par of previous NCL cruises. I was not pleased with any of the excursions. I enjoy guest lecturers on sea days, but there were none. I was especially unhappy with the situation on the dock in Bangkok. Hard working friendly staff was excellent.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

Our Viet Nam Visa was lost which caused us lost time and aggravation later in the cruise.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

In general the food was not as good as previous NCL cruises.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Mostly marketing opportunities which are not activities. No on board lectures. Pool is usually too crowded. New treadmills are positioned to obstruct line of sight view of the ocean.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Quality of music in lounges was better than most evening shows in the theater.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Housekeeping, bar and restaurant staff were excellent.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Older ship design but very clean.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Typical small but bright cabin. Very clean. Tender on deck 8 directly under our cabin had to be re secured as creaking noise kept us awake first two nights. Maintenance corrected it in reasonable time after we made them aware of the noise. Ironically NCL changed our cabin last year on Australia cruise for a similar unsolved problem.

Ship tip

Avoid NCL excursions for this cruise. Guides were often impossible to understand, unorganized, late in returning to the ship, did not use any amplification devises. overpriced for what you get!

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Singapore

5 out of 5

Port Klang (Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia

3 out of 5

Langkawi (Pulau Langkawi), Malaysia

3 out of 5

Phuket, Thailand

4 out of 5

Penang (Pulau Pinang), Malaysia

3 out of 5

Nha Trang, Vietnam

4 out of 5

Phu My (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam

5 out of 5

Ko Samui, Thailand

4 out of 5

Laem Chabang (Bangkok), Thailand

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

1 out of 5

Terrible. Total chaos on the dock as taxis are not permitted. NCL was negligent in not sharing this information. Tour drivers wanted $200 for transportation into the city.

10 Comments

Cruisers4Lyfe 5 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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drboiler 8 months ago

i took the jewel from seattle to tokyo. we had to navigate between typhoon and super typhoon and missed two japanese ports but got an extra day in tokyo before we disembarked. i like this ship and found it small yet laid out good with nice entertainment and food.

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Sogmoore 9 months ago

Prices are going up and cut backs are happening but you have to make the best out of it and just have a good time.

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cybersailor 9 months ago

Service charges are up across all cruise lines. Was just on this ship in Sept. '22, no services issues that I could see.

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Niavlys 10 months ago

Sorry to hear that... Tks for sharing

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javawoody 10 months ago

Interesting itinerary

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cruising2004 10 months ago

Sorry you were disappointed with your cruise.

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michelleb1127 10 months ago

Sorry to hear that your experience this cruise was disappointing.

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Gwbigdog 10 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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lsbs 10 months ago

Thank you for sharing your cruise experience.

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