Norwegian Jewel Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Nothing bad to say the organization and conduct of the cruise has been simply perfect. Crew has shown a professional skill the is rare to find around. As I am an old Merchant Navy Captain, former Navy Seal, and actual Experimental Flight Test Engineer, professionalism is one of the first things I am going to look for in any activity of my life.

We so enjoyed our first-ever cruise. Everything and everyone on board made the trip so special. The only negative was the high cost of the shore excursions. They were tremendously expensive for what they offered. We can't recommend Norwegian, your staff and "Freestyle Cruising" enough to our friends.

Wonderful trip. The crew was spectacular, the excursions we chose were a good fit for our family. I would highly recommend this trip. We all felt the Alaskan ports were similar. It's the excursions at each that made them fun.

Always heard cruises were great. Food was ok, but nothing to write home about. Entertainment was fair at best. Ship seemed very crowded for its size. Everything on the ship seemed like a sales pitch. Would not do this again.

Overall a great experience and good cruise. Food selection was great as well as beverages. Due to bad weather we couldn't see teh glacier. However, the overall experience was great.

As long time members of NCL's Latitudes program we were very disappointed with this cruise.   When we first went down to our stateroom once on board, we encountered the crew working on a plumbing problem a few doors down from our stateroom.  As you can imagine, it is not a pleasant smell and we could not use the toilet in out stateroom so first impressions were not good.   

The food quality on this ship was poor at best.   The only couple of good meals we had were at the specialty Teppynaki restaurant and the Azul main dining room.  Sushi was similar to what you get at a grocery store so don't bother.   Drinks were so so as well as bar service.   

A couple of redeeming points on this cruise was our cabin steward and the ships show band.   Both excellent.   The overall entertainment quality was poor to just plain bad.   Thank goodness the ships show band performed in a couple of venues outside of the main stage events.   

Why the ship would allow people in and out of the karaoke rooms during a performance is beyond my comprehension!   Very disruptive to the people trying to enjoy the show.   (Fyzz Lounge). 

The views on the cruise were spectacular!

Needless to say, we won't be back on NCL.   

The food is horrible and was repeated all 7 days they have hidden charges 12.99$ every days for each person as a service charge the drink packages are good but that down not include tax the sailing was smooth I would give 0 stars if I had that option

This was our first time to book a bargain last-minute cruise at the lowest possible price.  We booked an inside guarantee cabin , a real rock-bottom price.  We got what we paid for--a "tiny house" on deck five.  Though hard to move around in, the cabin had plenty of storage and was clean and comfy.  The stateroom attendant Primus was outstanding.  We found that all the crew was friendly, couteous, efficient and hard-working.  The ship itself was well-maintained if dated.  It is scheduled for a renovation soon.  Food on the ship was just OK.  Specialty restaurants were better than the complimentary ones, though pretty expensive.  I did like having many venues for dining.  Our favorites were the main dining room for breakfast and lunch.  The itinerary included brief stops in three ports.  We didn't do any excursions since we had been there before.  Entertainment on the ship was quite good, especially their Cirque performance.  The stage and technology needed updating.  We were treated royally by the Park West staff.Overall, it was a good getaway at a reasonable price.  We will sail Norwegian again on a newer or a renovatedship.

A great cruise line, and a great trip. The ports were absolutely beautiful.  The White Pass railroad in Skagway and Mendenhall Glacier in Ketchikan are must sees!  Hiking trails are accessible from all ports. The service on the ship was excellent. Highly recommend!!!!

I have sailed with Norwegian before and was just as happy this time as last. I love the laid-back atmosphere and the chance to do whatever I want with the freestyle cruising. 

I loved everything about this cruise.  I had some reservations since I prefer the sun and beach, but the sights we saw were beautiful and breath-taking!  No doubt that I recommend everyone should see Alaska at least once.

Overall, I enjoyed my 7-day cruise on the Norwegian Jewel.  I’ve cruised many times before on at least three other cruise lines.  For the most part, this was comparable to the others.  The ship was beautiful and clean, the staff was friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful.  The Jewel is one of the smaller ships in the fleet and I find that I enjoy them more than the larger ones.  On the smaller ships the crew is more cohesive and personable.  And you see them more often so they learn your names and they almost become friends. Larger ships are more impersonal.

The activities and entertainment was wonderful.  Our favorite band was The Temperature.  Loved the White Hot Party.  Went to a couple of shows.  They were good but similar in that the company seemed to made up of singers, a few dancers, and some awesome acrobats.  All in all they were enjoyable even though I saw some of the same acrobatic tricks twice.  They were just as thrilling the second time.

One place Norwegian needs help is with technology.  I found their website difficult to navigate and not as informative as it could have been.  The itinerary was incomplete.  Online, the departure time on one of the days was missing and I booked a tour through an outside company that I thought would fit the schedule.  Once on the ship, I learned that the ship was departing before my tour ended.  I had to frantically call the tour company to re-schedule, paying over $100 for a ship-to-shore phone call.  Another problem was the Norwegian app.  I was so excited to have the ship’s activity schedule at my fingertips.  But after the 2nd day, I didn’t use it because it had errors and missing information.  The hardcopy schedule delivered to my room every night was more accurate.  The online schedule should have been the most accurate because it can be updated at any time.  Seemed as though no one was doing that, so it was very static and unreliable.  That was a missed opportunity.

The food was OK; I’ve had better on cruise ships.  I like the “freestyle dining” on Norwegian so you’re not assigned to a dining room and a table.  Occasionally there would be a dish or a dessert that was wonderful.  But overall I’d give the food a 6.  Only went to one specialty restaurant—the Brazilian one (name escapes me).  The food there was excellent!!!

If the price is right, I would take another Norwegian cruise.

This was a great cruise, I would highly recommend it (on any cruise line) it is one of those things you just have to experience it fully appreciate it.

The crew on the ship are fantastic! They are super friendly and helpful. They'll always take a moment to stop and speak with you, even if just to ask you about your day. And that's how the whole staff acts from the chefs to the stateroom maintenance to the spa workers.  They're all really friendly. 

There are a few things that Norwegian could do a little better at. The food at the regular dining areas were just ok. The food at the specially restaurants was really amazing. I would have also appreciated some better entertainment geared towards my age group. There were only 2 movie channels and a couple movie nights. The channels often re-aired some of the same movies multiple times. Charging less for the activities they do have would also be beneficial. 

Overall the trip was great. The locations and shore excursions were lots of fun and there were a lot of options. I saw everything I wanted to see and more onboard and onshore. I would highly recommend this cruise to others. 

Our dining room experience in the Azura Restaurant and Tsar's Palace were both excellent.  The food was gourmet, delicious, and excellent service.  The food in the Garden Café was certainly a world-wide variety and the buffet should have appealed to the passengers of every nation.  The staff went out of their way to provide  friendly and gracious service.

Our stateroom was clean and our steward was friendly and very anxious to be helpful.

The Jewel is dated and needs refurbishing.  Cabin was cramped for two adults and a teenager.  I had better food on another cruise line.  To a person, however, the crew was helpful, friendly and professional.  Our steward was outstanding!  The entertainment was superb!  Some of the excursions were overpriced for what you get, but fun nonetheless.  Weather was cooperative, so the scenery was beautiful!!  Brand new Cruise Director did a phenomenal job! 

Loved this cruise on the Norwegian Jewel.  The best excursion by far was the Whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier.  We saw several Humpbacks and saw one breach 4 times!  We also enjoyed the train ride in Skagway and walking around there and in Ketchikan.  

We loved the Jewel and had would recommend a starboard balcony cabin to catch all of the beautiful scenery and many photo ops. The staff on the Jewel were friendly and helpful.  Choice of eating venues and quality of food was excellent compared to other cruise lines we've been on.  

Ate at Tzars every night and Garden Cafe every Breakfast and they were great. Two nights rare tender Primrib. Entertainment at theater and bars in the bottom 2.

Cruising was a nice introduction to Alaska. However there was not enough time at any of the Ports to really experience the towns. The food was "Denny's" quality most of it tasteless and the coffee and ice tea was horrible. So buying your coffee at the "coffee bar" and making your own ice tea from hot tea was the way to go.

Much of the hot buffet foods were room temperature and neither really hot nor cold.

The staff -customer service was very good, my room clean and comfortable. The main feature on board is to advise you where to gem stones and diamonds and why. Buy it on the ship and which stores to shop at on shore. There is plenty to do on the ship, good gym and the nicest feature for me was the "splash academy" where the children were sent and were not running around the decks.

The beauty of God's creation was amazing.  We had great weather with light rain on one occasion. Our shore excursions were very good. The dog sledding on the glacier was canceled due to fog the morning we were suppose to take a helicopter to the glacier.