Norwegian Jewel Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Norwegian is a wonderful cruise line, my husband and I have sailed with them numerous times and have never been disappointed.  This was our second time cruising the Mexican Rivera and will probably be our last.  The second stop on the cruise was in such a poor area and the beach tour we did went thought a dirty, extremely poor area and wasn't what I expected.  Recommend Norwegian, just not this route. 

This is the 5 th Mexican cruise for us, You will NOT go hungry. Some places to eat are better than others, by far! For some reason on this cruise the employees did not seem as happy as they do on other cruise lines. The ship is older and the entertainment is not as good as other lines i have been on. Bingo prizes are much smaller than other cruises. I believe they use Bingo to make up a lot of profit for them. The pool was closed 2 times due to "accidents", and that was unfortunate. But for the price i would do it again noting what i said above.

The evening entertainment was great, as always. The service is fantastic.

Main dining cutbacks is my only critique. (No lobster night). Embarcation was very slow.

My first NCL in over 20 years. The interior design of common areas was beautiful.  Awe inspiring art everywhere you looked, in the construction design, murals, glass, and furnishings BUT whomever planned the only pool deck area is way, way off base.  Noisey is the only word in the afternoons for that area.  Bands played excessively loud in the center area from 1-4 every day even port days!  If they had  placed the band at one end or the other or on the open floor above, it could have been enjoyable. And one pool bar-b-que or two is plenty but every day?  Huge  barby cookers, 3, lit up near bar giving off smoke every afternoon also?

Dinner hostesses could be a little offensive, not helpful when some of our party arrived minutes later to find their table!  Overworked probably. 

Entertainment was good but disappointed there was no magician act! Can't have everything.

We all commended on hard beds and very flat soft pillows.  They need to improve there. 

We chose this cruise for two reasons: It left from our home port of San Pedro Ca. and it was a Haven cruise with Norwegian Cruise lines. The Haven is very nice. This ships Haven does not have the Haven restaurant Or lounge with the bar.  It is still a great setting for cruising. We have done this Itinerary many times so there is little that is new. Cabo and Puerto Vallarta are wonderful stops. Mazatlan is nice but the shopping and sights are far from where the ship docks.

Great cruise. Dinner at Cagneys however was very poor. Seating service and food service was extremely slow, and food was mediocre.  Our cabin attendant, Dennis, was outstanding!!

Never got food together for my allergies for 4 days.  Did not eat but a salad for 2 days and did not eat for the other two other than MY bread and other things I brought on. If it was in the package , then they couldn't figure out how to change it.  

Bed kept coming apart. Took 4 days to finally get it together and to stay.I went between the bed twice. Hurting my neck and shoulder area, causing a migrane which I was in bed for two days due to the problem with the beds. Had to spend over 300.00 to get a massage to work out the problem the separation of the beds caused.

Other than 4 people on the cruise , NO ONE had accountablity for getting things done They lost the ice packs I brought on for medical and food needed off the ship. Room service blamed it on the room attendant who had told us HE was NOT allowed to take them. CALL ROOM SERVICE and they said THEY didn't take them. Finally they found them TWO HOURS AFTER we wanted to get off the ship. Then on SATURDAY WHILE AT SEA... I get a phone call at 7:15 "Mame do you need your ice packs?"  Really, where am I going I am at SEA!! 

Hubby went down to get a piece of MY bread toasted because I had not eaten in two days, due to the bed deparation causing a migrane and nausea. IT TOOK ALMOST 45 minutes to get MY BREAD. The maitre d IGNORED my hubby when he tried to find out where it was, and then brought it down WITHOUT TOASTING IT.  IT TOOK ANOTHER 15 minutes!!  By then it was not wanted and cold.

Cannot get water with drink packaages. Only this HORRIBLE cruise line does this. Better cruise lines like Royal, Celebrity GIVE YOU WATER as well so you don't have tons of drunken stupid people on board. You can only get alcohol and soda.  As a vegan who is allergic to GLUTEN ,DAIRY and so many other things I GOT NOTHING TO DRINK unless I PAID FOR IT.  WATER is 2 for 7.95 and they are SMALL!

$7.95 for room service?  Unbelieveable.

Never had lobster, shrimp or any other specialty type of food offered on the menu. Low class ship, worse food ever, and my husband willl eat anything and he said the buffet was low quality and the restaurants were low quality or MEDIOCRE at best.

I have been on 11 cruises this by far was the WORST EVER!!  EVEN COMPARED TO THE THREE DAY CARNIVAL CRUISE TO ENSENADA! I will make sure EVERYONE i know knows about the Norweigian Jewel and how they don't give a CRAP about any customer service. NEVER AGAIN!!!  NO OTHER SHIP goes into MAZATLAN!! IT IS A STEP DOWN from TIJUANA AND ENSENADA!!! .Horrible port ( goes with the horrible cruise) and  you spend THE MOST TIME IN MAZATLAN!!! 

 Get rid of the port and spend more time in Cabo.... 

There is so much MORE that was TERRIBLE/ HRRIBLE CUSTMER SERVICE,  that it would take me a month to write all about it. I did... to the Cruise line itself.  THEY DO NOT CARE! Never got a response!

Pros: departing out of San Pedro was incredibly easy; ship was nice but older; easy to navigate the ship's decks.  Better ports than in Eastern Mexico; great experiences on excursions.

Cons: service was mediocre compared to past NCL cruises and other lines; we found the staff to be forgetful or didn't want to be bothered; food overall was unimpressive, often bland or not warm. 

The cabin was nice as was the service.  The only thing I was disappointed in was how much things have changed since my last NCL cruise.  They charge you for so many small things now, like a bandaid.  And room service.  And meals aren't open as long. It didn't feel like the "all inclusive" vibe I'm used to from previous cruises.  

My favorite part of the cruise was being able to relax and unwind.  The food was very good, the drink package and dinner packages were excellent and a very good value, and the ship was beautiful.   The entertainment was spectacular

and the cabin very comfortable.

OVERALL, IT WAS A GREAT VACATION!.

CHECK-IN AT SAN PEDRO WAS A DISASTER.  LOT OF CONFUSION AND LACK OF DIRECTIONS FROM NCL STAFF.  PROPERLY DISPLAYED SIGNS SHOWING WHERE TO GO WOULD HAVE BEEN A GREAT HELP.  STAFF PROVIDED LITTLE DIRECTION AND IN FACT SEEMED TO BE UNTRAINED.

MEALS WERE GREAT!  SERVICE AT CAGNEY'S WAS BAD ONE NIGHT OUT OF THREE.  TOOK OVER AN HOUR TO GET OUR ORDER, ON THE FIRST NIGHT.  STAFF WAS FRIENDLY BUT NOT OVERLY EFFICIENT.

ALL PERSONNEL APPEARED FRIENDLY AND VERY POLITE.

RECOMMEND THIS CRUISE.

I loved the activities on board but I wish there are more. Getting on board the lines are very long even though we are pre registered and Latitude members, I was getting hypoglycemic and when we got on board by the time we are getting some food the Garden café was closed and we are rushed for the mandatory drill. Next day morning I went to get some Cappaccino and was shocked to see that it is not complimentary, I have cruised about 12-13 times I have never paid for this before. Our room was quite spacious and comfortable - we got a junior suite. The vegetarian options for dining are very limited, even though they have Indian vegetarian in Garden Café the roti is hard and so is the poori. In Azura they had vegetarian Lasagna and they made Penne with Arbiata sauce which was tasty and spicy. Apart from that there are not many choices and to eat the same every other day is boring especially on a cruise. The daily trivia run by Shirley, Romerico and Beatrice is enjoyable. We enjoyed the game shows and the nightly shows were fantastic.

This was our second cruise on the NCL Jewel and we chose this cruise mainly because we could be on the Jewel again. Overall, the cruise was wonderful - we enjoyed good weather, the balcony cabin was roomy and was kept in top shape by our steward Dinkie.

We enjoyed the food with the exception of very slow service in the Brazilian and Asian restaurants. Our meal at Cagney's steak house was top-notch. Many of our meals were at the Garden Cafe which provided a great assortment of well-prepared and tasty meals in a buffet setting.

The ship's crew and staff were uniformly pleasant and always greeted us with a smile. They appeared to be genuinely happy with their jobs.

The ports were OK - we enjoyed Mazatlan more than the others because of it's history and generally more appealing appearance. We also had a great tour of the petroglyphs (booked through Delta - not offered on the ship).

The entertainment was top notch, especially the "show band" that provided live music in the main theater and other venues on the ship. There was a good mix of entertainment, games, demonstrations and shows.

All in all, this was a great cruise!

Ports of call, experiencing the Panama Canal transit, quality of vessel, food,

primary shows after dinner, entertainers (singers, dancers, acrobats, etc.)

This was a fantastic experience! From day one it was great, interesting, and informative! The stops were good except for Nicaragua. Not much to see there.

This ship is on its way to dry dock in 2018 (we were told) and it needs it; We choose cruises by where they're going and if they meet our scheduling needs; this one had both.  Ship was sold out, so we accepted an obstructed view cabin, which was well located but extra small and fairly noisy from the outside. Wouldn't do that again, as price is the same.  Probably wouldn't take this ship again until after dry dock.

It was out first experience with free style dinning.  The food good, we did visit a few of the restaurants. Buffet very cattle drive, which most are.  I did not like having to find a place to sit and  eat, most frustrating part.Loved the washy kids:}. Very impressed with cleanliness of ship.  Espesially in Guatamale when I watched them wash the entire handrail off the ship.!!!! Loved Osheenans, my sanctuary. Ship seemed crowed to me. Both in the eating as well as the pool decks.Liked salt water in the pools.  We enjoyed meeting new people and was surprised at the different countries represented. We did have very good conversation with the people we found to set with. We did enjoy the cruise as well as the crossing of Canal. Very interesting trip. No regrets, Everyone should do it, glad we had the opportunity to go thru original locks. Cruise director staff and the entertainment kids did a fabulous job. I'm old I can call them kids. Tours we handled very well. And our last tour and delivery to airport went perfectly. If you don't have a good time on a cruise it's usually your fault. So much to chose from. We even took advantage of the wellness classes. Neither of us gained any weight.  And we ate and had cocktails....Good Job everyone.

Our favorite part of the cruise, of course, was the ride through the canal. It was fascinating and interesting to learn of its history. Other than the canal, we most enjoyed having 2 weeks to unplug, relax and enjoy each other's company. 

As for improvements, overall it was a wonderful experience. The staff was great. The entertainment was top notch and the ship itself was comfortable. The only negative for us was the food offered for vegetarians. We ate mostly in the Garden Cafe and while there was always something to eat, it wasn't really special. Some days, the only entree was Indian and while we love Indian food, it didn't vary much over the 2 week cruise. I got monotonous. The selections in the main dining room, either didn't appeal to us or on the two occasions when we went there, one of the meals was pitiful. It consisted of a plate of rice with two teaspoons of an Indian vegetable dish. When I looked around at the nice dinners served others, I was very disappointed. This is the only negative aspect of our experience on board.

I chose this cruise because ship was going to ports I wanted to visit and dates that worked for my schedule.  I was very satisfied with itinerary and the restaurants. 

going through the canal the great food love Norwegian the wait staff was superb will be a loyal Norwegian cruiser the ports were great  love the accomodations will always cruse norwegian