Norwegian Jewel Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We had such a great time on this cruise!  Very relaxing!  Smooth Waters! The food was great!  All the specialty restaurants were superb!    The Panama Canal was very interesting and the narrative given was a nice added feature!  Enjoyed all the countries we visited and checked off another continent.  We love Norwegian!  Ian the Cruise Director was very entertaining and our waiter in th Tsar Palace was very good at remembering all the little things we enjoyed each night!

The daylight transit of the canal was the high point of this cruise.  The cruise began poorly with very late boarding and little communication as to why.  There was not enough seating in the waiting area and very old people were standing.  Halfway thru the cruise passengers and crew began to drop from illness.  In at least 2 ports ambulances met the ship to unload passengers.  Service and food were subpar during most of the trip.  Only in the last 4 days were announcements regarding illness made and these were appeals to the crew to report illness immediately.  Passengers were on their own.  We have noticed that selling of products and promoting of shopping has reached a fever pitch.  Specialty restaurants have deteriorated in food quality as well as service.  Four of our 5 excursions were very good.  Puntarenas by boat, train and bus was horrible.  Train to nowhere and a guide who couldn't speak even rudimentary English.  My high school Spanish was better than her attempt at English.   Temperatures once we entered Mexico were cold.  Our balcony became useless the further north we went.  Seas became high and the wind blew the whole time from Chiapas north.  Don't take a Mexican Riviera cruise Jan-March.  I gave the cruise a 3 star because of the Panama Canal portion and the interesting south American countries.  The Mexican portion was bad.  Communication to passengers regarding reasons for cancellation of certain things was nil.  Exit from the boat in LA was delayed due to "congestion in the terminal" but it looked like incompetence all around.  I am sure people who boarded in LA for 2/5 cruise will have poor comments regarding boarding.  Transfer to the airport made us wish we had walked off and taken a taxi.  If you can do early walk off in the states do it.  You will be ahead of the game. 

The Panama Canal cruise was a wonderful trip with history, engineering, beauty, culture & relaxing entertainment. My favorite part, other than new exciting ports, was that evening entertainment in the lounges started early enough in the evening with adequate seating & great music for me & my husband to enjoy. Service/cleanliness/friendliness of staff were the best! Our inner room was a little small, but we only slept there so didn't care. Five freestyle dining allowed us variety of places and times for meals with never a crowd. We plan to book another NCL trip on a smaller ship again soon. We really enjoyed the poolside buffet/grills to enjoy the nice weather.

Good- Specialty restaurants - Steakhouse and Le Bistro

Good- camel ride excursion in Cabo

Good- Cartegena, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlann

Not Good- lack of no smoking section in casino

Not good- all others ports than above

Both Embarkation and Disembarkation procedures are very terrible. Foods are too salty and oily. Please provide healthier foods. No much to do in daily news letters. Chinese foods Chin Chin restaurant is not professional, should hire a Chinese cook if you operate a Chinese restaurant on board. Some shows are boring as you know how many people attended the theater. Cruise itinerary over all is good.

We stayed in a Penthouse suite and it smelled of smoke all the time.  The crew said it was because the our air vent was by the smoking lounge and if the smokers got too close to the vent, it sent smoke down to our room!!!  The smoke smell would wake me in the morning hours it was so strong!!!  I have written Norwegian twice and called them and they still have not replied and it has been over 15 days! I don't understand how as customers we have to pay on time but they do not have to reply to our problems in a timely manner!!!!  

we have taken several cruises with Norwegian.  Unfortunately, we found that over the years the price of service keeps going up and the quality of food, entertainment and the service keeps going down.

Wifi has become a necessity in this day and world.  The computers are extremely slow on the ship and cost is very high.  There should not be any charge for this service.  At the most there should be a limit for this usage.

In the past we would go with Norwegian without checking other cruise liners but from our recent experience we would do a comparison with other cruise liners.

the best was the service in the state room and the restaurants. The waiters always gave a warm welcome and were very friendly.

Fantastic time. All ports visited wee interesting ad most excursions wee really good. Third time cruising on the Jewel felt like home. On board entertainment was great and there was always something to do when at sea.

All the entertainment was great.  The entertainment director, Ian, was so good at his job.  He did everything possible to make the cruise a good time.  There was a young man, Randon Lauron, in one of the lounge who was just excellent.  He played guitar and sang.  I recommend they have him do a show in the big theater.

The only bad experience was the transfer from ship to Miami Air port.  We stood in the hot sun for about an hour.  So many people came with a porter and all their luggage and was able to get right on the bus.  I understand that some people needed a little help but I saw quite a few who were walking just fine.

All in all the cruise was so much fun.

What a wonderful trip! We visited so many interesting places and learned so much about them. Of course the highlight was actually cruising through the canal that we have heard so much about in the past. Truly a memorable experience!

Favorite---food was excellent, staff was very friendly, cruise 

was very smooth (except Carribean Sea.  

Disembarkation was total disasters.  Bringing senior 

citizens to theater on level 7 , then expect them to go down stairs to stage for colored sticker is unreasonable.  Many are handicapped. 

Wheel chairs were not in location we were told.   Finally after being sent 

to several locations they appeared on 7. 

Handicapped seating was great except regular patrons

sat in the area. Handicapped need a different color key card and

p need to check to see if correct people are there.  

this is our 7th norwegian cruise & i have cruised 18 times all together; i like the casual dining pattern, the entertainment was good, we traveled in the cheapest cabin & it certainly served our needs; this is not princess or celebrity--they have a

superior cruise product & their prices usually reflect this; we have cruised with both

lines; however, we find norwegian superior to carnival & royal caribbean & are already planning a 2018 transatlantic cruise

This was a great trip with a good value. For two weeks all we had to do was eat, sleep and have a good time. The entertainment was great, the crew friendly and the service, over the top.

The countries visited were awesome.  Trying to get a view of the canal crossing was just impossible. People crowded in and would not budge, even for a nice request for a quick photo. So disappointed!  Gave up and watched from the tv in our room. The entertainment was ok, but not up to cruise ship standards. The Epic was so much better.  I should say the Russian circus couple did do a great job.

Cruise was good. The entertainment was really great... some of the best I have seen on a Cruise Ship. The Buffet food was good as well. Kids Club gets a A+++++. Our 11 year old couldn't wait to go.

The Specialty dining was the biggest disappointment. The Teppan restaurant was terrible. Also the Chin Chin Restaurant (though not a specialty dining restaurant) was dreadful as well. These two restaurants look like they are managed by a single manager that sets the tone for his employees. The manager nor many of the employees in these restaurants are very friendly and when you ask them for a simple thing like a drink it seems as if you are putting them out. 

The Italian specialty restaurant was just ok. Just regular italian food that you could have eaten at the buffet. 

All in All.... good cruise and many of the staff are just so great. They make the cruise really memorable and enjoyable!

P.S. The ship is definitely a little "tired". Needs to have a renovation to bring the sparkle back. :)

All in all, we have no big complaints. The staff was very good and helpful, and the size of the ship was good in that you never felt overwhelmed with crowds. We have two minor quibbles compared to other cruises we have been on: 1) the food in the "complimentary" venues was OK, but way too much similarity every day, not enough variation, which after seven days became a little boring. We did have a very good meal in Le Bistro, but when you pay nearly $100 for a meal like that, you can do that at home without spending $4,000 in transportation to get to dinner. The other concern was the entertainment, which seemed to rely way too much on comedy acts and magic. Even on smaller boats we have become used to Broadway revues or at least a lot of music every night.

Everything was good, but the food and bar staff were a bit cold. They did their job, but there was no "extra mile". The hotel staff was better, and the entertainment, and senior staff did as great job. I feel it is a good value for the money.

The cruise was fine.  Entertainment a couple of nights good other nights lousy.  The main dining rooms food wasn't very good.  Buffet was encellent. Special dining rooms ok, Japanese was very good French very good steak house so so.  Was very disappointed in main dining room on Christmas Day not good and nothing special for Christmas Day in evening.

We had a very nice time on our cruise. The room was neat and clean. Our person taking care of the room did a great job. We would like to state that our venue and meals at the specialty places was very good except our first night. The food was served cold and the service was extremely poor. The other two were great. The service at the Tzar venues was not good for the first two times we tried it, however, the last evening was outstanding. The food at the cafe on deck 12 was always good, hot and very tasty. The entertainment was very nice. Overall we had a very relaxing vacation and would recommend it to anyone going on a cruise. 

This was our 17 th cruise total and unfortunately we got a little disappointed about the quality of this cruise. We paid big money for two cabins one balcony and one inside cabin. First of all quality of the food was very average .Customer service wasnt the best since you couldnt see good attitute from the workers specially in the restaurants all the time. We had unlimited beverage package but for some reason you couldnt even smell alcohol on those drinks!!!! .Fresh orange juice use to be included in that package but they say thats not included any more!!!Our bed sheet had some spots since the beginning and overal ship wasnt too clean. Norweigian was our favorite but I think we might switch to Royal carribean for our next cruise.