Norwegian Jewel Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I have gone on this same itinerary on Princess cruise line.  I enjoyed the shows the most.  I was disappointed with the food.  It was good but the main dining room charged for some of its items.  The buffet wasn't open 24 hours.  My room was comfortable.  It was a little smaller than my Princess room.  All the crew members were very polite and helpful.  I enjoyed this trip but would go on Princess the next time.

Excellent and outstanding service. Food is good with a lot of choice. Internet service is excellent. Show is excellent. Freestyle daily is helpful for a choice.

a must do cruise!!!! I am very happy that I went on this cruise to Alaska. You can see whales from the ship!!! I love Victoria Canada. In Alaska the snow top mountains are beautiful if you're in to sceneries

My physician has three other patients with the same malady, who were also on the Norwegian Jewel to Alaska a week ago. Viral infection linked to the ship. Not happy!!!

The cruise itself was great. The food was average unless in a specialty restaurant. The reason for the lower rating was there were kids everywhere.  Don't get me wrong,I love kids, well ones that are being respectful that is. Kids would jam past other adults waiting for elevators, run through the already crowded buffet areas, and the worst was parents would allow their kids in the clubs after hours.  For instance, there was a white out party, the youth had their own, the teens had one too then they all joined the adults in theirs.  There wasn't space to dance on the floor at 11pm because of families trying to dance together.  The upsetting part was no crew members would say anything to them - it was as if they encouraged the behavior by taking photos and in some cases dancing with the little ones.  There is a sign that clearly stated no one under 18 in the clubs after 10:30pm but no one enforced it.  Several times we just went back to the room because there wasn't space to dance or I just got sick of watching little children around adults who were drinking. 

This was our 16th cruise.  The food is good. We booked a balcony stateroom, it was extremely small; you can hardly turn around in the bathroom.  I would not recommend this ship.

We had a nice time on this cruise.  Room was nice, room attendant was absolutely wonderful.    Everything was wonderful, except for, in our opinion, the complimentary restaurants.  Having only one other cruise to compare to (RCI), we found there to be no comparison in food quality or service.  In our opinion, the food was rather bland and the choices were minimal.  Food on our RCI cruise was wonderful, offering many more choices that on this cruise were only available in the "Specialty" ($$$) restaurants.  Wait service was nothing special.  Most servers we encountered were not smiling and seemed a little pre-occupied or "bothered" to have to serve us.  Most of the slow, unfriendly service we received was not worthy of any additional reward, however, in the cases we did tip, we were overwhelmed with kindness if we were lucky enough to have that server again.  On the RCI cruise we received this super friendly service from our first meal to the last.  In that case we felt our tip was appreciated and not expected.

The views were breathtaking. The excursions we chose were amazing. The service and the food on the ship was subpar. They nickel and dime you to death with hidden fees everywhere. The service was incredibly slow even in the upgraded restaurants. Would not recommend the Norwegian Cruise Lines Jewel to anyone.

The Haven staff were amazing and took grand care of all of us. We picked this itinerary for the longer stay in Ketchikan and we're able to really explore our favorite Alaskan town. 

The only issue we had was embankment. We were Haven guests so had a priority boarding. Well there was a small folding table with one gal checking to see if you were truly a Haven guests. She checked us off then asked us to stand to the side while the "runner" came back to get us. We'll that wait was close to an hour, because this runner couldn't be found! And then by the time one was found it took another hour to get through everyone who had been waiting for her while in the priority check in area. (Although we were the first group waiting for the runner, we had grandma in a wheelchair, so had to go an elevator up, putting us at the back of the check in line) We made sure to get to the port by 11:30 so we could take grandma and kids to the Haven guests resturants for lunch, but with it taking over 2 hours to get checked it it was closed by the time we finally got aboard the ship. 

Other then that debacle, the trip was amazing!

Alaska was so beautiful and is truly the last frontier.  The ship, crew and food was excellent.  The main shows were good, however the lounge acts could have been better.  The staff and crew were very polite, helpful and courtesy.  About the only cons were the prices of the drinks, non alcoholic and alcohol, (so the premium beverage package is a must) and the lack of seating at the cafe buffet. 

Of all the cruises we have taken, this is the one we enjoyed the most.  We were able to go to 4 meals in the premium restaurants and thought they were very good.  The buffets were very complete and my daughter (who is a picky eater) loved the food and actually gained weight! (For her a good thing).

Room was small, but was fine for us.  We liked the walking track and the daycare was excellent.

For a first trip in Alaska, the ports were fine, but I feel no need to visit any of the towns again (with the exception of Victoria).

Exceptional vacation - wonderful ship, customer service, itinerary and options.   I was a little worried on the climate with Alaska, but the weather was great and beauty of the landscape would have drowned any remaining anxiety.  Definitely will be using Norwegian for cruising in the future and do anticipate another Alaskan adventure.

Pros: Alaska was beautiful. The people who work on the ship are exceptionally friendly, and there is a lot to do on board. 

Cons: Employees working with credit cards and billing need to be informed of policies (especially around using two different credit cards for payment) I spent a couple hours trying to get information and get the proper credit cards used.  As far as the food, I was very disappointed. I had heard that Norwegian was a good cruise for vegans. That's not true. They do take the time to come and place an order with you for food everyday, but you have little to no options to choose from. They don't seem to understand what a vegan is or how to cater to them. We are people who like flavor and variety like any other passenger. We just don't like our food made with animal products. There are numerous options that exist to make a pleasant experience for vegans, and a lot of the food we eat, other passengers would eat as well.  Making the choice not to cook corn or oatmeal in milk are just two examples of ways to help us have more variety. Pasta dishes can be vegan, and there are many tofu dishes that you can find recipes for by just googling vegan recipes. Falafels and hummus can also be used. I travel the world and never have a problem finding restaurants that either are vegan or vegetarian or have vegan options. Norwegian and the cruise business in general needs to find its way tot he 21st century. The amount of vegetarians/ vegans in the world is growing quite rapidly. The unpleasant experience I have with the food on board will definitely make me think twice about taking another cruise. We pay as much as anyone else, and we should be given adequate food options. There should be a vegetarian/ vegan section at the buffet for every meal as well as a vegetarian menu with numerous options like the meat one with at least half of those options that can be made vegan. It was clear that Norwegian was taking the time to try and help, but it's not very helpful if they will not take the time to try and understand. I would suggest consulting directly with a vegan chef to assist in creating adequate options on board.   

Favorite part: The cruise director, and the food! 

What could use a bit of improvement: in order to see out of our "picture window" we had to sit on the pillows on our headboard\window sill of our bed. Not comfy or what we paid extra for. But, not so bad we wouldn't go again.

I loved the cruise itself and the beautiful scenery but the staff on the ship could have been much more friendly.  I was very shocked by the lack of service from the staff.  The specialty dining, exception of Moderno, was slow and very unfriendly. We even had to get up and refill our drinks ourselves on multiple occasions.  We did speak the the supervisor and they didn't seem to care any more than the waiters.

The stops were amazing and the crew were exceptional as always. My new husband and I got married in Skagway our last stop in Alaska. We will be cruise this destination again soon.

Beautiful scenery! Easy on/off every day.  I also enjoyed the ability to disembark on your own instead of waiting for your color to be called... 

All that being said, most cruise lines do the same route and you'll see them in the same port every day (seems like they follow each other, so there are other options). 

My only real con is that NCL now has meals for a charge in their complimentary dining rooms.  Even Carnival offered lobster tails free of an extra charge.  The food on NCL was good (seemed not as good as 2 summers ago on our Mediterranean trip), but not nearly as good as Princess (6 month prior to this trip).  The food on Princess was exceptional.  I will be choosing Princess for my next one.

Alaska is beautiful. Scenery was gorgeous. Booked Kayak, and Nature hike/Whale watching excursions. Both were fun and well put together. Food on the Jewel left a lot to be desired. If you are used to eating tv dinners then the food will be fantastic for you. I ate at every non paying restaurant on the ship and was usually given lukewarm, improperly cooked, and under seasoned entrees. I sent a number of them back after ordering medium rare and receiving medium well.

I worked in the service industry for 12 years waiting tables, as a bartender and managing. I understand how difficult the job is and what it takes. While on board the Jewel, I was very specific on food and drink requests. On several occasions, I asked specific questions regarding temperature of meats, ingredients in food and drinks, or accompaniments that were not listed which i would have appreciated. The servers usually responded with an affirmative answer and then proceed to bring me the same luke warm plate that everyone else got, without extra ingredients I had requested, or with ingredients I had asked to be removed. When I asked them about the mistake, they often acted as if  this was the first time they had heard the request. For me, there were far too many of these instances over the course of the week. 

When I booked this trip I spoke w/ NCL beforehand and priced the trip for myself, my brother, sister in law, and mother. I then spoke to who offered the same deal , + an additional $100. on board credit. When I got to the cruise, the $100. on board credit was nowhere to be found. I called from the ship and they told me they had no record of such an offering. They offered to give me $100. towards my next CRUISE purchase. I told them I would never use to book any travel, especially a cruise, and asked if there was anything else they could do. They said "No". Moral of the story, don't book your trip w/ . You can get the same deal by booking directly w/ NCL.

Enjoyable 7 night cruise to Alaska with family.

Relaxing, beautiful scenery, and great specialty restaurants

Definitely opt for specialty dining if free offers are available

So this was our first cruise, wasnt sure what ti expect as we heatd good and bad reviews (more good than bad) but i have to say, the whole experience of the cruise from the beginning to the end was awesome! The service from the crew, the amenities the ship offered, the restaurants, the shows and everything in between has been great! I would highly recommend the Alaska cruise and highly recommend this ship. We choose it more so for the free style dining, and the unlimited beverage package that we were offered. Would do it again in a heartbeat.