Norwegian Jewel Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I've cruised other cruise lines and found this one to be ok, but not the greatest. The service was not as "perky" and friendly. Half of the crew on the floors were females, a lot more than other cruise lines. There were inconsistencies with the service each floor was getting in their staterooms. Our room never got chocolate at our bedside, no room service menus, breakfast order forms, beach towels, laundry bags, etc. Some floors got them.  I found that it wasn't "all inclusive." If you wanted to use the all adult pool/spa, you had to pay extra. Also there were a lot of restaurants but they were additional charges to eat there. My young ones wanted to meet the Nickelodeon characters and that too was an additional "special event breakfast" for extra charge. Same goes with the karaoke. Room service had a surcharge of 18% after midnight. All the drinks also had 18% surcharge/gratuity added. The photo counter charged me extra for the close-up pictures saying it cost more because they used a 15mm lens. They had some sort of Asian food at the buffet daily but it was horrible. They had an all out farewell pool party on the deck with NO food.  Perhaps if I didn't know any better I would think this cruise was fabulous but I've seen other cruise lines do things a bit different so I am biased. Just my opinion. 

Norwegian Jewel was a lot of fun! Theater shows were top notch. We enjoyed it each and every night. Food was great. Gained a pound or two:-) . We are definitely coming back to cruise @ Norwegian. 

I had a very nice vacation. I have no desire to visit Belize City again. It was dirty and the people were very pushy. I have been to Cozumel twice and it was nice. I loved the stop at Honduras! I would definetly go back again. My party and I had a Beach day with lunch on the Banana Coast, the highlight of my vacation.

The cruise itself: excellant food, good evening entertainment and very good activities were available for all ages.I wished the mini suite would of been larger. Some of the costs for the activities were pricey. There were alot of free activities  though. The cruise director was great..

Very relaxing.  Outstanding entertainment.  Excellent service.  Cagney's and Moderno were worth the additional cost.  Disembarkation took over an hour - much longer than expected

Had a great time with the family. We had a balcony stateroom. The size was what I expected. It's hard with three people in the room, would be small for four people sharing one room. Even with all of the hand sanitizer on board and the constant washing of hands, we still got sick on the boat. The ships doctor treated us and we lost a day of our cruise, luckily it was an at sea day.

We went to the ports of Banana Coast, Cozumel and Belize. Had beautiful weather. The ship is an older ship and smaller in compared to the mega ships but that didn't bother us at all. The pool area on at sea days is very crowded, get there to get your chairs early.

We didn't use the kids club but enjoyed the nightly shows. The specialty dining is a must. Belize didn't offer as much entertainment as I would have liked. We went to the monkey tour in Belize as an excursion that we purchased off the boat. Same with Cozumel, book off the ship, for better prices. When you arrive in Cozumel and Belize there are plenty of "safe" people offering tour options right at the docking area. In Honduras I would suggest booking an excursion from the ship.

Tendering to small boats was a bit of a challenge, I would suggest getting up and going before the tickets are handed out. Otherwise, you will wait to get off the ship at the port. Overall a nice cruise.

We had an amazing experience on our family vacation. The only thing that we would change is the variety of foods offered in the dining halls. In our group of 11, some of the members are Indian vegetarian. We asked for a special menu for them, after about 2-3 days of asking, we finally got some accommodations.

Wonderful experience! Everyone onboard was great. The staff was very polite and helpful. The ports were fun and had many things to offer. We especially liked the catamaran/snorkeling trip. Evening entertainment was excellent.

We had a fabulous time on the Norwegian Jewel Cruise.  Family time is always a highlight and there is plenty of family time on a cruise.  We loved our stateroom porter, Paul.  He was attentive and funny. The flexible dining is nice, since you eat so much it is great that you are not tied down to a certain time each night for dinner.  We enjoyed swimming and snorkeling with the stingrays in Cozumel, and cave tubing in Belize.  It would have been a lot better had it not rained on the trip, but weather is not guaranteed on any trip.  The best part of the trip was the entertainment and things to do on the ship.  The shows were family friendly and fun.  There was a lot of entertainment offered each day - all day!  The boys loved the kids club and made some friends that they are still in contact with.

The only downfall of the trip (besides rain) was the long trip from the airport to the Bay Harbor Terminal.  We also missed chocolates on our bed each night!  We would recommend this trip to family and friends.  We made lots of great memories!

I loved the production shows . The food in the dinner room was so. so.! .The service in T"sar i wasvery good ! The service in Azura  was poor.We tried the Steak 'house one evening for our daughter B-Day ,it was'nt worth it .The next day we had the Prime rib in T'sar dinning room and it was much better. We loved the beverage package. ! It was a great cruise for us.

Cruised to Cozumel, Belize and Honduras during spring break. This was my 7th cruise, but first on NCL. I booked an interior cabin, since it was just my husband and myself. The cabin seemed a tad smaller than some interior cabins on other cruise lines, but it was fine. The food of the jewel was very good, we ate most meals in the Garden Cafe, as we found the service in Azure dining room slow. Garden Cafe had amazing selections each and every night, especially loved the fresh grilled salmon. Used the gym four times to off set the fab food, I am a petite woman with a bear of an appetite. Our main complaint about the Jewel was the pool deck, which on sea days it was very congested. In addition, we found it annoying that the staff would clear away (stack up) lounge chairs at dinner time, although the pool was open until 10pm. We hoped there would be more comedy shows, as on other cruises there are typically 2 per day. Overall this was a fantastic trip, the ship and service were lovely. We enjoyed the ports of call. Cruises are always a great value in my book, hence my 7th one.

Overall a great time.  food was excellent, better than Carnival.  Shows were much better too.  Only knock is that they did not seem to have as many on-board activities.  Staff were very nice, had a great time....exiting the ship...someone walked off with our luggage...have not heard anything as of yet....curious to see how NCL handles this.....

We enjoyed our cruise on the Norwegian Jewel. Weather was good, ship's crew were accommodating, entertainment was excellent and the food was very good.

The ship is laid out in excellent fashion except for the pool area. The adult pool should have been in a separate area away from the crowds. It was also too deep for my wife to get in the pool as both ends were over her head.

the trip was good. there was an issue with a slow bellman and a horrible port. Banana Coast needs to be eliminated. i feel cheated by that desolate area. i was not happy about it. the other ports and excursions were great.

This was our first cruise and the NCL Jewel is a very nice ship and is kept exceptionally clean.  Our inside room was plenty big enough for my wife and I and our room steward was extremely friendly and kept the room spotless. We never ate in any of the specialty restaurants and yet the food we had in the regular restaurants was very good.  The entertainment on the Jewel was outstanding.  Also, getting off and back on the ship at the various ports was well coordinated.  The only problem I had with this trip was stopping at Trillijo, Honduras.  This place is very underdeveloped and there is not much to see or do there.  The beaches are covered with garbage and broken glass.  NCL should really consider dumping this place until some serious changes are made.  Other than that, this was a great first cruise and we will definitely cruise again.

We had an absolutely wonderful cruise from beginning to end!

My husband who is wheelchair-bound found the configuation of the Jewel to be very handicap friendly.  All areas, such as the Garden Cafe and shops, were spacious and easy to navigate.

The staff in all areas were always friendly and willing to assist.  This included our cabin steward, J.R.  who went above and beyond to make sure all of our needs or wants were met.

We have been on 14 cruises, on 5 different lines, and prefer Norwegian to all of the rest!!!

   Beginning with our embarkation at the new port of Houston, Norwegian Cruise Line made it so easy.  My wife and I have been on eight cruises with various cruise lines.  This was the easiest embarkation to navigate yet.  From the beginning we were made to feel very important.  The staff was friendly and extremely helpful. The Jewel was the third Norwegian ship on which we cruised.  It was clean, the staff was terrific, everything was organized, the food was wonderful, there was plenty of room in the dining rooms and there was plenty of room in the buffet dining room without having to wait for a table.  The buffet was well organized with lots of room to maneuver a power chair without running others down.

   Although we've been to Cozumel several times before, it was fun to see the many changes in the port. The port was clean and the vendors were typical of Mexico. Belize City was our second port of call.  We took a most interesting River cruise up the Old Belize River then journeyed to the Mayan Ruins of Altun Ha.  It was the best six hours of our time.  The third port of call was Trujilla, Honduras.  It will be the next best port in the very near future.  The port first opened in October, 2014, and the building of the pier is underway. The kiosks at the port were new, the rest rooms were clean and tidy, and the vendors were some of the best artisans we have come across in all our travels.

   Weather was near perfect (we cruised March 21-28).  Temperatures were in the 80's to low 90's in all three ports which made all of our excursions the best possible, especially the swimming and snorkeling. 

   Arriving back in the Port of Houston, Norwegian made disembarkation a dream.  Using their colored tags corresponding to a 15 minute time slot, we were able to walk off the ship, pick up our luggage, and walk through customs in a matter of 25 minutes.  It could not have been easier.

   The whole experience with Norwegian Cruise Lines was One of the Best vacations we have had.  We give it a 5 Star rating!  We are already planning our next cruise.  I believe it will be with Norwegian!

With eight cruises under our belt, this was our first on an NCL ship.  Our experience on this cruise ranks NCL as a first tier cruise line for us.  The Jewel is a large but not huge ship.  We never felt as though we had to contend with crowds of people.  Elevator service between floors was excellent.  The cafeteria was busy during meals but always accessible. The cafeteria food was better than we have experienced with other cruise lines.  The dining room food was good but more limited in scope than we experienced with other cruise lines.  The evening entertainment (comedy, acrobatics, magic) was excellent.  The crew and staff were very attentive and the service was excellent.  Don't hesitate to consider the NCL Jewel for a future cruise.

This was a family vacation - Granddad, Grandma, 2 adult daughters and 4 year old granddaughter. The ship's personnel were universally outstanding, the food was great and the ship both beautiful and comfortable.

This was our 5th cruise and our 2nd on the Norwegian Jewel.  The crew took awesome care of us by feeding us good food and providing a week's worth of entertainment options.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and would certainly cruise with Norwegian again.  

From the time we stepped onto the ship until we left, the crew was amazing. The food was good, rooms were kept clean. 

There are a lot of activities for everyone in the family.  Never a boring minute. The shows were entertaining.