My husband and I have taken a one night Inaugural Voyage on Norwegian Jewel in November, 2005. This was our seventh cruise, and first on NCL. Previously we cruised with Carnival, RCCL, Princess and Celebrity. I have to begin by saying that I had no expectations for this cruise and this was just a way to sample the NCL and decide if we ever want to spend more than one day on their ships.

Embarkation: Ship was leaving from the Miami port. Embarkation was much disorganized; there was a two hours line to get on the ship. There were many agents but they were slow and inefficient. At one point all computers froze and it took NCL agents 20 minutes just to reboot. After the lengthy process of waiting to get on the ship, we were greeted by 4 members of the crew onboard and two jars of sanitizing liquid. They insisted that every one sanitize their hands and move on. No champagne, no cold towels, no people to help you with luggage and take you to your cabin. Cabin: We had a midrange balcony cabin, as we always do on all ships. NCL's cabins are less then small, they are tiny. I cannot imagine having this cabin for 4 (2 adults and 2 kids). The two of us could not go in the same direction at the same time in this cabin. Balcony was tiny, bathroom was minuscule. You pretty much had to keep bathroom door open to move around the bathroom. There was an empty mini fridge and a safe in the cabin. No robes, no beach bags, no ice, no sweets, no ashtrays. Everything was bare to the minimum.

Decor: I have to say a few words about the decor of the rooms and the ship in general. It looked like either a paint truck had an accident on this ship or the color designer was totally blind. All doors, carpets, and few walls and cafes were bright greenish aqua. Cabin had a mix of purple, maroon, aqua, red, orange and yellow all over it. Casino floor and ceiling was red, blue, yellow, and green squares, walls were aqua and orange, and slots and tables red and green. You could not stay in the casino for more then 20 seconds without getting dizzy spells just from the colors. Pool deck had all colors mixed together - orange, green, blue, aqua, yellow, pink, magenta, purple. Theater is bright aqua with bright orange and yellow. All cafes, bars and public lounges are in terrible colors that do not match together. I know and love modern, and this was not it. It was horrific. Also there is nothing on this ship to take your breath away, no great lobby, no marble, no columns, no crystal, no glass elevators, no huge flower arrangements, no great galleries, no sculptures. Basically, there is nothing to write home about. Read more