We sailed in March 2006 from Miami, Roatan, Grand Cayman, Jamaica and Bahamas. My husband and I took our 12-year old and her friend during their winter break. We had sailed once before and also chose NCL. We also did the western Caribbean but last time went to Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize and Cozumel out of Miami on the NCL Sun. The Sun was also a new ship as the Jewel was this year.
We decided on a mini-suite which is just a bigger ocean view balcony with a curtain to divide the room. It was enough space for us because we spent little time in the room. Of course, there is never enough room for teenage girl and their stuff but the room stewards were so nice to straighten their mess every day, leaving the towel creature on their fold-out bed.
We enjoyed the relaxed eating experience with Norwegian Cruises as you never know when you will be back from the ports. We did book restaurant reservations as soon as we got on the ship at places for prime times as we thought would be hard to get into later for a few nights. We always had great and always friendly service from breakfast to lunch. The main dining room was excellent so there really is no reason to spend more to eat anywhere else. The girls wanted the Benihana-like japanese steak place so we went the first night. The food was very nice-the lobster excellent! Le Bistro was our favorite-the service was amazing as well as the food. The servers let the girls help them cook and flame the dessert-they loved it. Tangos and Mamas also had very good food. The girls liked the buffet but we only ate there for lunch during day at sea. Skip the chocolate buffet unless you like wax-flavored desserts. We didn't take any of the excursions from NCL. We had done that the last time and decided to do it ourselves using the web and reviews to find guides and the best things to do. In Roatan we went to Half Moon Bay, very relaxing with great snorkeling. In Grand Cayman we went to Rum Point-it was nice-relaxed but the very few fish to see snorkeling-make arrangements for a taxi as few like to go that far. In Jamaica we arranged to have Peat Taylor take us for a tour including Dunn Falls-we ended up being the only four and had a great day. In the Bahamas out island-the weather was hazy and rained around 2pm-it was a nice day anyway.