NCL Jewel -- Houston/Cozumel/Belize City/Roatan Honduras

We were excited to find this cruise out of Houston on the NCL Jewel, as we could drive and not have to incur any airfare/hotel. Visit the Houston Bayport Terminal website to get updates on the road construction. The terminal itself is super easy -- pull up to the drop off and give your bags to the attendants with carts. That's it! Your luggage then magically finds its way to your room. Then circle back to park your car. The parking lot is an easy walk to the terminal. You do have to go through security screening, but they seemed far friendlier and quicker than TSA :-). And, don't forget that you can either carry or check water/soft drinks/etc. Anything but liquor. Since Norwegian went to Pepsi products (boo), we carried on Diet Cokes and sparkling waters. Next time I'll add a case of bottled water to have on excursions. Once through security we did have to fill out a quick questionnaire about sickness/ebola, then we got in the check-in line. It took a bit of time to get through, even in the Latitudes line, but that was fine. Then on to the photo stop and up the escalator to board.

The Jewel was dry docked and renovated over the summer, and it showed! The ship was fresh and clean with friendly staff and crew. We quickly found our cabin (9666 -- ha!) and it was great. All the way aft, port side, and it was nice and quiet. While the room was small, it was well-designed and had ample storage. I like how the bathroom was split into a shower compartment with sliding door, the sink, and then the toilet with another sliding door. We also had two robes in our cabin. I think because we were right next to the penthouse suites we got a better attendant. Our cabin attendant, De Wa, was fantastic and very attentive. Read more