Norwegian Jewel Review
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We left for a Thanksgiving cruise out of the port of Houston. It was really convenient for us and 90% of the other 2,800 guests on board. No surprise, but nearly all guests were from Texas. There were 800 children, which stressed the kids academy to the limit. They were not nearly staffed or prepared for it. If you have 800 kids on board, why not hire excess crew for the kid's club and open a 2nd or 3rd check-in line? It really crowded the space next to the buffet during the club's opening and closing times.
The ship is fairly dated and lacks lots of activity options. There is one family pool with 2 hot tubs, one toddler pool with 1 kid's hot tub, and 1 tiny adult only pool with an adult only hot tub. They are all located together. So, if you don't want to be bothered by kids, then you better splurge for a Haven suite with their private pool. The hot tubs by the main pool were packed with little kids and maybe one or two parents. I never saw the kid's hot tub in use.
In the title, I refer to Waldorf Astoria because of the special services available on the ship. The spa is very nice, turndown service is superb (only missing the chocolate mint), and lounges are friendly. Where the ship turns into a Hampton Inn is in the "free" food quality. There are two main dining halls and they both serve the same menu. The food provided there was bland and comparable to a Boston Market. Most of what we tried there was inedible and we even left one dining hall before completing the main course - it was that bad. I ordered the Mahi-Mahi and was served what was clearly a fillet from a frozen Costco bag. We usually went to the buffet after eating at the main dining halls just to fill up.
Cabin Review
Aft-Facing Balcony
The room has a nice sized balcony for this level of room. It fits a lounge chair, two sitting chairs and a tiny end table. Unfortunately, the balcony is directly below the Great Outdoors restaurant. We found used cigarette boxes and bits of food nearly everyday on the balcony. The balcony rail was greasy from the incinerator located above. Little privacy during the day since someone was almost always looking over the rail onto our balcony below. I would get a room one deck level below next time. The room was very petite and efficient. The bathroom is about the size on an airplane. Lots of storage available. They had a ladder in the closet which took up a lot room and was unnecessary. They could have removed it and made it available upon request. The bed was comfy. The tv was tiny and was poor quality. It's really only big enough for two adults. We shared the room with our 7 year old daughter who slept on the sofa which pulls out to a bed, making balcony access difficult and acrobatic. It was really cramped with all 3 of us in the room.