Norwegian Jewel Review

4.0 / 5.0
2,357 reviews

First NCL Cruise

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Jewel
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CruisingFans
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jan 2015
Cabin: Oceanview Picture Window

This was our 40th cruise, but our first on NCL as we had heard several bad reports about the cruise line. The majority of our cruises have been on Carnival due to the closeness of the port to our home and the pricing, making it fun for an inexpensive get-away. We have cruised on Royal Caribbean, , Princess, and Celebrity. We were pleasantly surprised with Norwegian! We had been told that the food was so sub-par that you were almost forced to eat in the speciality restaurants - not true! We ate in the Garden Cafe (equivalent to The Lido deck on other lines) every day for breakfast and lunch and found the selections to be abundant and delicious. You must try the Belgian waffles with either fresh berries or fruit compote - yummy! I am a picky eater and always found something I liked every day on the main buffet line. Another plus was the flow of people in the Garden Cafe. There was never a line - amazing! On many of the RC and Carnival cruises, I had salad and pizza or a burger every day for lunch since I didn't find anything appealing. We are in the main dining room for dinner and found the food tasty and the portions just right. O'Sheehan's is the 24 hour restaurant that looks like an Irish Pub and has bar-type quisine as well as comfort food (loved the wings).

As far as the entertainment and activities on board, we found them to be excellent. Loved the musical groups and show band. Every night we went to one or two different lounges to dance and/or listen to the band (and we are old)! The shows in the theatre were very good - the Russian duo acrobats were superb and the comedians funny without resorting to four-letter vulgarity! This was the first time we went to a adult themed comedy show (Liar'sClub) without leaving.

The ship is clean and the personnel friendly. The staff always cleaned off the tables quickly in the buffet area so there was a place to sit. They had staff spraying everyone's hands before going through any food area -"washey, washey" was always the phrase of the day.

Cabin Review

Oceanview Picture Window

Cabin OC

Great location which is aft and right by the elevator. We were worried it may be noisy, but was the quietest cabin we have ever had. Very convenient to the theatre (one floor up) and the open deck and buffet, as well as the casino. This OV cabin is small, especially the bathroom, but has plenty of storage area. Beds are comfortable.

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