Norwegian Jewel Review

First Cruise

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Jewel

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Sail Date: Dec 2007
Cabin: Mid-Ship Mini-Suite with Balcony

For our first cruise, we chose the NCL Jewel's western Caribbean (12/2 to 12/7) mostly because of their freestyle dining. More about that later. We live on the west coast of FL so it was an easy 3 hour drive to the port of Miami. We arrived at 11am hoping to board early like others wrote about in their reviews. We pulled up not far from the ship and a porter took our luggage. Parking garage C is not too far from the ship and was the only parking facility I saw available. They charge $20 a day up front - cash only. We then walked over to the ship to start the embarkation process. Although we got there at 11am, a lot of people were there ahead of us. It only took about 15 minutes to get thought the paperwork and we were routed upstairs to a waiting line. It was there that we saw the sign that said boarding would not begin until 12:30. So we stood in line for an hour before they started boarding at 12:15. Won't go early again.

Our mini-suite on deck 11 was ready so we dropped off our carry-on stuff before going to lunch. The cabin was a little smaller than I thought it would be for a mini-suite but it was very nicely decorated. It had a decent size balcony with two chairs and table, sitting area had a queen size pull-out that was very firm, a desk, queen bed was comfortable, bathroom was roomy and had a tub and separate toilet area with a sliding door that separated it from the rest of the bathroom, lots of storage space for clothes. The stewards seemed to change each day but the cabin was kept clean and our bed turned down each day. Twice we received towel animals. We were located directly under the Garden Cafe but had no noise from the Cafe at all.

We ate most breakfast and lunches at the Cafe. We especially liked the back outside deck of the Cafe. It's not at all windy and surprisingly wasn't crowded. The food there was very good. Something for everyone. Even healthy food if you want it. We didn't eat in any of the extra pay restaurants. We were content with the free ones. Had good meals at Tsar's, Mango's Tapas, and Azura's. And only a so-so meal at Mama's. We had to make reservations for Mango's Tapas and Mama's but they were easy to get. The wait staff at all the dining rooms were exceptional. Very attentive, quick to clear dishes, even removing crumbs from the linen between courses. Very good service with a smile to boot. We were surprised at the high level of service since their tips were predetermined by NCL adding $10 per person a day to our bill. We left additional tips when we thought we should.

Cabin Review

Mid-Ship Mini-Suite with Balcony

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