The jewel isn't the newest, fanciest ship, but I don't care... I love it :) I felt like it was the perfect size- not too big, not too small. It was older, but it was extremely clean and well-maintained. We cruise once or twice a year but this was our first time on NCL (previously we've been on Carnival, Princess, and Royal Caribbean). We quickly became huge fans, and I even put down a deposit on a future cruise. These are the pros we found:
The service was excellent. I only found one person (a room steward, thankfully not ours) the entire time that wasn't friendly and helpful. That being said, my mom spent quite a bit of time in the casino, and she assured me the attendants there were not attentive or friendly at all unless you were a high roller.
There was never a time we had nothing to do... the biggest problem was deciding between options. The on-board activities were plentiful and fun, and far exceeded our experiences on any other cruise line. My daughter participated in the kids program, and she begged to go back every time it was open (unlike other cruise lines). Sometimes I even pleaded with her, "Don't you want to stay with us and do a family activity?" She didn't :)
We opted for a mini suite guarantee, and I'll admit I was not thrilled we were assigned this cabin at the aft of the ship, as I am very prone to motion sickness. However, the room was awesome. Quiet location. I never once experienced motion sickness. Only once during the entire cruise did I hear anything from the buffet above, and that was around 5 pm one evening. It sounded like they were vacuuming and moving a few chairs around upstairs. It was intrusive and it only lasted a couple minutes. The hubby loved the easy access to the buffet!
Embarking in Houston was quick and efficient. The airfare into Hobby airport from the midwest was very reasonably priced, and I would fly into Houston again.