My wife and I (68 and 67 yrs old), booked the Norwegian Jewel about a month before sailing. There was a mini-suite promotion and we took a "guaranteed" cabin. About a week before the sailing we were assigned cabin 11054, a mini-suite on deck 11, almost mid-ship. We were very pleased with this cabin, and our excellent room steward, Jayson. We hadn't been on a Norwegian ship for about 20 yrs. Sorry to say our experience on the Jewel was very mixed and we will probably not cruise with Norwegian any time soon. We like Celebrity and Princess much more, primarily their service is much more even, and at a higher standard. However, we did enjoy our cruise to the Mexican Rivera. We were mainly interested in relaxation, not a lot of sightseeing. We didn't even get off the ship for the first two ports. We got off in Puerto Vallarta because we have a timeshare there and just went to the resort and laid by their pools and had a nice lunch.

What was good and not so good onboard the ship? Again, our cabin was great The food in Cagney's was very good. Service also pretty good. The French specialty restaurant was not a good experience. Food good, but service sub-par. It took close to three hrs. to complete our meal. Too much time between courses (for whatever reasons). Water glasses not refilled in a timely manner (one of my pet peeves). We also ate at the Italian specialty restaurant, we had purchased the 3-specality restaurant package (about $81pp). The Italian restaurant food was good, service also good, but the restaurant is NOT a fancy specialty restaurant...so don't waste a package meal on it. In fact, I wouldn't buy. any other specialty restaurant packages.

The food and service in the main dining rooms was pretty good...we liked Azura better than the Tsar's (Tsar's a little too gaudy, but nice for breakfast). I WOULD SAY STAY AWAY FROM THE GARDEN CAFE. We ate there when we boarded the ship and never stepped foot in there again. To me, it is a step below eating at a Mall eating area. Some people liked the food choices, but I couldn't stand to eat at the tables in that café (and I think my wife would agree that I am NOT an overly fussy diner). The outdoor buffet by the pool was pretty good when they had bar-bq. The fruit was fresh and juicy (pineapple especially). The hamburgers by the pool were not great...a little too greasy and flattened out). We also enjoyed breakfast and snacks at O'Sheehan's Bar & Grill. Big screen TVs were nice for football playoff games being shown. One other thing about freestyle cruising, the clothing policy. I do not like the big dress up formal nights of other cruise lines, but I still like to see adults dress nicely for dinner. On this cruise, while Norwegian does have a policy, I still saw some cruisers come to dinner in shorts and some with baseball caps. Call me somewhat old-fashioned, but I believe that a little higher standard should be expected and enforced. Read more