My wife and I recently returned from a Baltic Capitol cruise on the Norwegian Jewel. A jewel it was not. The line touts its freestyle cruising, but it is anything but free. They nickle and dime you to death, e.g. $10 to exchange currency, $10 to $25 cover charge per person for the opportunity to eat at an alternative restaurant rather than at the dining rooms which serve bland, tasteless meals or fight what seems to be the entire western hemisphere for a table at the garden cafe. If you don't get your laundry done on the two "special" days where they only charge $25 for whatever you can stuff into a pillow case size bag, you may well pay over $100 for a bag of laundry, including $3 for a pair of socks or a handkerchief.

With the exception of the room stewards, you would be hard pressed to find a crew and staff who were less interested in providing quality customer service. I saw many people cleaning the table from previous occupants so that they could sit down while the staff stood around talking to each other. The Russian memorabilia that was sold on the ship after departing from St. Petersburg was about double the price that it was sold for in the port. When i asked about the best way to get into town at one port, I was told that if I had purchased their shore excursion I wouldn't have to worry about it.

This was our first, and last, cruise on Norwegian. In summary the food was poor, the service worse, the entertainment mediocre, and with the exception of the ports, which were great, a very disappointing experience overall.