We just returned from a 7 night cruise upon the NCL Jewel. We had a fabulous time. There was 4 of us (two couples) ranging in age from 47 to 53. I have been on a total of 4 cruises (all with Carnival) and this is the first with NCL but I will be back. Keeping this in mind all my comments below are only between these two companies. Some things I liked on the NCL Jewel was the entertainment and the food, I thought both surpassed Carnival's. The Jewel is a beautiful ship and does not have that "busy decorating" like Carnival ships have. I feel that the average age on NCL was just slightly older then Carnival; but that did not mean there was any less fun. I also found the check-in and departing to be smoother then Carnivals. Free style dining....I admit that before I was on the ship I was already NOT a fan of this only because I enjoy having the same wait staff each night so you get to know them. Plus I feel that the staff must have lost out on possible "end of trip tips" because you now had different wait staff each night. On the second night of our cruise our waitress explained to us that whenever we came back to this dining room that we could just ask to be seated in her area. That is when I changed my opinion on freestyle dinning. I now love it; it really is nice to have the freedom to pick whenever time you want. We went back every night except one and were seated right away in her section. I truly believe that both ladies (the waitress and her assistant) were extremely surprised when we tipped them on the last night. The Jewel's chocolate night was very tasty but it losses points in the presentation because it is displayed in the buffet area and therefore spread out more....so you do not get that "wow" factor. We stayed in an inside room and I found it just to be a bit smaller then the Carnival's Liberty rooms. We took a inside cabin because we do not spend a lot of time in our room. As long as you are neat and put things away after you use them. The washroom was very nice with a good size shower with glass doors. Two things they did not have was a way to check the balance of your bill from your TV. The other thing was they did not have 2010 Olympics anywhere on the ship.

Overall we did love this cruise....unfortunately the weather this winter (all over the Carribean) was not the best. But we had a great time and enjoyed meeting new friends. Thanks NCL.