NCL Jewel 6/5/10-6/12/10

A little background about the reviewer: This was my 12th cruise, one previous NCL cruise on the Norway about 17 years ago, 9 Carnival, 1 Princess, and now the NCL Jewel. I've really thought of this as my first NCL cruise because cruising was so different 17 years ago and this is my first experience with freestyle cruising. I'm 43, husband 49 and 2 kids (13 & 14). We also traveled with my brother-in-law, his wife and 2 kids (14 & 18).

We booked through a travel agent because there was a $100 OBC and bottle of wine promotion. I've used this TA before and the service was good this time as well. I don't always book with a TA, if the price is the same booking direct with the cruise line, I prefer to book direct. Being an experience travel planner (not professionally), booking either way is not an issue for me. We booked a balcony, picking our exact cabin 9144. I don't do the guarantees anymore, one time our cabin was right under the pool deck (Caribbean Princess) and the noise from the deck chairs being move in the morning and at night always woke us up. Read more