Background info: My wife and I just returned from a 7 night cruise on the NCL Jewel out of NYC to Florida/Bahamas from June26 - July 3. This was our third sailing on NCL and the best so far.

Embarkation: We arrived at the port at 10:30 and proceeded through the screening area without any problems. Because my wife was instrumental in setting up the Cruise Critic "Meet and Greet", we were given a few extra perks, one being immediate escort by our concierge, Adrian, onto the ship at around 11:15. (NCL no longer provides a "welcome -a-board" Champaign drink). We were allowed to drop off our small carry-on luggage in our cabin (a mini-suite on the starboard side mid-ship) which was being made up at the time by our 2 wonderful cabin stewards, Charlie and Sarah! We then proceeded to Cagney's Restaurant where we were allowed to dine (another perk). After lunch, we went to our cabin and waited for our luggage which arrived shortly after the muster drill. We checked to see that all our booked excursion tickets were delivered and correct (we had problems with this in the past). All was OK! Our cabin was spotless with plenty of storage space. The mini-suite has a bathtub which makes the bathroom a little roomier than the balcony cabins. It also has a larger sitting area and a larger balcony with lounge chairs. Unfortunately, NCL doesn't leave chocolates on your pillow at night but, our talented cabin stewards did make the most wonderful "towel animals" each and every night, which thrilled my wife to no end!

Ship Activities: Sunday was our M&G at the Azura Lounge. It was well attended by our roll call (approximately 35 guests) and many of the ship's senior officers. Parker, our cruise director was there and also 2 members of Second City. It was a great get together and so nice to meet such wonderful fellow cruisers! After the M&G we arranged to have a "slot pull" in the Casino. About 13 of us attended along with Garath, the Casino Manager. Thank you Garath for your time and generosity! Although we didn't win, we had a ball! The Casino has nice, modern machines as well as some of the old standbys. We tried our luck at a slot tournament later in the week, and lost again. But we had a lot of laughs! Thank you Carie, Casino Host, for all your efforts. There's a lot to do on board. Too much to mention here and you can't do everything. The Latitudes Party took place on the first sea day also. We were greeted by the Captain and the senior officers. We attended all the shows. They were all terrific! Especially, Cirque Bijou, which was our favorite! You have to get to the pool early in order to secure a lounge chair around the pool area. Lounge chairs were plentiful on the upper sun decks. We played Bingo on one of the last days (didn't win there either...do you see a pattern here?). It's less expensive to play bingo on the Jewel, since they don't provide the electronic bingo boards. The various lounges have entertainment and they are all excellent! Read more