My husband and I, some friends and my sister decided to take a cruise for my 50th Birthday. We picked the Norwegian Jewel because it is a new ship and it was our first cruise.
We flew from Memphis to Miami. The plane ticket cost almost as much as the cruise. We spent the night before our cruise at the Hampton Inn which is very close to the port and was very convenient. We arrived at the port about 1130 am and were able to embark immediately. There was plenty of help to check us in. It went very smoothly.
After boarding the ship, we went to our interior stateroom that was small but nice. When I arrived, my husband had arranged for balloons, a cake and a banner with "Happy Birthday" in the room. I was "totally" surprised. I had heard so many people talk about the food on cruise ships. The atmosphere in all the speciality restaurants was nice but I wouldn't say the food was anything outstanding. We did enjoy Cagney's steak house. Our waiter Furtoso Gonsalves was very entertaining. He recommended the chocolate dessert which he stated looked like "Ding Dongs" and they did. They were great!