Though there are several reviews of this ship/itinerary, I thought I would submit mine, as a first -time cruiser. I travelled with my family -my parents are grizzled veterans with well over 30 cruises on half a dozen lines under their belt, and my brother who has been on 5 cruises on three different lines - but I am a novice, so I will share my views, but also include some of theirs, as a comparison.

We flew from London, Manchester and Newcastle respectively, on the Sunday after the Thurs when the terrorism alert broke, so all air travel was a bit fraught still. No hand luggage, tons of security, and some delays of course. The flight out of Heathrow was delayed 3 hours, so my brother and I were among the last to board at about 5.30pm, which meant I didn't really experience a 'normal' embarkation. We were off the transfer bus and on the ship in less than 5 minutes, which may not have been the case had we arrived earlier. This was a positive, but also made me a little jealous when I headed from my stateroom to the sail-away buffet, and saw hundreds of people lounging on the pool deck, tucking into their barbecues and looking as if they had already been there forever!

The cabin was an agreeable surprise to me (an oceanview balcony stateroom) though my brother felt there was more space in his cabin on the Royal Caribbean's Voyager. We called for the room to be 'twinned' before we went to eat, and it was done by the time we returned. I thought the bright turquoise, pink and orange decor was great, cheery and clean-looking, but everyone else in the family found it a tad overwhelming! My parents had an inside stateroom, though they normally go for a balcony, but because we had to travel in school holidays due to my being a teacher, they found the price-hike unacceptable, so plumped for an inside stateroom, which they found rather dark and more cramped than same cabins on RCI's Jewel of the Seas, which is their favorite ship. The inside cabins on that have a sofa as well as the bed, which is not the case on the Norwegian Jewel. I have to say, having the balcony was a must for me, I wouldn't cruise again without it. We all convened daily on our balcony for pre-dinner drinks and sunset-watching, and I read there at nights before bed for a couple of hours - it's very relaxing, gives an impression of space and light and just felt luxurious! The bathroom was also a decent size, well organized with a large shower and plenty of useful touches, like the shampoo and shower gel dispensers in the shower, the moisturizing lotion which was always promptly replaced when I pinched it (!) and a separate toilet. Everything spotless, and I couldn't have asked for more from our cabin attendant, whom I never saw, but who turned down and made up our cabin every day beautifully. Oh, and the beds were REALLY comfortable, with excellent quality linen - which I hadn't expected. Read more