We recently returned from 12 days on the NCL "Jewel". This was our "Friends and Family Annual Winter Caribbean Cruise". There were 24 of us. I have orchestrated the winter cruise for more than 25 years, now and we have been anywhere from 14 to 43 of us.

Embarkation was a breeze! From getting off of our charter party bus that brought us to the pier to being on the ship, it was maybe 8-10 minutes. We arrived at the pier at 1PM. I think not arriving too early expedites boarding. Everyone who gets there early has to queue up to get on, once the initial boarding starts and they are all on, the rest of the boarding process is a breeze. I had a couple of bottles of wine in my carry one and expected to have to pay a corkerage fee. No one said anything to me and I did not volunteer any information, so.....on I went with my wine. Also, in St Martin I bought a bottle of vodka, put it in my carry on, boarded, put my bag on the security belt, went through ship's security, no one said anything to me, so I said nothing to them and enjoyed a couple of vodka on the rocks in my cabin during the cruise.

The ship was maintained spotlessly. The staff and crew were friendly and accommodating. We had an inside cabin. We've been on a LOT of cruises (over 100) and this was one of if not THE smallest cabins we've ever had. The bathroom however, was larger than expected. Read more