Recently sailed on the Jewel over Spring Break with a nephew. His 1st time cruising, my 6th-2nd time on NCL. THrip could not have been better, start to finish.
Booking was easyand straight forward. Booked a mini suite to have a little extra room and it was great. Received the Ultimate Dining Package when booked, which allowed us to have dinner in the specialty restaurants.
Embarkation: The Houston port is about 30-45 minutes east /south of downtown, and while the building itself is nice and new, there is not alot around. You drive through a pretty ugly industrial smokestack forest. Not a plesant introdcution to the area if you have never been! Check in was Easy, quick and painless. from drop off to stepping on the ship was all of 20 minutes. Once on board, we headed to Tsars to have an easy lunch and to avoid the crowds. Wise decision!
Bathroom was great. Toilet had a sliding door to close off from the bathroom area, good storage at the sink area, and a tub/shower with a trifold sliding glass door. Plenty of towels (and good towels!) there and replenished continuously through the week. Loads of storage and a big closet with plenty of hangars.suitcases fit under the bed or in the closet to keep out of the way. Bed was ok-a little too soft for my taste. Requested the bed to be split, and was done later that day. Heavy curtain and then a couch/desk area with more starage. The cabinet above the desk included a good sized safe. Flat screen TV on the shelf swiveled for couch and bed viewing. Some great movies were shown over the coursse of the week. Provided a good diversion when needing some rest time. Good size balcony with 3 chairs. We noticed a plastic cup half full with water and cigarette butts on the balcony left over from the previous cruise.Mentioned it to the steward and it was removed immediately.We were below the spa (11510) and was so quiet. Never heard anything, from any direction.