We had such a wonderful time on our 7 night cruise out of Houston, TX to the Western Caribbean. We sailed out on Feb 28th. Getting to the cruise port was super easy from Houston Hobby airport-pre-reserved tickets on Super Shuttle, about a 25 minute ride to the ship. Getting on was painless and moved rapidly.

The Jewel is one of the smaller boats we've been on but it was still very nice. Lots to do and never really felt too crowded. Of course, on the 2nd to last sea day the pool deck was filled with people, but my husband and I were still able to find lounges in the sun. We went the cheap way and booked an inside cabin because you couldn't beat the price. It was small but comfortable, especially the bed! And the bathroom was the largest we've ever had on a cruise and that's even comparing it to a balcony room we had on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas! The shower was very large and we liked that it had a sliding glass door and not just a shower curtain!

We enjoyed the freestyle cruising that Norwegian offers. We would just show up to the main dining rooms any time we wanted that was convenient to us. One night we did have to wait for about 20 minutes to be seated but they gave us 2 coupons for free glasses of champagne while we waited so we sat in the main atrium and listened to music until our buzzer buzzed. I thought that was a nice touch. The food was excellent everywhere we ate! Especially, the French specialty restaurant! That was a meal to remember! We also dined at the Brazilian steakhouse and enjoyed that very much as well. I will say my husband was looking forward to breakfast in bed with their room service but the menu they offered for breakfast was very disappointing so we only did that once. Only a few pastries, fruit, cereal, and muffins were offered. Service was excellent for most of our time there. My one complaint was lunch on our first day. We tried the Irish pub and did have a to wait a long time to be served initially and then to get our food. Read more