Norwegian Jewel Review
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I cruised to the Baltics aboard the NCL Jewel on the 4th July sailing. Myself (30s professional), my parents (60s retired) and my young nephew (10yrs) shared a beautiful mini-suite on Deck 11. Overall we enjoyed the cruise, the ports were wonderful and the food onboard was very good. However we found the service to be quite uneven. Read on for a detailed and realistic review of what to expect.
Arrival/Embarkation: We were staying in a rented flat in London and took the train from Charing Cross to Dover Priory. Smooth and relatively hassle free journey aided by luggage carts available at both stations. NCL has an excellent embarkation process, smoothest I've ever experienced. We are Latitudes members and arrived at the port at 12 pm (took a cab from the train station which cost 8 pounds, plus tip). We were ushered through very quickly. The port is pleasant and NCL had decorated tables w/American flags and streamers for the 4th of July, which was a very nice touch, I thought. We were greeted very warmly by excellent ground agents and before we knew it were onboard sitting near the Azura restaurant sipping complimentary champagne (and orange juice for the nephew). Promptly at 1 pm the announcement was made that the cabins were ready and we were escorted to our mini-suite on Deck 11.
Mini-Suite: The cabin was excellent and very well laid out w/plenty of storage space under the bed, in the closet and in the four large wall drawers. Multiple smaller desk drawers as well. I had been worried that the mini would be too cramped for three adults and one child, but it was fine and larger than I expected. The sofa bed is very wide, bigger than the one in the balcony cabins. I slept on it next to my nephew. After the first night, the cabin steward put a "bliss" mattress topper on it and it was surprisingly comfortable (why the topper was not put on right away, I don't know as it made a huge difference - definitely request one if you are sleeping on the sofa bed). Nice balcony with two loungers. Upon arrival, there were fresh flowers on the entry stand. We never received the fruit platter that was supposed to be part of 2.0 nor were there upgraded toiletries. The location of the minisuite (midship, Deck 11) was very convenient for popping up to Garden Cafe for coffee or tea or a quick snack (easy to bring back to the room).