This was absolutely the worst vacation experience I have ever had. I've read some of the other reviews that say how wonderful the "Jewel" was and I can't believe my eyes. Getting on the ship was the experience from hell. We had arranged for a NCL shuttle to pick us up at our hotel and take us to the ship cause it sounded convenient. HA! We had to wait for a second shuttle do to over booking and when we got to the NCL embarkment area there was no place to park so we drove around for 35 minutes before there was enough room for us. When we got off the shuttle we were herded into a gigantic room with easily a thousand hot sweaty smelly people waiting to get checked in. Another 40 minutes, this time standing in line. Finally, we got on the ship and, you guessed it, a 20 minute wait to get on the elevator to go to our suite. When we got to our room, someone had used the bathroom and urinated on the floor. I could smell it when I opened the door. Had to call the porter and have it cleaned. Not a good start to our "Alaskan" cruise but I thought things would get better. NOT1

The food was mediocre at best and the service was TERRIBLE. Since there was no assigned seating we never had the same servers twice so no incentive to do an exceptional job. Servers were curt, unattentive and spoke little english. It was impossible to get explanations of menu items.

The only good (traditional) bar was one where you had to pay extra to attend. I went to it anyway figuring if I had already paid for balcony suites I deserved a decent bar and no one challenged me. Read more