Just back from cruising the Jewel out of Miami on a seven day Western Caribbean itinerary. This was my second cruise with NCL and a bit better than the first but far from perfect.

Hotel: Booked 3 nights at the Beacon in South Beach independently. Top location but the room very small (about the size of an NCL mini suite, yes even the bathroom) and expensive for what it was. Decent staff and clean, but not a lot of amenities. Embarkation: this took quite a while, perhaps the longest of any cruise I've taken. Got there a little before noon and was on the ship by about 1:10pm. Still it wasn't that bad of an experience, I think I've just been lucky in the past and gotten on board quickly. The announcements were hard to hear and unclear; NCL should invest in a decent PA for their Miami terminal.

Ship Impressions: The NCL Jewel public areas were very clean and kept in good repair. I found the ship to be well-maintained, and for the most part, well-designed and easy to get around. The decor was good but just below Celebrity (for class) and Carnival (for glitz). Tsar's dining room was the most impressive common area. There was a lack of chairs on the promenade deck; given how often the main outdoor deck around the pool area was full this was a lost opportunity to provide guests with an alternative. All too often, there was a slight sewer smell on deck 11, and on a couple occasions it was even in our room. Not strong or frequently smelled enough to be a major problem, but had it been any worse it would have been. Read more