Norwegian Jewel Review
Great Trip for Kids (Too bad we didn't have any with us.)
Rating by category
Additional details
My husband and I cruised on the Norwegian Jewel to Florida and the Bahamas on April 24, 2010. I am 33 and my husband is 38. This was our second cruise with NCL, having cruised on the Dawn to Bermuda last year in May. We booked this cruise in September of 2009 and chose this sailing for the itinerary and it's timing falling after the spring breaks and before summer break. We do not have children, so we try to schedule our vacations when kids are in school. Nothing against kids cruising, but if you are not traveling with a family, why would you want to book a family cruise? People who are looking for a family/child friendly sailing, this particular cruise is a wonderful option. Please check out the glowing reviews from follow passengers on this sailing who had children with them.
Up until a few weeks before our sailing, it looked like there were plenty of cabins available and we were eagerly anticipating the peace and quiet that we look for in a cruise. But then Nick at Sea struck our sailing and our too-late-to-be-canceled-or-rescheduled cruise was sold out with 300 children and 2800+ passengers in all. I am still not sure why all websites list this ship's capacity as being 2376 passengers, when we sailed with over 2800 and it looks like the sailing after our's also had over 2800. Overcrowding was our biggest disappointment with this cruise. We had to take the stairs frequently due to the very long wait at peak times for the elevator. This was not what we had in mind when we chose this cruise. Had Nick at Sea been advertised or passengers notified, I simply would have chosen a different sailing and my husband and I could have opted for a ship that could offer the laid back, off season vacation we were looking for. All of that being said, we did our best to enjoy our cruise despite the overcrowding and the crew of the Jewel did a fantastic job making sure that a memorable vacation was had by all.
First off, I want to thank Terry for organizing the CC Meet and Greet. This was our first time participating and we will be making a habit of it on all future cruises. Thanks also to the Jewel crew (especially John O'Hara, Hotel Manager) for treating all of your CC members like VIPs. This crew is first rate in our book and did a truly remarkable job servicing a sold out sailing.
Cabin Review
Obstructed Oceanview
Norwegian Jewel - Cabin 8590
Our cabin was a mid-ship obstructed oceanview on deck 8. We had an oblong cabin which seemed to be a bit smaller than the usual oceanview cabin. The window was on the side of the bed rather than over the bed. I remember there being a bit more storage space in the usual oceanview cabin. These oblong cabins only have 3 drawers as opposed to 6 in the normal oceanviews. There are also less shelves. Be aware of this and look carefully at deck plans before booking. The price is the same for both, so why go with the one with less storage if you can help it. The bed was extremely comfortable. There is always a bit of creaking on any ship. We always bring our travel sound machine and this works out very well. Bathroom was well laid out and a very nice size. At night though, you could only get hot water from the sink. Very hot water. Strange. This cabin was extremely close to Blue Lagoon and Tango's. We never heard any noise from the restaurants, however, since Blue Lagoon is open all night, there were a few times when noisy passengers walking throught the hallway late at night to get to the Blue Lagoon could be heard. Not a big deal, but light sleepers should be aware. We never had any noise from above or below us. Also, this was an obstructed view cabin, but we had full light from our window and could see the view since our window was actually over the roof of the lifeboat outside our window. We could see into some of the lifeboat windows, though, so make sure you close those curtains before you get changed.