Norwegian Jewel Review
Once in a lifetime cruise through the Panama Canal
Rating by category
Additional details
On this cruise it was me (56), my husband (60), and a group of 8 others. We met two of them on a cruise last year, and they invited us to join them and their family members on this one. This was cruise #16 for us with 8 on NCL, our first as Platinum. We originally booked OV and did some price drops and used points to upgrade to balcony deck 8.
Our cruise was the Feb 22 Jewel 10 day sailing out of Panama City which did a full canal transit and visited Costa Rica, the ABC islands and Colombia, ending in Colon. Aruba and Bonaire were our only repeat visits. The ship was at full capacity with very diverse nationalities on board. All announcements were in English and Spanish, but there were many Europeans on board as well.
Pre-cruise
Cabin Review
Mid-Ship Oceanview Picture Window
We were in a balcony on deck 8. Having two CPAPs was not a problem running the cords under the bed with the extension cord I brought. The cabin steward provided bathrobes and distilled water at my request. There were wine glasses every day, and two complimentary bottles of water for Latitudes status. Cabin service was fine (once a day) and the steward managed to get it done while we were out of the room. A first for us was the heavy deodorizer smell as we entered the first day. Normally NCL cabins are very neutral smelling and pleasant, maybe with a light bleach scent. My husband is very sensitive to chemicals and has never had a reaction on a ship before. This time it was me lol. I started sneezing immediately and couldn't stop. Our steward said they spray this between cruises now and he wouldn’t use it anymore. It happened the second day too and it ended up being the bathroom cleaner. He let me smell the cleaners to identify which one made me sneeze and didn’t use it in our cabin anymore. Thank goodness we could open the door and air it out. I just hope this isn’t a fleet wide thing now.