Norwegian Jewel Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We had an excellent first time cruiser experience on the Norwegian Jewel. I booked it about 60 days in advance through an online booking agent. This was to be my 40th birthday celebration. The timing and price were perfect. NCL was great to work with from the start. I was reading through different rules and guide lines and had a few questions. On several occasions I called a customer service agent and they were knowledgeable and always willing to help.
I immediately joined the Cruise Critic roll call for our cruise and signed up to attend the Cruise Critic members meet and greet. In the roll call, as well as other blogs, I was able to get acquainted with veteran and other first time cruisers. Cruise Critic proved to be my most valuable source of information for our cruise preparation and packing. Every topic concerning cruising is here, from future cruise credits, and understanding the automatic gratuities to washy washy girls.
We embarked from New York City. We are from Connecticut so we parked our car at the Metro North Southeast station the cost for 7 days was only $32, it is $30 a day at the pier. The train ticket to Grand Central Station was $12.25pp one way. With this being our first time sailing out of NYC I wasn't taking any chances and arranged a car to meet us curbside at Grand Central through the NCL website. This was about $30. We took a cab to Grand Central when we returned for $10.
Cabin Review
Balcony
I can't begin to rave enough about Norman, our room steward. He was a joy to interact with anytime we ran into him. The towel animals at turn down just made our nights. Every detail was always perfect. (He was leaving for his 3 months off and then going on the Norwegian Sky)
We chose a Balcony Stateroom located in the beginning of the Starboard AFT section. Absolutely loved it! There was ample space after tucking away a small stool and adding an over the door shoe organizer to the outside of the bathroom door. There was plenty of room in the closet, drawers, and on shelves to unpack and store 4 suitcases full of stuff. (We know better now LOL). Then they all fit just perfect under the bed, even the huge one.
The bed was two put together to make a queen. There was a big lump going down the middle that made it a bit uncomfortable to snuggle. If we each stayed on our own side it was very comfortable. The linens were of good quality. Another good thing is that there was no foot board on the bed so it allowed my my 6ft tall husband to stretch out.
We spent a fair amount of time in the room and on the balcony. The room will accommodate 3 adults but it really would be too small if you enjoy taking advantage of room service or spending any time on the balcony or in the stateroom. If the third person is a small child that could sleep on the sofa without opening it, the room would also work. It was perfect for my husband and I. This will be the stateroom location I will always look for first if not the exact same room.
The bathroom was also ample after adding the shoe organizer. (Thank you Cruise Critic members for that AWESOME tip! It is in my suitcase for next year.)The shower and toilet have glass sliding doors and the sink and vanity are conveniently located in the middle with a few small shelves and a large well lit mirror. There is a pull out clothes line in the shower. I brought clothes pins to hang our bathing suites after the spa each day. The toilet area was the only area that felt at all cramped, but it was fine overall.