Norweigian Jewel review 5/28

[may-2011]

I am just back from my cruise on the Norwegian Jewel and I am a first time cruiser as well.

 

We arrived in NYC the day prior. I have never been to NYC before and I thought that I was going to die on the way to the hotel. By the time we reached the hotel, my hands had to be preyed from the door. I have never experienced anything like that drive in my life. NYC was great. We stayed in Midtown and we walked until I thought my legs would fall off.

 

Embarkment: We left the hotel at 11:00 to head to the shipyard. NCL had stated that they did not want you to arrive before 11 and when we arrived close to noon, we could not believe how many people were already in line. I have a feeling a lot of people were here way before 11 and this will be our one of many encounters with people not following directions. Well anyway, getting through customs was easy and the line to get checked in moved fairly quick. Before long, we were heading toward the gangway. Just prior to reaching the gangway, we were stopped for a photo op, one of many as we would soon learn.

 

We were advised that we could not get into our rooms until 2, so we decided to get to know the ship. We did notice that people were already in the pool or having lunch in the Garden Cafe. The Jewel is beautiful. I must admit that looking at the pics on NCL'S website, I thought the decorations appeared to be cheesy, but I was wrong. We quickly learned some ship lingo and we were good to go.

 

Room: We were able to get to our room right at 2. We were in inside cabin 9569 mid. It was a very nice room with enough room for the two of us. The bathroom was great as well. For the life of me, I can't figure out why someone would pay extra for a balcony. My thought is that I can go on deck anytime to get some views. The inside was nice and dark in the morning which allowed me to sleep late. :D Our room stewards Marlon and Edwin were wonderful They knew our names by the end of the first night.

 

Food: Food, food, everywhere. There were so many choices and you could eat whenever you wanted. You could dress up or not. Tsars was one of the main dining rooms and it was so elegant I felt like I needed to pay. The menu changed daily and they also had a regular menu offering the same thing every day. For the life of me, I could not understand why people paid to go the the specialty restaurants when the food at the free restaurants were just as good. The Garden Cafe had many choices for everyone. The washy, washy ladies were great. They were at the entrance of the Garden Cafe to spritz your hands with sanitizer.

 

Ports: The ports were just ok. Maybe because I did not do any excursions. When we docked in Nassau, we took the ferry to Paradise Island. The ferry operator was very informative and funny. We thought we could get into Atlantis to see the aquarium, but we were advised that they now charge 39.00. To see fish? Really? Needless to say, we didn't go to the aquarium. We did walk around the hotel and went to the public beach. We did get some awesome pics. We decided to get lunch before we got back on the boat and went to the famous Senor Frogs. What a joke. 18.00 for a hamburger? Really? For lunch? Our ship was just a few hundred yards away and we could eat for free.

Great Stirup Cay was a nice stop. The private island is beautiful and they had a nice buffet set up for us. They had a band and some family activities. The tendering process would have gone smoothly had people followed directions. Everyone has such a me first attitude that they just created congestion.

 

Shows: All of the shows were great. They show in the Stardust Theartre 730 and 930. Don't miss any.

 

Staff: The staff was great. Captain Lars, Dan the Man, Hugo were all wonderful.

 

Parting is such sweet sorrow. The process again was suppose to go smooth. We choose the option to take our own bags and leave the ship. We were to be the first off. You were suppose to wait until the announcement, however, again, people do not follow directions. We had to end up dragging our luggage down 2 flights of steps.

 

I would sail with NCL again and freestyle is the only way to go. :D

[CruiserBruce]

Did you post this on the NCL board, here?:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107

 

While beneficial here, the people who are most interested will see it.

[may-2011]

Did you post this on the NCL board, here?:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107

 

While beneficial here, the people who are most interested will see it.

Yes I did. It has not shown up yet though.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post your comments.

 

Keith

[isujim]

There is nothing like the memory of your first cruise. Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for posting an informative review.

[may-2011]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I was hesitant placing this reveiw because it seems that people don't place too much stock in first timers. That is my humble opinion.