A great getaway!

This was a wonderful cruise! The ship, the Norwegian Jewel, was immaculate. There were lots of social areas, places where you could just sit and listen to music, or play cards, or even a library where you could sit and read! A nice workout gym. I did walk the Promenade deck, thoroughly enjoyable. The layout of the ship was beautiful also and the staff could not have been friendlier. We had a stateroom that we felt had good space although the toilet area seemed tight, had I been a taller person. The food was wonderful, especially the buffet. After a couple of nights dining in two different restaurants, we settled on the buffet for dinner, each night a different theme ( fish night, grill night, etc.) and started each morning with a sit down breakfast in O"Sheehan's. The entertainment was great as well. Also a 3PM "tea" time - self serve tea- but wonderful pastries, petite sandwiches etc.... Our stateroom was meticulously cleaned each day, as were all common areas of the ship it seemed to us. We took the NC: excursion "caves and waves" and it was a great choice for us to see the Crystal Caves, and enjoy the beach. Very happy 4th cruise to Bermuda and I really enjoyed this cruise. And getting in and out of Boston and on and off the ship was easy peasy! HIghly recommend! Not rating the family friendly or children's programs below since not applicable to me - I did not travel with children.

Could Not Have Been Better !

The Jewel is in great shape, and has the most wonderful crew and staff. We have been going on the Boston to Bermuda cruise many times over the last 20 years starting with the NCL Majesty then the Dawn several times, the Gem the Pearl and now the Jewel. We love the Jewel class ships, and the crew told me it is their favorite class also. The size of the ship makes for a warm and friendly atmosphere all around. We are retired now and enjoy the calm atmosphere we don’t need the bells and whistles of the larger ships. We are sad to think they will not build ships this size in the future, and next year the Breakaway will be doing this cruise out of Boston. We are already booked but are apprehensive because of the size. We booked an aft Penthouse more than a year ago as we have before. It is an excellent location, and it comes with so many benefits it is worth the extra. We had some family and friends with us so it gave us a gathering spot. We want to give a shout out to Carlos the Concierge who was always pleasant and everywhere and helpful to us especially with reserve seating in the theatre, and debarkation. Also Mark our Butler who was always available to make reservations, and even escorted us along with some family and friends to restaurants. We saw him at least once a day, and he seemed to be everywhere usually with a group of guests ourselves included. I don’t know how he did it but we enjoyed his friendly demeanor and help. He made sure we had some fun treats for a sail away party for our entire group in our cabin. They were experiencing NCL for the first time and really enjoyed themselves. We enjoyed all the food, the Garden Cafe has all kinds of choices and some changed from day to day, but lots of great food you could count on to be there. Don’t miss the Asian noodle soup and the barley salad. Both were only served on only one day. We ate there for both lunch and breakfast and always found something we really liked. We tried O’Sheehans for lunch one day, we love the chicken salad sandwiches, others had soups and burgers. The waiter heard us talking about the nacho’s next thing you know we had two plates on the table. We didn’t know how we were going to eat it all plus our meals, but of course we did. We also ate in Le Bistro and Cagney’s. Always excellent, with superb service. Our group had several kinds of steaks all were excellent, as well as the shrimp I had. Don’t miss the raspberry creme brûlée for desert. Our friends tried Moderno, loved the salad bar and all the choices of meat, though they did say it was too much meat. We were surprised to find that Chin Chin the Asian restaurant is no longer complimentary. It was when we booked the cruise but was changed in January to a specialty restaurant. We like to eat here the first night, and were surprised by the change. It wasn’t very full, and the menu changed. We found the entertainment consistently good, the production shows were fun the singers and dancers were outstanding. We also went to the cabaret night where they each performed such talent. Our cabin steward “Mo” kept our cabin tidy and nice and seemed to know when we would be out He knew our names after the first day, impressive. He was always friendly and glad to see us. To top it all off we had good weather, and smooth seas. It is not always the case sailing out of Boston in the spring, we sailed right into a Nor’Easter last year. Bermuda is a wonderful place to cruise to we find something different to see each time we go.

This Jewel still sparkles

The Jewel is an older NCL ship, no slides, racecars, but 2 pools, one adult only and one open access. We definitely enjoy the smaller ships from time to time, and those one is now one of our favorites. She is well maintained, if you truly are picky, you can see some of her age wrinkles, but we all get ours also. Embarkation in Tampa as a breeze, Checkin for our suite was a separate line to a small waiting area. We had barely sat down when a butler came up, introduced themself and in a blink of an eye we were in Cagney's for lunch. A definite suite perk. The activities on board were good and varied. There was always something to do that we enjoyed. The service we enjoyed was a big part of the cruise, We found "our bar" at Chin Chins, Fajar and company knew our names from the first day. Our aft-facing suite was great and butler was amazing. The concierge - Carlos - was EVERYWHERE. He always turned up to check on how we and others were doing and if we needed anything. The food on board was good, we enjoyed Moderno and Chin Chins. We like to check out the buffet and thought it was well stocked and kept clean. The Palace and Azura were both nice and had some of the most attentive service. This is not to say that we did not have a couple times during the cruise that the service was slow - perhaps it was shift change. But they always had a smile. Disembarkation in Boston was a bit of a pain, wheelchair assist was slow, but good once we got one. Getting bags and out to the bus was smooth. In my opinion , A cruise on the Jewel is a very good value.

Once in a lifetime! Fabulous stops, great service.

Great trip, suggest getting the best room you can afford. For us, the benefits of the suite are a premier luxury in pampering. Super service on the ship: excellent attention from staff. Fabulous food (much due to the perks of staying in the suite: special access to premium restaurants). Appreciated expeditious getting on and off ship. Definitely a perk for this once in a lifetime trip-literally. Best excursion: CARTAGENA (Colombia) SIGHTS, GETSEMANI AND RYTHMS, So-so: Eco DelMar VIP Beach in Cabo Rojo DR; Do not waste your $$ on Two Oceans by Railroad in Panama. Spent half the time of our >$250 tour shopping!! Loved the live music at the pool as well as the super funny comedian on board (Aurora Singh). Have never laughed so much. We did however miss her “adults only” act a few nights later- the “family friendly” was risqué enough for me. Stardust theater had TERRIBLE seats, very uncomfortable and too low to rise from easily. Otherwise we would have taken in more shows. (Note: we are seniors with some mobility limitations). Medium sized ship was a sufficient challenge for me to get around, however we did see many other cruisers in wheelchairs, scooters, canes, etc. I personally will never go on a larger ship. Very few children due to 2 weeks during school.