This was my third cruise with Norwegian and was really excited. I traveled with my family: mom, dad, and sister this time to the Western Caribbean. The Norwegian Jewel is such a fabulous ship. It's bright, vibrant, and full of energy. We left NY and had a layover in TX before arriving in Ft. Lauderdale Saturday night. We arrived at the Port of Miami Sunday morning and waited inside the cruise terminal for about 30 minutes before numbers were being called. (They tell you not to arrive early because you won't be allowed to enter the terminal, but it was already pretty full when we got there.)

When we boarded the ship we were greeted with champagne or orange juice for the non-alcoholic drinkers. We chose to eat in Azura's because we thought the buffet would have been crowded. (In the past there was only one buffet line, but I'll explain later what was VERY different about the Norwegian Jewel). We had a delicious lunch and then waited around one of the lounge areas until we were able to go to out room. We got a mini suite and it was really very nice inside. The room was big enough that two people could walk around without feeling crushed. The bathroom was big and had a bathtub/shower! The room came with a lot of drawers and a huge closet. Also there was a big bed and a couch which transformed into a couch bed at night. This wasn't one of this you sink into, it was hard, but I got a good night sleep each night. Also on our floor was the Bridge Viewing Window which was really neat to see. It was on Deck 11 and it was opened from Sunrise to Sunset.

The ship itself is really nice and though it feels a bit big a times (I got lost a couple of times, I can't imagine what the EPIC will feel like with I believe 24 levels!) For meals we ate in the Garden Cafe mostly for breakfast, lunch and one dinner. The Garden Cafe was amazing in the fact that it had several food stations and not that one line everyone has to get into for food. It had a salad, soup, grill, ethnic cuisine, Asian, and even a bar station. The food was pretty much the same each day, but I never got the same thing twice. I enjoyed the diff. food stations and got to try a lot of different food. Tsar's and Azura is where I dined in the most on the ship, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere of Tsar's since it's designed after a Russian Palace. We also tried out Tango's which was really actually good. They serve you chips and three salsas in the place of bread and you also get a complimentary Margarita, (although I'm pretty sure half the cover charge is for the margaritas) I had the Lobster taco's and they were fabulous! Huge chunks of lobster in a cream sauce with some grilled veggies. Read more