The Norwegian Jewel, completed in Germany in August 2005, is NCL's largest ship to date. At 93,502 tons, she is marginally larger than her closest sisters, the Norwegian Star and Norwegian Dawn. The Norwegian Jewel offers 10 restaurants in her Freestyle dining program and a wide range of public rooms. Up to 2,376 passengers are looked after by Norwegian officers and a 1,000-member crew primarily from Eastern European countries and the Philippines.
Norwegian Cruise Lines got its start in the mid-1960s as the innovator in the Florida-based cruise market. The line is selling off its older ships, and its Freestyle cruising concept has taken hold fleetwide.
Fellow passengers include couples in their 20s to those past retirement and multi-generational family groups, in a similar vein to Carnival, Princess and Royal Caribbean. Gratuities of $10 per person per day are added to the final bill. The result can be perfunctory service in the main restaurants, while it is usually more willing in the specialty restaurants.
The Jewel undertakes a complex winter program of 5-, 7-, 9- and 14-day Southern, Western and Eastern Caribbean cruises from Miami, November to April. Her summer schedule usually comprises 7-day itineraries from Barcelona to the Western Mediterranean. In summer she cruises from New York on 10-day fall foliage cruises to New England and Canada.
The single most popular meeting place is Bar Central on Deck 6 combining Shakers Martini & Cocktail Bar, Magnum's Champagne & Wine Bar, and Maltings Beer & Whiskey Pub. Fyzz Cabaret Lounge forward on the deck above offers live music, dancing and cabaret entertainment and three adjacent private karaoke rooms glow blue, green or red. Spinnakers Lounge, an observation room high up on Deck 13, tiers down to a dance floor and stage for daytime and nighttime music and dancing. The main show lounge, the Stardust Theater, presents Broadway and Las Vegas-style revues, sloping downward for the equivalent of three decks into a gaily decorated setting. Side pockets provide intimate seating and suite passengers enjoy a reserved section. The Jewel Club Casino has high-stakes blackjack, roulette, 3-card poker, Texas Hold 'em, Caribbean stud poker, craps, and 200 slot machines.
To escape the crowds, head up to Deck 12 for the library and reading and writing room, card room, and a lifestyles room for enrichment courses, plus a chapel and three private meeting spaces. The 24-hour Internet Cafe with eight terminals sells blocks of time to reduce costs; provisions are also made for wireless and in-cabin access. Kids, who have their own snack and soda cafe, find programs divided into four age groups: 2 to 5, 6 to 8, 9 to 12, and 13 to 17. For teenagers, the New York subway-themed Underground Teens' Club offers computers, video arcade with 35 machines and a lounge retreat. The Splashdown Kids' Club, for the youngest ones, has a supervised gym, movies, computer center, and arts and crafts area, along with a kids' pool, a waterslide and four whirlpools.
Bora Bora Health Spa and Beauty Salon, operated by Mandara Spa, has 20 treatment rooms, including three for couples. The Body Waves Fitness Center offers a wide range of gym machines, with treadmills and cardiovascular workout equipment having individual flat-screen TVs. Scheduled aerobics and yoga classes are held on a sprung wooden floor. A suite of men's and women's steam and sauna rooms, a plunge bath, jet-current exercise pool, indoor lap pool, whirlpool and hydrotherapy pool round out the many options. For the sports-minded, dual purpose areas are set up for basketball and volleyball and court and paddle tennis, plus there are two golf driving nets, mini-golf, and a giant chess board.
Freestyle dining is what NCL is all about. Screens placed about the ship indicate restaurant seating status, and passengers receive a beeper. Restaurant managers can make reservations for any restaurant that evening or for a future night. In addition, reservations can be made by phoning ahead or showing up at the atrium desk between 11:30 am and 5 pm. For traditional dining, a reserved table with the same waiter is an option in the two main dining rooms, Azura and Tsar’s Palace. The extra-tariff restaurants include Cagney's Steak House, larger than on the previous two ships and impressively decorated with images of some of America's top criminals. Before or after dinner, the adjacent Star Bar has a delightful piano lounge atmosphere. For suite passengers, Cagney's becomes available for breakfast and lunch. For some, Le Bistro is the best of the extra tariff specialty restaurants, with large windows rather than interior views. The French menu offers onion soup, escargots in garlic butter, and salmon in Sorrel cream sauce. Chin Chin (extra tariff), a complex of Asian-style restaurants, features a Sushi bar, Shabu Shabu, a demonstration preparation of thin sliced beef in boiling broth, and a 36-seat Tepanyaki Room arranged for the entertaining cooking display. At no extra charge, Mama's Italian Kitchen has it own permanent space in a trattoria with checkered tablecloths and wooden tables. Tango's (no extra charge), a spicy Tex-Mex and tapas bar overlooking the atrium, is decorated with colorful ceramics and mosaics and a carpet marked with footprints of the tango. On the opposite side, diner-style Blue Lagoon (no extra charge) offers such fare as shepherd's pie, chicken wings, burgers, and fish and chips. The Java Cafe sells coffee beverages, tea, pastries and cookies. The Garden Cafe's lido buffet, located high up on Deck 12, avoids queuing with freestanding serving stations that display soup, pasta, salads, sandwich fixings, ethnic specialties, and at breakfast prepared-to-order omelets and waffles. For a peaceful setting, The Great Outdoors is a smaller buffet positioned at the stern. Normally, several days pass before most passengers even know it exists.
With 76 more cabins than her sisters, the Jewel's 1,188-unit accommodations take 2,376-passengers on a double-occupancy basis. The 32 fare categories include a large number of cabins that are either oceanview with balcony or inside. These three types are spread over Decks 10, 9 and 5 with a small number of cabins on Deck 4. Two garden villas provide the most spectacular living spaces afloat with private furnished outdoor deck space and a hot tub, living room and entertainment center, dining room, three bedrooms (the master bedroom has a full bath whirlpool tub and separate shower). Unique to the ship on Deck 14, 10 courtyard villas share a private interior courtyard with a swimming pool, whirlpool and deck chair lounge area protected by a roll-back dome. The master bath is set alongside the windows with flat-screen TVs above the tub and all have a second inside bedroom for children. These clustered accommodations are ideal for friends or large families traveling together.
In other categories, the owner's suite, Romance Suite with its view over the bow, mini-suite and balcony, and outside cabins all come with large baths having separate water closet, shower and washstand compartments. All staterooms have rich-cherry wood finish, interactive TV, hair dryer, safe, refrigerator and tea- and coffeemakers. Some are interconnected to create larger family quarters in flexible combinations of two, three, four and five bedrooms.
