Cruising to the Mediterranean- East Jewel of the Sea/Norwegian Star

[Mika02]

Hello


Looking for any reviews recent reviews of RC Jewel of the Sea or Norwegian's Star and if anyone has sailed Mediterranean- East Itinerary. Also people's preference in booking a cruise on either RCL or NCL directly with the cruise line online or a TA or some other way of booking.


So some background. I have been on 3 Carnival cruises (Triumph twice and Destiny once), I have also sailed on my DCL Dream once my most recent cruise. My 2 older kids have been on one Carnival cruise when they were little 8 and 2.5 and then all 3 have been on the Disney cruise. Of Course their (and mine truthfully) preference is Disney; though I did loved every Carnival Cruise that I have been on.


We will be headed to Europe summer of 2019 to visit my Grandmother so we will be doing 1 week in London/Paris and then I planned to surprise them with a Cruise to the Mediterranean- East. They really wanted to cruise on a Disney ship but couldn't find an Itinerary for next year that worked for me and my work schedule.


So I'm planning for next year I am leaning towards RC Jewel of the Sea mostly due to Itinerary and pricing. Also have wanted to try RCL for a long time and would like to see if it would work for us a DCL alternative so we can cruise more.


I have booked all of my previous cruises (except my first cruise which was my honeymoon and that was booked through a TA at Liberty travel) with my favorite TA who specializes in cruises but we have never received anything special by booking through her (no OBC or discounts or anything). She used to be a TA with one agency she is now with Dreams. I'm just trying to figure out what is the best way to book a cruise for RCL or NCL.

Thanks in advance for any reviews and guidance.

 

[jenf22]

I've been on both of those ships, but not in the Med and I haven't written trip reports. But if you have any specific questions I could help with, let me know. I always book with Costcotravel. They either have OBC or you get a Costco cash card when you get back. My family really enjoyed both ships. We really like NCL because of their pricing (we can often get our kiddo free) and we LOVE the specialty dining, so we pick that as our other "pick 2" offer.

 

[Mika02]

I've been on both of those ships, but not in the Med and I haven't written trip reports. But if you have any specific questions I could help with, let me know. I always book with Costcotravel. They either have OBC or you get a Costco cash card when you get back. My family really enjoyed both ships. We really like NCL because of their pricing (we can often get our kiddo free) and we LOVE the specialty dining, so we pick that as our other "pick 2" offer.

I guess mostly about the activities on the ship and how comfy are the rooms are? How were the kids Club on both Ships? My Daughter and my sons were really happy with the ones on DCL. They never wanted to leave we had to drag them out to eat dinner with us and we had to drag them back out at 12am to come to sleep (even later for my daughter whose a Teen). So I'm wondering if I will have to find a lot for them to do while on board the ship if the kids clubs are wishy washy. If we go on Jewel we would have 2 days at Sea.

 

[jenf22]

Kids clubs - that's a hard question for us because the kiddo doesn't do them. He's an only and not very adventurous. Plus my parents were with us on the Jewel so we never needed to put him in the kids club. He was 7 on the Jewel and 8 on the Star, so I really can't help with your teen.

Looking at my photo books, on the Jewel we did mini golf, the rock wall, a water slide, the pools, bingo, watched the belly flop contest, and played trivia. I'm sure there were movies and shows but I don't remember them.
On the Star we played in the pool, did the water slides, and played bingo. I'm sure there was a ton more to do, but we were always tired from our long port days.

Our kiddo loves to read and play the iPad, so I think we probably spent more time relaxing in the room than most people do. I loved the casinos on both ships.

We booked the 2 bedroom suite on the Jewel since my parents were with us and they had passengers 3, 4, and 5 free. It was a great deal. On the Star we had a mini suite and it was plenty big enough for the 3 of us. The sofa folded out and there was a curtain between the big bed and the sofa (like on DCL). We've got the Star booked again for next October in Greece. Not sure we'll be able to pull that one off, but I wouldn't hesitate to sail on either ship again.

 

[Mika02]

Kids clubs - that's a hard question for us because the kiddo doesn't do them. He's an only and not very adventurous. Plus my parents were with us on the Jewel so we never needed to put him in the kids club. He was 7 on the Jewel and 8 on the Star, so I really can't help with your teen.

Looking at my photo books, on the Jewel we did mini golf, the rock wall, a water slide, the pools, bingo, watched the belly flop contest, and played trivia. I'm sure there were movies and shows but I don't remember them.
On the Star we played in the pool, did the water slides, and played bingo. I'm sure there was a ton more to do, but we were always tired from our long port days.

Our kiddo loves to read and play the iPad, so I think we probably spent more time relaxing in the room than most people do. I loved the casinos on both ships.

We booked the 2 bedroom suite on the Jewel since my parents were with us and they had passengers 3, 4, and 5 free. It was a great deal. On the Star we had a mini suite and it was plenty big enough for the 3 of us. The sofa folded out and there was a curtain between the big bed and the sofa (like on DCL). We've got the Star booked again for next October in Greece. Not sure we'll be able to pull that one off, but I wouldn't hesitate to sail on either ship again.

Oh awesome I actually was leaning towards the 2 bedroom suite on Jewel it's still a really good deal and I like the amount of space in case we do end up being in the room more then normal especially on the at sea days. Also I'm leaning towards leaving room in case my boyfriend wants to travel with us that week for just the Cruise.

I totally understand about the kids club my older son is not adventurous but because of my younger boy he tends to not want to leave him unless it's to play video games. But they will be at the age where they will be split up where as they were able to do DCL together and they loved it.

Thanks so much