Norwegian Getaway or Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Sea
 

My husband and I want to take our 3 adult children on a cruise (mid 20-35). We have a very small window next January. We have narrowed it down (based on itinerary) to either the Norwegian Getaway or Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas. We have only been on two cruises and both were around 2500 people on Celebrity. So, the Getaway is huge and the Jewel fairly small. The Getaway is newer and the Jewel is getting upgraded later next year. My husband thinks that the water slides/pools on the Getaway will make all the difference. I am concerned about the number of people on the Getaway. I actually prefer the itinerary for the Jewel, but we think getting the right ship is more important. I would love to hear what you think about the two cruise lines, large versus small ship size, etc. Thanks for your input!

We were on the Getaway last May. Overall we liked it but there were a few drawbacks. Yes there are H2O slides but there is only one adult pool for 4k passengers and there is an open area on the pool deck for smokers. This made it crowded and sort of unpleasant on sea days with smoke wafting out onto the pool area. Actually to have only one adult pool (two if you include the Haven but that is only for Haven guests who pay a lot more) is an unfortunate design feature IMHO.

However the food was good as was the service though I do feel its a notch behind Princess and Celebrity. Where they do shine is entertainment. They have a show called the grammy experience and have grammy nominated performers there. The comedy club had an actor who was in the movie "Barbershop" and this is one area that NCL excels in. There are about 28 places to eat including their speciality or extra fee restaurants so the variety is excellent.

I have never been on the Jewel so I can't comment.

Hope this helps. Larry :).

Thanks, Larry. It does help. One adult pool for all those people seems pretty unreasonable. Still not sure what we are going to do. Might re-review our itinerary options and maybe try Princess or Carnival. These is so much info out there, it makes my head spin!! Maybe throw a dart and see where it lands...

Yes there are many options. I would go Princess over Carnival unless it's one of their new ships. The service will be better. Also have you considered Celebrity? Their Solstice class ships are super as is Royals Oasis class.

Half the fun is in the deciding. :).

Which itinerary is Jewel doing during your time frame? The one going to Barbados is great. Plus it departs from San Juan, my favorite for departure. That would sway me towards RC. I would do that for the itinerary. Also, though they don't have the water park stuff, pools on the smaller ships have fewer people to handle for their size and can actually be a bit less crowded than on bigger ships.

We were on Norwegian Epic (another huge ship) last year and found the pools a little too small for the number of people. How many times do you think each of you would actually go on the slides? Enough for that to be the determining factor? You have young adults, so it certainly could be.
Shows on Norwegian were outstanding!
Food was very good.
We did Norwegian for the ship. DD likes the shows and food and the wonderful kid's programs.
Outside smoking area was a bit unpleasant.

I love Princess ships. However, many depart through the Gulf and weather is less predictable in winter than from Florida or SJ.

There is something I like about each one. With DH and me, itinerary and food followed by shows is important. When we have DD and GD with us, pools followed by shows and food is more important. That is what it comes down to. None have it all, so which things are important to you?

You are right, Larry. The decision process is part of the fun. Sassafrass, I am pleased to hear that you like PR as a departure port. It seems that since it is more south, that the itineraries are able to go more south, which I like. The route we were looking at on the Jewel included Aruba and Curaçao but we could do the Barbados route instead. My daughter was really interested in Barbados.

Hadn't really thought about prioritizing what is important but for my husband and myself, it's food, service and a nice pool area. But with the kids coming along, we are looking for a younger crowd but still want them to experience a bit of a traditional cruise. Our son is a chef, so the food experience is also important.

(Sorry for not responding sooner. We took a quick trip to Yellowstone. I really do appreciate the input.)