Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Jewel - - Photos, video, reviews

This week the focus is on Norwegian Cruise Line.

First, I have a number of items from a recent weekend cruise that I did on Norwegian Breakaway. This was the ship's first short cruise since her inaugural cruises. It was also out of New York in the dead of winter. How would a ship with so many outdoor facilities cope with the winter weather. Our review is at http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-breakaway-weekend.html

One of the great things about sailing out of New York in winter is that darkness has usually fallen by the time the ship sails. On a clear, crisp night the lights of the city sparkle and the cruise down the river is an almost mystical voyage. Some video highlights are at http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-breakaway-night-sailing.html

Then we have added two reviews to our profile of Breakaway. The first looks at the Manhattan Room, which is not your run of the mill main dining room. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-breakaway-barber-shop.html I also recount my experience getting a haircut on Breakaway. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-breakaway-manhattan-room.html

In addition to the material on Breakaway, we have a photo feature http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-jewel-photo-essay-cozumel.html and a video of Norwegian Jewel arriving in Cozumel, Mexico. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-jewel-cozumel-video.html In it, we see the ship underway and arriving at the pier.

 We are also hoping to have some new items relating to Norwegian Getaway's arrival in New York. Keep an eye on our what's new page. http://www.beyondships2.com/index.html

Norwegian Jewel revisited

Norwegian Cruise Line is in the spotlight this week. Its new ship, Norwegian Breakaway, is coming to New York to take up residence. This is an exciting prospect as Breakaway appears to combine the innovativeness of Norwegian Epic with the quality of a Meyer Werft ship.

Norwegian has had two ships based in New York for some time now. With Breakaway's arrival, one of those ships, Norwegian Jewel, will be re-deployed to other itineraries.

However, as Jewel takes up her new life cruising to Alaska this summer and to the Caribbean from New Orleans and Houston this coming winter, we wanted to update and expand our coverage of the ship. http://beyondships.com/NCLJewel.html

To that end, we spoke with Hotel Director Hugo Vanosmael about the various dining options on Jewel. Freestyle dining is all about giving the guests options. So to help you make these choices, we have put together a dining guide to Norwegian Jewel. It is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-jewel-dining-guide.html

Along the same lines, we have updated our Norwegian Jewel menus page. This includes the new menu for Cagney's steakhouse. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-jewel-menus.html

Jewel is a photogenic modern ship. With better than average speed, she also manages to get around. As a result, we have accumulated a number of good pictures of her in various ports in the Caribbean and The Bahamas this winter. These have been put together into a new photo essay. It is at http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-jewel-photo-essay.html